[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 7526]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    TRIBUTE TO CONGREGATION BETH AM ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIFTIETH 
                      ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING

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                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 20, 2005

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Congregation Beth Am as 
it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Since its founding in 1955, this 
Reform Jewish Synagogue has been a leader in social action and 
community welfare in the Bay Area, and has embodied the Jewish 
community's longstanding involvement in religious and public life. 
Since its beginnings with 100 families represented at its first 
meeting, the congregation has grown to nearly 1,400 families from the 
mid-Peninsula area who gather at Beth Am to worship, to study, to lead 
and to strengthen both the Jewish community and the Bay Area community 
as a whole.
  When Congregation Beth Am was founded, the population of the San 
Francisco Peninsula was booming. Beth Am filled a need for a new Reform 
Synagogue and it grew accordingly after its establishment. The first 
formal meeting, which was held in March of 1955, was attended by 300 
people representing 100 families. A year later, the congregation grew 
to 250 families. Registration at the religious school, which also 
opened in March of 1955, jumped from 100 children at its founding to 
340 children only 2 years later. Beth Am first met in the First 
Methodist Church and Unitarian Church for Shabbat and High Holy Day 
services. Today, members congregate in a beautiful synagogue in Los 
Altos Hills.
  As Beth Am's congregation has grown, so has its involvement with the 
communities on the Peninsula. Members have volunteered their time and 
resources to a variety of causes throughout the area, including the 
Ecumenical Hunger Program, the Urban Ministry of Palo Alto, and 
Opportunities Industrialization Center West. The congregation's Social 
Action Committee notes that ``We, as Jews, are commanded to pursue 
Justice, and to participate in Tikkun Olam, or Repairing the World.'' 
The congregation's website has a ``Tikkunometer'' that counts the 
number of hours the congregation has pledged to community service. 
Fueled by this sense of responsibility to the community and dedication 
to service, Congregation Beth Am has improved our community and the 
lives of those around them.
  None of this would be possible without the outstanding leadership 
that Congregation Beth Am has been blessed with since its founding 50 
years ago. Rabbi Irving A. Mandel was Beth Am's first Rabbi. He was 
followed by Rabbi Sidney Akselrad in 1962, who for 24 years imbued Beth 
Am with a social-action consciousness by participating in a variety of 
interfaith endeavors, spreading understanding of Jewish heritage, and 
fighting to break down racial barriers in the United States. Rabbi 
Akselrad served as President of the Northern California Board of 
Rabbis, the Western Association of Reform Rabbis, and the Palo Alto 
Ministerial Association. When he became Rabbi Emeritus in 1987, Rabbi 
Richard A. Block took on his role as Senior Rabbi. For 12 years, Rabbi 
Block led the congregation, initiating a process of educational 
innovation he dubbed ``life-long learning,'' which inspired a national 
partnership, the ``Experiment in Congregational Education.'' His 
successor, Rabbi Janet Ross Marder, has been leading Beth Am since she 
became Senior Rabbi in 1999. She served as the first woman President of 
the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis, and the first woman President 
of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. She's married to Rabbi 
Sheldon Marder of the Jewish Home in San Francisco, and together they 
are raising 2 daughters, Betsy and Rachel.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm exceedingly proud to honor Congregation Beth Am as 
it celebrates its 50th anniversary. For a half century it's been a 
center of worship and service and it has truly lived up to its name, 
Beth Am, which translates from Hebrew to ``House of the People.'' Beth 
Am is a source of pride to everyone in our Congressional District and 
will continue to be a pillar of our community for decades to come.

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