Reform congregation breaks ground for new home in Mercer County
Participating in Har Sinai's ground-breaking ceremony are, from left,
Hopewell Borough councilman Paul Anzano, Diana Herman, Sen. Shirley
Turner, Marilyn Weinstein, construction chair Nancy LaPosta, U.S. Rep. Rush
Holt, Rabbi Stuart Pollack, Hopewell Township Mayor Vanessa Sandom,
and Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes. Photo by Lynn Schindel
A drenching rain was falling in Hopewell Township on April 27 as Har Sinai Hebrew Congregation prepared to break ground for its new home there.
But in the eyes of Rabbi Stuart Pollack, the outlook was excellent.
"In our tradition, pouring rain is a sign of blessing," Pollack said during an interview before the ceremony. "God has opened up the heavens to receive our prayers, and we will actualize our dreams and aspirations.
"We have been looking forward to this day for eight years, and now that it's here, it seems even more exciting," he said. "This ground-breaking is not only a physical breaking of new ground, it's a spiritual breaking of ground for this entire area."
The rabbi noted that Har Sinai would be one of the few synagogues and the only Reform congregation in the area. "On many different levels," he said, "we feel a tremendous appreciation for being able to establish ourselves here. Our hard work, determination, and steadfastness have brought us to this point."
As Pollack spoke, a steady stream of guests poured through the doors of the congregation's temporary quarters. The small building is at one corner of its 9.2-acre campus off Route 31 in the Pennington section of the township.
Since the 360-family Reform congregation left its historic temple in Trenton last winter, work has gone forward on the renovation and reconstruction of the 12,000-square-foot, two-story office building that anchors the new campus on Pennington Road. When completed, the building will house Har Sinai's administrative offices and a state-of-the-art, nine-classroom religious school, according to congregational president Marilyn Weinstein. It will also include a new 2,200-square-foot addition at the back of the building to house a social hall, an activities center, and a chapel that will serve as a temporary sanctuary.
During the transition, Har Sinai is conducting weekly Shabbat services at Ahavath Israel Congregation on Lower Ferry Road in Ewing; religious school classes are meeting at the Stony Brook Elementary School in Pennington.
"The goal is to have everything completed by early fall," Weinstein said. "I'm very excited and I just feel honored to be part of this very historic occasion for our synagogue. To be celebrating our 150th anniversary at the same time we're creating our new home – it couldn't be a better combination."
Cantor David Wisnia, a Holocaust survivor, said he had mixed feelings about the occasion.
"It's quite a milestone, and it's sad about leaving the other place, because that was my dream temple," he said. He described the stately old temple in Trenton as a miniature version of the Tlomackie Synagogue in Warsaw, where he sang some 70 years ago.
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said the important thing is that Har Sinai will be remaining in the county. "Our county still has so much vibrancy to it…and I think the congregation recognized that," he said. "I think it's going to be an absolutely beautiful temple. The designs I've seen are absolutely stunning."
State Sen. Shirley Turner of Ewing (D-Dist. 5) said she sees the presence of Har Sinai in Pennington, in close proximity to Pennsylvania, as "a win-win for everybody."
"I think it's highly significant, in view of the fact that it's the 150th anniversary of Har Sinai and also the fact that they were the first Jewish institution in central Jersey," Turner said. "So I think it's historic as well as very exciting that they'll be building a new building here."
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-District 12), a resident of Pennington, agreed.
"This is certainly an important day in the history of one of the major religious institutions of the region," Holt told the more than 50 people who had come together for the ground-breaking.
"It's also an important day for this township," he said. "We're so pleased that Har Sinai stayed in this region, because there's a need for it. There is a Jewish community yearning for a home."
Also on hand to celebrate the ground-breaking were Hopewell Township Mayor Vanessa Sandom and Diana Herman, past president of the New Jersey-West Hudson Valley Council of the Union for Reform Judaism.
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