Murray Siegel (far left) and Lester and Linda Czupa look on as the Friedmans kvell over the rededication sign.
Congregation Ariel hosted a sold-out tribute gala for 375 on May 18 to honor Rabbi Binyomin and Morah Dena Friedman on their 30-plus-year journey of building a vibrant, thriving synagogue and Torah study center, literally from the ground up.
Beginning at 5 p.m., major donors gathered for a gold ribbon cutting ceremony of the renovated Beis Midrash (Kollel Dome) which has been renamed in their honor.
At the ribbon cutting, incoming congregation president, Gabe Lembeck, thanked the Friedmans for their Torah wisdom, chesed and guidance bestowed upon the community so appropriately associated with the Beis Midrash. He acknowledged that the Torah was itself the center of learning "even as far as Shanghai."
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He stated, "The generations that have been influenced by the Friedmans transcend time and physical space." Two founders, Lester Czuper and Murray Siegel, mingled as Linda Czuper recalled starting Ariel in their sunroom in 1991.
Weekend event chair Adrienne Litt-Bishko stated that the organizers, including Julie Rice, Robyn Regenbaum (remotely from Israel) and Cory Shaw, planned the event over nine months. A myriad of volunteers, including Sydne Cooper and Beth Valenta, made the event a success. Rice told the AJT that the program would have "lots of fun secret surprises for the rabbi."
Rabbi Daniel Freitag served as emcee. Current Ariel President Josh Bahkshi compared the Friedmans to "figurative parents where the family shares, learns and mourns together."
Rabbi Ilan Feldman of Congregation Beth Jacob was emotional when sharing the Freidmans' accomplishments from making the Beis Midrash "the best South of the Mason Dixon line" to the Friedmans' "sublime Friday night dinners where Shabbos arrived in Dunwoody."
He acknowledged Morah Dena, a kindergarten teacher at Torah Day School for more than 30 years, for being a role model to all. "We are all in your class and never want to graduate."
Rabbi Menachem Deutsch, founder of the Atlanta Scholars Kollel, also honored the Friedmans for their life's work and praised Rabbi Friedman as a Torah educator and historian.
Rabbi Boruch Neuberger from Ner Yisroel Rabbinical College, where many of Atlanta's Orthodox rabbis are trained, explained the importance of quality over volume akin to the Shmita years. He noted that the Friedmans started with little and built a legacy.
As emcee, Rabbi Freitag did a fun gig with the Hebrew letters Feh and Peh since almost all Ariel rabbis have last names beginning with those letters. He also played a series of hysterical mock recordings left on the rabbi's voicemail prior to Shabbos requesting a call back.
"The dog ate both lasagna and meat, what should I do?"
The Kollel rabbis dressed "Fiddler on the Roof" style and serenaded the Friedmans with special lyrics to the tune of "Tradition."
A charming YouTube video recaptured old footage of the rabbi and Morah Freidman in a pretend tug-of-war as she was carted off to Dunwoody in a station wagon resisting the move to the new community, sheitel in tow.
Concluding the program, a composed but moved Rabbi Friedman began, "If I knew retiring was going to be this much fun, I would have done it earlier."
Like McArthur and Churchill, he said old rabbis never die but fade away. He acknowledged Rabbi Deutsch for loaning his personal credit card to start the fledgling congregation decades ago and thanked a long list of mentors. Rabbi Friedman noted that he had appeared in dozens of Kollel song performances, but never as an observer. He thanked his family and especially wife, Dena, "You'd have to be on a spaceship from Mars to not have known what Dena has done ... I couldn't be fired because she was so outstanding."
He noted that when addressing the congregation, he would check her facial gestures to assess if he said anything questionable. On a serious note, he was sure footed about his role in creating "spiritual tension" and causing a little discomfort in order for congregants to grow.
Search committee co-chair Steve Mendel told the AJT that Rabbi Pincus Fink, a native of Highland Park, N.J., will assume the lead rabbinical position at Congregation Ariel.