Support our 2024 Year of Hope Capital Campaign!

The time has come to replace our worn-down Sanctuary carpet, as well as repair the weakened floorboards beneath it, and to make other vital infrastructure repairs.

Click here to learn more about this targeted campaign to restore our sacred space.

Paved Paradise Preservation & Maintenance

Click here to donate.

We hope you have had the pleasure of experiencing our beautiful, safe and accessible outdoor pavilion, “Paved Paradise.” If not, you must.

COVID-19 prompted us to use outdoor spaces as much as possible and we are so grateful to have quickly raised the $250,000 needed to transform our vacant lot into a beautiful space for holding socially-distant prayer services and other gatherings. Adjacent to our synagogue, this space provides for our current needs, and offers flexible community uses that can last for years, even when the pandemic is behind us.

At our recent Hatanim celebration this past Shabbat Bereshit, Louis Solomon announced the launch of our second phase of fundraising which will enable us to preserve and maintain this wonderful outdoor space.

Our Phase 2 Fundraising Goal: $150,000

Please help us make the necessary investments to ensure the ongoing maintenance and beautification of this valuable outdoor space, “Paved Paradise” so we can enjoy it now and for years to come.

In addition to being our “Prayground” for shabbat, holiday, and daily services, we have also seen how important a large, attractive, and sturdy outdoor pavilion has been to safely bring our community together for celebrations and gatherings such as our Hatanim Celebration, Simhat Torah, and Kiddushim as well as for funerals and shiba. We’ve also enjoyed movie nights, cultural programs, and our youth turned the plush astroturf into their soccer field. We have many more ideas for outdoor programs (while the weather cooperates and the tent remains up until winter; it will return in the spring) and we look to you for your ideas. We are also taking inquiries for private rentals which we hope will be a source of income that will offset the costs of maintaining the space.

To date, we have donations from over 150 individuals and families, some who have contributed multiple times. Thank you to everyone who has contributed including those of you who have already contributed to Phase 2 (see the list in formation below). Now we’re asking everyone in our community to donate for a first, second, or third time. Please support this critical project, even if you yourself do not expect to be a direct beneficiary.

Click on this link and be as generous as your circumstances permit. All contributors to Phase 2 will be listed on this web page. Additionally, in the coming months we will be mounting a tasteful recognition display on Paved Paradise where we will be acknowledging cumulative gifts of $1,800 and above. Gifts will be listed for the following giving levels: $50,000+, $36,000 to $49,999, $25,000 to $35,999, $18,000 to $24,999, $10,000 to $17,999, $5,000 to $9,999, and $1,800 to $4,999. If you have contributed previously, you will be recognized on your cumulative Phase 1 and Phase 2 gifts. We hope you will consider increasing your gift for Phase 2. If you have questions about your cumulative gift to date or wish to increase it to the next level, please contact Bonnie Barest or Barbara Reiss.

Curious to learn more about how Paved Paradise came to be? Click here.

Thank you to our generous Phase 2 donors (as of December 1, 2021):

  • Anonymous (2)
  • Lewis Bateman
  • Joanne & Jacob Ben-Avi
  • Yvette Bendahan
  • Norman Benzaquen
  • Melvyn Barenholtz
  • Philip Bieler
  • Rabbi Meier Brueckheimer
  • Karen & Jack Daar
  • Rose & Henry Edinger
  • Faith Fogelman
  • Laury Frieber
  • Jonathan Herlands
  • Lisa Turiel & Jonathan Israel
  • The Jerusalmi Family
  • Robert Kasirer
  • Larry Kobrin
  • Marcia & David Lavipour
  • David Lerner
  • Susan M. Lobel M.D.
  • Dina Mann
  • Laurel & Joel Marcus
  • The Mark family
  • Sherri & Joel Maxman
  • Joshua de Sola Mendes
  • Enid Moskowitz
  • Joseph Nahmias
  • Hayyim Obadyah
  • Joy & Bruce Roberts
  • Gillian & Simon Salama-Caro
  • Meralee & Sidney Schlusselberg
  • Lu & Michael Schulder
  • Karen & Roy Simon
  • The Solomon Family
  • Linda & Howard Sterling
  • Margo & Benjamin Suckewer
  • Madelene & Stan Towne
  • M. Vazquez-Senior, MD
  • Judith Zupnick

Contact Us

2 West 70th Street
New York, NY 10023
212-873-0300
info@shearithisrael.org
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