Suzanne Lutkoff was running a little late Saturday, May 9, when she arrived at Temple Beth Israel for Saturday morning Sabbath services. While walking up the incline from the parking lot, she saw an interesting sight: The temple’s rabbi emeritus, Michael Eisenstat, was leading the morning minyan across the parking lot in the direction of All Angels by the Sea Episcopal Church — and he was carrying the Torah.

An electrical short at the temple had caused an odor to seep through the building, and Don Getz, a member of the parish leadership at All Angels, granted the temple permission to use its library for the morning service.
The power outage had affected All Angels as well, but the church members tried to make their guests as comfortable as possible by opening the doors to let the air circulate. A long table was also provided on which to open to Torah.

The temple’s Sabbath service continued as normal as possible. The temple’s soloist, Becca Hill, led the group in song a cappella, and temple member Stuart Bradzansky led a shortened service in place of Rabbi Jonathan Katz, who was out of town. Norman Goldfarb, Elise Galinsky and Leon Cooper were called to the Torah for Aliyas. Other members in attendance included Sandie and David Cohen, Carole and Sy Klionsky, Joe Miller, Leonie Goldfarb, Connie Mederos-Jacobs, Susan Morin, Claire Levin and Maizie Abuza.

“There was a warm feeling of friendship and gratitude toward our Episcopal neighbors,” wrote Lutkoff, who recorded the event for the temple’s bulletin. “Years of fostering this sense of community by both our congregations bore sweet fruit this morning.”
 

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