Simchot
April Mensch of the Month!
Nancy Rosenberg has been a familiar face in synagogue activities since she was 3 months old. Her parents, Seymour and Linda Rosenberg relocated from Niagara Falls, N.Y. to Spartanburg, S.C. for work, an active life within Congregation B’nai Israel, and to raise their four children.
For Nancy, childhood in the congregation meant growing up in “one big family.” Adults were called “aunt and uncle.” Her friends from the synagogue were also her friends at school and in social events. The Synagogue was the center of both religious and social life. Nancy remembers how well-attended services were and very large Onegs.
One of the happiest and proudest moments in Nancy’s life was her Bat Mitzvah. She conducted Friday night service and chanted her Haftarah.
As an adult, Nancy enjoys being involved. She serves on the care committee with Sandy Smiley.
Her participation includes visiting people in their homes bringing candy and baked goods to brighten their day. Nancy has served in sisterhood activities throughout her adult life and is past president of our local chapter of Hadassah. Her lemon and almond pound cakes are famous sellers at the Sis- terhood Annual Bake Sale for which Nancy bakes 12.
Judaism with its prayers, customs and traditions means continuity for Nancy. The continuity brings her a great deal of comfort in her spirituality as well as reaffirmation in life.
L’Chaim for our March Mensch of the Month, Dot Frank!
We honor Dot Frank as our first Mensch of the Month.
Dot is a Greer, S.C. native who married Marvin Frank in 1950. She became active in Temple B’nai Israel in January of that year, and converted to Judaism a year later in the old synagogue on Dean Street. Dot was the first conversion officiated by Rabbi Wrubel, who later remarried Dot and Marvin in a traditional Jewish wedding on January 7th, 1951.
An extremely energetic young woman, Dot graduated from Spartanburg General Hospital’s nursing program in 1950. She worked outpatient for four years then began a thirty-nine-year career with Orthopaedic Associates.
Working did not keep Dot from being very active with her congregational family. She was a founding member of Temple B’nai Israel Sisterhood in 1950. Dot recalls that both women and men were active in the synagogue back then, but within their own separate groups. The congregation served not only as a place of worship but provided all social activities for the Franks. Families were very busy with dinners, game nights, entertainment and all Temple functions.
Dot was active in fundraising, participating in the very first Sisterhood Bake Sale. She has baked and worked at each Bake Sale for 67 years! The bake sales started with cheesecakes, and the Sisterhood maintained both a meat and dairy kosher kitchen.
As the variety of baked goods grew, Dot perfected her recipes for strudel and Miami sweet rolls. A patron of the bake sale identified the Miami sweet rolls “butterflies.”
From that point on, Dot’s butterflies became a favorite. Both of her delicious recipes are in the Sisterhood cookbook, entitled “A Little Bit of This & A Little Bit of That.”
Dot reminisced about the ladies with whom she became like a sister, their “girls’ beach trips,” and the weekend family get-togethers.
“I have had a wonderful life because of the Jewish community,” Dot says. “I appreciate how welcoming the community was and still is. The Rabbi is such a caring and kind man. My family and the Jewish community are the center of my life. The congregation is about family, common values and goals.”
March Birthdays!
Happy Birthday!
3/2 Clifford Phillips
3/10 Ruth Friedberg
3/13 Keith Bell
3/19 Michael Orseck
3/24 David Lyon
3/25 Karen Fuller
3/26 Arielle Wilson
3/28 Anne Poliakoff
3/29 Margaret Freedman
3/29 Lexi Lyon
3/30 Debby Gordin