From your humble servant, Eliot Wolf, President of the congregation.

Our congregational meeting was held yesterday June 8th at 7:30 PM in person and on Zoom, with 36 people physically attending. While the attendance was less than inspiring, this meeting appears to have established that there is reason to have a modicum of hope for the future of Lake Success Jewish Center. The meeting began with a brief rundown of options that resulted from our outreach to other congregations in the community.

Option 1 : As many of you know, we had been in conversations with L’Dor V’Dor / OLNJC (http://olnjc.org/.) in the past for a possible merger. Ultimately, they chose a different path; however, a significant number of their congregants have expressed that they would prefer to join us at LSJC. We are attempting to facilitate creating the circumstances to best enable that eventuality. Attendant to the influx of congregants from there would very likely be some influx of funds from the proceeds of their sale of their building that we would realize.

Option 2: We’ve also been in discussions with Temple Gates of Prayer in Flushing (https://www.templegatesofprayer.org/) who sold their building someyears ago and are currently renting space in the basement of another synagogue. There are some financial aspects they are working on internally before anything can proceed at this point.

Option 3: It seems any discussions we were having with Chabad taking over our space is always a fallback option even though many attendees expressed that to them this was not an option that they would espouse.

Option 4: We are disappointed that Temple Tikvah will not be sharing our space with us, which would have negated present and future financial concerns, but this might turn out to be a blessing, because it allows us to expand the programs we can offer and help LSJC become relevant again.

Future of LSJC: There was unanimous agreement that we need a full-time rabbi to lead us into the future. Without one, it will be difficult to attract new congregants and grow our membership. One candidate, Rabbi/Hazzan Brian Shamash, attended the meeting and demonstrated the energy, vision, and commitment needed to help transform LSJC into a viable, vibrant community, no small task. Meeting participants strongly supported pursuing Rabbi Shamash, who has expressed his willingness to serve as both rabbi and chazzan.

What can the members do: Before we offer the Rabbi this full-time position, we need to survey our membership and we are asking each and every one of you to commit to participating in (re)building our community. I’m asking for a commitment of three (3) years, in money, in time and in energy. Members who have arrears in their dues are being asked to step up. We want to have additional programming like the Shabbat Across America event, where more than one hundred people attended. We would like to have lectures on eclectic and religious topics to increase involvement and events at the Temple. Please, indicate your commitment to revive our community in any way you can. Join us on this journey, taking tangible steps to indicate your hope and your commitment. Should we get an influx in dues payments we can comfortably work out a deal with Rabbi Shamash.

We opened the meeting with singing Hatikvah. HOPE. Let us build on the roots that we have. The beautiful sanctuary. Regular Shabbat service attendees. People who cherish our LSJC community, camaraderie and fellowship. Is this something that we can count on for the next three (3) years from you?

Follow-ups: Please contact the office to share your thoughts or send a constructive email which we can share with the congregation. The best method is via email at info@lakesuccessjc.org. If you are not an email user, please call 516-466-0569, ext1 to speak with Edith or leave a message.

An in-person congregational meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 8, 2026 at 7:30pm.

An in person board member meeting is scheduled on Monday, June 1, 2026 at 7:30pm

A Board meeting is planned for Monday 05/11/26 in the evening. Future Rabbinical options are to be discussed in order to decide best slate to be submitted for Congregational vote and acceptance.

Eliot Wolf, president of LSJC, has announced that leadership and board members are in advanced negotiations on several fronts:

• Ongoing negotiations with Temple Tikvah regarding subleasing options.

• Discussions with Rabbi Shamash regarding his possible future leadership of our congregation.

• Other possibilities will be posted on this page as they become firmer.