Updates from the Building & Grounds Committee, Temple Mishkon Tephilo (Venice, CA)
WE CAN’T SEE either of our roofs from our usual vantage point on the ground. Our sanctuary roof is located way up high, behind parapets; and our school/office roof is flat. That makes it so easy to forget how important a roof is. As the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” 😑
Well, I have both good news and bad news. Let me give you the bad news first. (Take a deep breath and keep reading.…)
Originally published in the High Holy Days 5782 issue of the Galim (Sept. 2021)
EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO, the L.A. City Council declared our sanctuary building to be one of the city’s historic-cultural monuments. Not only is it the oldest continuously occupied synagogue space on the city’s West Side, but also it is a reminder of the significant role of Jews in the history of Venice in particular. Plus it’s a special place. Built in 1948, the façade displays Classical Revival–style features that were typical of that era. It resembles the synagogues of the Land of Israel in Late Antiquity. Meanwhile, the interior design reflects classical European Jewish artistic traditions of sanctuary decoration: a folk-art style full of iconographic details (e.g., lions).
Originally published in the High Holy Days 5782 issue of the Galim (Sept. 2021)
YOU MAY KNOW the famous story from the Talmud of Babylonia (Ta‘anit 23a) in which a prominent sage, Rabbi Yohanan, relates the following tale:
Once Honi the Circle-maker was walking on the road
and saw a man planting a carob tree.
Honi said: “You know a carob tree takes 70 years to bear fruit;
are you so sure that you will live 70 years so as to eat from it?”
“I found this world provided with carob trees,” the man replied,
“and as my forebears planted them for me,
so will I plant for my offspring.”
SO THERE I WAS, in March of this year, happily serving as chair of the Communications Committee. It was a good fit for me: not only did it draw upon my experience in the field of marketing communications, but also it reflected how my mind naturally works—noticing communication gaps that warrant attention.
In the process of identifying some of those gaps—and then bridging them—I saw that some longstanding water-intrusion problems in the sanctuary building were not getting addressed. Everyone seemed to be in favor of doing something, yet little was happening.
(Weekly posts from July–August 2021)
Compiled in one handy location:
Now you can binge-read the entire series…
9. Reckoning with Hole-iness as the Year Turns
An unexpected underground void turns up between our building and our neighbor’s
8. The Season for Going Beneath the Surface
Surprising challenges that must be faced while restoring the front patio
7. How is This Hole Like My Life?
On dealing with a void that opened up in the “solid” concrete pavement
6. Donating to Support Our Buildings' Restoration
About the newly created Capital Improvements Fund
How we found and dealt with these voracious critters
4. How Your Dues Helped Preserve Our Facilities
Tabulation and categorization of expenditures during the 2020–2021 fiscal year
3. Board Plans Facilities Restoration
Defines “restoration” and describes the board’s forthright approach to it
2. Restoring the Building Means Solving Puzzles!
Challenges in dealing with stormwater drainage, given the absence of records
1. Restoration Project Underway: Flagstone on Main Street
Why this project had been undertaken, and its goals