by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer

November 13, 2008

After two years of work and a cost of more than $13 million dollars, Congregation Agudath Israel of West Essex will dedicate its newly renovated synagogue on Nov. 23.

The completed renovation includes a wing of adult and student classrooms, an expanded social hall, and a sanctuary adorned with Jerusalem stone and stained-glass windows handcrafted by a member.

“We needed more space,” said Arthur Cohen, who was the Caldwell synagogue’s executive director from 1995 until his retirement in February, and who watched the congregation grow from 700 to 950 families.

“The nursery school was outdated and the sanctuary was overcrowded,” he said. “We used to have about 300 people every Shabbos morning — not counting any bar or bat mitzvas — and we were outgrowing the space. It was not that we were looking to grow the membership but just to accommodate the existing membership.”

The renovation expanded CAI’s interior from 35,000 to 55,000 square feet and added a third story to house its nursery school.

“We knocked down the sanctuary and built one that is the perfect size. We are now able to seat 1,550 in one service — that is a big chunk,” said Rabbi Alan Silverstein, who in 2009 will celebrate his 30th year as religious leader as the congregation turns 90.

The rebuilding project did not come without controversy.

“When you get 900 Jews together you get 5,000 opinions,” said Cohen. “But it was approved by the membership and we went forward. There were issues, not problems but issues.”

Construction plans had to be approved by town authorities. Neighbors’ qualms over increased noise and traffic had to be overcome.

Contractors and steel suppliers had to cope with challenging designs for circular buildings that would house the religious school and the sanctuary.

The congregation also settled a lawsuit it brought against the builders to ensure that the classrooms would be completed by the start of the 2008-09 school year and the sanctuary finished before the High Holy Day season began in late September.

The revitalized building “is synagogue as community center,” said Bill Lipsey, the Livingston resident who is the congregation’s current president. “It is more than a place to pray. It is a place to live. It will affect our community for the next four or five generations, who will love and raise their children and socialize and learn and experience life as a Jewish community.”

Away from home

In 1919, CAI started off as the Jewish League of Caldwell, “a tiny little congregation,” said Silverstein.

In 1951, as the area’s Jewish population expanded, the synagogue moved to its present site and some 150 families became 250; the name change occurred in 1960. There was another growth spurt — from 300 families to 550 — when Silverstein arrived in 1979.

In 2006, with 900 families, CAI began raising funds to pay for the vast renovation.

“The formative idea for rebuilding the physical structure,” said Lipsey, “came from the Irene Edelstein,” the North Caldwell resident and former CAI president who played an integral role in conceiving the need for reconstruction and expansion.

“Not only did the idea come from Irene, but the passion and energy and drive to make it acceptable,” said Lipsey. “So much of the design of the building that ended up in the final plan came from her.”

Edelstein, however, did not live to see her inspiration become reality; she died in February 2007 at the age of 57.

“During the seven years she worked on it, she was sick about half the time,” said her husband, Eric. “She would bail out for two or three months at a time, and she actually missed the ground breaking.” Her legacy, he said, is commemorated in the synagogue’s social hall and promenade, which have been named in her honor.

Once the renovation work began, alternative venues had to be found for activities.

“That was tough,” for a congregation whose members pride themselves on their strong community spirit and attachment to their synagogue “home,” said the rabbi.

But even without their home base, “we did much better than we feared would be the case,” Silverstein said. “We grew adult learning substantially. We intensified our teen program. We concentrated on things we could do without a building.”

At Caldwell’s Grover Cleveland Middle School — just down the road from the synagogue — they rented classrooms for the religious school and the auditorium for Shabbat services.

In the summer, they relocated to the Caldwell Women’s Club for services and the United Methodist Church of Caldwell — across the street from the synagogue — for classroom space.

The synagogue installed five temporary modular structures at Justus Buick, a vacant car dealership, where meetings, classes, and the daily minyan were held.

“All of the places were all extremely cooperative,” Cohen said.

So, too, were the synagogue’s non-Jewish neighbors on the side streets off Bloomfield Avenue.

“We invited them in to explain what the project would be about and why it would be better for the neighborhood,” said Michael Simon, who served as CAI president from July 2005 to June 2007 and was “very involved” in the renovation process.

“We installed water seepage systems that would help water runoff and we created two dozen additional parking spots off the street,” he said. “We always tried to keep an open door and an open-phone policy with the neighbors. We tried to communicate the best we could.”

Richard Hammerman, who became CAI executive director a year ago, said the toughest part was “smiling through it all.”

Hammerman said he feels “a great sense of satisfaction that so many people have given not just their funds, but their handiwork and their time and planning. “It is an edifice built not just for means of glorifying God; it is a building for Jews to come together to celebrate being Jewish.”

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