Meryl Raskin

WHY WL? – From Mid-Atlantic Region

I grew up in an Orthodox family in Providence, RI. My father, an attorney, was a founder and first president of the Orthodox Providence Hebrew Day School. He and a few other men founded the school in 1947 so their children would have a safe place to learn. My two older brothers were born in 1940 and 1943, I was born in 1945, and my younger brother was born in 1946. My oldest brother had started in public school but was very uncomfortable there, so that was the motivation for founding Providence Hebrew Day School.

PHDS, as we called it, grew slowly, but we had excellent teachers for Hebrew and secular subjects. The first home for the school was in an old house where my mother and some other women came every day to prepare a hot lunch. We recited the full Birkat Hamazon after every lunch. Where my family went to shul was less important than where our school was. There were several Orthodox shuls within walking distance of our home. The Ladies’ Association of PHDS ran many activities. My family pretty much lived at the school. There began to be many conflicts at the school; I don’t really know what that was about, but twice my parents wanted to remove me from PHDS and send me to the Henry Barnard School, a lab school from Rhode Island College of Education, but we waited until the end of summer and there was no room at Henry Barnard for any more students in our grades. PHDS went through sixth grade, but I left after fifth grade and went to public school, John Howland Elementary School, where one of my classmates was Bob Alper, who became a Reform Rabbi/comedian and is still a friend.

We lived on the East Side of Providence, one of the heavily Jewish neighborhoods where most of my school friends went to Conservative Temple Emanu-El or Reform Temple Beth-El. I was not involved in any of the youth organizations because they were from the Conservative or Reform synagogues. I wasn’t invited to any of the B’nai Mitzvot of my friends because I didn’t go to their Hebrew schools. I did not have a Bat Mitzvah. My brothers all had their B’nai Mitzvah in the house we moved into in 1953. The Shabbat morning service was held in two rooms, one for the men and one for the women. After college in Providence, I moved to Philadelphia as a single woman and started going to Conservative services. I worked full-time but arranged to leave work early on Fridays, make up the time on other days, and continue to be observant. I’ve always kept kosher and for quite a few years I’ve been pescatarian.

In 1970 I married a Jewish man, Ray Raskin, who was not from an observant family. His Bar Mitzvah had been in an Orthodox shul on 41st St. and Girard Ave. in West Philly, a few doors from his family home. We went to Rhode Island for all holidays until our kids were too old to miss school. Then we joined a Conservative temple in the Philly suburbs. We have four sons who are now 51, 49, 47, and 45. They each became a Bar Mitzvah at the Norristown Jewish Community Center or its successor, Tiferet Bet Israel (TB)I of Blue Bell. I started working full-time in 1986, just before our oldest son’s Bar Mitzvah. I became Sisterhood President there from 2000-2002 and then Synagogue President from 2009-2011. My job in Plymouth Meeting was about halfway between our home in King of Prussia, and TBI. I put a lot of miles on my car. Our oldest son went to the community day school Akiba Hebrew Academy from 6th grade through 12th, graduating with Governor Josh Shapiro in 1991. My husband, an alumnus of Central High School in Philadelphia, was not in favor of private school but we agreed to let our oldest stay there while the next three went to Upper Merion Area High School and were confirmed at TBI. All of that happened while Hebrew School was two weekdays, Sunday morning, and junior congregation almost every Saturday. Hebrew School took priority over sports. I have always supported my shul’s activities.

After my husband died almost five years ago, I started to clean out my house, downsizing to a condo in Bala Cynwyd. I joined Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley and attend minyan there almost every day. Zoom is handy but I prefer to be in person. My mother, of blessed memory, knew I was going to a Conservative shul, but she was fine with it. My three brothers are all still Orthodox and some may be disappointed but I’m fine with my life. I can still read Hebrew, daven, etc. I used to read Torah, but I’ve lost that skill. There are plenty of people at Har Zion who can do it all. I’ve been a Torah Fund benefactor for many years. Am Yisrael Chai!

Meryl Raskin
Har Zion Temple, Penn Valley, PA