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Overcast Coming together
Two local Jewish institutions move forward with merger
Two longtime religious organizations are joining forces as a result of years of dwindling membership. The Baldwin Jewish Center, which closed its doors to services in late May, has partnered with the South Baldwin Jewish Center so that both congregations can continue to practice their faith in their own community.
“Jews aren’t moving into Baldwin anymore, and new members are almost nonexistent,” said Stacey Eager Leavitt, president of the South Baldwin Jewish Center. “We were two struggling congregations, and we joined together so we can sustain ourselves for a continued presence in Baldwin.”
Michael Eisman, co-president of the Baldwin Jewish Center, said that membership in his congregation has been declining for about 30 years. About two years ago, Eisman said, Leavitt contacted him to see how his group was sustaining itself. A few months later, talks between the two congregations picked up, with the idea of merging looking more and more like a reality.
Following the Baldwin Jewish Center’s final service four months ago, its congregants began attending services at the South Baldwin center, on Grand Avenue, south of Atlantic Avenue. “We couldn’t maintain our building,” said Eisman, a 40-year member of the Baldwin congregation.
The building, on Voshage Street, off West Seaman Avenue, remains open for day-to-day business while it is on the market. A real estate broker has put the building up for sale, and Eisman said there have been a few offers.
In order for the sale to go through, and for the merger to become official, the state’s attorney general must approve the sale because it involves a religious institution, Eisman explained. “It hurts to leave a building you’ve been with for so long,” he added.
Fredda “Fritzi” Frankel Wolk, 77, co-president of the Baldwin center, has been a member of the congregation her entire life. She said it was established in 1928, and that it means everything to her. “It’s my home away from home,” she said. “It’s a cliché, but as an officer I’ve been spending a lot of time here. It’s always been a place that I’ve made a lot of friends.”
