Beth El at 75

September 30, 2026 in From the Clergy, Hazzan Asa Fradkin, Scroll

By Hazzan Asa Fradkin

Every week, or nearly so, I go to Modena Reserve, a senior living home, to lead the Shabbat service in the afternoon and sing along with Hazzan Lubin. It’s wonderful to have this “Zman Kavua” set time with him every week. Often, he will remind me of the different contributions he made to the synagogue, one of which is the quote on our Chapel Ark “Ivdu Et HaShem B’Simcha Bo’u L’fanav B’rnana.” It is a phrase from Psalm 100 and that means “Worship God with joy, come before Him with song.”

That’s what Hazzan Lubin did for our congregation for 20 years as Beth El’s first full-time hazzan. He also chose the quote on the outside of the hazzan’s office door. “HaShanim Cholfim V’HaMangina Nisheret.” The years roll on but the melody lingers.

I love this quote because it reminds me of all the music that has been sung here at Beth El during its 75-year history. All the years of Ahavat Shir echoing through the building, as Hazzan Lubin taught our community the treasures of Jewish choral music, culminating in one heavenly moment at the JCC opening when the chorus performed Lewandowski’s Halleluyah and the heavens poured down rain. That story is courtesy of beloved congregant Rose Saady, who sang in the choir for 60 years!

The years indeed roll by, and they do so more quickly as we get older. Anniversaries are an opportunity to practice gratitude, look back and appreciate all the years that our community has invested in making music a central part of our Jewish lives.

Beth El has been led as well by remarkable youth. Micah Hendler founded Marak Hayom in 2005, and they became a well-known and highly successful a capella group in our area. Hazzan Matt Klein nurtured them and added his own passion for new Jewish music on our bimah, adding the beloved tune for Hu Eloheinu that is based on the Shaker Hymn O Lord Prepare Me.

As for me, I didn’t come to Beth El to make the music better, but rather to take the gifts given to me by Hazzan Lubin and Hazzan Klein and imprint my own love of our shared tradition.
One of my big projects for the 75th anniversary is our Musical Artist in Residence on the weekend of March 5 with internationally acclaimed composer, performer, and teacher Danny Maseng. Maseng, who was born in Israel, will share his astounding and moving music with us along with many of our Beth El choirs. It will be a musical weekend we won’t soon forget. If you are interested in helping to sponsor you can go to bethelmc.org/give.

As for this moment, the best that we can say for ourselves at a significant milestone is that we have a plan to hand the reins to someone else someday and that the tradition will continue.
Just this past year, one of our own college kids, and a former director of our middle school chorus, Gesher Chorale, revived the Jewish a capella group at Stanford University. She will share a Scroll article about her experience in the months to come.

And this past Kol Nidre, Isaac Aronin, the youngest of four excellent sibling musicians raised right here at Beth El, shared his last Kol Nidre rendition before heading off to college in the spring.
I met Isaac when he was eight years old, so the years are certainly rolling by. I cherish all the love, energy and dedication our community has devoted to helping that melody linger on.
So let’s take this moment in fully, give thanks to our predecessors who made this beautiful, physical building possible along with the warm congregation that fills its halls. Let’s remember that community is something that happens to us, it’s something we create each day with effort, with diligence and with love.