When one thinks of a synagogue, one most likely thinks about its Shabbat services, the rabbis and possibly its Hebrew school. Beth El Congregation, serving more than 1,500 families, has all of that and more, but it also has a unique Judaica shop managed and maintained solely by synagogue volunteers.
“I love the shop. It’s my home away from home, really. They tease that we have a bed in the closet,” said Susan Goldscher-Belle, co-manager of the Beth El Judaica shop.
Goldscher-Belle has been managing the store, which she says has become a social hall for congregants on occasion, since March of 2024, alongside Marsye Kaplan.
“We’re blessed that we have such a beautiful space. I know that many Judaica shops do not have that space,” said Kaplan. “We are able to display our items, and people can walk in and they can shmy (wander) and they can schmooze. That is our gift.”
According to Kaplan, the Judaica shop had two different starts, one of which was from her aunt in the 1960s. Kaplan told Baltimore Jewish Times that her uncle built a stand with two-by-fours, and her aunt would sell jewelry during the congregation’s brotherhood meetings.
Historically, the shop has carried general household items like serving trays and general jewelry, but Kaplan said there was a shift after Oct. 7.
“After Oct. 7, everything changed about the intensity and the focus of our beliefs and our faith and what we saw,” Kaplan explained. “So, we just said, ‘We are strictly Judaica,’ and even when we are purchasing items from some of the designers — some of the artisans, they have beautiful, beautiful items that are bowls and serving pieces — but unless it says ‘challah board,’ unless it has a direct connection to our traditions, it is not purchased [for] our shop.”
Some of the items sold in the store include mezuzahs, Shabbat candle holders and, the most unique item of the store, the Judaic kitchen shawls.
A kitchen shawl is a scarf-like towel one wears while cooking for drying hands or carrying hot pots and pans. Kaplan said she had seen kitchen shawls with Christmas patterns or nonreligious patterns, but never one with Judaic patterns. After searching for fabrics with Judaic patterns, Kaplan said she then found a seamstress. Today, the Judaic kitchen shawls are on display and available for purchase exclusively at the Beth El Judaica shop.
For both Kaplan and Goldscher-Belle, the most important part of the shop is the connections it creates between Beth El members and the congregation. “We have families and kids that walk by the shop, that stop in the shop, that browse, that chat,” said Kaplan. “We establish a relationship with [them], so that when it’s time for their b’nai mitzvah, they feel comfortable coming in to buy that important tallit.”
Beth El Congregation also has many interfaith marriages, and Kaplan said the store has been a hub for education on many Jewish traditions.
“[Congregants are] learning more about traditions, or they’re deciding to embrace the tradition in their homes, as opposed to their parents’ homes,” said Kaplan. “We have many families that are mixed marriages, and the non-Jewish spouse will come … and I’ve had family members that have said, ‘I will be back because we’re going to start lighting Shabbat candles,’ and it’s beautiful.”
For the co-managers, seeing their customers happy gives them the motivation to continue managing the shop.
“Our customer service is so good. I mean, we’re not being paid for this, we’re volunteers,” said Goldscher-Belle. “People tell us how happy they are and how wonderful we are that we accommodate them.”
“I don’t even know how many times we hear how beautiful the shop looks, how wonderful the selection is and how happy people are with the service that they’re getting,” added Kaplan. “You know, when you have a job, [if] somebody tells you you’re doing a great job, what do you do? You slack off? No, you do it better.”
