Earlier this year, Temple Israel was added to the New York State Register of Historic Places. This register lists properties significant in the history, architecture, engineering, landscape design, archeology or culture of our state. This listing makes Temple Israel eligible to apply for state tax credits or historic preservation grants. Listing on the register also requires government agencies to avoid or reduce the effects of public projects on properties that are eligible for or listed on the registers. Listing on the Registry, moreover, doesn’t restrict our repair or renovation of the building unless the congregation later elects to take public preservation funds which contain such a condition. In other words, the listing raises the visibility of our synagogue without limiting our use of the building in any way. The listing of Temple Israel primarily recognizes the national importance of the architect who designed our building, Percival Goodman. Goodman was one of the United States’ leading designers of synagogues in decades after the Second World War. Goodman believed that the architect had a responsibility not merely to create a physical building, but also to serve as a social advocate for change through the design of his works. After the horrible revelations of the Holocaust, he particularly wanted his designs to foster Jewish communal life as a response to those who tried to destroy it. As Jewish families moved from the small segregated, urban enclaves where most Jewish immigrants had originally settled into areas where land was more plentiful, Goodman believed an opportunity existed to build synagogues that served as houses of worship as well as classrooms, social halls and even recreational facilities. As the Jewish community lost the closeness provided by a dense urban environment, he believed, the synagogue itself needed to fulfill the multiple roles that the tight-knit immigrant enclaves had originally provided. Goodman believed that the synagogues built in the post-World War II explosion of synagogue design and building must reflect these modern sensibilities. Because Jewish tradition has very few rules about synagogue design, most American synagogues built before World War II were modeled on either European shuls familiar to the Jewish immigrants or on the colonial designs of the first synagogues built in North America. Goodman refused to follow that path for the 50-some synagogues he designed. To imitate “traditional” styles of design in the belief that only they could convey a sense of the sacred, he affirmed, was to deny that religion could be an important part of contemporary life and sensibility. To that end, he believed in a tripartite modern design of the synagogue, divided between the sanctuary, the classrooms and the social hall. He often placed the sanctuary and the social hall adjacent to one another to account for the fact that many more congregants attended High Holy services than regular Shabbat services. To that end, Goodman’s design of Temple Israel divides the social hall from the sanctuary, not with fixed walls, but with movable partitions so that when the holiday services take place, the partitions can be retracted to expand the sanctuary to accommodate a greater number of worshippers. This innovation at the time soon became a standard feature of synagogues built during this time. Goodman also believed that opportunities for the placement of functional art should be built into the synagogue design. In our Sanctuary, for instance, he designed a place for a large menorah or lampstand behind the rabbi’s desk. He also designed the ark and windows to take maximum advantage of decorative arts like stained glass and graphic representations in a variety of mediums. Throughout our synagogue, in fact, you will find a variety of surfaces specially designed to accommodate the placement of works of art, from the metal “Tree of Life” designs in the lobby to pictures of various Jewish holidays that adorn the walls in our social hall and entry way. Goodman also tried, at least in a metaphorical way, to allude to the Tent of Meeting which served as the original sanctuary of the Israelites. This is more apparent to the eye when standing in our parking lot and looking at our inverted sloped roof. You can nevertheless see that intent when looking up at the high and soaring ceiling in our sanctuary reminiscent of the angled roof of a tent that draws our eyes heavenward. In so doing, we are reminded of the first sanctuary of the people of Israel and of the continuity between those ancient days and our own. Many of the features that Goodman incorporated into the design of Temple Israel are standard features of synagogues built today. The landmark status of our building reflects both the importance of Goodman’s influence on synagogue design in North America and the special features of our building situated on our unique landscape with a stream running beside our structure and the orientation of the building to take maximum advantage of the sloping banks which lead down to the water. Most of us probably take these features for granted after repeated visits to our synagogue. But, if you look at our building anew through the eyes of a first-time visitor to Temple Israel, and take in all its wonderful features, I know you will agree that Temple Israel belongs among all those Staten Island buildings that have contributed to the history of our borough and our state. Kol Tuv. Be well and enjoy your summer! | 
