Restoring our campus & creating a Mikvah
Twenty-three years after the groundbreaking for our beautiful Congregation Beth Israel campus on Towne Centre Drive in 2000, temple members must face the necessary challenges of maintaining our buildings adequately and appropriately. At the same time, our temple has a unique opportunity to construct a mikvah on the Beth Israel campus and establish a mikvah program for our membership and for the greater San Diego Jewish community.
To address needed campus renovations and to establish a building endowment fund, as well as to create a new mikvah and initiate a mikvah program, Beth Israel is embarking on a $12 million capital, endowment, and program campaign. Included in the campaign goal is approximately $5 million in renovation of our aging facility, the necessity for a $2 million building endowment, and $4.7 million for a state-of-the-art mikvah and mikvah program.
For more information on the campaign and how you might participate, please contact Lesley Mills, Executive Director at or Meg Mandel, Development Director, at .
Campus Restoration: The Need
The overarching goal of campus restoration is to ensure the Beth Israel facilities are preserved and maintained at a high standard while enhancing its aesthetic character. The Glickman-Galinson Sanctuary, Foster Family Chapel, Lee and Frank Goldberg Religious School, Bill and Sid Rubin Preschool, David and Dorothea Garfield Social Hall, Feuerstein Family Activity Center, Evelyn and Ernest Rady Family Administrative Center, and Epstein Family Conference Room are all in need of update and restoration. Examples include HVAC and elevator updates, new roofing, bathroom remodel, carpet and flooring, and furniture replacement. By raising needed funds, Beth Israel will alleviate major issues regarding underlying financial requirements for upkeep and care, especially as it relates to large capital expenditures.
A $2 million building endowment will provide, on a regular basis and in perpetuity, almost half of the current annual operating expense needed for facility maintenance and repair.
The Mikvah at Beth Israel: A 21st Century Mikvah
Beth Israel’s mikvah will be housed in a new, separate, beautifully designed building adjacent to the Foster Family Chapel. At approximately 1,200 square feet, the building will be enveloped with sunlight and surrounded by the Biblical Garden. Inside the building will be a lobby, meditation room, shower, changing room, as well as the mikvah itself.
The Beth Israel mikvah will focus on four main areas:
- Meeting the requirements of religious observance and conversion.
- Providing learning opportunities for adults and youth.
- Creating a sacred space to stimulate spiritual growth and interest in Jewish practice and rituals.
- Acting as a resource for members of Beth Israel and the general San Diego Jewish community and beyond.
A message from Rabbi Jason Nevarez & Rabbi Arlene Bernstein, Cantor Emerita
A 21st Century Mikvah? Revitalizing a sacred tradition.
Our vision of a mikvah at Beth Israel both reclaims and reimagines one of Judaism’s most ancient rituals–immersion in the mikvah.
The importance for Jews of ritual immersion in living waters (mayim hayim) can be traced to biblical sources. Wherever Jews settled, they established cemeteries and mikva’ot, even before they built their houses of worship. According to some Jewish sources, building mikva’ot takes precedence over building synagogues.
Today, many find that immersion has become a way to use Jewish ritual to enhance their lives and enrich their spirituality. Our 21st century mikvah will be created for contemporary spiritual use and for traditional ritual purposes. We are excited to teach all who are interested about this critical resource. The mikvah will be a sacred and safe space that is open and accessible to the non-Orthodox San Diego Jewish community.
Ritual immersion connotes a change of status. More recently, reimagined mikvah practices have come to play an increasingly significant role in the spiritual and communal lives of non-Orthodox American Jews. The strong association between water and life is even evident in its shared Hebrew roots, Tikvah, offering everyone who uses it, or who volunteers to help in a ritual immersion, a connection of hope.
A mikvah, open to Beth Israel and the wider non-Orthodox Jewish community, would meet a broad range of needs. In 2023-24 alone, our Introduction to Judaism class contains the largest enrollment in our history. Many of these students are planning to convert to Judaism, and mikvah immersion is the final, required ritual in becoming a Jew.
In addition to traditional uses of the mikvah such as couples immersing before their wedding ceremonies and individuals at the time of conversion, new uses of mikvah immersion include celebrations of milestone events such as graduations, significant birthdays or anniversaries, and marking the end of a period of study. Additionally, immersion in the mikvah can signify a new, spiritual start in the aftermath of pain and trauma, marking the end of formal grieving or the beginning of healing from events such as miscarriage, chemotherapy, completing a year of bereavement, or recovering from divorce, assault, or abuse.
Our goal is for visitors to the mikvah to emerge refreshed and renewed, ready for what life will bring them next. And while the ocean or the bay are acceptable “waters” for immersion (at certain times of year), they do not provide the safety, cleanliness, privacy, warmth, or emotional opportunity a mikvah offers.
As the oldest and largest synagogue in San Diego, Beth Israel serves as a hub for thousands of visitors every year from wedding and B’nei mitzvah families to groups from educational settings eager to learn about various religions and life practices.
The mikvah will enhance educational opportunities for members and visitors alike. In addition, an integral component of our modern mikvah will give our congregants the opportunity for meaningful volunteer experiences at all levels.
We invite you to help us bring our vision and this critical need to Beth Israel and our greater San Diego Jewish community. The opportunity to share a beautiful and uplifting Jewish ritual, with water, a life-affirming element for all, is priceless.