New Member Profile: Carly and David Dardano

BASICS: What are your names and any nicknames?

Carly and David Dardano and our boys Eli, Dax and Jack

YOU: Tell us about you and your family.

I (Carly) am from Los Angeles and grew up pretty Conservative, and David is from Portland and was raised Catholic. We met at the University of Oregon at the beginning of our sophomore year and have been together ever since! We decided to move to Portland after graduation. David used to work for Target and was transferred to Woodbury, MN shortly after we welcomed our first son Eli into the world in 2014. We loved MN but another opportunity brought us to Northbrook, IL where we lived for 6 years and had Dax (2017) and Jack (2019). COVID made us realize how much we missed MN, so now we are back here for good. With 2 school aged kids, we thought it was the perfect time to join a synagogue and start making those Jewish connections here!

BELONG: What does belonging to a synagogue mean to you?

Belonging to a synagogue means being a part of the Jewish community. Although David is Catholic, he identifies as being Jewish and we are raising our boys Jewish. So having a place to come together and celebrate holidays and traditions and meet more Jewish families in our community is really important and meaningful to us.

 HERE: Why did you choose Bet Shalom?

We were very active at our synagogue in Northbrook and truly didn't think we would ever be able to find a community like that again. We had heard amazing things about Bet Shalom and attended services during the High Holidays. We got such a warm feeling and thought that it was a perfect fit for our family. We have been extremely busy since we moved here, but we are looking forward to attending Shabbat services and more events in the future!