Local history was made Sunday evening, when Lake Park Synagogue held its annual meeting and dinner.
The small East Side Modern Orthodox congregation was the first Jewish community institution to hold such an event in the remodeled foyer of the Helfaer Jewish Community Services Building, which allowed the more than 80 participants to tour the recently opened Jewish Museum Milwaukee.
And the shul marked history in that this event celebrated the 25th anniversary of its founding.
Among the attendees were some who have been with LPS ever since it was incorporated in 1983. Roberta Katz and her husband Elliott were among the founders, and she said they moved to the synagogue’s neighborhood, near the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study, in 1986.
“We like the open atmosphere” of the congregation, she said. LPS “welcomes everybody, no matter at what level of observance,” she said.
Alfred Bader was not among the founders, but has been a member for more than 20 years, or most of LPS’s history. “I like the services and the spirit of the people,” he said. “I have many friends here.”
Dena Abramowitz and Jay Beder don’t regard themselves as among the synagogue’s founders; but they were among the first families who were active. Abramowitz recalled how they brought their first child in a carriage to that first year’s services.
After 25 years, they are still active and Beder said he would like to see the synagogue do more “reaching out to the community, bringing more people in. We have a lot to offer” and “everybody can get involved.”
Beder also acknowledged that he and Abramowitz “miss some of the people that were here early on.”
Indeed, Jerry Benjamin, who was also one of the founders and a past president, and who served as master of ceremonies, paid special tribute to one of these people, George Weinstein, who died in 2000.
Weinstein was “the inventor” of the synagogue, Benjamin said, a man who “understood the nuts and bolts of synagogue life” and “made everything happen.”
But the synagogue appears to have strong leaders today; and much of the event paid tribute to one of them, outgoing president Lorraine Hoffman.
All the speakers – who included LPS’s current spiritual leader Rabbi Shlomo Levin and his predecessor, Rabbi David Fine — praised her dedication to serving the synagogue.
“No one does more to strengthen all of us,” said Levin. “Nobody contributes more to make sure that Lake Park Synagogue becomes greater than the sum of its parts.”
Guest speaker Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, lauded Hoffman with a commentary on a Torah passage that helps define necessary qualities of leadership.
When the patriarch Abraham “retired,” said Weinreb, “vayita eshel” (Genesis 21:33). This is usually translated as “he planted a tamarisk,” a kind of plant that gives shade; but other commentators say the phrase means, “he built an inn.”
These two images — a plant and a building — describe different qualities, said Weinreb. A plant represents growth and development; while a building stands for permanence; and a leader “has to combine” these qualities, he said.
The event also included election of new officers: president, Jane Avner; chair of the board, Hoffman; Gloria Parker and Tamar Loewenberg, vice presidents; Steve Warner, treasurer; Neil Moss, assistant treasurer; and Joannne Ladenson, secretary.
Also during the event, recently elected City of Milwaukee District 3 Alderperson Nik Kovac, in whose district the LPS building is located, read a proclamation from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett declaring May 18 to be Lake Park Synagogue Day.
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