“The energy is really there.”
That’s how Rabbi Stuart Kelman characterized the plans of his synagogue — Congregation Netivot Shalom of Berkeley — to build a home of its own.
Since closing a deal on property on University Avenue in May, synagogue members have been moving quickly to make their dream a reality.
As the new Netivot will be built in place of the old Jay Vee Liquors, which used to attract a lot of underage kids trying to buy alcohol, neighbors have welcomed the shul with open arms.
Discussions are ongoing with a Montessori school next door on how the neighboring institutions can benefit one another.
“They have an outside play space which we could use as well as patio space, and we will have a large indoor space they could use,” said Kelman. The fact that the synagogue is busiest on Sundays, when the school is not in session, and that the school is busiest during the weekdays, when activities at the synagogue are quieter, works well for both.
Three congregants have been working on the architectural plans.
Blair Prentice, an architect who was involved in drawing up the plans, described how the transformation will take place.
“We will raise the whole roof about five feet, which is enough to get a second floor in,” he said.
In addition, a section of the roof will be raised further, “to create a dramatic focal point for the sanctuary.”
To shield the synagogue from the noise of busy University Avenue, “we’re creating a kind of layered space between the building and the street with courtyard walls and trellises and rows of trees,” added Prentice.
In all, Prentice said that turning a liquor store into a shul is difficult — but not as difficult as one might think.
“It’s a challenge,” he said. “It’s not a distinguished building, but because of that, it gave us the freedom to create something much better than what it is, and adapt it more completely to our own needs.”
Had the building started out as a church, it would have been more complicated, he said, as “people would look at it and think ‘church.'”
The 12-year-old congregation now rents office space in North Berkeley and holds services at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center.
With plans for the new building under way, Kelman is in the process of learning new duties as the spiritual leader of an urban congregation.
He has started attending meetings of the Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action, a group of interfaith clergy members that gathers regularly.
Career counseling and feeding the homeless are two issues that the congregations are involved in, said Kelman. “It’s fascinating to see what will emerge as our responsibility to the community and to Berkeley. We’re just at the beginning stages of that.”
With all these exciting developments, it is easy to forget that the congregation, with a membership of 380 families, still needs to raise $2 million to make its goal a reality. It has already raised $2.6 million, since its capital campaign was kicked off.
“In about one year, we raised more than half the funds necessary; that’s the good news,” said Kelman. But the bad news is “we’ve still got more to go.”
Nevertheless, said the rabbi, “we’re tremendously excited about this. We’re really excited about the progress that we’ve made, and more importantly, the energy the congregation has, in helping us help themselves to achieve their goals of creating this new home of our own.”
Congregants Joseph Meresman and David Finn have been spearheading the building design and development committee, with Meresman overseeing the building itself, and Finn ensuring that the plans pass all city codes.
Noting that almost all the planning work has been undertaken by volunteers from the synagogue, Meresman said there are other congregants just waiting to help out.
While Netivot Shalom has always been known as a participatory congregation, the effort surrounding the new building is taking that idea to a new level, said Meresman.
“This is very much a project to expand the definition of what it is that we participate in and what it means to be a member,” said Meresman. “We’re not buying a house, we’re building a home.”