Elaine Berke

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Elaine Berke

Elaine Berke knows the importance of being part of the Jewish community. As a matter of fact, she thought it so important, that the first thing she did after she and her family moved from the Crenshaw area to Encino some 60 years ago was to join Valley Beth Shalom – on the very day she moved!

“Why wait,” Elaine said with a smile. “The rabbi at my former synagogue, Rabbi Paul Dubin z”l, enthusiastically encouraged me to join VBS. He told me what a vibrant place it was, one where just about anyone could find something that interests them. And that it was a great place to meet people. He was right. Many of those we met over the years became lifelong friends.”

Elaine and her late husband, Louis, have three children, the late Sharon, Michael and Susan. By joining VBS, Elaine and Louis knew they were all going to receive a solid Jewish education.

“It began in nursery school,” she said,  “It was so long ago, that I remember dropping them off at a motel the congregation used for that purpose, before the current building was built.”

Both Elaine and Louis became active lay leaders at the temple. Always confident and outspoken, Elaine was one of the first women to serve on the VBS Board of Trustees. And she worked closely with Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis z”l, in establishing a program still in existence that helps Jewish children in Siberia experience a B’nai Mitzvah.

But her involvement in the Jewish community goes way beyond VBS.

“Rabbi Schulweis encouraged me to become active in more than just the synagogue. Guess he didn’t want to keep me all to himself,” she said laughing. Among the community organizations, Elaine was active in was Jewish Community Relations Committee, where she worked to help free Jews from the former Soviet Union. She was on the board of the L.A. chapter of the American Joint Distribution Committee and also served on the board of Hebrew High school.  In addition, she is a past president and board member of the Jewish Federation’s Valley Alliance and still serves on the VBS board.

And the best thing about Elaine is that with all her activity and at 90 years young, she has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

Interview conducted by Lou Yuster and Jay Schuster and article written by Jay Schuster