| Beth Sholom | |
| Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah | |
|---|---|
| Location | Potomac, Maryland |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Modern Orthodox |
| Website | www.bethsholom.org |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Voliner Anshe Sfard |
| Founded | 1908 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Active |
| Groundbreaking | 1994 |
| Completed | 1999 |
Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah (BSCTT) is a Modern Orthodox synagogue on Seven Locks Road in Potomac, Maryland. It is led by Rabbi Joel Tessler and assistant Rabbi Nissan Antine.
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The congregation was founded in 1908 as Voliner Anshe Sfard. It initially worshiped in a congregant's house, but soon purchased a store and remodeled it as a synagogue building, with separate men and women sections. Within just a few years of its creation, the congregation had bought its own cemetery. The Voliner Anshe Sfard Congregation joined with the Har Zion Congregation in 1936 under the name Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah, complete with its own Hebrew school. Two years later, the combined congregation spent $90,000 on a new building. For the next 18 years the community stayed in what they called the "Eighth and Shepherd" building. In 1956, the congregation erected another synagogue building. This building's sanctuary had enough seats for almost 1,200 people. At one point the Hebrew school had more than 400 students.
The Community bought the current property on Seven Locks Road in 1975 with a small building and constructed a new building there as "Phase I" in 1994. In 1999 "Phase II" of the building was completed. But even before "Phase I" the community grew too large for the small building to handle so in 1979 a multipurpose room was built onto the existing building. With "Phase I", a new building was built yet again, but this time it was next to the "old building" as it would come to be known to community members. Once "Phase I" was completed, the Synagogue had everything it needed including a kitchen.
For "Phase II" the old building was completely demolished and during construction of the newest addition, temporary trailers were used to house such things as youth groups, offices and even a Minyan or two. This is where Beth Sholom's Fox Wing Minyan, then known as the "Trailer Minyan" came from. Upon completion the additions built during "Phase II" were called the Fox Wing. Even with such a big community in Potomac, Beth Sholom still maintains its services at the Blair Club in Washington D.C. every day. The Synagogue has more than five hundred families and a total of about 1,200 people coming to services on the High holidays, with three options of Minyanim, not including one at the Blair in DC.
Beth Sholom is in the middle of what the community calls the "succession plan". Rabbi Tessler is planning on giving his title as head Rabbi to Rabbi Antine. Rabbi Tessler and Rabbi Antine will continue their current positions for the next two years. Starting in 2013, Rabbi Tessler will become Beth Sholom's "Rabbinic Scholar" while Rabbi Antine will take over the reins of head Rabbi.
Rabbi Joel Tessler has been the head Rabbi of Beth Sholom for twenty-eight years. He has experience as a social worker, a radio host, and a writer. He has a strong connection to the State of Israel, where he lives for four months of the year. Part of his contract is that he can take a four month sabbatical to Israel. Also, he shows his connection with Israel by taking his family and a group of teens to Israel and Europe to learn about Jewish history and culture. Additionally, this group participates in community service activities.
Rabbi Nissan Antine is a new addition to the congregation, but has already shown his ability and commitment to take on the role as head Rabbi. After he received his ordination from YCT Rabbinical School in 2006, he became an assistant Rabbi under the guidance of Rabbi Joel Tessler. One of Rabbi Nissan Antine's major attributes is his ability to lead interesting and thought provoking classes and Divrei Torah.
There are many active committees at Beth Sholom. The Chesed Committee is in charge of charity for the community. They participate in the Greater Washington communities Gemach, which is a system that enables families who would not otherwise be able to purchase the items themselves to borrow them for simchas (family occasions). The Social Action Committee advertises opportunities for community members to partake in community service. The Archives Committee is in charge of preserving and organizing the Synagogue's history. The Israel Committee advocates for Israel. Their main goal is to raise awareness about the occurrences in Israel.
Rabbi Tessler's wife, Aviva Tessler, is the founder of a charity organization called Operation Embrace. This charity's main function is to assist those who were victimized by terrorist activity in Israel, mainly S'Derot. Every year, Aviva and her team of other community members embark on a journey to Israel to aide those who were affected by these attacks. This organization raises funds for over 800 people, including medical care, education, scholarships, rehabilitation therapy, dental care, and any other family needs. Operation Embrace also provides comfort for these victims by visiting them every year and giving them art projects, Purim baskets, laptops, and other various items.
Beth Sholom Talmud Torah and Congregation runs a wide variety of events. One of these events is the yearly Purim Carnival, where kids come dressed in costumes to eat hot dogs and play carnival games while their parents can participate in the charity auction. Another event is the annual "Dreidel the Night Away" where adults come and partake in gambling and drinking. This event is on Chanukah and raises money for the Synagogue. Also, Beth Sholom organizes a Shabbaton (or retreat) to Capital Camps in Pennsylvania for the holiday of Shavuot. Shavuot is the holiday that Jews recognize that Moses brought down the Ten Commandments.
The Sisterhood of Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah has major responsibilities, mainly those that are behind the scenes. Some of their jobs included preparing food for kiddush on Shabbat and Yom Tov (holidays), gifts and optional catering for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, snacks for youth groups, and many more. Recently, the Sisterhood has been partially replaced by Elite Catering by Beth Sholom who is now responsible for kiddushes in the main minyan and other catering events. Members from other minyans have taken it upon themselves to make kiddush in their respective minyans, like the early minyan and the Fox Wing minyan, more appetizing.
The Ingber Gift Shop is a tax free store inside the Synagogue that has gifts for all occasions.
The Youth department at Beth Sholom is currently thriving, with bi-weekly teen minyans and Fun Spots along with kids programing every week during services. Fun Spots are programs run by teens on Saturday afternoons for kids up to the age of ten. Teen Minyan is a highlight of the Youth department. Run by Joshua Solomon Klein, Ezra Roberts, and Samuel Beckerman, with Kiddushes ranging from licorice to cholent (exotic Sphardic dish) to assorted mixes of chips and dip, Teen Minyan attracts a wide variety of teens. Members from age twelve to middle-aged adults attend Teen Minyan regularly. Kids' programs are run by the veterans of the Synagogue. Nate Orlowek has filled a number of roles in the Youth Program since coming to Beth Sholom in 1980. He taught in the Talmud Torah for 29 years until it was closed in 2010. He has run the Junior Congregation program on Shabbat and Yom Tov mornings for over 30 years. This mix of davening (praying) and stories has attracted over 1,000 kids as participants over the years. Orlowek has been the main Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor for the congregation as well, having trained about 500 children in the congregation for their ceremony as of 2011. Beth Sholom operated an Orthodox Talmud Torah for 75 years, including the last 35 years in Potomac. Prominent principals included Rabbi Shmuel Goldin (now Vice-President of the Rabbincal Council of America), Brenda Pieprz, and Varda Cohen. In line with the trend in Orthodox synagogues in recent years for nearly all parents to send their children to Jewish Day Schools and not to public school the enrollment in the Talmud Torah dwindled to the point where the synagogue closed the school at the end of the 2009-2010 school year. In its place it created the Beth Sholom Judaic Tutoring Program, which provides individualized Judaic instruction on a one-on-one and small group basis for children from grades K-12. This tutoring is currently done by Nate Orlowek, who holds the current catch-all title of Senior Judaic Educator. A full complement of Shabbat and Yom Tov youth programs is administered by Darren Schneider, who himself grew up in Beth Sholom. These programs include "Torah Tots" for pre-schoolers, led by parents and teens, Kadimah for grades K-2 led by Marci Serfaty, as well as the aforementioned Jr. Congregation for grades 2-6, in addition to Mechina, and Davening Divas, a group for elementary-age girls. Ari Wertheimer, Estee Rebibo, David Kulp and several other teens and adults run and help with these weekly kids groups.