Virtual Tour

The Sanctuary

Refurbished in 1995, the Sanctuary is home to Shabbat and sanct545holiday worship services and to varied musical and educational programs. Seating 500 downstairs, it has a balcony that seats 150 more

Entry

The great stairs on the front and back of the building are used on Shabbat and for special holidays and events.

During work days use the ground floor entrances.

The Office Door

To the left of the big stairs on the Granby Street side, the Temple Office is accessible Monday through Thursday from 9 till 5 Monday, and 9 till 3 on Fridays. A buzzer will alert staff to let you in.

The Minyan Room Entrance

The minyan room door is sequestered behind the brick trellis to the right of the big stairs on the Granby Street side.
  • The Office Door

    To the left of the big stairs on the Granby Street side, the Temple Office is accessible Monday through Thursday from 9 till 5 Monday, and 9 till 3 on Fridays. A buzzer will alert staff to let you in.
  • The Minyan Room Entrance

    The minyan room door is sequestered behind the brick trellis to the right of the big stairs on the Granby Street side.

The Library

The Hyman Swartz Library houses nearly three thousand books on Jewish topics, including books on loan, reference books and children’s books, which are placed on the lower shelves. The room is often used also for meetings and for classes.

The Education Wing Entrance

On Warren Street, at the left-hand (south) end of the building, is the entry to Education Wing. It also offers the shortest route to the upstairs kitchen for those delivering food. A buzzer to the left of the door will alert staff to buzz you in.

Evelyn Eisenberg Atrium, Sandler Social Hall, and Brody Auditorium


Temple Israel has three different rooms for social events, dinners, parties, and other sorts of gatherings.

Downstairs, cozy Sandler Hall seats 125 in a carpeted room, near the dairy kitchen. The elegant glass-walled Evelyn Eisenberg Atrium can seat 250. It is accessible via wheelchair lift from the Minyan Room entrance and the sanctuary as well as from the business door entrance.

Upstairs, Brody Auditorium seats 300. It has a small stage, an excellent speaker system. This room is adjacent to the meat kitchen. It is accessible by wheelchair lift from both the Sanctuary / Minyan Room entrance and from the office entrance.

The Sandler Hall Entrance


To the right of the great back stairs is a sidewalk leading down to a lower-level entry door. This gives access to Sandler Hall and the dairy kitchen. A buzzer to the left of the door will alert staff to buzz you in.

Stained Glass Windows

About the Windows

The stained glass windows in Temple Israel sanctuary were created by Ascalon Studios. Each panel depicts a biblical passage or an event from Jewish history from Creation to the founding of the State of Israel.

Taken all together, the blue overtones and the wavelike shape of the tops of the panels give the impression of the walls of the sea that stood up on either side as Moses led his followers across the seabed toward a glorious future.

It is part of the design that congregants be able to look up and see the sky above the surface of the sea. Purchase of each panel was sponsored by an individual, family or several families whose names appear on plaques in the sanctuary.In the egalitarian spirit that Torah belongs to us all, Rabbi Panitz “gives” each bar or bat mitzvah student a window that has special relevance for that youngster.

Students don’t get to take the window home with them, but are invited to visit as often as possible.