Congregation Remembers A Gentleman And Gentle Man

More than 160 congregants and members of the community attended a dedication ceremony at Congregation Beth Tikvah on Sunday, Nov. 12, for the Jerry Friedman Memorial Walkway. Friedman was a proud veteran of the United States Army and was active in the local chapter of the Jewish War Veterans.

Friedman and his wife Estelle moved to Wantagh in 1966 and joined the Wantagh Jewish Center. They raised three children, Andrew, Carol and Shari, all of whom had their B'nai Mitzvot at the synagogue. Friedman was deeply involved and served as membership vice president, member of the Board of Trustees and president of the Men's Club.

He served as Kol Nidre Appeal Chairperson, was a member of the Long Term Planning Committee, Synagogue Consolidation

Committee and Shabbat Aliyah chairperson. Friedman's most notable role was that of the official "Shabbos Greeter." For many years, everyone who entered the synagogue for services was personally greeted with a handshake, a warm greeting, maybe a kiss and a feeling of being welcomed and wanted. Everyone who entered knew Friedman as "a gentleman and a gentle man."

Congregation Beth Tikvah (CBT) is a Conservative egalitarian synagogue, located near the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, on Woodbine Avenue in Wantagh. CBT has gone through changes since its consolidation of Wantagh Jewish Center with Farmingdale Jewish Center and the Israel Community Center of Levittown. CBT's membership includes congregants from Wantagh and the immediate surrounding areas of Levittown, Seaford, Plainedge, Merrick, Bellmore, Massapequa, Bethpage, East Meadow, Freeport as well Farmingdale, Melville, Islip, Woodbury, Syosset and Plainview. Recent renovations at CBT include a new sanctuary, handicap accessibility and security system.

For information and to learn more about CBT and its full service congregation with a nursery school, summer day program, kindergarten, primary school, religious school, youth group, intensive adult education, Men's Club, Sisterhood, Chavurah (Couple's Club), senior citizen's group, daily morning and evening services, Film Festival, Yiddish Group and a variety of religious, cultural and social programs all open to the public throughout the year, call the office at 516-785-2445.