Aleph Springs

In Yiddish, b’shert refers to something meant to be, something that can overcome even the longest odds. It implies divine intervention.

It is no wonder, then, that Dr. Laura Robin, a partner in the group that has made Aleph Springs a reality, refers to the new southern Oregon neighborhood as having been b’shert.

“By all rights, Aleph Springs probably shouldn’t have happened,” says Robin, a physician and a former president of the Havurah Shir Hadash, around which the neighborhood is being built. “A lot of things had to fall into place.”

Aleph Springs is described by the developers as a “Jewish-inspired intentional neighborhood,” one that boasts the “Jewish Renewal” synagogue as its central and “most unusual amenity.” The investors are members or friends of the Havurah. When complete, the 2.5-acre neighborhood will feature eight single-family homes and six condominiums. Home sites are for sale.

“For years, before it became available, the vacant land around the Havurah had been a subdivision waiting to happen,” says Robin, referring to the desirability of property just a stroll from downtown and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

So when the property first came on the market in 2005, Robin, determined that the Havurah have compatible neighbors, immediately tried to bring a group of investors together. When her attempt failed, another buyer swooped in, closed a deal and began plans for a conventional subdivision that would have nothing but a geographic relationship with the synagogue.

In fact, says Robin, “that development, with cookie-cutter two-story homes that would have blocked the gorgeous mountain view, would have been terrible for the Havurah. It wouldn’t have been compatible at all.” In fact, the plan called for six-foot fences to enclose the subdivision and an alley lined with garages abutting the Havurah’s back yard. “Hearing cars going in and out and garage doors opening and closing while we’re outside doing a ceremony or celebrating a bar mitzvah would have been awful for us.

“And,” adds Robin, “on the flip-side, would our new neighbors be okay with us celebrating outside or having services at night in our Sukkah?”

For Robin and her husband Scott Bandoroff, this threat was not only real but personal. The Havurah had been the reason the couple moved here from Bend, Ore. in 2003.

However, a year or so after the land was purchased, leaving a pall over the Havurah community, the buyer backed out, providing Robin with an unexpected second chance. By now, though, Robin’s life had become more than a bit complicated. Not only was she juggling her duties as a physician and the presidency of the Havurah Council, she and Scott had just become parents of a 10-month-old boy they adopted from Kazakhstan.

“At that point, getting involved was the last thing I wanted to do,” says Robin. “But I was the only one who knew what was going on. Either I would do something about this—and fast—or we would lose the land to someone else.”

Unwilling to take that risk, Robin jumped in and spoke with the seller.

“He said, ‘I’ll hold it for two weeks to see if you can get it together.’ That was in October of 2006.”

With the clock ticking, Robin spoke first with Al Silbowitz, a fellow Havurah member who had been a developer in California.

“Al thought it was a cool idea and doable; he said we can make this work.” Recruiting more than a dozen investors from the ranks of Havurah members as well as folks who were active in the nearby reformed Temple Emek Shalom, Robin beat the deadline, raising the $1.2 million necessary to close the deal.

That it happened at all, says Robin, was a testament to the fact that Aleph Springs would not be just another subdivision.

“Aside from the prospect that investors hoped to reap a financial return, our motivation was different than a typical developer,” says Robin. “First and foremost we were going to create a community that would be beneficial to the Havurah. We saw ourselves as expanding the campus of our community. For so many reasons, we knew this was going to be win-win for the neighborhood and our shul.” Since then, a governing board of eight partners has devoted two hours a week to move the project along.

Another stroke of luck, or divine providence, came during this frantic two-week period when Silbowitz and his wife attended an open house for Julian Square, a new development less than a mile from the future site of Aleph Springs. It had been clear to the new group that good intentions were not enough; manifesting their dreams would require the technical expertise and planning experience of a local developer.

At the open house, Silbowitz approached Julian Square developer and builder Larry Medinger about the group’s needs. Larry signed on as the project’s designer.

For Robin, evidence that the project was meant to be had more to do with merely obtaining the deed for the property and bringing Medinger on board.

“What tells me that Aleph Springs is truly b’shert is how so many people with diverse interests, talents and personalities came together so quickly and with so much passion, and how, throughout the process, our intention to create something special has remained solid.”