Hands on mini-Israel experience opens at Port Washington Chabad

Close along the shores of Manhasset Bay, nestles the picturesque hamlet of Port Washington, its stately homes, its boats and, seagulls calling, arcing over the rippling glistening blue water in a typical New England style beauty.

Also along the shore on Manhasset Bay, rises a new peach colored smooth stucco building surrounded by a newly asphalted and painted spacious parking lot, the Chabad of Port Washington. Rabbi Shalom and Sara Paltiel of Chabad of Port Washington welcome visitors to “Judaism with a smile” and a jewel housed within:

a re-creation of a mini-Israel in the form of an indoor interactive immersive playground for children in preschool and early grades.

The “Florence Brownstein Mini-Israel indoor playground,” dedicated by her son, Dr. Martin Brownstein in his mother’s memory, is accessed through the brightly lit ceramic tiled orange painted hall. The rooms of the pre-school are visible from the hallway through internal glass windows with fake flower boxes beneath.

Visitors to the playground are instructed to remove their shoes and sanitize their hands at a convenient dispenser before entering, “to try to keep dirt and germs out,” explained Mrs. Paltiel. The colors and sights along the playground give a visitor a taste and feel of Israel, from the imitation stone archways and walls to the low-grade sand and stone colored carpet. One area has slides and tunnels in the “stone walls” surrounding a courtyard with an almost full-sized kneeling camel and a “well” with a real but preserved date palm from California. Other rooms include a shuk replica with hats, shawls, tallitot, low tables, rugs and pillows; a candy store with fake colorful candy that can be handled, stacked and arranged; a felafel and shwarma stand with cloth imitation pitot and all the trimmings; a bakery; spice and produce stores, and music and game stores. All the rooms are fully interactive; children can handle and play with all aspects of these spaces exercising their gross and fine motor skills and creative play all while experiencing a taste of Israel. “It’s a full sensory experience,” stressed Mrs. Paltiel. “With sounds, music, textures and signs.” Other areas have a puppet theater, play tefillin, Shabbat and havdala sets, and a climbing wall. One area has a re-creation of the Kotel with a live video feed from Jerusalem. Visitors can leave notes in the wall in the playground or write out and email a message to be placed in the actual Kotel in Jerusalem. It also has Smulik’s diner, named for Samuel Brownstein, Martin’s father and Marty’s pizza named for Dr. Martin Brownstein, a café area for visiting groups to eat or for birthday parties.

The playground is currently in use by PW Chabad’s pre-school but will be available for rental for class trips and parties. “We look forward to hosting community and school groups, religious groups, private events, visiting dignitaries and others,” said Mrs. Paltiel. The project cost half a million dollars, she said, and took “eighteen months from idea to actuality. It was my idea.” The Cloudberry Studio, the designers of the interactive playground, bill themselves as designers and producers of “experiential exhibits and environments, specializing in young learner’s experiences that appeal to both children and their adult caretakers.”

Mrs. Paltiet said that she found them on the Internet, “the Aibishter (G-d) sent them to me; they are real malachim (angels).”

Another project in development is Florence’s Discovery Island, a nautical playground, featuring a sunken ship, to be built on one-third of an acre on Manhasset bay on the grounds of Chabad of Port Washington. It will absorb Chabad’s current playground. Mrs. Paltiel noted that they have funding from Dr. Martin Brownstein and have permits for the actual playground. They are awaiting approval for the playground’s abutting the water from North Hempstead.

Rabbi Paltiel notes that PW Chabad has 180 member families and that 170 are not Orthodox, “it’s a secular town,” he points out. PW Chabad has a magnificent new gym in the Adam Katz Athletic Center, funded by Adam Katz, who also built the beautiful Katz Mei Menachem Mikve. “We have eight teams for eight grades and the kids are wearing Chabad uniforms,” in the Island Garden league, said Rabbi Paltiel. “It takes down the barrier. We have authentic Judaism with a smile. You can’t beat that. The only thing going against us is (people) not walking in through the door. The gym is rocking and rolling with hundreds of kids.” He noted that it is open to the community; members of the police and fire departments play there. People have friends here, he said, and once they come for the gym, they are in the door. “There is no label,” he emphasized. “Jews are Jews. If we remove all the labels, we’ll have a lot less problems. We’re all one mishpocha (family).”

Chabad of Port Wahington is located at 80 Shore Road, Port Washington, NY 11050. Phone: (516) 767-8672. www.chabadpw.org.