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TEMPLE BETH ISRAEL
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CONTENTS President's Letter Save the Date: Passover Seder On Our Bookshelf A Year of Arts and Culture Giving that Sustains Our Work Reflections Spotlight on Service: Sheri Abrams In Memoriam LEADERSHIP Norm Berman, President Paula Rosenberg Bell, Pres Emerita Joel Rosenberg, Pres Emeritus Evert Gawendo, Vice President Rosa Goldblatt, Treasurer Sheri Abrams, Secretary Dora Glinn, Exec Committee Leah Abrams, Exec Committee Alicia Pion, Exec Committee Rachel Berman Eric Blumenthal Jeffrey Blumenthal Martin Drobiarz Richard Dvorin Elsie Fetterman Jacob Gawendo Michael Gawendo Matthew Goldblatt Rachel Goldblatt Vita Fetterman Goldstein Martin Israelit Henry Mondschein Bailey Rosenberg Nascimento Alan Turner Heather Drobiarz Waters Sherry Wiener ADVISORS Judy Engel David Fetterman Jack Hodys Rachel Sheppard Rubin James Weiss |
President's Letter - Norm BermanOne of the unexpected pleasures of the Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society’s Community Archive project has been reconnecting with people with whom I grew up in the TBI community. In some cases, we had not spoken in decades. Reaching out to gather family stories (see the Archive update in this issue) has opened the door to conversations that are as meaningful personally as they are historically.
While much of our focus has been on documenting the remarkable experiences of our parents’ generation—their survival, their arrival in America, and the building of new lives here—the conversations inevitably turn to our own shared memories. We find ourselves reminiscing about growing up in Danielson, about Hebrew School, youth activities, and the rhythms of a small but vibrant Jewish community. Many of us also remember the challenges our parents faced as they struggled to start new lives on these shores after the war. In talking about those years, we discover how much our experiences overlapped—similar expectations, similar challenges, and many of the same moments that shaped who we became. And, more often than not, we find ourselves laughing together about those memories and marveling at how well, in the end, things turned out for all of us. 
For me, this process has been a particularly sweet one. Reconnecting, remembering, and preserving these stories has brought me great pleasure, and I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has taken the time to share their memories and family histories with us.
Norman Berman, President Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society 14th Annual Interfaith Community Passover SederOur Community Seder, now in its 14th year, has become one of the best attended events at TBI. This opportunity to gather in our historic building with family, friends and neighbors to celebrate the arrival of spring and to observe one of the oldest Jewish rituals has become a mainstay of our programing. At a time when freedoms long fought for and often taken for granted feel newly fragile, coming together in shared reflection and fellowship feels especially important.
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We follow the traditional Passover Seder structure, enriched with Yiddish songs, modern interpretations and reflections that speak to our contemporary lives and shared values. Its an opportunity to connect with friends and neighbors from across our interfaith community, building bridges of empathy and mutual respect.
Refreshments will include traditional Passover desserts, reflecting both the holiday and the diverse culinary heritage of our community. All are welcome. There is no admission charge but we provide an opportunity for donations to the local food pantry. |
Community Archive Update
As the Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society continues gathering family histories for the Community Archive, a remarkable discovery has begun to emerge. A striking number of our congregation’s founding families were not only survivors of World War II, but participants in the resistance itself—men and women who fought as Jewish partisans in the forests of Eastern Europe before beginning new lives in America.
After the war, they arrived here determined to build something lasting. They became citizens, farmers, shopkeepers, parents, and devoted members of Temple Beth Israel, helping to create the small but vibrant Jewish community that took root in northeastern Connecticut.
In recent months we have had the privilege of interviewing members of the Lew, Seigal, Israelit, and Roback families, and look forward to speaking soon with members of the Hertzberg family and many others. Each family’s story is distinct, yet all reveal the same remarkable qualities—courage, resilience, and an unwavering determination to rebuild after unimaginable loss.
Taken together, these stories reveal something extraordinary about the generation that helped build Temple Beth Israel: many of them had first fought for their lives—and for the lives of others—as Jewish partisans. Preserving these memories reminds us how much we still have to learn from their lives and example.
After the war, they arrived here determined to build something lasting. They became citizens, farmers, shopkeepers, parents, and devoted members of Temple Beth Israel, helping to create the small but vibrant Jewish community that took root in northeastern Connecticut.
In recent months we have had the privilege of interviewing members of the Lew, Seigal, Israelit, and Roback families, and look forward to speaking soon with members of the Hertzberg family and many others. Each family’s story is distinct, yet all reveal the same remarkable qualities—courage, resilience, and an unwavering determination to rebuild after unimaginable loss.
Taken together, these stories reveal something extraordinary about the generation that helped build Temple Beth Israel: many of them had first fought for their lives—and for the lives of others—as Jewish partisans. Preserving these memories reminds us how much we still have to learn from their lives and example.
Grants Update
Rosa Goldblatt, Joel Rosenberg and Norm Berman worked on and completed the application for a major grant for renovations to the Archive Room from the National Fund for Sacred Places. This grant opportunity was identified by Elsie Fetterman who attended a webinar sponsored by the Fund and determined that the Preservation Society qualified for consideration. Fingers crossed (or are we not supposed to do that?)
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On Our Bookshelf:
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With assistance from the Jewish Agricultural Society, the families settled on and jointly operated a farm in Foster, Rhode Island reflecting a path shared by many of Temple Beth Israel’s founding families. Their son, Martin, attended Hebrew School at the Temple, further rooting the family in our communal history.
Following liberation, Evelyn and her husband arrived at DP Camp Föhrenwald, where they married and welcomed their first child—an arc of survival and rebuilding that closely parallels the journeys of other Temple members, including the Zektzers, Lews and Bermans.
Jocheved thus stands not only as a survivor’s testimony, but as part of our own local story: a reminder of how lives shattered in Europe were patiently rebuilt in New England, and how those survivors helped lay the foundations of the Jewish community we know today.
I came across this remarkable treasure: Resistance: The Memoirs of Isaac Hertzberg while researching members of our TBI community. The Hertzbergs owned a farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut, and I remember Isaac (“Ike”) and his wife Paula well. Ike was vibrant, tall and handsome, with a warm, generous smile and quick sense of humor. Paula radiated kindness. I have fond memories of spending time with their twin sons, Harry and Joe, and remember young Bobby as well.
Written by Ike’s youngest granddaughter, Audrey Hertzberg, this memoir is a thrilling and deeply admirable account of courage, endurance, and love in the face of annihilation. At its heart is Ike’s extraordinary story as a Jewish partisan fighter in the forests of German-occupied Poland and Belarus. He led sabotage missions against Nazi troops—destroying supply lines and disrupting transport routes—living in constant danger where survival depended on ingenuity, trust, stamina, and, as Ike would say, a fair amount of luck.
Interwoven with the wartime narrative is a powerful love story. Paula, who escaped the Janów ghetto with her mother and sister, reached the same partisan camp where Ike was fighting. In brutal cold, mud, and hunger, they found one another. Their partnership became a sustaining force through liberation and beyond—love itself an act of resistance.
After immigrating to America, Ike worked as a skilled carpenter in New Jersey until a construction-site accident prompted him to reconsider his future. Reconnecting with Beryl Lew, whom he had known in the Janów ghetto, and inspired by Lew’s farm in Sterling, Ike joined many fellow survivors in northeastern Connecticut who turned to chicken farming. The Hertzbergs purchased a chicken farm in Brooklyn, where they built not only a livelihood, but a home grounded in Jewish tradition and Temple Beth Israel life. There, their sons formed lasting friendships and came of age in a community of survivors who transformed fields and coops into renewal.
Resistance is more than a memoir of survival. It is a testament to defiance, enduring love, and the redemptive power of rebuilding—an enduring legacy of a family, and a community, determined to thrive.
Yahrzeits
We remember these members of the TBI family who died in this season:
Asne Biniakonski, Nokhem Biniakonski, Sara Blacher, Alice Blumenthal, Bernard Blumenthal, Ray Gawendo, Norman Greenman, Martin Hochbaum, Menakhem Kamenmacher, Mary Kivel, Isidore Levine, Herman Sheppard, Gertrude Sheppard, Bela Sobol, Larry Sobol, Evelyn Swan, and Ira Turkin.
May their memories be a blessing!
Asne Biniakonski, Nokhem Biniakonski, Sara Blacher, Alice Blumenthal, Bernard Blumenthal, Ray Gawendo, Norman Greenman, Martin Hochbaum, Menakhem Kamenmacher, Mary Kivel, Isidore Levine, Herman Sheppard, Gertrude Sheppard, Bela Sobol, Larry Sobol, Evelyn Swan, and Ira Turkin.
May their memories be a blessing!
Watch for Our Annual Appeal
In the coming weeks, please be on the lookout for our Annual Appeal. Maintaining this historic building, keeping it insured and heated, and sustaining the programs that bring our community together all require ongoing support.
Temple Beth Israel has always depended on the generosity of its friends and supporters. Your contributions make it possible for us to preserve this special place and continue the educational, cultural, and community programs that keep its spirit alive.
When the appeal arrives, we hope you will consider making a contribution. Your support truly makes all the difference.
Temple Beth Israel has always depended on the generosity of its friends and supporters. Your contributions make it possible for us to preserve this special place and continue the educational, cultural, and community programs that keep its spirit alive.
When the appeal arrives, we hope you will consider making a contribution. Your support truly makes all the difference.
Help Make This Newsletter
The next issue of this newsletter is already in the planning stages. Please submit ideas, articles, photos, and news that you would like to share with our community! Send an email to [email protected]