[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 45 (Tuesday, April 11, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E538-E539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE NEW HOUSE OF WORSHIP FOR THE JEWISH FELLOWSHIP OF HEMLOCK FARMS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DON SHERWOOD

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 11, 2000

  Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform my colleagues of 
the dedication of a new house of worship for The Jewish Fellowship of 
Hemlock Farms which will be celebrated with an open house on Sunday, 
May 28, 2000, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  Hemlock Farms is a private four-season recreational community in the 
heart of the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Its 4,500 acres include 
state forests, lakes, deer, bears, tennis courts, indoor and outdoor 
swimming pools, a club house with a fitness center and auditorium, a 
private country club with an 18-hole golf course, 72 miles of paved 
roads and more than 2,700 homes. About a third of the population are 
year-round residents. The others who spend their summers or weekends in 
Hemlock Farms come from the metropolitan areas of New York, New Jersey, 
Connecticut, and other areas of Pennsylvania. They include a growing 
number of Jewish residents.
  In 1971, a small group of Jewish residents met to form The Jewish 
Fellowship of Hemlock Farms. Representing the heart of the Jewish 
community in the Poconos, the Fellowship completed the religious 
presence of the three major faiths in Hemlock Farms. The Fellowship 
flourished, and it has taken an active role as a member of the 
Interfaith Council. For the first 7 years, services were held in 
members' homes and community buildings.
  Rapidly increasing membership made possible the construction of its 
first permanent home in 1980--designed to seat 120. By 1992, the 
membership had grown to more than 400. The happy result is a new Jewish 
house of worship and community center designed to seat more than 500. 
It is under the full-time leadership of Rabbi David Spritzer. It is 
significant that an increasing number of

[[Page E539]]

Jewish families residing in other areas of the Poconos outside of 
Hemlock Farms are joining the Fellowship.
  The Fellowship conducts religious services on Friday nights, Saturday 
mornings, and on the traditional religious holidays throughout the 
year. There are also many celebrations of Jewish life-cycle events such 
as weddings and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. The Hebrew School and other 
activities of the Fellowship enrich Jewish cultural life. Through 
lectures, discussion groups, media presentations, socials, and 
auxiliary volunteer groups of men and women serve the needs of the 
Fellowship and the extended community. In doing so, the Fellowship 
enhances the identity of the Jewish people in the midst of diverse 
populations.
  The Pocono Mountains region and Pike County in particular constitute 
the fastest growing sectors of Pennsylvania today. This includes, of 
course, the increasing number of Jewish residents. This change could 
not have happened during the first half of the twentieth century 
because of the existence of social, economic, and educational 
discrimination. According to historical reports in The Jews of Wilkes-
Barre (Levin, Marjorie: Ed.), early nineteenth century Jewish 
establishment in the area took the form of mercantile service to both 
the coal industry and commerce along the local waterways. Jews were 
kept out of utility and banking industries until the 1950's and 1960's.
  In 1955, because of the efforts of Pennsylvania Attorney General 
Herbert Cohen, Pocono Mountain hotels and resorts were compelled to 
comply with state law with the admissions of guests or have their 
liquor licenses revoked. Educational institutions, at the same time, 
publicly stated they would no longer condone discrimination regarding 
admissions. Since then, people of all ethnic origins have been 
increasingly welcome in the area.
  At the dedication ceremony on May 28, 2000, the two Torah Scrolls, 
presently in the old building, will be passed to the new building from 
member to member lining the path connecting them. One Torah Scroll that 
was presented to the Jewish Fellowship several years ago had been 
written for and dedicated to an Eastern European community that no 
longer exists. It wandered with the generation of the Holocaust and 
survived like the Jewish people.
  At the presentation ceremony, the president of the Fellowship 
declared:

       Today we will give a new home to this homeless survivor of 
     the Holocaust. This Torah was to have been part of the 
     collection of Hitler's Museum of an Extinct Race, a dream 
     that happily did not come to fruition. Rather, it should be a 
     reminder of the indestructibility of the Jewish people.

  Marjorie Leven and Paul Zbiek in The Jews of Wilkes-Barre state:

       It is certainly true that many of today's Jewish 
     professionals and business leaders do not need the economic 
     and psychological security of a tightly-knit Jewish society 
     to the same degree as their forebears. It is also true that 
     maintenance of a unified Jewish community is more difficult 
     in today's increasingly mobile and secularized society. Local 
     Jewish institutions, through their programming, try to 
     reinforce Jewish identity and help ensure Jewish continuity.
       On an individual and family level, the future for area Jews 
     appears to be positive. On a communal level, Jewish 
     institutions must meet the difficult challenge of assuring 
     their relevancy to Jews while maintaining tradition and 
     competing with general community activities for Jewish 
     attention.

  Members of Jewish Fellowship believe that the new building will 
facilitate the ability to do just that.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join with me in congratulating 
the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms, Pennsylvania, and wishing them 
every happiness in their new home.

                          ____________________