What could the lifestyle at Aleph Springs possibly have in common with traditional country club living? For one thing, Aleph Springs’ most distinctive amenity is a synagogue, not a golf course or an oceanfront view.

“In our minds, quite a bit,” says Laurel Miller, one of the partners of the new 2.5-acre “intentional Jewish-inspired” Ashland neighborhood that hugs the Havurah Shir Hadash, a synagogue affiliated with Jewish Renewal. Aleph Springs is selling eight home sites and taking reservations for six condominium units.

Long before they discovered Ashland, Miller and her husband Mitch Sherman made a conscious choice to move into a country club community in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Along with having like-minded neighbors, they were attracted to the warmth and welcoming feeling of the community’s clubhouse. Miller has been a corporate executive, a consultant and a business coach.

“It was a central meeting place where we could feel a part of things, where we would get together with neighbors,” says Miller. “We’d play together, learn together, attend art fairs and lectures; there were lots of special events.

“Most important,” Miller adds, “we always knew someone; and when we went there, they knew us.”

It’s that same homey (or “haimish” in Yiddish) feeling that Miller envisions as the main attraction of Aleph Springs.

“Instead of the clubhouse, the folks who live here will have the Havurah as their spiritual, religious and social hub.”

The Havurah, says Miller, who has served on the synagogue’s governing council, has always been more than merely a place of worship.

Along with a full slate of services, celebrations, classes and even weekly Jewish-themed films, the Havurah routinely hosts spiritual, interfaith and secular cultural events, including concerts, plays and lectures.

“If you think about it,” says Miller, “the Havurah really does fulfill the same needs as the clubhouse in the country club. “The people who choose to live at Aleph Springs are likely to be looking for the same things we were in Florida. For us, it wasn’t about simply satisfying a need for shelter; we were looking to be part of a community.”

It was that experience, in part, that spurred Miller to become an investor in Aleph Springs and devote her time to helping shape the neighborhood.

“For me, it was about creating community,” says Miller, “while having an opportunity to come together with some amazing people to do something that was bigger than all of us.” Miller concedes that some of her motives were selfish ones. “The people who move to Aleph Springs will absolutely enhance my Havurah community. I can’t wait to meet them.”