synagogue spotlight
What’s happening at ... Kol Tzedek
Kol Tzedek in West Philadelphia
Looking for New Home
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
I 24
DECEMBER 29, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Kol Tzedek congregants gather
outdoors for prayer.

lived in West Philly for a long
come back together.

time and people from outside
“Th e pandemic was so isolat-
the city on the Main Line or
ing,” he said.

in South Jersey. Th ey bring a
Starting in January, though,
range of incomes to the table
Fornari will be isolating him-
“from basically impoverished
self for six months with a sab-
to well-off ,” said Segal.

batical. Th e congregation is
Congregants in
the allowing its 40-year-old rabbi,
Reconstructionist community
who has worked tirelessly to
also do not want to purchase a
help grow the congregation for
Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari
space and wall themselves off
the past seven years, his own
from the rest of the neighbor-
shmita year for release and
hood. As Segal explained it, “We want a space we can regeneration. Fornari plans to tend to his body with
share with the community.”
exercise and yoga and to his mind with four weeks
“We’re conscious of our role in gentrifi cation in of silent meditation. He is also going to dive deep
West Philly,” she added. “We want to make sure we’re into Maimonides’ medieval text “Mishneh Torah,”
not going to do something that will drive them out.” or “Hilchot Teshuvah,” a book about “how to repair
All Kol Tzedek members are looking for, according harm,” as Fornari explained it.

to the founding member, is to no longer have to drag
Th e rabbi hopes to translate the text into a book of
in an air-conditioner unit through the window for his own and use the lessons to inform his rabbinate
High Holiday services in the fall. As well as to no lon- upon his return to Kol Tzedek in July.

ger have to wear scarves and mittens during services
“Change and transformation are not only possible
in the winter.

but a constant part of the world,” he said. “We’re liv-
A community that gained 100 new members during ing in a time where there’s a lot of feeling we need to
the pandemic would simply like to gather comfort- do and repair to stay in relationship with our family,
ably. As Fornari explained, Kol Tzedek, like many our friends, our community.” JE
synagogues, developed online prayer and learning
experiences during COVID. But congregants need to jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Courtesy of Kol Tzedek
n 5783, and in the seventh year under its second
religious leader, Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari, Kol Tzedek
in West Philadelphia has about 370 households
in its congregation. What started as a “simple cha-
vurah,” as a 2016 Jewish Exponent article put it, in
the apartment of founder Rabbi Lauren Grabelle
Hermann in 2002 has grown into a Reconstructionist
community that rivals some of its Reform, suburban
contemporaries in size.

Th e community grew from that “simple chavurah”
to 140 households by the time of Grabelle Hermann’s
departure in 2016. And under Fornari, it has more
than doubled. About 90% of those congregants live in
Philadelphia, and around 60% walk to the shul.

Th erefore, it’s time to fi nd a permanent home,
according to synagogue leaders.

As a fundraising campaign on Kol Tzedek’s web-
site explains, “5783 marks the 18th anniversary” of
the synagogue. And the number 18 corresponds to
“chai,” or “life.” So to keep the temple alive and thriv-
ing, the Reconstructionist community is starting a
grassroots eff ort to raise $360,000. If collected, that
money will go towards a new physical space that the
synagogue will either purchase or rent.

At the moment, the temple shares a space with
Calvary United Methodist Church, and the building
is aging. Kol Tzedek needs wheelchair accessibility,
heating in the winter, air conditioning in the sum-
mer, proper ventilation and bathrooms that work
on a consistent basis, according to Naomi Segal, a
founding member.

“We have none of that at Cavalry,” she said. “It’s
just an old, beat-up building.”
To help fi nd a new, robust home, Kol Tzedek lead-
ers are asking members to donate in the symbolic
multiple of 18. Th at could mean $18, $18,000 or
$180,000, according to the website page about the
campaign. But any amount will help.

Th e synagogue wants to remain in its Cedar Park
neighborhood so congregants can continue to walk
to temple activities. But real estate in the area is
expensive, so renting may be the best bet, according
to Segal, who went as far as to say that “nobody wants
us to own or build.”
“It’s a money trap. We’ve watched other syna-
gogues collapse, or almost collapse, from fi nancial
issues,” she added. “We don’t want that.”
Segal also does not believe that Kol Tzedek can
raise the millions of dollars that it will likely take
to buy a building in Cedar Park. Th e synagogue’s
membership is a mix of students, people who have