B’nai El Congregation, among the oldest synagogues in the area, is considering “repurposing” its institution to focus on older adults under a plan that would see it move operations to Congregation Shaare Emeth.

“As part of this collaboration, if they wish, all B’nai El members will be able to assume the full responsibilities and privileges of Congregation Shaare Emeth membership,” read an email sent out by Shaare Emeth to its own families. “Likewise, current Shaare Emeth members will be able to participate in the ‘new B’nai El’.”

If approved, the plan would see the 160-year-old temple relocate from the 28,000-square-foot facility on North 40 Drive to Shaare Emeth’s campus at Ladue and Ballas roads.

Amye Carrigan, co-president of B’nai El, said the proposal must still gain consent through a congregational vote of her organization.

“It is a new synagogue model that has been created to meet the needs of an underserved demographic, the 50-to-75-year old market in the St. Louis Jewish community,” said Carrigan. “They are underserved across the country so it is exciting. It’s a big undertaking. It’s collaborative and it speaks to B’nai El’s pioneering spirit.”

Greg Yawitz, first vice-president at Shaare Emeth, said that no congregational vote was necessary at his institution and the board there had already given its assent to the idea.

“We think it sets a tone for an exciting new way to help address the needs of a very large part of our Jewish community,” he said.

Intricacies of the proposal remained sketchy with leadership from the temples refusing to comment on specifics until after B’nai El’s membership makes its decision. 

Carrigan said she could not release details on how the ballot will take place.

Both synagogues confirmed that neither side considers the proposal to be a “merger” and that B’nai El will retain its identity and heritage.

“The ‘new B’nai El,’ funded primarily through B’nai El funds, with support from Shaare Emeth, will have a full time staff presence to serve as a facilitator of the new mission,” said the email.

The smaller synagogue has been in a time of flux in recent years. In 2011, Rabbi Daniel Plotkin departed B’nai El and was replaced by a part-time interim rabbi, Scott Saulson. Saulson was chosen because of his background in dealing with the needs of older adults as well as his experience in helping congregations move through transitional periods. 

Last year, B’nai El lost its longtime tenant Saul Mirowitz Day School-Reform Jewish Academy to a merger with Solomon Schechter Day School leaving the congregation of about 135 families in a facility built nearly five decades ago to house around 800. 

The structure and its six-acre campus were put up for sale in September. Carrigan said B’nai El’s property remains on the market.

Synagogues across the nation have been sorting through the twin difficulties of expensive infrastructure and an aging, declining membership in recent years and the St. Louis area has been no exception. In 2011, financial woes drove Congregation Kol Am, a West County Reform institution, to close down less than five years after dedicating its new building. Meanwhile, two Conservative shuls, Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel and Shaare Zedek Synagogue, are in the process of joining together after an overwhelming vote of support in November.

Yawitz said that, while he couldn’t comment on the nuts and bolts of the new arrangement until after it was approved, it presented a unique collaborative dynamic for both institutions.

“Having been on the team that worked on this for the last six or eight months, it’s exciting,” he said. “It’s different. We hope that it is going to lead to greater participation and involvement in the community, not just in the temple but everywhere.”

Yawitz said the proposal was particularly meaningful for both congregations since they have common roots. B’nai El was founded in 1852 and Shaare Emeth, which now houses about 1,700 families, broke away from the former congregation less than two decades later. 

B’nai El moved to its mid-county home in 1965 while Shaare Emeth arrived at its current campus in 1974.

“We all came from the same place,” Yawitz said.