This article appeared in the July 18, 2003 Jewish Advocate.

Eitz Chayim merges tradition and innovation

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

Congregation Eitz Chayim, with weekly Shabbat services, holiday celebrations, special events, family and adult education, discussions on current and traditional Jewish topics, Sunday school, religious school and post-Bar/Bat Mitzvah teen classes, fulfills all of the standard synagogue offerings. But, like most things Cambridge, it’s just a tad more unique.

For one thing, Rabbi Liza Stern plays ice hockey and goes rowing on the Charles at 5:30 a.m. President David Abromowitz, naturally, is an attorney actively working in affordable housing. While Friday night services, led by the Rabbi or a community member, are a constant, Saturday morning services are held at various area locations. A recent Bat Mitzvah was celebrated at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center.

The congregation of close to 100 families and individuals had its roots at Harvard. “We began over 25 years ago as the Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel Children’s School, a service that the Hillel provided for Harvard faculty and students,” said Abromowitz. With significant interest from local residents unaffiliated with the university, the group eventually became an independent school and congregation. “Noted educator Cherie Koller-Fox and biblical scholar Everett Fox were instrumental in laying the groundwork for our nationally-recognized curriculum,” he noted. “It blends traditional program of Jewish learning - biblical Hebrew with an emphasis on Siddur literacy, Jewish history and holiday observance – along with individualized projects, Lehrhaus mini-courses and family activities,” he explained.

Rabbi Elisabeth Weiss Stern, a graduate of Vassar College, was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 1984, one of the early classes that ordained women. Her rabbinical positions have included Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Texas, from 1985 through 1991 and Temple Shalom in Dallas from 1992 until her 1998 move to Newton. Locallly, Rabbi Stern has been interim Rabbi at Temple Isaiah of Lexington and Temple Beth-El of Sudbury.

A past associate faculty member of the Hornstein Program of Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis, Rabbi Stern was co-chair of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, an international organization of Reform Women Rabbis, and currently serves on several Union of American Hebrew Congregations committees, including Resolutions and Long Range Planning. She also serves as a mentor for Rabbinic students and recent ordinees in Hebrew Union College’s mentorship program.

Married to Rabbi Keith Stern of Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, she is the mother of five children (Jonah, 20; Sarah Leah, 17; Aaron, 14; Molly and Zoe, 11) and yes, a member of the New England Women’s Ice Hockey League.

“She is wonderfully vibrant, engaging, and a great teacher,” said Abromowitz. “She's been at Eitz Chayim for two years, and has been a major force in our effort to expand and attract both old and new members.”

Abromowitz’ family have been members for ten years. A partner at the law firm Goulston & Storrs, the Newton resident joined Eitz Chayim ten years ago when his daughter Madeleine, now 15, was ready to begin Sunday school. “Madeleine went all through Eitz Chayim, was Bat Mitzvahed there, and is now a teaching assistant.,” he said. “It was Rabbi Stern’s first Bat Mitzvah at the congregation.” He and his wife Joan Ruttenberg also have a son, Daniel,11, and a daughter, Emily, 7; both are in Eitz Chayim’s school, run by Education Director Sharon R. Miller. Abromowitz grew up in New Jersey in a conservative congregation on the Jersey Shore.

“Eitz Chayim has the potential to be a center for Jewish learning in Cambridge,” said Stern. “In many ways, it has a unique position in the community, as it offers an extraordinary adult ed program, and accommodates an unusually diverse Jewish population. My hope is to grow the community, in size, in opportunities for participation, and, ultimately, in space, as I believe we need to expand so that major events can be held here.”

“We are committed to offering an innovative approach to Jewish learning, ritual and social action,” said Abromowitz. “Given the ongoing fragmented nature of the Cambridge Jewish community, we are trying to turn that around at Eitz Chayim.”

For information on Congregation Eitz Chayim, located at 134-136 Magazine St. in Cambridge, please call 617-497-7626, email eitzchay@world.std.com or visit www.eitz.org.

For information on the history of Jewish Cambridge, written by this reporter, please visit www.townonline.com/cambridge/news/local_regional/cam_history09032002.htm