If you're a former member of our Young Israel of Brookline or simply joining us for Shabbat services, we'd like to hear from you! So, take a moment and add your comments to our Guest Book.

Young Israel of Brookline
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Thanks for visiting our website. - We welcome your feedback!

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We just got back home after spending a wonderful Shabbos weekend in your community. We were especially impressed with the website you have. It was so helpful for us in planning our trip both with sites to see, places to buy food, restaurants and in setting us up for Shabbos lunch. We had a great time in your beautiful Shul & at Chaya & Zev London's home for lunch. Thanks again!

We will remember your community and the Hospitality Program with very warm and nostalgic feelings and are looking forward to be one of your guests again in the future whenever we will pass again by Boston land. Please give my best appreciation to the Lazkron and the Cerns for their kindness.

I just discovered your wonderful web site. We joined the shul as newlyweds and lived in Brookline from 1958-1963, and then returned for the year of 69-70. Joel died in 1991, but we had wonderful memories of the unique Brookline shul and its Jewish community. Best wishes for much Hatzlacha!

YI of Brookline is definitely one of the best shule websites in the USA.

Glad to see Yiddishkeit in Brookline strong. Good to see familiar names in the guest book!

I'm proud to see the community my grandparents Betty & Walter Hauser Z"l were so deeply involved in is stronger then ever and growing. May you all have a Shana Tova and a Gmar Chatima Tova. Next Year in Jerusalem!

I have just seen your site on the net and also read with great interest about your community. I live in a similar community in a suburb of Cape Town South Africa. This email brings with my greetings to you all for a SHANA TOVA, and an end to your problems of which are very aware via CNN and other broadcasts. May god bless and keep you all.

A friend just sent me Shabbat greetings, and I'm delighted with your e-card service, and to read the Jerusalem Post for a better slant than NYTimes or MSN News. Just returned from Israel, and though life goes on daily, the people are under a heavy burden of constant tension. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem."

In June 2001, a friend from Israel named Joel Marks and I spent a long weekend in Boston. In planning our Shabbat arrangements, we were pleased to find local people (most of whom are affiliated with Young Israel) who were exceptionally gracious about fulfilling the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, and we had a wonderful time in your beautiful community. Amy Waren hosted us for dinner on Friday night and Vivi and Nahi Simon hosted us for lunch on Saturday. Alex Segal and his roommate Jonathan were excellent hosts, even though they had never met either of us before. On Sunday we joined Alex on a group outing to the Minute Man Park. We arrived at the park via canoe along the Concord River. Alex's knowledge of the local area contributed to a scenic as well as an historic outing for the day. I am certain that Joel and I will retain many pleasant memories of our hosts, the entire Brookline kehillah, and our overall visit to Boston for a long time to come.

We recently visited our son Ariel Weindling and his wife Sarah who are living in Boston and are members of YI of Brookline. We enjoyed very much the Davening and the Drasha by your guest speaker, Rabbi Twersky, on Shabbat. We hope to visit you again.

Just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated viewing your website. My husband will be taking a business trip to your area, and your page listing all the Orthodox minyanim in Brookline and their times, is very, very helpful!

You have a wonderful website, and I, as a technological timid, who finds websites confusing with too many instructions and too many choices, think that the YI one is clear, welcoming, and useful.

Hi everyone out there...Just wanted to say hi and wish you all our best.

Just spent two wonderful shabbatot in Brookline with the family, and of course davened in the Young Israel. It was great to see the "old timers" and re-new our kesher with former Brookline friends. Please keep in touch through email.

I just wanted to complement you on a terrific web site. I have been making many trips to Brookline recently and have found the site very helpful. Thanks!

I just happened to stumble across your website. Very impressive! Being a third generation Y.I. of Brookliner (my parents are Julie & Natalie Brecher and my grandparents were Jack & Lil Freeman, a"h) and having grown up in the Young Israel of Brookline (from 1958-1980), I have very fond memories of my childhood there. (I even remember the house we davened in before the first building was built.) In March I recently paid my first visit to the new shul. What a magnificent structure! The community should be zocheh to celebrate many simchos in this mikdash me'at. It was very nice seeing the Loketchs, the Lebowitz's and many other people I remember from way back when. Has it really been so many years ago that I attended youth groups? Sang in Steve Shostack's choir? Decorated the Succah? Attended N.C.S.Y. conventions? I have some very fond memories from the Young Israel of Brookline and hope we can make more frequent visits to Brookline and the shul in the future.

We were members of the Young Israel in 92/93. We had a wonderful experience there and made many friends most of whom we have kept in touch with. Mazel tov on the new building! After leaving Brookline to move to Florida for 5 years, we recently moved to New York. Our son Benny was born in Boston and very much wants to see his birthplace so now that we're closer we hope to visit soon with him and our daughter Emma. We'd love to hear from old friends. Feel free to email us.

Your shul is lovely. We were members from 1972 - 1982 and have fond memories of davening, the shiurim and Rev. Loketch's wonderful laining and kiddush. Marcia was privileged to have made the Yosef needlepoint. We now daven at Cong. Shomrei Emunah with Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb. Hopefully we may get a chance to visit your Young Israel in the future.

Rachel and I would like to express our thanks to the YI community for the wonderful hospitality we received here during our sabbatical in Brookline. Our enjoyment of this year was enhanced immeasurably by the opportunity of meeting so many interesting people. We were particularly touched that the hashkama minyan saw fit to honor us and Prof. Jaeger last week with a good-bye kiddush. May you continue to extend acts of "chessed" in the future. We hope to be able to reciprocate in Jerusalem.

Great to find your website. Shavua tov! We have just enjoyed a Shabbat with our guest- Debbie Kram. Warm regards to all our YI Chevra.

Yasher Koach on the terrific web page and the beautiful new shul building. Although we have become accustomed to life in Dallas, we still consider Boston "home". Many trade shows, conferences and conventions take place here. We would love to have visitors if any of you have the occasion to be here. Best of regards to all!

I am happy that I had the occasion to know about you through friends from Israel. Please continue with your work - it is an important way to connect us jews all over the world.

Mazal Tov upon the completion of your new home. I was a single student and living in Boston during the years of 1981-85. One thing sustained me during many intensive periods of studying anatomy, etc- my Shabbat at the YI of Brookline- and specifically the hospitality afforded to me so graciously and modestly by Mr. and Mrs. Erwin Katz. Chazak Chazak, veNizchazek!!

My wife Betsy and I were members of the Young Israel during the years 1975-1977, and fondly recall the community's hospitality and the spiritual leadership of Rabbi Kelemer. Special regards to our dear friends Debbie and Norman Kram.

Mazal Tov on the completion of your new Mikdash Me'at. I will always carry wonderful, warm memories of YI from the years when I was student at BU and Harvard. I especially recall Rev Loketch's unforgettable davening, Mr. Katz' Hachnassat Orhim and the familial warmth of the community. Shanah Tova, u'vhatzlacha.

Just want to say thank you for providing the Shana Tova card greeting service! I live in Austria, and it was tremendous fun to send cards to my friends abroad! A good New Year to your congregation!

I was member of your shul in 1962, while getting my masters degree from MIT. Five years ago I moved from Switzerland to Israel and became a member in the New Synagogue of Netanya where Rabbi Forman was its first Rabbi. Please give my special regards to the Feuersteins. Ketiva Vachatima Tovah!

It is with pride we tell people that we were once members of the Young Israel of Brookline (we sometimes even admit we met through the shul's singles group). You stand as a testament to faith and the will to rebound from the devastation of destruction. Great Web Site!

Thank you very much for the arrangements for this past shabbat. Everything worked out so very well. We hope to visit you again on our future visits to your fair city.

As a former Bostonian, I find your website a fabulous way to keep in touch with my roots.

I thoroughly enjoyed my two summers spent at YI as a coordinator/member of the YU Summer Kollel. Mazal Tov on the new building! May we merit to see it transferred here to Israel speedily in our days!! Regards to Rabbi Gewirtz.

Congratulations on the new shul building and the website ... both are very well done. It's been awhile since I was in Boston, so I'm not sure exactly who is still there. Please send my regards to the Batalion, Cohen and Feuerstein families.

Shalom Aleichem to all. As a youngster I lived in Brookline and though our family davened at the Bostoner Rebbe's, the occasions we spent at YI were happy ones. Continued Hatzlacha in your efforts.

Your website has a wealth of wonderful and interesting information.

SHALOM! Very wonderful work here.

This past weekend I attended a singles shabbaton at your shul. It was great and I, and everyone I spoke to, felt the home hospitality hosts were super! There were people from all over the US, including NY, CT, MA, GA, FL, TN, TX and Canada. I look forward to staying in touch, via the internet, to find out about future events.

What a wonderful surprise to find our former shul on our computer screen. The Young Israel of Brookline was an important part of our lives. With warmest wishes and Hatzlachah Rabbah in your new building.

I just finished looking at pictures of your new shul. It certainly is a long way from the house we davened in when I and my parents, Herman zt"l & Frieda Cooper, moved to Brookline in 1955. The whole website is great and brings back many fond memories.

We just spent two days of Yom Tov with our dear parents Rev. and Mrs. Loketch and it was an inspiration to daven in such a beautiful Mikdash M'at. May it serve as a vehicle to enhance our Avodas Hashem. We're looking forward to our next visit.

It was exciting to discover your Web site. We wish all our friends in Brookline a Chag Kosher v'Sameach. Special greetings to Natalie & Julie Brecher, Seymour & Judy Schiff and Henry & Mimi Feuerstein. We look forward to getting e-mail from our old friends in Boston during the years 1974 to 1977.

Thanks for posting your wonderful recipes. Out here on the West Coast we don't often get "haimeshe" Jewish cooking. I'm sure they're wonderful, and I look forward to trying them.

Your Web site is quite amazing; I spent the last hour+ of my day roaming around it, and am still not sure I hit everything important! It's a tremendous resource and is extremely well done. Keep up the good work!!

Your website is fantastic! It has certainly been an inspiration for the design and implementation of the Jewish Natick site. Kol HaKavod to all who set up such an informative and well-designed site.

Thrilled with the new building and the website. Proud to have been part of your history.

We spent last Shabbos at your Shul and in your community. The warmth and hospitality were amazing!!! Our hosts provided not only fantastic meals, but also warm hospitality. If we are ever fortunate enough to have to relocate to the Boston area, we know exactly where we would want to live. Your new building is a work of art and truly draws the worshipper in! Keep up the wonderful work.

I stumbled upon your website, and am extremely impressed. It's everything a website should be -- visually interesting, easy to navigate, and exceedingly informative.

I wish to commend you on your website. It is a beacon to those of us in the hinterlands who can come to Boston/Brookline only too rarely to attend shul and partake of other Jewish community activities. It's the next best thing to being there!

Great image of the newly built shul! Even with my black and white laptop the building looks wonderful! Mazal Tov to all the Young Israel members! I remember many a lovely Shabbat and Yom Tov among you and often think of you all when I daven here in Jerusalem, my home for the past 3 1/2 years. Feel free to give an "email shout" when coming through my neck of the woods.

The Web Site is a great contribution to the community. When I was in Japan this summer, I checked it on a regular basis to keep in touch with the progress and events.

Kol Hakavod! Your web site is informative and very impressive. The Young Israel is part of many wonderful memories I have of growing up in Brookline and although I now live in Israel, it is nice to be able to keep track of the shul and the community. The new building looks magnificent. I can't wait to see it on my next visit.

Mazal Tov on the inauguration of the new building. Sorry we weren't there, but on behalf of ourselves and Jenny and Nathan Better we wish you all the best from Down Under. We had a great time in Boston and YI was an important part of that experience. If you are heading this way please contact us. Keep in touch.

Congratulations! The page you created is absolutely beautiful and as president, I am very interested in creating one for the Young Israel of North Bellmore, NY.

Your web site is extremely impressive - I had to check it out after my friends told me about it! As a young adult, it's great to see your shul so involved in the community.

Mazel Tov on the rebuilding of the physical Shul, its spiritual content has endured throughout. Baruch Atta Schehecheyanu!

Your Web Site is terrific!!! Great job. People in other cities are using it as the model of what their shul's web page should look like.

Your web site is very impressive and well done. It brings back fond memories of my days in Boston as a student.

Just a quick note to say how nice it is to see your website. I spent many Shabbatot in Y. I. of Brookline, as the son-in-law of Aryeh Leib Abelow, ztl. Bhatzlaha.

It was nice to see your web page. It brings back memories of the beautiful conference your Y.I. hosted in April of 1994 in memory of my father, Rabbi Jerome Fishman, A"H. I would love to hear from any of his former talmidim and friends.

We've thought of you over the last two weeks because we've just joined a new shul and they are in the process of trying to figure out how to organize a weekly kiddush (we've seen a fairly nice model at your YI...). Hope all is well in Brookline!

I want to thank the YI community for the great hospitality that was extended to me two weeks ago at almost no notice. This was my first time to Boston, and it helped make for a very pleasant visit. If any of the congregants in the Young Israel travel in the future to Israel and are looking for a place to stay or a contact in Rehovot, please contact me. I wish all a "G'mar Chatima Tova".

Our very best wishes to all for a Shana Tova together with a Ketiva Vechatima Tova.

Shalom and greetings to all our dear friends from the YI of Brookline. I am alive and well living in Eretz Yisroel (since '78), married with 5 sons. Everything here is fine, boruch HaShem! Anyone coming to Israel can contact us at 18 Rechov Shwartz, Raanana or tel. 09-454914. Brookline is a great and unique community. We miss you all. Happy 5757. Shanah Tovah.

My wife and I returned to Brookline to commemorate the special weekend of my Bar Mitzvah on Shabbat Parshat Va'Etchanan held some 47 years ago when I lived in Boston. It was a dream fulfilled and nurtured since my youth. We were indeed honored and privileged to share of your hospitality, your warmth and kindness, and were grateful to partake of the fruits that pervade in your community. We eagerly look forward to following your growth and relocation to your new Bet Knesset via the internet.

I was moved by my recent visit to the site of your new synagogue; it promises to be beautiful in every sense of the word. Such vibrancy here symbolizes the strength and power of this community to overcome the devastation of fire, and of course more. It is electrifying, not to exaggerate the sentiments. So too is your Web Site. You are proving, in the most dynamic medium, that there are no Jewish strangers. I view your web initiative as a sweet strategy to radiate chesed throughout our community and beyond.

Best wishes and mazel tov for your new building, as well as for your wonderful web site. From a native and long-ago resident of Boston, now a member of the small -- but vibrant -- Jewish Community of the Philippines.

Greetings from Houston, Texas! It's nice to connect to my old home town and see what's going on at YI Brookline. Good luck with the new building.

You have one of the best shul home pages I've seen on the WWW. I'm going to be in Boston the 4th of July weekend and found your information on the times for the Shiva Asar B'Tamuz fast and Shabbos very helpful.

How nice to be back with old friends. Best regards to HaRav Gewirtz and others at the Young Israel. I'll always remember how kind everyone was to me when I lived in Boston. Hatzlacha on the new building and may you go l'chayil el chayil.

It's so gratifying to see a community pull together after such physical devastation. It reminds me of how powerful the Jewish spirit can be in triumph over physical loss. Although I had a very secular role in this event, it awakened deep within me a Jewishness that I had not known for a long time.

Your Web Site is brilliant and well thought thru'. I would pass this comment for a business/professional page - 'kal v'chomer for a shul. A lot of ideas for us to implement for our shul - the GGBH in London, England.

Little did I imagine that the highlight of my Boston library conference would be Shabbos in Brookline. I felt most welcome both in shul and in the homes of my hosts. The warmth of your community made me feel truly at home. And to think that I found you on the Internet!

Just finished going through your Web Site and found it to be very useful! As I've spent many summers in Boston, I know lots of people there, mostly from Camp Grossman. Now I can track their simchas and contact them if they're due a Mazel Tov.

Its been 14 years since I davened at the YI of Brookline, but I will always remember the hospitality of the shul especially those people who made sure that all the singles had a place to eat every Shabbos.

This web site is amazing.. It lets me track my father's work from my yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem. The new shul looks great! Keep up the good work.

Very impressive! I really like the information and the care that was taken to develop and present it in the manner you have done. B"N I will make a special point of visiting your shul in person when I'm next in Boston. Keep up the good work!

We were very glad to be members of Young Israel two years ago. We're living in Israel now, but we'll be back in Boston for the next academic year, and we're looking forward to seeing the new shul and to introducing our son Benjamin (aged 10 months, born in Jerusalem) to the youth program.

Mazel Tov... This is a great idea for our shul and community! Hope you include all local information. We congratulate all those who have made this possible!

The Young Israel of Brookline has always played a key role in my life and growth. When my father Henry Heilman, A'H, recently passed away, he was laid to rest in the shul cemetery among the people of the community I remember fondly as a youngster growing up. The Young Israel will always remain close to me and my family.

It's beautiful to be able to see the progress of the new Shul 300 miles away from my home in New Jersey. Keep up the good work.

I visited your website and was highly impressed with both the site as well as the quality and level of your activities. Please extend regards to Rabbi Gewirtz, my former YU classmate.

Congratulations on a great Web Site. Hello to Debby Katz-Cohen and other Maimonides alums of our generation.

Great Site. Nicely put together and complete.

Just finished browsing your Young Israel Web Site. It's GREAT! Keep up the good work.

The Hauser Family sends greetings to everyone in Brookline. Keep up the good work on your new HomePage. It's a great way for us to keep up-to-date on what's going on in the Shul and in the community. Regards to everyone.

Among my fondest memories of my years as a single in Boston and Brookline was the hospitality of Young Israel. Your congregation helped me to strengthen my Torah observance at a time when many of my contemporaries at BU were involved in lifestyles that reflected non-Torah values. Now that I am married, my family and I are trying to repay your kindness by offering Shabbat hospitality to singles living in, and traveling through, Philadelphia. Although it has been almost twenty years since I've been in Brookline, I will always remember Young Israel as a congregation that excelled in the mitzvah of Hachnasas Orchim. Thank you!