Beth Shalom Announces Renovations to Social Hall

Congregation Beth Shalom is celebrating the completion of renovations to their social hall, complementing the congregation’s kosher kitchen. The $50,000 overhaul, made possible by a single donation during the High Holidays in 2024, made a variety of changes. These included repainting the entire hall, adding sconces between the windows, and putting in window treatments, new chandeliers, wall hangings, and a new screen and sound system.

Beth Shalom president Fred Rich discussed how the project came about.

“We had one of our congregants donate a large amount of money, last October, actually, right after Yom Kippur, so we decided we were going to renovate the social hall,” said Rich. “We wanted to have more events booked in our social hall, so I brought in one of our congregation members, Robyn Anshell, who does interior design, and she helped me coordinate the whole program, along with Alan Kaplan, our VP of administration, and Loli Gross, our administrator. We totally renovated the social hall. It took about three months, and it’s brand new.”

Rich hopes that the new amenities, compounded with Beth Shalom’s pre-existing ones – including the kosher kitchen – will help bring more people to rent out the space.

“We now rent the kitchen or the social hall out by the hour, or the day, or the week. We’ve got an incredible sanctuary, we’ve got classrooms, we’ve got meeting rooms, we’ve got a library,” said Rich. “We’re pretty equipped right now.”

He believes the space, which comfortably seats more than 200 guests, will be perfect for lifecycle events like weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, baby namings, and brit milah, as well as for corporate gatherings and community celebrations.

As for how the congregants felt about the renovations – according to Rich, there were nothing but glowing reviews.

“[They] love it,” he said. “It’s brand new. It’s like coming into a new social hall.”