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Beth El Congregation marching to new site

7/5/2012 - West Side Leader
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By Kathleen Folkerth

Rabbi Stephen Grundfast holds one of five Torahs that members of the Beth El Congregation will march to Beth El’s new site at the Shaw Jewish Community Center July 15.
Photo: Kathleen Folkerth
WEST AKRON — A mile-long procession will help Beth El Congregation mark a new beginning in its history July 15.

The Jewish congregation’s members will march that morning from Beth El’s longtime campus on South Hawkins Avenue to the Shaw Jewish Community Center (JCC), 750 White Pond Drive, where it will now be based.

The ceremonial walk comes after the congregation, which has been at its current site since 1951, decided to sell its property. Summit Academy, which operates community schools for students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Asperger’s syndrome, has purchased the property and will move its secondary school to the Hawkins site.

Rabbi Stephen Grundfast said the congregation supported the plan, which was done to keep the organization financially stable, as well as bring the local Jewish community closer together.

“It was the responsible thing to do,” Grundfast said.

Congregation President Andrea Steinberger, of Bath, who has attended the synagogue her entire life, said younger members of the Akron Jewish community have expressed an interest in having a more concentrated community.

In the past few weeks, the congregation has moved its office to the Shaw JCC, and after July 15 it will use the center’s small conference room for its services.

After a capital campaign, the congregation plans to fund a small addition to the room, Steinberger said, and ground could break for that as soon as next year.

Grundfast said the Shaw JCC’s leadership has been very welcoming and supportive of the move.

“This will bring more Jewish life to that facility,” he said.

The change is actually bringing the synagogue back to its roots, Grundfast noted. When it began as Congregation Anshe Emeth around 1918, it was located on Balch Street, which was also the original site of the JCC in Akron.

Still, the move is bittersweet for members and Grundfast, who has been at the synagogue for eight years. His daughter was married in the sanctuary not long ago.

Stained glass windows from that part of the building have been removed and are being stored for use in the future. Also, a large Don Drumm wall hanging has been removed and will be used after the move. Surplus items were auctioned off.

“It’s a mammoth task to go through a building that’s over 60 years old,” Grundfast said. “It’s like we’re going from a five-bedroom home to a one-bedroom apartment.”

On July 15, the congregation will hold its last service in the building at 8:30 a.m. At 9, participants will gather and start their walk to the Shaw JCC around 9:15, Steinberger said.

Congregation leaders will carry five sacred Torah scrolls that will be protected by needlepoint covers depicting the Creation that were made by members in 2007.

Participants can walk or ride bikes or bring strollers, Steinberger added. There also will be the city of Akron’s trolley available for those who can’t make the 1.3-mile walk. Others are invited to meet the marchers at the JCC to welcome them, she said.

Once the Torahs arrive at the new site, they will be placed in the Holy Ark, and Grundfast will lead everyone in a blessing of gratitude. Mezzuzot, which are small decorative cases containing hand-lettered biblical passages on parchment, will be put on the doorposts at the prayer space.

The day also will include the viewing of a video documentary, “Beth El — Treasuring our Past, Building our Future” that includes more than 25 interviews with past leaders, as well as scenes from throughout the South Hawkins building.

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