Congregation Eitz Chaim celebrates its grand opening in Monroe

MONROE — Children and their parents gathered in the far corner of the newly paved parking lot at Congregation Eitz Chaim in Monroe last Sunday, ready for Rabbi Adam Kligfeld’s signal to begin their short trek into their new home. And when that signal was given, the crowd broke out in song and dance as teenagers proudly carried the synagogue’s torahs — the most important documents in Judaism — under a chuppa, or canopy, to the building’s entrance. Young and old alike held hands and danced the horah — a Jewish folk dance — as cameras feverishly clicked to commemorate the occasion. It was four years in the making, and Sunday was finally the synagogue’s grand opening. Among those waiting at the entrance was 92-year-old Ida Marshall of Monroe, one of the synagogue’s original congregants. Wearing a brown jacket and tan hat, Marshall held a 36-year-old framed black and white photograph of her late husband Jack and others carrying torahs, also protected by chuppas, into the congregation’s first official home on Spring Street in Monroe during its 1972 opening. It was Marshall’s third occasion to witness a building dedication for Eitz Chaim and she was thrilled to be there. In fact she was so happy that she spontaneously, and without assistance, danced little jig, gleefully holding up the photo for others to see. Marshall wanted congregants to know the people who preceded them also performed the same rituals they performed that day. “I was very excited,” said Marshall. “To have reached this point ... where we came from such a little place and to move into such an exquisite place like this building. We’ve come a long way.” The 15,000-square foot, $3 million synagogue replaces its old 7,000-square foot facility on Route 105 in Monroe, said Kligfeld. The congregation had moved there in mid-1980s after it had outgrown its Spring St. location. In 2004, planning and fund raising began as membership grew. Today, 145 families are Eitz Chaim members, and during Sunday’s open house festivities, eight more families joined the conservative congregation, which is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. After the torahs arrived at the temple’s entrance, congregation members gathered on two parallel lines—-one for adults and one for children — and gently passed the religious scrolls to each until they reached the front of the sanctuary. There, they were placed in the ark (where torahs are stored), featuring a door emblazoned with a tree of life, or eitz chaim, as a blue stained glass Star of David sparkled from above the stone-lined wall. “People worked hard and gave of themselves, and they’re very devoted,” said Marshall. “It’s hard to relate to a person how this is our second home.” Kligfeld estimated more than 500 people attended Sunday’s grand opening, which included additional ceremonies and the public unveiling the temple’s social hall for weddings and bar and bat mitzvah banquets, as well as its shul, or sanctuary, designed by a Philadelphia-based firm specializing in synagogue sanctuary design. “It was a big day, with lots of things going on,” he said. “And, we’re going to build on that energy and keep the enthusiasm building. I have great joy and optimism for the future of our little congregation and the future of our Jewish community.” Kligfeld’s short terms plans are to develop programs and services “which match the expanse of the building,” he explained. That includes new programs for families and young couples. David Brunner, synagogue president, looked forward to providing these programs in the new house of worship. “It was always a dream of ours to have a full-service synagogue,” said Brunner. “For us to have this is literally a dream come true. We’re happy to be in the middle of the village and we’re happy that we can be neighbors of other religious institutions.” Kligfeld acknowledged the warm and positive reception Eitz Chaim has received from those religious institutions and was appreciative of the support of the Monroe Clergy Association. The Rev. Dwayne Mau, clergy association convener, and administrative pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, now a down-the-road neighbor of Eitz Chaim, was one of the speakers during the afternoon ceremony. “It’s a very special relationship,” said Kligfeld. “I find there is a level of friendship and camaraderie with the ministers and priests, and it’s not just lip service. There’s a deep sense that despite language differences and belief structure differences, we all stand for moderate and open-minded spiritual peace.” At the morning dedication, Marshall was full of happiness and pride. “I was there for the birth of the baby,” Marshall said, referring to the days prior to the opening of the Spring Street synagogue, when the people simply gathered in area homes to worship, then to its old Spring St. location and its previous Route 105 site. “And now, I’ve seen it grow.”