Congregation Beth El–Keser Israel

85 Harrison Street, New Haven, CT 06515-1724 | P: 203.389.2108 | office@beki.org

Our banner is based on BEKI’s stained glass, designed in 2008 by Cynthia Beth Rubin. For information on this and other of Cynthia’s work, go to: <a href="http://www.cbrubin.net" target="_blank">www.cbrubin.net</a>. Artisan Fabrication by JC Glass of Branford, CT

Sanctuary Redesign

The mission: to design a sanctuary at BEKI that is inspirational, warm, inclusive, accessible, and feasible.

Project Overview

A sanctuary redesign means rethinking how we use BEKI’s sanctuary.

The room was designed in the late 1950s for a formal, hierarchical style of worship. The rabbi and cantor led services on a high stage, like performers, with congregants seated like a passive audience.

A redesign means creating a sanctuary that reflects our 21st-century values of warmth and inclusiveness, egalitarianism and engagement. It means enhancing our volunteer-led services, in which we are all participants, not audience members. It means a design that expresses our BEKI values and helps us live those values more fully.

The overarching goals involve making our sanctuary:

  • more physically comfortable (which includes heating, cooling, ventilation, and seating);
  • more accessible for everyone;
  • more intimate and participatory in scale and layout;
  • more inviting to everyone;
  • more environmentally sustainable.

What’s the Latest?

Date Added
02/06/2022
02/03/2022
01/30/2022
01/27/2022
01/27/2022		 Description
Seating arrangement renderings
Chair choices
Project update
Another update
Yet another update

Sections
President’s and Rabbi’s Messages
Architectural Concepts
Frequently Asked Questions
Project Communications
Sanctuary Photos – Yesterday and Today

Redesign Committee
email: sanctuaryteam@beki.org

Carole Bass, co-chair
Rick Saltz, co-chair
Lynn Brotman
Eric Dunsker, Board liaison & House Committee chair
Jonathan Gordon
Howard Gralla
Marga Hirsch

Our Process

  • Review previous plans and ideas for redesigning the BEKI sanctuary.
  • Research other congregations that have undertaken similar projects.
  • Present information and ideas to the BEKI community, and gather feedback.
  • Provide consistent updates.
  • Synthesize community feedback and produce several possible designs.
  • Bring those designs to the congregation and incorporate additional feedback.
  • Produce a design that has the support of the congregation and Board of Directors and is ready to implement.
  • ADD TRIGGERS FOR EACH STEP