local
Or Ami in
Lafayette Hill
Updating its
Sanctuary S
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
ometimes, an institution’s public
relations description of its project
actually does sum it up quite well.

In a recent Facebook post,
Congregation Or Ami in Lafayette Hill
announced a “once-in-a-generation”
update to its sanctuary.

Th e Reform, 200-family synagogue
is “completely redoing the sanctuary,”
according to Executive Director Scott
Allen. Individual seating will replace the
pews, which have already been taken out;
the bimah will be lowered in an appro-
6 JUNE 23, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
priate metaphor for bringing God closer
to the people; and new carpeting, fl oor
tiles, paint and lighting will be installed.

Th e several hundred thousand dollar
project is the fi rst major update to the
sanctuary in 40 years, per Allen. Th e goal
is to complete it before the High Holidays.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming
more people back and having a beautiful
new space to pray in,” Allen said, referring
to the pandemic’s curtailing of in-person
activities over the past two years.

Or Ami’s update is both practical and
stylistic, according to Allen.

Practically, a 40-year-old sanctuary
Congregation Or Ami’s sanctuary prior to renovation
Courtesy of Scott Allen and Rabbi Glenn Ettman
just needs an update, and a period with
reduced activity is an ideal time to
do it. About 700 people attended High
Holiday services in pre-COVID times,
and synagogue offi cials want to prepare
for that crowd to return.

Stylistically, though, Or Ami wants
to enter post-COVID times with a more
fl exible and egalitarian aesthetic. Allen
mentioned the addition of individual
seating and the lowering of the bimah
as the key updates.

Th e new seating allows for more
versatility for activities ranging from
bar and bat mitzvah services to rock
Shabbats. A lower bimah brings the
rabbi closer to the congregation.

Altogether, Allen believes the new
setup will be more inviting.

“Th e idea of being able to make the
space fi t the programming is one way of
making the space more contemporary,”
he said.

For the update, Or Ami depended on a
combination of big and small donors, per the
director. To start the process, temple offi cials
asked congregants who they thought would
contribute. Th at eff ort landed enough fund-
ing to secure the project.

“By targeting some people we felt would
fi nd this project meaningful and special,
we were able to raise a sizable amount of
money,” Rabbi Glenn Ettman said.

Ettman and his leadership team
started dreaming about the overhaul
four years ago. During a service on Rosh
Hashanah morning, Ettman opened the
Torah ark doors to reveal the stained
glass windows behind them. A congre-
gant sitting in the back, who grew up at
Or Ami, told the rabbi aft er the service
that he felt like he was seeing the stained
glass for the fi rst time.

He thought it was beautiful and won-
dered if the synagogue could update
its sanctuary to enhance that beauty.

Together, the member and the rabbi
came around to a clarifying question:
What if you could walk in, see the
stained glass and understand its beauty?
Now, with the bimah lowered, con-
gregants will be able to do just that.

“To know that it’s a special, sacred
space,” Ettman said. “Th at began the
conversation.” But the size of the project and the pan-
demic kept the idea fi rmly in dream ter-
ritory for a few years. Recently, though,
Or Ami renovated its kitchen to allow
for more space for “alternative-type pro-
gramming,” as the rabbi described it,
like cooking classes for young adults.

Ettman wanted to bring the same
spirit to the sanctuary upgrade, too.

Synagogue members today want reli-
gion, yes; that’s why they are synagogue
members aft er all. But they also want
community in more modern, inter-
est-based ways, like through cooking
classes where they can learn recipes.

Th is, according to Ettman, is what
Judaism will look like post-COVID.

“Believing in religion as well as a
knish bread recipe is how Judaism
will continue,” he said. “Being able to
revamp the spaces, to give it a fresh look,
to say, ‘Here we are. Let’s come back.

Let’s do this.’”
For a smaller synagogue, Or Ami
has a healthy mix of younger and older
families. Some are multigenerational.

Others are kids who grew up in the
temple and came back.

Ettman hopes they all attend High
Holiday services in the fall and stick
with Or Ami moving forward. His
young daughter has graduated from
the synagogue’s Early Childhood
Education program and is a student in
its religious school.

“Our goal is to bring together the
Jewish community starting with the
ECE (Early Childhood Education pro-
gram) and all the way through the
Jewish life cycle moments,” he said.

“And the non-life cycle moments.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com



local
Jews Debate
Mastriano’s Christian
Nationalist Beliefs
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images via JTA
W hen
Pe n n s y l v a n i a
Republican guberna-
torial candidate Doug
Mastriano kicked off his primary cam-
paign on Jan. 8, he donned a tallit and
blew a shofar, despite not being Jewish.

Th e use of Jewish holy objects was
not a one-off aff air: Th e state senator
attended the “Patriots Arise for God and
Country” rally in Gettysburg in May
when nine event leaders blew the shofar
to begin the event.

“We have the power of God with
us,” Mastriano said at the rally, Th e
Philadelphia Inquirer reported. “We have
Jesus Christ that we’re serving here. He’s
guiding and directing our steps.”
In April, Mastriano appeared at a rally
organized by far-right activists Alan and
Francine Fosdick, who have alleged that
Jews have orchestrated recent natural
disasters, including wildfi res, through
the use of space lasers.

In many of his primary campaign
events, Mastriano, an Army veteran,
drew from his evangelical Christian
beliefs, taking a conservative stance on
issues such as abortion access, same-
sex marriage and transgender rights.

He attended President Donald Trump’s
Jan. 6 rally before the storming of the
Capitol Building.

Though he’s rejected the label,
Mastriano embodies the values of
Christian nationalism, which, according
to the Associated Press, is the idea that
God has destined America for greatness
and will give the country a “divine bless-
ing.” It’s the belief that Christian values
should dictate the country’s politics.

Combined with his far-right plat-
form, Mastriano’s use of Jewish symbol-
ism and condemnation of the division
between church and state has alarmed
area Jewish Democrats. Is Christian
nationalism antisemitic? What about
the use of a shofar and tallit in a political
campaign by a gentile?
Mastriano did not respond to repeated
requests for comment.

According to Anti-Defamation
League Philadelphia Regional Director
Andrew Goretsky, Christian national-
ists, though oft en not self-proclaimed,
believe that American values are inex-
tricable from Christian values.

“Christian nationalists assert that
America must remain a ‘Christian nation’
— not merely as an observation about
American history but as a prescriptive
program for what America must con-
tinue to be in the future,” Goretsky said.

He asserts, though not specifi cally
referring to Mastriano, that Christian
nationalism would be antisemitic if it
was dismissive of Judaism or if it specifi -
cally claimed that Jews were responsible
for the death of Jesus, which Mastriano
has not claimed.

Th e use of Jewish objects by a non-Jew
is not inherently antisemitic, Goretsky
said, but a politician’s use of these
objects in a political campaign could be
off ensive.

“ADL believes that using a tallit or
shofar outside of the ways they are
supposed to be used, or in a political
context, cheapens their meaning and
off ends many people who respect their
holiness,” Goretsky said.

Jill Zipin, chair of Democratic Jewish
Outreach Pennsylvania, was quick to
condemn Mastriano’s use of the shofar
and tallit during his campaign.

“It’s very problematic because the
appropriation of Jewish symbols at cam-
paign events, which is how he has used
it, I believe, such as the shofar, the tallit,
is appropriating sacred Jewish items and
symbols for political gain,” she said.

Even more concerning to Zipin were
Mastriano’s principles of Christian
nationalism, which she believed was
anti-democratic, favoring one religious
group over others.

“At the turn of the last century, Jews
came to this country for economic free-
dom, for religious freedom and for polit-
ical freedom,” Zipin said. “And Christian
nationalism goes to both religious free-
dom as well as political freedom because
it’s an anti-democratic
ideology.” But to Richard Tems, a
Doug Mastriano at a rally in Harrisburg on
Doylestown resident and
Dec. 14
member of the Republican
Jewish Coalition, Christian national- nections, Tems does not take issue with
ism is not antisemitic, as Christian and Mastriano’s use of the shofar and tallit,
Jewish values are in line with each other. so long as he does so with intention and
“Roots of Christianity come from respect.

us,” Tems said. “So they (evangelical
“If that’s what he chooses to do, that’s
Christians) believe that the Messiah fi ne. Does he understand why?” Tems
came, and we’re still waiting.”
said. “Does he have a clear understand-
Tems believes that Democrats have ing of the role ... Jews have in America?
manufactured an adversarial relation- How fundamental we are to this nation,
ship between Jews and Christians; to and how this nation was founded on
Tems, “Judeo-Christian values” are con- Judeo-Christian principles?” JE
sistent with Judaism and Christianity.

Because of the religions’ close con- srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com
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