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Julie and David Ellenhorn have spent decades as community members and leaders helping shape Jewish life on the Eastside and across greater Seattle. Among many roles, Julie is a past president of Herzl-Ner Tamid, and David is the immediate past chair of the Samis Foundation. Their view of Barnabie Point is informed by those and many other leadership experiences, and by a long-standing belief in what strong Jewish institutions make possible for a community.
Their commitments are rooted in what they have seen in their own family. “The best thing we ever did was send our kids to get a Jewish day school education and ground them in Jewish values,” Julie says. “JDS was not only a good academic experience and a good Jewish experience, it was a good social experience as well.” For David, that impact starts even earlier. “This was the most important element of my education," he explained. “Learning to become Jewishly literate … prepared me for everything.”
At the same time, they describe Herzl-Ner Tamid synagogue as a central institution in Eastside Jewish life, a place where lifelong connection and relationships are built and sustained across generations. For the Ellenhorns, Barnabie Point brings the synagogue, Jewish Day School, and Jewish life across the region into closer alignment, creating a shared campus that strengthens and enhances all of them.
The Ellenhorns describe their aha moment about the power of a Jewish campus when visiting other cities, where they saw schools, synagogues, and organizations operate side by side. "We both kind of went, 'Why don’t we have something like this here?'" Julie recalls. What stood out was not just convenience, but the way it changes how people experience community day to day.
“[Barnabie Point] is the most important capital project in the Jewish community in a generation, bar none,” David says. He describes it as a chance to create something the community doesn’t currently have—“a place to get together.” Julie imagines what that will look like in practice: “the central place for Jewish life … where Jewish community gatherings are, where speakers are … educational events, even music and dance and art.”
Together, their perspective points to something larger than any one program or building: a community that is more connected, more energized, and exciting to be part of.
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