Studer Community Institute

Synagogue found friends in the crowd

May 28, 2015
/ Carlton Proctor
/ community-dashboard

Earlier this year the congregation of the Brit Ahm Synagogue on Spanish Trail announced they needed a lot of help from their friends. And they got it. Rabbi Eric Tokajer said the synagogue on May 21 closed the purchase of the five-acre site and building the congregation had been leasing for the past several years. In January the former owners of the property, a corporation under control of the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese of the Catholic Church, sent the synagogue a letter indicating its intent to sell the property. A real estate broker representing the Diocese said a developer had submitted a letter of intent offering $750,000 for the property. The Brit Ahm Synagogue was given a three-month window to come up with the money to purchase the site, or vacate the property and find another location. The synagogue, which has about 500 members, always intended to buy the building once its lease expired, Tokajer said. With their backs to the wall, Tokajer said the synagogue turned to the internet, and, through crowdsourcing, raised a substantial amount toward the purchase price. "Three-quarters of the money we raised came as a direct result of crowdsourcing," said Tokajer. "We received donations from all over the world, and as far away as Zambia in Africa." Tokajer said donations came in a steady stream over the three-month time frame. "In the last couple of weeks we got the largest influx of donations," he said. "We let people know that we had to have their donations by our May 21 deadline for closing on the property." The congregation borrowed the balance, about $170,000, from a local bank. "Our actual loan payment on the building now is less than what we were paying for rent under the lease," he said. Tokajer said some renovations will be made to the existing building over the next several months. "We're really excited about being able to close on the sale, and get everything moved in," he said. "We have plans to pay off the building in five years."

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Synagogue found friends in the crowd

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