On September 8, dozens of Washington Heights professionals streamed into the social hall of Mount Sinai Jewish Center for the first day of “ShulWork,” a community coworking space serving the needs of local remote workers. Complete with fast wifi, charging stations, a “Zoom room” for private calls and a table with self-serve coffee and tea, Mount Sinai is exploring a new way to engage the community, especially as people continue to regularly work from home.
ShulWork is the brainchild of Mount Sinai’s President Gilad Kopelman, who worked tirelessly with fellow board member Michael Altaras to create a space that would be appealing to the neighborhood. Once ShulWork was conceptualized, the two sent out a survey to the broader community to hash out specifics—and ultimately, they settled on a few days a week, with the option to expand as more people use the space.
“We didn’t know what people wanted in the execution of ShulWork,” Altaras explained. “We’re willing to be flexible, and luckily, we were able to adapt our space to fit the needs of everyone.”
What was clear from the beginning was that Mount Sinai wanted a way to bring the community together beyond the typical offerings of a religious institution. “Coming out of the pandemic, there’s a big emphasis on re-engaging people in the community,” Kopelman shared. “The goal of ShulWork is to help people make their way back to a shul after a long time away. This is a great way to reintroduce Mount Sinai to the Washington Heights neighborhood, particularly to newcomers, while providing a community space.”
Altaras added that “the idea for ShulWork is really helping us accomplish our long-term mission of filling the needs of our community members where there might be gaps.” He likened the launch of a coworking space to Mount Sinai’s recent opening of Mini Sinai Daycare, since the previous local Jewish daycare had closed shop during the pandemic. “We really want to step up where the community needs us. It was clear that people needed a space to come together, and we were happy to provide that while creating this unique program.”
Altaras’ involvement with the creation of ShulWork was self-appointed after hearing Kopelman mention the idea in passing. “I attached to it right away … I thought, ‘That’s such a great idea, and I want to be fully on board with whatever you might need.’ So I set out to help with the logistics for this.”
He continued that being in charge of the logistics for ShulWork is an ongoing project, given that there are not many other shul-based coworking spaces on which it can model itself. “We’re still figuring out what we really want this to be; we’re taking it day by day.”
Kopelman echoed this by calling ShulWork an “open-ended” endeavor, which will evolve as time goes on and more people join and provide feedback. “We just wanted to try this out and see where it goes,” he said. “This provides a lot of opportunities to get people engaged in a creative way.”
On the day that Kopelman spoke with The Jewish Link, Mount Sinai’s own Rabbi Yaakov Taubes showed up at ShulWork to offer a short chaburah during lunchtime. Kopelman referenced this as an example of the many things that ShulWork can do other than just be a space for people to work—it can also be a space for people to learn, grow, socialize and become more involved at shul. “We want this to get people back in shul,” he said.
“A lingering effect of the COVID pandemic is that many people fell out of practice with being an active part of their shul,” Kopelman continued. “This lack of involvement makes communities a lot more diffuse—and I’m hoping ShulWork will allow the community to coalesce around something. I hope that people will be able to attach themselves not just to this space, but to each other.”
For now, ShulWork may just be a coworking space, but for the Washington Heights community, it’s ready to be so much more. Drop by for a chat, a cup of coffee, or just to get some work done. Contact [email protected] for more information.
By Channa Fischer
