RHINEBECK – The congregation of the Rhinebeck Jewish Center celebrated the opening of their first center for worship with a ceremonial ribbon cutting on Sunday.
The center, on Montgomery Street next to Northern Dutchess Hospital, has been a dream of Rhinebeck’s Jewish community for about three years now, one that they have finally realized.
Over 200 people attended to show their support and celebrate the opening, including local officials. Congressman Christopher Gibson (R, NY19) said he has known the Hecht family, specifically Rabbi Hanoch Hecht, who is the spiritual leader of the congregation, for some time and commended their contribution to the Jewish community of Rhinebeck.
Rabbi Hecht happily watches as children assist in cutting the ribbon
Congregation members get a look inside their new home
“I’ve known the Hecht family since I retired from the Army and came back home and I consider Rabbi Hecht a friend and a mentor,” said Gibson. “That whole family plays such an important role in the formation of faith, but, also in the formation of community. So, today we celebrate and in some sense, obviously, this is an edifice but, it goes so much beyond that. I mean there’s a spiritualness about this that is going to be important to all the families now and in the future.”
Although grateful for Gibson’s acknowledgement, Rabbi Hecht said the real champions of the center are the congregation and community members who, not only collectively contributed to cover the $800,000 cost of the project but, also helped to make the center a reality by their involvement in every part of its creation.
“This is really not the work of myself but, the work of the community coming together and supporting and their involvement,” said Hecht. The center exists, ultimately, as a way to provide the community with a place to worship, he said.
“It’s all only there to bring people in and know that this is a home for them and a place for them to come and participate as a community.”
Rhinebeck’s Jewish community has, for years, had to either rent space from local hotels or set up tents to accommodate their large congregations, especially on important Jewish holidays. Before, their only option was to travel to Poughkeepsie if they wanted to have a proper synagogue to worship. Now, Rhinebeck’s Jewish community is relieved to know they finally have a place of their own.
