by Bill Kaufman
      It's a case of nepotism that's fully appreciated and enjoyed by members of the Mastic Beach Hebrew Center - the fact that the temple's spiritual leader is Rabbi Irwin Lowenheim and its cantor is his daughter, Stacy Kelly of Plainview.
      Lowenheim, 66, declared that no one could be better as cantor than his musically gifted and religiously educated daughter. Playing her guitar, Kelly, 32, presides over the temple's traditional services, holiday music and special events, often imbuing them with some folk music flavorings.
      A graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Kelly also works at two other Nassau temples. She is Hebrew school music director at Temple Judea in Manhasset and music director of the nursery school at Temple Sinai in Roslyn.

     Lowenheim came to the Mastic Beach reform temple nearly nine years ago. "Stacy started at the same time with me," said Lowenheim, adding, "She inspires not only her father the rabbi, but the entire congregation to sing the praises of God."

     Lowenheim, who was ordained at the Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion in the city, served earlier at Temple Chaverim, a small congregation in Plainview which worshipped in rented space at the United Methodist Church in Woodbury.
      "I grew up with Jewish music all around me," explained Kelly, explaining her career choice. Her musical background is ecumenical. "I once played in a rock band for while," said Kelly, whose husband is a computer executive. They have a 2-year-old daughter.
      When he joined the Mastic Beach Hebrew Center, it was also a small temple, but Lowenheim is credited with boosting its membership significantly, raising money for improvements and initiating a number of projects. Among his major outlooks is supporting interfaith marriages. "We want to make sure all families feel embraced and accepted," said Lowenheim.
      A congregation member, Mark Grossman of East Patchogue, married Lisa, a Catholic, in an interfaith ceremony conducted by Lowenheim and a priest in 1990. "It was very beautiful and spiritual," recalled Grossman.
      Lowenheim and his wife, Sandi, live in Coram. The rabbi has two other children from a previous marriage; Mark, a pediatric physician who lives in Peconic, and Robin Kreiner, of Port Jefferson. There are five grandchildren.