Dedication of the Tartell Family Plaque

Robert Tartell's Bar Mitzvah Photograph with his Parents Ida and Julius Tartell

This past Sunday (December 19, 2010) we had the dedication of the Tartell Family Plaque in the Old Broadway Synagogue. Dr. Robert Tartell grew up in the shul in the 1930s and celebrated his bar mitzvah there in 1939. Fast forward 65 years later. Dr. Tartell, together with his wife, Professor Lottie Tartell, visited the shul and became supporters of the work that we do. The Tartells suggested that they would like to install a plaque to honor the memory of Bob's parents, Julius and Ida Tartell. Several years later, three generations of the Tartell family came to the dedication as well as some of the current members of the shul. It was a wonderful moment for me because it made the fact that everything we do with the shul has deeps roots going back to to the early part of the twentieth century. I am thrilled that I can be part of such an historic institution, and I hope that our efforts now, inspired by the collective efforts of the Schiffs, the Bucklers, Browns, the Tartells, the Schwartzes and the Krets will help ensure that our shul can continue to be a place of Torah and derekh eretz for decades and more to come.

A Recent Photograph of Lottie and Bob Tartell

In Memory of Rebbetzin Chana Kret, z"l

I am saddened to report that Mrs. Chana Kret passed away today (November 15, 2010) after a long illness. I unfortunately did not have the zekhus (merit) to know her well, but I would like to share what I learned about her at her funeral today. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Mrs. Kret was born Chana Lichtenfeld and grew up in a wealthy family in Berlin. The family was on vacation when the war broke out, and Mrs. Kret and her parents were arrested and exiled to a labor camp in Siberia. Her parents both died, but Mrs. Kret survived and there she met Rabbi Jacob Kret, her bashert. She traveled with him from Siberia to Germany after the war, and from there to the United States, where her husband took the pulpit of the Old Broadway Synagogue. There she and Rabbi Kret worked to build up the shul (which needed a lot of building up, and could still use some). She helped recruit new congregants, and hosted the many guests which her husband brought home. She did not complain despite very modest circumstances, and she was very creative, I recall visiting her and Rabbi Kret a number of years ago at their apartment on the Lower East Side. I noticed that they had a number of presentation awards that were given to Mrs. Kret in the 1960s. They were from Manhattan Day School, where Miriam and I believe Norman went to school, and the awards acknowledged Mrs. Kret's excellent work there. When I asked her about it, she told me that she created costumes for the students, if I recall correctly, for a school Purim play. I saw later evidence of this talent when I saw some wonderful photos of some of her grandsons, who for Purim, she dressed up as some rather convincingly cute girls. Her grandson, Aryeh Mezei spoke about how she loved to give, and I recall that for every Shalosh Seudos, she made a special dish for one particular congregant. Whenever I visited or whenever I phoned, she was warm and genuine. She always asked about my family and the other members of the shul. She will be deeply missed. Yehi zikhronah livrakhah - may Mrs. Kret's memory be for a blessing.

In Memory of Dvorah Womble

Photo: Online.WSJ.Com

There is a Jewish story that Eliyahu HaNavi - Elijah the Prophet - shows up in the guise of an old man or a beggar to test us to see if we are really compassionate towards others. If we were to meet Eliyahu what would he himself be like? I would think he would be kind, gentle, thoughtful and wise. Sometimes we are blessed to have such people in our lives. Dvorah Womble, who passed away at age 90 on August 19, 2010, was one such person. I don't recall when she first showed up at the Old Broadway Synagogue, but in short order she won us all over with her charm, her poise, her faith and her optimism. She was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and had an African-American and Cherokee background. Her Jewish background was more mysterious to me but in our context at Old Broadway, this did not seem to matter much. That she believed in God and affiliated with Judaism was beyond question. Over the years she was sick a few times, and if didn't see her, we would walk a few blocks to her apartment, where we would find her studying the parashah, surrounded by her collection of Jewish books.

Through speaking with her in shul, and visiting her at home, we learned that she had lived most of her adult life in New York. She apparently attended the Old Broadway Synagogue in the 1970s, but then moved downtown, where she attended the Brotherhood Synagogue near Grammercy Park. We also knew that she had been involved in a catastrophic automobile accident, but had miraculously pulled through. She had suffered other losses as well and still recovered.  From this I think that we all had a sense that she was indestructible, which is why her death still seems so incongruous.

We were all proud of her when she appeared in article in the Wall Street Journal November 2008 about people who had lived through and recalled the Great Depression. I recall speaking with her about that time and what a blessing it was to be able to connect with someone who was from that time period, but also very much in the here and now. Now that she is gone, another link to the past is broken, but I hope that in us, her to her kindness and wisdom will continue to live on. We send our condolences to Dvorah's son Larry Womble and to her two grandsons. Yehi zikhronah li-vrakhah - May Dvorah's memory be for a blessing.

Tisha ba-Av at Old Broadway

This past Monday night, July 20, 2010, Tisha ba-Av evening, our teacher, Daniel Fridman, opened his remarks with a surprising statement. He said that he probably should be forbidden from attending Tisha ba-Av services at the Old Broadway Synagogue. The reason is that he gets so much joy at seeing the shul open or Tisha ba-Av. Indeed, this is only the fourth year that Old Broadway is open for Tisha ba-Av in particular and or the summer in general. For many years, the shul used to be open year round, during the summer and also for daily minyan. The daily minyan was discontinued in the 1970s, and I suspect that so was meeting in July and August. It made sense, since the shul was not air conditioned and Rabbi Kret and Mrs. Kret and the other survivors made their way to the Catskills to escape the heat of the city. Now most of us do not go to the Catskills and, thanks to the generosity of the Plaks family (in honor of the Eric and Gloria's wedding), the shul has had air conditioning since 2006. Summer 2007 was the first summer we decided to stay open. I made a list of all the Shabbosim and made sure that we would have enough people for at Shacharis each Shabbos. Thank God, we were successful, but I was nervous that we would not pull it off. When it became clear that Old Broadway was also viable during the summer, it felt that we brought a dead person back to life. Not that the shul was ever dead, but the more active we can make it, the better. In this way, it can serve us in the present and enable to deepen our Jewish commitments. God willing, having a vibrant shul will also be a valuable gift for the future members of our congregation. Finally, dedication today demonstrates that the hard work of the previous generations has not been in vain, and their hopes and desires continue to live on.

Making Cholent at Old Broadway (in Yiddish)