THE ME’ATA V’AD OLAM CAMPAIGN - Embracing our Future, Honoring our Past
***Support our For Now and Forever Matching Fund Campaign
EXCITING NEW FACILITIES
Over the last several years, our Board of Directors, Clay Kodesh, and staff identified a variety of challenges and opportunities our congregation faces as it continues to grow. Today, we look toward a horizon filled with promise, envisioning renovations and additions that honour our rich heritage while propelling us into a future filled with growth, learning, and connection.
We have embarked on an ambitious and thoughtful campaign, with an overall vision requiring approximately $9.5 million in total funding. Recognizing the significant commitment this represents, our current fundraising target is set at $8.5 million, reflecting our immediate priorities and realistic fundraising goals. While some elements depicted in our early conceptual renderings showcase our ultimate vision, our commitment is to build responsibly—progressing only with components we have fully funded.
Our plans include thoughtful renovations to our main building, creating spaces that are both welcoming and functional, and allowing us to host a wider array of programs and events that cater to the diverse needs of our congregation. From enhancing our educational spaces to ensuring our sanctuary reflects the warmth and openness at the heart of our community, every aspect of this project is designed with the goal of enriching our communal life.
Our commitment extends to ensuring our cemetery is a place of beauty, peace, and reflection. Plans for its expansion and beautification are a testament to our respect for the past and those who have laid the foundations of our vibrant community. It is a place where generations come together in memory and honour, a serene haven for reflection and remembrance.
WHY DO WE NEED NEW AND IMPROVED SPACES?
REIMAGINING AND REVITALIZING OUR MAIN BUILDING
Our vision for improvement is not just about repairs. It’s about reimagining our spaces to better serve our community.
For more than 35 years, the walls of Temple Sholom have embraced our celebrations, sorrows, prayers, and joys. They have witnessed the growth of our community, from a few hundred to over a thousand households, becoming a vibrant hub for spirituality, learning, and connection. Yet, as we have grown, so has the wear and tear on our beloved building, revealing the urgent need for enhancements that will carry us forward into the future.
Initial assessments have brought to light the challenges we face, such as energy inefficiencies, water damages, and accessibility barriers. Further, our community spaces—the social hall, bathrooms, sanctuary, and foyer—are in dire need of upgrades to meet the needs of our expanding congregation and to reflect the warmth and welcome that Temple Sholom stands for.
With nearly 1000 households now calling Temple Sholom their spiritual home, and our school tripled in size, the need for these improvements has never been more critical. Our main building:
- A warm and inviting foyer: Enhancing our lobby with soft seating and creating a lounge area for families to gather, connect, and enjoy the beauty of our community building.
- Improved Building Security Enhancements to the physical security around our building so members can continue to gather, worship, and learn in peace.
- A Reimagined Social Hall Transforming our social hall with innovative modular walls that can divide the space into three classrooms, creating versatile learning environments to better support our growing school.
- A Rejuvenated Sanctuary Space: Making thoughtful updates to the sanctuary to deepen the spiritual and visual focus, ensuring that the beauty of the space matches the profoundness of our prayers and gatherings.
- Welcoming and Accessible Bathrooms: Upgrading our facilities to be fully accessible, ensuring that everyone who comes to the synagogue feels welcomed and accommodated.
ENVISIONING THE FUTURE OF TEMPLE SHOLOM CEMETERY
This expansion is more than an infrastructure project. It’s our commitment to being there for every stage of life’s journey. As Vancouver’s largest and fastest-growing congregation in Western Canada, our commitment to blending Jewish tradition with contemporary life extends beyond the walls of our synagogue and into every moment of life’s cycle.
As our community continues to flourish, we are met with the profound responsibility of expanding our capacity to serve not only our members, but also the wider Vancouver Jewish community and beyond.
This mission brings us to a pivotal moment in the stewardship of our beautiful and egalitarian cemetery in White Rock, a place of peace, dignity, and tradition that has reached its capacity for service. The time has come to expand the Temple Sholom Cemetery into the serene beauty of the three remaining undeveloped acres, ensuring that we can continue to provide a dignified and meaningful final resting place. Together, let’s honour our past, cherish our present, and build a future where every member of the Lower Mainland’s Jewish community knows they will always have a place within the heart of Temple Sholom—both in life and in memory.
- Respectful Development: Designing and allocating plots within the three undeveloped acres that harmonize with the existing aesthetic, ensuring that every element reflects our community's values and respect for those who have passed.
- Infrastructure Enhancements: Completing the main road wrapping around the cemetery and creating necessary storage for chairs and funeral equipment, ensuring the dignity and smooth conduct of services.
- A Sacred Gathering Space: Constructing a permanent, waterproof pavilion for funeral services—a sanctuary for families to gather, remember, and celebrate the lives of their loved ones, regardless of weather conditions. We have undergone a thoughtful redesign of the original concept that is more feasible and affordable.
- Memorial Groves: Establishing areas dedicated to memory and reflection, allowing families and individuals to connect with the beauty of nature and the eternal memory of their loved ones.
- Essential Facilities and Security: Adding accessible washroom facilities and ensuring enhanced security measures are in place to provide comfort and peace of mind for all who visit.
We now turn our focus toward raising funds for the remaining portions of our exciting vision, specifically the synagogue renovations and improvements.
Visualize the Future of our Oak Street Building and our Cemetery:
A Note on Our Conceptual Renderings
Please note that some renderings reflect our ultimate vision for the Temple Sholom facilities, including certain elements and finishes that depend on additional future funding. The final project will align closely with what is financially feasible and responsibly achievable based on the generous contributions of our community.
Planning With our Community in Mind
Construction of the new Temple Sholom Cemetery Pavilion is scheduled to begin in Fall 2025, with completion anticipated within approximately one year. The pavilion will accommodate up to 100 guests in a covered, secure structure featuring removable seating, suspended lighting, and radiant heaters for colder weather. Landscaping and essential civil works around the pavilion will be thoughtfully integrated, preserving tranquility and dignity, complemented by nearby washroom facilities and relocated storage areas, enhancing comfort and convenience for visitors and mourners alike.
Have Questions?
- When will the project start and when do you anticipate completion?
The project will start in the Fall of 2025 after the High Holy Days and will complete within the following 12-18 months. - Will the operation of the Temple or cemetery be impacted by the construction?
We do not anticipate any disruption at the cemetery. At the Temple, the work will be done strategically so as not to disrupt services or events. We will absolutely stay in close touch with our members to ensure that the renovation is as seamless as possible. - What if we don’t raise enough money to reach our full vision?
As we have emphasized from the start, we are committed to fiscal responsibility. We will construct only what we can afford, guided by the generosity of our donors. While our ultimate vision exceeds our current $8.5 million fundraising target, our priority is ensuring that all expenditures align with funds raised. Our phased approach—beginning with the cemetery project—demonstrates this responsible stewardship and our confidence in eventually realizing our complete vision. - What is the finalized design of the Cemetery Pavilion?
The rendering that is included in the Campaign Website is the approved design that we feel will best meet the needs of our membership. This design has gone through rounds of discussion and approval and we are proud to be able to present the final version.
Upcoming Events
Please look out for more information on the progress of the Capital Campaign and remember that our AGM is on June 10th, 2025, at 7:00 pm.
We Want to Hear From You!
If you would like to submit any questions or comments, or to discuss your gift to the Campaign, please reach out to:
Arlene Gladstone
Jonathan Becker
Cathy Lowenstein
Rabbi Dan Moskovitz
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