Random thoughts of THE CENTER, aka Congregation Adath Israel. Part 1.

Random thoughts of THE CENTER, aka Congregation Adath Israel. Part 1.

When my Aunt Sarah (Kaufman) celebrated her 90th birthday six years ago, there was an Oneg Shabbat in her honor. I hadn’t stepped foot inside Adath Israel in decades - my husband and I live in New York City, my family and friends were long gone from Woodbridge, and occasional visits to Aunt Sarah were the only reason for my trips back to the home town.

I’d kept an image in my mind’s eye of Adath Israel being a rather elegant space, with velvet covered seats, rich wood trim, and biblical stories depicted in the stained glass windows, inscribed with names of patrons whose generosity helped build the shul. On that Friday night the sanctuary was as full as it was on any Friday in the 50's, when I was there on a weekly basis. I recognized some faces, forgot some names. I felt the embrace of something so familiar, a tug at memories so distant.

My heart sank when I saw how shabby the sanctuary was - the carpet worn thin, the seat covers worn out, and the space surprisingly small. My first strange, impulsive thought was that if I were wealthy, I’d refurbish the entire building, restore it to the vibrant place that it was. Of course that was before I realized there was no one to do it for - that the days of its very existence were numbered. And anyhow, I would never be that wealthy.

So while toasting Aunt Sarah with a little plastic cup of sweet wine and a piece of sponge cake in hand, my thoughts wandered back to a place and time - growing up in a loving community, Hebrew school, services, Rabbi Newberger’s sermons that we kids never listened to, Mrs. Newberger teaching Sunday school, Bar Mitzvahs, Confirmations, Bat Mitzvahs, our mothers grating potatoes for latkes in the kitchen, Harold Wishna coaching basketball games, the musical extravaganzas, rummage sales and Purim carnivals, USY dances, USY camp, the original facade of the building, hanging out on the steps during Yiskor services, listening in on the gossip at Lee’s Hat Bar while picking out a new hat for The Holidays, and on and on.

The Center played as much a role in shaping me as anything did. It’s an experience I never tried to recreate in New York, but one I think I’ve longed for all my adult life. Each time one of the Woodbridge “kids” is lost - Marlyn Turner, Phil Shore - people who I didn’t really know well - I feel a deep sadness. So now that we “kids” are in our 50's,60's, 70's, our parents gone, or in their 80's or 90's, it would be nice to share memories, photos, ramblings. Maybe we can get something going here.

Sharon Kaufman, January 29, 2008