By Michael Regenstreif
From news reports to speculation, suggestions and clarifications in columns, guest columns and letters-to-the-editor, there has been much written in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin in recent months about the future of several of Ottawa’s major synagogues.
Among the current situations is Temple Israel’s need to relocate. Ottawa’s Reform congregation long ago outgrew its synagogue building on Prince of Wales Drive, which was built in the 1970s to accommodate 100 families. The congregation now numbers about 360 families. There were discussions that Temple Israel would sell its building and erect a new one on the Jewish Community Campus, but an accommodation could not be reached with the campus and Temple Israel is looking at other options.
Congregation Machzikei Hadas – the most venerable of Ottawa’s Orthodox congregations with a history stretching back more than a century – is faced with a demographic problem as the Jewish community has continued to shift west. Fewer and fewer Jews are living in the Alta Vista area, where Machzikei Hadas shifted to almost four decades ago because the community had largely moved away from the Sandy Hill area. The congregation’s history in its current Virginia Drive location is just a decade shorter than the half-century it spent at the corner of Murray Street and King Edward Avenue.
Congregation Beth Shalom also needs to relocate, having sold its property on Chapel Street. At the time of the sale, the Conservative congregation indicated that one of its preferred options would be to move to Ottawa’s west end, possibly to the Jewish Community Campus.
Finally, Agudath Israel Congregation has been engaged in a search for new clergy.
With the possibility of Beth Shalom moving to the west end, Bulletin columnist Jason Moscovitz asked, “Does Ottawa really need two Conservative synagogues five minutes away from each other? (How can synagogues best serve their congregations, and the community-at-large? March 29)” and speculated on the possibility of a merger between Beth Shalom and Agudath Israel.
I would also point out that Ottawa has a small, third Conservative congregation in that five-minute zone – the lay-led Adath Shalom Congregation which meets on the Jewish Community Campus in the school building (and in the Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building for High Holidays and larger services for bar and bat mitzvahs).
We’ve recently learned that Agudath Israel and Beth Shalom have begun to explore the possibility of whether a merger is in the best interests of the two congregations and have struck a joint task force to determine whether or not a merger is feasible.
A letter to congregants from Jack Klein, Agudath Israel’s president, notes that synagogue mergers usually take place when congregations are in financial difficulty or because membership levels are no longer viable. “Neither is the case with our two shuls,” he wrote.
There are implications to these discussions, not the least of which is Agudath Israel’s search for new clergy – Beth Shalom has multi-year contracts in place with its clergy.
There are many issues that the joint task force will have to consider. For example, although both are Conservative congregations, Agudath Israel is a member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the mainstream Conservative organization in North America, while Beth Shalom is part of the newer, smaller Canadian Council of Conservative Synagogues. As well, Agudath Israel has embraced egalitarianism, while Beth Shalom remains more traditional in regard to the role of women in synagogue ritual.
But, should they wish to move forward, such issues are not insurmountable. Beth Shalom was an Orthodox congregation for most of its history and was, itself, formed in 1956 by the merger of Ottawa’s first two congregations, Adath Jeshurun, founded in 1892, and Agudath Achim, founded in 1902. A third congregation, B’nai Jacob, founded in 1910, merged into the Beth Shalom fold in 1971.
And, to show that anything is possible when it comes to synagogue mergers, two congregations in Buffalo, New York, have just announced a merger. One of the merging shuls is Reform, the other is Reconstructionist, and the merged congregation will retain its affiliations with both movements.
This is a fascinating time for Ottawa’s synagogues and we’ll continue to follow developments on all of these stories with great interest.
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