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When Peter Greenberg closes the door to the Beth Shalom synagogue for the last time on Sunday, he will be saying goodbye to a lifetime of memories.
But while the building will be left behind to a new owner, the congregation will live on in a new location to practise faith and mark life’s poignant moments.
“My parents were married there, I had my bar mitzvah there, and we’ve really been there since the beginning,” said Greenberg, president of Beth Shalom. “Now we are entering into a transition phase.”
After 60 years as a hub for the downtown Jewish community, the property at 151-153 Chapel St. at the corner of Rideau Street was sold to a developer in 2013 and will be transformed into a mixed-use project that will include retail and condos. The congregants will be moving west to a temporary home at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre at the end of the month. They have a one-year lease and they’re searching for a new, permanent home. Anything of religious, historical or sentimental nature will be transferred or stored.
“We are a congregation that is not closing shop, we are moving from one part of the city, a very traditional part of the city, to another part of the city, but the congregation is staying intact,” said Greenberg.
Large Torahs are the centrepiece of the main prayer area. Beth Shalom is closing its doors March 29 after 60 years of worship.
Attendance at the downtown building declined in recent years as many members moved to west-end neighbourhoods. While the synagogue could accommodate around 750 visitors, other than high holidays, the majority of services would be closer to a couple hundred.
With dwindling numbers and rising costs, the congregation sold the synagogue property to Trinity Properties Investments Inc., the same investors involved in the Lansdowne Park redevelopment and in the bid to further develop LeBreton Flats.
The plan at the corner of Rideau and Chapel streets calls for a mixed-use project that will include 80,000 square feet of retail space with 650,000 square feet of residential space, set to open in 2017. The major tenant is expected to be a food store that will take up 35,000 square feet.
The congregation is planning celebrations this weekend to mark the official closing. On Sunday, Cantor Daniel Benlolo will lead a 10-kilometre procession to move the synagogue’s holy Torah scrolls from their sacred ark to their new home at the JCC.
The march will begin at 10 a.m. when members and local dignitaries will gather outside to begin the ceremonial procession with the scroll and synagogue’s mezuzah (a small encased scroll) which, as per Jewish tradition, will be affixed to the door of their new temporary home.
Not all congregants will walk the entire route, with many choosing to join in at different points along the way. The Torah will be passed from person to person every 50 to 100 metres along the route.
“It gives everybody an opportunity to participate in taking the Torah from one place to another,” said Greenberg. “In doing it this way, everybody has a chance to move the sacred scrolls from downtown to the west end.”
Worship shawls are carefully laid out in a wooden cabinet at the front of the synagogue. Beth Shalom is closing its doors March 29 after 60 years of worship.
***
The route: Starting at 151 Chapel St. at 10 a.m. and expect to arrive at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre at 21 Nadolny Sachs Pt. around 1 p.m. (weather permitting).
Here are the details:
South on Chapel Street between the Congregation Beth Shalom of Ottawa (151 Chapel Street) and Laurier Avenue;
West on Laurier Avenue between Chapel Street and Elgin Street;
North on Elgin Street between Laurier Avenue and Wellington Street;
West on Wellington Street between Elgin Street and Lyon Street;
South on Lyon Street between Wellington Street and Albert Street;
West on Albert Street between Lyon Street and Preston Street;
South on Preston Street between Albert Street and Carling Avenue;
West on Carling Avenue between Preston Street and Broadview Avenue;
North on Broadview between Carling Avenue and the Soloway JCC.
查看原文...
But while the building will be left behind to a new owner, the congregation will live on in a new location to practise faith and mark life’s poignant moments.
“My parents were married there, I had my bar mitzvah there, and we’ve really been there since the beginning,” said Greenberg, president of Beth Shalom. “Now we are entering into a transition phase.”
After 60 years as a hub for the downtown Jewish community, the property at 151-153 Chapel St. at the corner of Rideau Street was sold to a developer in 2013 and will be transformed into a mixed-use project that will include retail and condos. The congregants will be moving west to a temporary home at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre at the end of the month. They have a one-year lease and they’re searching for a new, permanent home. Anything of religious, historical or sentimental nature will be transferred or stored.
“We are a congregation that is not closing shop, we are moving from one part of the city, a very traditional part of the city, to another part of the city, but the congregation is staying intact,” said Greenberg.
Large Torahs are the centrepiece of the main prayer area. Beth Shalom is closing its doors March 29 after 60 years of worship.
Attendance at the downtown building declined in recent years as many members moved to west-end neighbourhoods. While the synagogue could accommodate around 750 visitors, other than high holidays, the majority of services would be closer to a couple hundred.
With dwindling numbers and rising costs, the congregation sold the synagogue property to Trinity Properties Investments Inc., the same investors involved in the Lansdowne Park redevelopment and in the bid to further develop LeBreton Flats.
The plan at the corner of Rideau and Chapel streets calls for a mixed-use project that will include 80,000 square feet of retail space with 650,000 square feet of residential space, set to open in 2017. The major tenant is expected to be a food store that will take up 35,000 square feet.
The congregation is planning celebrations this weekend to mark the official closing. On Sunday, Cantor Daniel Benlolo will lead a 10-kilometre procession to move the synagogue’s holy Torah scrolls from their sacred ark to their new home at the JCC.
The march will begin at 10 a.m. when members and local dignitaries will gather outside to begin the ceremonial procession with the scroll and synagogue’s mezuzah (a small encased scroll) which, as per Jewish tradition, will be affixed to the door of their new temporary home.
Not all congregants will walk the entire route, with many choosing to join in at different points along the way. The Torah will be passed from person to person every 50 to 100 metres along the route.
“It gives everybody an opportunity to participate in taking the Torah from one place to another,” said Greenberg. “In doing it this way, everybody has a chance to move the sacred scrolls from downtown to the west end.”
Worship shawls are carefully laid out in a wooden cabinet at the front of the synagogue. Beth Shalom is closing its doors March 29 after 60 years of worship.
***
The route: Starting at 151 Chapel St. at 10 a.m. and expect to arrive at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre at 21 Nadolny Sachs Pt. around 1 p.m. (weather permitting).
Here are the details:
South on Chapel Street between the Congregation Beth Shalom of Ottawa (151 Chapel Street) and Laurier Avenue;
West on Laurier Avenue between Chapel Street and Elgin Street;
North on Elgin Street between Laurier Avenue and Wellington Street;
West on Wellington Street between Elgin Street and Lyon Street;
South on Lyon Street between Wellington Street and Albert Street;
West on Albert Street between Lyon Street and Preston Street;
South on Preston Street between Albert Street and Carling Avenue;
West on Carling Avenue between Preston Street and Broadview Avenue;
North on Broadview between Carling Avenue and the Soloway JCC.
查看原文...
