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Back in 2023, Beth Elohim was one of just 15 communities selected to receive a very special "Scientists in Synagogues" grant. The grant award provided funds and support for us to host six top flight scientists in cooperation with the CBE Brotherhood’s Sunday Breakfast Series.

Rabbi David first heard about the grant opportunity and brought it to the attention of congregant Joe Formaggio. Joe, an MIT Physics Professor and a top flight scientist himself, created a team which successfully applied for the grant and then organized the CBE program. Every speaker had something important to share. 

For example, one popular speaker, Astronaut Jeff Hoffman, was the first person to take a Torah scroll into space. These two photos are from his “Space Torah” project.

We live in a region with many outstanding scientists so recruiting really cool speakers was not as difficult as you might think. Perhaps a more important success factor was partnering with the Brotherhood. Andrew Gruskay and Dan Carp provided excellent logistical and technical support, while Don Hoban and the outstanding Brotherhood breakfast crew offered their great breakfasts at every occasion. After all, what’s an engaging event without good food! 

While not a scientist by training, Rabbi David is certainly interested in science. So for his introductions to several of the talks, he was able to make connections to Torah and Jewish teaching. In fact, the grant organization’s newsletter of November 26, 2024 led off with his preview of a presentation by MIT astrophysicist Sara Seager. The article had the engaging – and accurate – title of “A Jewish Take on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life”.  

Besides Rabbi David and Joe, the speaker program team included congregants Bob Ferrara, Rachelle Horwitz-Martin, and Matt Liebman. As of this writing, they are still seeking to organize one final tour next spring to a vital local laboratory engaged in world-class science. Stay tuned! 

By Sarah Coletti, chair of Na'aseh

The line formed even before we got there to prepare for last week’s Christmas dinner. By the time the doors opened at Cor Unum, there were more people than could be seated in the hall. The team, which included about 15 people from CBE and some 8 or 10 regular staff quickly got to work serving the waves of people arriving for a dinner of cocktail shrimp, salad, ham and roast beef, carrots, potatoes with a cupcake for dessert. Glasses and cups were kept full of juice, milk, water and coffee. The servers and dish washing crew kept busy for a couple of hours. Around 200 people were served.

CBE has been staffing Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Easter dinners for a couple of decades. Lori Lotterman for the past fourteen years has organized teams of 12-20 volunteers to help feed needy people of Lawrence. It is just one of the food initiatives that Na’aseh, our social justice group, supports.

Though Acton and its surrounding towns are wealthier on average than Lawrence, we too have residents who struggle with food insecurity. More than 1,000 residents live at the federal poverty level in Acton and Boxborough, according to 2019 Census Data. Community Supper in Acton, served weekly at Mount Calvary Church, provides nutritious meals to all who come. Four or five times a year Congregation Beth Elohim sponsors the meal which serves some 60–80 guests. Barbara Frank is chief cook and organizer of the CBE-hosted events. Funds to support this effort come from the Alex Young Fund (donations welcome). Na’aseh and Sisterhood also underwrite some meals.

The number of local families receiving food assistance has risen dramatically since the pandemic (up 61%). Local and regional food pantries exist to serve these families with the help of donors like Na’aseh. One ongoing effort is our collection box for Family Table, a food pantry run by JF&CS, Jewish Family and Children Services in Waltham. The raisins and whole wheat crackers people drop off in the bin at the front door of CBE contribute to the offerings that are packaged and delivered by volunteers throughout eastern Massachusetts. Melissa Kaplan Morse leads this effort, having first become involved with Family Table when her son chose it as a bar mitzvah project, years ago.

Na’aseh has also been involved in food drives to benefit Acton and Stow food pantries. Rick Silverman has helped organize our High Holiday food drive, collecting grocery bags of food donated by congregants and delivering truckloads to the food pantries.

Our latest initiative for helping to fill the food needs of people in our local community is the Mini Pantry. The idea came from Eagle Scout, Mattias LaCroix, who built and installed the mini pantry, with the support and coordination of Barbara Frank. The mini-pantry is available when the larger food pantries are not so serves as a good backup for people needing to supplement their larder. Hebrew school students and members of Sisterhood, Brotherhood, Choir, and Na’aseh have all helped to make sure the mini pantry is kept replenished from the kitchen cabinet Na’aseh keeps stocked.

Income inequality has sharply risen in the past decade. While it is sad that such a need exists in our largely wealthy community, we can be proud of the generosity of our members who donate time, money, and food to help. Na’aseh will continue to advance those efforts. 

Sign up for Na’aseh News by e-mailing socialaction@bethelohim.org to keep up to date on these and our other social justice actions.

Married in 1976, we couldn’t afford a home in the “Jewish” communities of Lexington or Newton. But we wanted to be somewhere where we could invest in and be part of building a thriving Jewish community for our family.

In 1977, after Jeff got a new job with DEC in Maynard, we moved from Arlington, MA to the “sticks” of Acton. There were cows at the end of our street and very few Jewish names in the phone book. But we had heard of a small active Jewish group in town and Marlene discovered that the local Triple-A (Donelan’s) market even had some borscht on the shelf, albeit covered in dust!

We began going to services in Maynard (at Rodoff Shalom) led by a small, devoted group called Congregation Beth Elohim (which had been incorporated in 1973). Services were led by a wonderful young, at-the-time lay leader, named Lewis Mintz in a small house converted into a temple. The Hebrew school used a door across a bathtub as the teacher’s desk!

Jeff, a finance guy, volunteered to become CBE's Treasurer in 1978. Gerry Finkle handed Jeff a shoe box full of bills, receipts, and a check book — so Jeff set up the first “modern” CBE accounting system, complete with financial statements for members and the board.

In 1979 we had 48 member families and dues were $500. We started looking for an existing building in Acton to buy to call home. Many places were examined but none seemed to fit the bill. So, Jeff began to raise money to pay for architectural plans for a new temple to be built on the land CBE had bought several years earlier (see newspaper article below).

Once we had the plans, we still needed a mortgage to proceed. By now we had 68 members, and everyone agreed that we ALL had to stay members to afford the cost. Also, to get a mortgage from The Co-operative Bank, we needed guarantors. Sixteen families anonymously stepped forward, each guarnteeing $10,000 of the mortgage. That was a huge amount of money for young families just starting out back then!!

When Rodoff Shalom sold their building, they generously donated the proceeds to CBE. Jeff made the somewhat controversial call to use the funds for paving the parking lot instead of installing air conditioning. He told the Board that “G-d will provide.” Sure enough, when word got around about not affording air conditioning, several families scheduled to have B’nai Mitzvot the following summer came forward with the funds needed to install the AC.

The dedication of the new temple was a huge event in town! On the day of the dedication, Jeff organized a march of the Torah scrolls from Maynard to their new home in Acton. Tears were in everyone’s eyes as we marched up Route 27, around the temple and stopped inside at the synagogue doors and Rabbi Mintz affixed the mezuzah. And as part of Acton’s ecumenical spirit the local church groups threw our kitchen crew out of the kitchen saying, “Go celebrate, we’ve got this.” 

The “First” Temple came in on time and on budget. The first mortgage was paid off when the Temple was later expanded, and the guarantors were relieved of their obligations.Jeff retired as Treasurer in 1985.

Since then, CBE has grown and become a real part of Acton’s religious community. Rabbi Mintz, after speaking at an ABRHS graduation glowingly reported overhearing an elderly non-Jewish couple call him “the town Rabbi.” Yom Kippur became a school vacation day, and many more Jewish foods found their way to the shelves of Acton’s markets.

The Bergarts continue to be active in the Temple. Jeff has been on the board in different capacities over the years and Sous Chef Jeff has been part of the Brotherhood’s kitchen crew from its inception. Two of their most memorable experiences have been attending CBE’s two-year Me'ah program and CBE’s 2016 trip to Israel.

By Cindy Kalish, CBE Director of Education

As we begin the second half of the school year, I have been reflecting on the past few months since I began as Director of Education here at CBE. The theme of Joyfully Jewish at CBE could not be more appropriate. I have been looking through photos from the past four months and am struck by the amount of joyful learning that has been happening here.

Once a month we literally fill an ELC classroom with our youngest pre school families at Temple Tots with Jodie. Friendships are forming between children and parents while Jewish lessons are being taught. Just down the hall, somewhere between 12–14 Kindergarten Students are having the most delightful time singing and hearing stories and making crafts with Morah Naomi. Clearly the word has gotten out that they are having so much fun playing with their mitzvah animals because the class keeps growing and growing in numbers! There is nothing sweeter than being “welcomed” into Morah Naomi’s classroom by one of her students who shows you to your chair and offers you something to “eat or drink!”

Our first and second graders are working their way through the aleph-bet through a variety of ways – Aleph bet yoga poses and word building are popular choices. They are making their own class Torah and they love a good story.

Third and fourth graders are having a blast with Morah Leslie and enjoyed a special morning of learning about creation with their families. Students, along with their grown ups (and some younger siblings) used their imagination to re-create their versions of the days of creation. They also did an activity where they attempted to put a broken pot back together. As you may imagine, so many lessons were learned from this project. Some pretty profound conclusions were drawn by our 8- and 9-year-olds.

Our third through sixth graders meet on Tuesday afternoons and well as Sundays. While third grade has their class with Leslie and focuses on Hebrew learning, fourth through sixth grade is also learning Hebrew and broadening their understanding of Jewish themes through electives. This past Fall we focused on the theme of Yira which is a Hebrew term for awe and wonder. There is an element of fear in yira as well. Students had the opportunity to explore through improvisational theatre, creating a podcast, or creating an immersive pop-up experience. Under the direction of teachers, Ilana Epstein, Bryna Klevan and Jess Rosenblatt the students created powerful presentations for parents and guests before the school vacation. After the presentations we concluded our Fall semester of learning with a community gathering and lighting of the first candle for Hanukkah – in preparation for the holiday when it finally arrived during vacation.

I am looking forward to more Joyful Jewish learning as we head into 2025 and will focus my next article on the goings-on in our fifth through ninth grade classrooms.

The People of Chelm Want to Know...

Immigration has been an important national topic these past several months. Most of us no longer experience what immigrants in a new and often hostile country face every day. This question recalls the situation a century ago when many of our families first arrived in America.  

QUESTION:  The powerful inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads in part "…Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These memorable words of poet Emma Lazarus were placed at the base of the statue, during the period of massive immigration of Eastern European Jews and southern Italians to this country.  

And nowhere were the “huddled masses” so crowded together as in the teeming tenements of New York City’s Lower East Side. This region of lower Manhattan, from the East River to Third Avenue, from the Bowery to 14th Street, is about one and a half square miles in area. Can you estimate the number of Jews who lived in the Lower East Side in, say, 1910? 

Ponder your response – and find the answers below.

Lifecycle and Milestone Events in Our Community

B'nai Mitzvah:

Has your family celebrated a recent simcha or milestone? Send us up to 5 photos with a brief description; and we will make a selection to include in our next newsletter. Email communications@bethelohim.org.

What's happening at CBE this month?

Donations

The congregation thanks our members, their relatives and friends, and the larger community for recent donations to CBE. If you do not see your donation, please look for it in our next donations email, or contact communications@bethelohim.org. Note: The list that follows acknowledges two months of donations, instead of the usual one month. We hope to return to one-month lists next month.

Adult Education Fund

Bob & Deena Ferrara / In memory of Amy Michelson's father, Malvin Jay Michelson-Thiery

Ellen Valade

Ethan Sokol & Kristine Fong / To support the Israeli Dancing Program

Mara J. Falk / On the occasion of Mara's mother's yahrzeit

Michael & Laura Young

Stephen Richter

Alex Young Social Action Fund

Beth Schrager & Jeffrey Handler / In memory of Marty Hirsch

Ellen Valade

Mara J. Falk / On the occasion of Ralph Feibelman's yahrzeit

Marcy & Don Hoban

Marty & Diane Krasnick

Amy Naparstek Israel Scholarship Fund

Andrea Harris / In honor of Bill Harris

David & Chips Naparstek / In memory of our beloved daughter, Amy, on the occasion of her yahrzeit

David & Chips Naparstek / In loving memory of Chips's father, Ben Harris, on the occasion of his yahrzeit

David & Chips Naparstek / In honor of Linda Friedman, with love and best wishes for a happy birthday

David & Chips Naparstek / In appreciation of our good friends, Ellen and Steve Parker

Ellen Valade

Linda & Denis Friedman / Happy Birthday to Chips Naparstek with love

Marcy & Don Hoban / In appreciation of the Naparsteks for their business

Rabbi Michael Luckens & Sharon Schumack

Cantoral Fund

Alan & Arlene Weiss

Ellen Valade

Ethan Sokol & Kristine Fong / In memory of Arielle Sokol

Matt Liebman & Amy Michelson

Stephen Richter / In honor of Cantor Sarra

Capital Fund

Alan & Arlene Weiss / From the estate of Fran and Kenneth Nathanson for new carpeting

Annual MLK Breakfast 

Chips & David Naparstek

Jeanine Wood

Kelene Blumstein

Nancy Settle Murphy

Stella Ko

Sue St. Croix

Victoria Campbell

Chesed Fund

Ellen Valade

Jennifer & Adam Hoffman / In memory of Martin Hirsch

Jonathan Summer & Hilary Agin / In memory of Marty Hirsch

Stephen Richter

Choir Fund

Alan & Arlene Weiss

Ellen Valade

Fred & Dorrie Goldstein / In celebration of the birth of Micky and Brian Foley's son, Joey Leo, grandson of Waky

Marcy & Don Hoban

Marcy & Don Hoban / In appreciation of the Wachters, Wachtells, Mintzes, and Seigels for their business

Family Education Fund

Lori Lotterman & Gary Kushner / In memory of Malvin Jay Michelson-Thiery, father of Amy Michelson

General Fund

Alan & Arlene Weiss / In memory of Noah Lelchook, son of Alex Lelchook and Randi Wallen

Alan & Arlene Weiss / In memory of Jerome and Selma Nathanson, Arlene Weiss's parents on the occasion of their yahrzeits

Alan & Arlene Weiss / In memory of Mel & Leona Weiss, parents of Alan Weiss, and

Fran & Kenneth Nathanson, aunt and uncle of Arlene Weiss

Alan & Peggy Berko / In memory of Marty Hirsch

Beth Schrager & Jeffrey Handler / In memory of Ira Schrager, father of Beth Schrager 

Beth Schrager & Jeffrey Handler / In memory of Sandra Lotterman

Bob & Kathie Becker / In memory of Malvin Jay Michelson-Thiery

Bob & Kathie Becker / In memory of Marty Hirsch

Bob & Kathie Becker / In memory of Sandra Lee Lotterman

David & Chips Naparstek / In memory of Marty & Jo-Ellen Hirsch

Ed & Nancy Kleiman / In memory of Ed's Father, Louis Kleiman, on the occasion of his yahrzeit

Ellen Valade

Frank Cohen & Linda Gordon-Cohen / In honor of CBE's New Membership Class of 2024-2025

Gary & Judy Budiansky

Iva Gardner

Jeff & Sandy Haber

Joseph & Rosalie Oliveri / In memory of Sandra Lotterman

Karen Pollak / In honor of Steven Levine's Birthday

Linda & Denis Friedman / In loving memory of our dear friends, Jo-Ellen & Marty Hirsch

Linda & Denis Friedman / In loving memory of our parents; Frances & Max Friedman, and Lillian & Manny Pogoda

Mara J. Falk / On the occasion of Henny R. Bauer's yahrzeit

Marcy & Don Hoban / In appreciation of the Beckers, Biales, Formaggios, Gruskays, Liebmans, Greens, and Kontoffs for their business

Naomi & Sean Anderson

Peter Galland

Rick & Cindi Silverman / In memory of Marty Hirsch

Robin & Andy Young / In honor of Ben Young's Bar Mitzvah

Ronni Kenger / In memory of Marty Hirsch

Stanley & Qingna Barsky

Stephen Richter / With thanks for the recent hikes up Monadnock and Wachusett mountains

Stephen Richter / With thanks for the Brotherhood-Sisterhood Wine and Cheese in the Sukkah event

The Wiles Family / In memory of our beloved Aunt Jo Ellen and Uncle Marty Hirsch

High Holiday Appeal

Alan & Arlene Weiss

Albert Mendelsohn & Emily Tamilio / On behalf of our attending Yom Kippur services

Allan & Ellen Krueger

Amy & David Leers

Arye Hess

Barry & Jo-Anne Nyer

Bob & Deena Ferrara

Bob & Kathie Becker

Brian & Elizabeth Hess

Cindy Kalish & Martha Brockway

Daniel & Laura Kelmar

Danya Zimmer-Bloomstone & Benjamin Bloomstone

David & Chips Naparstek

Debbie & Jeff Wesson / In memory of Marty Hirsch

Debbie & Jeff Wesson

Ed & Nancy Kleiman

Ed & Nancy Kleiman / In memory of Ed's brother, Philip Kleiman, on the cocasion of his yahrzeit

Edward & Michele Adelman

Erik & Lindsay Rosenman

Ethan Sokol & Kristine Fong

Frank Cohen & Linda Gordon-Cohen

Fred & Dorrie Goldstein / In loving memory of Dorrie's parents Manya and Carl Rosenkopf,and of Freddy's parents Minnie & Sidney Goldstein.

Gary & Judy Budiansky

Gary Kushner & Lori Lotterman

Hope Davis & Robert Brown

Ina & Malcolm Burdine / In memory of our parents Dorothy and William Hyman, and Ada & Isadore Burdine

Jay & Linda Hakerem

Julie & Robert McCall

Julie Agapite & Neal Silverman

Lauren Solomon

Lee & Rachel Gwaltney

Les & Judy Kramer

Linda Minkoff

Michelle & Chris Siegert

Mindy & Jeff Fishman

Rabbi Lewis Mintz & Naomi Katz Mintz

Rick & Cindi Silverman

Rita & Larry Grossman

Ron & Joanna Honig

Steve & Susan Michelson

Steven & Sara Levine

Sue Wood / In memory of Dr. Sinclaire Scala, Sue's father

Susan & David Pinsky

The Zwirn Family

William & Leslie Schroeder

Iris and Gerson Stutman Beautification Fund

Alan & Arlene Weiss / In memory of Iris Stutman 

Beth Schrager & Jeffrey Handler / In memory of Iris Stutman

Ellen Valade

Fred & Dorrie Goldstein / In memory of our dear dear friend, Iris Stutman

Joan Snyder Library Fund

Hayim Lapin & Maxine Grossman / In memory of David Snyder

Laura & Ryan Gehl / In memory of David Snyder

Matt Bauer / In memory of David Snyder

Ellie & Abe Schuchman / In memory of David Snyder

Philip Avner / In memory of David Snyder

Susan Vitale / In memory of David Snyder

Na'aseh Social Justice Fund

Ellen Valade

Mara J. Falk / On the occasion of Ilsa Bauer Feibelman's Yahrzeit

Marcy & Don Hoban

United Church of Christ Congregational of Boxborough / In support of the film screening

Rabbi Lewis Mintz Fund

Ellen Valade

Fred & Dorrie Goldstein / In memory of Marty Hirsch, a very special person

Marcy & Don Hoban

Stephen Richter

Rabbi's Discretionary Fund

Alan & Arlene Weiss

Ellen Valade

Marcy & Don Hoban

Marcy & Don Hoban / In appreciation of Rabbi David's inspirational leadership

Matt Liebman & Amy Michelson

Stephen Richter

Religious School Fund

Beth Schrager & Jeffrey Handler / In honor of the birth of Joseph Foley, grandson of Waky

Fred & Dorrie Goldstein / In memory of Deanna Schroeder a sweet & capable Madricha

Scientists in the Synagogue Event

Gary & Judy Budiansky / In recognition of Dr. Sivan's Science with a Shmear Presentation

Rachelle Horwitz-Martin & Robert Martin

Stewart Seidler

Yahrzeit Plaques

Jennifer & Adam Hoffman / In memory of Marty Hirsch

Sandy Roschelle & Peter Darlow / in memory of Miriam & Irving Roschelle

The People of Chelm Want to Know...

Resources

CBE's Chesed Committee | Contact us in a time of need

18 Doors (formerly InterfaithFamily of Greater Boston)

Anti-Defamation League incident reporting

CJP (Combined Jewish Philanthropies)

CJP SeniorDirect

Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life

Hadassah of Nashoba Valley Facebook

Hebrew College events

Jewish Bereavement Support Group

JewishBoston.com

Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston

Jewish Family Service of Metrowest

Keshet | A national organization that works for full LGBTQ equality and inclusion in Jewish life

Mayyim Hayyim | Living Waters Community Mikveh

Oneinforty.org | BRCA awareness, education, and support

Yad Chessed | Emergency financial assistance to Jewish individuals and families in need

Yerusha.com | A Website for Older Childless Jews

Visit the Resources page on our website for our complete resource list.

Feedback/get in touch with us!