To call it “challenging” would be an understatement. For many in the North Shore, 2009 will go on record as one of the most difficult years in recent memory. On a personal level, people lost jobs and even homes as the economy continued in a downward spiral. This created a domino effect, trickling down to financially impact every one of our local Jewish agencies. As a result, many good programs and causes will be under-funded in 2010. Here is what the editors consider to be the Top Ten local Jewish stories of 2009.

Unflappable Lappin

Like the mythical phoenix being reborn from its ashes, the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation rose again after being devastated in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. Depleted of funds, the community rallied to continue its nearly 40-year tradition of sending North Shore youth to Israel in the summer. Y2I hopefuls and alums, parents and volunteers threw themselves into soliciting contributions, and donors answered. The result was that all teens who wanted to go on the adventure, 83, were able to attend, free of charge. While Lappin and his family lost tens of millions of dollars of their personal wealth, his commitment to keeping our youth Jewish remained strong. Individuals are helping him fund a dozen of his programs that survive today.

When Lappin’s employees’ 401K retirement funds were also wiped out in the Madoff scandal, Lappin knew he would have to do something for the 60 dedicated, long-time workers. After months of legal wrangling, Lappin took $5 million of his own money to restore their savings. As the year closed, the Boston Globe Magazine named him a Bostonian of the Year.

Gifting Sacred Scrolls

A Torah is a precious commodity, especially to those worshippers who lack one. Two local congregations gifted scrolls this year to others in need. In a magnanimous international gesture, members of Swampscott’s Congregation Shirat Hayam flew to Cuba in February to hand-deliver a Torah to a small, Sephardic shul in Havana. While there, they traveled the island and dispensed more than 1,000 pounds of supplies to aid Cuban Jews, who face considerable hardships.

Closer to home, Congregation Ahabat Sholom of Lynn donated a Torah to Brooksby Village, a retirement community in Peabody. Although the 250 Jewish residents at Brooksby hold regular Shabbat services, Bible study groups, and celebrate the Jewish holidays together, they yearned for a Torah to call their own. Brooksby resident Estelle Cohen orchestrated the exchange. For many years, she and her late husband, Victor, were active members of Ahabat Sholom. The acquisition was joyously celebrated with a procession on September 10, and a party on October 11, Simchas Torah.

Enrollment Jumps at Cohen Hillel

Despite a punishing recession, the doors to Cohen Hillel Academy opened wide in September to welcome an invigorated enrollment, exceeding the school’s expectations. Seven­teen new kindergartners and 18 new transfer students entering all grades made for an optimistic beginning of the academic year. It was a reversal of an enrollment that had been down since 2005. Just when the pendulum might have as easily swung in the opposite direction, the school is experiencing a revival. Head of School Ken Schulman said it validates the school’s efforts in stepped up recruitment and outreach. He, the teachers and staff, couldn’t have been more elated.

JCCNS in Crisis

The recession, coupled with the opening of the huge new Lynch van Otterloo YMCA on the Salem/Marblehead line, was enough to put the JCC of Marblehead into a crisis. Losing 20 percent of its members, the 38-year-old facility struggled to stay alive by considering merging, curtailing programs or closing its Camp Simchah in Middleton. By year’s end the JCC had taken out two separate $750,000 loans, one from a bank and another from the Jewish Federation, which declared its resolve to keep the cash-strapped facility operating. Tony Daniels (above) was hired as acting executive director. Many people were let go; Camp Simchah closed and will be sold when the real estate market rebounds. The Community Center Caretaker Committee was formed to bolster and resuscitate the JCC to make sure that it survives to serve another generation of North Shore Jews.

A First-Hand Lesson in Anti-Semitism

White supremacist James W. von Brunn walked through the entrance of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in the nation’s capital on June 10, took two paces, lowered his rifle at a security guard and fatally shot Stephen T. Johns, 39. In a blast of gunfire, other guards shot back, bringing down the 88-year-old hard-core supremacist whose Internet writings contained rage against Jews and African Americans. Swampscott eighth graders and Danvers teens were dispersed throughout the museum on end-of-year field trips when the shooting occurred, giving the children a chilling first-hand lesson on the evils of hatred and bias. After the museum was evacuated, teachers allowed their students to telephone their parents to report that they were unharmed. Von Brunn, a known Holocaust denier, was hospitalized after the deadly incident.

A Vibrant Teen Scene

A bright spot in what was a rather gloomy 2009 was youth programming. In late March, North Shore Jewish teens learned how to put the “mitzvah” back into their bar/bat mitzvah celebrations at a highly successful, community-wide “Got Mitzvah?” expo weekend. Throughout the year, teens found many ways to connect Jewishly; playing laser tag, taking art classes in New Orleans, and banding together to do yard clean-ups. Some of the activities were fun (kayaking, trapeze class, a Matisyahu concert), while others were service-oriented (visiting the elderly, working in a soup kitchen, tutoring disadvantaged students). Teens from all denominations, as well as the unaffiliated, participated in a myriad of activities organized by the North Shore Teen Initiative, Jew Crew, SMARTY, YAiSH and Chabad’s Mitzvah Corps. The concept was to create casual opportunities for Jewish youths to mingle with their peers, and the idea seems to be working. Paint ball, anyone?

A Battle for Leadership at Ahabat Sholom

Sparks flew at Congregation Ahabat Sholom’s annual meeting on August 2, when a small but vocal group of disenfranchised individuals, unhappy with the way the Orthodox synagogue has been run, challenged the status quo. The group, comprised of several long-time members and a handful of disgruntled Russian immigrants, demanded more transparency from what they perceived to be a stagnant, ineffective board. They charged the volunteer leaders at the century-old shul with shoddy and secretive record keeping, and complained about the lack of accurate annual reports. The meeting culminated with the congregation voting overwhelmingly to maintain the status quo, and the opposition walking out in disgust. The newly-elected leaders pledged, however, to get the books in order and operate more openly in the future.

Gloucester’s Temple Ahavat Achim — Up From the Ashes

Burned to the ground in a horrible December 15, 2007 fire, the historic and beautiful Temple Ahavat Achim members bonded together immediately and declared their resolve to rebuild. In August 2009, they announced their intention to rebuild on the footprint of the same spot in the downtown on Middle Street and displayed preliminary drawings for the project, which will cost an estimated $4 million to construct. It will be a two-story building with a sanctuary, social hall, chapel, classrooms and offices. Based on preliminary drawings, the total cost of the project, including an endowment for the building’s maintenance, is estimated at between $7 and $8 million. The 10,000-square foot structure should be fully operational by the 2011 High Holy Days.

Federation Poised To Make Sweeping Changes

When it was clear that the Jewish Federation of the North Shore wasn’t going to reach its campaign goal this year — projecting a drop of about 13 percent — it was forced to reduce allocations to its beneficiary agencies accordingly. In July it announced painful cuts to eight local organizations ranging from 7 to 55 percent. The difficult year for the Federation made it necessary to affect changes to stem the downward track of donations and begin a rejuvenation process. It trimmed its board, announced collaborations with various agencies, put more energy into designated giving, said it will likely move its offices in 2010 in order to lower its overhead, released $750,000 as a loan to the JCCNS to keep that agency afloat, and will take part in merger talks between Jewish Family Service of the North Shore and Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Boston.

Sloane Report Shakes Up Community

In April, Harvard University Graduate School of Business School Professor Emeritus and Swampscott resident Carl Sloane embarked upon an ambitious, self-funded, study of the local Jewish community. He and a team of young Harvard Business School students spent three months researching statistical data, analyzing financial statements, and conducting more than 100 interviews with representatives from nearly every local Jewish agency and synagogue.

On August 27, they presented their much-anticipated, 131-page report. It described a community at the tipping point, struggling under a crumbling infrastructure. Much of the report focused on what the beleaguered JCCNS and Jewish Family Service must do in order to remain viable. It stressed the need for consolidation and cooperation among agencies, and proposed sweeping changes to increase efficiency, improve quality and strengthen leadership. The Task Force created some controversy by suggesting that certain agencies and temples should fold, downsize or merge with other organizations.

With the report, the community has been given a roadmap to economic survival. Whether the many recommendations will be acted upon, or ignored, remains to be seen.