Monday, December 20, 2010

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