April 30, 2023
To honor his wide-reaching legacy at BETC, Randy Gollub & Jon Hirschtick dedicate our new Torah to Todd Shuster (z”l). The Torah Restoration Fund was renamed the Todd Shuster Torah & Ritual Objects Fund and fundraising begins to support the adornment and care of our Torahs.
To honor his wide-reaching legacy at BETC, Randy Gollub & Jon Hirschtick dedicate our new Torah to Todd Shuster (z”l). The Torah Restoration Fund was renamed the Todd Shuster Torah & Ritual Objects Fund and fundraising begins to support the adornment and care of our Torahs.
As we welcome our new Torah home, it is being dedicated it to the memory of our dear friend, Todd Shuster (z”l), who passed away in June of 2022. For over 20 years, Todd gave generously of his time and shared his many gifts with our congregation. He served with grace, humility, kindness, and great intelligence as BETC President, Building and Grounds Committee Co-Chair, Brotherhood President, and numerous other roles, including right field on the BETC softball team! Roughly a decade ago, Todd co-led the original group of BETC members who developed a proposal for our congregation to scribe a Torah.
To honor Todd’s wide-reaching legacy at BETC, the Board of Trustees has taken several steps, with the blessing of his family, to meaningfully tie his legacy to our new sefer Torah:
- Voted to dedicate the new sefer Torah in honor of Todd
- Renamed the fund that supports the maintenance and adornment of our Torahs and other ritual objects, to the Todd Shuster Torah and Ritual Objects Fund
- Began fundraising to support this effort
In June of 2022, Todd passed away at the age of 59, in the most bitter of ironies, of colon cancer, a disease he had spent his career trying to understand. Born in Albany, New York, Todd met his wife, Elyse, while they were both in graduate school at the University of Rochester. They were set up by their grandparents, who were old friends in Brooklyn, NY. Married in 1991, they raised their daughters, Sarah, Abigail, and Anna here in Belmont. Todd loved his friends and spent countless hours playing tennis and softball, riding bikes, watching sports, and talking with them.
