The Charlotte Jewish News - February 2015 - Page 8
Community News
Community Visionary Marvin Bienstock Helped Create
the Shalom Park We All Have Today
By Amy Krakovitz
Editor’s Note: Marvin Bien
stock passed away in Columbia,
SC on January 10, 2015.
“If not for Marvin Bienstock,
this community wouldn’t have...”
Well, just fill in the blank. The
more people you speak to, the
longer the list of things in Shalom
Park that might never have come
to be if not for Marvin’s leadership
and involvement.
Bienstock was brought to Char
lotte in 1975 as a director of the
Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte and the Jewish Commu
nity Center, both part time posi
tions. The JCC immediately
benefitted from his innovative
ideas.
“Generally, the JCC was open
in the summer, and very few activ
ities took place once the pool was
closed,” Ruth Goldberg remi
nisced. “The Tuesday night poker
game and maybe the restaurant
was open a few nights a week, but
otherwise, there was no Jewish
programming throughout the
year.” Marvin initiated new ideas
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for programs all year round at the
JCC: book club, art classes, exer
cise classes, and more, including
the first Jewish summer day camp
in Charlotte.
“He wasn’t the kind of manager
who sat behind his desk,” Gold
berg continued. “In the summer he
was always around the pool, shak
ing people’s hands. Marvin was a
people person. You would always
find him out and about, very visi
ble, very much a part of the com
munity.”
In his capacity as Federation ex
ecutive director, Bienstock “trans
formed Charlotte’s campaign into
a professional endeavor from what
was largely a volunteer-driven ef
fort,” says Richard Klein. “He re
cruited new leadership, supported
training, helped leadership build
programming, supported young
leadership, and encouraged Mis
sions to Israel.”
Jewish Family Services
“Before 1983, Ellis Berlin man
aged the community tzedakah
fund,” Sara Schreibman remem
bers. But the needs of the seniors
became more important and Bien
stock was instrumental in starting
Jewish Family Services under the
auspices of Federation.
Charlotte Jewish News
“Marvin was the force behind
the inception of The Charlotte
Jewish News” Ann hangman, the
first editor, says. “We were pub
lishing a bi-weekly newsletter to
the community, but we both envi
sioned a larger publication that
would cover more than the activi
ties at the JCC. It was his idea to
transform our bulletins into a
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newspaper.
“Our first publication was just
eight pages, but it grew until it is
the publication it is today, and
without Marvin’s leadership, it just
wouldn’t have been possible.”
Yiddish Institute
Thirty-seven years ago, Baila
Pransky had the idea of a Yiddish
Institute. She had been inspired by
the B’nai B’rith Institute meetings
at Wildacres and wanted to find a
way to preserve Yiddish locally.
When she brought the idea to Bi
enstock in his official capacity as
director of the JCC, he said, “I
want to be a part of this organiza
tion.”
He helped her establish the Yid
dish Institute, an annual retreat that
has grown from a few local adher
ents to a destination weekend for
Yiddish lovers from all the U.S.
and abroad. And Bienstock
(“Moishe,” Baila still calls him) at
tended every one he could until his
health prevented it.
Shalom Park
The idea for Shalom Park came
from the lay leadership, but Mar
vin was always an integral part of
the development. As professional
staff, Bienstock never attended the
planning meetings for the park, but
was “always available afterward to
give his insight on the next step we
should be taking,” according to
Harry Lemer. “His best piece of
advice to me those days was,
‘Harry, don’t get so frustrated.
This is new ground you’re break
ing. Let people familiarize them
selves with the idea.’”
Sara Schreibman saw “a little
seed of Shalom Park” in the way
Bienstock built relationships
among community leaders even
before the idea was floated. “He
believed in community. ... He
taught me to think outside the box
and to look at the JCC we had in
1977 as a central place for Jewish
activity.”
Even during the talks about
Shalom Park, Schreibman saw ev
idence of Bienstock’s great vision.
“He guided the talks and discus
sions in such a way that we were
able to create what we have
today.”
A Way of Touching People
“His greatest gift,” Lemer as
sesses, “was how community ori
ented he was. He brought together
not just the Reform, Conservative,
and Orthodox communities, but
also our Christian neighbors.
Everyone respected him because
they could see how genuine he
was.”
Almost everyone who knew
him mentioned his musical talents.
He played guitar and performed at
the Yiddish Institute, Pransky re
members. In a 1981 story that
Goldberg wrote for The Charlotte
Jewish News, it says, “While Mar
vin worked at a storefront JCC [in
San Francisco in the 1960s], he
would sing and play music of the
period. He created a coffee house
in one room of this makeshift JCC.
Such groups as ... Big Brother and
the Holding Company and The
Grateful Dead got their start at the
JCC coffee house and then went
on to national fame.”
“Marvin had vision,” Schreib
man says, “but more than that, he
was an interesting person. He was
musical and eccentric. He drove an
old VW beetle that you could hear
coming up the long driveway to
the JCC.”
“Marvin’s love and commit
ment for everything Jewish, in
cluding music and Yiddish, made
him a cornerstone in our commu
nity. ... I have missed his presence
in Charlotte and regret this loss to
the Jewish world,” Klein says.
So it’s true that anything any of
us do today in Shalom Park
harkens back to Marvin Bienstock
and we should all be grateful for
his tenure here.
“He understood leaders,”
Schreibman concludes. “He used
the best of their ideas and talents
to better this community.” ^
With thanks to those who con
tributed to this tribute, including:
Ruth Goldberg, Stan Greenspon,
Richard Klein, Harry Lerner,
Baila Pransky, and Sara Schreib
man.
JELF Awards $750,118 in
Interest-Free Student Loans
for the 2014-15 Academic Year
JELF (Jewish Educational
Loan Fund) awarded $750,118 in
interest-free last-dollar loans to
Jewish students throughout Geor
gia, Florida, South Carolina,
North Carolina, and Virginia for
the 2014-2015 school year. Dur
ing JELF’s two annual loan appli
cation cycles, students came to
JELF seeking to fill the gap be
tween the resources they assem
bled through grants, loans, and
scholarships and the real cost of
their education. JELF responded
to the rising need by loaning funds
to 202 students across its five-
state region.
While JELF currently adminis
ters over $4.5 million in outstand
ing loans, it has maintained its
impressive 99% repayment rate.
As students repay their loans.
JELF uses those payments to
make new loans, creating a circle
of tzedakah. JELF loans are need-
based and can be used for full
time undergraduate and graduate
degrees as well as vocational pro
grams. As one loan recipient re
cently expressed to JELF, “I just
wanted to say thank you to JELF
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support to its fullest capacity in
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For additional information,
contact JELF Executive Director
Jenna Shulman at 770-396-3080
or visit www.jelforg. Applica
tions for a JELF interest-free loan
for the 2015-2016 academic year
will be available on JELF’s web
site at www.jelforg on March 1