Berkeley’s Beth Israel lays stones for the future

In the early 1960s, George Gidal was part of a group that transformed the Berkeley Hebrew Center from a gathering place for Jewish card players into the city's Orthodox synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel.

He now belongs to the nearby Conservative congregation, Netivot Shalom, but on Sunday, May 22, he came to see and celebrate Beth Israel's new home.

If he's no longer a member, why was he there?

"Nostalgia," he said, looking around the nearly-completed building.

"This is just great," he said. "It's beautiful."

Finishing touches still need to be made, but Beth Israel congregants gathered at their new home — in the same place as the old, at Bancroft Way and Jefferson Street — to place the cornerstones on the cement facade. They put two of them side by side; the old one: Berkeley Hebrew Center, founded in 1924, and the new one for Congregation Beth Israel, 2005.

Mark Schickman, president of the congregation, held a time capsule with documents from 1924 inside. Beth Israel members are still assembling a time capsule for 2005 that will be placed beneath the new cornerstone later.

The inside of the building echoed as children ran around the large space that had no permanent fixtures yet in place. The seats, ark and mechitzah (the wall that divides the men from the women, which in this case will be high in some places and lower in others, to suit Beth Israel's religiously diverse membership) all still need to be installed. The electricity is on, the gas is not and final sign-offs still need to be made before the building can be used.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, his wife — former mayor and current Assemblywoman Loni Hancock — and City Council member Kriss Worthington all came to join the celebration.

The granddaughters of a founder of Berkeley Hebrew Center, Samuel Richmond, were also on hand. "It's like my father and grandfather know what's happening today and feel very proud," said Beverly Horan of Concord, who was there with her sister Fran Chevlan of San Jose. Their father, David Waen, served as president of the congregation in the 1940s.

Later, the Consul General of Israel, David Akov, came to join the festivities.

The new tzedakah box was a main focus of last week's event. Next to the front door, the intricately-carved wooden box is modeled after one on the wooden synagogue of Przedborz, Poland, that was burned down by the Nazis in 1942.

Beth Israel had hoped to build a replica of that synagogue, but failed to raise enough money, so they settled for the replica of the wooden tzedakah box as a symbol. Though the new building has a wood-paneled vaulted ceiling and hardwood floors, building a structure entirely of wood proved to be prohibitively expensive for the 165-family unit congregation.

But if they were disappointed to not realize their dream of building the wooden synagogue, congregants were joyous that their year-long exile at the Finnish Hall was about to end.

"We tore the old one down the week after Passover last year and we're back in after Passover this year," Schickman later said. Referring to the fact that it was a leap year so there was an extra month in the Jewish calendar, he said, "Thank God we had a 13-month year."

The old building had two major faults, one physical and one spiritual, noted longtime member Anya Grant. The old Beth Israel used to have an "enter at your own risk" sign at the entrance because the foundation was rotting, she said. And in the spiritual sense, the sanctuary was facing south, not east, toward Jerusalem, as it should be.

Noting that now they would face east as they prayed, Grant said she was thrilled with the results.

"It's simple, yet elegant," she said. "It's so Beth Israel. It's simple, yet intimate, and nothing showy. It's us."