Ask members of Beth El the Beaches Synagogue to describe their new rabbi and you will hear again and again: He is kind.
In fact, kindness – in Hebrew, chesed – was the chosen theme for Rabbi Benjamin Dyme’s installation on April 29.
It’s one of the attributes of God, Dyme explained, and practicing it is one way people can emulate God.
“It’s a Jewish value, treating each other with chesed,” Dyme said. “And I know a lot of people also have that value, thankfully. It’s a matter of seeing each person as created in God’s image, and treating everybody that way is, step by step, making the world a better place.”
It’s also a quality essential to the Golden Rule, which is expressed in chapter 19, verse 18 of the book of Leviticus, a passage Dyme said has special meaning for him and one he selected to be read during his installation: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“There’s also a running theme throughout the Torah of treating the stranger with kindness and respect,” Dyme added.
It’s something synagogue members put into practice; newcomers to the rapidly growing congregation are quick to say they have found Beth El to be a welcoming place.
First Installation
Though Beth El has been served by a number of rabbis over its 30-plus years, the installation of Rabbi Dyme was an important event in the synagogue’s history: it was the congregation’s first.
Held immediately following the Saturday Shabbat service, the ceremony incorporated participation by Dyme’s family, as well as Rabbi Eric Polokoff (via Zoom) and Rabbi Paula Feldstein, who traveled from New York to attend. These rabbis played essential roles in Dyme’s formation.
Polokoff told those assembled that Dyme was a good match for them.
“It’s fortunate that you have such a great guy to be your rabbi,” he said.
Feldstein called the newly installed rabbi “one of the kindest, sweetest, most considerate people I have ever known.”
Turning to Dyme, she said, “I know you consider me a mentor, but I have learned a lot from you, as well.”
Knowing that kindness was to be the theme, Cantorial Soloist Laurie Simmons selected songs that would match. She also asked the Beth El Sisterhood Singers if they wanted to participate. This occasion being their second appearance in a service, they enthusiastically agreed.
About 100 people attended – a large portion of the congregation’s nearly 200 families and single members – and a similar number turned out for the reception later that day.
“It was really neat seeing that many people showing up,” the newly installed rabbi said.
Finding a New Rabbi
A native of Boston, Dyme actually grew up in East Lansing, Michigan. Though he wouldn’t be ordained until he was in his mid-40s, the thought of becoming a rabbi occurred to him as early as his childhood.
“My synagogue rabbi, may he rest in peace, Rabbi Morton Hoffman, was a really great guy and made a really positive impression,” Dyme said.
After graduation from the University of Michigan, he worked for a while at Hillel International, a campus organization that serves Jewish students, and then as a barista in the café at Borders Books and Music, a job brief in duration but important to his developing empathy.
“It was formative in that working behind the counter, I realized that certain people treated you like you were behind the counter as opposed to treating you like a human being,” Dyme said.
That experience taught him to treat everyone he meets according to their human dignity and not like “somebody behind the counter.”
He went on to work for the next 11 years in the Chemistry Department at the University of Pennsylvania while also taking classes toward a master’s degree in creative writing.
Then, at age 38, he was officiating at weddings for friends and his own brother. Everyone kept asking why he wasn’t a rabbi.
That’s when everything changed. He applied to rabbinical school and was accepted at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, the New York City campus, in 2016. Once accepted there, he dropped the classes he was taking at the University of Pennsylvania.
His first year at rabbinical school was spent studying in Israel, which he called “a great experience.”
Students were allowed to begin looking for congregations in which to work starting in December of 2022, the same year he graduated.
Meanwhile, Beth El had formed a search committee to find a rabbi following the retirement of Rabbi Michael Matuson, who had served the congregation for 13 years. They interviewed a number of candidates.
When they spoke with Dyme, they “really, really liked him,” according to longtime member Joy Shultz, the synagogue’s president-elect, who went on to chair the installation festivities.
“I thankfully found Beth El and we chose each other and signed a contract several weeks before my ordination,” Dyme said.
He was ordained in May 2023.
A Wise Choice
The new rabbi’s first service was July 1, a Friday. That meant hitting the ground running; he had to give a sermon on the day he started.
In the time leading up to his official installation, Dyme has proven to the congregation that they made a wise choice. He has continued a practice of his predecessor’s, Saturday Torah study, though he rescheduled it to follow Shabbat services.
These gatherings have proven popular with attendees.
“It’s an amazing thing that people would want to give up their Saturday afternoons to come and study for an hour,” said Shultz.
“The rabbi’s positivity just, you know, it’s contagious and brings that out in people,” said Karen Freedman, synagogue co-president with Tammy Shumer.
“He’s a great listener,” said Shumer, “and I feel like that’s really important in a rabbi. He really cares. He’s so genuine.”
“He’s very open and wanting to get to know people in the community,” continued Freedman. “He’s reaching out to other people in the clergy at different churches and getting new relationships going there.”
“Working with him is wonderful,” said Simmons. “He’s so thoughtful, and it’s a joy when you work with somebody and it’s easy, it’s nice.”
Humble Beginnings
Beth El the Beaches Synagogue has long been an important part of Jewish life on the First Coast.
It began in 1991 as the Beaches Hebrew Association. Not yet having a permanent home, the congregation first met in the Fletcher High School auditorium. As the group grew, they conducted services at the chapel of Naval Station Mayport, then at a Catholic church and eventually rented a room at The Ribault Garden Club. On high holidays, they conducted services at places like the Sawgrass Marriott.
“We called ourselves the nomads,” said Shultz, laughing.
The congregation’s second president purchased the land upon which the synagogue now sits on North Roscoe Boulevard and donated half to the group. Beth El eventually purchased the rest of the property and used a doublewide modular for its sanctuary and school.
About 20 years ago, the synagogue took out a mortgage and built the current building. In 2019, then-Rabbi Matuson donated his salary toward paying off the mortgage, which at that point stood at about $700,000, with matching donations coming from the congregants.
The mortgage was paid down to $300,000 by the time Matuson retired. Then, the congregation launched a final push to pay it off. They finally were able to burn the mortgage in February of this year.
With COVID subsiding, Beth El has seen a large growth in membership. Its school, under the direction of Vickie Kennedy, has also grown significantly.
“We’ve just been enjoying success after success,” said Shultz.
Looking Ahead
“A big part of being a rabbi is being a teacher,” said Rabbi Dyme. “I’m really looking forward to working with people and being able to teach and learn from them.”
Services begin at 10 a.m. every Saturday and are followed by some social time and then Torah study at noon.
“We just engage with the material, engage with the Torah, and engage with each other and learn about Judaism,” Dyme said.
He added that the door was always open and that anyone was welcome.
“It’s been my pleasure to be in this position so far, and I’m honored by the congregation’s choosing me – and choosing me again in this installation,” he said. “I’m looking forward to more time and good experiences with them, and with the broader community.”
