IKAR announces it will move to Shalhevet

Egalitarian spiritual community IKAR announced yesterday that it plans to relocate temporarily to Shalhevet High School’s new building near Olympic Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, following its 11 years operating out of the Westside Jewish Community Center (JCC).

“We are thrilled to announce that as of Sept. 5, 2015, all IKAR Shabbat and holiday services and Limudim will be held at Shalhevet High School’s beautiful brand new building, just down the street from the JCC. The IKAR offices will remain at the JCC for the time being,” said a statement signed by IKAR’s Rabbi Sharon Brous, executive director Melissa Balaban and board chairwoman Karen Hogan.

The final IKAR Shabbat service at the JCC will be Aug. 29. It will include a bat mitzvah ceremony and a ceremonial Torah walk to Shalhevet, making it a special, if bittersweet, day, Balaban said in a phone interview.

“The JCC has really been our Jewish home. Our kids grew up in this place; we all grew up in this place [and] IKAR grew up in the JCC. We will have a lot of nostalgia. I think we will miss it,” she said. “Our last service is this Shabbat here at the JCC. We are hoping a lot of people will come, and we will ceremonially walk the Torah from the JCC over to Shalhevet, to give people a chance to say goodbye and be introduced to the new space.”

The statement by IKAR clarifies that the synagogue community is still hoping to eventually purchase a building of its own.

“As many of you know, our long-term goal is to build a Jewish center for social innovation — a laboratory for experimentation in all aspects of Jewish expression: spiritual, ritual, political, cultural and social. The move to Shalhevet is an interim step as we lay the groundwork for a capital campaign,” the statement said. 

Balaban told the Journal that IKAR signed a two-year lease with Shalhevet on Aug. 26.

IKAR is a nondenominational community of about 600 households, while Shalhavet has more than 180 students and identifies as Modern Orthodox. Despite the denominational differences, Shalhevet Head of School Rabbi Ari Segal said the school is excited about the arrangement.

“It helps generate income to support the ongoing operations of the school, programmatic and curricular investments and our increasing financial aid budget — and that is hugely important to us,” Segal said.

IKAR’s announcement coincides with Shalhevet concluding construction of its new $12 million campus at 910 S. Fairfax Ave., less than a half-mile from the JCC. 

Last year, Shalhevet began the ambitious effort of selling off half of its property, demolishing the other half and building a brand-new campus. During the construction effort, Shalhevet moved into the Westside JCC, where it became acquainted with IKAR. The two organizations developed a mutual respect during their time of sharing the tight JCC quarters, according to Balaban. 

“I’ve been incredibly impressed with their administration and their faculty. It was very tight when we were all in the building at the JCC, but I enjoyed them being here,” she said. “They added a life to the building.”

Over the next two years, IKAR will conduct its services in the Shalhevet gymnasium, only holding services on Shabbat and on holidays, which are times when Shalhevet will not be in session. An IKAR weekday morning minyan takes place once a week at its early childhood center, which is run offsite. IKAR’s Hebrew school program, Limudim, is held on Tuesdays and Saturdays and will take place after the Shalhevet school day is over. 

As for parking, Balaban said that the amount of parking spaces available at Shalhevet is comparable to the amount of parking that was available at the JCC.

Aside from the logistics working out well, the IKAR leadership said the beauty of the new Shalhevet campus was part of what convinced IKAR that it would make a great home for the shul. 

“We just feel incredibly fortunate to be able to rent space in such an inspiring, beautiful and light-filled space,” Balaban said.

Brian Greene, executive director of the Westside JCC, had only positive things to say about the time JCC and IKAR spent together.

“It has been a terrific 11 years of growth for both organizations, and we wish IKAR continued success,” he said in an email. “Looking back at where both organizations were a decade ago, I think we can all be very proud of our achievements.”