Long Island firefighter who heroically saved Torah from fire brushes off praise: ‘I'm no hero'

New York Post

13 hours ago

The Long Island firefighter who saved a sacred Sefer Torah from a burning Chabad on Wednesday said he was no 'super hero' and was just doing what he was trained to do.
Firefighter Michael Farca, 54, was compared to a Hollywood action star by Greenvale residents for his heroic and holy rescue — but insists he was simply in the right place at the right time.
'I'm no hero,' Farca told The Post.
3 A sacred Sefer Torah was saved from a fire that happened inside a synagogue in Greenvale on Wednesday.
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'I saw the Torah inside and knew I had to get it out. That's it. The 70 other first responders who were there alongside me deserve just as much praise as I'm getting.'
Farca, of Roslyn Heights, ran into the smoke-filled building as flames raged inside to make sure no one was inside and that is when he saw the Torah.
Moments later, after clearing the building, he emerged out of the smoke holding the sacred scroll — a dramatic scene that brought some faithful witnesses to tears.
Farca — who is Jewish — said he responded to the call as he would've any other, completely unaware that the building he was headed to was a synagogue.
After breaking through the door in the Greenvale strip mall, Farca was caught by surprise as he realized that he was inside a house of worship — spotting the ark where the scroll is usually stored.
3 Firefighter Michael Farca, 54, from Roslyn Heights, came to the rescue to save the Torah from being burned, as he told The Post, 'I saw the Torah inside and knew I had to get it out. That's it.'
Chabad of Greenvale
3 The Torah that was saved by Farca.
Igor Shamalov
'I ran up to the ark and opened it to see if the Torah was in there, and sure enough, there it was,' Farca said.
'I embraced it, and took it outside.'
Farca described the feeling of saving the Torah that morning as 'remarkable,' especially because the rescue came just a day after the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai 3,000 years ago.
'To think that we're celebrating the Torah on Mount Sinai 3,000 years ago, and here I have a Torah in front of me that is in danger of damage or worse — it's an incredible thing,' Farca said.
The sacred scroll was ultimately returned to members of the Chabad completely unscathed — though the building is no longer being operational.
'The Torah is more than a book, it's our heart and soul,' congregant Yuriy Davydov said.
'Seeing it carried out safely felt like a miracle.'
But the message that Farca wants people to take away is that he is just a regular first responder, and that anybody can make an impact if they choose.
'My hope, really, is that I've inspired someone, I would like to inspire them to get up and do something for their community,' he said.
'I want people to do something selfless that allows them to give back to their community, to their neighbor, to whomever, in a selfless manner.'