social announcements
BIRTH J
LEV HARRISON SEGAL
ane and Steven Segal of Elkins Park announce the birth of their
grandson, Lev Harrison, born to Lauren and Julian Segal of Upper
Montclair, New Jersey, on Feb. 3.

Sharing their joy are Lev’s maternal grandparents, Helene and
Norman Hirsh of West Orange, New Jersey, and his fraternal
great-grandfather, Dr. Nathan Schnall of Abington. He is the
great-grandson of the late Dolly Beechman Schnall.

Lev is named in loving memory of his fraternal great-aunt Laurie
Beechman and his maternal great-grandfather Howard Drucker.

Photo by Julian Segal
32 MARCH 10, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 32



synagogue spotlight
What’s happening at ... Congregation Kol Emet
BY JARRAD SAFFREN
Kol Emet Prides Itself
on Inclusivity
B rian Hanck has been a member of
Congregation Kol Emet for 15 years.

He had his three daughters go through pre-
school and get bat mitzvahed at the Reconstructionist
temple; he’s still a member with his wife, Sherry
Hanck, even though their girls are older now; he
even said that many of his good friends come from
his synagogue life.

Yet Hanck is not Jewish.

The Yardley resident grew up Lutheran and, while
he doesn’t practice Christianity today, he never
converted to Judaism, either. But at Kol Emet, a
Reconstructionist synagogue, no one asks.

“It’s just a welcoming community,” he said.

That culture is one that Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy,
Kol Emet’s spiritual leader since 2014, and President
Jill Gordon, a congregant since 2001, are proud to
have cultivated along with hundreds of other mem-
bers over the years.

Boswell-Levy and Gordon grew up in the
Reform tradition. Both women switched to the
Reconstructionist denomination as adults due to
its openness and emphasis on democratic deci-
sion-making. Kol Emet gives members a say in how
committees work and in larger community decisions.

The Yardley institution counts about 185 individ-
uals and families in its membership, according to
Gordon. That’s an increase of about 10 congregants
from Boswell-Levy’s first year in 2014.

“It’s possibly more reflective of Judaism today,”
Gordon said of the Reconstructionist approach. “It
offers a lot of flexibility about how to be Jewish.”
The rabbi agrees with her president; there are many
ways to be Jewish.

Some Jews prefer to focus on tikkun olam, or heal-
ing the world, others about going to services and still
others about the religion’s philosophy and history.

Some, though, are just searching for community.

Kol Emet tries to offer all of those things, accord-
ing to Boswell-Levy.

Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the father of the
Reconstructionist movement, believed that Judaism
“was the evolving civilization of the Jewish people,”
the Kol Emet rabbi said. It’s “of the Jewish people, by
the Jewish people,” she added.

Boswell-Levy sees her congregation as part of that
evolving civilization, as well as a community of and
by its members.

“There’s less emphasis on what you believe and
more about being part of a people,” she concluded.

That approach has been successful, too.

Kol Emet members help out at a recent food drive. 
Kol Emet is now a 40-year-old synagogue with an
increasing congregation. Twenty-six new families
joined in the past year alone, Boswell-Levy said.

It also has a religious school program with 82
students and a preschool program with 72 kids, 60%
of whom are not Jewish. The rabbi calls those enroll-
ment numbers “big for our size.”
For those reasons, Boswell-Levy and Gordon are
confident in the temple’s future. In just the past few
years, they’ve welcomed new members in their 80s
and new members who just married.

Come June, the rabbi will officiate the wedding
of a same-sex, interfaith, interracial couple. The
pair started attending services at Kol Emet in 2019,
and their relationship with Boswell-Levy grew
from there.

“We’re going to see that increasingly,” she said of
the couple’s diverse identity.

To continue to live its values and perhaps attract
more young people, Kol Emet plans to maintain its
focus on issues of the day.

After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, the temple
started an “undoing racism” group, as Boswell-Levy
described it. At a recent event, Kol Emet welcomed
Rabbi Sandra Lawson, the director of diversity, equity
and inclusion for the national Reconstructionist
movement. The synagogue also plans to host a communi-
Courtesy of Congregation Kol Emet
ty-wide conversation, including congregants and
other Yardley residents, about transitioning the
township to more sustainable practices.

“What if Yardley could transition to a more sus-
tainable, connected and flourishing community?”
asked Boswell-Levy, outlining the event’s core theme.

In addition, a successful $650,000 capital cam-
paign should allow the temple to replace its roof, buy
a new Torah and build an “outdoor contemplative
space,” as the rabbi called it.

“We saw some nice growth this year,” Gordon said.

“That’s reason to be hopeful.”
Longtime members, like Hanck and others, want
prospective members to know that Kol Emet is true
to its word.

Morrisville resident Julie Asplen joined Kol Emet
in 1995.

Her son has autism, but synagogue educators
never had an issue teaching to his specifications.

Her daughter couldn’t attend confirmation classes
because she was too busy with other activities, but
since she wanted to, she was able to get a curriculum
she could complete from home.

Kol Emet Education Director Carrie Shames-
Walinsky created it for her.

“It’s all these things that make me want to help it
continue so it’ll be there for the future,” Asplen said
of the synagogue. “L’dor v’dor.” JE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 33