For years, many intermarried families have found a comfortable and welcoming home at Beth El Synagogue, attending religious services and participating in cultural and social programs. According to Beth El’s Rabbi Mordechai Levin, the synagogue’s membership is diverse, including couples with one spouse who has undergone conversion to Judaism, plus interfaith families who have chosen to raise their children as Jews and have enrolled them in the synagogue's religious school.
Tamara and Rhon Say are one example of the Beth El’s interfaith families who settled into synagogue life, eventually calling Beth El their second home. The couple, who were stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, made a connection with Beth El after visiting all the congregations in town. “I was raised Reform, but knew more people at Beth El at that time, so we began attending there,” Tamara explained. Their involvement lasted for two-and-a-half years, until their recent move to Fayetteville, North Carolina.
“I first became involved with Beth El when I was invited by Cantor Bogomolni to participate as a performer in the Cantor’s Concert as a flamenco dancer,” said Tamara, “and I got to know some wonderful people while I was collaborating on that performance. All our friends and our new-found friends, as well as the rabbi and director of the synagogue, extended a welcome hand to us, so my feeling after the Cantor’s Concert was, ‘How could we not join?’ When we mentioned the fact that we were an interfaith couple, the response was not, ‘Oh, I see,’ but rather, ‘Oh, there is a sizable community of people just like you that we can hook you up with – many of them are here at Beth El. Here -- let me give you their names and contact info.’”
During their time in Omaha, the Says participated in a variety of programs at Beth El, including PATTER (a program for preschoolers and their parents) and other child-related activities, the Jewish Veterans’ Shabbat celebration, and Sisterhood’s annual Boutique. The couple enjoyed attending Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services; several years ago they celebrated their daughter Ana’s baby naming during a Saturday morning Shabbat service, and more recently, their son’s brit milah.
Noting that fellow congregants were “always friendly and open to us,” Tamara added that, “our involvement at the synagogue was enormously welcomed and encouraged. Now that we’ve moved to North Carolina, I can’t deny that I still feel like we have family in Omaha. I would definitely encourage other intermarried families to get involved at the synagogue. I remember saying this before and I’ll say it again: joining Beth El was the best thing we could have done for our family.”
Until her conversion two years ago, Carol Schneider and her husband, Ed, attended Beth El as an intermarried couple for 29 years. “I have always felt comfortable at Beth El, from the time I first walked in with my husband Ed as a newlywed 31 years ago,” Carol said. “Everyone treated me warmly and made me feel totally comfortable. It wasn't until my conversion years later that I found that many members didn't realize that I wasn't Jewish. They had always accepted me as any other member of the congregation.”
The Schneiders are familiar faces at Beth El who enrich their Jewish lives by taking part in numerous adult-education classes, enjoying a variety of synagogue programs and attending Shabbat services on a regular basis. Carol counts her conversion, Jewish wedding and recent Bat Mitzvah as momentous milestones in her life; she takes great joy being part of a minyan, and also enjoys sharing her conversion experience with others who are considering following in her footsteps.
Enthusiastically encouraging intermarried couples to participate in synagogue activities, Carol expressed certainty that all newcomers at Beth El should expect to be received as warmly as she was almost three decades ago. “Everyone is welcome, intermarried or not,” she said.
Rabbi Levin confirmed Schneider’s belief, adding that, "Unfortunately, there are still those in Omaha who believe that there is no place for intermarried couples at our synagogue. The Say and Schneider families’ stories are but two examples which disprove that assumption – and there are dozens more. We want intermarried couples who don’t have children, as well as intermarried couples who decide to raise their children as Jews, to know there is always a place for them within our synagogue family. We invite them to join us and experience the warmth of our congregation."
Read more about interfaith couples at Beth El here.
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