Boca Beach Chabad has gotten so crowded that some congregants have told Rabbi Ruvi New they’ve stopped attending services.
That’s the last thing a rabbi wants to hear. But relief is finally coming: The Boca Raton synagogue has closed the deal on a bigger site near the Intracoastal Waterway after searching for a new location for almost a decade. The Orthodox congregation had originally hoped to move into a property near the beach but faced opposition from nearby residents, who sued in federal court to prevent the move.
The congregation will move into an existing 30,000-square-foot office building at 490 E. Palmetto Park Road, about a half-mile from their current building at 120 NE First Ave., which measures only 3,000 square feet.
The new building, to be called Boca Beach Jewish Center-Chabad, has three floors. Part of the first floor and all of the third floor will be leased out for offices to help the synagogue pay its expenses, said Murray Dalfen, Chabad’s campaign chair.
Congregants have pledged $9 million toward buying the property and are working to raise another $9 million to renovate the building. New hopes the congregation can move in next summer.