We had a great turnout for our congregational meeting on Monday night, thank you to all who joined! We received a detailed and inspiring update on the progress for the new building from Bonai project leaders, our new Architect (Stantec), our Owner’s Representative (Eric Shafran, SII), and our Capital Campaign Consultant (Marty Zimmerman, ZIM Consulting). The vision for the new building and the opportunities it will afford our community have never been clearer; but the challenges to realize that vision have also come into sharper focus. We have embarked on an ambitious capital campaign and will need every member to give generously if we are to achieve our goals.
If you missed the meeting or want to review the presentation, you can click the link below.
The work of the Strategic Planning Committee is vital for helping Bonai Shalom realize its full potential. Your input is important! If you haven’t yet completed the Strategic Planning Survey, please do so.
The vision for the new building is more than a collection of spaces and rooms. It is a building filled with moments, with features that make it a uniquely Jewish, uniquely Bonai Shalom space. It is a building that itself acts as an opportunity for moments of inspiration, teaching, connection, and community-building. We call these “moments” placemaking. These “moments” do not add square footage to the building, but rather soul and personality. They can be quotes, Judaica, art pieces, stained glass windows, building materials that evoke a particular feeling, etc. To better illustrate, here are a couple of ideas:
Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his commentary “From Despair to Hope”, in his book Covenant & Conversation states:
“To be a Jew is to seek to make a difference, to change lives for the better, to heal some of the scars of our fractured world.”
Imagine this quote displayed prominently on an exterior wall in the Entry Courtyard of the new building.
What if, as a means to build community by sharing our Jewish journey stories, we were to have a museum-type display case in the Community Court where members could take turns displaying family Judaica with the stories about the pieces and their origins.
What ideas do you have? Now is the time to share your ideas, so that the new building will be a soulful, joyful reflection of our community and our collective mission and purpose.
