2007 - United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Council are described below. We hope you will agree that these considerable community efforts at Adas Israel merit a
2007 Solomon Schechter Award.
HONORABLE MENTION
THE CONSERVATIVE SYNAGOGUE
250-500 Westport, CT
Submitted by Allison Narins 203-454-4673
In the years 2005 through 2007, four women— Wendy Cohen, Julie Haroun, Allison Narins, and Sheri Warshaw—
alternately have taken the reigns of the Social Action or Tikkun Olam Committee at The Conservative Synagogue. Each
woman brought her own personal flair for community service and each added her special details to this important
committee and its programming. Some of the programs took place on a monthly basis and others were an annual
tradition, but all had a link for providing the common good, not only to our local communities but also those needy
neighbors abroad.
“Partnership” was the Tikkun Olam Committee buzzword for 2005 and became a tradition for 2006 through
2007 and we hope for many years to come. The Tikkun Olam Committee aimed to develop special bonds with all of the
Tikkun Olam recipients (most important being those chosen for TCS’s Mitzvah Day focus) by creating special
“partnerships” to help them not only immediately but also to encourage these groups to call on us at any time in the
future should their needs arise. TCS was very successful in developing our partnership with each Mitzvah Day recipient
and have maintained incredibly special relationships with all of them, The George Washington Carver Center (2005),
The Interfaith Housing Association of Westport (2006) and Habitat for Humanity (2007). Mitzvah Day each year
provides TCS with the perfect platform for the general building ‘fix ups’ needed and as a home base for package
assembly of delivery projects (for example, school backpacks, non-perishable meals, fresh start kits). The TCS giving
goes way beyond Mitzvah Day through different programming such as preparing and serving meals to those in our local
shelter and launching a gently used cell phone drive to aid victims of domestic violence; our giving continues with
donations of monies raised from our annual Share the Pie fundraiser.
The Tikkun Olam Committee members were always happy to welcome our synagogue professionals and
administrators aboard when they were available and thrilled to touch so many TCS members, young and old, on so
many levels. Not only did our committee partner with our Tikkun Olam recipients but with many other synagogue
committees as well. The TCS Sisterhood and Brotherhood, Religious School and Preschool were all instrumental to the
success of all of our programs, not to mention the many congregants who participated in our success. Judging by the
degree of press coverage and further written thanks, our Tikkun Olam Committee can be proud of all that our
synagogue has accomplished in this community service arena.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
GOLD
TEMPLE BETH EL
250-500 Allentown, PA
Submitted by Rance Block 610-435-3521
Temple Beth El (Allentown, PA) relocated to its new facility in January 2006. Although the actual building of the
facility is recent, the planning for the relocation of Temple Beth El was a plan that spanned the course of eighteen years.
The submission to follow includes information from a historical perspective of development through the completion of
the project. This submission includes the formation of a long range planning committee, a feasibility study,
congregational survey, the report of the long range planning committee, needs assessment, minutes from congregational
meetings, the formation of a building steering committee, and other communications, all of which that brought us to our
ultimate goal... .a new home for Temple Beth El.
In 1988, the administration of Temple Beth El developed a long-range plan for the viability of the
congregation. The existing facility was approaching 50 years of age and was in need of major refurbishment. The
synagogue was not located near where the congregants resided and the facility no longer met the programmatic needs of
the congregation. A Long Range Planning Committee was appointed and charged with examining the cost of
refurbishment and expansion of the existing facility to meet the programmatic needs of the congregation. After
obtaining estimates that exceeded $3M for additional space and refurbishment, the committee decided to examine the
costs of relocating the facility to a location that was central to where the congregants resided. Additionally, the