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Temple Adath B’nai Israel, the only Synagogue in Evansville, IN, is a new facility for a congregation of 200 families. The site is adjacent to an elevated Interstate Highway, with a nearby cloverleaf providing prominent views from above and as one progresses through the gradual sweep of the exit ramp. The highly visible roof thus becomes a focal point of the design. The heavily wooded backdrop for the site is an abandoned railroad right of way which screens the property from the neighboring church and provides a protected sylvan setting for use of the outdoor terrace, and seasonally varied views from the primary worship, educational and fellowship spaces.

The program for this congregation is unique in that large overflow Holiday crowds are not a factor. This use pattern allows the sanctuary and social hall to function separately at all time and affords an opportunity to express these primary spaces as discrete elements within the overall composition. The resulting design is a simple but powerful collection of pure forms grounded in a tilting plane. The cylinder of the sanctuary is capped by an abstracted crown symbolizing the majesty of G-d [and also hides the mechanical equipment], the cube of the library-chapel, and the rectangular prism of the social hall, all intersect with a simple wedge-shaped bar of the base building.

The dominant design feature of the Sanctuary is a stepped pattern of twelve pairs of windows, which progress around the drum from a low point at the entry doors, to a high point behind the Bimah. Each pair of windows is aligned under a matching pair of half-round clerestory windows above. Only at the Bimah do these vertically aligned windows actually unite to form a pair of tablets etched with the Ten Commandments, revealing the unambiguously Jewish character of the space.

The building is an essay in balancing the particular with the universal. The use of local brick, Indiana limestone, and a standing seam roof tie the building to its specific locale in time and space, while the pure geometric forms give the structure a timeless quality. The sanctuary, in particular, expresses the purity of the axis mundi tempered by an asymmetrical exposed king post structural system which locates the center of the room over the Bimah rather than the geometric center of the circle, and supports an heirloom Ner Tamid [eternal light] which has traveled with the congregation, along with its stained glass windows, as it has moved from one home to another, growing and changing over the years yet still connecting with its history, a significant Jewish theme.

“Hevreh” means community and the design of a new building is inevitably an expression of that community. The Jewish population in Great Barrington has traditionally been a summer phenomenon, multiplying with the seasonal attractions and Hevreh served its fluctuating congregation by borrowing facilities from others. After 20 years of “wandering” the congregation felt that, the time had come for a permanent home. The challenge was to build a temple that draws worshippers closer together, that invites spiritual reflection and encourages the community aspirations of the congregation, and provides needed space for its growing educational program as well as for community events.

Two-thirds of an 11 acre site is protected wetlands and the building and parking were forced close to the road. With breath-taking views to the back of the property the design oriented all public and meeting spaces toward the back and configured the utilitarian spaces to be visually inviting but functionally buffering.

Picture a 19th century shul in a close-knit eastern European village. The carpentry tradition and timber resources of the Berkshire are similar, but the cold winters have inspired a rambling, connected architecture that strings barns and woodsheds, to porches, to the house. These two inspirations have come together at Hevreh. Cedar is the dominant material both inside and out and the central space that serve as both sanctuary and social space needed to be inspirational as well as flexible and utilitarian.

The sanctuary is a deliberate departure from the enclosed and sheltered synagogues of Eastern Europe. It is welcoming, airy and filled with the light. The room seats 125 for weekly services with remarkable intimacy and can expand to seat 275 for special occasions. Large windows along two walls of the sanctuary can be removed each Fall for the High Holy Days services and nearly 600 additional seats set up on the terrace beneath a heated or cooled custom tent-like extension. At the eastern corner of this multi-purpose space the Torahs are sheltered in a semi-circulary wood and glass Ark that was designed by internationally known glass-artist, Tom Patti, whose studio is nearby.

The challenge was to build a temple that draws worshippers closer together, that invites spiritual reflection and encourages the communitarian aspiration of the congregants. The congregation needed more space and wished to make a distinctive statement of contemporary Judaism in a community with more than 300 churches but only 3 synagogues.

The building is set well back on its 38 acre site closer to the hills beyond and to establish the natural setting, preserve 24 acres of protected wetlands and to orchestrate the approach sequence through the trees and flowering meadow. Drawing inspiration from the walls of Jerusalem, yellow-gold brick, are laid in patterns that resemble the large cut stone and varied patterns of the ancient Temple’s Western Wall; worshippers are drawn through the entry and into a traditionally inspired Jewish community.

Picture a 19th century shtetl, a close-knit eastern European village. The streets are narrow, the sounds of life everywhere; a small chapel tight between the shops; the voices of children raised in prayer serenade. The rabbi’s study is across the street, a quiet retreat, lined with books and Judaic art. At the corner, across from the synagogue, is a library filled with children’s storybooks, Jewish recipes from distant lands, Bibles and biographies. To the right a smaller street extends to the edge of town with little schools along the way, each an active cluster of classrooms where children learn to draw and sing and read.

The sanctuary is a deliberate departure from the enclosed and sheltered synagogues of the shtetl. It is welcoming, airy and filled with light of the open countryside. The room seats 300 in just 7 rows, with remarkable intimacy. Panels along the sanctuary’s curved rear wall open to accommodate 1200 for the High Holy Days. At the center the Torahs are sheltered in a cylindrical Ark that is the heart of the building, forming the base for the 7 steel trusses that spring to support the roof like the branches of a menorah or the tree of life. The curved copper doors of the Ark, are inscribed with Exodus 20, which includes the Ten Commandments.