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Temple Emanu El opens its doors in Orange Village
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BY: Douglas J. Guth Senior Staff Reporter
Robert Stern’s family has been with Temple Emanu El practically since the Reform synagogue opened its doors in 1954.
The current congregation president has 50 years of warm memories of the aging brick building on Green Road near Cedar Road.
However, with the recent opening of Temple Emanu El’s new facility at the northeast corner of Brainard and Emery Roads in Orange Village, Stern insists that staff and faculty are ready to lead the congregation into a new phase of Jewish congregational life.
The temple held its first Shabbat service in the state-of-the-art, 34,000-sq.-ft. building on Aug. 1. The $11-$12 million project (a price tag that includes land), which sits back from the road behind a sun-dappled pond teeming with geese, is spiritual home to about 500 families.
Temple Emanu El decided to move its congregation to this “geographically convenient” location in deference to the trend of Jewish families moving east of University Heights, notes the synagogue president.
The new building, Stern adds, has already drawn 20 new families into the congregation. Officials hope to acquire another 20 families in time for the High Holidays.
“We’re getting phone calls (about membership) every day,” maintains Stern.
Sheryl Chaitoff, 39, has been a Temple Emanu El congregant for seven years. The Detroit native, a married mother of two, is on the synagogue’s board of trustees and a member of its Connections Council, a group responsible for social programming and member recruitment.
The new building is closer to the Chaitoff family’s home in Solon, a convenience she believes will draw additional young members into the fold.
“I’m excited about getting more families involved” with the synagogue, says Chaitoff.
The sleek, low-slung structure includes two areas for worship along with space for a pre-school, religious school and social events. One of Stern’s favorite parts of the facility is the airy, welcoming space inside the main entrance.
Stern envisions this space as a venue where congregants can meet before services in the adjacent 245-seat main sanctuary. This latter space is bracketed by partitions that open up into a social hall and boardroom. These areas also will be used to handle overflow from the sanctuary.
The “cornerstone” of Temple Emanu El is its smaller chapel; a perfectly circular cocoon-like room with opaque windows set high on the walls. Talmudic text and Jewish philosophy, all in Hebrew, are inscribed on the glass.
The passages, selected by Rabbi Steven Denker based on their prominence in Jewish worship, include the beginning words of the Torah and important selections from Maimonides. The chapel’s circular shape represents “the circular nature of eternity, of Judaism, and of the Jewish people,” Denker explains.
The rabbi was still getting settled during my late July visit to the synagogue. His office boasts a view of the main entrance as well as the exterior of the circular chapel.
Along with preparations for the first Shabbat service, workers were setting up a tent on a patio outside the sanctuary for a wedding reception. Preschool starts later this month, while religious school begins in September.
Synagogue president Stern thinks back fondly to the five-plus decades the congregation spent in University Heights. He is nostalgic about the congregation’s old home, but he realizes the necessity of the move.
“It’s time to build new memories,” he says.
dguth@cjn.org
John Carroll to utilize former synagogue site
John Carroll University purchased Temple Emanu El’s former facility for an undisclosed amount earlier this year. For now, John Carroll will utilize the site’s five-acre lot to provide temporary off-campus parking for students, says university spokesperson Tonya Strong Charles.
To meet zoning requirements, the school will likely use the temple building for administrative or storage purposes, she adds. School officials may decide to demolish the facility and use the plot as a playing field/green space. The property’s long-term future is contingent upon the university’s reaching goals drawn up in its 20-year master plan.
The current congregation president has 50 years of warm memories of the aging brick building on Green Road near Cedar Road.
However, with the recent opening of Temple Emanu El’s new facility at the northeast corner of Brainard and Emery Roads in Orange Village, Stern insists that staff and faculty are ready to lead the congregation into a new phase of Jewish congregational life.
The temple held its first Shabbat service in the state-of-the-art, 34,000-sq.-ft. building on Aug. 1. The $11-$12 million project (a price tag that includes land), which sits back from the road behind a sun-dappled pond teeming with geese, is spiritual home to about 500 families.
Temple Emanu El decided to move its congregation to this “geographically convenient” location in deference to the trend of Jewish families moving east of University Heights, notes the synagogue president.
The new building, Stern adds, has already drawn 20 new families into the congregation. Officials hope to acquire another 20 families in time for the High Holidays.
“We’re getting phone calls (about membership) every day,” maintains Stern.
Sheryl Chaitoff, 39, has been a Temple Emanu El congregant for seven years. The Detroit native, a married mother of two, is on the synagogue’s board of trustees and a member of its Connections Council, a group responsible for social programming and member recruitment.
The new building is closer to the Chaitoff family’s home in Solon, a convenience she believes will draw additional young members into the fold.
“I’m excited about getting more families involved” with the synagogue, says Chaitoff.
The sleek, low-slung structure includes two areas for worship along with space for a pre-school, religious school and social events. One of Stern’s favorite parts of the facility is the airy, welcoming space inside the main entrance.
Stern envisions this space as a venue where congregants can meet before services in the adjacent 245-seat main sanctuary. This latter space is bracketed by partitions that open up into a social hall and boardroom. These areas also will be used to handle overflow from the sanctuary.
The “cornerstone” of Temple Emanu El is its smaller chapel; a perfectly circular cocoon-like room with opaque windows set high on the walls. Talmudic text and Jewish philosophy, all in Hebrew, are inscribed on the glass.
The passages, selected by Rabbi Steven Denker based on their prominence in Jewish worship, include the beginning words of the Torah and important selections from Maimonides. The chapel’s circular shape represents “the circular nature of eternity, of Judaism, and of the Jewish people,” Denker explains.
The rabbi was still getting settled during my late July visit to the synagogue. His office boasts a view of the main entrance as well as the exterior of the circular chapel.
Along with preparations for the first Shabbat service, workers were setting up a tent on a patio outside the sanctuary for a wedding reception. Preschool starts later this month, while religious school begins in September.
Synagogue president Stern thinks back fondly to the five-plus decades the congregation spent in University Heights. He is nostalgic about the congregation’s old home, but he realizes the necessity of the move.
“It’s time to build new memories,” he says.
dguth@cjn.org
John Carroll to utilize former synagogue site
John Carroll University purchased Temple Emanu El’s former facility for an undisclosed amount earlier this year. For now, John Carroll will utilize the site’s five-acre lot to provide temporary off-campus parking for students, says university spokesperson Tonya Strong Charles.
To meet zoning requirements, the school will likely use the temple building for administrative or storage purposes, she adds. School officials may decide to demolish the facility and use the plot as a playing field/green space. The property’s long-term future is contingent upon the university’s reaching goals drawn up in its 20-year master plan.
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