This page provides profiles some of our Shir Ami Members as shown in past newsletters
Lauren and David Spicehandler who first came to Shir Ami as guests through a friend for the High Holidays and very much enjoyed the service. "We felt a sense of comfort and genuine warmth from speaking with some of the congregants. We decided it was time to rejoin a synagogue and Shir Ami was where we wanted to belong. Also Jill Abramson is a huge draw for us; we feel the need to be reconnected to Judaism in a more formal way than just being Jewish." Welcome Lauren and David!
Lila and Walter Croen became members of Shir Ami 2 years ago after moving to Stamford to be close to their children. They are the parents of 4 children including Shir Ami members Judith Croen and Susan Nisinzweig, and they have 7 grandchildren and 1 new born great-grandchild. Walter turned 97 on 3/14/21 and Lila will be turning 91 on 3/31/21. Although they say that nothing has been more important to them than their family, they each have an interesting and diverse history that you might like to know.
Walter grew up in Crestwood, NY and was a scholar athlete at Roosevelt High School. He went to Williams College and then left midway to serve in the army in the 2nd world war. He returned to Williams and graduated in 1948. For 25 years Walter and his dad ran a high fashion couture apparel business called Marquise Coats and Suits and among his customers were notable women such as Lady Bird Johnson and Patricia Nixon. During the next 25 years Walter worked for Werner Management as an apparel and textile executive recruiter.
Lila grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, went to UCLA for 2 years and then transferred to Syracuse University. She received her Masters from Teachers College in NYC. In 1956 the young couple moved to Edgemont where they raised their 4 children and actively participated in community affairs. In 1976 Lila began working at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Department of Community Health as a research assistant. Eventually she became the Director of Educational Research and Evaluation, got a faculty appointment and became a Senior Associate. She was elected to the Davidoff Society for contributions to Educational Programs at Einstein.
After 40 years of living in Edgemont and commuting to the Bronx and New York City, they both retired and decided to leave Westchester and move to NYC in 1996 where they thrived. They took many Adult Education courses and were avid readers with their book group. They lived across the street from Lincoln Center and rarely missed an evening of taking advantage of the music, opera, theater and art that was all around them. For 25 years, until 2014, summers were spent in a beautiful house they built in Wellfleet on Cape Cod where the whole family could congregate together.
Our Shir Ami family is inspired by Lila and Walter and we are grateful to have them as part of our community!
Walter grew up in Crestwood, NY and was a scholar athlete at Roosevelt High School. He went to Williams College and then left midway to serve in the army in the 2nd world war. He returned to Williams and graduated in 1948. For 25 years Walter and his dad ran a high fashion couture apparel business called Marquise Coats and Suits and among his customers were notable women such as Lady Bird Johnson and Patricia Nixon. During the next 25 years Walter worked for Werner Management as an apparel and textile executive recruiter.
Lila grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, went to UCLA for 2 years and then transferred to Syracuse University. She received her Masters from Teachers College in NYC. In 1956 the young couple moved to Edgemont where they raised their 4 children and actively participated in community affairs. In 1976 Lila began working at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Department of Community Health as a research assistant. Eventually she became the Director of Educational Research and Evaluation, got a faculty appointment and became a Senior Associate. She was elected to the Davidoff Society for contributions to Educational Programs at Einstein.
After 40 years of living in Edgemont and commuting to the Bronx and New York City, they both retired and decided to leave Westchester and move to NYC in 1996 where they thrived. They took many Adult Education courses and were avid readers with their book group. They lived across the street from Lincoln Center and rarely missed an evening of taking advantage of the music, opera, theater and art that was all around them. For 25 years, until 2014, summers were spent in a beautiful house they built in Wellfleet on Cape Cod where the whole family could congregate together.
Our Shir Ami family is inspired by Lila and Walter and we are grateful to have them as part of our community!
Ronny and Ira Kaplan have been residents of Stamford for over 40 years and have been valued members of Shir Ami for the past few years. They both originally grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and lived on Long Island before coming to Connecticut. Ira was a financial executive in the real estate field before retirement, and Ronny had her own business training people in the use of Microsoft office products.
Ronny and Ira are both on the board of directors for an organization called Learning in Retirement. This organization has offered in person classes aimed at retired seniors in subjects such as art, literature, history, current events, music and for 20 years. The instructors are typically professors from nearby colleges and universities in the New York / Connecticut area. Due to the pandemic, classes are being held online in the upcoming semester which starts at the end of January. Each class is approximately one hour starting at 10 AM, and there are two classes being offered each week through April. The price per class is only five dollars while we are operating remotely on Zoom. Registration opens January 14, 2021. In order to set up an account, review the listing of classes with descriptions and instructor bios, and register, go to https://www.lirstamford.org. Some examples of the offerings in the coming semester include:
Cold War Hollywood-The Blacklist years
World War for World Order: How the United States Embraced Armed Dominance in World War II and Never Looked Back
The Rolling Stones: Paint It Black and Blue
Ronny and Ira are both on the board of directors for an organization called Learning in Retirement. This organization has offered in person classes aimed at retired seniors in subjects such as art, literature, history, current events, music and for 20 years. The instructors are typically professors from nearby colleges and universities in the New York / Connecticut area. Due to the pandemic, classes are being held online in the upcoming semester which starts at the end of January. Each class is approximately one hour starting at 10 AM, and there are two classes being offered each week through April. The price per class is only five dollars while we are operating remotely on Zoom. Registration opens January 14, 2021. In order to set up an account, review the listing of classes with descriptions and instructor bios, and register, go to https://www.lirstamford.org. Some examples of the offerings in the coming semester include:
Cold War Hollywood-The Blacklist years
World War for World Order: How the United States Embraced Armed Dominance in World War II and Never Looked Back
The Rolling Stones: Paint It Black and Blue
Our Members Linda and Stanley Gratt from Stamford have something very fun to share...
It’s Sunday afternoon at Stanley and Linda Gratt's, and as we have done every Sunday since May, we are getting ready to head to Israel. No packing. No passports. No worrying about the status of Covid-19.
Our tours with Israeli Guide Joel Meyer are virtual via Zoom and have been since the very beginning of this unusual experience. Joel is a highly experienced licensed tour guide who is used to spending his days with groups of tourists as he roams the country he loves imparting the deep knowledge he has about sites modern and historic. As he has said, after spending time after the corona virus stopped all tourism worldwide trying to figure out how he could continue to support his family, he decided to offer virtual tours to as many people as would like to join him… We learned of Joel through a friend who had toured with him in Israel and decided to try a virtual tour with him. After that first week we were hooked.
We are now part of a virtual community of “tourists” from all over the world who gather on Sunday afternoon, East Coast Time, to learn about the places Joel has been during the week recording videos and doing research. We’ve been to places as well-known as the usual tourist spots of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, to out of the way places as the now graffiti-covered Tel Aviv Central Bus Station which had opened to much fanfare as a transportation hub of the future. We’ve visited archeological digs like Qumran, Herodian and Zippori where the Midrash was codified, and other sites too numerous to mention. Joel even recruited his wife, Eginsu an Ethiopian Jew, to spend a couple of hours sharing her families journey from Ethiopia to their new life in Israel.
So, now the group has expanded from the original 30 or so open screens to as many as 125. Instead of just presenting tours on Sunday, live repeats of previous tours are available on Wednesday. And, just recently Joel has been asked to make a presentation via Zoom during the next semester of Stamford’s Learning in Retirement. When Covid -19 presented us with lots and lots of lemons…we have used the opportunity to make wonderful lemonade….made a new friend in Joel Meyer and met people from all over the world….while never leaving home.
We invite you all to come along!
Linda and Stanley
For more information, to participate or to donate, please visit, joelmeyer.org
It’s Sunday afternoon at Stanley and Linda Gratt's, and as we have done every Sunday since May, we are getting ready to head to Israel. No packing. No passports. No worrying about the status of Covid-19.
Our tours with Israeli Guide Joel Meyer are virtual via Zoom and have been since the very beginning of this unusual experience. Joel is a highly experienced licensed tour guide who is used to spending his days with groups of tourists as he roams the country he loves imparting the deep knowledge he has about sites modern and historic. As he has said, after spending time after the corona virus stopped all tourism worldwide trying to figure out how he could continue to support his family, he decided to offer virtual tours to as many people as would like to join him… We learned of Joel through a friend who had toured with him in Israel and decided to try a virtual tour with him. After that first week we were hooked.
We are now part of a virtual community of “tourists” from all over the world who gather on Sunday afternoon, East Coast Time, to learn about the places Joel has been during the week recording videos and doing research. We’ve been to places as well-known as the usual tourist spots of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, to out of the way places as the now graffiti-covered Tel Aviv Central Bus Station which had opened to much fanfare as a transportation hub of the future. We’ve visited archeological digs like Qumran, Herodian and Zippori where the Midrash was codified, and other sites too numerous to mention. Joel even recruited his wife, Eginsu an Ethiopian Jew, to spend a couple of hours sharing her families journey from Ethiopia to their new life in Israel.
So, now the group has expanded from the original 30 or so open screens to as many as 125. Instead of just presenting tours on Sunday, live repeats of previous tours are available on Wednesday. And, just recently Joel has been asked to make a presentation via Zoom during the next semester of Stamford’s Learning in Retirement. When Covid -19 presented us with lots and lots of lemons…we have used the opportunity to make wonderful lemonade….made a new friend in Joel Meyer and met people from all over the world….while never leaving home.
We invite you all to come along!
Linda and Stanley
For more information, to participate or to donate, please visit, joelmeyer.org
Meet Warren and Beth Bromberg
Warren and Beth Bromberg are two of the newest members we welcomed at our New Member Shabbat last week. Please read this letter from Beth to learn more about them.
Warren and I are both physicians. I was retired December 2019 and was not expecting to spend retirement isolated in a pandemic. I spent over 30 years as an ophthalmologist in private practice and then in 2018 and 2019 teaching ophthalmology residents at the Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC. Since 2010, I have been leading ophthalmology missions to Haiti, performing outreach in rural villages, identifying patients who have blinding conditions which require treatment by the local ophthalmologists, providing skills transfer with the local doctors, as well as teaching ophthalmology residents in Port au Prince. The experience has been humbling and rewarding and I hope to return again when it is safe to do so. Warren is very involved as a leader at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, as chair of the Urology department, President of the medical staff and Director of the Robotic Surgery Program. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees and participates on numerous committees.
We are guided by our belief in Tikun olam. We have two married daughters, an 8 month old grandson and a granddaughter expected to arrive March 2021. We were looking for a congregation that was more intimate and we were urged to consider Shir Ami by Wendy Nadel. We look forward to in person events in the future!
Many thanks, Beth
Warren and Beth Bromberg are two of the newest members we welcomed at our New Member Shabbat last week. Please read this letter from Beth to learn more about them.
Warren and I are both physicians. I was retired December 2019 and was not expecting to spend retirement isolated in a pandemic. I spent over 30 years as an ophthalmologist in private practice and then in 2018 and 2019 teaching ophthalmology residents at the Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC. Since 2010, I have been leading ophthalmology missions to Haiti, performing outreach in rural villages, identifying patients who have blinding conditions which require treatment by the local ophthalmologists, providing skills transfer with the local doctors, as well as teaching ophthalmology residents in Port au Prince. The experience has been humbling and rewarding and I hope to return again when it is safe to do so. Warren is very involved as a leader at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, as chair of the Urology department, President of the medical staff and Director of the Robotic Surgery Program. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees and participates on numerous committees.
We are guided by our belief in Tikun olam. We have two married daughters, an 8 month old grandson and a granddaughter expected to arrive March 2021. We were looking for a congregation that was more intimate and we were urged to consider Shir Ami by Wendy Nadel. We look forward to in person events in the future!
Many thanks, Beth
Peggy and Jerry Surman: What Grandparents will do!
We left a glorious San Diego visit with our kids & grandkids in early March expecting to be back 6 weeks later. Then...COVID...! At first we were all horrified, expecting & praying it would pass. But, that was a dream. In fact, with the spikes we were seeing every day, we felt hopeless about getting to see our kids & grandkids. Our plan was to be there for Indigo’s birth on July 24th and Eloise’s 2nd birthday on September 10th. We missed both, and were paralyzed with fear. Our doctor talked with us about what it means to be human and, as humans, what we need. He strongly believes in limited socialization with people that think and act alike. After months of “should we, shouldn’t we,” and after being confident that both we and our daughter's family were COVID free, we booked first class seats on Jet Blue flying direct to San Diego. We shipped our luggage ahead (to limit time in the airport on both ends) and got suited up - literally from head to toe! We never took off our face masks or shields and we felt good about our journey. We won’t wait 8 months to come again, not with our grandkids at these precious young ages. We found it absolutely worth the risk! It’s been life affirming!!
We left a glorious San Diego visit with our kids & grandkids in early March expecting to be back 6 weeks later. Then...COVID...! At first we were all horrified, expecting & praying it would pass. But, that was a dream. In fact, with the spikes we were seeing every day, we felt hopeless about getting to see our kids & grandkids. Our plan was to be there for Indigo’s birth on July 24th and Eloise’s 2nd birthday on September 10th. We missed both, and were paralyzed with fear. Our doctor talked with us about what it means to be human and, as humans, what we need. He strongly believes in limited socialization with people that think and act alike. After months of “should we, shouldn’t we,” and after being confident that both we and our daughter's family were COVID free, we booked first class seats on Jet Blue flying direct to San Diego. We shipped our luggage ahead (to limit time in the airport on both ends) and got suited up - literally from head to toe! We never took off our face masks or shields and we felt good about our journey. We won’t wait 8 months to come again, not with our grandkids at these precious young ages. We found it absolutely worth the risk! It’s been life affirming!!
Barbara Salop
For those of you who might not know my story, Evan and I were among the first members of Shir Ami, where our daughter Jenn became Bat Mitzvah in 2006. I was raised Roman Catholic, and after my practicing Judaism for 25 years with Evan and Jenn, I converted and became Bat Mitzvah myself, with much love and help from our founding Rabbi Vicki Axe. I have served as Education Chair at Shir Ami for our early Religious School, and have served on the Board as Secretary and President. I am still active with the Board on the Marketing Team, Social Action though our semiannual participation in the Interfaith Blood Drive, and in our High Holy Day Choir. Evan and I also have a new grand-baby, Kieran, who lives with his parents, son Michael and daughter-in-law Darcy - Kieran will tun one this month!
I am also very involved with Jewish Family Services of Greenwich where I am serving as chair of the Marketing Committee and I am an Executive Board Member. In addition I am an active volunteer in the JFS partnership with Greenwich Hospital, visiting the Jewish patients for Bikur Cholim, and co-leading some of the Shabbat services each Friday in the chapel (that is, when we’re invited back into the hospital!). I am also a dedicated Supermarketing For Seniors shopper. Please read "Calling All Shoppers" below...
If you have any questions about JFS, Supermarketing for Seniors, or any other JFS program, please feel free to reach out to me personally - your support means so much to many in our community. Barbara's email is bdsalop@gmail.com
For those of you who might not know my story, Evan and I were among the first members of Shir Ami, where our daughter Jenn became Bat Mitzvah in 2006. I was raised Roman Catholic, and after my practicing Judaism for 25 years with Evan and Jenn, I converted and became Bat Mitzvah myself, with much love and help from our founding Rabbi Vicki Axe. I have served as Education Chair at Shir Ami for our early Religious School, and have served on the Board as Secretary and President. I am still active with the Board on the Marketing Team, Social Action though our semiannual participation in the Interfaith Blood Drive, and in our High Holy Day Choir. Evan and I also have a new grand-baby, Kieran, who lives with his parents, son Michael and daughter-in-law Darcy - Kieran will tun one this month!
I am also very involved with Jewish Family Services of Greenwich where I am serving as chair of the Marketing Committee and I am an Executive Board Member. In addition I am an active volunteer in the JFS partnership with Greenwich Hospital, visiting the Jewish patients for Bikur Cholim, and co-leading some of the Shabbat services each Friday in the chapel (that is, when we’re invited back into the hospital!). I am also a dedicated Supermarketing For Seniors shopper. Please read "Calling All Shoppers" below...
If you have any questions about JFS, Supermarketing for Seniors, or any other JFS program, please feel free to reach out to me personally - your support means so much to many in our community. Barbara's email is bdsalop@gmail.com
Joel Collamer
Shir Ami Member and Board Treasurer, is volunteering this summer at Greenwich Community Gardens, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and supporting sustainable community gardens in Greenwich. This year Greenwich Community Gardens has several garden beds designated for Neighbor To Neighbor which are planted and maintained by volunteers. All of the produce grown is donated to Neighbor To Neighbor where it is distributed to families in need.
If you would like to know more about this or to volunteer, you can ask Joel about it or you can visit the website for Greenwich Community Gardens .
Shir Ami Member and Board Treasurer, is volunteering this summer at Greenwich Community Gardens, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and supporting sustainable community gardens in Greenwich. This year Greenwich Community Gardens has several garden beds designated for Neighbor To Neighbor which are planted and maintained by volunteers. All of the produce grown is donated to Neighbor To Neighbor where it is distributed to families in need.
If you would like to know more about this or to volunteer, you can ask Joel about it or you can visit the website for Greenwich Community Gardens .
Roger Lob: began coaching two men at B1C to help them improve their English. According to Roger, speaking their language is NOT essential to this volunteer role and both men are both engaging and could not be more appreciative. He also said that the staff of B1C have been incredibly supportive.
Roger said, “we often think of "statistics" or "groups"...but ultimately it will be direct human interaction that hopefully will bring about a better world. I was deeply inspired by Cantor Abramson's sermon this past Rosh Hashanah where she discussed trying to help the young man in front of Hebrew Union. Isn't that the dilemma we all face -- balancing self-preservation (which may mean looking away) with a call to action? This opportunity I think is a very easy and safe way to heed that call to action in a safe and meaningful way."
Below is information for those who want to donate or volunteer for B1C.
To contribute online: https://building1community.org/donate/
For Covid specific donations: https://building1community.org/covid-19-response-fund/
To contribute through the mail:
Building One Community, 75 Selleck Street, Stamford, CT 06902
Roger said, “we often think of "statistics" or "groups"...but ultimately it will be direct human interaction that hopefully will bring about a better world. I was deeply inspired by Cantor Abramson's sermon this past Rosh Hashanah where she discussed trying to help the young man in front of Hebrew Union. Isn't that the dilemma we all face -- balancing self-preservation (which may mean looking away) with a call to action? This opportunity I think is a very easy and safe way to heed that call to action in a safe and meaningful way."
Below is information for those who want to donate or volunteer for B1C.
To contribute online: https://building1community.org/donate/
For Covid specific donations: https://building1community.org/covid-19-response-fund/
To contribute through the mail:
Building One Community, 75 Selleck Street, Stamford, CT 06902
Marjorie “Margie” Black:
is a member who joined our congregation with her husband Steven this past year. She’s a passionate volunteer for a number of local organizations: at Neighbor to Neighbor for 13 years, Israel Connect as a mentor partnering with a teen in Israel who needs help in learning English, Building 1 Community where she’s coaching people to help them learn English, and she is a member of the UJA-JCC Greenwich Board.
Margie is heading up a new project “Dignity Grows” with UJA-JCC Greenwich. This project supplies toiletries for people in need, as these essential items are not covered by federal grant programs and are rarely available at food pantries. It is a need that resonates with all of us, it affects the ability of our neighbors to attend school or go to work. The program originated at the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, and the Greenwich UJA-JCC is the first outside organization to take the project on. Margie’s goal is to distribute 100 Dignity Grows bags each quarter; July 6th marks the first distribution of bags through Neighbor to Neighbor, where the need is very real.
The next distribution will be in late September. If you are interested in participating or would like to know more about this project, click here or contact Margie directly.
is a member who joined our congregation with her husband Steven this past year. She’s a passionate volunteer for a number of local organizations: at Neighbor to Neighbor for 13 years, Israel Connect as a mentor partnering with a teen in Israel who needs help in learning English, Building 1 Community where she’s coaching people to help them learn English, and she is a member of the UJA-JCC Greenwich Board.
Margie is heading up a new project “Dignity Grows” with UJA-JCC Greenwich. This project supplies toiletries for people in need, as these essential items are not covered by federal grant programs and are rarely available at food pantries. It is a need that resonates with all of us, it affects the ability of our neighbors to attend school or go to work. The program originated at the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, and the Greenwich UJA-JCC is the first outside organization to take the project on. Margie’s goal is to distribute 100 Dignity Grows bags each quarter; July 6th marks the first distribution of bags through Neighbor to Neighbor, where the need is very real.
The next distribution will be in late September. If you are interested in participating or would like to know more about this project, click here or contact Margie directly.
Suzanne Saperstein: Shir Ami’s part time Administrative Assistant. Suzanne worked with Cantor Abramson at Westchester Reform Temple for 12 years. She continues to work at WRT supporting multiple clergy members and she is excited to add this part time position at Shir Ami to her work as well. Susan Nisinzweig had been serving in this role but as her other job has become more demanding, she is very happy to pass the torch to Suzanne to assist with producing our weekly newsletter, event registration pages and Shabbat programs, in addition to making updates to our calendar and website. Suzanne will work closely with Cantor Abramson and our co-presidents and she looks forward to meeting Shir Ami congregants. She lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY with her husband, Larry and has 3 adult children and one adorable grandson named Madden. In addition to being a grandma and spending time with family, she enjoys reading, running and barre class.