The Nierenbergs joined Beth El at about the same time that Rabbi and Sylvia came to the congregation and throughout the years, we had so many opportunities to learn from both their teaching and their modeling of how to live a life full of acts of lovingkindess. In the early years, Rabbi Orenstein led the Young Couples Club in studying Pirkei Avot, and we learned that to grow in our practice of Judiasm, we should try performing just one mitzvah at a time. If it wasn’t working for us, he taught that, rather than give up, we could place that mitzvah on a lower rung of the ladder and move on to another. His sermons on Shabbat morning usually gave us a teaching that helped us become better people in the week ahead. A memorable act of lovingkindness that Rabbi Orenstein performed for our family occurred when he appeared at the hospital with his newspaper on the morning of Arnie’s open heart surgery. He was prepared to remain with Arnie until he went into the operating room, and indeed, he sat with him outside the operating room until the nurse came over to ask if they were finished praying so Arnie could be prepared for surgery! What a comfort it was for us to have him there at that stressful time!
Claire and Arnie Nierenberg
By: Claire & Arnie Nierenberg