Ensuring the “Smell of Shabbos” Lives On

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During prospective student weekend at List College, Eytan Kenter walked into the former Mathilde Schechter Residence Hall and said, “It smells like Shabbos! 

In JTS residence halls, as in many Jewish homes, the kitchen is not just a source of nourishment but a place where people like to gather. So for Rabbi Barry and Judi Dickstein Kenter and their sons, Rabbi Eytan and Doron, dedicating a mezuzah in a kitchen of the new residence hall felt like the perfect way to honor their family’s ongoing connection and attachment to JTS.

All the family members love to cook, Barry said, but Doron and Eytan honed their cooking skills while living in the dorms at List College, specializing in hosting themed Shabbat dinners for their friends. 

Barry, who is rabbi emeritus of Greenburgh Hebrew Center in Dobbs Ferry, NY, was ordained in 1980 and received his DHL from JTS as well. Both sons not only studied at List College, he said, but “Doron is working toward an MA in Talmud at the Kekst Graduate School, and Eytan has degrees from The William Davidson School and The Rabbinical School.” Though not a JTS alum, Judi has taken many classes through the Women’s League institute.

“JTS helped me become who I am as a rabbi,” Barry said. “I was older than my classmates, a second-career student, which was unusual at that time, and JTS was good to me. It was a nurturing place.” 

He added, “JTS was exceedingly generous to us and our kids. We were looking for ways to say thank you, and dedicating the mezuzah felt meaningful to us.”

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