JUNE 15, 2017 – 21 SIVAN, 5777 JEWISHVOL 41, NO 23 JOURNAL JEWISHJOURNAL.ORG Chelsea’s historic Walnut Street Tribe for Pride Shul preserves a future to march in By Shelley A. Sackett Salem parade JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT By Shelley A. Sackett CHELSEA – The 10 Chelsea JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT families who founded the Orthodox Congregation Agudath SALEM – The sixth annual North Shore Pride Shalom in 1897 had no idea they Parade will wind its way through Salem on Saturday, had erected their synagogue in June 24, and for the first time, there will be an offi- a city that would soon be home cial Jewish group participating. to the largest percentage of Jews Even though the parade takes place on Shabbat, in the United States except for the Jewish day of rest, 30 people have commit- New York. ted to marching under a banner that identifies In 1890, 82 Jews lived in the group as the “Jew(ish) Tribe for Pride,” and Chelsea. By 1910, that number includes the logos of its sponsors, Newton-based had swelled to 11,000 – one out InterfaithFamily and Cohen Hillel Academy in of every three residents – as Jews Marblehead. from Russia and Eastern Europe It all started at last year’s parade, when Laura fled oppression and poverty and Shulman Brochstein, Rabbi Jillian Cameron, and came to America in search of a Liz Polay-Wettengel marched with their families. better life. By 1930, almost half They were chatting on Salem Common, where the of Chelsea was Jewish, earning parade ends, lamenting the lack of visibility from it the moniker, “Yerushalayim the Jewish community. d’America.” In its 1.8 square They figured the likely reason was that the event miles, Chelsea had 18 syna- took place on Shabbat. gogues. “Because of our collective professional experi- When the Great Chelsea Fire ence working for Jewish organizations over the of 1908 reduced most of the city – including Agudath Shalom – to ashes, the shul’s immigrant founders were undaunted. They rolled up their sleeves and in 1909 rebuilt the synagogue on Walnut Street, which inspired the new building’s nickname, the Walnut Street Shul. Designed by architect Harry Photo by Devra Sari Zabot continued on page 15 Rabbi Lila Kagedan on the bima of the historic Walnut Street Shul in Chelsea. Three Marblehead congregations take the refugee crisis into their own hands Members of Beverly’s Temple B’nai Abraham at last year’s North Shore Pride Parade in Salem. By Deahn Berrini Leblang JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT years, we knew that for many, this was the barrier for participation,” said Polay-Wettengel, who lives MARBLEHEAD – Early last year, Maria fled in Salem and is national director of marketing and political violence in her Caribbean country, her communications at InterfaithFamily. infant in tow. Brochstein is a social worker from Marblehead She flew to Miami and made her way up the and the North Shore outreach manager for Jewish East Coast, a journey that included a grueling Family & Children’s Service, based in Waltham. stint in a tomato field that left burns on her skin Rabbi Cameron, of Salem, is the director of from contact with pesticides. By October, she InterfaithFamily/Boston, headquartered in Newton. was in Malden, friendless, homeless, and too “We thought, ‘What if we marched as individuals scared to return to her country. (Her name and and not as an organization?’” Polay-Wettengel said. some details have been changed to protect her Over lunch one day, the three decided they identity; her family back home is still in danger.) wanted their LGBTQ friends to know that the Jewish Meanwhile, motivated in part by the refugee community supported them. crisis exploding in Europe and a crisis of fear The three women organized an independent at home, three Marblehead congregations – Jewish group, called Jew(ish) Tribe for Pride, creat- Temple Emanu-El, the Old North Church, and ing an opportunity for North Shore Jews to march the Church of St. Andrew – began meeting last together, regardless of institutional or rabbinical summer to discuss the possibility of sponsoring support or opinions. refugees. As a rabbi, and a member of the LGBTQ commu- Photo by Deahn Berrini Leblang Their first meeting fit easily around a small nity, Cameron can’t think of a better way to spend IT TAKES A VILLAGE: Maria, Marcy Bernstein (Temple Emanu-El), Laurel Dolan (Temple Emanu-El), Sheila Benger (Church of St. Andrew), table in Temple Emanu-El’s library. By their Shabbat. “For me, this is a sacred act, an act of and Judy Beals (Church of St. Andrew). continued on page 15 continued on page 8 NMLS# 198524 A LOW RATE FOR YOUR BIG DREAMS. Federally insured by NCUA Member MSIC Metro’s Home Equity Line of Credit APR* APR* 1.99% 3.50% Intro rate through Prime minus 0.50% To apply, visit metrocu.org/HELOCspecial 6/30/18 for the life of the loan after intro rate or call 877-628-5626. *Annual Percentage Rate (APR) 1.99% as of 6/1/17 is fixed through 06/30/18. 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NMLS# 198524 The Jewish Journal is a nonprofit newspaper supported by generous readers, committed advertisers and organizations. Email [email protected]. 2 THE JEWISH JOURNAL – JEWISHJOURNAL.ORG – JUNE 15, 2017 Allen’s ascent n a recent morning, the through songs like “The Greasy wind was whipping off Pole Boogie Woogie,” “I Ain’t Othe docks on Rogers No Saint,” and “We All Walk Street in Gloucester, and the Together.” gusts rattled the windows of a These days, he’s getting downtown bistro where Henry ready to present the sixth Allen was sipping his coffee. revival of “Greasy Pole, the Allen, who is 51, stroked his Musical,” which will run from mutton chops and patted the June 23 through July 9 at Allen’s head of his dog, Flat Stanley. North Shore Folklore Theatre Allen, like so many Jews on Company on Main Street. Cape Ann, loves his adopted “Even though this story is so city, which he first visited as an uniquely Gloucester, it’s a uni- art student 35 years ago. Back versal story that anyone who is then he vowed to set down roots a child of immigrants can relate here, and eight years ago – after to,” he said. his son Cameron died of can- The musical has earned acco- cer at age 13 – Allen loaded up lades from locals and profes- his car, drove from his home sional actors. After the first show in Minnesota to Cape Ann, and in 2011, Allen found Norwegian stayed. actress Liv Ullmann sitting by “Cameron and I had always herself and wiping away tears. talked about when he was done “I came over and sat next to with high school that we would her and she was weeping,” said move to Gloucester and start Allen. “I took her hand and she some kind of creative retreat just kept saying over and over, ‘It together,” said Allen, the son of was so real, it was so real.’” a US diplomat, who grew up in Allen hopes to continue Austria, Peru, Brazil, Cuba, and Photo by Steven A. Rosenberg/Journal Staff working on projects at his the- the former Soviet Union. “A lot Henry Allen at the Folklore Theatre Company in Gloucester. ater, and finding ways to honor of people have felt this powerful his late son. He lives modestly draw to Gloucester. It could be he said. “I eventually met my out, and he decided to focus on to the shaft before falling into in downtown Gloucester, and the granite in the earth, or the neighbors and as it turned out, history and folklore. the water. much of his food comes from a powerful tide. Its history was all of them had lost children. I One of his first original When he first heard about the local pantry. He feels at ease in huge to me.” found people right in the middle musicals would be based on contest, he made his way down this city, where the loss of the The writer, performer, and of my immediate sphere who Gloucester’s greasy pole contest, to the Fort, an area first set- thousands of fishermen at sea director changed his last name spoke the same language, and held every year in the city dur- tled by Sicilian fishing families is never too far from people’s to Allen when he started his act- we would get together and talk ing the St. Peter’s Fiesta in June. last century. He began asking minds.