By Morris Malakoff, JTNews Correspondent
The dream of moving the Eastside Torah Center from 3,000 square feet of third floor office space to a free-standing, two story, 16,000 square foot multicultural center has taken one large step forward, but has a few more to go before it becomes a reality.
At a dinner celebrating the “Bar Mitzvah” of the ETC on Sept. 14, Karen Mannering, a longtime member of the center, announced a $1.8 million pledge to the project.
Mannering’s gift is a matching pledge that will require an additional $900,000 in donations to be complete.
The balance of the funding needed to build the $4.5 million facility will come from an ongoing development campaign headed up by Dan Cahn who serves as the development director for the ETC. Proceeds of a hoped-for sale of the current ETC site will also go towards the cost of the new center.
The new center will be built on an acre of property the ETC already owns on Northrup Way, northeast of the Crossroads shopping center.
The hope is to raise sufficient money quickly enough to break ground on the project next September with its opening planned to coincide with the High Holidays in 2010.
The center will house not only a synagogue, but eight classrooms, a social hall and a library.
Rabbi Mordechi Farkash noted that the need for such a facility is great, particularly among the large community of otherwise unaffiliated Jews the ETC serves.
“The social hall will provide an affordable, nice space that allows for celebrations of the Jewish lifecycle,” he said. “We will be able to have separate libraries for the young and the young at heart.”
The new space will also allow for additional educational offerings for adults and children.
Farkash said that he is hoping that members of the Jewish community, no matter their affiliation, will help see the project to fruition.
“The ETC is a multicultural center and a community outreach organization as well as a synagogue,” he said. “It provides a variety of programs that serve the needs of many parts of our community.”
Farkash specifically pointed to the extensive Hebrew School offerings at the ETC as one example.
“It is open to all children and has often served as a convenient place for those preparing for their Bat Mitzvah or Bar Mitzvah,” he said.
The ETC has also become popular as a religious, cultural and social center for the diverse population on the Eastside.
“We have people participating from around the world, particularly from Microsoft,” he said. “We have a large number of Israeli members as well as many from Australia, South America and Europe. They have many unique traditions, and we celebrate and respect those. That makes us truly multicultural.”
The ETC is also active on the Microsoft campus, offering classes on site.
Farkash said that after 13 years with the ETC, he and his wife, Rebbetzin Ruchi Farkash, are redoubling their commitment in undertaking this project – something they are more than happy to do.
“This is our home and our community,” he said. “This is our life.”