Major work has started on the exterior of the South Addition over the past couple of weeks! Concrete has been poured for the new South Entrance stairs and covered entryway. The South Stormwater Retention Structures, expected to add over 3,000 gallons of stormwater retention capacity to our already-completed Sanctuary Stormwater Retention Pond, is now being prepared for concrete foundation pouring.
Internally, the big news is that the South Addition has passed several inspections needed to take occupancy of the space in the coming weeks. Additionally, the special tiles for the new terrace that allow for drainage have arrived and are being installed. These tiles, along with a new pergola, will make the terrace a beautiful and flexible outdoor space for everyone. Finally, the installation of internal finishing is being completed, including shelving, cabinetry, and special tile backsplashes.
Next, we expect the interior to be ready for furniture delivery and exterior work to continue for the Stormwater Retention Ponds and their accompanying boardwalk walkway to Jocelyn Street.
Over the past couple of weeks, significant work has been done to install the new doors in the South Addition—in particular the new secure school wing doors. Additional layers of security for our schools is a major component of this project. The news doors can be automatically locked with fob-only access so that only authorized Temple Sinai school personnel to access the school wings when classes are in session.
Work has also started on the Book Nook Lantern, which will enclose the stairwell and create a cozy reading space for young students. Finishing work continues as interior column casings are installed and floor tiling is completed on our inner stairs.
Finally, structural work on the exterior of the South Entrance is in progress, with initial concrete and brickwork completed around the support columns and sides.
Secure school upper doors: The new doors to the upper school hallway have been installed with fob key restrictions.
When we were in our twenties in DC, we didn’t really have a Jewish home here.
We would “shul-shop,” checking out a rotating series of High Holiday services at various temples, synagogues, and sometimes at GW Hillel, and sometimes hosting or joining friends for Shabbats and Seders. We got married and right around that time our friends Laura and Kevin brought us to an uplifting Labor on the Bimah service at Temple Sinai, which had this cool energy fusing social justice considerations with a Jewish framework.
Our daughter Sarah was born in 2011. Having kids changed things. We started thinking more about a place to belong on a less transient basis. But life was hectic and we were very sleep-deprived so we didn’t do much about it.
Then our son Eli was born in 2014. Now we were really sleep-deprived, and we moved to a house not very far from Temple Sinai. Sarah had started pre-K, but we found out about Temple Sinai’s play-based Nursery School and signed Eli up.
The Nursery School was a game-changer for Eli. He arrived as a toddler who had trouble separating from his parents/childcare and left two years later ready to dive with gusto and confidence into elementary school. He is 9 now and still has friends from that experience.
We joined Temple Sinai as members. We kept meeting more and more people at Temple Sinai that we liked, and got to know the clergy and appreciate them both as terrific clergy members and as wonderful, wise, and funny humans who, over time, we have become fortunate to call friends.
Sarah, and then Eli, started study in the Religious School. And we got to know more families. And after a while, it felt like every time we went to the temple, someone, or some days everyone, knew us or our kids and our names (cue the “Cheers” theme song …). Not too big, not too insular. Hugs and high-fives abounded. Jewish joy too. Some Jewish learning as well, and important institutional learning and emphasis on intentional grappling with both racial justice generally and being a multi-racial temple.
When Ariel’s father passed away during the pandemic, the temple sprung into action with support. Rabbi Jonathan Roos reached out immediately with private advice and support and, on almost no notice, led our family and friends in an incredibly moving shiva service.
A few weeks ago, we celebrated Sarah’s bat mitzvah at Temple Sinai (family pic of us all looking at the camera for once is shared here!). One of the many meaningful things about the day was our daughter getting to experience this Jewish rite of passage under the tutelage and leadership of two powerhouse, kind, and joyous, women clergy members – Rabbi Hannah Goldstein and Cantor Rachel Rhodes.
We’re always happy to chat with families considering getting involved. Temple Sinai is a special place.
While the holidays are a time for rest and relaxation for many, the South Addition construction continues at full speed! In the past couple of weeks, the hardwood flooring and carpeting has been added in the new rooms and interior doors have been installed. The windows and lights have been completed and the space is getting closer and closer to its final form. In the coming weeks, we expect to finish installing cabinets along with painting and other final details—all culminating with an expected furniture delivery in late January!
As always, please reach out to Noah Benjamin if you would like to tour the addition or have questions about supporting the campaign.
As you plan your end-of-year charitable giving, if you have yet to do so, please consider joining the over 550 others who have donated to make this vision a reality.
Keep an eye out for more updates in the new year!
Wood flooring installation in the Community Lounge (now completed)
This is the 30th anniversary of Temple Sinai’s first B’not Mitzvah class. Rabbi Mindy Portnoy was our teacher. Eleven people participated in the ceremony on November 13, 1993. All five of the “alums” of that class who live in the DC Metro area celebrated our anniversary at the Kehillat Shabbat service on December 2, 2023.
This group is sometimes referred to as HaTzon after the prominence and frequency of sheep in the Torah portion for our B’not Mitzvah (Vayetze , Genesis: 28:10 -32:3). Jan Kaufman recalls specifically that while practicing the Torah portions, each of us kept getting stuck on the Hebrew word for sheep, HaTzon, which appears multiple times in our portion. Rabbi Portnoy finally couldn’t take it anymore and said something like “How can you not know this word yet?!!!” And the name stuck.
We were the first Adult B’not Mitzvah class at Temple Sinai. (Actually, we were a B’nei Mitzvah class for a while until our two male class members chose not to participate in the ceremony.) But we didn’t start out planning to have a Bat Mitzvah. We were part of a Hebrew class at the temple that was taught in part by Rabbi Mindy Portnoy. At some point, Rabbi Portnoy raised the idea of having an Adult Bat Mitzvah and in pretty short order, several of the class members morphed the Hebrew class into a B’nei Mitzvah class.
We met for approximately 3 years with Rabbi Portnoy as our principal teacher and leader for Judaica, Torah, and Haftarah study, along with a stream of Hebrew teachers who supplemented her teaching on our Torah portions. Mindy was not only our teacher and leader, but also our supporter, inspiration, and friend throughout this adventure. As we got close to the finish, there was a sense of relatedness we’d come to over the many months we’d met. It felt as if we didn’t want to stop readings and discussions. Mindy suggested we meet as an informal book group. And, in fact, for more than 20 years, we continued to meet as a monthly book club concentrating on scores of books by Jewish authors that covered Jewish themes, culture, religion, and other related subjects.
Complete with her 3 x 5 cards, articles, and pages of notes on yellow legal pads, Rabbi Portnoy was the supportive guide, the glue — and sometimes the referee — who kept us reading and coming together over those 21 years. A lot of learning and a lot of laughing occurred during those sessions. We are forever grateful for and appreciative of Rabbi Portnoy. Thank you.
The South Addition is getting closer and closer to completion! The South Entrance glasswork, called “the storefront” in construction terms, has been installed along with the other windows. Additionally, lighting and custom wood ceiling work has been completed and tile flooring has been installed in the upper and lower lobbies. Walls are now being finished including custom tile accents. It is also exciting to see the Book Nook take shape at the base of the staircase. Up next inside: completing the interior finishes including door and window trim, installing carpet and wood flooring in the side-rooms, installing the Terrace flooring and rail, and finally, painting. Work outdoors includes preparing for the eventual exit from the addition to the playground and the bioretention structures.
As we reach the end of 2023, after 5 years of fundraising with a pandemic wedged in the middle, we are closing active fundraising for the Honor our Heritage Build our Future Campaign. Over 500 member families have contributed to support this project and we are hoping to expand that number as much as possible before the year-end. If you have yet to support the campaign, please consider making a multi-year pledge or a donation to join this collective effort. All pledges or donations dated before the end of the year will be acknowledged on our donor wall, which will be prominently displayed in the South Addition.
A beautiful view of the building at twilight, with lights shining out from the new windows
The construction contractors are diligently working to prepare the South Addition for our celebration on October 27! Finishing is being installed across the different areas of the addition.
On the exterior, the rain screen is being installed with more tracks and panels being added each day. Inside, the ceilings are being installed with drywall, lighting, and soon, some wood paneling. The main lobby floors are also being tiled. Door frames are being added and walls are being painted. Finally, windows have been installed and more will be added over the coming weeks. While the addition won’t be complete on October 27, we are excited to show everyone just how close we are!
This week marks the first week of the new Temple Sinai Nursery School year, and we are thrilled to welcome students back to the building! A lot of work has been done to make sure that our building is ready to get back into the school-year groove.
The parking lot has new lights and safety curbs and has been resurfaced with new asphalt, making it safer and smoother at all hours of the day. New sidewalks have been installed leading from the driveway around to the South Plaza and school entrance, making it safer and easier to get from one entrance of the building to the other.
The South Plaza has been completed, adding a new ADA-accessible ramp and space to wait outside the school entrance. Soon the new bike racks will be completed and plantings will be added to the South Plaza, beautifying it and making our building more accessible by bike.
We have also finished several additions to the outdoor learning spaces for our students including installing a new water play feature thanks to the fundraising of last year’s TSNS Parent Community, as well as a new play structure.
Finally, our upstairs school hallway lobby has been completed with new light, new tiling, refurbished bathroom entrances, and a new door installed keeping the ongoing South Addition construction safe behind closed doors.
We are so excited to have students back and running around the halls of Temple Sinai. With the High Holidays approaching, we look forward to having you join us to see the progress as well!
As the new Nursery School year is about to begin, the Renovation & Expansion Project is preparing a few key spaces for the arrival of students and families. The walls where the school wing, Bet Am hallway, and South Addition meet have been finished and painted, the ceiling and light fixtures installed, and new flooring will be added next week.
Work continues on the South Plaza. The ADA-accessible ramp, walls and flower boxes, and plaza floor are being completed. Up in the Sanctuary Garden Courtyard, Bioretention Pond A is also nearing structural completion. Concrete, gravel, and stone filling are now in place. In the early fall, the flower boxes in both the South Plaza and Sanctuary Garden Courtyard will be filled with new beautiful plantings. For more about the environmental goals of the Bioretention Ponds, click here.
Inside the South Addition, work continues as drywall and the new stairwell are installed. The South Addition is now once again closed off from the main building, but the doors that connect the two are installed.
Upper school hall junction with new light fixtures
We were pleased to welcome CGS Architects for a visit to Temple Sinai on July 28. The firm’s partners, architects, and staff all spent the better part of the morning reviewing construction progress and comparing notes. Based in Georgetown, CGS has been the temple’s design partner for all aspects of the Renovation and Expansion project, including in the Sanctuary, Social Hall, and now the new South Addition. Also underway as part of the project are a variety of exterior site efforts including playground, parking, stormwater management, outdoor gathering, exterior lighting, and parking upgrades, and a new wooded contemplative pedestrian path from Jocelyn Street to the new south entrance. Thank you to CGS Architects for their many years in developing this transformational project and their many long hours helping us finish!
This past week the new, improved parking lot lighting was installed, ensuring the lot is well-lit even when parked in the central parking spaces. The paving of the parking lot is now being prepared for resurfacing. By the end of August, you will see the newly paved and finished parking lot!
The South Plaza construction is also now well underway, which will feature seating, beautiful plantings, and room to schmooze. Outside the plaza will be our ADA-accessible walkway to the new front doors, as well as a new bike rack.
