Triplets’ Rites Mark Temple’s Founding

The congregation at Shomrei Torah Synagogue in West Hills is expecting a triple blessing tonight.

The Raffle triplets, granddaughters of the founding members, will have their bat mitzvah ceremony 36 years after the synagogue was established by their family.

The three girls, Lindsey, Melanie and Karen Raffle, will read portions of the Torah under the coaching of Cantor Avrum Schwartz. According to Jewish tradition, the bar or bat mitzvah marks the time when a Jewish teenager begins to accept the responsibilities of being an adult.

Four generations of Agoura Hills residents are expected to attend the ceremony, which includes the passing of the sacred scrolls.

Rabbi Eli Schochet will remove the Torah from the ark and pass it on to the girls’ great-grandfather, 98-year-old Phillip Saretsky, who then will pass it to grandfather Erwin “Sonny” Raffle, and then to father Danny Raffle.

“They wouldn’t need a pogo stick, that’s how excited they are,” Schwartz said of the fraternal triplets, all students at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills.

The girls will give speeches about themselves, as well as about their late grandmother, Sondra “Sonny” Raffle. She was a philanthropic leader in the Jewish community and helped raise funds for the building of the temple.

Sondra Raffle passed away last April without seeing the completed structure.

Before moving into the new temple, the congregation met in temporary quarters, from women’s clubs to gas station garages. Currently about 800 families belong to the congregation, said the rabbi.

The triplets’ father, Danny Raffle, also performed his bar mitzvah under Cantor Schwartz. He said raising three teenage daughters “can be hectic and fun, and trying.”

All three have different personalities, he said. Lindsey and Melanie enjoy horseback riding; Karen likes to paint.

“You’ve got morning, afternoon and evening,” Raffle said of his daughters.