Community Corner
Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur Leads Tributes To Rabbi Arnold Fertig
Fertig, who passed away Monday at the age of 72, spent 21 years as the rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom and was active in the local community.
MELROSE, MA — Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur was one of many people in the local community who paid tribute to longtime Temple Beth Shalom Rabbi Arnold Fertig, who passed away Monday at the age of 72.
"(Fertig) had a great commitment to social justice and cared deeply about the spiritual health of his congregation and his community," Brodeur wrote online. "He was dedicated to serving the whole of Melrose, through Rotary, the Melrose Human Rights Commission, and the Melrose Clergy Association. Arnie cared about tikkun olam — repairing the world — and throughout his life, used his skills and passion to make life better for others. He will be tremendously missed by all who knew him."
Fertig served as rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom for 21 years, and remained rabbi emeritus at the time of his passing.
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According to an obituary posted on the website of Goldman Funeral Chapel, Fertig also served as the regional director at B'nai Brith New England and as the national director of development at the American Physicians Fellowship for Medicine in Israel.
Fertig also founded a company called JobHunterCoach, through which he helped hundreds of young people advance their careers.
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Born in Rome, New York and raised in Cortland, New York, Fertig studied philosophy at the University of Vermont, which led him down the path to becoming a rabbi, according to the obituary.
Fertig later graduated from Hebrew Union University in Cincinnati and served as rabbi for congregations in Gadsden, Alabama, Concord, New Hampshire and Binghamton, New York.
Fertig actually moved to Massachusetts in order to pursue a Master's in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
According to the obituary, Fertig passed away surrounded by his family, and he is survived by his wife Gail, children Benjamin and Ari and four grandchildren.
A memorial service for Fertig is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Temple Beth Shalom, 21 East Foster St. in Melrose.
In lieu of flowers expressions of sympathy in Fertig's memory can be made to T'ruah or Temple Beth Shalom.
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