End
Of An Era

Adat Shalom merger
will end
a flourishing minyan
at Beth Achim.

HARRY KIRSBAUM
StaffWriter

I

t is just after 7 on a
recent Tuesday
morning, and
Joseph Baras is
looking at the minyan at
Congregation Beth
Achim.
"Take a long look," he
said sadly, "because you
won't see this again."
Faced with declining
membership, Beth Achim
is merging this summer
with Adat Shalom
Synagogue. Its tight-knit,
thriving minyan may or
may not survive the move.
"It's a very sad thing to see," said
Beth Achim Cantor Max Shimans
"This group has been meeting for
years, and they're all very close."
While many synagogues and tem-
ples struggle for the 10 men required
to make a minyan, Beth Achim has
never had a problem, with an average
of 20 members showing up for the
7:15 a.m. service.
"We have daveners here," said
Baras, ritual director of Beth Achim
since 1972. "We don't just get the
people saying Kaddish or yahrzeit."
This Conservative synagogue holds
a decidedly Orthodox minyan.
The day begins at 5 a.m., when 90-
year-old Maurice Barnes buys rolls at
the bakery. Since 1979, Barnes has
been setting the one long table in the
Schwartz Auditorium, then joining
the minyan, then clearing the table
when everyone leaves.

6/26

1998

10

Clockwise from top:
Dr. Burt Weintraub
and friends at breakfast.

Dr. Burt Weintraub,
Mike Anstandig, David Glantz.

Dr. Tobias Shild sings the grace
after meals.

"Moshe" Maurice Barnes
sets up breakfast.

The room once served as the main
chapel of a Presbyterian church before
Beth Achim bought the building in
1968.
Twenty minutes before minyan, five
or six members meet for coffee and a
chat in the auditorium.
With five minutes to go, each man
heads to his favorite spot on the bench
in the Klein Chapel. A neophyte can
ask any one of them how to put on
the tefillin.

After minyan, the tefillin is
removed and the members rit-
ually wash their hands and
make their way to the break-
fast table for coffee, rolls and
talk.
By 8:30 a.m., following the
blessings after the meal, the
group makes its way to the
outside world.
When Beth Achim closes
its doors, Barnes is not sure
where he'll go, but he's not
worried either.
"Where I live (on Lincoln
in Oak Park) there's four syn-
agogues. I'll go to one of
them," he said. "but I'm not
cooking anymore."
Dave Weinberg said, "I came here
[to minyan] over 10 years ago to say
Kaddish for my mother and sister. I've
stayed ever since."
All together, he's been a member
for 40 years. Where he's going "is still
a toss-up."
If some of the minyan is left
somewhat intact elsewhere, Dr. Burt
Weintraub will follow, because he
feels very comfortable with this
group.
But no one seems to be in a hurry
to find another place, Weintraub
pointed out. "If Beth Achim shuts
its doors on Aug. 31, a lot of these
guys will decide where to go on
Sept. 1."
Baras contemplates his future. Adat
Shalom already has a ritual director,
he noted. So, like his minyan, he said,
"I guess that's it for me."

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