In the several decades since the handful of founding families created Temple Shaari Emeth, the Sanctuary and Social Hall have been transformed three different times to become the warm and flexible space which now exists. When Rabbi Schechter arrived in 1971, the bema was a bare wooden platform, the floor was concrete, the windows were not stained glass, and the walls were unpainted cinder block. The Social Hall also had a western style “wagon wheel chandelier.”

However, the beautiful wood ceiling of the Sanctuary and Social Hall was the strongest feature then, as it remains. It was constructed of beams designed to remind us of the inside of a large sailing ship, such as Noah’s Ark. This is typical of synagogue construction of the late 50s and 60s.

Gradually, a decoration theme was developed by a committee and for some reason the colors brown and orange were chosen to dominate. The front walls were paneled with dark wood veneer. An orange carpet covered the sanctuary floor, orange upholstered bema seating was added and even the original Torah cover was done in orange and brown. That color scheme, seating and carpeting were replaced for the Temple’s 18^th anniversary. New bema seating was also built in. Gradually, over the decades Klay Kodesh, objects of holiness, were added throughout and they were saved and incorporated in the massive and total renovation which took place in 1990.

We begin our tour:

• Entering the Sanctuary
• The Bema
• The Ark
• Tapestries and Windows
• Memorials
• Outside the Sanctuary