Lynn Melnick and Cindy Rodenberg in 1978.
Back in July, we introduced readers to the mystery photo of four women and one Torah at Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel (BSKI), a black-and-white snapshot from 1978 that sparked a wave of emails and memories. You helped us solve the mystery and name everyone in the picture. Now, thanks to a conversation with one of those women, we can tell you what was happening that day, and why it mattered so much.
From mystery photo to milestone story
Chana-Yetta Rodenberg, known as Cindy at the time, vividly remembers the moment captured in the photo. “We were four women who never had bat mitzvahs,” said Rodenberg. “Most of us didn’t even know how to read Hebrew.”
Rabbi Benson Skoff, then BSKI’s spiritual leader, offered to teach them. For nearly a year and a half, the group met to learn Hebrew, master their Torah portion — likely Noah — and even study the trope for chanting.
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“It was the best year and a half ever,” Rodenberg recalled. Their adult b’nai mitzvah ceremony took place in Oct. 1978, marking a personal and communal milestone as women took on roles that had been rare just a generation before.
Practicing for the big day
The now-famous photo shows them practicing from the scroll just a week or two before the ceremony. “The voices that came out of us — we were like, ‘That’s us?’” Rodenberg said. “The rabbi was so tickled that we had come together.”
The names — Carol Lerner, Rose Medalie Malt, Lynn Melnick, and Rodenberg — were confirmed by readers, along with help from Rose Malt herself. The story became one of the Jewish Light’s most-read pieces of the summer, and the image now appears in our marketing materials.
A full-circle moment
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Rodenberg, now living in Plano, Texas, said finding the picture in the Light felt like closing a circle. “I loved it. I just loved it,” she said. Today, she is an Orthodox woman and even legally changed her name years ago. For her, the photo isn’t just nostalgia — it’s a reminder of learning, courage and community memory coming together.
Thanks to your responses, the story of these four women one Torah will remain a part of our archives, carrying forward the voices of that day for future generations.
