Founding and Merging (1949–1970)

Archival account by Sandra Serkess, with reflections from Jeremy Ronkin

The story of HBT begins in 1949 with the Parkway Jewish Women’s Club, soon joined in 1950 by the Parkway Jewish Men’s Association. Together they laid the groundwork for a new congregation. By 1953 they had formally established Temple Beth Torah and, the following year, purchased 120 Corey Street, the building that remains our home. With 300 Jewish families in West Roxbury, Beth Torah quickly grew, adding a new sanctuary and flourishing under the leadership of Rabbi Oscar Bookspan and Cantor Simon Erdman.

Meanwhile, in Mattapan, Temple Beth Hillel was thriving, its Hebrew School enrolling as many as six hundred children at its peak. Both congregations were vibrant Conservative synagogues with a strong commitment to Jewish practice and community life. But as Boston’s Jewish neighborhoods shifted in the 1960s, Beth Hillel could no longer stand alone.

In 1970, Beth Hillel joined Beth Torah to form Temple Hillel B’nai Torah. That moment was marked in a striking way: Rabbi Bookspan carried the Torah through the streets of West Roxbury, a visible act of continuity joining two histories into one future. As Jeremy Ronkin recalled at Rabbi Aliza Schwartz’s installation, his grandfather, Milton Saltman, became the first president of the newly merged congregation — a reminder that HBT’s history is not just institutional, but deeply personal for the families who built it.

Bridging Generations (1980–1995)

Archival account by Sandra Serkess, with reflections from Lenny Markowitz

In the 1970s and early 1980s, HBT remained a vibrant congregation, filled with Brotherhood and Sisterhood events, steady minyanim, and strong community bonds. At the same time, leaders recognized a demographic reality: fewer young families were joining, and many of the next generation were moving away. The status quo could not be sustained indefinitely, and renewal would be needed to secure the synagogue’s future.

During this transitional era, Rabbi Oscar Bookspan retired (1986) and Rabbi Eliot Somers served for several years. In 1984, Brotherhood president Harold Gordon invited the West Roxbury Chavurah—a newly formed group of young families seeking participatory Jewish life—to join HBT. Their arrival brought fresh energy. Young families were eager to participate fully, new voices helped shape synagogue life, and a tradition of retreat at the Craigville Conference Center on Cape Cod began to take root.

Longtime members and newcomers did not always see things the same way. But together they shared a commitment to sustaining Jewish community. Under the guidance of leaders like Marvin Rosenkrantz, and with a new generation stepping forward, HBT showed that it could adapt with purpose.

What began as a bridge between generations became something deeper—new ways of seeing Jewish life and new voices shaping the congregation’s identity. The milestone came in 1993 with the election of HBT’s first baby boomer president, a generational shift that helped carry the congregation into its next chapter. This turning point brought a community-wide visioning process, a rabbinic search, and the groundwork for the reopening of the Chaverim School.

A New Era of Leadership (1993–1995) — Dan Gelbtuch

For families who joined through the Chavurah, the renewal of HBT was deeply personal. In 1993, Dan Gelbtuch celebrated his bar mitzvah on the bimah — the first at HBT in more than fifteen years — just as a new era was beginning.

The following year, the congregation launched a rabbinic search, led by an intergenerational committee co-chaired by Laurie Rotman and Ruth Lederman, with important contributions from members like Susannah Sirkin. Together they represented the breadth of HBT, and their work culminated in calling Rabbi Barbara Penzner in 1995.

From her very first sermon, Rabbi Barbara set a bold tone: LGBTQ Jews were not just welcomed but embraced. This was a watershed moment, marking the beginning of HBT’s modern identity as a community rooted in inclusivity and justice. Dan, recalling his bar mitzvah and Rabbi Barbara’s arrival, represented that generational renewal.

Chaverim School and Living Our Values (2006–2015) — Naomi Bethune

By the late 2000s, HBT’s Chaverim School had blossomed into the beating heart of congregational life. What began in the mid-1990s as a handful of students had grown into a spirited community of more than ninety children.

Families filled the building for Shabbat songs, Purim parades, and Passover storytelling. The school was more than a place of learning — it reflected the evolving character of HBT itself. As multiracial and interfaith families joined, the school expanded its curriculum and reimagined Jewish education with a more inclusive lens.

Naomi Bethune, who grew up at HBT in the Chaverim School, shared how her own family’s experience shaped the congregation’s vision of belonging. Her reflections illustrated how the values of inclusivity and justice were lived out not only in policies, but in classrooms, song circles, and family celebrations.

Justice, Legacy, and Community Leadership (2005–2023) — Keren Sammett

For three decades, Rabbi Barbara guided HBT with wisdom, strength, and heart. In 2005, the congregation officially affiliated with the Reconstructionist movement, affirming its identity as a community rooted in tradition and open to transformation.

During these years, HBT became known for weaving justice into every aspect of its life. The synagogue built lasting partnerships with interfaith, immigrant justice, and labor organizations. Annual Human Rights Shabbat services, public witness, and congregational activism became central expressions of faith. Lay leadership deepened, and the voices of Jews of color, LGBTQ members, and interfaith families shaped the community’s evolving identity.

Keren Sammett, who joined HBT in 2004 with her young daughter, shared how the congregation embraced her family and embodied the Reconstructionist commitment to inclusivity. Her reflections captured how, by the 2010s, spiritual life and social action at HBT had become inseparable.

Carrying the Vision Forward (2023–Present) — Ephram Kronenberg

The story of HBT continues with the next generation. Ephram Kronenberg, a Chaverim School graduate, madrich, and teen board member, has grown up in the life of the congregation. For him, HBT is where belonging and leadership came together.

In 2023, while the congregation prepared for a new chapter, Rabbi Sara Noyowitz served as interim rabbi, bringing warmth and stability. In 2024, HBT joyfully welcomed Rabbi Aliza Schwartz as its new settled rabbi. Ephram described how Rabbi Aliza leads not apart from the community but within it — in circles of study, in song, and in celebration.

Reflecting on the future, Ephram spoke of what it takes to build something lasting: people who give what they can, people who step up to lead, and people who show up. Just as our ancestors built the Mishkan with their hearts and hands, so too will HBT be carried forward by all of us.

Carrying the Story Forward

For synagogues across Boston, shifting demographics have always been a sword of Damocles hanging overhead. Families move, neighborhoods change, and numbers rise and fall. HBT has been no different. Yet our story has never been one of decline — it has been one of response.

Each time the future seemed uncertain, members stepped forward. The Chavurah families of the 1980s, the rabbinic search committee of 1994, the builders of Chaverim School, the leaders of social justice initiatives — all carried HBT forward. Through it all, we have remained active in civic life, sustained our minyanim, and found joy in learning and celebration.

As Ephram reminded us, building community takes three kinds of people: those who give resources, those who offer their skills, and those who simply show up. Every congregation, in other words, is built on Treasures, Talent, and Time.

That has been true for seventy years. It remains true today. And it is how Temple Hillel B’nai Torah will keep writing its story — through the will, the gifts, and the presence of its members.