Meet Crystal Keets, Co-President of Chavura Beth Chai

SOMERS, N.Y. - Chavura Beth Chai describes itself as a non-traditional Jewish congregation “without walls, except for high holidays.”

Like-minded members gather once a month in each other’s homes for services, Shabbat potluck dinners, and religious learning for adults, says its co-president, Crystal Keets of Somers.

On the High Holy Days, such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, the chavura meets at the Lake Lincolndale Clubhouse in order to accommodate the crowds. Sometimes, weather permitting, folks worship outdoors.

Its current rabbi is Lisa Izes.

When it was created 50 years ago, the group aimed to help their children prepare for their bar and bat mitzvahs, which are important coming-of-age rituals in Judaism.

Those kids are now grown with kids of their own and while its focus has evolved, the chavura has kept its family-oriented, informal character.

There now are about 45 congregants. Although most are from Somers, they also come from places as near as Mahopac, Yorktown, and Katonah, and as far as Hopewell Junction and Manhattan.

To say it’s non-traditional is a bit of an understatement, Keets might agree.

At the chavura’s annual reorganizational meetings, she’s been known to crack a joke about not having to be Black or a Catholic in order to be elected president.

The vivacious 83-year-old is both. Her dad was born in Jamaica and her mom hailed from St. Kitts in the British Virgin Islands. Keets grew up in Queens, N.Y. Her father was raised a Catholic and her mother converted to the religion.

What would the latter think of her light-hearted remark?

“The first time I said it, I thought, ‘Oh my god, my mom’s turned over in her grave and said: Oi Vey!’” Keets said with a laugh.

“So Blessed” 

She and her late husband, Thomas, commuted to their jobs in New York City together for 30 years.

Then Keets was laid off and stopped going in. Just days later, Thomas died of a heart attack, alone, on the train.

That was 18 years ago. He was only 62.

“A special person,” Keets said.

Keets met her current partner, John Katzenstein, in 2008 during a boat ride on the Hudson that had been sponsored by the singles club at Heritage Hills, where they both live. He wasn’t a member of the club but was there because he’d driven someone who was.

They got to chatting. He called a few days later and invited her out to dinner. And, as they say, “the rest is history.”

A member of Chavura Beth Chai, Katzenstein soon brought Keets into its warm and welcoming fold. Three years ago, she became a co-president.

“It’s such an amazing, beautiful group of people. I feel so blessed to be part of it,” she said.

(The other co-president was Deborah Wolf, who stepped down in June for personal reasons. Anita Grossbard has taken over as Keets’ co-president.)

To Keets, it’s familiar territory.

Her mom worked as a buyer in the retail clothing industry as did Keets, who recalls being exposed to Judaism at an early age.

“I remember she always used to say on Rosh Shashana or Yom Kippur: ‘Oh, it’s going to be beautiful out because it’s the Jewish holidays,” recalled her loving daughter, who added: “She was so cute that way.”

(Mom was very active all her life. She was driving in her 90s and passed away just a few months shy of her 100th birthday.)

Now retired for 18 years, Keets had specialized in product development for the nationwide clothing chain Lerner Shops, once a staple of America’s downtowns.

Junior sportswear was her jam and she traveled to China, India, and other places at least three times a year.

“It’s funny; I really don’t like to fly. So as soon as I got on the plane, I would have a mimosa … or two,” she said.

Still, traveling the world doing something she loved and was good at was “a wonderful experience.”

Katzenstein, who had worked for IBM for 25 years and later as a senior consumer fraud representative for the state attorney general’s office in White Plains, just retired. But he’s not just sitting around; he’s already been volunteering at two local hospitals.

“He keeps extremely busy,” Keets said.

Food & Family 

Unfortunately, during the height of the pandemic, meetings had to go online.

Now that the chavura has returned to in-person gatherings, members get to break bread together after services

“There’s lots of food. We all love to eat and socialize,” Keets said of the potluck suppers.

Being African American, she wasn’t brought up on such edibles as challah, kugel, potato latkes, and sufganiyot but she appreciates and enjoys them.

“It’s funny; I do know Jewish food. In fact, John and I laugh because we both like gefilte fish and his daughter hates it,” Keets said.

(Served as an appetizer -- particularly on Shabbat and holidays – gefilte fish is made from a poached mixture of ground deboned fish such as carp, whitefish, or pike, and garnished with a carrot slice.)

She and Katzenstein typically volunteer to host the group’s Passover Seder.

They are known for their awesome matzah ball soup. Keets makes the base – which she said is more of a “stew” because she adds lots of yummy extras to it – and Katzenstein handcrafts the matzah balls out of crushed unleavened bread, eggs, chicken fat (or another fat or oil), and broth.

The best part of sharing meals with fellow congregants is the sense of family it provides.

“I can’t even begin to describe how great it makes me feel just to be part of it, you know?” Keets said.

The other thing “that’s lovely” is that the chavurah has a book club that focuses on Jewish subjects, she pointed out.
Its latest read was award-winning writer James McBride’s novel, “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.”

It tells the story of Black and Jewish residents of the Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown, Pa., in the 1930s and 1940s. Many of McBride’s works focus on race, religion, and history. “Heaven & Earth” is based on his own grandmother who ran a grocery in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

Keets lives in a stylish and cozy home with walls covered by artwork (one colorful oil painted by Thomas hangs in the dining room) and photographs of her children and grandchildren.

Particularly fond of birds, Keets keeps a whole flock of chicken tchotchkes in her kitchen and a pair of folk-art swans, their necks tenderly entwined, on her coffee table.

Katzenstein has his own place at Heritage Hills. Between them they have seven children and 14 grandkids.

“So, what’s so nice is that we’ve become a multi-mixed family,” she said.

One Katzenstein daughter lives in the Catskills and the other’s “right up the street here.”

Having the grands so close means that “Nana” gets to do lots of babysitting.

“My kids are all over the place. Two in Atlanta, one in Chicago, and two here,” she said.

Simply Spiritual 

Asked to talk about being Catholic and how that relates to her being co-president of a group with a different religious orientation, Keets said: “It’s a funny thing, because I’ve always been involved with Jewish people because of being in retailing, but the religious part of it is I went to mass every Saturday or Sunday up to – I have to be honest with you – about five years ago.”

That had “nothing to do with John or the chavurah,” she explained, saying that she had become upset after reading an article in The New York Times about the Catholic Church’s history of enslavement in 19th-century America.

It relied on plantations in the South and slave labor to finance the livelihoods of its priests and nuns and to support its schools and religious projects.

“When they needed money, they broke up families and sold them separately,” she said, adding: “And that put a hole in my heart, it really did.”

Keets wrote to her pastor to tell him that she was disturbed by what she read.

There were other things that bothered her, such as it once was considered a mortal sin to eat meat on Fridays.

Although she may not be attending a physical church at this time, Keets is sincere about keeping the faith.

For instance, when she gets in her car in the morning, she says one decade of the rosary and prays for her children’s and grandchildren’s health.

“I feel like God and I are OK. He’s my buddy,” Keets said. “He’s given me so much that I can’t say that enough. But the church is a whole other story.”

“I’m comfortable with my soul,” she added.

Keets’ new community is “so accepting and amazing.”

“These people are saints as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

Katzenstein thinks his loving partner is pretty darn special as well.

“In the Jewish religion, there’s a thing called a mensch. That’s a Yiddish word for somebody who’s just a real human being. Unselfish, kind, and giving; that’s what she is,” he said of Keets.

All Are Welcome 
Rosh Hashanah services are 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2 and 10 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3 at the Lake Lincolndale Clubhouse, 11 Lake Shore Drive in Lincolndale.

Yom Kippur services, at the same place, are 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 11, and 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12.Yom Kippur services will include Yizhor (memorial service) and Neila (concluding service) followed by a “Break Fast.”

All are welcome. Attendance is free, but donations will be gratefully accepted.

“It’s a perfect time to come and meet people,” Keets said.

Asked what else she would like folks to know about Chavura Beth Chai, she responded:

“Just how great we are, how warm and welcoming. Hopefully they’ll think about joining. It’s just informal and down the earth, a nice place to be.”

For more information, visit www.chavurabethchai.org or email info@chavurabethchai.org.