Hilde Deutch, Charlene Cohen, Marian Tikatch, Barbara and Beril Abraham, Dorothy Zimmerman, Marilyn Ashe and Ed Karotkin.
Congregation Beth El established a new and exciting group, HAZAK, for congregants who are 65 years old and over.
HAZAK is a network of approximately 130 groups affiliated with conservative synagogues throughout the country. A Hebrew acronym, HAZAK represents wisdom, maturity and future/looking ahead. A social entity, it will include educational and cultural activities, holiday and Shabbat celebrations, day trips and perhaps overnights too, as well as other outings for active seniors. Some long-standing HAZAK affiliates have adult summer camp retreats and organize travel to Israel, all of which could be part of the future for the new Beth El HAZAK affiliate, too.
Beth El’s HAZAK kick-off event was planned by the members of the HAZAK committee including Dorothy Zimmerman, chair, Barbara and Beril Abraham, Marilyn Ashe, Charlene Cohen, Hilde Deutsch, Louis Friedman, Evelyn and Alan Hirsch, Jerry Kantor, Irwin Kroskin, Sara Trub, Marian Tikatch, and Sam Werbel.
The event took place on May 5, at the home of Betsy and Ed Karotkin. The committee anticipated that 35 people would be interested, but instead, to the committee’s delight, more than 80 signed up and almost all attended. The Karotkins took it all in stride in spite of the cool and very windy day, which resulted in an indoor event rather than the backyard, water-side afternoon that was planned. There couldn’t have been a better host and hostess.
After presentations by Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz and Dorothy Zimmerman, wine and refreshments were served. Everyone had a great time, lots of laughter, lots of interaction and a respectable amount of wine and food were consumed.
A survey form gave everyone a chance to express their views on frequency and times of meetings, types of events preferred, etc.
The next HAZAK activity will be held on July 27 at 11 am at the Arthur and Phyllis Kaplan Orchid Conservatory on the ODU campus. After a tour of the facility led by the director and instructions on how to care for orchids, the group will have lunch at TASTE , the nearby restaurant on Hampton Boulevard. In August, a visit to Chevra T’helim Jewish Museum and Cultural Center in Portsmouth is planned.
Beth El HAZAK is on its way to becoming a noteworthy addition to Beth El’s congregational life and appears to be filling a void in the lives of its mature members.