Madeleine Kessler has served on the board of the American Jewish Committee Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey for five years.
For her efforts to help the organization that combats antisemitism and advocates for Israel, Kessler earned the 2024 Human Relations Award at AJC’s annual meeting and installation of new board members on June 5 at The Lucy in Philadelphia.
Kessler also serves on the board of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation. She devotes her time to Jewish organizations because her parents — Rose and Benjamin Goldenberg — survived the Holocaust.
They never spent time in a concentration camp. But they had to race through Europe to survive. All three of Kessler’s older siblings died. Kessler lived with a non-Jewish family for years and only saw her parents on occasion.
But they got here, first to Vineland, New Jersey, and then to Northeast Philly, where they ultimately settled.
“It’s important to give back to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” the Center City resident said.
But Kessler didn’t always feel that way. She actually took a long time to return to her religion.
Growing Up with Survivors
Kessler’s father talked about his Holocaust experience. Her mother didn’t. When the Nuremberg trials were on television, her father was glued to the set. Her mother couldn’t even stay in the room.
Kessler grew to understand her story from her father. But both parents pushed her to practice her religion.
The parents were Orthodox because, as Kessler’s mother explained it, “If I didn’t believe in God, I wouldn’t be here today.”
But when Kessler turned 12 or 13, she decided she wouldn’t go back to synagogue unless she could sit downstairs with her father. It was an Orthodox shul. The daughter stopped going.
“They were mortified,” Kessler said of her parents.
In Hebrew school, Kessler didn’t pay attention.
“I was a bit of a rebel,” she said.
Looking back on those experiences, she felt like her parents were trying to control her. They had been through the Holocaust, so they wanted to pass down a deep sense of faith and identity.
“I would do the exact opposite,” the daughter said.
Finding Her Way Back
Kessler started her own family with Steve Kessler, a certified public accountant and an executive at several big companies who was also honored by AJC on June 5.
The couple had two children, a son Daniel and a daughter Rachel. They joined Main Line Reform Temple in Wynnewood. Both kids had b’nai mitzvahs. The family occasionally went to services and lit Shabbat candles on Friday nights.
“They grew up in a Jewish household but not necessarily a very observant household,” Kessler said.
“I Was Mad at God”
The children grew older and moved out. The parents moved from Bala Cynwyd to Center City, where they also joined synagogues. The couple belonged to Society Hill Synagogue, then Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel and then Congregation Rodeph Shalom.
But in March 2023, their daughter died at 49 after a long battle with cancer.
Kessler didn’t join another synagogue after that.
“I was mad at God,” the mother said.
Finding Her Way Back Again
More than a year after Rachel’s passing, Kessler still questions her religion. She says she always will.
But after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and antisemitism increased, she again realized the importance of Jewish community.
“I’m still very strongly about being part of the Jewish community,” she said.
Kessler wants Jewish organizations to make all people aware of antisemitism. She also thinks they should try to fight it. She also wants individual Jews to talk about antisemitism.
“Amongst themselves and among people who are not Jewish,” she said.
