Member Profile: Fred and Simcha (NanSea)

Meet Fred Moe and Simcha (NanSea) Griggs, who celebrated their first aliyot at BHC on September 30th.

            Fred and Simcha first attended BHC for Simchat Torah in 2018. Sid Regen welcomed them warmly and spoke with them before the service. The service was joyous and friendly. They decided, “This is it; this will be our shul.” But arriving at the decision to convert to Judaism and become a part of a synagogue was an exploration that took place over several years.

            “Something was awakened in us,” said Simcha (who’d like to be called by her new Hebrew name). “We both wanted to seek God in a conscious way.” In the beginning, this new feeling blossomed in each of them privately; the couple did not discuss it. Then, Fred said, “One evening I turned to NanSea as we were getting into bed. I said, ‘we’re meant to return to God. It’s time.’” She answered, “Yes!”

            Both had grown up in Christian homes, so they started their quest in a church. Quickly, they recognized “this is not what we’re looking for.” They began studying the Bible more closely, and, Fred explained, “that’s when we found the Torah. Everything made sense all at once, and we thought, wow, we have so much to discover here.”

            They lived in Warner at the time. They tried attending NH’s few shuls, which is how they happened on BHC, but distance made regular attendance difficult. So, they Zoomed into several online synagogues, learning along the way. These experiences confirmed their decision to become Jewish. In 2019, they made the trek to Temple Beth Jacob in Concord to study Hebrew for the year. Once the pandemic hit, they took an online course, Introduction to Judaism at B’nai Jeshurun, but didn’t finish their conversion at that time.

            They’d already decided BHC was where they felt most comfortable, but it’s a long haul from Warner to Bethlehem. Then, a remarkable thing happened. One day, Simcha, who for 18 years was a school bus driver, was backing her bus into her driveway. A man stopped his car and walked up to her. “I want to buy your house,” he declared. And just like that, they had the means to leave their home of 30 years for a house in Northumberland, about a 40-minute drive from BHC.

            Once settled, the couple contacted Rabbi Donna to finish their conversion. This summer, they were immersed in Rabbi Donna’s lake, and emerged as Jews ready for their first aliyot at their new Jewish home, BHC.

            Simcha is retired, following her artistic interests while at the same time still unpacking in their new home. Before school bus driving, she worked in human services for 14 years. She and Fred met when they were both working at the same agency. She completed a 4-year training program in healing in Florida, studying human energy consciousness. Their family includes her two boys from a previous relationship, the daughter she and Fred had together, and 6 grandchildren.

            Fred plans to retire in 2-6 months. Presently, he works for social services based in White River Junction. He has a degree in human services, and in his current job he counsels homeless and previously homeless people, trying to ensure they get to and stay in housing.

            Fred has been a DJ since 1976. He produces an international radio show on short wave frequencies called Imaginary Stations. He plays all genres of music. His show is broadcast all over the world, from Canada to Russia to Australia. When he retires, he looks forward to becoming even more involved in this hobby.