Spotlight

Mark and Elayna Kaye Mark is from South Africa and has lived all over the world. Elayna is a bit more local, having grown up in West Hartford and been a member of Beth David all of her life. They have 3 kids: Jonah, Julian, and Miriam, who was born just a few months ago. Jonah and Julian love to play soccer outside. These days, Miriam is mostly busy sleeping. As a family, the Kayes enjoy exploring children's museums, playing arcade games, watching cooking shows, and having Shabbat dinner with Savta Robyn and Zaidy Harry (Weller).

Larry and Leah Berson are both from Long Island and met in college at Binghamton University. Larry works as an orthopedic surgeon and Leah is a full-time volunteer at Solomon Schechter, where she runs the school lunch program and many other yearly events. They have lived in West Hartford for the past 19 years and have four boys, Jared, Matthew, Spencer, and Harris. They can be spotted driving around town in their mini van, with the hard-to-miss license plate "OHBOYZ". They enjoy traveling as a family, and can usually be found on Cape Cod, at the Atlantis, or in Israel. When they are not traveling for leisure, they are traveling to support their favorite sports teams. Recent adventures include the World Series, the Rose Bowl, the Final Four, and the World Cup.

Sam and Jenna Englender Sam and Jenna just moved to West Hartford in June. Jenna is the new Director of Outreach at Beth David and a fourth year student at Yeshivat Maharat. Sam is the Director of Pastoral Care at the Hebrew Home. Their daughter Maya is almost 1 and loves waving hi and bye, while her mom Jenna is into knitting, reading Harry Potter, and Netflixing. When Sam isn’t traveling the world (he has lived in Israel and South America) he enjoys basketball, juggling, and learning languages.

Alyssa and Joel Norwood have been part of the Beth David community since they moved to West Hartford in 2004. They are spiritual seekers, yoga practitioners, bread bakers, and lovers of all things outdoors, especially hiking, biking and vegetable gardening. They met their freshman year of college at Harvard Hillel and have been wildly ecstatic and deeply grateful that they found each other ever since. Joel is a lawyer at the Connecticut Department of Social Services where he works on Medicaid policy. Alyssa is a lawyer and project manager at Eastern Connecticut State University for a sustainability certification program for cities and towns. She also recently completed training as an end-of-life doula.
     Their three children are Eliot (age 10), Clara (age 7), and Amy (age 4). Eliot is a violist and aspires to be the first New England Patriots quarterback with smicha. Clara is a pianist and artist and hopes to found a pioneering new school with more time outside, more active encouragement of emotional release, and a later start time in the morning. Amy is a swimmer and aspiring doctor, tending to the many injuries of her accident-prone dolls and stuffed animals.

Christina and Jonathan moved to West Hartford shortly after their wedding in 2016. Jonathan has a dual MA from Gratz College in Jewish Education and Jewish Communal Service. He is currently working as a Mashgiach at Crown Market and teaching religious school at Beth El. Christina is finishing her MEd in Social Justice Education from UMass Amherst.
     They are both huge Harry Potter fans. In fact, Christina required that Jonathan read all seven books in order to date her! Jonathan later proposed to Christina at Harry Potter World at Universal Studios in Orlando.