hIghlIghts - Congregation Beth El

y Todd PerlmanFostering Jewish Identity50% of the Time: The ChallengeMy 4th-grade son, Ben, can rattle off the names of almost everyJewish baseball player in the Major Leagues. He and somefriends—fueled by a passion for baseball, another Giants WorldSeries victory, and big dreams—thought it would be fun to lookthem up online. They found some Jewishfootball players, too.We recently watched the documentary “Jewsand Baseball: An American Love Story,” whichcelebrates the contributions of Jewish players.Ben was riveted by the story of Dodger SandyKoufax, considered by many the greatestJewish ballplayer, and perhaps the greatestpitcher, ever. Ben, an avowed Dodger hater,identified with Koufax in a way I hadn’t seenbefore.At nine, Ben is beginning to form a Jewishidentity. I find this remarkable because he onlylives with me half the time, and I don’t considermyself particularly devout. He spends the other50 percent with his mom, who is not Jewish.A few years ago, when Ben was five or six, Ioverheard him telling a friend that he is “half” Jewish. At thetime, he hadn’t started attending Kadima at Beth El, and hisexposure to religion came in small doses. So I’ve been thinking:How do I instill a Jewish identity, and Jewish values, in my childwhen one of his two households is not Jewish? It takes theconundrum of the interfaith family to a different level.I asked Debra Sagan Massey, director of education at BethEl, for some thoughts. Over Shabbat lunch at her home, wetalked about what it means to be Jewish, patrilineal descent,connection, education. We discussed the beauty of ReformJudaism as less dogmatic than other religions, and how thereare so many facets to Judaism that you canreally find something that resonates, and latchon to it.More than anything, I took away this nugget:It’s so important that kids in Ben’s situation,or any interfaith family, know that they are100 percent Jewish, and that they are alwaysJewish. They need community, and to knowthat they’re “normal.” Simple and obvious, yes,but easy to overlook.I’m fortunate in that Ben’s mom supportshis attendance at Kadima, even though shehas no other connection to Beth El; she evenparticipates in a carpool on her custody days.So many of Ben’s school friends attend that it’salmost an extension of his regular days.Will he ever skip playing in a World Seriesgame because it’s Yom Kippur, as Koufax famously did? Notlikely. But he does feel as though he belongs.Todd Perlman is former editor of the West County Times. Helives in El Cerrito with his son, Ben, and his wife, Diane. Toddand Diane have a daughter, Tessa, who is 2. They have beenmembers of Beth El since 2009.Member CornerJD degree from its law school. Asked what attracted the Papas-Leach family to Congregation Beth El, Josh said, “We haveattended services and summer camp at Beth El and really love thecommunity feeling and energy of the congregation.” DaughterAmelia (9) loves sports (currently basketball) and art; daughterRebecca (6) also loves art and “is currently very interested inspiders for some reason.” These days the parents just try to keepup with the kids and work. Both are lawyers. “Caroline works fora software company and I work for a law firm doing commerciallitigation,” Josh said, adding that they “would love to be involvedin helping the poor and/or homeless.”Samantha Lekus & Joshua LachsThe Lekus-Lachs family moved from Oakland to Berkeleyabout eight years ago and have lived in the Bay Area for muchlonger. They are originally from Southern California. Whatattracted them to Congregation Beth El was “the people andthe kids’ programs, especially Kadima and Camp Kee Tov.” Thefamily’s interests and activities include travel, food, books, moviesand sports – “go Lakers!”. Professionally, Josh works for GoodwillIndustries of San Francisco and Samantha is a consultant fornonprofits. Both Samantha and Josh have experience in fund-raising, event planning and kids’ programs, and hope tocontribute their skills to Beth El once they get settled.ClarA LeonClara Leon grew up in Orinda and went to University ofOregon as a double major in French and comparative literature.She then lived in France for three years, first in Lyon for aMasters in history, and then at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes inParis. She also taught English as a foreign language. Clarareturned to El Cerrito from France in July, 2012 and is enrolledat UC Berkeley for a PhD in history. Her parents, Debbie andJeff Leon, are long-time members of Congregation Beth El. “I’dalways been involved [in Beth El] growing up so I wanted to joinand continue to be involved as an adult,” she said. In her sparetime, Clara loves travel, world music and cooking. She plansto join the chorus, as well as the Pantry Chug, which is chairedby her mother. Clara has also led services with Debbie severaltimes and hopes to do so in the future.We also welcome Nicole Harris and McGill Hort as newmembers. They live in Albany, and have a son, Theodore (2).www.bethelberkeley.org 11