Welcome to Temple Ahavat Achim

Laura and Randall Stevens

I'd say that it all began when my boyfriend's grandmother served fish at dinner. As a third generation Clevelander, you learn pretty quickly to be wary of any fish that isn't smoked, gifilted or comes from a can with a mermaid on the label. You stick to beef or chicken. So prior to my first visit to meet Randy's grandparents at their summer home in Rockport, I made it abundantly clear that I would not be eating seafood. Apparently, no one paid this any attention.The visit, and dinner, started an enduring love affair with fresh fish and with Rockport itself. 

Throughout the years, Rockport became the setting for life events large and small. One year after this first dinner, Randy and I spent our honeymoon (chaperoned) at the same summer house. Throughout the ensuing decades, we came to Rockport on happy occasions - vacations, birthdays and anniversaries - and to mourn when I lost my first pregnancy.  Our children visited throughout their childhoods. We purchased our own summer home here in 2014, and in 2015 when Randy took a position that allowed him to work remotely, it didn't take too much thought to pull up the roots that had been planted in New Jersey soil for 28 years and put them in a loam that always felt like home.

Having been active in the reform congregation in New Jersey to which we still belong, I began to look for a local synagogue almost immediately.I think I scanned every page of the TAA website prior to requesting membership information. Amy Farber, Dan Ottenheimer and Elaine Byrne were my first connections to TAA and I think I peppered them with dozens of questions. Choosing a congregation with the right "feel" makes all the difference in our communal Jewish life. After attending a musical summer Havdalah service, and seeing the genuine affection that the congregants showed one another, Randall and I agreed that while it was a different denomination from the Classical Reform movement in which I was raised, TAA looked like the right congregation for us.Being a part of the temple is one more piece that makes us feel like we're home.