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Jewish Center of the Hamptons
The Jewish Center of the Hamptons, abbreviated as JCOH, also called Shaarey Pardes (transliterated from Hebrew as the "Gates of the Grove"), is a post-denominational Jewish congregation, synagogue, and community center, located at 44 Woods Lane, in East Hampton, Long Island, in New York, in the United States.
Designed by Norman Jaffe in the Modernist style and dedicated on August 26, 1988, the synagogue has been called a masterpiece. The cedar–shingled synagogue building was awarded the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture excellence in design award.[citation needed] Jaffe called on Kabbalistic symbolism, the famed light of the Hamptons, and local vernacular traditions to create a contemporary religious space that uses architecture to shape spiritual experience.[citation needed] The New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger described it as "a building that is at once a gentle tent and a powerful monument, at once a civic presence that celebrates community and a place of quiet meditation that honors solitude".
The Jewish Center of the Hamptons was founded in 1959 when 23 individuals living in the East Hampton area began meeting for services in their own homes. As the congregation grew and migrated to various borrowed facilities, the need for their own permanent facility became clear. Land was acquired and, largely through the efforts of local financier Evan Frankel, funds were raised to construct a facility.
In 1983, Frankel he met with Jaffe to discuss the project. Jaffe eagerly pursued the commission and, although he encountered some resistance from the board of directors, he eventually was chosen to design the new sanctuary when he offered his services pro bono.[citation needed]
Jaffe initially imagined Gates of the Grove as a tent in the woods — an elemental structure consisting of little more than a canopy roof.[citation needed] He quickly realized that he would need to adapt this vision to the needs of the congregation and the board and looked to wooden synagogues of Eastern Europe for inspiration. His final design, approved in 1984, continued the east–west longitudinal axis of the existing structure on the property via a new volume attached to its west end. Despite the complexity of his solution, he'd managed to preserve the essence of the original idea—the luminescent feeling of a tent softly lit by the sun—through an array of bent porticos separated by skylights.
Jaffe made many design decisions on site. He also engaged tradespeople and encouraged them to contribute to the creative development of the project. Randy Rosenthal, a painter and carpenter, co-designed and hand-carved extensive wood detailing, including the doors.[citation needed] Dennis Lawrence, a woodworker, developed a unique hinge for the ark.[citation needed]
At completion, expenses totaled nearly $2 million. The building was dedicated on August 26, 1988. New York Attorney General Robert Abrams presided over the ceremony, attended by four hundred people. Members of the local government and clergy attended as a gesture of public support. East Hampton Town Supervisor Judith Hope later featured Evan Frankel in her column in the East Hampton Star, writing, “By his personal example he proved that sensitive development, development that respected the delicate integrity of nature, was viable.”
Though JCOH uses tents for high holiday services—–the congregation is now[when?] 400 families–—the facility remains largely as Jaffe had intended. The Gates of the Grove continues to hold weekly Shabbat services year-round every Friday night and Saturday morning. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the Jewish Center of the Hamptons hosts Shabbat on the Beach on Fridays with hundreds of people in attendance.
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Jewish Center of the Hamptons
The Jewish Center of the Hamptons, abbreviated as JCOH, also called Shaarey Pardes (transliterated from Hebrew as the "Gates of the Grove"), is a post-denominational Jewish congregation, synagogue, and community center, located at 44 Woods Lane, in East Hampton, Long Island, in New York, in the United States.
Designed by Norman Jaffe in the Modernist style and dedicated on August 26, 1988, the synagogue has been called a masterpiece. The cedar–shingled synagogue building was awarded the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture excellence in design award.[citation needed] Jaffe called on Kabbalistic symbolism, the famed light of the Hamptons, and local vernacular traditions to create a contemporary religious space that uses architecture to shape spiritual experience.[citation needed] The New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger described it as "a building that is at once a gentle tent and a powerful monument, at once a civic presence that celebrates community and a place of quiet meditation that honors solitude".
The Jewish Center of the Hamptons was founded in 1959 when 23 individuals living in the East Hampton area began meeting for services in their own homes. As the congregation grew and migrated to various borrowed facilities, the need for their own permanent facility became clear. Land was acquired and, largely through the efforts of local financier Evan Frankel, funds were raised to construct a facility.
In 1983, Frankel he met with Jaffe to discuss the project. Jaffe eagerly pursued the commission and, although he encountered some resistance from the board of directors, he eventually was chosen to design the new sanctuary when he offered his services pro bono.[citation needed]
Jaffe initially imagined Gates of the Grove as a tent in the woods — an elemental structure consisting of little more than a canopy roof.[citation needed] He quickly realized that he would need to adapt this vision to the needs of the congregation and the board and looked to wooden synagogues of Eastern Europe for inspiration. His final design, approved in 1984, continued the east–west longitudinal axis of the existing structure on the property via a new volume attached to its west end. Despite the complexity of his solution, he'd managed to preserve the essence of the original idea—the luminescent feeling of a tent softly lit by the sun—through an array of bent porticos separated by skylights.
Jaffe made many design decisions on site. He also engaged tradespeople and encouraged them to contribute to the creative development of the project. Randy Rosenthal, a painter and carpenter, co-designed and hand-carved extensive wood detailing, including the doors.[citation needed] Dennis Lawrence, a woodworker, developed a unique hinge for the ark.[citation needed]
At completion, expenses totaled nearly $2 million. The building was dedicated on August 26, 1988. New York Attorney General Robert Abrams presided over the ceremony, attended by four hundred people. Members of the local government and clergy attended as a gesture of public support. East Hampton Town Supervisor Judith Hope later featured Evan Frankel in her column in the East Hampton Star, writing, “By his personal example he proved that sensitive development, development that respected the delicate integrity of nature, was viable.”
Though JCOH uses tents for high holiday services—–the congregation is now[when?] 400 families–—the facility remains largely as Jaffe had intended. The Gates of the Grove continues to hold weekly Shabbat services year-round every Friday night and Saturday morning. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the Jewish Center of the Hamptons hosts Shabbat on the Beach on Fridays with hundreds of people in attendance.