Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley is celebrating its 100th year in existence this year, and its history is one of steadfast commitment to Judaism and community. That isn’t to say, however, that it has always played the same role for its congregants and neighbors. In fact, Andrea Robbins, who served as co-chair of the synagogue’s Centennial Committee, said that when her family joined 67 years ago, the shul more closely resembled a different kind of Jewish institution.
“[We] came when I was 10, and it was like a Jewish community center,” she said. “A lot of our mothers didn’t work and they didn’t drive, so they all walked to Har Zion.”
In the mid-20th century, Robbins said that she and her neighboring kids saw Har Zion as a home base of sorts. Decades later, her own children knew that the synagogue served the same role for their mother, and for them.
“When my children were younger, they knew if I wasn’t home and I wasn’t at work, I was at Har Zion. This was the first place they would run to see if Mommy was here,” she said.
Now, as the synagogue ushers in its centennial, the community has gathered nearly a half dozen times to celebrate the fact that they survived — and thrived — for 100 years. The most recent of these events was a dinner and show featuring Howie Mandel on May 18. What makes the community special, though, is the everyday people who call it home — not A-list guests.
“My parents were leaders in the synagogue, and I just followed suit. My three children all went to preschool here through kindergarten, and then went to Jewish Day School,” said Nancy Ford Grossman, the other co-chair on the Centennial Committee. “Har Zion has instilled in us our love of Judaism. We are Jewish every day. It’s a thread throughout our life. It’s not in my personal life, and not just on Monday, Wednesday and Friday or just on Shabbat — it’s daily, and that’s how the Har Zion community has molded.”
At Har Zion, the community is made up of different generations of congregants who have seen different iterations of the synagogue. Har Zion is home to lots of history, even for a century-old community.
It was the first synagogue to create a chapter of the Zionist Organization of America, and members of the synagogue participated in the first United Jewish Appeal congregational mission to Israel. Har Zion played a critical role in causes abroad — like raising funds for Jews in the Soviet Union to emigrate to the United States, and at home — like helping to found Camp Ramah in the Poconos.
Robbins said that this tradition of change making is something the synagogue’s elder members emphasize to their younger ones.
“It remains a constant force and the mainstay for the Jewish community, for my children, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren,” she said. “I want them to have a synagogue to go to, and we’re trying to build the next generation of future leaders to make sure that Har Zion exists for the next hundred years.”
Perhaps no part of the anniversary celebrations illustrate this idea better than the synagogue’s teen ambassador program. Har Zion welcomed 18 teens to each of its centennial events to volunteer and take part in the fun. At first, teenage members of the synagogue weren’t exactly leaping at this offer. By the end of the most recent event on Sunday, that had changed drastically.
“They were texting me, ‘can I come?’ and ‘can I help?’” Ford Grossman said. “And that to us made it all worth it. That’s what we’re doing — we’re building the future.”
Robbins said that it hasn’t always been easy at Har Zion.
“We have a lot of memories here, good and bad. We’ve laughed with the community, we’ve cried with the community. We celebrate each person’s simcha and we mourn each person’s tragedy,” Robbins said.
Community members have been through the spectrum of emotions together, but that’s a big reason why they are so strong, and here to celebrate 100 years in existence. For Har Zion, year 100 isn’t an ending point — it’s another beginning.
