synagogue spotlight
What’s happening at ... Congregation Beth Israel
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
Beth Israel Focuses
on Anti-racism
C ongregation Beth Israel, a
Reconstructionist synagogue
in Media, has focused on
social justice in its community activity
for years.

But in 2020 after the murder of
George Floyd in Minneapolis, the tem-
ple clarified its mission to emphasize
anti-racism. Beth Israel hosted an anti-racism
summit in January; this spring, sum-
mer and fall, it’s holding a book study
on an Ibram X. Kendi title; through-
out this year, synagogue leaders are
starting an adult education class on
anti-racism. And big picture, they are
examining their policies and research-
ing which organizations in the com-
munity they can support.

“We’ve been working hard on
anti-racism,” said Emma Lefkowitz,
the president of Beth Israel’s board of
directors. Lefkowitz and Rabbi Linda Potemken
have an activist-oriented congregant
base of about 160 families; and the
leaders want to motivate members to
target their activism toward anti-racist
efforts. They say it’s in line with the Jewish
value of tikkun olam, or healing the
world. “What is the Jewish mission?”
Potemken said. “To walk in the world
in the image of God.”
At the small synagogue, members are
faithful, but they are not strict about
attending Shabbat services. Potemken
said 15 people on Zoom is a decent
turnout. But there’s no shortage of Beth Israel
congregants who want to help with
social justice, according to the rabbi.

And this latest development is just a
continuation of Beth Israel’s existing
mission. In the past, members have
focused their activism on food banks,
soup kitchens and on helping new
moms get supplies for their children.

Almost two decades ago, Potemken
started a program to partner with com-
44 Rabbi Nathan Martin and Rabbi Linda Potemken
An event at Congregation Beth Israel
Courtesy of Congregation Beth Israel
munities down the road, like Chester
and Marcus Hook, on social action
efforts, a program that continues to
this day.

“Beth Israel members tend to be pas-
sionate and they tend to be fighters,”
Lefkowitz said. “Everybody has some-
thing they care deeply about, and they
want to make change.”
Potemken is in her 25th year as rabbi
at Beth Israel. She joined the temple
after leading a service and teaching a
class there during rabbinical school.

She was drawn to the institution’s
“warm, down-to-Earth family feel,”
she said.

The rabbi said she had the good for-
tune to become the spiritual leader at
Beth Israel right after it bought a new
building. At that point, she started
building the community’s schedule
and congregation.

Since Beth Israel members only
met on Friday nights, Potemken
added a Saturday service and Torah
study. She also opened a Shabbat din-
ner on Friday nights and a Sabbath
MARCH 31, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
lunch on Saturdays.

“She saw it as her task to expand the
programming,” Lefkowitz said. “It was
a change that was quite welcome.”
Larry Hamermesh joined Beth
Israel with his wife 15 years ago. He
said they left their old synagogue in
Wilmington, Delaware, where they
still live, because of Potemken. They
got to know her through mutual
friends and liked her.

“She’s very approachable, enthusi-
astic and supportive of congregational
participation,” Hamermesh said.

After Potemken came on, Beth Israel
grew for about 10 years before leveling
off, and then declining a little. But
while its membership is small, it is also
steady, according to synagogue leaders.

To help Potemken lead it, the temple
hired Rabbi Nathan Martin six years
ago. Potemken wanted to reduce her
role so she could have more time to
breathe. The decision was uncomfort-
able at first, Potemken said, but after
Martin arrived, she grew to love having
a rabbinic partner.

Photo by John Greenstine
“To have a thought partner was amaz-
ing,” she said. “Communities resist
change. We’ve benefited from it. Two
rabbinic voices, styles and energies.”
After the pandemic broke out,
Martin led the pivot to virtual services.

The new rabbi also motivated syna-
gogue leaders to start the process of
adding solar panels to the building in
the coming years.

Potemken made it clear that she sees
Martin as her successor when she even-
tually retires.

“When I retire, it won’t be the shock
that most communities get,” she said.

Lefkowitz thinks the synagogue can
be as sustainable as Martin’s solar pan-
els. A new member joined just last
week, she said. Plus, at hybrid ser-
vices, people are joining from as far as
Vermont, Oregon and Florida.

“When you come into the building,
you feel like you’re coming into a com-
munity you’ve been in your whole life,”
she said. JE
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com