Virtual Services connect and expand the Shirat Hayam community

‘A Beautiful Noise’ comes to Emerson Colonial Theatre

Shirat Hayam’s Zoom services.

by Shelley A. Sackett

SWAMPSCOTT — Since 2020, Covid has significantly affected Jewish religious practice nationwide, and Shirat Hayam is no exception. Almost overnight, services — especially minyanim — went virtual by necessity. For many, the inability to gather in person — the very essence and meaning of “congregation” — is a hardship for which no amount of technology can compensate.

Nonetheless, this sudden shift has not been without its silver linings. According to tabletmag.com, an extraordinary number of people have engaged in Jewish experiences online owing to two important factors: the efforts by synagogues to put their programming and worship online immediately following the March 2020 moratorium on in-person gatherings, and the global accessibility of content.

For some locals, the convenience of attending services, study sessions and programming from their cozy homes has been a plus, especially during the cold, dark and snowy months. For others who live far beyond Shirat Hayam’s Swampscott location, virtual programming has made it possible for them to participate in services and feel part of the community.

“Shirat Hayam has been a leader in accessibility,” said Rabbi Michael Ragozin, noting that the temple removed stairs from its bima, revamped Shabbat services, and began Shulcasting almost two decades ago. “Investing in new technologies like Zoom, microphones, and webcams is a natural expression of our commitment to making a dynamic Judaism and Jewish community available to all.”

Arinne Braverman of Natick regularly attends Friday night and Saturday morning Shabbat services, usually via Facebook Live. Despite not having set foot in the physical building since becoming a member, she still feels connected.

She attends services online with her mother, Diana Edelman, also a CSH member, who lives fulltime in California. Although she misses the one-on-one informal and impromptu conversations with congregants, “I love not having to commute to and from shul,” Arinne said.

She believes strongly that people looking to join a synagogue should consider more than just its geographical convenience. Her own search took her quite a while. With the pandemic and the sudden possibility of remote attendance, she expanded her search from local to nationwide.

She ultimately chose CSH specifically because of its clergy. She first met Rabbi Ragozin when she was Executive Director of Northeastern University Hillel and he contacted her to offer his support after reading an article about Hillel’s fight against BDS and the surge in campus antisemitism. Later, he invited her to partner on CSH’s Campus Antisemitism Task Force training.

Although her mother, Diana, belonged to a local, in-person Reform synagogue, it wasn’t the right fit for her. At Arinne’s suggestion, she checked out a Shirat Hayam Shabbat service on Zoom and found what she was looking for. After confirming that remote access was not just a temporary response to Covid and would continue even when worship returned to in-person services, she joined.

She would like to attend in person, but recognizes that is not a viable option. “I would prefer to interact with other members so I would have a sense of belonging to a community or extended family,” she said.

Despite some annoyances (remote participants singing out of sync or not muting themselves while carrying on personal conversations during services), she likes the convenience and flexibility of remote attendance, especially the ability to mute her own microphone and video camera.

“Remote attendance provides me with the chance to participate in a service and enjoy the music, singing, spirituality and d’var Torah,” Diana said.

Donna Revman also enjoys remote Zoom services. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina but grew up in Marblehead, where she and her family attended Temple Israel. Even after she left the area, she always returned to Temple Israel and, after the merger with Temple Beth El in 2005, Shirat Hayam for the High Holy Days. When she couldn’t attend in person, she would watch the services on Shulcast.

She started attending minyan after her mother, Sylvia Revman z”l, passed away. “It was a way my sister in Massachusetts, my brother in New York, and I in North Carolina could honor my mother together during shloshim,” she said.

She prefers the more interactive Zoom services to Shulcast. “It gives me the opportunity to see the people attending, with a chance to say hello before and after the service, and even the ability to participate sometimes by leading one of the responsive reading sections,” she said.

Holly Strogoff, who lives in Florida, began attending the evening minyan services weekly after her father passed away. “I knew I wanted to honor him by saying Kaddish, but I wasn’t sure how this would work,” she said.

Rabbi Michael suggested she check out Zoom services. “I am grateful to participate in services in the community where I was raised,” she said.

When she signed on to attend her first service, she was immediately welcomed into the group. “Although sometimes Zoom can seem impersonal, I found the services to be warm and welcoming. Since I started attending these minyan services, I have found comfort in the connection and plan to continue to attending,” Holly added.

A version of this article first appeared in the ‘New Wave’, the Congregation Shirat Hayam newsletter.

Pastries for Pesach

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Sara Winer in her happy place. Photo by Shelley A. Sackett

By Shelley A. Sackett

SWAMPSCOTT – Sara Winer stood in her recently redecorated kitchen emanating the serene aura of a person who is in the right place at the right time. “My kitchen is my happy place,” she said as she took a loving glance around the gray-toned sleek yet warm sanctuary, which has been kosher since the day she got married 49 years ago.

The Swampscott baker comes from a long matrilineal line of bakers, starting with her Russian Bubbe Sara, for whom she is named. She is renowned for her creative and delectable creations, which are decidedly not low-calorie. “There really is no substitute for butter if you want a rich cookie or cake,” she said.

Finally succumbing to repeated suggestions from friends, Winer decided it was time to test the waters and start a baking business. She launched “Sara’s Baked Goods & Specialties” last Passover, when she decided to offer a few of her personal favorites items to a few friends.

Baking for Passover can be challenging and tedious because no leavening agents are used, Winer shared. She makes sure all ingredients are kosher for Passover and she uses only her Passover dishes and cooking implements. “I buy eggs five dozen at a time,” she said.

This Passover, she again is selling desserts and kugels. Some she can bake in advance and freeze; others, like her chocolate-dipped meringues and sponge cake, are made just prior to delivery. New to this year are the vegetable farfel kugel and her personal favorite, Passover granola, loaded with nuts, coconut, raisins and honey.

The response so far has surprised her. “I always think people could do this themselves, but they either like what I make or don’t have that same excitement about baking,” she said.

Creativity is also in her genes. Her mother, sisters, nephews and son excelled in painting, photography and animation. Winer tried her hand at fine arts, but found her medium – and her calling – in baking. “It is also therapeutic, meditative, and fun. It satisfies my need to give, to nurture and to care for my family and friends,” she said as she poured a cup of tea and set out a plate of her favorite cookies: hermits, pecan sandies, chocolate chip and poppy seed.

The science of baking fascinates Winer, and she loves working with yeast. “A couple of ingredients and voilà! You have a challah!” she said with a broad smile.

She worked for 18 years as a sales rep at Rivkind Associates, a large printing company in Stoughton, and gifted her clients with baskets of handmade cookies at the holidays. “They all came to look forward to it every year,” she said.

After retiring in 2013, she had a lot of time on her hands, which translated to a lot of time for baking. Friends celebrating birthdays receive cupcakes or a cake, and her mah jongg friends know not to eat dessert on game nights, because Winer always provides an assortment of homemade goodies. “My freezer is literally full of cookies, cakes and breads,” she said.

Although Winer’s nuclear family is a great reservoir of talent, she credits her mother-in-law, Ida Winer, as the biggest source of her inspiration. “She taught me how to entertain and how to make everything look nice. She just had a real flair. I like to think I am following in her footsteps,” she said.

For more information, email sewiner48@gmail.com.

Swampscott scientist lands top MIT award

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

On Thursday, March 21, Dr. Mercedes Balcells-Camp’s colleagues will recognize what they describe as her extraordinary contribution when she receives the MIT Excellence Award for Advancing Inclusion and Global Perspectives.

By Shelley A. Sackett

SWAMPSCOTT — As the oldest of six children growing up in an apartment in bustling Barcelona, Spain, Dr. Mercedes Balcells-Camps shared a room with her three sisters and took public transportation or walked to school. From grades 1 through 12, she attended La Vall School, a girls-only charter school that met from 9am to 5pm and required students to wear a brown uniform.

On the first day of seventh grade, Dr. Balcells-Camps’ life changed forever when her science teacher, Mrs. Ustariz, told the class that their textbooks were only the tip of the iceberg and that there were more things waiting to be discovered than were written in those books. “I became a scientist that day. I wanted to discover the unknown in nature,” she said from the Swampscott home she shares with her husband and two daughters.

And become a scientist she did, earning a BS in chemical engineering, an MS in organic chemistry and a Ph.D. in macromolecular chemistry before moving to the US for a post-doctoral fellowship at MIT. “I was supposed to be in Cambridge for three years and then return to Spain,” she said. Instead, she became good friends with a colleague who introduced her to both her husband and to Swampscott.

Today, some two decades later, Dr. Balcells-Camps is Principal Research Scientist at MIT’s IMES (Institute for Medical Engineering & Science), a hub that brings together the community of students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty who work at the convergence of engineering, science and translational medicine. Through dual appointments at MIT and her alma mater, Institut Quimic de Sarrià in Barcelona, she has promoted innovative research and educational exchanges between both institutions and countries.

As a result of this collaboration, she created the International MIT-Spain Program and co-founded the Spanish start-up Regenear. She also chairs the MIT IDEA2 Global program, which provides mentoring and connections to biomedical innovators around the world to develop and realize their project ideas. “Science doesn’t work in isolation. It requires multidisciplinary and international approaches,” she noted.

On Thursday, March 21, Dr. Balcells-Camps’ colleagues will recognize her extraordinary contribution when she receives the MIT Excellence Award for Advancing Inclusion and Global Perspectives. The award is presented in six categories and represents the highest honor presented to MIT staff.

Since the day she found out she won the award, Dr. Balcells-Camps has been thanking her family, extended family and collaborators inside and outside the US. “You cannot build a bridge if you don’t have help in each side,” she said. Professionally, she hopes to harness the visibility of the award to continue growing programs to tackle global health problems through culturally sensitive patient-centric approaches. “What works here in the US may not work in a rural place like Latin America,” she explained.

Dr. Mercedes Balcells-Camps, far left, and her daughters Swampscott High School freshman Isabel and Swampscott seventh grader Sofia.

She credits her daughters, Isabel and Sofia, with the resiliency and sense of humor to embrace their mom’s work, which has had them cross the Atlantic over 50 times and host hundreds of exchanges students and faculty. “I’m glad I make them proud because there have been sacrifices along the way,” she said.

While the excellent public schools, proximity to family and ocean views lured her to Swampscott, the more serious opportunity to fight disease and discover new tools that physicians could use to solve unmet clinical needs is what brought her to MIT. “MIT is the paradise of science, engineering and innovation and full of extremely motivated students and faculty. Early in my career, it became a dream of mine to come here,” she said.

Working with physicians and clinicians and industry partners to accelerate the path of new technologies, Dr. Balcells-Camps’ work has focused on building artificial organs and tissues made of biodegradable materials and human cells from donors. “I hope that in the future, in the same fashion we replace a tire on our car, we can replace the diseased artery when we have a stroke because of a blocked artery,” she said.

Currently, her research focus is development of a new model to understand the blood-brain barrier. This work is important for treatments of brain disorders, certain diseases (ALS, Alzheimer’s and MS) and drug abuse, such as opioid addiction.

Remembering the importance of her seventh grade teacher’s encouraging words, she offers this advice to young people thinking about pursuing a career in science.

“GO FOR IT! It is humbling and hard work but it is amazing what you can do when you unravel ‘science mysteries.’ The impact on society is tremendous. We need young talent in science and engineering if we want to understand how cells work and defeat disease, find better solutions to generate clean energy or create new smart materials for a better daily life.”

Shirat Hayam Gets Down to Business

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Anna Hathaway settles into her new office as Congregation Shirat Hayam. She is the synagogue’s first Business Manager.

By Shelley A. Sackett

SWAMPSCOTT — For its first thirteen years, Congregation Shirat Hayam operated without a business manager. That changed on June 4^th with the hiring of Anna Hathaway, a Middleton CPA, PFS and MST with 18 years of career experience.

Hathaway couldn’t be more pleased with her new position. “I wanted to find a place where I could work for the greater good, using my talents to help an organization accomplish its mission,” she said from her sunny office that abuts the social hall. “In today’s world, I believe it is important that people have both a place and an organization of people to be able to connect with something bigger than themselves. After meeting the staff at CSH, I was interested in joining the team and working with them to accomplish theirs.”

The need for a business manager surfaced as part of a three-year process undertaken by the CSH Strategic Planning Group and facilitated by Dennis Friedman of the Chesapeake Group. The group’s charge is to develop and implement a new Strategic Plan, Vision and Mission for CSH.

The journey began in 2017, when Renée Sidman became CSH Board President. She and fellow board member Larry Groipen approached the full board to fund a strategic visioning program. “We felt strongly that we needed to invest time into understanding who we were and where we were going. The best analogy was that we all needed to row the boat in same direction,” she said.

Friedman came highly recommended by Groipen, who had worked with him professionally for over 25 years. “Dennis was a fresh set of eyes to our community and brought his own experience as past president of his congregation in the South Shore,” Sidman noted.

What resonated most with Rabbi Michael Ragozin, however, was that Friedman remains with CSH to oversee the vision statement during its implementation. “That practical focus on implementation was very important to us. Many people on the Board sat on other organizations where an inordinate amount of time and resources is spent on creating a plan that simply sits on a shelf,” he said.

The resultant CSH Vision Statement has three prongs, including: “We embrace our responsibilities to invest in strengthening our Jewish community for generations to come.” Implementation of this prong led to creation of the business manager position.

As a business consultant with 28 years’ experience specializing in strategic planning and organizational development, Friedman concurred with the rest of the group that CSH had strong leadership in the religious and educational spheres, but needed a business manager to bring the same level of leadership in the physical and fiscal infrastructure sphere if it was to fulfill its mission “for generations to come.”

A successful candidate would be someone with strong financial expertise and management skills who could also work collegially with staff to assist them in increasing efficiency and effectiveness, the group decided. Hathaway’s resume was a perfect fit.

Born and raised in Lynn, Hathaway spent many summer days at Kings Beach. She and her husband Dave are parents to an adult son, DJ. She holds a Masters of Science in Taxation from Bentley College and a B.S. in Business Administration from Salem State University. Her experience includes: Controller/CFO of Quadrant Health Strategies, Inc.; Controller of Wakefield Management, Inc. (Midas franchises); Business Manager at Epstein-Hillel Academy, and Controller of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore (from 2001-2006).

After interviewing her, Groipen, a member of the Strategic Planning Group, knew that Hathaway was just the sort of person the group had in mind.

“Anna is a CPA, she has a lot of building knowledge, she understands enough about roofing, plumbing, landscaping, HVAC and building safety and security to make good decisions,” he said. “Above all, she wants to work towards continuing the welcoming experience we at CSH are so proud of.”

While Hathaway is ready to advance CSH’s vision for the future, she is also mindful of national current trends. “The biggest challenge facing CSH is similar to other religious organizations, namely attracting and retaining families to become active participants of the congregation,” she said.

Residents whet their whistles at Swampscott Public Library

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Shelley A. Sackett

Adam Denny Golab (at left), brewer and head cellarman of Lynn’s Bent Water Brewing Co., and Joe Nunnari, owner of Craft Beer Cellar in Swampscott, treated the over-21-year-old crowd at Swampscott Library to “Beer Tasting 101.”

Shelley A. Sackett

Despite rumbling skies and threats of downpours, over two dozen people ventured out last Friday evening to whet their whistles another way — by attending the Swampscott Library’s “Beer Tasting 101.”

For more than two hours, Adam Denny Golab, brewer and head cellarman of Lynn’s Bent Water Brewing Co., and Joe Nunnari, owner of Craft Beer Cellar in Swampscott, treated the over-21-year-old crowd to an evening that can best be described as, “everything you never knew you didn’t know about craft beers.”

Most importantly, after describing the brewing process and explaining in detail the differences in tastes among six beers, they circulated throughout the library’s reading room, pouring sample of the beers. Patrons cleared their pallets with pretzels, chips and cheese and crackers.

Nunnari, who says his wife, Kim, “kind of volunteered him” to sponsor the beer tasting (Kim is a volunteer at the Swampscott Library), hopes people learn a little about the complexities and subtleties of beer.

“There’s more to this than just opening a can,” he said with a laugh.

The library’s philanthropic arm, The Friends of Swampscott, captured the proceeds from the $20-per-ticket admission to the beer tasting event. The nonprofit provides volunteer help, conducts the annual book sale, sponsors programs for adults, purchases all museum passes, funds the library newsletter and underwrites many Young Adult and Children’s Room activities.

The tasting offered four different and distinctive genres of beer: an original German lager beer (Weihenstephaner Original); two malts (Murphy’s Stout and Mayflower Porter); two India Pale Ales (Bent Water’s Sluice Juice and Thunderfunk), and two Sour or Acid beers (Bent Water’s Cosmic Charlie and Destihl Wild Sour).

The history and intricacy of each beer was detailed before patrons had their first sip. IPAs, for example, were developed from pale ales in England to be shipped to India, where the hot climate demanded a lighter beer than typical English stouts. Hops were added so the brew would survive the journey.

Golab pointed out that hop flavors can be personal to the taster, with women, “for some unknown reason,” more prone to taste garlic. The hoppier the beer, the less bitter it tastes.

Some describe IPAs as hazy, chewy or mouthy, he added.

Nunnari also explained the importance of the “three-sip rule” when tasting beer.

“Never trust that first sip. Always sniff the beer first and drink it from a glass, not out of the bottle,” he advised.

Golab attributes Bent Water’s superior flavor to Lynn’s water, the “best water in the area” since it comes from the Lynn watershed instead of central Mass. The different profile minerality-wise gives Bent Water’s beer a different quality.

“After all, beer is 98 percent water,” he pointed out.

Like Nunnari, his interest in beer brewing started with the gift of a home-brewing kit from his parents. He has been brewing beer professionally for four years and the activity reminds him of family life as a child.

“I grew up in a house that cooked together a lot. Combining ingredients that create flavors that are unique and fun and work together well is a creative process,” he said.

He hopes after the tasting people realize there are more styles of beer than their usual go-to brand.

“There are so many different kinds of beer. There is something out there for everyone,” he said.

Sitting at café-style round tables of six, patrons chatted between sips, getting to know each other and the different brews. Anthony Cerra, a Swampscott resident whose father was a soda bottler and beer distributor from Pennsylvania, likes to support the Friends of the Library and likes to taste different kinds of beer. He used to brew beer before he had children.

“I guess it’s in my blood,” he said.

At a nearby table, Andrea Mercurio marveled that this was the first time she had been in the library.

“I love it. I want to wander around. I think I spend too much time at work. I definitely need to hang out here more,” said Mercurio a newcomer to Swampscott, she found out about the event on a Facebook page and thought it would be an excellent way to get out and meet people in the community.

Four years ago, the Swampscott Library hosted a beer tasting, and the library’s executive director, Alyce Deveau, thought it was time to do it again.

“It’s summertime and people drink beer in the summer,” she said. “People will get a lot of information and have a chance to come in and see the library and what they’re missing if they haven’t been here before.”

Reference and Teen Librarian Janina Majeran, who helped serve cheese and crackers between beer “courses,” thought the evening was fantastic.

“It’s really great for the library,” she said. “It is great exposure and something different than just books.”

Swampscott’s Zabar to be honored by Northeast-Arc on May 3

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Larry Zabar is the honoree at the Northeast-Arc’s May 3 fundraising event.

By Shelley A. Sackett

On Thursday, May 3, the Seaport Hotel in Boston will be transformed into a local star-studded runway as the Northeast Arc hosts its signature fundraising event, “An Evening of Changing Lives.” Emceed by Kim Carrigan, longtime Northeast Arc advocate and host of “The Boston Morning Show” on WRKO-AM, the evening also honors Larry Zabar of Swampscott, Executive Vice President for The New England Council and longtime Northeast Arc supporter.

“We are honoring Larry to shine a spotlight on all the remarkable work he has done throughout New England, especially in creating opportunities for people with disabilities,” said Jo Ann Simons, CEO, NE-Arc. She expects over 450 people to attend the event.

Zabar serves as a NE-Arc board member, chair of the development committee and vice chair of the advisory board. He is also the longest serving member of The New England Council, the nation’s oldest regional business organization.

“Receiving this award allows me to shine a spotlight on, and hopefully raise funds to support, an organization and a group of employees who really deserve this recognition. No one works at the NE-Arc because it’s easy and no one works there to get rich. They work there because of the importance of the mission, the value of giving back, and the difference they can and do make every day in the lives of people with disabilities,” Zabar said.

The NE-Arc is a not-for-profit organization that helps children and adults with, or at risk for developing, disabilities become full participants in the community.

The evening also features a fashion show spotlighting local celebrities, dignitaries, and business leaders who will be paired with individuals whose lives are changed as a result of the community’s support of the NE-Arc’s services.

“This is not a typical fashion show,” Simons explained. “It’s about our mission, and the fashion show and clothes are the vehicle to demonstrate how we change lives.”

The show will feature 12 models that represent the entire range of NE-Arc services, including early intervention, family support, employment and residential services. These families who receive NE-Arc services will be paired with local notables, such as Boston Globe Journal Editor Doug Banks and Dan Cahill, Representative for the 10^th Essex district.

Among those walking on the runway will be the Heller family, whose son Luke has been diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation.

“NE-Arc has done so much for Luke and our family. The runway event is an opportunity to say thank you and to raise money and awareness in the community, because NE-Arc is so important to many families like ours,” said Jody Heller, Luke’s mom. Luke started with NE-Arc’s specialty early intervention program, Building Blocks, and now receives services through its Applied Behavioral Analysis program.

“The Arc has been life-changing for us,” Heller said.

“The Hellers are a remarkable extended family who represent part of the village that it takes to raise a child who has additional needs,” Simons said.

Shirley Leung of the Boston Globe, who served as a judge for last fall’s ArcTank competition, will model with her 5-year-old son. who has autism.

“Each pair has a story that is inspiring and helps represent the 10,000 lives we change every day,” Simons said.

Honoree Zabar humbly added, “This award is not about me. So many businesses in the New England Council support organizations like NE-Arc. The common thread is we all see value in what they and other groups do to make lives better.”

For more information or to buy tickets, visit https://ne-arc.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/AnEveningofChangingLives2018/tabid/940603/Default.aspx or contact Paula Vrattos at (978) 624-3080 or pvrattos@ne-arc.org.

Swampscott celebrates little known Harold King Forest on May 6

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Members of Troop 53 proudly pose beside the kiosk they built at the entrance to Harold A. King Forest. Pictured from left to right: Mr. Jessie Davis, Duncan’s Volunteer Eagle Rank Coach; Ethan Grant, Boy Scout; Mr. Charlie Page, (brother of Duncan); Duncan Page, Life Scout, working towards his Eagle Rank; Mr. Chuck Page, Scoutmaster and Harris Havlicek, Boy Scout.

By Shelley A. Sackett

About a year ago, 16-year-old Eagle Scout candidate Duncan Page was thinking about what he might want to do for his Eagle project requirement. As the culmination of the Scout’s leadership training, Page knew the project has to demonstrate leadership while performing a project for the benefit of the scout’s community. He also knew he had to have all his Eagle Scout requirements completed before his 18^th birthday.

Page went to the Swampscott Town Hall, and looked through a list of projects the town had requested. The Harold King Forest caught his eye.

“It was a green space and resource I didn’t even know our town had, so I went for a hike though the trail and I saw the potential and the amount of work it would take to have the trail reach it’s potential,” he said.

Duncan Page with the Harold A. King Forest kiosk that was part of his Eagle Scout project.

Wedged in the northern-most corner of Swampscott, between Lynn on one side and the quarry on the other, the forest is about the size of Tedesco Country Club.

Many years ago, boy scouts marked the trail, but it was only rarely used and is not currently maintained. It is also marked in only one direction. “There was no way of retracing your steps if you wanted to turn around and go back,” said Danielle Strauss, Swampscott Recreation Director.

Page went to see Strauss to ask if he could do his project at Harold King Forest. Part of his proposal was to mark the trail in the opposite direction, clean up the trail and build a kiosk at the end of Nichols Street, where the forest’s entrance lies. “There wasn’t even a sign that said Harold King Forest,” Strauss said.

Little known even by families that have called Swampscott home for several generations, Harold King Forest (also known as the Oscar Short Conservation Land) is 47 acres of wild and rugged forested land that has been dedicated as public conservation land and is managed by the Conservation Commission. Primary access is down an uneven slope from a small, paved parking is at the end of Nichols Street. It serves as habitat for both birds and mammals. Passive outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, on-leash dog walking, and wildlife observation is permitted, along with educational and nature study.

Strauss was delighted when Page approached her. “Harold King Forest has always been on our radar, ever since we did the Open Space and Recreation Master Plan [in 1983],” she said, adding, “Most of the people who live in Swampscott don’t even know it exists.”

Once he got the Town’s approval and the Recreation Department’s sponsorship, Page set to work. He solicited friends, family, scouts and other interested organizations. To demonstrate the leadership component of project, he organized teams and made sure they had the materials and direction they needed, and organized their scheduled breaks.

“As you can imagine, there’s no rehearsal, so there were a lot of questions,” said Troop 53 Committee Member Paul Rizk, a “scouter,” or registered adult scout. Over two full weekends, he and other adults and scouts worked directly on the project. Non-adults cleared the one marked trail with hand tools and marked trees with standardized markings. Adults operated power tools when necessary.

Once the trail was cleared and the kiosk was up, Strauss knew she wanted to create some kind of event with the Boy Scouts that would shine a light on the forest. “We wanted to raise awareness of this community asset. Part of living in Swampscott for a lot of people is about getting out and doing things,” she said.

“Celebrating the Harold King Forest” will take place on Sunday, May 6 from 1 to 3p.m.. The Boy Scouts from Troop 53 will give guided tours and answer questions. The Health Department will give out information about ticks and Strauss will provide information about invasive insect species.

“The event is strictly about information and the environment,” Strauss said. She also enlisted the Conservation Commission, which will hand out information about their new “Friends of Conservation” group, and Colleen Hitchcock and her Girl Scout will acquaint attendees with the iNaturalist app and the Swampscott Biodiversity Project.

Page, who was elected Troop 53 Senior Patrol Leader by his fellow scouts, has received positive feedback on the quality of the trail and the kiosk. His biggest hope for the May 6 event is just that people realize the Harold King Forest trail exists. “It is a hidden gem our town has that very few people know about,” he said.

Strauss agrees. “Everyone knows Swampscott has beaches, but not many people know that on the other side of town, we also have a forest,” she said.

Millennial Jews finding ways to connect on the North Shore

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Alex Powell and Toby Jacobson discuss the Six13 North program. Photo by Steven A. Rosenberg/Journal Staff

By Shelley A. Sackett

Last November, a group of young Jewish professionals gathered at the home of Congregation Shirat Hayam Rabbi Michael Ragozin to brainstorm ways to engage their fellow North Shore millennials. Ranging in age from 22 to 45, few of them had met before and most knew the rabbi only minimally.

Yet all shared the same longing to create a vibrant local community of Jewish friends. They quickly focused on their purpose: To maximize the number they would connect with over the next six months.

They decided to apply for a $2,500 Combined Jewish Philanthropies Young Adult Community Grant to start the group. Named Six13 North after the 613 mitzvot in the Torah, it defines itself as “an open community of young professional Jews and friends with the stated mission to design environments to create, grow, and deepen connections on the North Shore.”

Within two days, recent college graduates Alex Powell and Axi Berman delivered a draft business plan. The group collaboratively revised it and on Dec. 21, CJP awarded the grant and Six13 North was officially launched.

Its first event, Hometown & Homeland, will feature a tasting of local spirits and Israeli wines paired with light snacks at the Bit Bar in Salem at 8 p.m. on March 8.

“We wanted to create a fun, low-barrier social gathering for young, professional Jews and their friends,” Rabbi Ragozin said.

Subsequent plans include a cooking class, a networking event, and an outdoor recreation get-together.

“Many millennials have the view that temple doesn’t have to be a weekly trip for them to have faith,” Powell said. “My hope is to create a social experience in which participants take the lead and decide what they want to get out of it.”

The Swampscott native attended Temple Israel and Shirat Hayam and grew up in a religious family where Shabbat dinners were frequent and family and friends always gathered to observe Jewish holidays. As a recent Franklin Pierce University graduate, he thinks traditional temple affiliations are more appealing to young families than to “a post-grad still strapped with student loans. There are other means to feel connected.”

Elliot Adler-Gordon attended the inaugural Six13 North meeting with his wife, Jenna. “People choose to be involved with religion when they find it to be meaningful, and I think that the synagogue-oriented Judaism that many people have grown up with over the past 40 years can be difficult to relate to,” he said. “This is why there needs to be a focus on creating alternative opportunities.”

Adler-Gordon grew up as an “involved Conservative Jew on Long Island,” attending Jewish day school through high school and Jewish summer camp. He was very active in Jewish life at the University of Pennsylvania and met his wife during a junior year abroad in Haifa.

A product marketing manager at GCP Applied Technologies in Cambridge, Adler-Gordon moved to the North Shore a few months ago from the Brookline/Brighton area after Jenna was hired as the second-grade teacher at Epstein Hillel School. They left behind a strong group of Jewish friends.

“We knew, moving to the North Shore, that there is not much of an involved Jewish young professionals community, so I was glad to hear Rabbi Ragozin was looking for a group to create such a community,” he said.

In addition to sponsoring large events, Adler-Gordon hopes Six13 North helps people meet friends who share interests such as hiking in the mountains or sharing Shabbat dinners. “I am optimistic there are people who live on the North Shore who are looking to be part of a Jewish community,” he said.

Rabbi Ragozin’s plans go far beyond that. By empowering organic leadership within the group, he hopes this self-organized leadership team will design experiences that “create such a buzz that there’s a natural flow of millennials from Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, and Jamaica Plain into the North Shore.

“I’m speaking with as many millennials as possible. They’re hungry for spirituality and meaning. They’re looking to their faith tradition – Judaism – but not finding models from their childhoods that excite them today. They want the spirituality of social connections, Shabbat dinners, service projects, etc. Their first point of exploration is within Judaism, but up to now, they haven’t found it within existing North Shore Jewish institutions.

“Six13 North flips the script. We say, ‘You are the institution. You make it happen.’”

To buy tickets ($10) for the Hometown & Homeland event March 8, visit bit.ly/Six13North01.

Anti-Defamation League honors Swampscott native

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Diana Leader-Cramer

The Anti-Defamation League New England Region will present its 2017 Krupp Leadership Awards to Diana Leader-Cramer Moskowitz and Monica Snyder at its 15th Annual Young Leadership Celebration on Saturday, Dec. 16 at The Colonnade Hotel in Boston.

The award is given to community members who demonstrate outstanding dedication and leadership on behalf of the ADL.

Diana Leader-Cramer Moskowitz, a credit research analyst at Loomis Sayles, is one of the longest-serving members of the ADL Associate Board and has held various leadership positions, including co-chair of the programming and governance committees.

The Swampscott native credits Epstein Hillel School (then Cohen Hillel Academy) and her parents, “who lead and continue to lead by example,” for instilling in her a deep sense of wanting to give back to the Jewish community.

“Philanthropy has always been an important part of my Jewish identity and an important outlet for me. Despite working full-time and going to school part-time when I was pursuing my MBA, it was essential to me to stay involved with and support the causes that were important to me, such as the ADL,” the Wellesley resident and Washington University and Boston University alumna said.

After attending Cohen Hillel Academy, she volunteered as a teachers aid at the school and later continued her involvement with Temple Israel as a Torah reader until leaving for college. While in college, she continued to be an active member of the Jewish community, minoring in Jewish studies and becoming a member of the local Hillel and Jewish Student Union.

Monica Snyder

As an employment lawyer at Fisher & Phillips, LLP, a national labor employment firm in Boston, Monica Snyder’s chosen field greatly influences her involvement at ADL.

“My law firm represents employers in dealing with a wide array of employment matters, including issues involving discrimination,” she said. “I became a lawyer, in part, to cure the injustices in this world,” the Boston resident and Amherst College and Boston University School of Law alumna added.

Snyder co-chairs the Glass Leadership Committee and the Young Lawyers Committee, which provides opportunities for Boston area attorneys to network and to generate discussions through round tables and speakers.

A group made up of members of several ADL boards, directors and the prior year’s winners selects honorees.

“Monica and Diana embody ADL’s values and believe deeply in ADL’s mission. They are both widely respected leaders,” said Daniel Hart, director of Development New England Region Anti-Defamation League and a member of the selection committee.

The Young Leadership Celebration was created 15 years ago to recognize young leaders with a once-a-year signature event and to broaden ADL’s reach in the young leadership community in the Greater Boston area.

Both Snyder’s and Leader-Cramer Moskowitz’s involvement with ADL started with their acceptance into the Glass Leadership Institute, a year-long program that meets on a monthly basis, giving young adults the opportunity to learn what the ADL does first hand about issues facing communities. Shortly after, each decided to take on leadership responsibilities.

“This program gave us the opportunity to meet with experts from across the organization and learn about the different ways they make an impact on a daily basis. Gaining a full understanding of all the important work the ADL does motivated me to stay involved,” Leader-Cramer Moskowitz said.

Actively engaged in ADL since 2010, she spent two weeks in Germany in 2012 representing ADL in its partnership with the German government’s Close-Up program.

“I learned about Germany’s history and modern Jewish life. I am passionate about the ADL’s mission of promoting equality and fair treatment for all,” Leader-Cramer Moskowitz said.

She is proudest of her role in helping to create the Breaking Barrier speaker series that brings interesting and engaging speakers that are important to the ADL and to the community at large. Last year, Khizr Khan, the Pakistani American parent of United States Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 during the Iraq War, joined the group for a conversation on religious freedom, civil rights, and security issues.

The 2017 series welcomed Christian Picciolini, a former neo-Nazi who now helps others counter all types of racism and violent extremism.

“These speakers bring important topics to the forefront and engage the community in discussions about what is happening and also what can be done to combat hate and promote equality for all,” Leader-Cramer Moskowitz said. “ADL’s expanded efforts to combat all kinds of hate is something that is critically and increasingly important today.”

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: http://bit.ly/2B5ugUF

Creating intergenerational bonds the old fashioned way: by writing letters

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

by Shelley A. Sackett

Stanley Elementary School fourth grader Drew Hause couldn’t wait to go to school last Wednesday, June 7. Since October, he and 21 other students in Mrs. Sami Lawler’s class have corresponded with pen pals from the Swampscott Senior Center and today was the day they would finally meet them face-to-face.

The seniors were just as excited. For many who live far away from their own grandchildren, gaining a peek through the keyhole of a nine-year-old’s life over the course of the school year was a welcome treat during the long slog of the New England winter. Meeting them in person would be icing on the cake.

The intergenerational program was started years ago by Marilyn Cassidy as a way to connect seniors and young school children. For the first few years it was at Hadley Elementary School, then Clarke Elementary School, and this year its home base was Stanley.

Pen pals Drew Hause and Shelley Sackett get ready to try their luck at bingo.

“The kids loved writing. They poured their heart and soul into their letters and I learned things while I was proofreading with them that I would otherwise not have known,” Lawler said, adding, “It was pretty special.”

Mrs. Ami Lawler (second from left) and fourth grade class mom chaperones at the Swampscott Senior Center pen pal lunch.

Norma Freedman, of Swampscott, chaired this year’s Senior Center pen pal program. She has had a pen pal for many years, and even wrote to one girl throughout the summer while she was away at camp.

“It’s a lot of fun and it’s good for the kids. They know there’s someone in the world besides their immediate family that cares for them,” she said.

The biggest challenge for her? “They draw a lot on the envelopes. I’m not an artist and I don’t draw, but I tried to, to keep it interesting for them too.”

The students arrived at the Senior Center by van (courtesy of the Senior Center) clutching handmade decorated envelopes, presents and lunch. Their senior pen pals were already there, and squeals of delight filled the lunchroom as hugs, presents and — of course — letters were exchanged.

Thomas Mello presented his pen pal, retired social worker Bill Foley, with a last letter in an envelope covered with colorful drawings of his pets, a guinea pig and an aquarium full of fish. Unsurprisingly, his favorite part of the pen pal project was “drawing on the cards.”

From left: Thomas Mello, Bill Foley and Caleb Jaeger-Kerr get to know each other over lunch.

After lunch, seniors and fourth graders played four rounds of bingo, bonding even more over lessons in frustration and good sportsmanship. Freedman reminisced how her pen pal won one game last year and hugged and kissed her. “He was so happy. It was like I gave him the world,” she said with a smile.

Holly Mello, Thomas’s mother and one of the class chaperones, touted the scholastic benefits of teaching kids to communicate the old fashioned way — through letters. “It’s a great way for the kids to have an applied experience to practice their writing during the school year. They have grandparents, but they see and talk to them often on the phone,” she said.

Even though he didn’t win at bingo, Drew Hause had a big smile on his face as he hugged his pen pal goodbye and enthusiastically invited her to continue the correspondence after school lets out for the summer.

He offered parting words of advice to incoming Stanley fourth grade students. “When you guys are in Mrs. Lawler’s class, and she asks if you want a pen pal, you should say yes. You’ll be so happy because then you’ll meet them and it will be so much fun!”

InSights

A Blog by Shelley A. Sackett

Swampscott

Virtual Services connect and expand the Shirat Hayam community

Pastries for Pesach

Swampscott scientist lands top MIT award

Shirat Hayam Gets Down to Business

Residents whet their whistles at Swampscott Public Library

Swampscott’s Zabar to be honored by Northeast-Arc on May 3

Swampscott celebrates little known Harold King Forest on May 6

Millennial Jews finding ways to connect on the North Shore

Anti-Defamation League honors Swampscott native

Creating intergenerational bonds the old fashioned way: by writing letters