by Marian E. Borden

(August 31, 2006) The trip from Los Angeles to Larchmont was long. But as the Berk family traveled across the country this past July, it marked the end of a journey almost ten years in the making and the beginning of a new adventure.

Rabbi Arye Berk, his wife Miriam, and three children, Pnina, 14, Shai, 12, and Shoshan, 7, moved into the Birch Lane parsonage of Beth Emeth Synagogue, Larchmont's egalitarian Conservative synagogue, in mid-August. It was just two months after his ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and Rabbi Berk had followed a circuitous route to the rabbinate.

Rabbi Arye Berk with his wife Miriam Berk and their children Shai, Shoshan, and Pnina. [full image]

"At one point I wanted to be an international tax accountant," explained Rabbi Berk, with a hint of his native Canadian accent still evident. Instead, after college, he moved to Israel and worked in the hotel industry. He met and married Miriam, a Jewish educator, originally from Columbus, Ohio. "We were new immigrants in Israel living at an Absorption Center with mostly Russian and Ethiopian new arrivals." While he loved living in Israel, "I felt spiritually empty living a secular life there. I began attending the Kfar Saba Conservative synagogue that was renting space from a local school. Orthodoxy even in mostly secular Kfar Saba was not an option for me."

After the birth in Israel of Pnina, their first child, the couple moved back to Columbus. Rabbi Berk took a position with Hillel servicing two college campuses in Ohio. It was in his capacity as Hillel Director and campus chaplain that Rabbi Berk began to explore more about his religion. The Columbus Community Kollel (a center for Jewish adult education and outreach) opened in September of 1994 and Rabbi Berk was one of the first people to walk through the door pushing his newborn son, Shai. From those Kollel teachers, explained Rabbi Berk, he discovered the warmth and beauty of the religion, and it "opened my eyes to a different type of Judaism." By 1997 he began to tinker with the idea of rabbinical school, "but quickly dismissed the notion because I was 34 and had 2 young children."

The family moved to London, Ontario, Canada, where Rabbi Berk became the Hillel director at the University of Western Ontario. In Canada the Berk family grew, adding Shoshan to the mix. But the desire to become a rabbi never diminished and Rabbi Berk contacted the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies about becoming a student. In the summer of 2001 the Berk family drove across country to their new home in North Hollywood, California. At the age of 38, Arye Berk became a student again. After 5 years of studying, Rabbi Berk was ordained on May 22, 2006, a day after his 43rd birthday.

The family has been enjoying life in Larchmont. "It's a very friendly town and people have been very welcoming," said Miriam. "It's great being able to walk everywhere, which is very different from Los Angeles." And the family has discovered the local treasure of Manor Park. "It's really beautiful and the kids have a ball jumping all over the rocks," she laughed.

Beth Emeth Synagogue, founded in 1958, is located at the corner of Larchmont Avenue and the Boston Post Road, directly across from Village Hall. The small, egalitarian Conservative synagogue with a multi-generational membership, has always called itself the “participatory congregation.” Rabbi Berk liked what he found when he visited the synagogue last spring. "It's a shul (synagogue) where everybody knows each other, where children become bar or bat mitzvah without having to share a haftorah (a selection from the Book of Prophets read at the coming of age ceremony), where anybody can participate in Shabbat services." Rabbi Berk succeeds Rabbi Judah Kogen who recently moved to the Jewish Center of Kew Gardens Hills in Flushing, NY.

Rabbi Berk wants to encourage the community to try Beth Emeth. "I want to create a place where adults feel comfortable and find a spiritual connection. I want to see young kids in the pews, enjoying being in synagogue, not worried about being shushed. I want to reach out to interfaith couples and assure them that they will feel comfortable at Beth Emeth." Along with the synagogue leadership, the Rabbi has developed a full year's worth of innovative programming that will encourage learning, prayer, tikkun olam (charitable acts), fun, and of course, food.

On September 16, the community is invited to a screening of "Walk on Water," an Israeli film that explores the meaning of forgiveness. Discussion and dessert will be followed by the traditional Selichot prayers (the penitential prayers recited as the lead-up to Rosh Hashonah).

Rabbi Berk also described a new parent/child education program scheduled to kick off in October after the High Holidays; a weekly lunch and learn program; monthly Shabbat dinners, and more. The Rabbi is working one-on-one with each child preparing for bar/bat mitzvah, as well as organizing a teen group, hoping to eventually charter a United Synagogue Youth chapter. "I'm a Rabbi who likes to take advantage of technology to teach. I have programs that a kid can download to his iPod and use websites that are fun and educational to teach about Judaism."

As the High Holiday season draws near, Rabbi Berk wants to be sure that "anyone looking for a place to spend the holidays knows that they are welcome at Beth Emeth. Call me or the synagogue office at 834-1093."

Marian E. Borden lives in Larchmont, writes professionally and is a member of Beth Emeth Synagogue. This article originally appeared in the Larchmont Gazette (www.larchmontgazette.com).