It takes a great deal of dedication to stick with a job for 50 years.
That dedication, and a love of the community, is what has kept Yvonne Epstein working as a receptionist at Beth El Congregation since 1973. The Reisterstown resident, 76, is being honored at an upcoming special oneg at the synagogue on June 16.
Epstein first became the synagogue’s receptionist after seeing an advertisement the synagogue placed in the Baltimore Sun’s classified section in search of a candidate to fill the position. She called the listed number and scheduled an interview for the job.
“The rest is history,” Epstein said.
Before working at Beth El, Epstein had been a receptionist for the Naval Ordnance Test Unit in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Her former husband was in the Air Force and had been stationed in Florida, which led her to seek work as a government employee.
When she and her husband separated, Epstein was searching for a job that would be able to accommodate her and her new circumstances. When she returned to Baltimore, where she had grown up, she found that Beth El was up to the task.
“I was newly separated, and I had two small children,” Epstein recalled. “It was at a time when employers wouldn’t necessarily want to place a woman with two small children in their establishment.”
Over the course of her tenure at Beth El, Epstein has seen the synagogue grow from a community of 800 families to one of over 1700. While there have been many changes she has had to get used to over the course of her career, such as the introduction of computers, she said that much of what she likes about working there has remained the same.
“The feeling at Beth El has always stayed the same,” she said. “It’s just a very caring and warm place to be employed.”
Epstein recalled that, after she had been working at the synagogue for two or three years, she was approached with an offer for another government job. She ultimately turned it down, though, because she enjoyed working at Beth El, and because her children were enrolled in its Hebrew school at the time. She did not know if she and her children would receive the same accommodations under a government position, and Beth El’s environment was different from the government work she had done in the past.
Her children have long since grown up, but Epstein has continued to work there. She has been a staple at the synagogue and a constant for its other staff.
“She was my first friend,” said Ben Kreshtool, Beth El Congregation’s ritual director. Kreshtool started working at the synagogue nine years ago. “She was the first person I met when I was interviewing for the job, and she immediately made me feel welcome at Beth El. One of the things I most look forward to about coming into work is getting to spend time with Yvonne.”
Kreshtool has worked with Epstein for the entirety of the time he has worked at Beth El, and he said that she is a comforting presence in the office. He added that an event celebrating her contributions to the synagogue is “long overdue.”
“Fifty years working in the same synagogue is almost unheard of,” he added. “The amount of institutional knowledge she has and the way she is with our families makes everyone feel welcome and comfortable. She’s really such an asset to all of us at Beth El.”
Outside of her work, Epstein said that she enjoys staying active, going to concerts with her husband and visiting her grandchildren. At the moment, she has no plans to stop working as Beth El’s receptionist and will continue to do so as long as she is healthy.
“I’ve been in every corner of the building,” she said. “My old boss used to say that they built the building around me. I’m fortunate to be here, and as long as people want me, I’ll be here.”
