Rabbi Lester B. Bronstein Named President of the New York Board of Rabbis
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Bet Am Shalom synagogue announced that its spiritual leader, Rabbi Lester B. Bronstein, has been named the new president of the New York Board of Rabbis, the largest interdenominational rabbinic body in the world. Bronstein will be formally installed as president on the evening of October 25, 2018, at Bet Am Shalom, 295 Soundview Avenue, White Plains, NY.
The evening will include special guest speaker Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman,Ph.D., professor at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), and eminent author, scholar and teacher. A festive dessert reception will follow the installation. The installation is open to the public but advanced registration is requested: NYBR RSVP
The New York Board of Rabbis has more than 750 rabbis from all denominations of Judaism as members, including many hundreds of rabbis from far beyond the New York area. The New York Board of Rabbis is the largest interdenominational rabbinic body in the world where unity of spirit and diversity of thought support one another. The group helps create the possibility of Jewish unity beyond differences of practice, philosophy, and belief.
“Rabbi Bronstein’s selection is a high honor, both for him and for us, said Ilene Semiatin, president, Bet Am Shalom synagogue. “We are extremely proud that our community’s spiritual leader has been chosen for this
prestigious post.”
Bet Am Shalom, a Reconstructionist synagogue, is a vibrant, egalitarian congregation of families and individuals from diverse backgrounds, bound together by a shared belief in a thoughtful and progressive approach to Judaism.
For more information, go to https://betamshalom.org/.
Photo Opps from Fountain Six, LWVS, a Congressional Candidate and a Bake Sale
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Fountain Six kids at Wilkens OrchardThe students of Fountain Six at Scarsdale Middle School took a trip to Wilkens Orchard in Yorktown on Friday October 5 for a day of team building to launch the house’s new core advisory initiative. Kids picked apples, decorated pumpkins, got lost in the corn maze, and were treated to apple cider and donuts. Lots of fun!
Photo from Lisa Bryan and the Fountain team.
Village Trustee Justin Arest at the LWVS Membership CoffeeThe League of Women Voters of Scarsdale held their annual membership coffee at the home of Janice Starr on Tuesday October 9. Members of the league and prospective members shared information on the work of the league and heard comments from Village Trustee Justin Arest. The League will welcome Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Linda Greenhouse to their food for thought Luncheon on Thursday November 1 at Scarsdale Golf Club. Greenhouse will speak about the Supreme Court and the recent nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. The public is invited. Click here for tickets: www.lwvs.org/Events.html.
Suzanne Seiden and Lauren UnderwoodCongressional Candidate for the 14th district in eastern Illinois Lauren Underwood greeted supporters at the home of Suzanne Seiden on Wednesday October 10. Underwood, a 32 year-old nurse from Naperville, IL won the 2018 Democratic primary with 57% of the vote, earning more votes than all six f her primary opponents combined. She served as a senior advisor in the US Department of Health and Human Services under President Obama and was inspired to run to help her constituents get the healthcare they need. Her opponent, Randy Hultgren is self-proclaimed Tea Party Conservative who voted with President Trump 95% of the time.
Pro-active, optimistic and smart, Underwood raised $2 million in the third quarter and is still fundraising to pay for her media campaign. Learn more and contribute at UnderwoodforCongress.com.
The office of Houlihan Lawrence in Scarsdale held a bake on Wednesday October 10 to benefit the American Breast Cancer Society.
Former Scarsdale Mayor Beverley Sved Passes Away at Age 74
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Beverley Sved, (1944 - 2018) former Mayor of Scarsdale, died unexpectedly on the morning of September 22nd of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at the age of 74. In addition to being Mayor (2003-2005), Beverley served in many Scarsdale and Westchester County organizations over the years. She was the recipient of the 2018 Scarsdale Bowl Award in commemoration of her extraordinary service to the community.
Beverley is survived by her husband, Paul, and two sisters. The family has chosen to hold a private ceremony.
Here is some background on Bev from an account of the 2018 Scarsdale Bowl Award Ceremony:
Beverley Sved’s long resume of volunteerism began with service on her neighborhood association in 1988 and from there took her to more volunteer roles than can be listed here, but included two terms as Scarsdale Village Trustee, Scarsdale Mayor, The Village Planning Board and ten years on the board of the Scarsdale Foundation. There is almost no community organization that she didn’t touch, serving on the Scarsdale Forum, the Scarsdale Procedure Committee, Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling, the LWV of Westchester and the Westchester County Historical Society and many more.
Most notable was her ability as Mayor to forge consensus on a contentious downtown development project on Christie Place, which resulted in the Christie Place apartments, retail spaces and parking, now enjoyed by so many.
Speakers at the Bowl ceremony noted her intelligence and problem solving skills, which may have been a result of her engineering prowess. Bev was one of only six women to graduate from Renssselaer Polytechnic Institute and enjoyed a long career at IBM as a system engineer, analyst and corporate strategist. She was also credited for her wry sense of humor.
Explaining why she volunteered, Sved said, “Volunteering has given me so much more than it has taken from me in time, attention, and yes a few stress-filled nights (hello Christie Place). I have been blessed to use my skills to solve problems, to mediate disputes, to take risks in areas that would otherwise never be open to me, and to develop long-term friendships with some pretty remarkable people. Along the way I gathered really great stories… most of which I can’t tell.”
Add a commentThis Week in Photos
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Photo taken Saturday September 29 at Franklin & Marshall vs. Muhlenberg football game. Scarsdale reunion on the college field. From right to left Harrison Wirth, Rippy Phillips, Matthew Gliatta and Nick Leone. Rippy coached all of them in middle school and high school and is a Franklin & Marshall alum.
The library loft at Supply Field is open and busy while Scarsdale’s Library is under renovation. We stopped by and found Library Director Elizabeth Bermel and librarian Wendy Archer who was helping patrons access free content on their own devices. There are new books, audio books, great wifi and workspace. The children’s room has a great selection so stop in and see the new building.
Chefs Heather and Scott Fratangelo cooked a delicious dinner for guests at the Westchester Community College Great Chefs Culinary and Wine Event Series on Monday night October 1st. Students from the college’s culinary program assisted and served cauliflower rice and quinoa salad, sweet potato gnocchi with maple brown butter and escarole and 
L’Inizio caramel apples. The event raised funds for the WCC Foundation which provides scholarships to WCC students and stocks an on campus food pantry.
The Scarsdale Girls Varsity A Soccer team triumphed over rivals New Rochelle 3 t 1 n Saturday September 29. Photo credit: Jon Thaler. See more photos here:
Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service Receives National Accreditation
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Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service (SFCS) announced today that it has received national accreditation as a provider of professional counseling services and programs. The accreditation status, granted by the Council on Accreditation (COA), recognizes SFCS as a premier mental health counseling agency delivering services to children, teens, families and the elderly. Since 1992, SFCS has voluntarily sought national accreditation which includes a triennial audit of the agency's programs, services, procedures, staffing qualifications and financial practices, all of which must demonstrate that they are operating in accordance with best practice standards.
"We are proud and honored to be recognized by the Council as an agency that delivers the highest quality of services to the residents and stakeholders of the Scarsdale community," said James Genova, SFCS Executive Director. “Being granted national accreditation by COA reflects the high quality of our therapists and the programs and services they deliver."
The Council on Accreditation accredits the full continuum of child welfare, behavioral health, and community-based social services. COA accreditation signifies that an organization or program is effectively managing its resources and providing the best possible services to all of its stakeholders.
Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service is a voluntary, not-for-profit family counseling agency, established in 1920. Its mission is to be a center for family growth and learning, where families, couples and individuals can find help with normal problems of daily living, as well as with crises. The Agency seeks: to enhance the functioning of the family and its individual members through family life education; to stimulate social thinking and positive social behavior; and to cooperate with other organizations for this purpose. Professional staff are licensed in New York State as providers of mental health services.
SFCS offers community-based behavioral health care for individuals, couples and families who are coping with: life-stage transitions; anxiety; depression; relationship issues; parent-adolescent conflict; divorce and remarriage; career changes; grief and bereavement. The Agency's programs include: the Youth Services Project which places a team of Youth Outreach Workers in the middle and high schools as resources for adolescents and parents; leadership development programs for young women and men; facilitated grade-level support groups for parents of 5th through 12th graders; facilitated support groups for parents of children with special needs; and aging in place services and programs that address the evolving challenges of our older residents who wish to remain in their homes and within the community.
For more information, about these programs and services https://www.sfcsinc.org/, e-mail info@sfcsinc.org or call (914) 723-3281.
