Temple Israel sells land to JCC

This means that the JCC has a permanent home for some of its programs.”

Chumi Diamond, JCC vice president

Believing the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC to be an organization that serves the diverse needs of the Five Towns and surrounding communities, Chumi Diamond got involved about 10 years ago. 

Now a vice president of the JCC’s executive board, Diamond, from Long Beach, confirmed that the group, headquartered on Grove Avenue in Cedarhurst, has purchased the Temple Israel of Lawrence property at 140 Central Ave. in Lawrence. The transaction was made official on Jan. 4. Both JCC and temple officials declined to report the purchase price, and the JCC declined to say how much rent it would charge the temple. 

As required by New York state law, the temple submitted the sale documents to the state attorney general’s office, which granted its approval. Documents were also filed in state Civil Court. And the attorney general reviewed how the money from the sale would be used and how the temple would fulfill its religious mission.

“This means that the JCC has a permanent home for some of its programs, such as the pre-school that serves hundreds of students from all over the Five Towns,” Diamond said. The Gural JCC is a nonprofit that also serves Far Rockaway, Lynbrook, East Rockaway, Valley Stream and West Hempstead.

She stressed that Temple Israel and the JCC are not partners. The JCC bought the synagogue’s land and leases space to it. Diamond said that there are no immediate plans to transfer programs from the Cedarhurst building to the Central Avenue campus. She added that other JCC programs not held at the Grove Avenue site would also not be moved to the temple right now. 

Recently, the JCC and Temple Israel joined forces to hold special events such as hosting Howard Friedman, a former president and chairman of the board of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who spoke at the temple in November. Ambassador Vasilios Philippou, consul general of Cyprus, and Amir Sagie, deputy consul of Israel, were scheduled to speak on Jan. 25 about refugees headed to Israel.

For several years, the JCC has leased space from Temple Israel. The new agreement has the Reform synagogue leasing space for at least the next 20 years. The JCC is responsible for the maintenance costs, which lessens the temple’s financial burden, according to President Ken Schapiro.  

“It means that the temple will survive for the next 20 years,” Schapiro said. “We reversed roles. We were the owners and they leased. Now they are the owners and we lease.”

Temple Israel was founded 110 years ago, and is the oldest Reform congregation on the South Shore. It has roughly 360 members. Schapiro said the Central Avenue building was built in 1931. The congregation began in Far Rockaway. “Old buildings require money, and they are prepared” to invest in the temple building, he said of the JCC. “They were the best bidder, and it went to them.” Temple members approved the transaction last June.

Established more than 35 years ago, the JCC runs a broad spectrum of programs that include children’s birthday parties, student-to-student tutoring, and groups that serve Holocaust survivors, people with Parkinson’s disease and traumatic brain injury patients, along with a host of after-school programs and many more adult-oriented services and activities. There is also the Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry in Woodmere, which serves about 300 families.

“This is a good use of my time,” Diamond said, “to serve different parts of the population, whether it be the religious community or the non-religious.” 

In September 2014, Temple Israel entered into a 20-year agreement with Bethpage-based Carlyle Catering. More than 100 events are booked annually at the temple, and possibly more because a kosher catering company, Main Event Mauzone, which partners with Mark David Catering, will also service the temple, said Steve Carl, Carlyle’s owner. “The temple will now have a glatt kosher caterer under the Orthodox Union,” Carl said.