Jaimie Shmelzer is a fourth-generation member of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, and the synagogue holds a special place in her heart. It’s the congregation where she worked for several years, volunteers significant time, and is now raising a fifth generation.
Shmelzer began her career as a teacher before stepping back from the classroom and getting more involved at KI in Elkins Park.
She spent several years as the synagogue’s membership engagement coordinator starting in 2016. The Abington resident stepped down from that role two years ago, but continues to volunteer her time as membership chair on the synagogue’s board.
You started your career as an elementary school teacher. What drew you to education?
I always thought I wanted to be teacher, and I did love it, and I miss it, and now I’m actually tutoring again. I thought it would be really easy to teach when you have kids, but it was a little more challenging because [my children’s] schedules were not the same as mine.
How did you become involved professionally at KI?
I stopped working for a few years when my kids were little, and then I did a lot of volunteer work at KI, and [eventually] a new job was created for membership engagement. And I thought, it’s time for me to get back to work. And it seemed like the perfect kind of job, because it was not full time, and it was at a place where I was already spending a lot of time, a place that I loved. So, I applied for it and started [nine years ago].
What was different about working at KI from a school?
It was just rewarding in a different way than teaching was, because through my job at KI, I got to meet so many different people of all ages and just got to know people that I never would have known and work with them. And it just was a great experience, and I’m still kind of doing part of that through my volunteer work there as the membership chair.
What was the transition like between your role now and when you were employed by the synagogue?
The biggest difference is that I don’t get paid anymore. … When I started [in 2016] it was not full time, but it almost was. And then I wanted to take a little step back. I stopped working summers. And then a few years ago, I just wanted to take time off when my oldest son was graduating from high school. I wanted to be there. But then I said, I still want to do a lot of stuff. They never had a membership chair on the board, so they asked me if I would do that.
What about KI means so much to you as a lifelong member?
There are people, both from our clergy, to the people who work there, to our members, who, when you walk into the building, you just feel the sense of belonging and that you’re welcome there, no matter who you are.
That’s been an evolution since I started there. The reason that they brought me on is they wanted to make sure that people were welcomed there. … When I was a kid at KI, it was twice the size. It was enormous. You felt like you had your little group, but you didn’t really know the other people, because it was massive.
And now, even though it’s still medium-sized to large, you just feel like you know people, and they make a point in every service to greet the people near you. … Every time I’m there, I’m so happy that I’m there, and I have a wonderful feeling every time.
How has your Jewish identity impacted you?
I’m really lucky. Personally, I’ve not felt overt antisemitism in my life, but I still think about being Jewish and how important it is to me, almost all the time, and in raising my kids, I think about it almost all the time. I think the most important part of being Jewish is the history of it all, and the connection we feel when we’re at holiday dinners knowing that all the Jewish people around the world are doing the same things that we’re doing. We talk about that at a lot of the holiday dinners, how special that is.
I remember years ago when I was probably in college, and my parents were making a donation to the synagogue, and I remember being like, ‘Why is that something you would donate to? Wouldn’t you want to donate to cancer research or something?’ And my dad explained how important it was to donate to synagogues and Jewish charities and things like that. And now I would say that KI is one of the main things that I choose to donate to. Now I understand how important it is. And that’s what we’re showing our children as well.
