'Where we all come together': Jewish Cultural Center opens in Naples

Dave Osborn, Naples Daily News
·2 min read
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The Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center in Naples, which opened Jan. 15, 2023.
The Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center in Naples, which opened Jan. 15, 2023.

The Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center opened Jan. 15 in Naples as a gathering place.

The 20,000-square-foot, two-story center at 4720 Pine Ridge Road was built by the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples. It's named for Nina Iser, a longtime and active Jewish community member who died in July 2020.

“We want people to be able to create a cultural center where we could all come together,” said Jeffrey Feld, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, at the event.

A Founder's luncheon was Jan. 15, 2023, during the open house of the new Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center in Naples. The lunch recognized the more than 50 donors who contributed more than $100,000 to the building or the Annual Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples.
A Founder's luncheon was Jan. 15, 2023, during the open house of the new Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center in Naples. The lunch recognized the more than 50 donors who contributed more than $100,000 to the building or the Annual Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples.

“By bringing the community together, we can enjoy leisure time, recreation, socialization, informal education and cultural activities for people of all ages. Although we are oriented for the Jewish community, we are open to the entire community, and we try to incorporate everybody into everything that we do.”

Background on the centerNew Jewish center in Naples to benefit entire community, officials say

The cultural center — which will support educational, social, leisure, recreational and philanthropic programs — includes a state-of-the-art security system, especially as incidents of anti-Semitism have increased in recent years.

Construction began after a groundbreaking in November 2021. Jerusalem stone symbolizing the Western Wall is featured in several places, and 12 soaring Royal Palm trees near the entrance representing the 12 tribes of Israel.

The cultural center will benefit Temple Shalom, along with Jewish and non-Jewish organizations, said Marc Saperstein, chair of the new facility's building committee and a vice chair of Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, in a November 2021 Daily News story.

The entire project was expected to cost about $15 million, with about $11 million of that for constructing the new cultural center, he said. And the community helped to finance construction of the building, raising more than $13 million so far of the $11 million for construction and creation of an operational endowment, said a January 2023 news release announcing the open house.

"Being this close to I-75 gives access to people who live on Marco and in Lee County as well," Saperstein said in the 2021 story. "This was a great arrangement."

The lobby of the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center in Naples, which opened Jan. 15, 2023.
The lobby of the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center in Naples, which opened Jan. 15, 2023.

A need arose for the building because of the growth of the greater Naples Jewish community to more than 10,000 people. The Federation's two largest membership organizations, the Women’s Cultural Alliance, and Men’s Cultural Alliance, have grown by nearly 50 percent.

That, combined with growth in the two other project stakeholders —  the Jewish Book Festival (which runs 12 to 15 book events a year) and BBYO, a national Jewish youth organization that has 30 to 50 teens locally — meant more space was needed, Saperstein said.

Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and News-Press. Follow him on Instagram @lacrossewriter and on Twitter @NDN_dosborn.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Jewish Cultural Center opens in Naples, named for community pioneer