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Temple finds there's no place like Symphony Hall for the holidays
RANDI BAROCAS
Staff Writer
After a one-year break from its longtime High Holidays venue, Temple Beth Israel is returning to Phoenix Symphony Hall for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services.
The choice of the large downtown venue comes mainly because of "mechanical issues" that arose during last year's consecutive High Holiday services at the temple's new home at 56th Street and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale.
The 78-year-old Reform congregation, which moved to Scottsdale after a long history in Central Phoenix, held High Holiday services at Symphony Hall for many decades, Rabbi Kenneth Segel noted.
The decision to go back there was made for several reasons, one of which is the hardship Segel and Cantor Howard Tabaknek incurred last year officiating at multiple, consecutive Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services - three each holiday eve and each morning - in order to accommodate all of the temple's congregants at their facility.
The temple now has about 1,100 member families according to its president, Herman Lewkowitz. And with a sanctuary that seats about 500 people, multiple services are the only way to accommodate them. Temple Beth Israel's High Holiday services are only open to members of the congregation.
"Last year, I did three services. (I) started at 5 in the evening and the last service began at 9 something. In the mornings, I began at 8 o'clock and the last one was at 1 (p.m.)," Segel said. "Then we had to run children's services and other things. That was three major evening and morning services. That was just a killer on the cantor and myself. It was just too much. It wore us down."
Aside from being a physical and mental drain on the clergy, Segel said having multiple consecutive services caused crowding in and outside the temple and wasn't fair to congregants who wanted to worship with family and experience a more complete service. Back-to-back services prevented many elderly congregants, who chose to attend the early service to avoid being out late at night, from worshipping with their younger family members attending the late service, Segel said.
"Last year we had people standing all over the place," Segel said. "People came to us and said, 'This is just not good.' We realized that we have a wonderful facility, and we are proud of our facility, but on the holy days ... it's not adequate.
"The real issue was that Symphony Hall could accommodate the growth and size (of our congregation) with one beautiful, inspiring service. We wanted everyone to be together ... for a more complete service," the rabbi said.
"Once you go into multiple services, you have to make compromises in some of the integrity of the service to accommodate time, to accommodate parking and to accommodate movement (of people in and out of the building, lobby and sanctuary)," Segel explained. "The question is, based on the numbers we have, how can we best accommodate (the congregants) and maintain dignity and a sense of community? Then you have to make the compromise that we are here (in our home) 52 weeks a year ... and once a year it's not too great a hardship to go to Symphony Hall."
(This year, Rosh Hashana will be observed Sept. 20-22, and Yom Kippur on Sept. 29-30.)
The congregation also will save nearly $20,000 by having High Holiday services at Symphony Hall instead of its own home, according to cost estimates in a letter from Lewkowitz to congregants. If services were held at the temple, professional singers would have to be hired to augment the choir, and a second cantor would have to be brought in, Lewkowitz said. Additional expenses would be incurred for parking spaces, valet service and security personnel as well.
"From an expense standpoint, it is more prudent to go where we are going," Lewkowitz said, adding that while cost did play a role in the board of directors' decision, it was not the primary issue.
Children's services for the High Holidays will remain at the temple, Segel stressed, explaining that "we want the children to have identification with the temple and its symbols."
The location for future High Holiday services is still up in the air, Segel and Lewkowitz confirmed.
This year's decision "doesn't mean a permanent commitment to go to Symphony Hall," Segel said. "At the time (when) we (made) this decision - which was last January - we did not have an assistant rabbi."
Given the recent arrival of Rabbi Barry Cohen as the temple's assistant rabbi, Segel said, the congregation will have more options in the future when deciding whether to change venues or offer multiple, consecutive services or simultaneous services.
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