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The Charlotte Jewish News - May 2014 - Page 12 A Bar Mitzvah for Irving By Irving Bienstock Irving Bienstock, a Holocaust survivor who speaks at the Butter fly Project workshops, continues his story, started in last month's edition of this paper: I was bom in 1926, on the 3rd day of the Hebrew month of Tam- muz. My Bar Mitzvah was sehed- uled for the Shabbat of June 24, 1939. I attended cheder for my Hebrew edueation in Dortmond, Germany in the fall of 1938 where I started to learn about the laws pertaining to putting on tefillin. My parents were busy with their own preparations sueh as ereating a speeial tableeloth for our dining room table and ordering the fabrie for my Bar Mitzvah suit. It all eame to a halt on September 28, 1938, when my father had to flee to Belgium to avoid arrest by the Gestapo. My sehooling eame to an end on November 9 after Kristall- naeht, the Night of Broken Glass. On January 15, 1939, my mother put me on a train to Hol land, where I wound up in a Chil dren’s Home in Wijk an Zee. Miraeulously, I was reunited with my younger sister, Sylvia, and we stayed there for three months. I was then sent to the Burger Weeshuis, the munieipal orphan age in Amsterdam, whieh housed other Jewish ehildren who had ar rived there via the Kindertrans- port. After I had been there a week, I asked the Direetor, Zuster Van Der Elsakker, if I eould go the synagogue on Saturday. When I lived in Germany, I always went to shul on Shabbat with my father. The answer was “yes.” Along with a member of the staff, I joined three boys my age on a walk to the main Ashkenazi Synagogue in Amsterdam. After that Shabbat, we were allowed to ahend weekly, now without eseort. On my see- ond Shabbat, I approaehed the Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam and told him I had a problem: I was to have a Bar Mitzvah on June 24 and I would like to have my Bar Mitzvah on that day. The Rabbi was very kind and sympathetie, and told me not to worry. He seheduled my Bar Mitzvah and sent a teaeher to the Burger WORK WITH A LEADER IN CHARLOTTE REAL ESTATE ^bove,, 'Xrowd!™ w/m: Executive Realty 704-926-2544 office 704-975-8500 cell www.LepowRealtors. com i 0 Steve r Lepow LEADING TH E WAY TO YOUR SUCCESS HoHkkk ®ACURA CHARLOTTE 16 Years Serving the Greater Charlotte Area Please contact me for all of your automotive needs. DAVID ROSENBAUM 704-563-7800 6824 E Independence Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28227 www.HENDRICKACURA.com Irving’s Bar Mitzvah certificate. Weeshuis to teaeh me what I needed to know. The teaeher, Mr. Mansbaeh, eame and taught me to read the minimum lines required from the Torah sinee our time was limited. I was fortunate to have others help make my Bar Mitzvah possi ble. Mevrau (Mrs.) Wijssmuler, a Duteh lady, used to visit us at the orphanage. Although she was not Jewish, both she and her husband were very good to us. One day she eame and took me out and bought me a new suit for my Bar Mitz vah, eomplete with kniekerboeker pants. My aunt, through marriage, had a sister who lived in Amster dam whose name was Insdorf. Mrs. Insdorf invited me to spend my Bar Mitzvah Shabbat at their house, and we all went to the syn agogue together. My sister, who now lived in the Jewish Hospital of Amsterdam (beeause of her di abetes) was also able to ahend. At my Bar Mitzvah, I was ealled to the Torah where I read a portion from the Sedra Chukas (Chukat). The Rabbi made a won derful speeeh about me. After Hagbah and Gelilah, I was given the honor of plaeing the silver erown and breast plate on the Torah. At the end of the serviees, I went to the Insdorfs for a Shab bat meal. That evening, I returned to the Burger Weeshuis and my sister Sylvia went baek to the hos pital. I reeeived some wonderful and unexpeeted presents. On Sunday, I returned to the synagogue where I was presented with my Bar Mitzvah eertifieate. It now hangs on the wall of our dining room. The Moses family, who owned a Jewish bookstore in Amsterdam, gave me a pair of Tefillin, a Sid- dur, and a Chumash, whieh I still have. My Grandmother, who had been deported to Poland on Sep tember 28, 1938, sent me a Tefillin bag. These were all won derful, kind people. The Insdorf family, my Aunt, along with my Grandmother, all perished in the Holoeaust. I do not know what happened to the Rabbi or Mrs. Wi- jssmuller. Nor do I know what happened to the many other good people who helped me. I do know that I will always be grateful to them for their many kindnesses and for making my Bar Mitzvah possible. For more information about, to sehedule partieipation in, or to volunteer at a Butterfly Projeet workshop, please eontaet Dana Kapustin, Buherfly Projeet Coor dinator at buherflyprojeet@char- lottte.or or 704-944-6833.^ Flomsmtirinca end Hoo« Sharing Her Love of Performing Arts With The LJCC By Lauren Abeles Many of you have seen the en- ergetie red haired woman walking around Shalom Park. She is often leading young ehildren in a song or direeting a group of people in a play. Sometimes she is perform ing, singing the “Star Spangled Banner” at an event or in a musi- eal at a theater in town. Her name is Susan Cherin Gundersheim and she is the Visual and Performing Arts Direetor at the Levine Jewish Community Center. Susan’s experienee in theatre started very early, as her mother Carol Courtman Cherin was an opera singer, and then a voiee teaeher, so she grew up listening to her mom sing and seeing her on stage. She was in her first play at eamp, and as a ehild, she sang in ehoirs, took danee elasses and was in many shows. By the time she was 15, she was direeting and teaehing ehildren. She went on to major in Theatre at Northwestern University, where she met her husband Stephen, who was her danee partner in a show. After graduating, she moved to LA where she did film, TV and eom- mereial work, and performed, di- reeted and taught for a ehildren’s theater eompany. After Susan and Stephen were married, they moved to Arizona where Susan taught at a Perform ing Arts High Sehool. Then they moved to Massaehusetts, started having kids and Susan developed a program for Performing Arts at the loeal high sehool. In 2006, Stephen aeeepted a job as a Theater Professor at Winthrop University and they arrived in Charlotte, with their three ehil dren, Hannah, Rebeeea, and Doron. Soon after her family joined the LJCC, Susan began to teaeh a few theatre elasses and then the idea for the musieal “Seussieal” was bom. Thrity-five people were in that first show in Susan Gundersheim 2007 whieh sold 400 tiekets. There were entire families that performed together. Susan di- reeted “Seussieal,” but as the pro gram grew, the LJCC brought Stephen in to direet and ehoreo- graph, while Susan musieal di- reeted. The theatre program at the LJCC has grown tremendously. This past winter there were 72 people in “Fiddler on the Roof,” and 2,000 tiekets were sold. In August of 2012, due to the growth of the programs, the LJCC brought Susan on full time as the Direetor of Visual and Performing Arts. “Susan brought a new level of professionalism to the J,” said Anna Gunsher, Division Direetor, Family Life Serviees. “Her talents and warmth are a huge asset to our eommunity.” In addition to the big musieal in Deeember, the ehildren have their own show in Mareh. The show is a theme based revue with poetry and songs and the ehildren invited write their own pieees. Susan gets emotional every year at the audi tions, seeing how mueh the kids have grown. “Some of the kids eome to me in 2nd grade with very little eonfidenee in them selves. They learn to sing and per form, but they also learn they ean eonquer something they are afraid of More important than what they learn about performing is what they learn about themselves and about life,” said Susan. This year, after the staff trip to Israel, Susan taught the song “True Colors” to a group of Ethiopian ehildren in an after sehool program (Mak- sam) in Hadera via skype and in- eorporated the footage of them singing into the finale of the show, so that our ehildren performed on stage alongside the ehildren from Israel. The east and audienee were able to raise $500 the weekend of the show, by selling artwork by the kids from Israel and eolleeting donations, to support the perform ing arts programs at the Maksam. The artwork is still on sale at the front desk. The Teen show is new this year. A handful of these kids have been with Susan sinee they were lihle and now there is a large enough group of them to have their own show, and they are joined by an additional 12 teens who are brand new to the LJCC, who eame to do this partieular musieal, whieh is eoming up May 31 and June 1. The theater program at the J is unique beeause we have plaee- ment auditions, not entranee audi tions, so anyone who has the desire to be on stage ean be part of the show. Other programs don’t offer this unless they are part of a elass. Also unique is that 2nd graders and 75 year olds ean be in a show together. “We are proud to offer this experienee, and these priorities truly represent the inelu- sive philosophy of the J,” said Susan. (Continued on page 24) L # V I n t Charlotte
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