When Ahavas Israel decided to purchase, build and move from Lafayette Street to Michigan Street over 50 years ago, it wasn’t a simple decision. The discussion was ongoing and contentious and the board was unable to make a decision. Moe Kleiman, z”l, used to tell the story about how the decision was made in the following way:

The board held its meetings in a room in the lower level of an old house that was at the center of the synagogue structure. The room had one door leading into the basement and small windows set high in one wall. During a board meeting, Moe arranged for someone to pull the fire alarm. Panic ensued as the board members realized if there was a fire in the house above them, there would be no way for them to get out. They voted to begin the process of building a new (and safer) synagogue on the Michigan Street property.

When an organization is experiencing a crisis, it is easy to embrace change. When there is no crisis, there is no immediate reason to change, and organizations tend to slip into stasis mode. Moe manufactured a crisis, which broke the stasis. However, the best, most vibrant, organizations with wise leadership know how to keep changing and evolving and growing even when there is no imminent crisis.

Congregation Ahavas Israel is not in crisis. We have a solid endowment and are reasonably financially stable, although our budget relies on large transfers from several of our accounts each year. We own our building and have turned the building into a source of income by renting it to a preschool, a church, and the Federation. But there are clouds on the horizon. Our building is aging. Roofs, heating and cooling systems, and security systems, are costly to replace, repair, and maintain. Renters can go out of business or decide to go elsewhere and new tenants are not easy to find. Synagogues and Temple (and religious institutions of all denominations) are experiencing precipitous drops in affiliation, on top of the slow decline of the past 20 years.

By embracing change now, we can avoid a crisis. And I believe in a partnership with Temple Emanuel. I trust that we can work together effectively, reduce the footprint of the two buildings, and renovate the Fulton Street property to create a shared facility. We have the opportunity to create a green building that will use our resources wisely. In the future, when major repairs are necessary, we will share the expenses rather than bear them alone. 

If we approve the plan to create a combined campus, we’ll be sending our children to a religious school that will be in our building, rather than in another congregation’s building. We’ll have the space for concurrent adult education during religious school in the same space as the children.

And finally, to emphasize – this proposal is not a merger. We would not be losing our governance structure and moving under the umbrella of Temple Emanuel. We would retain our board, our religious leadership and practices, and our finances. I believe that if we agree to engage with the collaboration and place our property for sale and join in a newly renovated, shared campus on Fulton Street, Congregation Ahavas Israel will be best positioned to continue to promote Conservative Judaism in Grand Rapids.