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March 8, 2002/Adar 24, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 25
West Valley blossoms
LEISAH NAMM
Assistant Editor
In a series of articles, Jewish News is examining the shifting structure in the Valley's Jewish community. This report looks at the West Valley.
As the Phoenix metropolitan area rapidly expands, it's no surprise that Jewish families are among the thousands following the impulse to go west.
Affordable housing and good schools have attracted many families to the West Valley, but until recently - except in the retirement communities of Sun City and Sun City West - there was little organized Jewish life.
Some west-side Jewish residents commuted across town for Shabbat services and classes. Others remained unaffiliated.
In May 2000, a spark of Jewish life drew nearly 200 people to a Peoria park to celebrate Israel Independence Day. The event was organized by the Northwest Valley Jewish Family Alliance, formed earlier that year by 30 families to hold semimonthly Shabbat services in members' homes.
Alliance members soon established Temple Gan Elohim, which held its first Shabbat service last June and on Dec. 7 was admitted into the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), the congregational arm of the Reform movement in North America.
Another congregation, Chabad of the West Valley, founded by Rabbi Sholom and Chana Lew, held its first event - High Holiday services - in September 2000.
Both congregations offer Shabbat services, religious school, adult education and holiday programming and serve as the core of Jewish life in the West Valley, along with two long-established congregations, Beth Emeth Congregation of the Sun Cities & West Valley and also Temple Beth Shalom and Jewish Community Center of the Northwest Valley.
"We have quite an active Jewish life going on here," said Rabbi Arthur J. Abrams of Temple Beth Shalom, a Sun City Reform congregation founded in 1969.
The database of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix lists about 2,000 Jewish households in West Valley zip codes, said Shirley Norris, federation marketing and communications director. Community leaders believe that number is low.
"There are so many more Jewish families (here) than people think," said Lesley Hafalia, president of Gan Elohim.
A federation demographic study slated for completion this spring promises to provide clearer data. Temple Beth Shalom member Irving Schaffer believes it will show that "the Jews in the West Valley are much more numerous than they thought."
Although often overlooked, Jewish life is vibrant in the West Valley - a geographic boundary often described as everything north of I-10 and west of I-17.
Beth Emeth, founded in 1964, offers typical synagogue activities to its more than 300 members.
"We have everything that the synagogues on the east side have, except we don't have Hebrew school at this time," said president George Sherman. The Conservative congregation draws members, most of whom are in their 60s and 70s, from Sun City, Sun City West, Sun City Grand, Peoria, Surprise and Goodyear, Sherman said.
"We're growing, we're aggressive - we're not a bunch of old people," Sherman said. "We think young, we act young, and we will continue to grow."
Abrams of Beth Shalom said most of his 600 congregants live in Sun City, Sun City West and Sun City Grand and, on average, are in their 70s.
A wide variety of programming and organizations - such as Hadassah, Women's American ORT and Jewish War Veterans - means there's enough Jewish activity for the West Valley to be "self-sustained," Abrams said.
"We're really not dependent on the rest of the Valley for our Jewish life," he said. "We try to have a nice Jewish life here."
However, the recent Loop 101 connection to the East Valley enables him and his congregants to "take advantage of some of the special events that take place out there. It's not that far away," he said.
With Beth Emeth and Beth Shalom catering primarily to a retirement community, little West Valley Jewish programming was geared toward young families or children before the inception of Gan Elohim and Chabad.
"There was a (program) void on this side of town," said Hafalia. "It's not that the Jews weren't here."
Nearly 60 children attend Gan Elohim's religious school, started in September for children from kindergarten through eighth grade. Of the nine sixth-eighth graders in the school, more than half had no previous religious school experience, notes director Marla Yablon. "It's been sort of an introduction to Judaism class," she said.
Fifteen children are enrolled in the Chabad of the West Valley religious school.
Cheri Butkowski, a founding member of the Northwest Valley Jewish Family Alliance, says the presence of Gan Elohim and Chabad adds a "nice sense of Jewish community feeling" in the area.
"Our kids now realize they're not the only Jewish kids living out here," she said. "They look forward to going to Hebrew school and Sunday school because they're connected more to their identity."
Besides the convenience of a having Jewish institution close to home, some West Valley residents, such as Gan Elohim member Carol Berger, enjoy "being part of something new and helping build (it)."
In its incipient form, Gan Elohim is serving 80 families without a payroll. "Everybody is volunteering their time and working really hard," Berger says. "There's a big feeling of family and closeness."
She says the closeness extends beyond the synagogue and includes the West Valley community as a whole.
"When you see somebody who's part of the west-side Jewish community, you feel a connection to them automatically because we're kind of isolated from the major part of the Valley Jewish community," she said.
Affiliation is one challenge West Valley congregation leaders face.
"There are so many good people out here, so many people who give very nicely and work very hard, but we need those that are on the fringe or don't care," said Schaffer, a former Phoenix resident and longtime leader in the federation. "People who work and give are in the minority."
The retirement and relocation elements of the West Valley lead to a lack of commitment to the Valley's Jewish community, Schaffer notes.
"A lot of people will say 'from where I came, I've paid my dues. I belonged to the temple,' " Schaffer said. "They don't seem to understand that we as Jews need the continuity to support Jews."
As the Jewish community comes to life in the West Valley, observers say that there's much room for improvement.
"There's probably very good potential, (but currently the federation) doesn't pay enough attention to the Jews in the West Valley," Schaffer said.
Lew, whose synagogue attracts 25 worshippers to Friday night and Saturday morning services and 250 on the High Holidays, said there's been an "overlooking of the needs of the community."
The federation's Sun Cities/Northwest Division, formerly run from the federation's Phoenix office, will be expanding, said Art Paikowsky, federation executive vice president. In February, the federation hired Irwin Wiener to work with the emerging West Valley community and represent the federation in that area. "The amount of time that he's actually working will depend upon the demand," Paikowsky said.
Wiener, who has a home in Surprise, is currently serving as executive director for the Hebrew Free Loan Association in San Francisco. He plans to permanently relocate to Surprise this summer.
He said his main interest is to make it possible for West Valley newcomers and long-time residents to "connect with the Jewish community." He has been meeting with past and current leaders to develop new programs and activities.
The demographic study will also help determine what future role the federation will play in serving the West Valley.
"The demographic study will enable us to better understand not only where people are but what their needs are," Paikowsy said. At that point, "we hope that the federation will be able to be responsive either through the programs we're currently running or through the agencies that we support."
Hafalia lists her ultimate goal as to separate the delineating lines of east and west.
"The Phoenix area is just one big Valley," she said. "The loop (freeway) exists for a reason - it's one big circle."
Contact the writer at leisah_namm@jewishaz.com.
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