January 20, 2006
Eitz Chaim synagogue to relocate
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
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Monroe - For two decades, Congregation Eitz Chaim has been situated where no one, except the rabbi, could walk to shul on the Sabbath: on a busy road with few houses, wedged between Kiryas Joel and ACE Farm.
But the Conservative Jewish congregation has bought land in Monroe for a new synagogue and hopes to create there a more traditional Jewish community, where members live nearby and obey the prohibition against driving on the Sabbath.
Its rabbi and lay leaders also hope in the process to build their membership by establishing Eitz Chaim as a congregation that draws traditional Jews from the New York City area.
"We'd like to become the destination for young Jewish families," said Rabbi Adam Kligfeld, who leads the congregation of roughly 135 families.
The new synagogue would be built on five acres the congregation bought three months ago at the corner of Reynolds and Still roads, on the outskirts of the Village of Monroe.
The village Planning Board is now reviewing the plans. The building size will depend on how much money the congregation raises, although Kligfeld said he hopes for a structure of 9,000 to 10,000 square feet that feels both "informal and friendly" and "just a bit lofty."
Walking to shul on the Sabbath goes without saying for the congregation's neighbors in the Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel. But the Conservative movement lifted its own restriction on driving in the 1950s as people moved from cities to suburbs and found themselves more spread out, Kligfeld said.
With its new building, Congregation Eitz Chaim hopes to restore what Kligfeld called a "Sabbath community."
From a pedestrian standpoint, only 10 to 15 Eitz Chaim members live within a mile of the new synagogue site. But the surrounding area is awaiting a torrent of housing construction that could bring with it new members. Just across Reynolds Road, ground has been cleared for the 60-home Woodroe Estates. On nearby Rye Hill Road, 104 McMansions are rising in The Estates of Briarcliff. In all, 349 new homes are being built or are awaiting approval.
Until a new synagogue is built, Eitz Chaim will remain in the 7,000-square-foot building it has occupied on Route 105 since the mid-80s. Its leaders hope to move into their new shul by late summer of next year.
