Baton Rouge’s Jewish community unites in new synagogue building

As Rosh Hashanah approached, Rabbi Sarah Smiley reflected on what would be her third High Holidays with the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge, ushering in a sense of permanence after two years of moving around.

The congregation, which reunited two years ago after separate lives since 1945 as B’nai Israel and Beth Shalom, completed a renovation and expansion of its Kleinert Avenue facility, dedicating the new unified space over Purim.

Two years ago, she was the new rabbi in town, the first for the combined congregation after the two “legacy” Reform congregations each had an interim rabbi to guide them through the reunion process. Work was beginning on Kleinert Avenue, so they were meeting at the former Beth Shalom location on Jefferson Highway. Being new, and with the merger having just happened, she tried to do everything the way both congregations had done it, and the services were too long.

Last year, they were still at Jefferson Avenue, but she “struck a balance” and had a different cantorial soloist than the previous year.

This year, it was the same cantorial soloist, but the congregation is now in its new home, with a wide range of innovations and technology to incorporate into services — and it is time to settle in for the congregation’s new phase.

“It is a great space,” said James Bullman, the congregation’s vice president. “Every few weeks, we are finding a better and more meaningful way of using it.”

Smiley said they tried to incorporate aspects of both congregations into the new facility, which had been the home of B’nai Israel. There was a concerted effort to ensure that there wasn’t a feeling of Beth Shalom moving into B’nai Israel’s space, but a fresh beginning for the entire community, a new space in a familiar location.

The overall campaign raised $5.64 million in pledges, and the unified congregation reports 300 family memberships.

The existing B’nai Israel space was mainly repurposed, and a new wing was added with the new sanctuary and kitchen. The religious school wing is now the home of the Rayner School, a preschool that had been at Beth Shalom. The congregation also had its inaugural summer day camp this year, with 22 campers.

What was the sanctuary in the previous building was turned into a community living room, with couches and a coffee maker. The room leads to the offices, a Judaica shop, and a library where the old ark is still embedded in the wall, enabling the space to be used as a chapel.

One space that remained mostly the same, the old social hall, now has the large mosaic that was created at Beth Shalom for its 75th anniversary. Moving that mosaic from Jefferson was a major logistical feat.

In another example of blending the congregations, the entrance to the social hall now has B’nai Israel’s iconic semicircle stained glass window that had been on the pulpit placed over the entrance doors, which were the doors to the sanctuary at Beth Shalom.

They even found hidden connections between the congregations during the renovation. It turns out that the eternal light at the former B’nai Israel was created by the family of a former Beth Shalom president, “but it hung at the former B’nai Israel, and it is a beautiful symbol,” Bullman said.

Outside the new sanctuary, that light is displayed over a Sephardic Torah from Beth Shalom, while the former Beth Shalom eternal light is displayed over the Holocaust Torah that had been displayed at B’nai Israel.

The corridor leading to the sanctuary contains displays of congregational artifacts, such as Torah covers and silver. At the bottom of one section there are a few unusual wooden pieces — from the original B’nai Israel organ. The congregation now uses a grand piano, and with the plummeting use of organs at religious institutions, they could not interest anyone in taking the old organ.

The sanctuary was built for flexibility, with movable walls on both sides for expanded areas for seating, and there are no fixed pews, so the space can be used for a variety of styles of programming.

The space was used for a Purim party during the dedication weekend, and for a Passover Seder. For the religious school, a Passover program in the space included a parent dressing up as Pharoah and the kids throwing the Ten Plagues at him. “This space has allowed us to do some really great Judaic programming.”

It also has allowed for innovative approaches to Shabbat and festival services. A large projection screen has video presentations and the various prayers projected during the service, controlled from an iPad.

Bullman admitted he was skeptical and had to get used to the screen. There were also concerns that the screen would replace having individual prayer books, but that was not the case.

Smiley noted that she sees her role “as facilitating prayer for a group of people,” and there is more connection and energy when she sees faces rather than the tops of heads of people looking at their books.

Smiley said that because of the screen, some congregants say they are able to follow the Hebrew better. She is always adding and changing material so the service does not become static. The Seder, she added, was very interactive with the help of the slides.

The system also brings music into the religious school, as they do not have a music teacher.

The ark is reminiscent of the mishkan, with gold leaf inside. The design is simple, with a nature theme, as the back of the pulpit has large windows open to a courtyard. The ark doors have a tree branch motif.

The new eternal light is also not a traditional design — and sometimes, visitors mistakenly think they forgot to install one. On top of the ark, there is a lit blown glass sculpture, continuing the tree branch design.

There is also interplay with light coming from the old stained glass windows, which are set in the wall above the foyer behind the sanctuary, on the western side of the building, opposite the pulpit. Bullman said the setting sun comes through those windows. “For every service, they change colors and you can see it dancing across the sanctuary.”

Another non-traditional touch is the yahrzeit tablet. Instead of the traditional row of brass slabs holding nameplates and individual memorial bulbs, there is an interactive digital board in the foyer with the week’s memorials. Even if it is not the week of an individual’s yahrzeit, there is a search function to locate everyone in the system, and they have been working on short biographies and photos of past members. Instead of a series of plaques, they see this system as a repository for the history of Baton Rouge’s Jewish community.

Of course, in today’s world, the building was designed with an eye toward security, from the property perimeter to the pulpit. “There is a lot you don’t see,” Smiley said.

The idea was to create a campus in a community that does not have a Jewish Community Center. The property includes a pickleball court, multiple playgrounds, an outdoor patio for functions and tree-covered spaces.

Bullman said an important part of having this sort of building was to grow the religious school, and this year there are about 80 students.

The faculty is mainly comprised of students from Louisiana State University, and Smiley said they want to be a home for the university students as well.

The congregation sent 25 students to Henry S. Jacobs Camp this summer, along with three counselors.

Smiley said she has noticed a shift among congregants in the past two years. “The community is in a very different place,” she observed. For quite a while, people would introduce themselves and say which of the “legacy congregations” they were from. “Now we are a community” and that rarely happens.

Bullman said that having the new unified space “really helped the process.”

Currently, there is a discussion about what the name for the unified congregation should become, and an announcement is anticipated in January after an open process and discussion.

Now, the focus is on being a home for all Jews in the Baton Rouge area, with the congregation providing “a lot of different on-ramps to being Jewish, collectively,” Smiley said.