Winter Wonderland Of Gifts Will Help Pay

The Construction Bills For Congregation Adath Israel

By Shannon Hicks

Now that Congregation Adath Israel has received approval from the town’s planning and zoning commission, members of the Huntingtown Road temple are kicking their fundraising efforts into high gear.

 Congregational Adath Israel of Newtown is about to take on a major renovation for its temple at 111 Huntingtown Road. The temple has received approval to build a new temple on its property, and fundraising toward that effort continues.

It is going to take a lot of special events to pay for the new building, and one of the first public events will be next weekend’s “A Winter Wonderland of Gifts — A Holiday Craft Fair.” The show and sale is scheduled for Sunday, November 21, at Edmond Town Hall.

The event will run from 10 am until 3 pm in the town hall’s gymnasium. Entry is from the building’s lower parking lot, at 45 Main Street (Route 25).

Admission is $1 per person.

Congregation Adath Israel was founded in the early 1900s by a small group of orthodox Jews who fled poverty and persecution in eastern Europe. They arrived with little more than their skill as farmers and a desire to worship freely, according to the temple’s history.

After settling in Newtown, the farmers worshipped for several years without a synagogue or rabbi. They built Congregation Adath Israel in 1919, and the first rabbit arrived four years later.

The congregation prospered and grew until the 1940s. Following World War II, many of the younger congregants left what was still a rural Newtown for jobs in larger cities. While the remaining members were devout and observed holy days and the Sabbath faithfully, total membership started to decline.

In 1970 — when membership had dropped to fewer than 20 families — the congregation voted to expand upon its orthodox beliefs and adapted a modern conservative doctrine. Women became full participants in the temple, services for youth became comprehensive, and all activities recognized the demands placed on today’s working families.

Today Adath Israel, led by Rabbi Shaul Praver, is again thriving. Descendants of some of the original families continue to worship alongside newcomers. A few members live within walking distance, but the majority resides throughout Newtown and neighboring towns.

“We presently have 85 families. We are bursting at the seams whenever we have a major holiday or function at the building,” said Robin Magilnick, the program director for Congregation Adath Israel and the driving force behind next weekend’s crafts show and sale. “During our high holidays, there are times when it’s standing room only.

“For Bar Mitzvahs, we’re limited to the number of people we can have in here,” she added. “You really have to limit the number of people you invite to these celebrations because you don’t want people standing for the full event.

“Hebrew School creates one of our biggest space issues. The younger children meet at 8 am and then the older kids come in at 10. We have the two sessions because we can’t fit everyone in here at the same time.”

When completed, Adath Israel’s new temple will actually be at 115 Huntingtown Road, replacing the current one at 111 Huntingtown Road. The new building will be in a field area, set back further from the road than the current temple is, and it will have its own adjacent parking lot. Today visitors must park in a tiny parking lot across the street from the temple.

The new synagogue will be approximately 11,200 square feet, nearly three times the size of the existing building.

The craft fair, says Ms Magilnick, will be a large fundraiser for the new building.

The fair will feature jewelry, ornaments for Hanukkah and Christmas, woodworking, pottery, tapestry pocketbooks, doll clothes (which fit the American Girl dolls) and handmade dolls, and more. Thirty-three crafters will fill 38 booths at the show.

Vendors from across the state, as well as one from the Springfield, Mass., area (Ron Pessalano with turned wood items), one from Long Island (Paula Sherson, Safe-T-Bows) and another from Minnesota (Duane Carlson, whose Wood N’ Ribbon Crafts will fill a double booth space).

Two of the participating crafters, Dale Yeager (Broken Arrow Design, out of Durham) and Victoria Miller (Bewitching Beads, from Newington), signed on with Ms Magilnick more than a year ago, well before the details of the crafts show were nailed down.

“These two people had faith in me well before we knew when or even where this show was going to be held. They just signed right on,” Ms Magilnick said recently.

The show’s roster has since sold out, so shoppers will have a full auditorium of offerings next weekend.

Ms Magilnick is participating in addition to organizing the show. The proprietor of Creations In Chocolate and A Personal Touch Graphic and Web Design, Ms Magilnick’s specialties are making novelty chocolates and custom wrappers. The chocolates are hand poured and hand decorated, and special orders have been filled in the past for clients who have peanut allergies.

Ms Magilnick started her chocolate business about 17 years ago, when her children began school. She took an interest and turned it into a business for   local arts and crafts shows.

A few years ago she began designing special wrappers for chocolates or popcorn. Labels have been designed for everything from sports, hobbies, birthdays, anniversaries, jobs and trade shows to Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, baby announcements and holidays.

Congregational Adath Israel will have a booth during “A Winter Wonderland of Gifts” with information on its history and plans for the future. Members will   host raffles, and there will be a sale of Adath Israel cookbooks — along with samples of many of the recipes within the cookbook. Baked goods will also be offered for purchase.

There will also be a sale of gift cards redeemable at local grocery stores. The stores have donated the cards to Adath Israel, who then receives a percentage of each card sold.

The i-95 (WRKI-FM) Street Team Prize Van will also be at the town hall, from 10 am until 1 pm.

All are welcome. For additional information contact Robin Magilnick at 268-1342.