Jews in the Land of Disney: Jews in the Land of Disney Joe Goldovitz - From cranberry farmer to Jewish spiritual leader, but always a musician

When Joe Goldovitz learned to play the piano at an early age, he didn't realize that music would be the consistent thread that kept him going in more ways than one can imagine.

Goldovitz's father was Jewish, his mother Roman Catholic. Born in Portland, Maine, he was accepted into the Jewish faith at his bris by an Orthodox Bet Din. Goldovitz was six months old when his father passed away.

"We were living in West Palm Beach however, after my father died, my mother moved back to Dorchester, Massachusetts, to be closer to her parents and extended family who lived in the Boston area," Goldovitz said.

He attended public school until he was 11 years old. After that, his mother sent him to a Lubavitch Yeshiva in Roxbury, near the Franklin Park Zoo. It was a commitment she made to her husband prior to his passing. The cost of going to Yeshiva was taken care of by philanthropic Jews in the Boston area.

"I received a very good Jewish education early in my life, as a result of my mother fulfilling her promise to my father," Goldovitz said.

His mother also arranged for him to take piano lessons, which began a lifelong love of music. While attending Jewish summer camp, he picked up a guitar and taught himself how to play.

"I was in a band in high school. One of our first gig's was at the YMHA in Chelsea, Massachusetts. When the gig was over the guy who hired us said that we were the worst band that had ever played at the Y. Needless to say, we got better!"

In his sophomore year in high school, his garage band put out word that they needed a singer. "In walked Lynn Kaasinen to audition. She had a beautiful voice. We hired her and continued playing gigs all over New England. We ended up falling in love and getting married on Aug. 7, 1971."

Soon after their wedding, the couple had an opportunity to purchase a small motel/restaurant in up-state Vermont. They operated the business for almost four years. "I cooked for our restaurant, and after we closed our operations we moved back to Wareham, where I had jobs working as a cook with different restaurants."

Then Goldovitz was employed by Howard Johnson where he was a store manager for a little over four years. After Howard Johnson, he took a job managing a home heating-oil company. The practical experience he gained from managing these companies, honed his managerial skills.

During all the jobs he had throughout his career, he and his bands were playing gigs. "Lynn and I had a stint at numerous coffee shops all over New England during that time, where we had built a following. It was a great time as it gave us a nice place to play folk music without constantly changing venues."

During this time, Joe and Lynn had three sons: Jason, Jeremiah and Joseph.

In 1988, he purchased a cranberry farm from Lynn's parents in Wareham, Mass. While growing up in the area, Goldovitz had gained experience by working at various cranberry farms. Their primary account was Ocean Spray, and the managerial experience he had learned allowed him to operate profitably for many years. "We may have been the only Jewish cranberry farmers, ever," Goldovitz said.

Goldovitz ran the farm for 12 years until 2000. In 1998 the bottom fell out in the industry. Ocean Spray operated as a co-op with their growers, but when a large farm inside the co-op was purchased by an outside entity, they dumped their cranberries for a quick sale.

"We used to get $70 a barrel. A barrel equaled 100 pounds of cranberries. And that's when Ocean Spray decided to sell their reserve cranberries that they always held in case of an emergency. They sold off over 100,000 pounds, which ultimately brought our barrel prices to under $10. This devastated our industry. At that point we felt we had had enough. We sold the farm and moved to Debary, Florida, in 2004.

Back in 1999, Joe and Lynn attended a Klezmer festival while visiting Israel. The folks who were running the festival asked Goldovitz to play. Being a voluntary gig, Goldovitz had to bear the expense of travel, which they did for four years.

"Klezmer music is a cross between Dixieland and Fiddler on the Roof," Goldovitz said. "It was a lot of fun, helping cement my passion for the music, and I also became proficient at playing it."

"A popular thing back then were traveling shows featuring Israeli products. There was one held in Ft. Myers, 'Israeli Fest,' where I was selling Israeli tallises." Goldovitz noticed the sound system was poor. He approached the event manager and got the contract providing the sound for the events. "I then played a set and the next thing we knew, we were doing the music for these festivals."

It was around this time that Temple Beth El in Ft. Myers didn't have a rabbi or a cantor. Goldovitz filled in, conducting Shabbat services until they hired a full-time cantorial soloist. "Lynn and I conducted the services one weekend a month as fill-ins. By springtime the cantorial soloist had left and they hired Lynn and me to work full time in this role."

The couple also prepared many children to become b'nai mitzvah.

Commuting to Ft. Myers every weekend from Debary was getting tiresome, and in 2010 Congregation Sinai, "an unaffiliated congregation somewhere between reform and conservative," in Groveland was looking for a spiritual leader. The Goldovitz's gave notice, taking the job closer to home.

"Also, around this time Temple Israel in DeLand, was looking for someone to take on the teaching load for their school and b'nai mitzvah. DeLand was closer than Groveland, so we thought that we'd be able to manage both roles effectively. We've been with them since 2010 and have loved every moment of it."

In addition to their duties with Sinai and Temple Israel, Goldovitz consistently taught 30 music students the piano. However, when the pandemic ventured on the scene, the music lessons came to a complete standstill.

Things were going well for the Goldovitz's until June 2020.

"During the third week of June, Lynn didn't feel well. She was diagnosed with cancer as her condition worsened in July. She died on our anniversary, Aug. 7th. It was a shock, as Lynn had never really suffered any serious illnesses during her lifetime."

What GOldovitz's father set forth early in his life, and his mother's commitment to his father wishes, carried Goldovitz through his lifetime. As teachers, cantorial soloists, and performers, the Goldovitz's had dedicated their lives to tikkun olam.

Do miracles happen in this day and age? Many would say no, but Goldovitz would say yes, they do.

"My miracle's name is Robin Walker. Robin is a lovely lady who has been our friend for a number of years and she was very close to us as we worked through a very difficult time. We became closer and at length I asked Robin if she would marry me. Delightfully, she said yes. We look forward to many years of studying and teaching Torah to children and adults of both synagogues. Yes, miracles do still happen, thanks to God." Goldovitz said.