Architectural Excellence Meets Jewish Spirit in Rural New Jersey
by Sara Trappler Spielman – chabad.org
When an architect has a dream to build a beautiful synagogue and teams up with a Chabad rabbi who has a vision for a dedicated community center, magic happens.
That is precisely what the Telyas Chabad Jewish Center of Hunterdon County, N.J., was recognized for when the center received the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Central New Jersey 2024 Design Award. The award marked Chabad of Hunterdon County’s third major architectural recognition since it opened its new home’s doors two years ago.
While the awards are impressive, they only tell part of the story. Even as the $7.5 million, 23,000-square-foot building continues to rack up accolades, Rabbi Eli and Rachel Kornfeld, co-directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Hunterdon County, are more concerned with what’s happening inside the building—namely, the increase in Torah and mitzvot the upgraded Chabad center allows locals to achieve in Hunterdon County.
‘It Awoke Something Within Me’
Until about a decade ago, Dr. Gary Shangold, an OBGYN working in clinical research and drug development, had not attended synagogue once in the 25 years after his bar mitzvah.
“I had a good upbringing, but drifted far from Judaism,” Shangold told Chabad.org. That all changed in 2004 after a pivotal trip to Israel, when he received a surprise postcard from the Kornfelds, whom he did not yet know at all.
Shangold, CEO of a pharmaceutical company in New Jersey at the time, had organized a group of fellow industry leaders to meet with biotech companies in Israel. It had been 40 years since he’d last visited the Holy Land.
“It awoke something inside me; it touched a piece of my soul,” he said. “When I came back from the trip, I was awakened to my Jewish identity and ready for something more. I happened to get a postcard from the Kornfelds inviting me for High Holidays services. I felt ready after 25 years.”
Shangold went to Chabad for the holiday, where he met Rabbi Kornfeld, who was new to the area having moved there with his wife, Rachel, and young child just a year earlier. The two became fast friends, and Kornfeld started visiting Shangold’s workplace every week to study Torah with him.
“I reconnected but only went to services once a year. But little by little, he helped make room for Judaism in my life,” Shangold said. Although it took Shangold some time, he eventually became a regular congregant and now considers himself a proud founding member of the community.
‘We Made do For Years’
Until the new center was completed in 2021, the Kornfelds operated from a 2,500-square-foot storefront. As their programs grew organically, they had to rent larger spaces for some of their events and holiday services.
“In 2014, we started looking for a permanent space,” Kornfeld said. “Around then we found a 10-acre plot set in a beautiful part of town.” From there, the community got to work.
“From architects to general contractors to building reps, we had incredible community participation,” the rabbi explained. “It was absolutely a community funded project; they were completely active from inception to seeing it through completion.”
Reflecting on where the community was at the time, Shaingold noted that everything operated out of a very modest room with a small makeshift ark with a Torah, some chairs and a leak that sometimes dripped water from the ceiling. “It was adequate, and we made do for years.”
But even considering the limits of the space, there was a small but steady group of 20 or so men and women who attended services each week, and they usually had a minyan. From there, they moved to another space in a strip mall close to the current building in Clinton. It had two rooms: one was a sanctuary, and the other room was for kiddush or lunches.
“It was a step up but still very modest and not large enough for holiday crowds,” Shangold said. “Over time, the rabbi and rebbetzin were creating first a congregation and a larger group around it that was a community of Jewish people who all belonged to the same place.”
‘Translated Our Vision Into Reality’
The Kornfelds found their architect, Joshua Zinder, by reading an article in The New York Times about his work building and designing synagogues across the United States with his partner, Michael Landau.
They broke ground in 2018, navigating through a series of pandemic restrictions before finishing the project in time for Rosh Hashanah of 2021.
“They really translated our vision into reality,” said Kornfeld.
According to Zinder, the new center’s design creates a harmonious and inviting space where the community can gather, learn, celebrate and grow together.
“First and foremost, it’s a community center,” Zinder said. “Also, it is nestled into the landscape in the back corner of the property. We leveraged the area it’s in, where we are supposed to meet certain historical requirements. So we used natural materials like fieldstone, which looks like the farms and rural structures, and at the same time, we used a form reminiscent of the Chabad menorah, like an inverted triangle covered in wood. So the wood and stone are seen from the street, and the school building steps down and takes on a more modern form.”
The space is as intentional as it is thoughtful. Inside the boutique sanctuary is a warm nurturing space to daven. Attached to it is a banquet area with sliding walls and doors in the middle to allow access from one room to the other but can also open entirely to make it one large room that can host 150 people with a large kitchen off of it. Features include an atrium, hallway and library; a gift shop with Judaica and religious books; classrooms for a preschool, Hebrew-school and summer day camp; a CTeen Lounge; and room for youth classes, JLI and Torah studies throughout the week.
The social hall can hold sizable crowds for larger holidays and social events. Every day, there is adult education for women, men, youth, bar and bat mitzvah, prayers and social activities. An amphitheater with a Sukkah plaza outside can be used for outdoor events, with large steps leading to a landing with a patio, seating and multiple serving stations in back.
Although Zinder has worked on dozens of synagogues across the United States, this project stands out to him. Upon the building’s completion, he and his team submitted it as a contestant through the AIA Central NJ chapter award program.
“We converted their dream into architecture, and I’m very proud of the project,” he said.
Indeed, one of the AIA jury members, Katie Broh, explained their decision: “The jury found the Chabad Jewish Center a fine project that considered not only its sitting amongst a series of adjacent wetlands, but how views to the surround site could be strategically harnessed to bring energy and light into the flexibly planned interior. The butterfly roof over the sanctuary creates an expressive volume that can be easily divisible for worship and social events. Natural materials create a warm community-oriented space.”
‘Like a Town Square’
The lobby area, where one enters, is the core of the building, within reach of the library space, sanctuary, social hall, offices, teen lounge and some classrooms. The beautiful steps go down one floor to the nursery classrooms that have direct access to outside, creating light in the classrooms. There are lounges for teachers as well as a room for parent-teacher conferences.
“It gives a hub to the first floor like a shtetl, and the lobby acts like a town square,” Zinder said. This is a crucial feature for the Kornfelds.
“When people enter the lobby, they know that everything they need is just a few short footsteps away,” the rabbi affirms.
Before he met the Kornfelds, Shangold thought there were two worlds—the religious and the secular—with very little connection between them. “I learned about a whole splice of life that lived in both worlds and didn’t have to keep Judaism separate from professional life,” he said. “What appeals to me about Chabad is that they welcome you in without judging. Secondly, what they provide is undiluted—the authentic real Judaism, not watered down.”
For Shangold, it’s not the size of the new building that makes it so special. “I believe however humble a shul may be it’s a place for G‑d to dwell, and He does so wherever people gather to pray,” he said. But even he can’t help but feel awed by the scope of what the community have been able to achieve together in building this new center.
“Somehow, the beauty and grandeur of the building, it synthesized the growth and cohesion of the community so much that I believe that it’s an even more welcoming place for G‑d to dwell than a little room with a leak,” he said. “It’s beautiful inside and out. It’s a place that inspires you, where your feelings and prayers can soar. It puts you in the right frame of mind and spirit to feel immersed in the holiness of the place and to feel the presence of G‑d.”
