CAMBRIDGE — The last night of Hanukkah, a holiday celebrating the rededication of the Holy Temple in ancient Israel, marked the start of a new life for Congregation Eitz Chayim here Sunday.
In the back of the small Magazine Street synagogue, which looks more like an apartment building than a house of worship, the congregation’s newly remodeled sanctuary was finally ready for use after more than a year of construction.
Awash in natural light and bright colors, the large and inviting room finally matches the spirit of a synagogue that prides itself on its folksy atmosphere and bills itself as a “home for wondering Jews.”
“The Hanukkah story is about the miracle of the human spirit, the triumph of the human spirit,” said Rabbi Liza Stern. “The construction project became an opportunity for them to understand that they could make a difference coming together and making something that no one thought was possible.”
Stern marked the occasion by judging more than a dozen homemade menorahs, each winning a prize in an original category — mystical, musical, integration, and reconciliation — thought up on the spot in the annual competition. A skateboard candelabra took home first place in the Jewish Traditions category for recognizing the “capacity to move from land to land and carry with us those traditions.”
The synagogue’s old sanctuary — with its metal columns, frayed carpet, and low ceiling — had been an unwelcoming environment that resembled a rec room, congregants said.
“Nobody wanted to be here,” Stern said as afternoon light flooded the room.
“Nobody wanted to have a wedding or bar mitzvah here,” interjected congregation member David Cane, who is happy to report that he now wants his grandson’s bar mitzvah to be held in the sanctuary. “The other space was really crummy. It felt good to pray but not anything else.”
In 2012, an Eitz Chayim congregant died and bequeathed about $25,000 to the congregation. That was the seed money that eventually turned into a $350,000 construction project that wasn’t without controversy. Cane, who is the congregation’s treasurer, said he was overruled 11 to 1 when he proposed rebuilding the sanctuary.
People at first wanted to start small. So the parlor was completed first and then the front hallway. Then, Stern said, “people started saying, ‘Oh, it feels good to look good.’ ”
The sanctuary is largely complete. The ceiling was raised and a clerestory ringed with windows installed. The walls were painted purple, magenta, and cream, and the floors are hardwood. The centerpiece of the sanctuary is the ark that houses the torah for Eitz Chayim, which means tree of life. On the front of the cream-colored ark is a hand-stenciled tree with budding green leaves. (The ark, a hand-me-down from a synagogue in Western Massachusetts, is a carry-over from before the renovations.)
The remodeled synagogue was abuzz with activity on Sunday. Seven-year-old Kalanit Flannery’s entry into the menorah contest was made of precut wood and colored pink and orange with markers. “A long time ago they lighted these things,” she said, “and the miracle that happened is that they only had enough oil for one day and it lasted eight.”
“It’s just beautiful,” congregant Dale Norman said of the new sanctuary as she tried to corral the three Flannery sisters after the menorah judging contest.
Cookies tumbled to the floor, coats fell out of hands, and prizes were forgotten on tables as Kalanit explained the menorah to a visitor.
“It’s for Hanukkah,” she said. “You put the candles in it and then you light it.”
As for the parallel with the completion of the sanctuary — and the sanctuary itself — Kalanit simply shrugged her shoulders. The adults, however, toasted the affair with champagne and song.
Akilah Johnson can be reached at akilah.johnson@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @akjohnson1922.