By Boris Kurbanov, Jewish Sound Correspondent
After five decades as a synagogue, youth facility, and multi-purpose space, the Yavneh building on Congregation Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath’s campus in Seward Park is scheduled for demolition.
On Jan. 25, members of the NCSY youth group and community members will say goodbye to Yavneh before it is torn down to make way for the construction of a new youth center scheduled to open later this year.
Yavneh was built in the early 1960s as a temporary synagogue for the Yavneh congregation after it moved from the Central District in the 1950s. Soon after that, the congregation merged with Ashkenazi Bikur Cholim and joined its current, spacious building on the same property. Since the early 1970s, the building has been used for various youth programs and has hosted the Seattle NCSY teen lounge for the past 11 years.
Yavneh recently began to show classic signs of wear and tear, and BCMH received permission from the board to hire a contractor to break ground in early December on a new building. Shortly thereafter approximately 30 NCSYers strapped on their hard hats and protective glasses and began knocking down walls.
“We cannot afford not to do the project,” said Dan Birk, president of the congregation, who pointed not only to the building’s state, but also to the fact that BCMH’s youth base is increasing.
“We need the space to continue to grow and attract new families,” Birk said. “We wanted to also show our incoming rabbi that BCMH is committed to a meaningful future. This future is more space for our prized possessions, our children, and more adult programming.”
The congregation’s goal was to raise $300,000 from its members and community supporters. They are half way to their goal, Birk said.
Reaction to the building’s demolition was mixed, said Ari Hoffman, BCMH youth director and Seattle NCSY director.
“The younger ones were very excited,” said Hoffman. “The older ones and alumni who had grown up in the programs in the building were also excited, but had a melancholy sense about it because the building was a symbol of all the great times they had there and their childhood, so they were sad to see it go.”
Yavneh also served as a temporary home of the Seattle Hebrew Academy after the facility sustained extensive damage during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.
The new building is superior in every way, Hoffman said. The youth center, which will encompass more than 5,600 square feet on two floors, will have five classrooms that will include a teen beit midrash (study hall), a teen lounge, a full kitchen and a new sukkah. The refurbished facility will also house BCMH Shabbat and holiday programming, as well as weekend and weeknight events for youth, BCMH camps, and NCSY. BCMH also intends to expand weekday classes and programming for both youth and adults.
For years, the congregation has hosted “Pride in BCMH Day,” where congregants perform odd jobs to do their part to keep the facility clean. That event, usually held in the summer, will be held on Jan. 25 so that the facility can be cleared for demolition. Breakfast will be served to the volunteers after morning services. The event will also give congregants a chance to say their final goodbyes to the building that has historical significance and holds memories for many Jews in Seattle.
BCMH has yet to announce the name of the youth center, but the word is that a “major anonymous donor” will be naming the building in honor of the young victims of the Holocaust and terrorist attacks in Israel.
“I am blessed to have a great volunteer supporting cast at BCMH,” Birk said. “These souls are passionate about seeing BCMH be a ‘bayit’ — a home — for the Puget Sound’s Jewish community…. Our campus expansion reflects our immediate and deep desire to create a house of God that has the ability to touch many more holy souls.”
If you go: The BCMH Campus Expansion Project Kick-Off Event takes place Sunday, Jan. 25th at 10 a.m. at Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath, 5145 S Morgan St., Seattle. For more information, contact Ari Hoffman at [email protected].