SALEM —   The new leaders of the oldest synagogue on the North Shore are performing a makeover they say will resuscitate their venerable Salem house of worship. The new slate of officers elected in June is aiming to double Temple Shalom’s membership over the next two years, from 120 to 240, with a mix of families and singles.

The temple’s ambitious strategy — besides targeting the unaffiliated and developing relationships with the city and Salem State — is given momentum by its recent hiring of musician and Jewish educator Idan Irelander as its spiritual leader. Temple President

Tom Cheatham believes this is the coup de grace that will end the “growing old small temple” perception that has enveloped the Lafayette Street temple for far too long.

Having officially assumed his position July 1, Irelander, his wife, Einat from Tel Aviv, and their two young children, have been anticipating his new job from across the continents.

“I’m celebrating it in Israel,” said the 37-year-old Netanya native, who returns to the Jewish state twice a year to be with family. Among the new crop of recent Hebrew College graduates, Irelander is a cantor who holds a master’s degree in Jewish education. He said he can officially perform all the duties of an ordained rabbi.

“There’s nothing a rabbi can do in his authority that I can’t. I’m member of cantor’s assembly – similar to the rabbinic assembly — of the Conservative movement,” said Irelander in a telephone interview from Israel. Since former Rabbi Lee Levin resigned, Irelander has been conducting services, doing the Torah and Haftorah readings, and engaging the congregation in discussions.

The temple’s bold step to break from tradition and hire, for the first time in its century-plus history, a cantor as spiritual leader, has caused some controversy among the membership. Several families who were firm about having a rabbi lead the congregation have left the temple.

Cheatham (who is also on the Board of Overseers of the Jewish Journal) acknowledged that bringing on Irelander is “a high risk hire” and a gamble, but the hope is that he will bring the temple to a new level. “He has a buzz cut, actually a shaved head, wears an earring, plays guitar, is an Israeli, is dynamic, and is dedicated to Conservative Judaism. It’s quite a package. We’re fortunate to have him."

For a decade, Irelander’s music — a blend of Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Moroccan, Yemenite and Israeli cultures — rang out through Temple Emanuel in Andover. As music director, Irelander also worked with 400 Hebrew school children. Robert Goldstein, rabbi of the Reform temple, was lavish in his praise, saying Irelander lifted spirits of the young and old.

As for going from a Reform to a Conservative temple, Irelander is philosophical, “To me we’re all Jews,” he said.

His way of connecting the generations is through music, which “is what Jews used to do at the Holy Temple. We’re just bringing it back to the synagogue,” he said.

“With no past, there is no future, and we have a very rich past. Judaism is a portable religion, and we need to adjust it to the needs of our community. So by mixing the religion with music, it presents it in new clothing,” he added.

It was music that brought Irelander to America, specifically a scholarship to Berklee School of Music, based on a unique CD he recorded in Israel called “Schizophrenic Bass.” In Boston he studied composition, arrangement and film scoring, graduating summa cum laude in 2001.

When he plays guitar and sings during his highly anticipated Shabbat Unplugged during Friday night services on August 21 at the temple, his band will likely include three to five fellow musicians on cellos, flute and African drums. Irelander’s Shabbat Unplugged acoustic services include his arrangements of traditional prayers, with lyrics from the Siddur. The band will play upbeat versions of such classic tunes such as “Mi Cha-mo-cha” and “V’A-Hav-ta.”

Ben Weiss and his wife are new members of Temple Shalom. In his 30s and active on several fronts, he represents what many temple leaders are hoping will be the newest and hippest spiritual house on the North Shore.

Weiss, along with Cheatham and longtime member Larry Taitlebaum, hope to attract more of what they believe are some 1,000 unaffiliated Jews living in Salem to the temple. “We have a target list of 500 to 600 names in Salem,” Cheatham said.

The temple has begun renting space to the city of Salem for a public, bilingual Spanish/English preschool. As one of the most affordable on the North Shore, the temple believes young Jewish families, as well as others, will be moved to register their children for a multi-cultural experience.

“It’s part of our strategy to become a much stronger part of Salem,” Cheatham said.

Another is to create a relationship with Salem State College, which does not have a Jewish organization on campus, according to Cheatham.

“We think we can provide that,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could open a Hillel office in our temple for the college?”

Finally, the strong connection that the temple’s new spiritual leader has with Israel, and Irelander’s immersion in the Jewish state’s artistic and cultural life, is another component of the temple’s strategy to become vibrant. Already one Israeli native, Rachel Jacobson, has joined Temple Shalom and is participating in its revival. And the temple has its first bat mitzvah under the new leadership planned for November.

The leaders see this as just the beginning.

Sylvia Rosen contributed to this story.