By:Nick Buglione
The temple's general membership voted 20-13 in favor of the move during an often contentious meeting Thursday, May 6, said Irving Gerber, a board member.
It is hoped the switch will attract more young members to the synagogue on Old Westbury Road in East Meadow, which today serves only about 60 families and has five students in its Hebrew school. In its heyday, Suburban Park Jewish Center boasted some 200 families.
Saving the synagogue, which has existed for almost 50 years, seemed to be on the minds of most who favored the plan, while those more comfortable with the Conservative way of worship seemed wary of switching to orthodoxy, Gerber said.
"We have members closer to orthodoxy, and they are in favor of this, and we have others that didn't like this," he said. "The main feeling was we must preserve the synagogue and not let it go down."
There are key differences in the way Conservative Jews and Orthodox Jews worship. Whereas men and women typically sit together during Conservative services, the Orthodox sit separately. Conservative Jews often opt to drive to synagogue on Shabbat, while Orthodox walk.
Rabbi Sam Krasner, who has been at Suburban Park Jewish Center for two years and is Orthodox, stressed that this temple will push a more modern form of orthodoxy. In other words, those who still want to drive to services will be permitted, and husbands and wives will be allowed to sit together, just not in the first few rows, which will be segregated according to sex.
It seems essential, at least for the time being, to allow members to drive to synagogue, since there isn't a significant Orthodox Jewish population within walking distance of Suburban Park. While a portion of East Meadow, Salisbury and Levittown residents are Jewish, none of those neighborhoods have Orthodox synagogues.
Krasner can see East Meadow becoming home to a larger Orthodox Jewish community, however. "Those synagogues that are growing today on Long Island are Orthodox synagogues," he said. "East Meadow is a very desirable place to live, because the houses are not as high priced as in Bellmore-Merrick or the Five Towns."
The Stop & Shop on Hempstead Turnpike has a section that sells kosher food, and another similar market is soon to open on the Uniondale-East Meadow border, Krasner said. "There is also busing to day schools, for those who opt to send their children to a private education," he said.
The rabbi also argued that Suburban Park Jewish Center has been moving toward a more Orthodox tradition in recent years, citing, among other reasons, that at least the past three rabbis before him were Orthodox.
The temple hasn't been truly conservative for some time, since it's no longer part of the United Synagogue of the Conservative movement, he said. Still, said temple President Bernard Tobin, a member since 1957, people are wary of the switch. "I feel the people would prefer to be the old way," he said.
The change has already gone into effect, but will be in place on a six-month trial basis, Tobin said. If membership doesn't increase in that time, other options will be explored.
Merging with another temple, an idea that has already been kicked around, is one such option, he said.
Since the building is already paid for, the temple won't be forced to sell if new members aren't added. The congregation can remain intact, but just won't have the luxury of a full-time rabbi, Tobin said.
