Six Years In and More to Do - Dave Goldstone on JFNH and the Hidden Yidden of the North Country
Dave Goldstone, the only person looking at the camera, with other board members, at JFNH Annual Meeting
photo by Michel Adler
By Dave Goldstone, BHC co-president and JFNH board member
Seven years ago, at the end of one of BHC's Sounds in the Sanctuary concerts, I was approached by the chair of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire (JFNH) Board, Jeff Crocker, who was impressed with our congregation and programs. He asked if I would join the JFNH Board.
Prior to joining the JFNH Board, I had been called to officiate a Jewish graveside service in Berlin, NH. At the time, I was unaware that there were any synagogues or Jewish cemeteries in Berlin (actually there were two). That's when I found out that the Funds left for maintenance of the Jewish Cemetery were dwindling. There was some attempt to turn over the Cemetery to the JFNH but nothing came of it. Presently that cemetery was turned over to the town of Berlin, where it is fenced off and barely maintained.
Since I joined the JFNH Board, we have established a statewide Cemetery Committee and recently took ownership of the former Temple Meyer David Cemetery in Claremont, NH, where NH residents may purchase cemetery plots from the non-profit organization that owns and manages the cemetery. I am one of four members of that board, along with Harry Shepler, JFNH Board member and treasurer.
During my six years as a JFNH Board member, I set up a Social Services Committee with Mel Spierer, MSW JFNH Consulting Social Worker, with a hotline to attend to Social Services including:
Food and shelter
Unemployment
Medical & drug costs
Spousal or parental or child abuse
Drug or alcohol addiction
Mental health
Children with learning and emotional and physical disabilities
Legal aid, incarceration
Senior care, dementia
Police matters
I have also served on the JFNH Campaign and Finance Committee, and was the vice chair during Ken Litvak's chairmanship.
Through JFNH, BHC secured a "mini grant" to kick off the establishment of the White Mountain Jewish Film Festival and, most recently, received a similar grant to help cover expenses for this summer’s "Bread and Torah" weekend with Rabbis Rubenstein and Motzkin.
BHC Members have been awarded Shem Tov awards by the JFNH. We have participated the "Shlichut" Israeli Emissaries program, which brought Sclichut to the Bethlehem Jewish Community. JFNH has supported and contributed to BHC's Annual Holocaust Memorial Services. BHC member Michel Adler is an active participant and member of the JFNH Holocaust Committee.
By joining JFNH as a board member and participating in JFNH programs, BHC and the Jewish Communities of the North Country are no longer the "hidden yidden" of the White Mountains; we have become important members of JFNH's "Jewish New Hampshire".