Zemer HaZayit

The Zemer HaZayit Congregation began as a Friday night-only minyan that also met once a month for Shabbat morning services.  As the shul’s popularity grew, it quickly became apparent that expansion of programming and space were necessary to include more families and offer more activities.

 

Regular weekly services were soon added, as were Yom Tov and holiday services.  Through an arrangement with the municipality, the congregation began to meet in a hallway of an Efrat elementary school, an agreement that was intended to be temporary until a permanent building was built. By 2015, close to ten years since its establishment, Zemer HaZayit outgrew this space and began renting the gym of the adjacent community center.

 

Today, thanks to a steady growth of members, Zemer Hazayit has long outgrown its temporary quarters and is now looking ahead to building a permanent synagogue building that will meet its present needs and allow for future expansion.  

 

Much thought and effort have been invested in architectural planning to construct a synagogue center that reflects the congregation’s unique religious identity in the community.

 

The synagogue will be wheelchair-accessible and will include:

• Space for children’s activities during prayer services

• A study hall and library

• A kitchen for use during kiddushim and social events

• A central lobby for social and cultural activities

• A prayer hall that will be divided equally into two side-by-side sections, with a movable Mechitza partition

• An Ark at the front of the two sections with easy access from both sides

• The Bima will be at the center of the prayer hall