New synagogue in Palm Beach features colonial-style renovations

A two-year effort to renovate the New Synagogue’s Palm Beach location has been completed.

The Modern Orthodox temple founded in 2000 by Palm Beach resident and Slim-Fast founder S. Daniel Abraham recently unveiled its new sanctuary, social and rabbi study area.

The spaces were rebuilt and redesigned from their former modern look to a colonial style inspired by the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island. Built in 1763, Touro is the oldest synagogue in the United States and is a National Historic Site.

The New Synagogue is located in the penthouse suite of the Palm Beach Hotel, 235 Sunrise Ave.

“Our vision was… to create a space that resonates deeply with our American and Jewish values,” Rabbi Abraham Unger, the temple’s executive director, told the Daily News. “It was inspired by the Touro Synagogue in Newport, which was an early colonial era synagogue founded by Spanish and Portuguese Jews who came to colonial America. We wanted that feeling of being deeply rooted in American history and at the same time speaking strongly of a loyalty to Jewish tradition.”

Work on the renovation project began in July 2022, two years after the start of the COVID pandemic. Temple administrators said the pandemic has affirmed the essential role of the community and the importance of its growth.

“I think COVID has certainly left us with a deeper recognition of the value of community and togetherness, but we’re also conscious of meeting people where they are,” Unger told the Daily News last year. “We welcome everyone to a traditional Jewish spiritual experience of prayer and fellowship.”

As part of the renovation work, the synagogue was reconfigured to match the Touro’s Sephardic-influenced design, where the bimah (the reading table for the prayer leader to lead services) is located at the back of the congregants’ center. , and the female section frames the male section, which is in the middle of the sanctuary.

Synagogue staff also took inspiration from the Touro Synagogue in the temple’s furnishings and interior decor, Unger said.

As currently configured, the temple can accommodate around 90 people.

“It’s rejuvenating,” Unger said of the renovations. “Now we have this beautiful house to worship in, to gather in community. It has infused our lives with an even deeper spirituality, because space matters. Presentation matters. The beauty of a worship space where you sing your historic songs and saying your historic prayers and growing spiritually really matters. The environment and space are important, so this has just rejuvenated our entire spiritual life, and I think, I hope, the spiritual life of the entire broader Palm Beach community, so much. Jewish and beyond.

Unger declined to disclose the cost of the renovation, which took place in “bits and pieces” over a two-year period and was briefly halted because of COVID-related closures. The synagogue remained open for most of the construction period, Unger said.

“We went through some periods of closure, obviously during COVID, and then there were times after,” he said. “But we’ve been open consistently for a long time.”

Synagogue officials said they strive to provide a welcoming environment for families regardless of their affiliation.

The New Synagogue has no formal membership. Most of its regular worshipers live on the island, Unger noted, but the synagogue attracts visitors from as far south as Miami.

“We believe that anyone who wants to can come and pray,” Unger said. “You don’t need to pay a fee, nor membership fees, nor have any qualifications. You just have to come in with your spirituality and pray among us. Everyone is welcome. Sit in the pews and reflect, recite, think, listen and just be present.”

For information about the New Synagogue, visit www.newsynagogue.org/ or call 561-514-4064.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist for the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at [email protected].