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Makom Torah - A Place of Torah

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Bimah Renovation Underway This Month at TI.........posted Sep 26, 2009

Tikvat Israel Bimah Before Renovation
Photo by Felicia Black

For the last couple of decades, members of Beth Tikva and now Tikvat Israel have longed for the day when the synagogue’s bimah would permit full accessibility to those with physical limitations and congregants who use a wheelchair.

That day is nearly here.

Shortly after Simchat Torah, contractors will begin work on a project in the Tikvat Israel  sanctuary that will remove a level from the current bimah and install a wheelchair ramp that will allow access to within a few feet of the altar. The project, which is expected to take 3-4 weeks, will include several other enhancements, including new railings, a wall in front of the former choir loft and new carpeting.

The $58,000 project was authorized by the synagogue’s board of directors at its September meeting. A $25,000 gift from Herman J. Flax and Melanie Grishman will cover part of the cost with the other portion covered by the synagogue’s M’Kom Torah campaign.

The lowering of the bimah to enable easier access has been on the wish list of many affiliated with the synagogue for years.

One of the longtime proponents, Dr. Herman (Jacob) Flax, delivered a D’var Torah at then Beth Tikva in 1993 or ‘ 94, just a couple of years after becoming a member, in which he challenged the congregation to make passage to the ark possible for those physically incapable of ascending and alighting the existing bimah.

“At the time he gave the D'var, I think Jacob was motivated from his professional background (a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation) and the fact that the federal law had passed requiring facilities to have accessibility for the handicapped,” recalls his wife Melanie Grishman. “Now he needs the accessibility for himself as well.”

Artist's conception of extensively renovated Sanctuary.
Current project is focused on the bimah.
Illustration: Levin/Brown & Associates Inc., and Sandra Schwartz.

Cantor Rochelle Helzner, who is observing her 25th year as a member of the TI clergy, admits she is “most excited … that I will be closer to the congregation, which I believe will aid in our musical and spiritual connections. “ She adds that she often worries about people climbing down the steps of the bimah -- “and this will take away that stress.”

During the renovation, the sanctuary will be off-limits to all activity, and religious services will be conducted in the social hall for what is expected to be about four Shabbats. The Sukkah will be used as the contractors’ staging area in order to provide minimal disruption to the synagogue.

The project’s architect is the firm Levin/Brown Associates, based in Owings Mills, Md. The firm has a specialty in religious facilities, with clients across the country and locally, including Temple Beth El in Bethesda, Md., and Beth Sholom in Potomac, Md. The renovation work will be handled by Korth Contractors of Gaithersburg, Md.

TI President Sam Freedenberg said the chosen architectural firm “has a sterling reputation in the Jewish building and synagogue community.”

He added: “This project is part of a continuum in our sanctuary. It starts to fulfill a pledge of M’Kom Torah to lower the bimah.”

(Story composed by Jay P. Goldman)