INTRODUCING ADAM AND KERI BERMAN by Marylyn Shultz

Adam grew up in Hingham, Keri in Revere, and they now reside in Norwell with their son Benjamin.  They recently moved back to Massachusetts, after being away for over four years.  During that time, Adam spent three months in Singapore on a special work project.  He is the Vice President of Sales for Scientific Intake, a medical company based in Lawrence, Massachusetts.  Keri is, in her own words, “strictly a stay-at-home mom” keeping tabs on Ben, who will turn 6 in March, and is currently enrolled in the kindergarten class at CSS.  Mom proudly states that Ben is smart, funny, loving, easygoing, and loves sports and all things superheroes.

Adam and Keri travel frequently, Maui being one of their favorite destinations.  While they love visiting all of the Caribbean, they look forward to expanding their travels, in a few years, with Greece, Italy, Spain and Israel on their bucket list.  Both of them enjoy playing tennis and golf, love that Ben has showed an interest, and look forward to playing with him as well.  Adam really likes to cook and loves to prepare amazing meals for family and friends.  He would like to own a deli one day; hopefully it would be local!

Adam’s mom and dad, Joel and Christine, have been long-time members of Sha’aray Shalom. Adam grew up in our congregation, becoming a Bar Mitzvah during Rabbi Stephen Karol’s tenure, and in later years Rabbi Joseph and Cantor Weiss officiated at Keri’s conversion, their wedding and Benjamin’s baby naming.

A HEARTY WELCOME TO THE BERMAN FAMILY!

Introducing Peter and Rachel Philbin by Marylyn Schultz

Rachel grew up in Massachusetts, Peter in Vermont.  After living most recently in Chicago (three blocks from Wrigley Field), Rachel and Peter have returned to New England and currently live in Hanover with their seven-year-old daughter Fiona, and their 15-month-old son, JR (Joseph Richard).

Fiona, a second-grader at Hanover’s Center School, is enrolled in our Hebrew school. She loves art, animals, swimming, playing with friends, and is looking for a place to do Krav Maga, having earned her yellow belt back in Chicago. JR has just started walking and, using his new-found talent as an expert climber, is now a finder of all things dangerous and a master opener of cabinets and drawers. He likes to help clean house but has a “love-hate relationship with the vacuum cleaner.”

Peter spent 20+ years working in finance and is now a stay-at-home dad, while hoping to start a new degree program next fall.  Rachel is an attorney who represents large corporations in matters related to eDiscovery, information governance, and privacy.  She is also studying to be a CPA.

Peter and Rachel enjoy travelling.  They have been all over Europe, Israel, Belize, Chile, and Mexico. Closer to home, their next goals are the natural wonders of Alaska and the Grand Canyon.  They also love live music concerts; this past summer they enjoyed seeing The Grateful Dead and James Taylor.  In Chicago, they spent many sunny days on the beaches of Lake Michigan and now look forward to enjoying the same on the beaches of the South Shore.  They enjoy baseball and, in their own words, “while this may be blasphemy, we are Chicago Cubs fans and got to enjoy a front row seat to the revelry and celebration when they won the World Series. Two of us are also Red Sox fans…shhh.”

Rachel and Peter heard about Sha’aray Shalom from congregants Steve (Rachel’s brother) and Lisa Dehner.  A hearty welcome to the Philbin family!

Introducing Susan Kemen by Marylyn Schultz

A hearty welcome to Susan Kemen!  Susan is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, received a degree in Middle Childhood Education (Math and Science, Grades 4-9) from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, then attended a 2-year branch of University of Cincinnati to study chemistry before transferring to Northeastern University here in Boston to finish her degree in biochemistry.  Susan now lives in Quincy, working as a chemist for Haemonetics and drawing from her previous experience in quality control analysis and R&D for pharmaceutical companies.

Susan’s exposure to Judaism began in high school, when she sang the role of Chava in a local community production of “Fiddler On The Roof.” Her preparation for the role taught her enough to spark an interest. Exploring several different religions never offered a good match for Susan’s beliefs, that is until she found Judaism again as a young adult. Upon realizing that her values matched those of Judaism, Susan used Google to find reform synagogues on the South Shore, which led her to Sha’aray Shalom. Here she has found her religious home

Susan enjoys many interests, including scrapbooking, musicals and travel -- especially cruises. She is an avid “Star Trek” fan, and credits the show’s character Captain Kathryn Janeway for inspiring her own scientific pursuits.  Susan also loves to write, and published her first novel, Lioness, under the pen name Summer Jayne, 2011. Among her many hobbies is video production, which Susan first used to create digital scrapbooks but now uses to produce videos for Sha’aray Shalom’s very own YouTube channel.