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July 16, 2010
A door closes, another opens
Shaarey Tefilah is leaving a lasting legacy, through several gifts.
BASYA LAYE
The opening of a new synagogue anywhere in the world is grounds for a grand community celebration. But rarely is joy found in the closing of one. However, Shaarey Tefilah, a Modern Orthodox congregation established 15 years ago and housed on West 16th Avenue in Vancouver until last year, has found a way to have an enduring positive impact.
“It was a very emotional process to close the shul,” Dr. Art Hayes wrote in an e-mail to the Independent. Hayes served as president for several years, and said the closure was particularly difficult “for those members who were intimately involved and had worked so long and diligently in its creation. It had become a vital part of the lives of many people and its closure left an irreplaceable void.” Though it was “anticipated for a period of a year or more,” he continued, “it was during this time that the remaining membership expressed its overwhelming desire to utilize the remaining assets of Congregation Shaarey Tefilah to continue its good name in perpetuity as a force for the advancement of Judaism in the Vancouver Jewish community.”
To this end, Shaarey Tefilah embarked on the process of tying up loose ends and deciding on how best to leave a legacy in the community.
“Since the dispersal of the assets could not take place until the closure of the synagogue,” Hayes shared, “the responsibility was delegated to a committee who acted according to the wishes of the congregation.”
Four community institutions shared in the gifts, which consisted of a valuable library of Jewish texts and holy books, Torah scrolls and an ark, proceeds from the sale of the building and a set of wooden pews.
King David High School received the synagogue’s Judaic library, which includes volumes of “Talmud, siddurim, chumashim [and other] Judaica which is a tremendous contribution to KDHS’s Judaic texts,” wrote KDHS principal Russ Klein and executive director Dan Shmilovitch in an e-mail to the Independent. The entire Shaarey Tefilah library was donated and the school also received two Torah scrolls and the shul’s bimah, all of which are on permanent loan to the school.
In addition to the immediate gifts, an endowment fund was established at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver to fund three annual scholarships for Jewish studies excellence in senior grades and scholarships for students who need tuition assistance. The congregation wanted “to support Jewish high school education in Vancouver and the setting up of the endowment at JCFGV was felt to be the best way to accomplish that goal,” wrote Klein and Shmilovitch.
The impact of these donations to the KDHS community is great, Klein and Shmilovitch stressed, having “increased access to Judaic texts and resources to provide additional support to Jewish studies,” resources, the gentlemen wrote, that will “assist KDHS staff in their class preparations, as well as students in their research and studies.”
Students will have the opportunity to conduct more formal prayer services with access to Torah scrolls, they added, just one more facet in the school’s efforts “to continue to develop as a community educational institution, with the opportunity to make KDHS available to the school’s parent body and to the greater Jewish community with the use of KDHS as a rental facility for bar and bat mitzvah celebrations.”
Chabad of Richmond received Shaarey Tefilah’s aron kodesh, “an incredible gift to our community,” said Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman in an e-mail interview. “We are very grateful to the members of the board as well as the members at large that gifted this beautiful piece of art to Chabad. We are especially thankful to Dr. Art Hayes and Mr. Roman Raivich.”
Chabad of Richmond dedicated the aron kodesh on a Shabbat in late January, also taking the time to honor the board and former members of Shaarey Tefilah.
“Since we received the ark,” wrote Baitelman, “we have added 12 beautiful stained glass windows, depicting the 12 tribes. These windows were created by artisans Lynne Fader, Sharon Sagorin and Kathy Tobin. The aron is now the focal point of the shul, [replacing] a makeshift ark that we had for many years ... an entertainment centre modified to fit the sifrei Torah.”
The Lubavitch Centre in Vancouver was the beneficiary of “18 beautiful wooden pews,” wrote Rabbi Yitzchak Wineberg in an e-mail. “These pews were locally built, and are of exceptional quality. Originally donated by Allan Blumenfald, these pews were incorporated into the seating plan of the Harry Fugman Sanctuary, and everyone comments on how well they fit into the shul – even that the color of the wood is perfectly matched to the decor of the beautiful sanctuary. A kiddush lunch was held at the Lubavitch Centre to express appreciation to the board members of the shul.”
Hayes said the decision of how to disburse the gifts was “determined by a need for the items.... The gift to King David was a board decision made before the closure of the shul. In the board’s opinion, the Jewish high school is a vital force in the future of our community and most worthy of our support.”
While it was difficult to see the shul close, Hayes said, “Shaarey Tefilah, in its time, was a positive influence in the lives of some hundred families who willingly helped create a unique religious community. Some had no previous Jewish affiliation; many were immigrants who found a new home away from home, which helped them integrate into the community. It was a user-friendly shul, with a softer image of observant Judaism, where members found a comfort level for religious experience. This had a positive impact on the former members of Shaarey Tefilah, since almost all have continued to be part of a religious community. If for no other reason, this could be the lasting impact of Shaarey Tefilah.”
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