“Dine on onions, but have a home. Subtract from your diet and add to your dwelling,” said Rabbi Judah ben Ilai in the Talmud tractate dealing with Passover (Pesachim 114a).
No Milwaukee Jewish community institutions are in such difficult circumstances that they have to “dine on onions.” But in keeping with part of this rabbi’s aphorism, many area Jewish institutions are adding to or remodeling their “dwellings,” seeking to build new ones or planning for future projects.
In fact, Milwaukee Jewry appears to be experiencing a building boom, as the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, several synagogues and other community institutions are, or soon will be, erecting or renovating structures, to better serve the community.
The MJF owns the Karl Jewish Community Campus, home to seven community agencies. As Betty Lieberman, MJF director of capital building projects, explained, construction has started and is continuing on the south building, home of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center. That segment is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2007, she said.
Moreover, she said, this summer, the builders will break ground for the addition to the north building on the campus, which houses two Jewish day schools (Milwaukee Jewish Day School and Hillel Academy), the Children’s Lubavitch Living and Learning Center, and, presently, the Coalition for Jewish Learning.
But that’s not all. This summer, the agencies inhabiting the MJF-owned Helfaer Community Services Building — the federation itself, plus the Milwaukee Jewish Historical Society, the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations and the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle — will move to temporary offices to accommodate major remodeling in that building.
The plans here call for redesigned office spaces on the second and third floors and the creation of an exhibit space for the historical society in what is now the first floor, Lieberman said. Construction will take six to nine months.
Synagogue showcases
Several Milwaukee-area synagogues have construction projects planned or taking place, from remodeling to erection of new buildings.
Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha is undergoing renovations, which The Chronicle described in its Jan. 13 issue. Spiritual leader Rabbi Steven H. Adams said the project is “really moving quickly” and in fact is “running a little ahead of schedule,” so that “the bulk of it will be functional and working — by the third week in April.”
Adams added that the synagogue is planning a dedication ceremony this fall before the High Holidays.
Last week, Congregation Shalom began creating what executive director Marc S. Cohen called, “An enhancement for safety and comfort of our members and guests.”
This will be a canopy over the existing sanctuary entrance, to be called the Ungar-Schick Portico. This gift from Bunny and George Kennedy, parents of Shalom president Nancy Kennedy Barnett, will enable cars to let out and pick up passengers without the passengers getting rained or snowed on, Cohen said. It is scheduled for completion in June.
Shalom also will be remodeling one of its women’s rooms and creating an additional office space, Cohen said.
Congregation Sinai at this writing is “about half done” with the four additions it is making to its building, according to John Mann, construction manager and co-chair of the design committee.
These additions will include a new worship and learning space and a new library; a foyer on top of a new youth lounge; an extension the social hall; and a kitchen, Mann said.
He added that Sinai is also doing extensive office remodeling and adding an elevator for handicapped accessibility. He also said the synagogue hopes to have all of this finished by the coming High Holidays.
The Chronicle printed an article in the March 3 issue about the renovations that began in February at Congregation Beth Israel. These will focus mainly on the synagogue’s social hall, entryway and sanctuary, but ultimately will affect every aspect of the building.
The plans here also call for completion by the coming High Holidays.
Two other synagogues are in the planning stages for future construction. Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun has been working with local architect Phillip Katz, who has “particular expertise on Jewish worship space,” said Sandra Kohler Stern, Emanu-El president.
With Katz, Emanu-El will “develop a concept for an expansion that will provide us with efficient and multifunctional space at our Joseph and Vera Zilber campus” on Brown Deer Road in River Hills, she said.
“We are hoping that a plan can be presented within four to six months,” she said.
The Shul, the small suburban Orthodox synagogue affiliated with Chabad of Wisconsin, is also planning for the construction of its new building on Brown Deer Road in Bayside, said spiritual leader Rabbi Shmaya Shmotkin.
“Now we are in the midst of pinpointing the exact scope of the project, as well as securing the lead gifts,” he said. “We hope to break ground within the next 12 months.”
Camp and care
Other institutions are building as well. At the Albert and Ann Deshur JCC Rainbow Day Camp, the 20-room Daniel M. Soref Education and Retreat Center is under construction and is scheduled for completion by June 1.
While the camp operates only during the summer, the new facility will be “a year-round” operation, said Mark Shapiro, associate executive director of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center.
This facility could host synagogue retreats and Shabbatones, overnight trips for Jewish schools, family simchas, business retreats and many other functions, Shapiro said. “We see this facility as supporting the entire Jewish community,” he said.
Finally, the Milwaukee Jewish Home and Care Center will be completely gutting and renovating the four resident floors of its building on Prospect Avenue, said JHCC president Mina Tepper.
Last November, it moved the entire resident population to the former Mequon Care Center facility on N. Port Washington Road in Mequon. At present, the building is being inspected to make sure it complies with environmental safety regulations, Tepper said.
Once that is done, the demolition of the interior will begin in mid-April and construction will begin in May. “Our goal is to return in the fall of 2007,” Tepper said.
Tepper had a general observation to make about all the construction going on or being planned.
“It speaks volumes regarding the vitality of the Milwaukee Jewish community,” she said.
“It almost appears as though the entire spectrum of the community is undergoing revitalization.”
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