Peninsula Sinai breaks ground on $1 million project

They've got a sanctuary that's also a social hall, classrooms that double as meeting rooms, and a kitchen that's too small for a single-family home.

But that's all about to change for the 220 households at Peninsula Sinai Congregation. The Foster City Conservative synagogue has raised $1 million for a project that will renovate the original 8,500 square foot facility and increase the square footage by 50 percent. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

"We're all very excited about this," said congregant Michael Fineman, who called the original building "nice enough" but lacking room to grow.

"The members see it as necessary," said Rabbi Marvin Goodman. "And we had a good fund-raiser who stayed on our backs." Plus there's more to come, with the temple gathering young families like the Finemans at a steady clip.

Founded by 55 families in 1968, the congregation did not have a building to call its own until 1976. A full-time rabbi arrived in 1984. The current expansion is the growing temple's third, and will bring classrooms, a library, event space, a sanctuary and "a nice big kosher kitchen so we can eat," Goodman said.

"A lot of us are families with young children," said Fineman, who has two sons, ages 9 and 7. "That's where the need comes from. I joined when my oldest son got to an age when he could start Hebrew school. We found it a very comfortable place to be -- not a place to see and be seen, just a very warm environment."

The yearlong project will give the synagogue flexibility where it needs it and fixed boundaries where they've been missed.

"The key thing for an institution like this is flexibility," Goodman said. "Many walls will be flexible, but we'll have classrooms with walls that are quiet, so the children can learn better. And the sanctuary will be a sacred space. That won't be flexible."

But some of the rooms can be tailored to fit the demands of the occasion.

Designers accommodated the obvious need for growth, but "We like the haimish feeling that comes with being fairly small," Goodman said. "We are growing, but we hope to stay intimate."