Four thousand years after Abram left his ancestral home, a 150-year old Temple faced a similar dilemma: whether to remain in its beloved sanctuary that served the community for more than a century, or to move to a new home. The decision was gut-wrenching, nearly resulting in a split of the congregation. The process began in 2010 and culminated in the opening of the new Temple in 2014, in time for Kol Nidre, the most sacred service of the Jewish year. Our hypothesis is that a move marks a new chapter in a congregational narrative, because it changes relationships among the members, with the clergy, and with the religion itself. Our experience was that the move was initially detrimental to congregational cohesion; it took four years not only to raise funds, but more importantly, to re-discover our story and the relationships that comprise it.

Two research questions were examined: 1. What was the root cause of the disruption? 2. What interventions were employed to ameliorate discord, and empower the faith community to rise to a higher plane of responsibility and purpose? The methodology was to interview 20% of the congregation utilizing members of the Local Advisory Committee. The interviewees represented members of both sexes and constituted a cross section of generational cohorts: Builders, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials.

Results revealed the age-old tensions in the meaning of sacred place in the Jewish tradition. Builders and boomers wanted a palatial Temple that would endure for generations, while Gen Xers and Millenials favored a humble tent, akin to the portable tabernacle that the Israelites carried with them in the desert. The younger people also wanted a more home-centered than synagogue-centric approach to Jewish practice. There is a paucity of literature on the subject of congregational moves, and this thesis intends to amplify discussion on this important topic.