East Meadow Jewish Center to celebrate its 65th anniversary with 'quintuple bar mitzvah'

The East Meadow Jewish Center will mark its 65th anniversary this year with a celebration on March 9 that the congregation has dubbed a “quintuple bar mitzvah” because 65 is a multiple of 13, the age at which a boy becomes an adult in the Jewish faith.

Rabbi Ronald Androphy honored the anniversary by leading his congregation in a study of a 13th-century Spanish text called Sefer HaChinukh, which describes each of the 613 commandments prescribed to the Jewish people and mentioned in the Torah.

In September, congregants were each assigned two chapters of the book and, in November, they gathered in the synagogue to read the last chapter together. Such a ceremony is called a siyum, and signifies the completion of a Jewish study.

“I am very proud of the congregation’s response,” Androphy said, explaining that over two-thirds of the congregants took part in the siyum. “I think it demonstrates that we here at the East Meadow Jewish Center truly consider Jewish study and learning a cardinal value of our synagogue.”

Members of the 65th Anniversary Committee — a planning team comprising longtime members Warren Berkowitz, Debrah Welt and Molly Seigel — said they expected between 100 and 150 people on March 9.

The celebration will include a presentation on the temple’s history, and offer congregants, both young and adult, “a chance to act like kids and have a nice bar mitzvah celebration,” Berkowitz said.

The “quintuple bar mitzvah” will also honor five families that have played a significant role in different chapters of the congregation’s history, Berkowitz explained. The honorees include Terri Frankenberg, Sheryl and Barry Marin, Karen and Aran Neihaus, Rebecca and Mark Katz, and Jennifer and Matthew Melnick.

“We look at our 65th anniversary not only as a celebration of our past, but also a commitment to our present and our future,” Androphy said.

The congregation formed on July 1, 1953, and has been led by two rabbis — Dr. Israel Nobel for the first 30 years, and Androphy for the past 35. After retiring in 1983, Nobel remained in the community as rabbi emeritus until his death four years ago.

Androphy, who was born and raised in Waterbury, Conn., received his rabbinate from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He also earned a doctorate from Harvard University in 2008, after being awarded the prestigious Daniel Jeremy Silver Fellowship.

Shortly after World War II, Androphy explained, an influx of young families began settling on Long Island, creating a need for a synagogue. It reached its peak membership in the late 1960s, with approximately 950 families. Currently it has about 350.

Androphy attributes the decline in membership to a shift in demographics on Long Island, with fewer younger families moving to the suburbs, and instead opting for homes in Brooklyn or Manhattan.

The decline follows a pattern among Jewish congregations across Long Island, and was one of the main reasons that East Meadow’s Reform synagogue, Temple Emanu-El, merged with Temple B’nai Torah in Wantagh last June, said Rabbi Daniel Bar-Nahum, who now leads the latter congregation.

“I think the loss of Temple Emanuel is a big loss to the East Meadow community,” Androphy said. “I shed a few tears every time I drive by that building and see the fencing around it.”

Temple Emanu-El’s building was aging, Bar-Nahum said, and the East Meadow Jewish Center is no stranger to this challenge. “When you’ve been in a house a long time, there are expenses you have to face,” Androphy said, noting that the building recently underwent roof repairs.

To alleviate such costs and prepare for future expenses, the synagogue has been collecting donations all year and, in honor of its anniversary, set a goal of $65,000. It has surpassed it by over $5,000.

And although its membership has declined, the number of activities and services has grown. Today the synagogue offers Hebrew school programs for nursery school, kindergarten and high school students, adult education classes, daily religious services, a Men’s Club and Women’s Sisterhood, and a variety of other programs for children and adults.

“We’re grateful for the synagogue — it’s been around for a long time,” Berkowitz said. “It’s been providing education for our children, social opportunities and social comfort for 65 years, and we’re hoping it will be around for a really long time.”

Androphy has had discussions with other synagogue officials about the possibility of a merger. But he affirmed Berkowitz’s comments, and said that, if the congregation decided to merge with another, it would not leave its building, and would instead invite in any new members.