Margot and Michael Rivelis live in Franklin with thirteen -year-old Melissa and ten year- old Sam. Margot, another Massachusetts native, grew up in North Reading and Andover. She and her family attended Temple Emanuel in Lowell, where she became Bat Mitzvah. Michael grew up in Plainview, Long Island and attended Plainview Jewish Center, a Conservative congregation. Margot studied retail management at Lasell College in Newton and took courses in Childhood Studies at Dean College. Michael received his undergraduate degree in accounting and business from Northeastern University. Currently, Margot manages a children’s clothing boutique in Wrentham and is well known in the congregation for Dazzle Me, her line of personalized silver jewelry. Michael is a tax manager for Fidelity Investments in Boston. Margot includes mah jongg, jewelry-making, computer graphics and her children among her hobbies. Michael is an enthusiastic basketball, softball and tennis player, as well as an avid musician and the regular host of the TEC Connections “Open Mic” events. The Rivelis family joined the temple as Melissa entered first grade. Margot says the housewarming at 900 Washington was her first temple event and is memorable for the fact that they were greeted at the door by former member Jeff Mershon, one of Michael’s basketball teammates; apparently neither Jeff nor Michael had realized that the other was Jewish! Over the years, Margot has been an active volunteer, assisting with the gift shop, teaching in religious school, supplying the artwork for countless posters and flyers. Currently, she is Sisterhood VP. Michael is a member of the Finance Committee, Chair of the Capital Campaign Committee and serves as a delegate on the Board of Directors. As Margot said “When I think of Temple Etz Chaim, I automatically think of the wonderful friendships my whole family has made.” And like Lynne, she found the congregation particularly nurturing during personal tragedy: “I never felt so connected with this community as I did when my mom unexpectedly passed away a few years back and the support and love that everybody shared with my family was unforgettable.”

As to the Haverhill connection - for the Chai Tea, everyone was encouraged to bring a family tea cup. Sharing stories about the cups, Margot explained that hers had been passed down by her great-grandmother, Eva, who lived in Haverhill. Lynne said she’d grown up in Haverhill and asked the family name. Margot responded that her greatgrandfather was Louis Gorevitz, who had purchased the New England Wood Heel Company in Haverhill in 1913. Lynne responded enthusiastically that she surely remembered the company; in fact, when the company moved and closed the Haverhill plant, she had purchased a shoe horn with the name on it as a keepsake!