Date: Fri 26-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Adath-Israel-Synagogue

Full Text:

Adath Israel Congregation Makes Plans For A New Synagogue

(with drawing)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

Nearly 80 years ago farmer Israel Nezvesky, an immigrant from Russia, donated

a small piece from the 100 acres of land he owned along Huntingtown Road in

Newtown to be used as the site of a synagogue. The temple was named Adath

Israel -- House of Israel.

It was a small temple, built with a $600 mortgage from Newtown Savings Bank.

There was no running water and the wood-frame building was heated by a

pot-bellied stove.

In the late 1950's, the size of the building was doubled when it was raised

from its foundation and a lower floor was constructed to house the

congregation's Hebrew and Sunday schools. A kitchen, indoor plumbing and

heating were installed.

But the size of the congregation has more than doubled in the years since

then, forcing the schools to operate on double sessions. The congregation

overflows the sanctuary, especially on the holidays.

So after nearly two decades of planning, the congregation is taking steps to

bring to fruition the long-held dream of building a larger house of worship.

Dr Henry Danziger, chairman of the building committee and president of the

synagogue, said constructing a larger synagogue on land the congregation owns

nearby is something that would be needed even if the town's population wasn't

growing so fast.

"The temple is quite old -- more than 75 years -- so it isn't a modern

structure," he explained. "It isn't air conditioned. It's on a small piece of

property and most of the parking is across the street on a 1«acre lot that was

donated to the congregation."

The 80 children who come for religious classes must cross through traffic on

the road, a hazard which will be remedied by the planned building project.

"Even if we didn't get another new member, we would do this project now," Dr

Danziger said. "But trying to build a new synagogue is a huge project for a

small congregation."

A Country Synagogue

The congregation has about 100 members including 60 families. The cost of the

new synagogue, not including furniture, is estimated at $700,000 to $750,000.

The new temple will be built "two doors down" on an empty two-acre lot owned

by the congregation. The property between the existing synagogue and the

planned building is owned by a member of the congregation and holds three

rental houses on an irregularly shaped lot.

The synagogue will be "very country" in design, Dr Danziger said.

"It will be an elegantly designed, small synagogue that will blend in with the

neighborhood. We aren't talking about marble and brick. We found an architect

(Levin/Brown & Associates of Owings Mills, Md) that specializes in synagogues

and have borrowed design elements from old country synagogues like those in

places like Poland."

The design is still in the planning stages but proposed plans show an

8,000-square-foot building that is one-story high on the side facing the road,

but has a walk-out lower level on the rear. The building will be faced in

vinyl siding to look like wood, yet requiring little maintenance.

The new temple will be at least 50 percent larger than the existing temple, Dr

Danziger said, but about 1,500-square feet of the lower level will be left

unfinished to keep the initial building costs down.

"It will be done in stages," he said.

There will be 42 parking spaces, as required by the building code, and all

will be off the street adjacent to the new temple.

"We won't be impacting the existing traffic pattern," Dr Danziger said. "It

will be much nicer for the kids -- safety is our number one priority."

The building plans show a lobby, sanctuary, coat room, kitchen, six classrooms

and lavatories on the first floor; two nurseries, three future classrooms,

lavatories, storage and furnace/mechanical rooms and two large unfinished

areas for future expansion on the lower level.

"It all depends on contributions," Dr Dazinger said. "The building cost

doesn't include things like books and chairs. There is always a need for

something. But the project has good support. A lot of money has been pledged

already and we are planning fund-raisers. Michael Portnoy is head of the

fund-raising committee."

Planning & Zoning

Any building over 5,000 square feet has to have engineered blueprints, he

said, a requirement that can add $50,000 to $70,000 to the cost in architect

and design fees.

"Everything is so much more involved than when the congregation built the

original synagogue," he said.

When the project was brought before the Conservation Commission recently, the

design engineer, Larry Edwards, was told that since it did not impact on the

wetlands, the plans were in compliance. The traffic study has been completed

and the plans soon will go before the Planning & Zoning Commission. The

congregation hopes to be ready to break ground by the end of the year or next

spring at the latest, Dr Danziger said, adding "We are conservatively

optimistic."

Moving was never a real consideration, he added.

"We could have asked (to buy) a building at Fairfield Hills but we want to

stay where we are," he said. "We want to keep our roots."

A Country Synagogue

To this day, Adath Israel remains the only known country synagogue in western

Connecticut, according to Connecticut Jewish History, a 1991 publication of

the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford.

When it was built, members of the congregation came from miles around to

attend services. Many had to walk the long miles, as it is against the

Orthodox laws to ride on the Sabbath and at that time the congregation was

Orthodox. Families that had long distances to travel would arrive by horse and

wagon late on Thursday afternoon and would stay with friends for the Sabbath.

The father usually had to walk home to tend the farm animals on Saturday and

then return to take the family home on Saturday evening.

In 1970, when Adath Israel celebrated its 50th anniversary, the congregation

numbered 35 families from Newtown, Monroe and Bridgeport. Unable to afford a

rabbi because of its small size, the congregation designated its members to

lead services on Friday evenings. On the Jewish High Holidays, a student from

the Jewish Theological Seminary conducted services. That changed as the

congregation grew; Rabbi Moshe Beton has been at Adath Isreal since 1990.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the founding of (the country of) Israel,

a good year to break ground on a new synagogue, Dr Danziger said.