Professionally, he received accolades for his work in the public health arena, specifically in water use. But around Berkeley’s Congregation Beth Israel, he was known as “The Dreidel Master.”
Arnold E. Greenberg, whom everyone called “Archie,” died July 8 of cancer at his Berkeley home. He was 75.
Greenberg was born in 1926 in Brooklyn, N.Y. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York, he earned two master’s degrees, one in sanitary engineering and one in microbiology. He attended both the University of Wisconsin and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his advanced degrees.
Moving to Berkeley in the early 1950s, he worked at the University of California’s Richmond Field Center, the state Department of Health and the East Bay Municipal Utilities District.
Greenberg was also one of the founding members of Beth Israel, serving several terms as president and continuously on the board of the Orthodox synagogue from its founding until his death.
While the 15 board members would change from term to term, Greenberg was the mainstay.
“He was the corporate memory of the synagogue,” said Bob Budnitz, who has known Greenberg since 1960. “He knew how it ran and every single event that the synagogue did, he was there, or was working on it.”
He also took care of some of the smaller details, like keeping track of the yahrzeit lights, turning them off and on. He also was often the one to take out the trash.
Greenberg always set out candles for each shul member to light when they arrived on Tisha B’Av. This year, they realized the candles may not be there, unless someone else takes care of it. Those little details were always the provenance of Greenberg, Budnitz said.
He earned his title as “The Dreidel Master” by presiding over the synagogue’s Chanukah party every year.
Budnitz said he was a surrogate grandfather for all the synagogue’s children who did not have their own grandparents nearby. “It’s like a big family lost their dad or uncle. He was everyone’s favorite grandpa.”
He was also always the first one to arrive for morning minyan, at 6:29 a.m.
“His spirituality and commitment to Jewish praying was so deep and strong that hundreds of us learned about how to be a better Jew because he was there,” Budnitz said.
Joan Sopher, a friend of Greenberg’s for 30 years, called him “a good person that always did the right thing.”
She recalled that when her husband, Marc, died 23 years ago, Greenberg was traveling in Scandinavia at the time. When his wife told him by telephone, he felt he should go to synagogue, but he didn’t know where to find one nearby. So instead, he went to the opera to honor his friend, since Marc Sopher was an opera fan.
“I was touched by that because Archie was not an opera fan, but he did that to honor my husband,” said Joan Sopher.
In his spare time, Greenberg edited “Standard Methods for the Analysis of Water and Waste Water,” a volume that he updated periodically for about 40 years.
“I have piles of letters telling what a monumental contribution he made,” said Shoshana Greenberg, his wife of almost 50 years.
In 1993, he was honored for excellence from the American Public Health Association, among the highest recognition in the field.
“Essentially, if people are drinking clean water it’s because of Archie,” said Shoshana Greenberg.
In addition to his wife, Greenberg is survived by sons Seth Greenberg of Berkeley and Noah Greenberg of Israel; brother Jack Greenberg of Richmond, Va.; and 11 grandchildren.
Contributions can be made to Congregation Beth Israel, 1620 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94703.