synagogue spotlight
What’s happening at ... Congregation B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek
Orthodox Synagogue Reaches
Century Mark
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
C ongregation B’nai Israel Ohev
Zedek in Philadelphia turned
100 on May 22.

Yet the Orthodox synagogue is “a very
young shul now,” said Michael Bohm, a
member since 1976.

What Bohm means is that, among
roughly 125 congregants, about 40 are
young families who have joined in recent
years. The longtime member estimated
that all of the 50 to 60 kids in the syna-
gogue are younger than 8.

At a time when shuls are struggling
to retain membership and attract new
members, Congregation B’nai Israel
Ohev Zedek is “vital with young fami-
lies,” Bohm said.

The longtime member attributed
the healthy state of affairs to the syna-
gogue’s young rabbi, Yehoshua Yeamans,
36. Since his 2015 hiring, Yeamans has
worked hard at reaching young, Jewishly-
oriented families and convincing them to
join the B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek com-
munity. “He’s a man with great drive and
vision,” Bohm said. “He’s very person-
able. And to people moving in, he made
them feel very much at home.”
Yeamans, a Scarsdale, New York,
native, earned his rabbinical ordination
in Pikesville, Maryland, then served Beth
Israel Synagogue in Edmonton, Alberta,
in Canada. But he knew the Philadelphia
area because he often visited with his
wife, Sarah Yeamans, who grew up in the
Northeast and graduated from the Torah
Academy Girls High School.

As the rabbi explained, he understood
the lay of the land, the nature of the
people and the rabbis in the area, and he
liked them all. So when he got the chance
to come to Philadelphia, he went for it.

Rabbi Aaron Felder, who led B’nai
Israel Ohev Zedek for more than 30
years, died in May 2014 at 70, accord-
ing to a Jewish Exponent obituary that
year. The Orthodox shul had a gener-
ational congregation of people around
Bohm’s age. It needed a new, and perhaps
younger, leader.

28 MAY 26, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Yeamans became that leader.

“It was a moment of transition for the
synagogue,” he said.

At the time, B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek
was already an amalgamation of three
different Philadelphia synagogues: B’nai
Israel, dating to 1922; Ohev Zedek, which
opened in 1889; and B’nai Halberstam,
founded in 1886.

When Bohm’s generation joined, the
longtime member explained, older con-
gregants told them they were giving
them a gift — and to make the most of it.

In the mid and late-2010s when Yeamans
started, it was Bohm’s generation that got
to do the giving.

“It was the same thing,” he said.

But it may not have worked with-
out Yeamans, who started spreading the
word among the Philadelphia Jewish
community. Except he did not limit him-
self to the immediate area. He also went
up to the Orthodox Union’s annual relo-
cation festival in New York City.

At that event, young Jewish families go
searching for a community. And for a few
years, Yeamans was there to proselytize
about his beloved new home.

He talked to people, gave out materi-
als and convinced many to relocate to
Philadelphia. Bohm can’t say exactly how
many families joined from those events,
but he attributed at least part of the syna-
gogue’s recent growth to them.

“In New York, nobody would know if
you died,” Bohm said. “Here, you can get in
on the ground level and make an impact.”
Yeamans’ pitch worked because of his
sincerity, his smile and the twinkle in
his eye, Bohm said. The rabbi listened to
people and paid attention to their needs.

He also shared his vision for the syna-
gogue and made them feel like they could
contribute. Today, they are.

The young shul has a mommy-and-me
program as well as programs for children
on Shabbat, among other activities for
kids. On May 19, the synagogue brought
in a moon bounce for the under-8 crew.

“It’s more just letting people know
what’s here,” Yeamans said of his
pitch to families. “The community
sells itself. It’s a community filled with
Rebbetzin Sarah Yeamans and Rabbi Yehoshua Yeamans
Congregation B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek has gotten younger in recent years.

Courtesy of Congregation B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek
wholesome, genuine people.”
On May 22, congregants sat for brunch
and celebrated the synagogue’s 100th
birthday with a video tribute to members
who have made aliyah over the years —
a list that, according to Yeamans, is 45
strong. “The story of our synagogues which
merged into what we have today really
shows the unique strength and spirit to
perpetuate the community,” the rabbi
said. Moving forward, he wants to do more
of the same.

He said members are starting to see
B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek as a place that,
even at 100, will continue “to be here
for a long time.” The rabbi described
the shul as “very centrally located” for
Orthodox Jews in New York; Lakewood,
New Jersey; and Baltimore, in addition to
Philadelphia. “There’s a lot of optimism right now,”
he concluded. JE
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com