Finishing touches

Congregation Ner Tamid ready to move into new home

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Rabbi Sanford Akselrad has long been looking forward to the completion of a new synagogue for the Congregation Ner Tamid.

"I spent the last eight years of my life looking ahead. It will be nice to just live in the moment," Akselrad said.

Officially, Akselrad will dedicate the sanctuary Sunday, when members of the congregation will walk the 4.6 miles carrying the Torah scrolls from King David Memorial Chapel, 2697 E. Eldorado Lane, to the new Congregation Ner Tamid, 55 N. Valle Verde Drive. The walk will start at 7:30 a.m. at King David Memorial Chapel, where the congregation has been meeting.

Formerly, the Congregation Ner Tamid met at 2761 Emerson Ave., but New Campus Committee Chairman Gerald Gordon said the membership outgrew the space or moved away from the central location. Without the ability to expand, the decision became clear.

"We decided to move where our membership was," Gordon said. "The Jewish population has moved along the Beltway."

Gordon said the synagogue is accessible to all areas in the community because of Interstate 215. People from the Summerlin area could take I-215 to get to the Green Valley location.

Gordon said the new synagogue was built at the request of the community.

"The congregation really asked for a facility where they could hold events," Gordon said. "That's what they're getting."

The more than 56,000-square-foot space is double the size of the old building and includes outdoor areas, Gordon said. The ultimate goal is to expand to 130,000 square feet for an adult education center, additional classrooms, a multipurpose room and a preschool, Gordon said.

"It's really the difference between night and day," he said.

Akselrad said the next phase will be finished in June and will include a library, a computer lab and a youth lounge. The Congregation Ner Tamid currently is accepting applications for the preschool, which will open in the fall.

The rabbi also said a Jewish day school, a ball field and basketball courts are included in future plans.

"Literally dozens of volunteers committed hours and years of their time to make this dream a reality," Akselrad said.

Jon Sparer, a member of the congregation and an architect with YWS Architects, designed the new building.

"It's a labor of love," he said.

Sparer said the building incorporates a lot of natural light, using a full section of windows on each side of the worship space. The open windows also are meant to act as a connection to the surrounding community, keeping with the Jewish tradition to never separate from the community.

The building uses several older features from the original location, including a lot of the metal work in the small chapel. Ed Lizner, a member of the congregation, donated the pieces in the original building.

Archways adorn the patio on the way to the synagogue's entrance.

"It creates a portal from the outside world to the more spiritual world," Sparer said.

In the center of the worship space is one of the synagogue's unique features. The space is where the Torah scrolls are kept, and rather than sitting behind glass doors as is common, it was made of a cloth curtain designed by out-of-state artist Jeannette Kuvin-Oren.

Sparer said he was not aware of another synagogue in the city using such a feature.

Akselrad said the space is meant to be reminiscent of a tent. The shape of a flame is sewn onto the curtain, with God's name embedded within.

"It's the shape of the primordial flame," he said. "Almost as if we're standing on sacred ground."

Akselrad also said the curtain was meant to be a softer connection to the divine.

"Metal is like the instrument of war, and fabric is softer," he said.

The synagogue also houses a video and sound system, which are uncommon in Jewish places of worship, Akselrad said.

Cantor Philip Goldstein said the multimedia system will allow the services and events to be broadcast on the Internet. In addition, people who sit in the back rows will be able to see what is going on.

"There's a lot of music here," Goldstein said. "We'll be able to create a very moving spiritual experience."

Goldstein said the synagogue also holds a stage capable of supporting a small orchestra, and an outdoor sanctuary that can hold 125 people. The choirs, the Shabba Tones Band and Goldstein soon will have a new rehearsal space and recording studio to make CDs.

Akselrad said the Congregation Ner Tamid currently serves 600 families, but plans to increase that number to 900.

He said the new space is gratifying, but there still is work to be done.

"A building only takes you so far. It has to be a home," he said. "It becomes a home when people live in it and pray in it."

For more information, visit lvnertamid.org.