Congregation Jewish Community North - The Sanctuary that Faith Build

Surrounded by towering pillars, artistic flourishes and the images of figures and events of the Jewish faith etched in stained glass, the sanctuary shines majestically as the sun reaches through to every surface.

As the sunlight shatters through colored glass, beams of brilliant hues glisten like pixie dust and invoke ideas of magic and fantasy. The sentiment is fitting for the Kant Sanctuary of the Congregation Jewish Community North, Rabbi Emeritus Robert Sharff said, because the last three decades passed like a dream.

"We didn't know how this was going to work, no idea how it would happen, but through God and magic, it did," Sharff said, with a smile.

Sitting in the sea green pews on a sunny Thursday afternoon, Sharff and colleagues Rabbi Seymour Rossel, Joan Camenson and Evette Tashman spoke last week of faith, determination and the future as the congregation of 200 families prepares to mark its 30th anniversary.

Finding home
Although the CJCN has deep roots in the community, Sharff said the Jewish community didn't always have a place to call their own in northwest Houston.

In 1975, a small group of Jewish families began gathering in each other's homes in hopes of starting a synagogue that would serve the needs of the growing Jewish and interfaith population of the area.

Focused on providing a Jewish education to their children, social justice and the promotion of spirituality, the membership continued to grow with the FM 1960 area as the housing market boomed.

Eventually, Sharff said, the congregation decided they needed a home, and they turned to area Christian churches for support.

Initially taking up home in a Methodist church, the congregation would soon settle at the Christ the Good Shepard Church on Klein Church Road.

The arrangement worked until 1983, Camenson said, when the congregation decided to lay a more permanent foundation.

"At that time, we had a home. But it was their home," Camenson said. "We really needed a home of our own."
Little did the congregants know their new home was awaiting them next door.

'A pivotal year'
In 1983, growth on FM 1960 came to a halt with the unexpected oil bust, Sharff said. Yet, the hard economic times did not stop the ambitions of area Jews looking to for a place of their own.

"It was critical to find a permanent home," Sharff said, "else we weren't going to survive."

Breaking ground and starting the first phase of construction that year, Sharff said, a committee chosen to find land for their new home selected a 4-acre lot next door to Christ the Good Shepard Church.

A multi-purpose Meltzer Social Hall was constructed, serving as a sanctuary, classrooms and social hall.

In addition to finding a permanent home, the CJCN also joined a coalition of area religious ministries to form the Northwest Assistance Ministries. Today, NAM provides emergency assistance for local citizens in need.

200 families later
The CJCN continued to grow through the '80s and '90s, adding the 7,500-square-foot Jacques C. Shure Religious School wing in 1987, and dedicating the Kant Sanctuary in 1994.

Sharff, who became the CJCN's first full-time rabbi in 1981, retired in 2001, making way for Rabbi Seymour Rossel's entrance into the congregation's history books.

Rossel, who served as director of the national Reform movement's department of education and former coordinator of the School of Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, said he was pleased the moment he arrived.

"My most favorite memory of this place has been with what open arms everyone welcomed me," Rossel said. "I never expected to be welcomed as warmly as the people here have."
Rossel has led the congregation since 2005.

Today, CJCN offers a wide range of services, including a variety of chavurot (small, closely affiliated gatherings), lifelong adult learning opportunities, lay-led Torah study on Sunday mornings, Shabbat and holiday celebrations and youth programs.

The congregation will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a weekend celebration starting with a special worship service on Friday evening, at 7:45 p.m., followed by Shabbat morning services, a gala dinner at the Augusta Pines Country Club, and a Sunday picnic. A time capsule will be dedicated, and placed in the foyer.

For more information on the celebratory weekend, please contact Evette Tashman at 281-893-7581.

Congregation Jewish Community North is located at 5400 Fellowship Lane, in Spring, between Louetta and Spring-Cypress Roads. For more information, visit www.cjcn.org or call 281-376-0016.