|
|
Nov. 2, 2012
Rain stops for BI ceremony
After decades, the synagogue’s redevelopment is a reality.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
The rain abated and the sun peaked out for just long enough on Sunday, Oct. 21, for Congregation Beth Israel’s official groundbreaking to take place outside of the synagogue, where soon there will be an entrance hall that runs between the current structure and one of the new buildings to be constructed on what is now the congregation’s parking lot.
More than 200 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony, the program for which took place in the warmth and dryness of the Chan Centre for Family Health Education at B.C. Children’s Hospital across the street. As of Oct. 15, Beth Israel has moved its services and offices to the third floor of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
Synagogue board president Catherine Epstein emceed the program. In her remarks, along with thanking various donors and committee members, she noted that representatives of the major donors – the Averbach, Cristall, Gales, Glassman and Porte families – had participated in the groundbreaking. She acknowledged the partnership that BI has with Vancouver Talmud Torah in the construction of an underground parking lot that will serve both organizations and named the VTT representatives who were present, including principal Cathy Lowenstein and board president Michelle Gerber. She also introduced Margaret MacDiarmid, MLA of Vancouver-Fairview, and pointed out that Mark Ostry and members of his team were also there, as Acton Ostry Architects Inc. have designed the new buildings, as was Roland Haebler and his team of contractors.
Dr. Moira Stilwell, MLA for Vancouver-Langara, spoke on behalf of the provincial government. “The Jewish community is a valued part of the religious and cultural fabric of Vancouver and British Columbia,” she said, “so it is a big pleasure to me to bring greetings from Premier Christy Clark and the B.C. government on an auspicious occasion of the renewal of an 80-year-old landmark, that’s something very special to me. Of course, a synagogue is more than a landmark ... it’s a place where the Jewish community gathers, not just for religious worship, but for fellowship, cultural events, education, family occasions.... So, I want to congratulate you and say that I am very excited about the new building, as I know you are.”
BI executive director Shannon Etkin compared the changing weather of the morning – from rainy to partly sunny to chilly – to the long up-and-down process of getting the BI building project off the ground. He quoted from a 1988 report: “It was obvious that renovation and improvement of the synagogue facilities, not seriously undertaken since its construction in 1948, were considered very important priorities for the synagogue’s future development.”
The year after this approximately 40-page report was presented, continued Etkin, then BI Rabbi Wilfred Solomon wrote in a brochure about BI, “My home away from home sits in woefully inadequate surroundings.” Soon after this, said Etkin, another building fund committee was organized, this time headed by Lorne Cristall and Hershey Porte, both of whom have since passed away. “Unfortunately, that redevelopment was unable to proceed,” he said, adding that other membership surveys were conducted and, in 2002, another building committee, with Ron Einblau as chair, was struck. The concerns enumerated in 1988 and 2002 were re-evaluated in 2003, said Etkin, and shortly thereafter, the BI board was approached with another plan for redevelopment by Jack Lutsky and Sam Hanson – “This proposal was considered during 2004 but did not move further.”
In 2006, Cristall and Porte again co-chaired a committee, and then BI president Lee Simpson reached out to other Jewish organizations about whether they might have any space requirements that could be fulfilled by a redeveloped BI. Around this time, Rabbi Jonathan Infeld became the spiritual leader of the synagogue, and his and his family’s “re-engagement of our congregation and presence in the community have been a critical underpinning of the success of this campaign,” explained Etkin. In 2007, he continued, Acton Ostry was engaged as the project’s architects and soon Hanson became chair of the new building committee, and Cristall and Gary Averbach the co-chairs of the capital campaign.
“The untimely deaths of Hershey and Lorne must be noted,” said Etkin. “There is no doubt that, for over two decades, they have been the constant driving force to redevelop BI. Without their dedication, this groundbreaking would not be taking place.”
Etkin thanked the many donors and contributors to the campaign, including current building chair Alfonso Ergas, and highlighted the efforts of “the one sparkplug of this entire campaign”: Gary Averbach.
Averbach thanked many people as well, and provided an update of the monies raised to date, putting the estimate at close to $16 million; with almost $14 million coming from pledges (from more than 325 families, according to BI’s website) and the rest coming from the sale of the synagogue’s house (for the rabbi) on Heather Street. As well, there is an anonymous donor, said Averbach, which brings the total to almost $17 million. “Not good enough. We still need another two to three million dollars on top of that,” he said, later adding, “We’re not finished yet. We’ve got a lot of work to do.... But, the truth is, you’ve all been extremely generous. It is an amazing, heartwarming thing and I’m only sorry that Hershey and Lorne have not lived to see this day, because I don’t think that they imagined we would do this well and now, I just wish they were here. I really feel that this would be even more exciting and gratifying to those two men.... I hope they’re looking down on us and kvelling.”
When Infeld, who rounded out the morning’s speakers, took to the microphone, he said, “I want to say how unbelievably impressed and humbled I am by what all of you have done in many different ways, in your hard work and your dedication.” He praised the congregation for the amount of money that had been raised, “But that’s not, as Gary said, what is as impressive as the fact that we understand, clearly understand, what this is really about; that we are not just about building a physical building, we are about building something much, much greater than that. What we are really doing is building the physical edifice that sustains the spirit, that sustains the kehillah, that sustains the community.”
Infeld went on to speak of the week’s Torah portion, Lech Lechah, in which God says to Abraham that he should leave his home and begin for himself and his children a new life, create a new religious tradition, a new spirit, an entirely new world. “And I firmly believe that what we are doing here today is more than just creating a home for ourselves and for our children, but what we are really doing is creating a home in which our entire Jewish community will feel welcome.”
Epstein concluded the program by thanking her fellow groundbreaking committee members: Donna Cantor, Leana Gaerber, Janice Loomer Margolis, Susan Quig, Larry Vinegar and, especially, Gaynor Levin. BI Cantor Lawrence Szenes-Strauss and Ba’alat Tefilah Debby Fenson sang a few songs, Epstein encouraged attendees to jot down some of their thoughts on cards that would be incorporated into the new edifice in some manner and Infeld sounded the shofar before the optimistically planned barbecue provided by Vera’s Burger Shack, Omnitsky Kosher Deli and Nava Creative Kosher Cuisine began. The food was brought indoors, and only the chefs had to endure the rain, which had once again started in earnest.
^TOP
|
|
