By COLlive reporter
The property at 16 Murray Drive in Airmont is currently on the market offering 4,700 square feet of quality living in New York's Rockland County.
Adjacent to the home is a fully furnished synagogue at 41 Laura Drive with a spectacular harp-shaped Aron Kodesh and ample parking.
For music fans, this property might seems recognizable as the home and shul built by Lipa Schmeltzer, the popular singer, entertainer, and composer.
Schmeltzer grew up nearby in New Square, NY, as the second-youngest of 12 children in a Chassidic family. He began as a badchan at weddings and worked his way up to fill concert halls around the world as a star performer.
In 2010, Schmeltzer established a synagogue named "The Airmont Shul - Beis Medrash D'Airmont" near his home. Operating on Shabbos and holidays, it emphasized incorporating singing while davening.
The shul attracted locals, music fans and youngsters who once led a frum life. "They accepted me, a warm welcome as they say we have to accept every Jew no matter how it looks, no matter how he behaves," one visitor named Cheskel Lebovits wrote on Google Reviews.
The shul also enjoyed the visits of Rabbi Aaron Dovid Gancz, Mashgiach of Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch in Morristown, NJ, who lives nearby as the director of Chabad Jewish Center of Suffern.
"For years, Rabbi Gancz came every Shabbos to give chizuk and input to the people here," Schmeltzer said in a phone conversation with COLlive.com on Tuesday.
Selling the property is real estate agent Beila Weinberger with Q Home Sales. She said the asking price is $2 million for both the house and the shul.
Schmeltzer cited personal changes in his family and the fact that many have moved away from the rising housing prices in Airmont as the reasons he is selling the property.
"It's hard for me to think about it," he said. It's a hard thing but sometimes, when one door closes, another opens. I put my heart and soul into it. Today it is very hard to get approved for zoning for a shul in the area. It's a beautiful shul and ready to be used."
In May, Schmeltzer will be graduating from Columbia University's School of General Studies with a bachelor's degree in Visual Art and Creative Writing. He has recently taken up painting and said he plans on opening an art gallery in the near future.
Until then, he is doing what he is most comfortable doing and best known for - performing. Whether it is personal videos on social media or singing at the Kosher Villas Orlando of Treitel Ventures over Pesach, Schmeltzer says he's on the road of personal development.
The property at 16 Murray Drive in Airmont is currently on the market offering 4,700 square feet of quality living in New York's Rockland County.
Adjacent to the home is a fully furnished synagogue at 41 Laura Drive with a spectacular harp-shaped Aron Kodesh and ample parking.
For music fans, this property might seems recognizable as the home and shul built by Lipa Schmeltzer, the popular singer, entertainer, and composer.
Schmeltzer grew up nearby in New Square, NY, as the second-youngest of 12 children in a Chassidic family. He began as a badchan at weddings and worked his way up to fill concert halls around the world as a star performer.
In 2010, Schmeltzer established a synagogue named "The Airmont Shul - Beis Medrash D'Airmont" near his home. Operating on Shabbos and holidays, it emphasized incorporating singing while davening.
The shul attracted locals, music fans and youngsters who once led a frum life. "They accepted me, a warm welcome as they say we have to accept every Jew no matter how it looks, no matter how he behaves," one visitor named Cheskel Lebovits wrote on Google Reviews.
The shul also enjoyed the visits of Rabbi Aaron Dovid Gancz, Mashgiach of Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch in Morristown, NJ, who lives nearby as the director of Chabad Jewish Center of Suffern.
"For years, Rabbi Gancz came every Shabbos to give chizuk and input to the people here," Schmeltzer said in a phone conversation with COLlive.com on Tuesday.
Selling the property is real estate agent Beila Weinberger with Q Home Sales. She said the asking price is $2 million for both the house and the shul.
Schmeltzer cited personal changes in his family and the fact that many have moved away from the rising housing prices in Airmont as the reasons he is selling the property.
"It's hard for me to think about it," he said. It's a hard thing but sometimes, when one door closes, another opens. I put my heart and soul into it. Today it is very hard to get approved for zoning for a shul in the area. It's a beautiful shul and ready to be used."
In May, Schmeltzer will be graduating from Columbia University's School of General Studies with a bachelor's degree in Visual Art and Creative Writing. He has recently taken up painting and said he plans on opening an art gallery in the near future.
Until then, he is doing what he is most comfortable doing and best known for - performing. Whether it is personal videos on social media or singing at the Kosher Villas Orlando of Treitel Ventures over Pesach, Schmeltzer says he's on the road of personal development.
