Agoura temple trying to retain home

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers PULLING TOGETHER-From left, Rabbi Gershon Johnson, Board President Dave Scherr and temple member Don Stark are helping to make changes to the Temple Beth Haverim program that they hope will help restore the temple to financial solvency. Good things come from adversity. It is a tough but productive lesson that members of Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills are learning.

Financial challenges and sagging membership threaten to force the synagogue to find a new home. But when information about the temple's struggle came to light, both active and inactive members of the congregation responded with strong support.

"Everybody has been giving a lot of volunteer hours so that we can remain here," said Rabbi Gershon Johnson, the temple's spiritual leader for 18 years. "An extraordinary blessing has come out of this difficult crisis."

Financial arrangements are being made that would allow Beth Haverim to remain at its current location on a scenic hilltop off Agoura Road.

"We have seen an incredible outpouring of energy, support and passion towards the goal of keeping (the temple) alive and vital," said television actor and 11-year congregation member Don Stark of Agoura Hills. "When an obstacle presents itself, how do you respond to it-as a tragedy or an opportunity?"

To save the site, leaders are trying to reinvent the synagogue. Meetings and events are being held to provide information about the situation, hear members' ideas, and encourage past and present members to become part of the solution.

"There have been so many rumors of our imminent demise," Board President Dave Scherr said. "We are aware of what our problems are and together we are working hard to solve them."

Scherr took over the temple's leadership after former president Mark Katz resigned last month. Scherr was quick to praise Katz, the leader for the past three years.

"Mark did a great job, but he felt that if we were going to be successful, someone had to bow out and take it on the nose," Scherr said. "I look at it as an effort to help, not hurt us."

New initiatives at the temple include the "Warm and Fuzzy" committee, co-chaired by Debbie Solomon and Cindy Pollack, which hopes to encourage people to become involved in the temple. One way is through havurahs, or small, organized groups of families that meet for social and spiritual events.

"People are not going to stay unless they have a connection to the temple," Solomon said.

When he heard about the temple's struggle, Stark took it as a call to action and immediately decided to help save the site. Stark and others are organizing a community-wide event called "Welcome Home/Welcome Back" at the temple from noon to 5 p.m. on Sun., April 2. Live entertainment, Passover crafts and a book fair are among the planned activities. Monte Carlo night will be on Sat., April 29.

Other suggestions have already become reality. Last Friday hundreds of current and former members attended "Friday Night Love," a Sabbath service celebrating the many good things about the temple.

Committees are taking a comprehensive look at everything about the temple, from the preschool and Hebrew school to adult programming, and listening to what members want.

"We are here to serve the community," Scherr said.

Glorious past

The 22-year-old congregation was formed by several local families. Known as the Agoura Jewish Center, members first met in private homes, then at Brookside Elementary School in Oak Park and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Westlake Village, before settling into an office park off Canwood Street in Agoura Hills.

The congregation then changed its name to Temple Beth Haverim, Hebrew for "house of friends." A campaign began to raise money for a permanent facility.

The synagogue had searched for a site for several years when the current property became available. It was attractive for its view and location next to a hotel where out-of-town guests attending a wedding or bar mitzvah could stay. Also nearby was the Agoura Hills Library with its rich Judaic collection.

A preschool, religious school, office building and chapel were soon built. Construction on a permanent sanctuary was expected to begin shortly after.

In March 2002 the congregation paraded down Canwood Street, across the Kanan Road freeway overpass, then up Agoura Road, carrying the torah scrolls under portable wedding canopies in celebration of the move from the office park to the new site.

At the time, temple leaders were counting on the consistent growth the temple experienced while at the office park where membership totaled 500 families. Now there are only 390 dues-paying families, although several hundred more attend the High Holiday services and other programs without paying dues.

Building a future

Besides the loss in members, the synagogue faced unexpected construction-related headaches that cost more than anticipated. A sidewalk built along the synagogue's steep entrance was ordered removed by an inspector because it didn't meet accessibility requirements for the disabled.

Other financial hardships for the temple included having to pay for a four-way traffic light at the entrance to Ladyface Court and helping to pay for the preservation of an endangered plant species at the site.

"We couldn't anticipate complications and changes that occurred," Johnson said.

Keeping the temple at its current site is important to Scherr and he looks forward to the community's continued support.

"We need to have a strong Conservative Jewish presence in our community for our children and our families for years to come," Scherr said.

For more information about Beth Haverim's progress, please call (818) 991-7111.