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TBB’s beautiful, historic, and quirky building holds a special place in many of our hearts, and the sanctuary on the top floor is its most exquisite and uplifting space. Different people are looking for different things at our synagogue, but for many of us, spending time in a space that feels sacred while we pray, sing, and reflect helps us to feel connected to spirituality and tradition.
As meaningful as the space is, we hold many of our prayer services in Nissenbaum Hall instead, because our sanctuary was not designed with modern considerations around accessibility and flexible use in mind. In particular:
- There are significant accessibility problems, including
- narrow seats that do not accommodate a diversity of body types
- tight spaces between the rows that make it hard to get in and out
- no accommodation for wheelchairs, walkers, or other mobility aids
- no accessible way to be called up to the Torah (given the stairs to the bima)
- seating over recommended safe capacity that would be difficult to evacuate in an emergency
- The seating is designed for large crowds and it is not well set up for smaller services that feel intimate.
- A lack of built-in book storage causes people to leave books on adjacent seats, which is problematic with larger crowds.
- Fixed front-facing seating is not conducive to use for adult education classes or as a teaching space in our fast-growing Sunday morning Children’s School.
- There is no comfortable, fun area in the sanctuary for kids to lounge, wiggle, and play.
To address these concerns, we are proposing two changes to how we use the sanctuary space: (1) to replace the sanctuary seats with comfortable, movable seating (with book storage space) and (2) to lead most services from the main level of the sanctuary rather than the bima.
In 2017, TBB completed Project Aliyah, with the installation of an elevator that made it possible for everyone to reach the sanctuary. That project included a goal of making the bima accessible, and extensive research found that the elevator, a ramp, or lowering the bima would not be feasible. Another strategy to realize the dream of enabling full participation without climbing stairs is to lead services from the floor level rather than from the bima: stairs would only be used for taking the Torah in and out of the ark. This approach would also allow us to hold services that feel more intimate and communally connected at times when the crowd is smaller.
We know this would be a big change, and we plan to approach it with care to make sure we honor the beauty and history of the sanctuary. With that said, we also feel it is an important step to make the space more inclusive, functional, and reflective of who we are as a community today.
As we look ahead to what the space can become, we also have an opportunity to learn more about this history that brought us here: Rabbi Eliana is planning to lead an adult education class on the history of our sanctuary this spring.
As part of this project, a committee will be looking for new homes and reuse/recycling options for the current seats. If you are interested in bringing home some of our vintage seats, please contact Brad Bortner at bradbort@gmail.com.
Information will be forthcoming about a fundraising effort to support this work. If you might be interested in donating to help make this project a reality, please contact Mark Niedergang at president@templebnaibrith.org.
We look forward to hearing your reactions, ideas, and feedback on this proposal. We will hold a community meeting to gather input and answer questions within the next month or so, date and time to be announced. You are also welcome to reach out to us by email with questions or to share concerns or suggestions.
A group of about 15-20 TBB leaders has been meeting to explore the logistics and details of this project. Nothing has been decided yet and the Board will need to vote on any proposed changes to the sanctuary. One option that is being seriously looked at is to remove all or some of the pews in May or early June and bring in enough movable and more comfortable chairs for the next few months. We would complete Project Yachad well before Rosh Hashana, so that we can welcome the year 5786 b’yachad, all together.
Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz (rabbi@templebnaibrith.org)
Amy Pasternack, Ritual Committee Chair (ritual@templebnaibrith.org)
Mark Niedergang, President (president@templebnaibrith.org)
Project Yachad Community Meetings
March 2 & 3, 2025
Update: TBB Board to consider approving Project Yachad on April 9
March 26, 2025
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The Project Yachad Working Group (PYWG) is recommending to the Board that it approve Project Yachad to update the seating in the sanctuary, carpet the floor, and make other improvements to make our sanctuary a warmer, more flexible, and more usable space. The PYWG is also asking the Board to allow fundraising for the $66,000 budget for Project Yachad ($38,000 of which has already been pledged).
Update: Project Yachad has been approved
April 15, 2025
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Last Wednesday night at the April 9th board meeting, the TBB Board of Directors voted 13-4 (3 abstentions) to approve moving forward with Project Yachad as recommended by the Project Yachad Working Group.
Read the Working Group's full recommendations here.
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