Vicky Vossen - Kane Street Synagogue

Transcription

Kane
Street
Synagogue
156
years
156th Anniversary Celebration
honoring
VickyVossen
and Chesed Awardee
LaureveBlackstone
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Kane Street Synagogue
Brooklyn, New York
CongratulationstoAnniversaryHonoree
VickyVossen
andtoChesedHonoree
LaureveBlackstone
Uponrecognitionoftheirtrailblazingservice
to
KaneStreetSynagogue
FamilyofLillianandSolGoldman
Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes
in celebration of its
156th Anniversary
honors
Vicky Vossen
and presents
the Chesed Award
to
Laureve Blackstone
June 3, 2012
13 Sivan 5772
about our honorees: laureve blackstone
This year we
take great pleasure
in presenting the
Chesed Award
to Laureve
Blackstone, who
has been an
inspirational
chair of
Kane Street
Synagogue’s
Social Action
Committee
for the past five
years—practically from the moment she and
her husband Jason joined the shul in 2006. Under Laureve’s leadership, the
committee developed the ongoing Mitzvah of the Month project, which provides
urgent help to many needy groups, while also giving members of all ages and
family situations a way to concretely participate in a Tzedaka/Chesed project every
month. She has worked closely with the Hebrew School and youth communities, and
she encouraged and facilitated the involvement of new volunteers in Tzedaka and
G’milut Chasadim programs. Traditional social
justice projects like visits to the Cobble Hill
Health Center now draw more members of
different ages. Laureve’s modest but effective
leadership, her calm and steady manner, and
her genuine compassion have guided us to
find our own better natures and to serve the
greater community.
about our honorees: Vicky Vossen
Vicky Vossen has been an
energetic and creative
leader at Kane Street
Synagogue for most of
the 20 years that she and
her husband David have
been members. Her
practical, no-nonsense
approach to getting
things done has served
our community in
countless ways.
Whether she’s
functioning as
gabai on Shabbat
morning, applying
for a grant
to provide a
Scholar-in-Residence
speaker, or teaching a Learners’ Service, Vicky has
an infectious and inspiring vitality. Before becoming president in 2010, she served
on the Prozdor Board and the Prozdor Long-Term Planning Committee, which led to a
stronger, more rigorous Hebrew School. She chaired
the Personnel Committee and worked on the Capital
Campaigns for both Kane Street Synagogue and the
Hannah Senesh Community Day School. She is also a
member of the United Synagogue for Conservative
Judaism METNY Board. Vicky’s resourcefulness and
strategic vision, her warm smile and quick wit
have helped shape our community into the rich
and vibrant center for Jewish life that it is today.
Rabbi Samuel H. Weintraub
and the
2011–2012
Officers and Board of Trustees
welcome you
to the
156th Anniversary Celebration
of Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes
President
Vicky Vossen
Executive Vice President
Harry Chevan
Vice Presidents
Tracy Makow
Rena Schklowsky
Adina Solomon Scheihagen
Treasurer
Susan Rifkin
Financial Secretary
Ellen Phillips
Recording Secretary
Ann Powell
Trustees
Ros Aaron
Elise Bernhardt
Laureve Blackstone
Andrea Glick
Gillian Kahtan
Jonathan Katz
Laurie Lieberman
Sharon Neuman
Penny Owen
Al Romano
Joanne Robinson
Tim Rucinski
Jonathan Sack
Anne-Maureen Sarfati-Magill
Jessica Schoengold
Lisa Smith
Charlene Visconti
Leslie Wilsher
Life Trustees
Arnold Badner
Allen Rubenstein
Evelyn Rubenstein
Howard Schneider
Benjamin Zalman
Past Presidents
Ellen A. Bowin
Jay Brodsky
Herbert L. Cohen
Isaac E. Druker
Nancy Fink
Stanley Friedman
A. Seth Greenwald
Judith R. Greenwald
Jacob Hertz
(1908–1992)
Ralph Kleinman
Arthur Lichtman
(1932–2003)
Donald Olenick
Susan K. Rifkin
Daniel Sarfati-Magill
Michael Squires
Ronald J. Stein
Leonard M. Wasserman
Robert B. Weinstein
(1951-1999)
Greetings from the 156th Anniversary
Celebration and Commemorative Journal Committees
Welcome! Tonight we honor Vicky Vossen, an outstanding, dynamic leader who has
led our shul these past two years with a combination of smarts, infectious energy and
a great deal of humor. We also celebrate our Chesed Honoree Laureve Blackstone,
who took our shul’s social action work to new heights in her five years as Social
Action Committee Chair.
To you, our gracious guests and generous Commemorative Journal and Directory of
Business Services contributors, a heartfelt “thank you” for joining us to recognize our
honorees’ significant achievements.
156th Anniversary Celebration Committee
Cindy Margul, Chair
Linda Kass-Mahler
156th Anniversary Commemorative Journal Committee
Marsha Z Solomon and Ann Powell, Co-chairs
Debbie
Polinsky, Captain
Anne-Maureen Sarfati-Magill, Captain
Rena Schklowsky, Captain
Barbara Badner
Lea Dias
Stanley Friedman
Judy Greenwald
Tracy Makow
Cindy Margul
Julie Irwin
Laurie Lieberman
Sharon Neuman
Penny Owen
Chava Ortner
Carole Rubenstein
Evelyn Rubenstein
Jessica Schoengold
Lisa Smith
Barbara Solomon-Speregen
Charlene Visconti Elizabeth di Guglielmo, Designer
Fred Terna, Design Contributor
David Grupper, Design Contributor
Naomi Berger, Design Contributor
Directory of Business Services Committee
Eliot Solomon, Chair
Judith Alpert
Elise Bernhardt
Benjamin Galynker
Andrea Glick
Judith Gottfried
Julie Irwin
Roberta Kahn
Jeffrey Macklis
Albert Romano
Carole Rubenstein
Lisa Sack
Anne-Maureen Sarfati-Magill
Rena Schklowsky
Lisa Smith
Diana Szochet-Chevan
glitter and glue
I
A Tribute to Vicky Vossen by Ann Powell
first met Vicky some 15 or 16 years ago
Omaha—or for many of us, about a million
and liked her immediately. Phil and Ellen
miles from nowhere. Her mother, Maxine was
Phillips had suggested that the four of
a homemaker who also worked as a maid at
us—my husband Barry and I, and Vicky and
the local Best Western Motel. By all accounts
David—would enjoy getting together, so
(okay, by David’s account), Vicky inherited
we met for dinner. In what now seems like a
her mother’s warmth, understanding of the
blink of an eye, our two families were soon
necessity to do the hands-on, real work required
routinely sharing holiday meals and packing
to get things done, and her unerring “B. S.”
up our young sons to make the annual trip to
detector. Maxine always
Camp Isabella Freedman for the Shabbaton. In
had a cup
the intervening years, I’ve taken note of a few
things about Vicky.
First, the obvious: she’s smart, amazingly
smart. She was valedictorian not only of
her high school class, but also of her class
at the Joint Program between Columbia
University and Jewish Theological Seminary,
an especially impressive feat since she barely
knew the alephbet when she applied, and all of
the classes at JTS were taught in Hebrew. She
went on to graduate from Harvard Law School.
Second, Vicky does her homework.
Whether she’s preparing for a board meeting,
“It’
or interviewing parents of the next bat mitzvah cak s my party, Littl
e.” Vic
ky, tur e Brother. Ste
for her congratulatory commentary from
ns 6.
p away
from th
the bimah, or writing grant applications for
e
synagogue programs, Vicky works hard to get
of coffee at the ready
it right and leaves nothing to chance.
for neighbors and friends
And third, she tells it like it is. Her
who would drop by for a visit. Even the
Midwestern directness is honest but never
Jehovah’s Witness travelers who knocked at
mean, forthright but not
her door got a warm welcome and an open
unkind.
debate. Maxine passed away suddenly in
1978, shortly after Vicky graduated from the
Columbia/JTS program.
Vicky’s father, Bill, was a junior high
school principal, who frequently moved the
family around Nebraska and Illinois. In the
late 60s they landed in Ottawa, Illinois, about
80 miles southwest of Chicago, and there
Vicky started to explore her twin passions:
human rights and religion. Raised an observant
Catholic, Vicky began to question aspects
of Catholicism, in particular, the doctrine of
’s
a
Cub
visiting
y
k
confession: It didn’t seem right to her that
ic
V
.
avana: lier this year
H
in
n
r
people could to “do lousy things to others,
oma
ue ea
Our w
nagog
y
S
to
a
You may not like confess, and not have to face the person who
Patron
what she has to say, but you
had been wronged.”
will recognize that her words are reasonable So she began a quest of sorts, reading
and fair.
about other religions, and she decided that
Now a little background: Vicky Anne
Judaism offered a better way of life in terms
Vossen was born September 28, 1955, in
of relationships with other people and with
Sabetha, Kansas, about 100 miles south of
G-d. There were only three Jewish families in
Ottawa, but she got in touch with them, was
invited to Shabbat dinner, and started going to
a Reform temple 20 miles away.
Vicky was keenly aware of the political
climate of the times, and she had her heart set
on going to Malcolm X Community College
in Chicago. But dad said no. Instead, thanks
to her academic record, she was offered a full
scholarship to Augustana College in Rock
Island, Illinois.
Augustana proved to be a perfect place for
Vicky, if only for one year. She discovered the
Tri-City Jewish Center in Rock Island, Illinois,
where she began to attend services and study
for conversion. Her Hebrew teacher was a
graduate of the JTS/Columbia Joint Program
and he encouraged her to apply there. The
fact that classes would be taught in Hebrew, a
language she’d only just begun to learn, and
that she had never been to New York City gave
her pause, but only slightly. She was accepted,
and the rest, as they say, is history.
Vicky might have continued her studies at
the JTS Rabbinical School, except for the fact
that women were not admitted at the time. It
was only in her last year of law school (1984)
that JTS admitted the first class of female
rabbis. After graduating, Vicky returned to
New York where she clerked for Judge John
Bartels and met David through a mutual friend.
Two years later, in November 1987, they were
married and moved to their Bergen Street
apartment.
It was 20 years ago that Vicky and
David joined Kane Street Synagogue, and
within a couple of years they were enlisted
as volunteers. Their young son Caleb was
enrolled in the Torah for Tots class of what
was then called Prozdor. The principal hadn’t
been able to hire a teacher, and somehow Vicky
and David found themselves in the choir loft,
seated on toddler-sized chairs surrounded
by 4-year-olds, singing songs, coloring, and
spreading massive amounts of glitter and glue
on squares of construction paper.
I love this story because it is a classic
Vicky Vossen story and also a classic Kane
Street story. It’s a story about seeing a need and
supplying a solution. Whether it’s organizing
a capital campaign that results in a modern
education center, or starting a community day
school, or reimagining a Hebrew school, or
creating a preschool, members of Kane Street
have a long history of making things happen.
Vicky claims that she and Dave were
eventually banned from that Prozdor class for
excessive use of glitter, but more volunteer
jobs awaited her. Vivien Shelanski asked
David lost the bid, but two years later gets his wife back. Hawaii, 2012.
her to work on
ways we as trustees could work together to
the Personnel
be better leaders. This process produced three
Committee, and
new committees: the Strategic Fundraising
then she joined
Committee, the Kehillah Committee, and the
the Prozdor
Shabbat Enhancement Committee. The board
Board and the
concentrated on long range planning around
Prozdor Longcritical issues: financial stability; recruiting and
Term Strategic retaining new members; preparing volunteers
Planning
to be future leaders; and improving our core
Committee.
function—providing a satisfying spiritual life
She worked
of prayer and worship.
on the
The idea that Shabbat services could
Capital
be improved grew out of feedback from the
Campaigns Measuring Success project (another project that
for both
Vicky supported and, along with the Rabbi and
Kane
other congregants, helped write the successful
–
6
9
9
Street
and
application for in 2009). The survey results
eb (1
icky, G li.
V
:
y
il
Hannah
provided a clear picture of our congregation—
e fam
-shy A
All in th d the camera
Senesh.
She’s
been
and how well members felt the synagogue was
n
a
,
2008)
on the Board of Trustees so long
serving them. The data got Vicky’s attention.
that she can’t quite remember when she was
Instead of one community, we were more like
first elected. In typical Vossen style, before
a fragmented collection of special interests: the
agreeing to accept Jay Brodsky’s proposal that
Friday night group, the Shabbat morning gang,
she be his executive vice president in 2008, she the Hebrew School circle, Hannah Senesh set,
waited until the synagogue auction that year
Kane Street Kids faction, those who favored
to challenge members to outbid her husband.
the Singing Service, and so on. Our challenge,
David was willing to donate $1000 just to
as synagogue leaders, was (and is) to connect
keep her at home—and away from the job
people across these segments and engage them
that would eventually lead to being president.
in meaningful conversations about issues that
Fortunately for us, David lost his bid, Vicky’s
mattered. The series of focus groups conducted
creative fundraising netted the auction another
this past spring was an important first step in
grand, Jay got his executive VP, and Kane
that process.
Street had an outstanding president.
As president, Vicky has laid the
Vicky began her term with two important
groundwork for conversations like this
initiatives. The first was to convince the
to continue. She has used her smarts, her
board of trustees that partaking of a modest
resourcefulness, and her directness
catered dinner before every month’s meeting
to start an important
was worth a $100 annual contribution. This
discussion:
seemingly small perk produced extraordinary
What can we
results: when our bodies and brains were
do to make our
nourished, we thought more clearly, spoke
synagogue the
more rationally, and had more patience with
“true beacon of
each other—okay, at least most of the time.
Jewish life in
We arrived a half hour early, enjoying
Brooklyn?”
our meal and each other’s company.
Where others
Vicky supplied the wine, which was also
before her have
conducive to collegiality and reason.
led us to build
Once we sat down to business, we were
much needed
ready to work together.
buildings and
Her second major initiative was
schools, Vicky has
to write and win a grant for a Board
Relaxin
guided
us in building
ga
Development Workshop. Working with a Ali (top) ant home with the
a more integrated,
d Katie
girls,
.
management consultant, the trustees—all
engaged, and vibrant
with different professional backgrounds—
community.
focused on the issues of lasting impact, on
In ever more creative ways, she’s still
strategic planning and goals, and also on the
spreading glitter and glue.
THE PERFORMER
Questions for Laureve Blackstone
Interview by Marsha Z Solomon*
Although known for your leadership
around performing Mitzvot, you
actually come from a long line of
performers of a different sort.
My parents have owned a dance
studio in Brick, New Jersey for
almost 40 years. My father met my
mother when he was a teacher at
Fred Astaire. My brother is an
up and coming choreographer
who danced on Broadway in
Wicked and choreographed a
solo for the TV show So You
Think You Can Dance.
Can Jason dance? Jason loves music but
he’s not a dancer. He’s a jazz aficionado.
He was the first man I dated who was
willing to critically review my dance
performances.
Did your parents coach you for your
wedding dance? My father worked with
us to dance to “Let There Be Love”
by Nat King Cole. Jason was good
and impressed my family.
Besides having a full-time
job as a labor lawyer,
Photograph by Eliot Solomon
you’ve got 9-month-old
And your grandfather was a Shakespearean
Rose. But how do you feel about becoming a
actor. Yes. He was very handsome, like
“rebitzen”? You don’t exactly look the part.
Robert DeNiro—but even better looking.
I like the idea of being the rebitzen. I like being
My grandfather turned down a contract with
at shul, talking to people and hosting them in
Columbia Pictures to marry my grandmother.
our home.
We should mention that you, too, have a
dancing background. In high school, I went
to the Alvin Ailey high school program in
Manhattan. I begged my parents to let me
commute from New Jersey and they gave in.
By my junior year I was pretty serious and had
a scholarship. I wanted it so badly that I drove
my grandmother’s old car to the bus stop and
traveled an hour and a half each way, four days
a week.
Did you dance professionally? When I
graduated from NYU, I danced with the
Avodah Dance Ensemble, which was “dance
midrash”—interpreting text through modern
dance. My last dance performance before
law school was with the Martha Graham
Dance Company. I was part of a group of
scholarship students at the Martha Graham
School who got to perform with the company
in its comeback performance at City Center. It
was a personal thrill.
Your husband, Jason Gitlin, is studying to
become a rabbi. How did you two meet? My
NYU Sufism class and his Arabic course were
in the same classroom back to back.
We’re told that you at first refused to take
an aliyah. True. When I started coming to
Kane Street, I was terrified to chant the Torah
blessings. But over time and after lots of
practice in the shower, I was able to say yes and
have happily accepted the honor ever since.
You’ve just been chosen as the Chesed
Honoree for your five years as chair of the
Social Action Committee. That’s quite an
accomplishment for a girl from the Jersey
Shore. How did that come about? We were
members for less than a year when Rabbi
Weintraub asked if I would take it on. Jason was
about to go to Israel for six months so it worked
out perfectly. I’m very proud of the projects I’ve
led and worked on. It’s rewarding to see them
take on a life of their own.
What’s next for you? We heard that you
like to travel. But now that you have a
child, will that still happen? Before Rose
was born, Jason and I walked from village to
village in Hungary, staying in strangers’ houses
and enjoying shots of Slivovitz. We may
have to tweak the itinerary a bit but we’ll find
something just as fun.
*No relation to Deborah Solomon
THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN CONDENSED AND EDITED.
Greetings from Rabbi Samuel H. Weintraub
W
hen the construction of the ancient
Mishkan (Sanctuary) was
completed, Moses blessed the
artisans, “tishre HaShchina b’ma’sei
y’dei’chem”—“May G-d’s presence abide in
the work of your hands.” This is my blessing
and feeling today as I look back at another
year of so many inspiring religious services,
Shabbat and Holiday celebrations, life cycle
events, social justice projects, formal and
informal Torah learning, acts of mutual
support, Tzedaka programs, and so much
more. I can’t now acknowledge all who
contributed their spirit, wisdom, talent, and
material resources. However, I would like to
acknowledge some community leaders.
Vicky Vossen showed incredible
devotion to our Kahal—yomam valayla, day
and night. She sought to make sure that we
were healthy spiritually, intellectually, and
materially. Vicky has been especially tireless
and visionary in implementing new ways for
our Trustees and other lay leaders to serve
even more effectively, knowledgeably, and
collaboratively. Her passion for exploring and
pioneering new models of leadership is an
inspiration.
It has also been a great privilege to serve
this community with our Chesed Honoree,
Laureve Blackstone. Laureve is a terrific
exemplar of how the particular and universal
commitments of being a Jew do not contradict
but rather complement each other. She is a
shomeret Mitzvot, ritually observant, and a
deep lover of Israel, but also an extraordinarily
effective organizer of projects for general
Tikkun Olam. Under her leadership, members
of all ages have brought food, clothing,
educational training, tzedaka, and hope to
hundreds of needy people.
Executive Vice President Harry Chevan’s
love of Yiddishkeit, sweeping command of
our financial matters, commitment to Jewish
learning and hospitality have benefitted me
and our entire community. To all the other
officers, trustees, and committee chairs, who
give constantly and selflessly, Yashir Ko’ach!
We are a model of a creative Conservative
congregation because of you.
Our staff are insightful, seasoned
professionals and also kind and encouraging
“mensches.” Executive Director Linda Mahler
has graced my life and the lives of hundreds of
other members and friends with her broad and
freely shared knowledge of our organization
and facilities, her administrative talents, warm
embrace, common sense, and compassion.
Rabbi Valerie Lieber is a cherished colleague,
who in a few short years has developed our
Hebrew School and family programs into
first-class institutions, building Jewish joy,
pride, and knowledge. Peggy Geller, our
wonderfully upbeat and competent Kane Street
Kids Director, guarantees that our preschool
children (now numbering four score!) are
enriched and challenged at just the right level.
Joey Weisenberg, our Music Enrichment
Director, with his passion for Torah, broad
musical talent, and liturgical knowledge is
bringing our prayer life even more strongly
together. Pedro Sanchez leads our custodial
crew with high energy, mechanical skill,
and a cooperative spirit, and assures that our
facilities are safe and clean for all programs.
Finally, to all of you—our loyal and
devoted members—Mazal Tov on another
successful year. I look forward b’ezrat
Hashem, with G-d’s help, to continued Jewish
growth and celebration for many years.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE SYNAGOGUE PRESIDENT by Vicky Vossen
4:30 a.m. Awakened by my snoring pug,
Ali. Cannot get back to sleep because I’m
obsessing about getting volunteers to work
on the Journal Campaign, one of the shul’s
biggest fundraisers. Wonder why Al Qaeda
has a line around the block of people willing
to blow themselves up for “the cause,” but
we can’t get five volunteers to work on
the Journal. Resolve to study Al Qaeda’s
motivational strategies. Pause to ask myself
if it is appropriate to use them as a model.
Decide that I must be open to all successful
motivational strategies. Desperation is the
mother of invention.
6:00 a.m. Alarm clock rings. Remind myself
to call personnel chair to find out if staff
contract is done. Against my better judgment,
I check my e-mail. Three shul-related e-mails
pop up immediately: the first is from some guy
who was bar mitzvahed in the 1980s and is
threatening to sue us for listing his bar mitzvah
on the shul website without his express
permission. Seriously? Forward e-mail to
Stephen Colbert, this story will be perfect for
The Colbert Report. Second is from a KSK
parent writing to let me know how terrific
Peggy Geller and the KSK teachers are.
Love that! The third is from the Landmarks
Commission. Hit DELETE.
8:00 a.m. About to leave the house to walk
my other dog, Katie, when the phone rings.
Linda Kass-Mahler, our executive director, is
calling to let me know that a radiator has fallen
off the wall in the sanctuary. No one injured,
but plumber wants to check ALL the radiators
now. I interpret this as a sign from G-d that
we should install air conditioning units in the
sanctuary.
9:30 a.m. At work, listening to testimony in a
murder trial in the Bronx Hall of Justice (my day
job). Rabbi Sam calls to let me know that we’ve
just received a HUGE donation from a donor
who loves us! Dreaming of rooftop playgrounds,
new Machzorim, and other wonderful uses for
the unexpected windfall while I try to focus on
the medical examiner’s testimony about blood
spatter at the crime scene.
11:00 a.m. Bat mitzvah next Shabbat, so I
e-mail bat mitzvah Mom to ask her to tell me
about her daughter. Receive 20-page e-mail
singing the praises of the bat mitzvah. Last
line: “But Rebecca can’t stand the thought of
anyone talking about her in public, so all of this
is really confidential.” Challenge.
1:00 p.m. About to leave for lunchtime
exercise class when the phone rings.
Emergency call from Bat Mitzvah Mom. Does
beer need a hechsher? Refer to Rabbi as the
most fun halachic question of the day!
2:00 p.m. Work on High Holiday speech.
Seeking inspiration, I check the United
Synagogue Presidents’ LISTserv for ideas.
Find out that many congregations have
abandoned the High Holiday speech and do all
High Holiday fundraising at series of cocktail
parties in July and August! Hello Martini
Minyan!
3:00 p.m. Custodian Pedro Sanchez reports
that he has been tracking the size of the
cracks in the sanctuary ceiling and realized
that several have become alarmingly longer
and deeper. I tell him I’ve noticed the same
thing about the wrinkles on my face during the
two years of my Presidency...let’s call them
“character cracks.” No money for facelift—
for ceiling or me!
6:30 p.m. Executive Committee Meeting.
Harry, Ann, Susan, Tracy, Ellen, Rena,
Adina, and I spend three hours discussing
the agony and ecstasy of Kane Street life.
Over wine and pita chips, we wrestle with
unexpected demands on the budget, the roof
leaks that resist all explanation and repair,
and complaints that resist all solutions. We
celebrate our fully enrolled, fabulous Kane
Street Kids, sold-out Israel Film Festival,
joyous Friday night Singing Service, UJA
grants for Synagogue Board Development,
Measuring Success, and Shabbat
Enhancement Initiative. We kvetch. We
kvell. We argue. All the petty frustrations
of the day lose their edge. We enjoy each
other’s company and the love we all share for
this great ongoing experiment called Kane
Street Synagogue.
11:00 p.m. I thank G-d for giving me another
interesting, challenging, wonderful day as the
President of Kane Street Synagogue, and ask
for the strength to do it all again tomorrow!
Also ask if He has time to inspire someone to
volunteer to Chair the Journal...
remembering gerry gross
Our longtime and devoted member Geraldine
K. Gross died in January. Gerry, who
married George Gross in our sanctuary in
1976, lovingly chronicled the resurgence
of Jewish life in Brownstone Brooklyn
with her first-person reflections and lively
profiles—often of Kane Street members—
in newspapers including The Jewish
Week and The Brooklyn Paper chain of
publications. Gerry had a long career as a
copywriter and editor at Chemical Bank and was
the author of two published books: a novel, The Door Between
(as Geraldine Katay), and a wonderful collection of stories,
The Persecution of Tante Chava. Because Gerry often wrote for
our Commemorative Journal (she and George were honored in
2001), we thought it entirely fitting to print the title story from
her collected stories in this year’s Journal. Enjoy it.
—Marsha and Eliot
W
“The Persecution of Tante Chava” by Geraldine K. Gross
hen someone at the cemetery office
called my mother to tell her
several headstones had been
toppled by vandals and that Tante Chava’s
headstone was among them, I was distressed,
but I wasn’t surprised. Nor would Tante
Chava have been surprised. “A Nazi did it,”
she would have said. Aunt Chava had been
haunted and, in her belief, hunted by Nazis
for nearly all of her life.
It was a long life, for she was already old
when I was a small child. Although she may
have seemed old to me just because I was a
child. Searching memory, however, I cannot
picture her with hair other than white, brushed
severely back from her face and twisted into
a knot at the nape of her neck. In later years,
I recall, her hair took on a yellowish tinge—
like linen that has been left in a chest for too
long without exposure to air and with only
mothballs for company.
I think there was actually a faint odor of
mothballs about her. It came from the folds
of her dresses, which were all similar in style,
long-sleeved and long-skirted, with little round
collars at whose closings she always wore the
same brooch—a circle of gold with a single
pearl set in the center. It was a gift from a
suitor, she told me. I longed to ask her about
the suitor, why they had never married, but
understood that such questions were prohibited.
There was an aura of mystery about Tante
Chava and it discouraged intimacy.
Since she lived only a few streets away,
she came to visit us at least several times each
week. She generally arrived in the afternoon
and departed before my father returned from
work. My father wasn’t fond of Tante Chava,
but my mother had a strong sense of obligation.
“We are the only family Tante Chava has left,”
Mama said.
On those afternoons when she was expected,
I hurried home from school. When Tante Chava
rang the bell, I ran to open the door. My mother
put the kettle on to boil.
“How are you today, Tante Chava?” she
asked.
Tante Chava allowed me to take her coat,
her hat, the long woolen muffler she wrapped
about her throat at the first hint of cold weather.
She spread her hands.
“How should a Jew be, Leah?”
I helped Mama set out refreshments. Tante
Chava drew her chair close to the table,
pulled her cup and plate almost to the edge
of the table. She had a curious way of eating.
Once, in the park, I had seen a squirrel eat in
this manner, holding the nut very close to its
mouth and turning its head from side to side,
constantly alert. Tante Chava was also alert,
watching and listening. Did she think someone
would take the food from her, the square of
sponge cake and the cup of tea? I wanted to
tell her she had no reason to be fearful. If she
Gerry and George Gross
were active members of Kane Street from the
time they moved to Brooklyn in the mid-70s. He was a trustee and she was the shul’s
unofficial publicist, frequently profiling members for the local papers.
Left: after their Kane Street wedding in 1976.
wished, she could also have my piece of cake,
my glass of milk.
Tante Chava was the younger sister of my
Grandmother Miriam, my mother’s mother, for
whom I was named. From the stories told about
Grandmother Miriam, I understood that she
had been a lively and joyous woman, singing
as she went about the house, laughing often
with friends and family.
There was very little joy in Aunt Chava. She
smiled only rarely and then almost unwillingly.
I never heard her sing, her lips moving silently
even in synagogue when everyone else was
chanting the prayers out loud. But I liked to
sit next to her in synagogue, her skirts rustling
when we rose because the doors to the Ark had
been opened.
This was another mystery—the Torah scrolls
garbed in white linen in honor of the holiday,
adorned with silver breastplates and elaborate
silver crowns. I peered down at them from the
women’s balcony, gazing also upon my father
and my brother Arnold, seated in a pew near
the reading stand on which the Torah scroll was
placed. I wished we could be sitting with them,
especially Tante Chava, who was almost totally
deaf in her left ear and had to strain to hear the
rabbi from our high perch.
It had happened when she was a child,
in the small Russian village where she and
my Grandmother Miriam were born and
lived before they emigrated to America. My
Grandmother Miriam, lively even then, had
taken Chava by the hand one morning and
walked with her across town to the railroad
station. There was no one else at the station
except for the guards. The czar’s train was
scheduled to pass through the town that
morning, and all of the townspeople had been
ordered to remain in their homes until the
train left.
But my Grandmother Miriam had never
seen the czar and she decided she was going
to at least catch a glimpse of the train that he
rode in. “They won’t do anything to us,” she
told her sister confidently. “They wouldn’t hurt
children.”
And so, when one of the guards shouted at
them, my Grandmother Miriam didn’t turn to
flee until he spurred his horse toward them,
swinging his whip over his head. Miriam
wasn’t injured, but the tip of the Cossack’s
whip struck Aunt Chava on the left ear.
Tante Chava said the reason the guard struck
her was because he recognized they were
Jewish children. “Oh, yes,” she said. “If he had
thought we were Gentile children, he would
have left us alone.”
She still saw the man’s face in dreams,
she said. “A wicked face with a great black
Gerry and her sister Betty.
mustache. He wore a fur hat and tall, polished
boots.”
“The Cossack,” my mother said, and Tante
Chava shook her head.
“The Nazi. Of course he was a Nazi.”
“There were no Nazis in those days,” my
father said, and Tante Chava looked angry.
“There have always been Nazis, Simon,
people who want to kill Jews.”
“Why?” I asked, and she shrugged.
“Because they hate us, Miriam. They
drink in their hatred of Jews along with their
mother’s milk.”
The thought frightened as well as confused
me—someone somewhere who hated me even
though he didn’t know me, had never met me,
who wanted to kill me merely because I was a
Jew.
I remember—I had gone to the bakery with
Tante Chava to buy a loaf of bread and some
rolls. The bakery owned a cat, a gray and white
tabby by the name of Matilda. Matilda had a
little collar around her neck to show she wasn’t
a stray, and a little bell attached to the collar
that pinged as she ran about. I was enchanted
with the cat and with the sound of her bell.
While Tante Chava chatted with the woman
behind the counter, I knelt down to play with
Matilda. When I looked up, Tante Chava had
disappeared.
I ran all the way home, sobbing hysterically.
I burst through the door.
“The Nazis took Tante Chava!”
She was seated at the kitchen table, drinking
a cup of tea.
She didn’t try to comfort me. She had left
me alone in the bakery to teach me a lesson,
she said. I must always stay close to her when
we were outside the house. I must always be
vigilant.
“Children are the seeds of the future, and so
naturally the Nazis want to destroy all Jewish
children.”
My father was very angry when he found out
what Aunt Chava had done. “She is filling the
child’s head with nonsense,” he shouted at Mama.
“She is frightening Miriam out of her wits.”
Sometimes my father made little jokes about
Tante Chava—ridiculing her fears, her odd way
of dressing. The jokes bothered me. I realized
Tante Chava was different from most people
we knew but to me her eccentricities were part
of her charm. Also, although she was old, I felt
she belonged more to my world, the world of
children, than to the world of adults. Her size
may have had something to do with this. She
was not much taller than I, with small hands
and feet like a child’s. The lines in her face
seemed deliberate, created by the tip of a felt
pen rather than by time.
Often on Saturday afternoons, after lunch,
Tante Chava and I went to the park. The outing
served to get us both out of the house so my
mother could clear the table and wash the dishes
and my father could enjoy his Shabbos nap
undisturbed. Tante Chava and I sat on a bench
in the sun. She directed my attention to a clump
of blue flowers, to a tall tree with branches like
wide, sturdy arms. She was not fond of animals.
Dogs were kept only by goyim, she said. Cats
were wicked because they caught and ate birds.
She liked birds, small things like birds and
butterflies, winged things.
“I think you spend too much time with Aunt
Chava,” my brother Arnold said. Arnold spent
most of his time on weekends and after school
playing baseball. His most prized possessions
were a worn catcher’s mitt and a half-dozen
autographed photographs of members of the
New York Yankees. Arnold’s ambition was to
become a professional ball player, to one day
play for the New York Yankees.
“That is not a job for a Jewish boy,” Tante
Chava said. “Why not?” Arnold asked, and
she shook her head. “Jewish boys don’t play
baseball.”
Jewish boys became doctors or dentists or
lawyers. They worked in a factory like my
father, or owned and managed a dry goods
store like Uncle Milton.
“What about Jewish girls?” I asked, and
Tante Chava sighed.
“They become wives and mothers.”
She had never been either. I thought I knew
why. In that moment when the Cossack’s whip
struck her on the ear, Tante Chava had been
instantly transformed from a child holding tight
to her sister’s hand to a tiny old woman with
white hair and wrinkles. The years between,
gone in an instant, took with them her chance
to marry the young man who gave her the
brooch, to bear and raise children.
S

omeone tried to enter Tante Chava’s
apartment by breaking a window. It was the
window that opened onto the fire escape, where
Tante Chava kept an assortment of plants
and the bucket and mop she used to wash her
floors.
Luckily, she wasn’t at home. A neighbor
heard the glass shattering and leaned out her
window and screamed at the intruder until he
ran away.
“It was a Nazi, of course,” Tante Chava
said.
My father went to the hardware store and
bought a window gate that could be unlocked
only with a key. The key was hung on a
nail that he banged into the wall next to the
window.
“So you will know where it is in case of
fire,” he said.
Tante Chava shrugged. “If there is a fire,
Simon, the Nazis will have set it and they
won’t allow me to escape.”
Tante Chava and I were returning home
from the grocery store where she had bought
flour and sugar, a can of salmon, two cans of
peaches and a box of soda crackers. A boy
came running down the street—a tall boy,
about fifteen years old—not looking where he
was going. Before Tante Chava could move out
of the way, he crashed headlong into her. The
impact knocked her off her feet. The paper bag
tore, scattering groceries across the pavement.
The boy paused for a moment, stared, and then
burst out laughing. I suppose Tante Chava
did look funny, sprawled on the sidewalk,
clutching the torn paper bag. In another
moment, the boy was gone.
People came hurrying over to help—
Mr. Solar, the pharmacist; the counterman
from the delicatessen. A woman collected
the spilled groceries, except for one can of
peaches that had rolled over the curb into the
gutter.
“It was probably the same Nazi who broke
my window,” Tante Chava said. “They begin
very young, you see, Miriam. It’s sport for
them, great fun, to knock down an old Jewish
woman.”
“What would you do if the Nazis came?” I
asked Arnold. “What would you do if they took
you into a forest and you knew they were going
to shoot you?”
Arnold was tacking up another photograph
of a baseball player on his wall—Joe
DiMaggio, his greatest hero. “Nazis can’t shoot
people in America,” he said. “It’s against the
law and the police would arrest them.”
“But what if they could?” I persisted. “What
would you do?”
Arnold stepped back to admire the photograph. “Don’t be stupid,” he said. “Have you
been listening to Aunt Chava’s stories again?”
It was Aunt Chava who had told me about
the forest—about the Nazis marching Jewish
men, women, and children into the forest,
forcing them to dig their own graves before
they shot them.
Tante Chava was as knowledgeable about
the horrors of the Holocaust as if she had
experienced them personally. She knew the
names of all the death camps and where they
were located. She could describe the beatings,
the torture, and killings as vividly as if she
had witnessed them, had felt the smack of the
truncheon on her own back just as she had once
felt the slash of the Cossack’s whip on her ear.
The Christmas season came. Hanukkah fell
at approximately the same time as Christmas
that year. My father took down the Hanukkah
menorah from the top shelf in the closet and
placed it on a small table that he moved in
front of the window. He drew the curtains
aside so the menorah could be seen from the
street. The pointed flames were reflected in the
window glass. In the apartment across the way,
Christmas tree lights blinked on and off.
The city’s commercial streets and
schoolrooms were decorated for Christmas—
green and red garlands strung from one
side of the street to the other and in the
school corridors. Drawings of snowmen and
Christmas trees and Santa Claus were pasted
on classroom windows.
I tried out for the Glee Club and was
accepted. Carmela Rizzio, whose father owned
the produce store where we bought fruits and
vegetables and who sat two desks behind me in
class, was also accepted.
We stayed after school to learn Christmas
carols. “Noel, Noel,” we sang, “born is the king
of Israel.” How could that be?
I wondered. The week before Christmas,
both Carmela and I were selected to join
the special Christmas choral group. We
were given long white robes to wear with
red ribbon bows tied under the collars, and
went from classroom to classroom singing a
program of carols.
When we entered a classroom, holding our
candles aloft, the children applauded. I liked
the attention, being singled out in this way. I
enjoyed the sound of our blending voices, but
when the name of Christ was sung, I kept my
lips firmly shut. I hoped no one noticed.
Carmela and her family were going to visit
her grandparents in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
for the Christmas holiday. “So we won’t see
each other again until after the New Year,
Mimi,” she said.
I had asked her to call me “Mimi,”
telling her this was what my family called
me. Actually, I took the name from a
story in a magazine. I thought “Mimi”
sounded nicer than “Miriam,” was
more appropriate for my new status as
member of the Christmas choral group
and Carmela’s friend.
The Christmas holiday ended, and
I returned to school. I saw Tante Chava’s
galoshes in the hallway when I came home
from school one afternoon—it had snowed
all of the previous night and most of the
morning. Tante Chava, who never permitted
bad weather to keep her away, trudged
stubbornly through snow and rain. I pulled off
my galoshes and went into the kitchen.
She turned in her chair to frown at me.
“When I crossed the street, some boys threw
snowballs at me,” she said. “Imagine, Miriam,
little boys, but already Nazis. I was afraid one
of the snowballs would hit me in the face and
break my glasses.”
She had begun wearing glasses only the
previous year. She had not wanted to admit
that she needed them. It was enough that she
was deaf, she said, without also being blind.
But she had started to walk into things, to
misjudge distances. Going down the front
steps of her apartment house, she missed a
step and would have fallen if she had not
caught hold of the railing.
“It’s possible, of course, that someone came
up behind me and pushed me,” she said. “That
is a Nazi tactic, you know, to appear suddenly
out of nowhere, do their mischief and then
disappear.”
Usually, I would have stayed to talk with
her, but I felt irritated with her today, with the
gloom she carried about as permanent baggage.
Carmela had greeted me warmly in school
this morning. A notice on the bulletin board
announced the date of the next meeting of the
Glee Club. I resented having my feeling of
elation disturbed.
I told Tante Chava I had a lot of homework
to do, therefore, and fled the kitchen to my
room where I closed the door firmly behind
me—shutting out Tante Chava and her
From 1990 to 1996,
Gerry wrote a weekly column for
The Brooklyn Papers.
fearful world.
Carmela and I went to the Glee Club
meeting together. It was very exciting. Miss
Bevin announced that for our next presentation,
we were going to perform a musical play. The
play’s theme was the arrival of spring, the
characters all of the well-known harbingers of
spring: crocus, robin, budding tree, a family of
bears getting ready to stir from their winter’s
sleep.
Carmela was chosen for the role of
Crocus—ideal casting, I thought, because her
dark hair and complexion would set off the
white petals of her costume marvelously.
“Why don’t you try out for Robin, Mimi?”
she suggested.
I shook my head. Dora Lewis had
announced that she wanted to play Robin. Dora
was taller than me and pretty, with blue eyes
and long, yellow hair.
Carmela gave me a shove. “Oh, go ahead.
We’ll be able to study our parts together. It will
be fun.”
The costume for Robin was lovely, almost
as beautiful as the one for Crocus. The strips of
material cut to resemble feathers looked almost
like real feathers.
We were called over to the piano in turn—
first Dora and then me. Dora sang Robin’s song
and read a few lines, and then I sang the same
song and read the same lines.
“Oh, my,” Miss Bevin said. “This is a very
difficult decision.” But her index finger pointed
unmistakably at me.
Carmela whooped and hugged me. Dora
Lewis glared at me.
It happened the next day, in the lunchroom.
Dora Lewis walked past the table where I was
sitting with Carmela and knocked my lunch
box to the floor. I was sure it was an accident,
but when I bent to retrieve the lunch box,
Dora was standing only a few feet away and
laughing. So I knew it was deliberate. Carmela
touched my arm.
“Don’t pay attention to her, Mimi. Dora is
jealous because you were picked to play Robin
and not her.”
We finished lunch, got our coats and
scarves, and went out into the playground.
Carmela ran toward the swings. “Come on,
Mimi!”
I ran after her. There were still two
unoccupied swings, but just as we reached
them, Dora Lewis plopped herself into one.
“There’s no room for you here, Jew!” she
said.
I thought I had not heard her correctly—a
phrase from one of Aunt Chava’s stories
unexpectedly repeating itself in my head.
“We don’t want you here, Jew, smelling up
our swings. Do you understand?”
She set the swing into motion, the toes of
her shoes scraping the ground. Carmela sat in
the second swing. Had she heard? But how
could she not have heard? Probably everyone
in the playground had heard—the whispered
taunt as penetrating as a scream.
“Christ killer!” It was a murmur of triumph.
I started to walk away. All of the stories Tante
Chava had told me were true then, I thought.
There were Nazis lurking in every corner. I
was not Mimi and Carmela was not my friend.
A Jew could not have a Gentile for a friend.
Arnold would never realize his dream of
playing baseball with the New York Yankees.
I walked closer to the edge of the fence,
putting as much distance as I could between
myself and the other children. Snow, cleared
from the playground, was piled against the
fence in uneven pyramids of gray ash. A ball
came bouncing across the asphalt, stopped near
my feet.
“Hey!”
The boy cupped his hands, waiting for me
to toss the ball back to him. Why should I? I
thought, but I bent, scooped up the ball, threw
it as hard as I could.
See? A Jew can throw a ball. My brother
Arnold taught me, and he is the best ball player
in the whole neighborhood.
I was filled with anger—on Arnold’s behalf
as well as my own. Clods of snow had stuck to
my mittens when I picked up the ball. I rubbed
my palms together to clean them, then walked
back to the swings.
“What do you want?” Dora’s blue eyes
glittered.
I said, “I can use the swing if want to.”
“No, you can’t, dirty Jew!”
I put my hand on the nearest chain, closed
my fingers tightly around it.
“I can if I want to. It’s a free country.”
No Cossack would come riding down on
me, swinging his whip. I wasn’t Mimi, but
neither was I Tante Chava.
Dora twisted on the wooden seat of the
swing, pushed at my hand. “Get away!”
“No,” I said.
“Get away, kike. One last chance.”
My anger glowed bright and warm now. I
was aware of children gathering about us, a
semi-circle of faces, of watching eyes. Good! I
thought. I wanted witnesses.
She came off the swing, but didn’t move
toward me. I had never fought anyone before
but assumed that, somehow, I would know
what to do. Considering my inexperience,
however, I decided it would be best not to
postpone the combat. Better to start, to finish,
to get it over with.
I thrust myself at Dora, head lowered and
aimed at her stomach. It was the surprise of my
assault, I think, as much as its force that caught
her off balance. She gasped and was abruptly
on the ground. I was on her in an instant,
straddling her, twisting strands of yellow hair
about my wrists, pulling and pummeling. My
fists, still in red mittens, pounded her chest.
She stared up at me in astonishment. Tears
welled in her blue eyes and rolled down her
cheeks.
Someone ran to fetch Miss Montgomery, or
perhaps she had heard the noise of the battle
and came to investigate, hastily pulling on her
coat. The coat, unbuttoned, flew open as she
tugged at me.
“All right, Miriam. That’s enough.”
Carmela said, “Dora started it, Miss
Montgomery. It isn’t Miriam’s fault.”
She was defending me finally, but I didn’t
look at her.
Dora was still crying. She had bruised
her knee when she fell, and her stocking was
smeared with blood. I remembered that the boy
who knocked Tante Chava down had laughed.
I didn’t laugh at Dora. I walked past her,
past Carmela and the other children and into
the building. Miss Montgomery would scold
me, I was sure. A note would be sent home to
my parents.
My mother was shocked. “This can’t be
true, Miriam!” she exclaimed.
Tante Chava was even more incredulous.
“You have always been such a good, quiet
child.”
Neither of them asked why I had been fighting
and I didn’t tell them. I didn’t even tell Arnold
but I saved my allowance, and, when his birthday
came around, I bought him a new catcher’s mitt.
Carmela and I became friends again. We weren’t
as close as we had once been, but we ate lunch
together sometimes or did homework together. I
resigned from the Glee Club.
When I was fifteen, my family moved to
Flatbush. Our Manhattan neighborhood was
changing, the apartment houses become shabby
and rundown. Only one synagogue remained
open and a minyan was assured only on the
Sabbath and holidays.
Aunt Chava refused to move with us. She
was too old to pack up and start over, she said.
She came to visit us every week, traveling on
the subway. She arrived with empty shopping
bags, neatly folded and held together by a
wide rubber band. Most of the stores in the
old neighborhood that had catered to Jewish
customers were no longer in business. Tante
Chava did her shopping for kosher food in
Flatbush, stocking up on such items as bagels
and cans of kosher salmon, pickled herring
that the owner of the appetizing store packed
for her in a glass jar she brought along for that
purpose.
She was mugged several times, but we still
couldn’t persuade her to move. She accepted
the muggings as part of the continuing pattern
of persecution, wondering only that some
Nazis now spoke with strange accents and that
others had dark skins.
I tried to explain to her that Hispanic and
black people were also persecuted, but this
was beyond her comprehension. She shook her
head at me angrily.
“Why should the Nazis want to kill Puerto
Ricans?”
She drank tea in the kitchen, more
comfortable here than in our living room.
She was very small in the tall-backed kitchen
chair—an ancient doll in a rusty black dress,
fine white hair like strands of white thread, the
lines in her face deepened to furrows.
“Did you hear on the radio yesterday,” she
began. It was a disaster involving Jews, of
course. She sat on the edge of the chair, her
eyes darting, tongue darting.
“Sometimes I think the only reason they let
us have Israel was so they could get all of us
together in one place, so it will be easier for
them the next time they decide to destroy us.”
S
he was alone when she died, not in her
apartment, but in the hospital where she had
been taken when she suffered her last and final
heart attack. I went to visit her in the hospital.
A nurse was in the room. Tante Chava put a
finger to her lips, cautioning me not to speak
until the nurse left.
The nurse was a Nazi, of course. They were
all Nazis, the nurses in their white uniforms,
the doctors in their white coats. They wore
special shoes with rubber soles that made no
noise against the carpeting so they could sneak
up on her without her being aware of them.
“They stick needles in my arms,” she said,
showing me the puncture marks on her arms,
the bruised and discolored flesh.
I imagine that she saw death as a Nazi, too.
I don’t think she struggled, astounded only that
it had taken him so many years to come for her.
She had been waiting for the slaughterer for a
very long time, after all, ever since the morning
when she was a five-year-old child in Russia,
standing with her sister in a railroad station
to see the czar’s train go by, and a Nazi in the
guise of a Cossack swung his whip over his
head and struck her deaf in her left ear.
I can hear her voice clearly even now, a little
impatient because of my lack of understanding.
“Of course he was a Nazi, Miriam. Oh, they
may call themselves by different names, come
from different countries and speak different
languages, but they are Nazis just the same.”
She bobs her head at me, eyes narrowed behind
her spectacles.
“There have always been Nazis, Miriam,
people who hate Jews. There always will be.”
Perhaps she is right, but I refuse to accept
the idea—the mob running wild and Jews the
inevitable and eternal victims.
Too many Jews have perished already, I
think. Tante Chava impressed the number upon
me: six million men, women, and children
killed during the Holocaust.
Her death makes it six million and one.

© Copyright 2001 by Geraldine K. Gross. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced by any
means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission,
except for quotations included in reviews.
With gratitude the
Kane Street Synagogue Community
honors and thanks its staff:
Linda Kass-Mahler
Executive Director
Carol Herbert-Lewis
Clerical Assistant
Marsha Masters
Bookkeeper
Pedro Sanchez
Building Superintendent
Daniel Baido
Justin Simmons
Porters
The Kane Street Synagogue Community
salutes the
Kane Street Kids Preschool
for a remarkable year of growth, learning, and creative expression.
With heartfelt thanks for the professional skill and dedication of:
Peggy Geller
Director
Sara Diamont
Administrative Assistant
Nari Gottlieb, Devin Lipsitz, Dinie Lowenstein, Olivia Kissin, Joanna Brown
Head Teachers
Jenny Ruiz, Yossi Lowenstein, Priscilla Murphy,
Emily Silberklang-Marcus, Kristin Mark, Emily Santoro
Assistant and Co-Teachers
Moran Ben Shaul, Andrew Aprille, Madeline Vera, Sol Goldstein, Oran Etkin
Specialty Instructors
Old & Young 2s
Reece Choi
Miles Choi
Gigi Coplan
Lily Dembrow
Haley Erlich
Lucy Friedman
Quincy Renaud
Noam Subar
Sylvie Suskin
Noah Trokenheim
Rafi Winer
Max Akman
Grace Filberto
Mili Fletcher
Roen Goldberg
Eli Kotler
Ruben Perez-Barreiro
Hazel Price
Charlotte Ryan
Ellie Sherman
Leah Shube
Rebecca Belle Tavelin
Leo Weissmann
Young 3s
Caleb Adrian
Kaitlyn Carroll
Dean Cohen
Ezekiel Cohen
Ruby Feuerstein
Sam Grogins
Lila Meranus
Elie Myers
Miles Paschke
Zev Pollard
Kate Proujansky
Tali Sussmann
Henry Woodcock
Adela Woodcock
Older 3s
Stefin Bank
Andrew Glick
Eden Golomb
Eve Harris
Marlin Humphreys
David Johnson
Benjamin Levy
Nadia McDonald
Leela Miller
Annabel O’Reilly
Olive Price
Dash Sigmond
Max Silber
Jacob Wolfson
Pre-K
Abigail Ben Ur
Sadie Jacobson
Noah Keuny-Lichtman
Eliska Levisohn
Arielle Lichtman
Julian Loughney
Noah Myers
Maya Ortner
Gabriel Rosenbaum
Edward Segal
Mandy Solomon
Hannah Stoll
Naomi Stoll
Natan Subar
salutes the
Hebrew School
for another year of successful Jewish growth and learning
Rabbi Valerie Lieber
Director of Education & Family Programs
Hadar Ahuvia, Nurit Barshai, Yoshie Fruchter, Moran Ben Shaul, Lauren Berger,
Natalie Carmeli, Elena Hecht, Sonia Isard, Elana Roth,
Meryl Zimmerman, Shai Zurim
Teachers
Matt Baldwin, Marah Birnbaum, Jeremy Elkayam, Aaron Giovanetti, Zoe Owens,
Ethan Pomerantz, Alana Rettig, Shayne Rothman
Teen Assistants
Bogrim (Grades 8-11)
Marah Birnbaum
Jeremy Elkayam
Ben Lefkowitz
Alizette Llanos
Zoe Owens
Alana Rettig
Danya Tracht
Max Zolberg
Miftan (Grade 7)
Sophie Edelman
Anna Farber
Sophie Lieberman
Max Rettig
Gemma Sack
Isabel Shriver
Vav (Grade 6)
Liana Chin-Drachman
Michael Elkayam
Mollie Gordon
Jeremy Macks
Zoe Martin del Campo
Momoko Otani-Hudes
Will Pomerantz
Ruby Simon
Hey (Grade 5)
Lily Ball
Yona Browne
Doren Johnson
Helen Lipsky
Asher Simonson
Alex Sufott
Elias Zimmerman
Dalet (Grade 4)
Manny Birnbaum
Esme Brauer
Lily Edelman
Sam Ehrlich
Hadi Garfein
Simon Kessler
Jessica Rose
Miles Shriver
Lola Simon
Leo Zolberg
Gimmel (Grade 3)
Max Abrahams
Nola Ben Eli
Charlie Block
Julianne Chin-Drachman
Eli Cohen
Esayas Cohn
Georgia Fumusa
Nathaniel Greenberg
Lucy Isaacs
Josey Klein
Caleb Kohn-Blank
Sammy Nassau
Bleu Parks
Jake Salz
Efrem Sidi-Shire
Zac Taubenfeld
Bet (Grade 2)
Alex Baldwin
Katelyn Brickner
Caleb Browne
Coby Cohen
Caleb Coplan
Lila Ehrlich
Shae Hruby
Sydney Johnson
Bella Kortes
Zoe Kortes
Alef (Grade 1)
Lion Brauer
Abebech Cohn
Noah Goodman
Julia Halpert
Nina Harris
Eli Kessler
Jones Millstone-Rivo
Kai Otani-Hudes
Lucas Paschke
Benjamin Ryan
Oliver Ryan
Elena Shefsky
Willa Umansky
Gan (Kindergarten)
Talia Ben Eli
Simon Block
Daniel Cleek
Emily Cleek
Will Cohen
Yael Ezry
Caleb Fumusa
Sadie Gladstone
Becca Greenberg
Irving Hruby
Max Isaacs
Max Klein
Sarah Kohler
Talia Kohn-Blank
Ivy Luders
Eleanor Macks
Ronit Nolte
Lucas Parks
Zorah Schlesinger
Joela Susman
Violet Westrom
Charlie Winer
Roshanim (Pre-K)
Gideon Browne
Sadie Jacobson
Eliska Levisohn
Ariel Lichtman
Madeleine Riez
Talia Salz
thanks all those who lead and serve on committees.
Our mostly unspoken appreciation is keenly felt.
Building Committee
Cemetery Committee
Communications Committee
Hebrew School Committee
Kane Street Kids Committee
Kehillah Committee
Ritual Committee
Social Action Committee
Strategic Finance Committee
Strategic Planning Committee
Young Families (“YaFA”) Committee
The Kane Street Synagogue Community thanks
the ingenious and energetic Social Action Committee
and all the members of the Congregation who:
sang and davened with those confined to the nursing home,
cooked for and slept over at the homeless shelter,
donated and delivered books, diapers, and clothing
to the domestic violence center,
collected and donated new toys to children
with a terminally ill parent,
contributed to a food drive,
collected eyeglasses,
donated gently worn business clothing,
performed innovative “mitvah projects” and
“Kiddush food rescues” and other acts of kindness
great and small
in public and in private.
Yashir Koach on behalf of the Kane Street Synagogue Community to
Rabbi Samuel H. Weintraub
Joey Weisenberg
Musical Enrichment Director
and Congregants
Judith Albert
Matthew Baldwin
Elise Bernhardt
Iliana Brodsky
Jay Brodsky
Harry Chevan
Sophie Edelman
Rabbi Barat Ellman
Joy Fallek
Ari Fox
Elijah Fox
Mollie Fox
Andrea Glick
Kayla Glick
Jay Golan
Eric Gold
Rabbi Josh Gutoff
Rabbi Reuven Greenvald
Leo Grunschlag
David Grupper
Meir Kahtan
Rachel Kahtan
Linda Kane
Elliot Kleinman
Lisa Kleinman
Ralph Kleinman
Arthur Kuflik
Nathaniel Levine
Andrew Levinson
Evan Lieberman
Sophie LIeberman
Bob Marx
Ira Mayer
Noah Millman
Mitch Mittman
Jordan Owens
Ellen Phillips
Sheila Rabin
Eytan Raz
Benjamin Resnick
Sam Rothenberg
Allen Rubenstein
Tim Rucinski
Gemma Sack
Lisa Sack
Deborah Sacks
Lani Santo
Bayle Smith-Salzberg
Danny Sarfati-Magill
Eliana Sarfati-Magill
Raphael Schklowsky
Rena Schklowsky
Sarah Schmerler
Jessica Schoengold
Ellen Shaw
Ariel Sheetrit
Isabel Shriver
Shoshana Silverstein
Eliot Solomon
Gella Solomon
Marsha Z Solomon
Sidney Solomon
Barbara Solomon-Speregen
Bernard Stanford
Ron Stein
Eric Steinhardt
Nomi Teutsch
Leora Trub
Vicky Vossen
Miryam Wasserman
Rabbi Simkha Weintraub
Thank you for leading services, reading Torah and Haftorah, and delivering
Divrei Torah on Shabbat and Holidays. We pray each week through your leadership. Thank you
to Idelle Abrams and her committee of greeters for welcoming one and all to services.
Lay ritual leadership is a core value at Kane Street. If you’d like to learn to chant Torah or
Haftarah or lead services, please contact Rabbi Weintraub at [email protected].
thanks
the Adult Education Faculty
of dedicated leaders, volunteer teachers,
and distinguished guests
for a year of precious learning
Gloria Blumenthal
Jennifer Breznay
Jason Gitlin
Rabbi Reuven Greenvald
Rabbi Josh Gutoff
Jonathan Katz
Lisa Kleinman
Ralph Kleinman
Bob Marx
Noah Millman
Benjamin Resnick
Rabbi Ray Scheindlin
Rebecca Shiffman
Eliot Solomon
Fred Terna
Miryam Wasserman
Rabbi Simkha Weintraub
welcomes the following new members
to our community this year
Annette and Michael Akman, and son Max
Jennifer Apodaca and son Zee
Lindsay and Andy Ashwal, and son Levi
Julie Bank and son Stefin
Rachel, Lior, and Yaniv Baron
Loren and Shira Berger
Sarah Berger and Roy Goodman, and son Noah
Sam and Jodi Brooks, and sons Jacob, Ryan, and Jonah
Elizabeth and Andrew Cleek, and children Daniel and Emily
Sarah Fader and Wilhelm Van Luyn, and children Ari and Samara
Benjamin Galynker and Ester Bloom
Sondra Goldschein and David Stern, and daughter Abigail
Aviv and Jessica Halpert, and children Julia and Sean
Jackie and Matt Johnson, and children Sydney and David
Alan H. Kleinman
Marc Kushner and Chris Barley
Matthew and Melanie Lazarus, and daughter Minnie
Lindsay and Noah Lukeman
Eli Mark and Sinae Lee
Chris and Melissa Paschke, and sons Lucas and Miles
Adam Pollock and Michal Lewin-Epstein, and daughter Madeline
Eytan Ras and Lia Tsarnas
Jonathan Ratner and Alice Borghini, and son Zachary
Steve Rivo and Jessica Millstone, and children Jones and Sylvie
Diane Schlesinger and Robert Nassau, and children Samuel and Zorah
ohft.n
An accomplished woman, who can find?
Her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband’s heart relies on her
and he shall lack no fortune.
—Proverbs 31
Angels
With everlasting love and admiration,
David
ohft.n
MAZEL TOV
Vicky and Laureve
Thank you for all you do
for our community
Angels
Tracy Makow and Howard Brickner
ohft.n
Congratulations
to Kane Street Synagogue
on your 156th Anniversary
and to the Honorees
Vicky Vossen & Laureve Blackstone
Angels
The Baumrind Family
ohft.n
In honor of Vicky Vossen
and Laureve Blackstone
Light is sown for the righteous
and joy for the upright in heart.
—Psalms 97:11
Angels
Judy and Seth Greenwald
ohft.n
The Officers and Trustees of
congratulate
Vicky Vossen
for her creative and insightful leadership,
her spirited and spiritual presence,
and her tireless devotion to our community.

We salute
Chesed Honoree
Laureve Blackstone
for her steadfast commitment and passion
for making the world
Angels
and our community
a better, kinder place.
ohft.n
Congratulations
to our women of valor,
Vicky Vossen and Laureve Blackstone
Thank you for your dedication
to our community
and the world beyond
Angels
Susan & Bill Rifkin
ohft.n
The Officers and Trustees of
thank
The Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust
The Sol Goldman Charitable Trust
The New York State Department of Parks,
Recreation, and Historic Preservation
The New York Landmarks Conservancy
UJA-Federation of New York
and Synagogues Together (“SYNERGY”),
Dru Greenwood, Executive Director
USCJ/METNY
The Legacy Heritage Fund
Angels
and
The Herman Goldman Foundation
for their
trust and support.
ohpu.t
Congratulations to Vicky & Laureve
on jobs well done.
Champions
Nancy & Paul Fink
ohrnu
VICKY
VISION
VIGOR
VITALITY
VERVE
Guardians
VISHING YOU WELL
VIVIEN AND MIKE
ohrnua
Our thanks to Laureve
for her tireless work to make
our community a just and caring place
Guardians
Vivien and Mike Shelanski
ohrnu
Mazel Tov to Miriam Samson
on her 100th birthday
Mazel Tov to Dov and Katherine
on the birth of
Ezekiel Alexander Scheindlin
Guardians
Shira Scheindlin and Stanley Friedman
ohrnua
Every generation needs Women of Valor.
We at Kane Street
have been blessed with two*
Vicky Vossen for your tireless work
and unwavering focus
Laureve Blackstone
for leading social action
through thick and thin
(and a wonderful pregnancy)
Thank you for your efforts
(*Actually, all Kane Street women are valorous.)
Guardians
Diana, Harry, Leah and Nate
ohrnu
Mazal tov to our wonderful graduate
Leah Chevan
We are so proud of all you’ve done
and the beautiful woman you’ve become.
On to Washington
Oorah
Mom, Dad and Nate
_______________________
Our thanks to Linda Kass-Mahler
You’ve been through thick and thin
Guardians
Construction and leaks
Preschool and preteens
Six presidents (but who’s counting)
Best of luck on your next endeavor
The Chevans
ohrnua
To two of our foremost
Nashim Chayalot
Vicky & Laureve
You lead the way to making us what we are.
You make us ALL very proud!
Guardians
With love, Marion & Ron
ohrnu
Congratulations
Vicky and Laureve
Guardians
Ronnie and Dean Ringel
ohrnua
To Vicky,
With much love and gratitude
Guardians
Phil and Ellen
ohrnu
Congratulations
Vicky Vossen and Laureve Blackstone
on this wonderful honor
Guardians
Gary Gottlieb and Mary Reventlow
ohrnua
Congratulations Honorees on a job well done.
Guardians
The Badners
ohrnu
Thank you, Vicky and Laureve,
for all the work you do.
Guardians
Carole and Allen Rubenstein
ohrnua
Hannah Senesh Community Day School
honors
Vicky Vossen
whose leadership has touched
the whole community
and
Laureve Blackstone
Guardians
for all her important work.
ohrnu
.‫ ולא אתה בן חורין להבתל ממנה‬,‫לא עליך המלאכה לגמור‬
“You are not obligated to finish the work;
neither are you free to desist from it.”
—Rabbi Tarfon, Pirkei Avot 2:21
Congratulations to two women of valor who
embraced challenging roles in the never-ending
project of building and strengthening our
community...
Guardians
To Vicky, on successfully completing two years of
the toughest volunteer job at Kane Street—and
making it look easy. You have left your mark on
the Kane Street Community and can retire with
a sense of accomplishment. Announcements will
never be the same!
To Laureve, whose great ideas and hard work
have brought renewed energy to our tikkun olam
efforts. Thanks to your leadership, we are helping
to make our world a better place.
Kol hakavod lachen!
With love,
Ralph and Lisa Kleinman
Jacob, Roger and Elliot
ohrucd
.‫ נותן לדורות‬,‫הנותן לדורו‬
!‫איזהו אמן? הלומד תמיד והלומד מהכל‬
‫ ביאליק‬.‫ נ‬.‫ח‬
Who gives to their generation, gives to generations.
Who is an artist? Whoever learns always from everything!
H. N. Bialik
Dear Vicky,
Our deepest thanks and heartfelt gratitude. Another member of our
august club has been tapped. Congratulations, you have survived!
Dear Laureve,
All the good work that you did both on the board and in the broader
community deserves the highest praise. Your sane wisdom on Kane
Street’s board will be missed.
With much love,
Heroes
Anne-Maureen, Danny, Eliana, Na’ama & Uriel Sarfati-Magill
ohrucd
Vicky, we salute you!
Your vision and dedication are extraordinary.
Thank you for your devotion to the shul and for
your fabulous sense of humor
Heroes
The Sack Family
ohrucd
Thank you, Laureve, for your dedication to social
action and for finding ways for all of us to serve
those who are less fortunate.
Heroes
The Sack Family
ohrucd
Oh, Vicky dear
We think it’s clear
You’ve been a golden asset.
With charm and wit,
With steely grit
You’ve steered the Kane Street Knesset
And so to you
We bid adieu
As president so dear,
We won’t protest,
We’ll let you rest
(For maybe half a year?)
Heroes
And Ms. Blackstone
So much you’ve done
To organize deeds of Chesed
You’ve left your mark
We’ll carry that spark
For that we’re truly blessèd
The Schklowsky Family thanks
Vicky and Laureve
for their countless hours of service to our shul.
ohrucd
The DeRossi Singers congratulates
Vicky Vossen for her all that she has accomplished
during her two years
as Kane Street’s President.
And now that her term has ended,
we’ll expect her at the next rehearsal!
Elise Bernhardt
Mort Cahn
Nigel FeBland
Ellen Gottlieb
Sheila Rabin
Lisa Sack
Rena Schklowsky
Marion Stein
Steve Stellman
Rob Stulberg
Miryam Wasserman
Laurie Yorr
Heroes
We also extend our gratitude to
Laureve Blackstone for her devotion to
Tikkun Olam and for giving so many of us the
opportunity to perform acts of Chesed.
ohrucd
Tovah will be in our hearts forever.
Heroes
Fay and Daniel
ohrucd
VENI, VIDI, VICKY!
You came, you saw, and
you “Got ’er Done”
with style and grace,
and your wonderful sense of humor!
Todah Rabah
Heroes
Ann & Barry
Jacob & Eli
ohrucd
With tremendous appreciation
for your unflagging energy,
wicked sense of humor,
and true dedication to our community.
Thank you!
Heroes
Lisa Smith and Alan Salzberg
ohrucd
for her creative leadership
of our Congregation
and
Laureve Blackstone
for her energetic pursuit
of mitzvot.
Heroes
Marjorie Pollack and Isaac Druker
ohrucd
In memory of
Joyce “Tucky” Behrmann Druker
Joshua A. R. and Essie Druker
Paul R. and Rella Behrmann
Frank L. and Ruth Pollack
Joseph “Shika” Moldaw
Esther “Golly” Pollack
Marie M. Cedars
James Stuart Pollack
Adele Louise Starr
We miss them.
Heroes
Marjorie Pollack and Isaac Druker,
Jeremy and Alice Druker,
Ari and Miho Druker
ohrucd
Debra Raskin and Michael Young
Heroes
congratulate the honorees
ohrucd
In Honor of
Arthur Lichtman and Maier Perlman
Heroes
Adam Lichtman and Jaquelline Perlman-Lichtman
ohrucd
We remember Bob Rabin
Beloved husband and father
Gabbai and Teacher for Kane Street Synagogue
Cantor and Hebrew School Educator
Who always had a joke or story
for every occasion
Who sought to deepen our human bonds
We honor Vicky Vossen
Outgoing President Extraordinaire
Who has shaken up the Shul
But always has a joke or story
for every occasion
Rose Rabin, Sheila Rabin, Bill Bregman
Heroes
We honor Laureve Blackstone
Whose work on social action
has deepened our human bonds
ohrucd
In blessed memory of our parents
Beno and Rivka Anavi,
Hasko and Violette Zalman
Heroes
Desi and Ben Zalman
ohrucd
In Honor of Vicky Vossen,
For exhibiting all the qualities of leadership,
patience, and grace, we thank you.
Enjoy your retirement!
Heroes
Mazel Tov!
Adina and Torsten
ohrucd
In Honor of Laureve Blackstone,
Congratulations to you and Jason Gitlin
on the birth of your daughter, Rose.
Thank you also for your advice,
patience, and reassurance.
We’re glad to be celebrating with you!
Heroes
Mazel Tov!
Adina and Torsten
ohrucd
To Our Delight
Hazel and Gabriel
Heroes
Mollie and David Zalman
ohrucd
To our esteemed honorees,
Vicky and Laureve,
You act, energize and inspire.
That is what great leaders do.
Heroes
Carolyn and Noah Millman
Heroes
ohrucd
ohrucd
Talented, Tireless, Terrific
Here’s to a job well done!
Thank you, Vicky and Laureve!
Heroes
Mickey Green, Rob Stulberg
Jacob, Joseph and Salome
ohrucd
Thank you, Vicky and Laureve,
for keeping Kane Street
alive and vibrant
Heroes
Desi and Ben Zalman
ohgur
Dear Mom,
Thank you for all that you do for us,
which is even more than you do for Kane Street!
From us and from Geb, Ali, and Katie.
We love you!
Shepherds
Jacob and Caleb
ohgur
Mazel Tov Vicky on an energetic presidency!
Brava Laureve! Neither geography nor
motherhood slowed down your good work
coordinating the homeless shelter.
I welcome my new granddaughter
Chloe Belle Mori (Abigail’s 2nd baby)
Shepherds
Miryam Wasserman
ohgur
To Vicky
Thank you for presiding over us with such great
intelligence, humor and panache—
and for raising the level
of the bimah announcement
to a fabulous new high.
Shepherds
Meir, Gillian, Ben, Rachel and Abigail Kahtan
ohgur
The Brooklyn Israel Film Festival
Committee
would like to thank
VICKY VOSSEN
and
LAUREVE BLACKSTONE
Here’s looking forward
to the Ninth Annual
Brooklyn Israel Film Festival
in 2013!
Shepherds
who both so very much made
the Eighth Annual
Brooklyn Israel Film Festival
a total success!
ohgur
*sung to the Tune of “Mr. Sandman”
Vicky Vossen, before you go,
We want to thank you,
and we want you to know
As President you have no equal.
So tell us, Vicky, will there be a sequel?
Shepherds
Vicky, you sure did great—
Most things are running only ten minutes late!
So let’s give a hand and don’t you cry;
Say “Good job!” but never,
Never ever,
Say “Good job!” but never… “Good bye”!
With love,
Ann, Cindy, Laurie, Leslie,
Rena, Riva, Sandy, and Susan
ohgur
“yes I said yes I will Yes.”
Molly Bloom’s soliloquy,
James Joyce’s Ulysses
Special love and thanks go to the tireless
members of my Executive Committee:
Harry Chevan
Tracy Makow
Ellen Phillips
Ann Powell
Susan Rifkin
Rena Schklowsky
Your hard work and devotion made everything
possible—and fun!
Vicky Vossen
Shepherds
My heartfelt gratitude to everyone who said
“YES I WILL”
when I asked you to take time
out of your busy lives to
work for the synagogue!
ohgur
IN HONOR OF LINDA KASS-MAHLER
“One might at times find the Jews’ rather
hothouse family atmosphere, with its intensities
and frictions, somewhat trying—but one could be
sure of never being bored!”
—British psychoanalyst
Ernest Jones (1879–1958)
You’ve been our part-time Prozdor Office
Assistant, then our full-time Office Manager,
and finally our Executive Director;
you’ve managed, nurtured, cajoled, supported,
organized, and disciplined us as we grew from a
small, feisty shul in a rundown building
to a large, feisty complex shul in a renovated
building, with a full-time preschool and
many exciting new programs.
Shepherds
During the past eleven years, we’ve certainly
tried you with our intensities and frictions—but
we hope you were never bored!
Thank you so much for your devotion to every
aspect of our shul! You’ve helped us
become a bigger and better place—despite
all our intensities and frictions!
Vicky Vossen, David, Jacob and Caleb Bloomfield
ohgur
To Vicky and Laureve
Mazel Tov on a job well done
for the many years of
service on behalf of the
Kane Street Synagogue Community
Shepherds
with much appreciation,
the Lieberman/Telzak family
ohgur
In memory of
our beloved son
Bob Weinstein
Shepherds
Blanche and Herb Weinstein
ohgur
Shimon the Righteous used to say:
The World stands on three pillars:
Torah Study, Worship and Kind Deeds.
(Pirke Avot 1:2)
For Vicky and Laureve,
who sustain steadfastly all three pillars.
Shepherds
Rabbi Sam Weintraub
ohgur
Best wishes
To
Vicky and Laureve
Shepherds
Rebecca Shiffman
Fred Terna
Daniel Terna
ohgur
In honor of Laureve,
who makes doing good
Marsha & Eliot
Shepherds
look easy.
Shepherds
ohgur
ohgur
Congratulations to
Vicky Vossen
and
Laureve Blackstone
Shepherds
Steven & Jeanne Stellman
ohgur
Congratulations
and thanks
to Vicky
Shepherds
Tamar & Jay
ohgur
In loving memory of
Arthur Lichtman
Beloved husband, father, grandfather,
mentor, and friend.
Shepherds
Celia, Adam, Sarah
Jaquelline, Rachel
Ariel, Noah, Isaac
ohgur
Congratulations to Vicky Vossen
You’ve done a great job!
Many thanks to Laureve
Your work is deeply appreciated
Shepherds
Laura Barbanel & Ernest Fried
ohgur
Kol hakavod, Vicky!
And bless your family for putting up with it!

Leslie Wilsher and David Freed and Family
Hey, Laureve!

Leslie Wilsher and David Freed and Family
Shepherds
You go, Girl!
ohgur
The Riverside Orchestra Brooklyn Car Pool
offers its condolences to our longtime member
Sandy Kryle on the recent loss of his mother,
Myra Kryle, and sister, Lorraine Kryle.
We also offer condolences to the latest
member, Claire Golden on the loss earlier
this year of her father, Joseph Golden.
Shepherds
May their memories be for a blessing.
The Riverside Orchestra, an Upper West Side
community orchestra has just completed its
41st year. Please visit our website at
www.riversideorchestra.org this coming
September for information on
next season’s offerings.
ohgur
The Kane Street Kids Committee Salutes
Vicky Vossen
and
Chesed Honoree Laureve Blackstone
Gillian Kahtan, Adam Lichtman,
Karen Luks, Tracy Makow, Chava Ortner,
Penny Owen, Mary Pender-Coplan,
Barbara Speregen-Solomon
Shepherds

ohgur
To my wonderful brother, Haim Tubi,
who lost his life due to medical mistakes.
I will always follow your kindness.
Your extreme logic, your true religiousness,
which is open to modern life.
Your love of singing
and your voice will remain with me
forever.
Shepherds
Part of me was lost forever.
I love you and miss you.
Shoshana Tubi Silverstein and Family
ohgur
Congratulations to the Honorees
Shepherds
Steve Houck & Toni Lichstein
Shepherds
ohgur
ohgur
Mazal Tov
to
Our Highly Effective
and
Strategic President
Arlene & Howard Schneider
Shepherds
Vicky Vossen
ohgur
Mazel Tov
and
Yasher Koach
to
Vicky Vossen
and
Laureve Blackstone
for their dedicated service
to Kane Street
Shepherds
Jack Levin
ohgur
We are pleased to honor Vicky and Laureve
for their wonderful work for our Community
and the larger Community.
Shepherds
Rachel and Melvin Epstein
Shepherds
ohgur
ohgur
for her extraordinarily skilled,
energetic and dedicated leadership!
and
Yasher Koach to Laureve Blackstone
with love,
Jonathan Katz and Sara Porath
Shepherds
for all her contributions to
our Kane Street Community!
ohgur
Mazel Tov Vicky
Thank you for all you do!
Mazel Tov to Laureve
We appreciate your leadership!
Shepherds
Alissa, Mark, Zoe and Jordan Owens
ohgur
Congratulations Vicky
on two wonderful years
as President of Kane Street!
Shepherds
Leslie and George Tan
ohgur
Thanks Vicky,
For your warm, engaging and energetic
shul leadership,
For the clever, positive and effective
auctioneering style,
For synagogue announcements
that were enjoyable to listen to, imagine!
Shepherds
For the gushing, humorous
Bnai Mitzvah tributes,
your service was
“all swish and no net” too.
Enjoy a well-earned promotion
to the most coveted position of
ex-synagogue president.
Jeff Macklis
ohgur
Congratulations Vicky Vossen
Thank you for your energy,
sincerity and commitment
to the growth of Kane Street
With much love to my jewels:
Raya Josette Rubenstein
Lily Rose Bowen
Matthew Liam Bowen
Jack Eric Bowen
Evelyn Rubenstein
Shepherds
And always in our hearts
Of beloved memory
Jack Rubenstein
ohgur
MAZAL TOV TO OUR THREE INCREDIBLE DAUGHTERS
ARIEL, EVE AND ILIANA
*
Congratulations on your recent graduations and on taking your next steps - near and far.
We are so proud of each of you and your individual accomplishments.
YASHER KOACH TO LAUREVE
*
Whose meaningful and lasting contributions have been a blessing to our congregation,
to the Jewish community and to the community-at-large.
OUR HEARTFELT THANKS AND ADMIRATION
*
To all those who have volunteered their time, effort and energy for the betterment of Kane Street
Synagogue with no expectations other than to be a part of a warm, caring community.
Shepherds
Naomi Berger & Jay Brodsky
ohgur
is pleased to join the
156th anniversary celebration of the
and is especially proud to join in honoring
and recognizing the passion and dedication of
our colleague and friend
Laureve D. Blackstone
ŸŸ źź ŹŹ ŸŸ źź ŹŹ ŸŸ źź ŹŹ
Richard A. Levy
Dana E. Lossia
Counsel:
Daniel J. Ratner
Susan J. Cameron
Paul Schachter
Daniel Engelstein
Micah Wissinger
Anthony DiCaprio
Gwynne A. Wilcox
Ryan J. Barbur
Michael Steven Smith
Pamela Jeffrey
Vanessa Flores
David P. Horowitz
Owen M. Rumelt
Alexander Rabb
Kevin Finnegan
Michael R. Hickson
Executive Director
Carl J. Levine
Shira T. Roza
Sophia Gutherz
David Slutsky
Laureve D. Blackstone
Allyson L. Belovin
Jorge A. Cisneros
Suzanne Hepner
Jacqueline Tekyi
Richard Dorn
Robert H. Stroup
Cheryl Cunjie-Baksh, Lourdes Garcia, William Griffin, Christina Houghton, Maleenee
Kaisaram, Jane Lew, ShellyAnn Long, Vivian Madison-Brereton, Maria McEachern,
Peter Sherer, Sarah Sommers, Ida Slivkova, John Torres-Rojas, Jane Young
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Shepherds
_______________________________
ohgur
Congratulations to Ezra and Ariel Brodey
Bar Bas Mitzvah 2012
Shepherds
Sarah & David Erlij
Congratulations to honoree Vicky Vossen
and Chesed honoree Laureve Blackstone
Ray Scheindlin and Janice Meyerson
Celebrating the accomplishments of our children this year!
Especially the Hebrew School’s Gan and Gimmel classes
We are so proud of your learning and living.
To Vicky, whose tireless efforts these past two years
have been truly unifying,
&
To Laureve, who inspires us to keep “making a difference,”
Kol HaKavod to All!
Dan Klein and Jenny Breznay
In honor of my new grand-nephew,
Jonah Graham-Squire Lerman, born September 28, 2011,
and his proud parents, Sharon and Mike.
In loving memory of my parents May and Bernie Kahn,
my grandparents Rose Friedman Kahn and Max Kahn,
Bea Monoson Horovin and Meyer Horovin,
and my uncles, Harold Kahn and Cyril Kahn.
Mazel Tov to Vicky Vossen and Laureve Blackstone
and thanks for all you’ve given.
Roberta Kahn
In honor of my mother, Gloria Neuman,
and in loving memory of my father, Alexander Neuman,
and my uncles Mendel Neuman and Louis Rosen,
and my grandparents, Sarah and Harry Rosen,
and Pearl and Chaim Eliezer Neuman.
Congratulations and thank you to Vicky and Laureve.
Sharon Neuman
Vicky and Laureve,
What can we say?
Thank You!
Mazal Tov,
Andrea Glick and Seth, Sophie and Evan Lieberman
We salute our partner
LAUREVE BLACKSTONE
For her steadfast kindness and generosity of heart
to our women’s homeless shelter.
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
SYNAGOGUE
131 REMSEN STREET, BROOKLYN, NY
Heartfelt congratulations to Rabbi Wentraub on another successful
year of steadfast and dedicated efforts for the Kane Street
Synagogue and the general Jewish community. His abiding
menschlichkeit deserves continuing praise.
Mazel tov to Vicky Vossen on her dynamic leadership
these past two years as president and her dedicated efforts
in all the years before as well.
Continued hatzlachah!
Appreciatively,
James Goldman
Vicky, you are the best.
Fay and Daniel
Mazel Tov to Vicky Vossen,
and thank you for all your hard work and valuable guidance.
Congratulations also to
Chesed Honoree Laureve Blackstone.
Joanne Robinson and Adam Pomerantz,
Ethan and Will
The Kane Street Synagogue Hebrew School Committee
thanks
Vicky Vossen
for her service to the synagogue.
We have all thrived under her leadership.
The Hebrew School Committee also congratulates
Laureve Blackstone.
Thank you!
Congratulations, Laureve!
You have found creative ways to involve all of us
in social action and Tikkun Olam.
Todah Rabah
Ann Powell & Barry Nass
Jacob & Eli
Congratulations to Vicky and Laureve
Deborah and Alan Polinsky
Anonymous
Congratulations to
Kane Street Synagogue on its 156th Anniversary
and
to Honorees Vicky Vossen and Laureve Blackstone
From your friends at
Independent Neighborhood Democrats
Hal Friedman, President
Tom Predhome, Chairman of the Executive Board
Assemblywoman Joan L. Millman
In Memory of
Maurice H. Blumenthal
Genevieve W. Blumenthal
Philip M. Blumenthal
Norman Shulman
Miriam Shulman
Gloria & Bob Blumenthal
Mazal Tov Vicky!
Thank you for your many wonderful contributions
to our community.
Daniel and Tse Levy
Dear Vicky and Laureve,
Congratulations!
Thank you for your dedication to the Kane Street community.
Michelle and JJ
To the Chevans,
Our utmost gratitude for your help in making our transition
into the next phase of life a smooth one.
With love,
Torsten and Adina
KANE STREET SYNAGOGUE
“Happy 156th”
CONGRATULATIONS
Vicky Vossen
Laureve Blackstone
Brooklyn Beep
Marty Markowitz
To our children and grandchildren
Ariel, Eyal, Nerya, Ateret & Halleli Miryam Sheetrit
Ami & Michelle Blumenthal
All our love,
Ima (Bubbe Gloria) & Abba (Sabob Bob)
Vicky,
A leader looks out not only for
the good of the whole
community, but the well-being
of each member. When we
needed a hand, you were there.
We will always be thankful.
Congrats on your great run
as president.
Laureve,
May you continue to inspire
young members of our
community to take leadership
and for all to get involved
in chesed.
For always showing us that
chesed begins at home.
Jason and Rose Batzion
David and Lea
MAZEL TOV, LAUREVE
We love you,
Mom & Dad
Congratulations Honorees
Seth Seifman,
Jennifer Young and
Malcolm Seifman
Laureve,
The lovely, caring person you are
fills us with pride and joy
every day.
Congratulations
Love,
Ronnie, Alan and Rori
Congratulations to Vicky and the
The Luks Family
Allan, Karen, Rachel, Nathan,
David, Rebecca and Benjamin
Vicky,
You have inspired, encouraged,
advised so many people!
Congratulations on this
well-deserved honor.
David & Pat Squire
To Vicky—
With deep gratitude for
your terrific service to this
congregation, always with great
intelligence and good humor.
Mazel Tov to Laureve on your
important new family member.
With great admiration for your
commitment to social justice.
Arthur, Allison & Anna
With much appreciation for your
leadership and good work!
With love and admiration for
Vicky
and
Greetings to
our Kane Street friends
Betsy & Hai Knafo
Steve Cohen, Elsie Stern,
Sarah & Jed
To Vicky and Laureve,
two outstanding members
of our community,
with gratitude for your
commitment and dedication
To the ongoing life
and spiritual energy provided
by Kane Street Synagogue and
thanks for Vicky’s marvelous
tenure as President,
To the continued memory
of my beloved parents,
Ellen and Alan Bowin
Barnett Berger
To Adina, who is round
To Gella, who is learned
To Sid, who is acting
To Vicky, my fellow Sister of
Redemptive Suffering…
Mazal Tov!
Barbara and Mike
Best Wishes to All
Ira M. Sherman and
Howard Herzog
The Sivin Family
Grandparents Irv and Phyllis
Parents Elijah and Jen
and sister Molly
celebrate the first birthday
of our newest addition
Lila Jane
on June 21, 2012
Mazel tov and thank you,
Vicky and Laureve
Ellen Shaw
Congratulations
on your 156th Anniversary
and to honorees:
Vicky Vossen
Laureve Blackstone
From the
Muslim Consultative Network
MISSION: MCN empowers the
diverse New York City Muslim
population by connecting communities through dialogue, education, collaboration and social
action. To learn more about us,
please visit our website
www.mcnny.org or join us at our
2nd Annual Gala
on June 10, 2012.
Vicky,
You gave Governance
a Spiritual Lift
Kane Street Needed
Mabrouk
Sandy and Al
Mazel Tov to Vicky and Laureve!
Thank you to all Kane Streeters
for another lovely year together.
Joey Weisenberg
www.joeyweisenberg.com
Mazal tov on the marriage of
Ami & Michelle
Love, Abba & Ima
(Gloria & Bob Blumenthal)
In Memory of Bob Rabin
Gloria & Bob
Thank you, Vicky
You have led us with vision
and grace.
Riva and Ira
Job Well Done, Vicky!
Penny and Danny Owen
and Sarah Owen Robinson
Yasher Koach, Vicky!
With love and admiration
From Your Chosen Family
(Margie, Dave, Jonah, Eli,
Sue, Lawson, Ellen, David
And Marissa)
Thank you Vicky and Laureve for
your inspiring leadership.
Kudos to Vicky for sharing her
passion and spirit in leadership.
Laureve, your daughter is lucky
to have you for a role model.
Charlene Visconti
Love, the Shefskys
Vicky,
A great honor
for a great woman!
Congratulations!
Tondra and Jeff Lynford
Congratulations to two of my
favorite women of valor!
Hillary
Dear Vicky and Laureve,
Thanks for all your wonderful work and
congratulations on this honor!
Bronwen, Warren, and Lilah Haskel
Thank you, Vicky, for your wonderful
leadership at Kane Street.
Thanks for all
Vicky & Laureve,
Francia Tobacman & Bruce Smith
Best wishes to the Kane Street Chevre
With admiration,
the Myer/Genshaft clan
from the Karp Rinsler Family
Congratulations to Vicky and Laureve.
Your Leadership and dedication to our
community makes Kane Street
a very special place. Thank you!
Thank you, Vicky, for your leadership
and dedication.
Bob Marx and Debra Laks
Reneé, David, Alana, and Max Rettig
In loving memory of
Phyllis Rutkin
Mazal tov, Vicky and Laureve!
Two women of valor!
1953–1992
Joy Fallek
Susan Levy
Yasher Koach to Vicky and Laureve
Roberta Weisbrod
Laureve and Vicky,
Mazel Tov. Thank you for everything
you do for Kane Street.
With deep gratitude to
Vicky and Laureve
Simha, Simkha, Adin & Meirav
Mazel Tov, Vicky.
You’re the best.
Howard & Miriam Steele
The Susmans
Congratulations to Vicky Vossen and
Laureve Blackstone.
Thanks for all you do for the Kane
Street Community!
Kol Ha’kavod Vicky and Laureve!
Jerusalem salutes you.
Andy, Elizabeth, Daniel, & Emily Cleek
Beth Steinberg and Ira Skop
Natan, Gabriel and Akiva
Beatrice and Harry Klug
Congratulations from the Inwood Family
Kol Hakavod
To a fearless leader
Vicky Vossen
Laureve & Jason
Dear Vicky,
MAZAL TOV!
Sorry we can’t be there in person,
but have a dance for us.
The Elkinds
Congratulations,
Vicky and Laureve!
All the best
From the Elkayam Family
Barry, Jacqueline,
Sarah, Jeremy and Michael
from the Carlin/Walker Family
Vicky and Laureve
Thank You!!
Jeffrey, Ariel,
Marah and Manny Birnbaum–Krasnow
Vicky: Congratulations
from the Hornick-Becker Family
Vicky—
You are a true eyshes-chayil
in all aspects of your life.
You deserve the party!
Поздравляем тебе!
Gitl and Meylekh Viswanath
Anonymous
Dear Mia,
Mazal tov on completing
your neurology residency at
Columbia University Medical Center.
May you have continued success
in your neuropsychiatry fellowship.
Love, Mom and Dad
(Inagail & Maurice Minen)
Congratulations, Vicky
We really appreciate
all you do for Kane Street.
Best wishes,
Susan Freed & Martin Brandwein
Laureve,
Yasher koach
for always treating the stranger
with chesed and
teaching others to do so.
Rabbi Sara Goodman
Linda, through
all the years…
rehearsals, challenges,
and simchas: Thank you!
We wish you the best.
Love, the Shefskys
Congratulations, Joey!
Rose, you’re a marvel.
Happy 95th Birthday!
Thank you for bringing love,
joy and spirit to our music
and to our community.
Love, Laurie, Stephen, and Elena
Love, the Shefskys
Y’yasher Kochachem to both Honorees!
Vicky, your mesiras nefesh
is remarkable but your sincere concern
for Klal Yisroel is inspiring.
May HaShem richly reward you
and grant you continued
strength and success ‫הנש םירשעו האמ דע‬
in serving ‫ לארשי ללכ‬and may you
enjoy much ‫ תחנ‬from your family.
David Kirschner
Mazel Tov to Vicky and Laureve
Howard and Marisa
To Vicky and Laureve
In loving memory of Charles Barbanel
Thank you so much for all your work
and
to the Kane Street leadership as well.
Ellen Fleishman
Liora Cobin and Adam Barbanel-Fried,
and Meital and Doron Fried
In memory of Gerry Gross
A friend
To a dynamic duo!
Thank you and congratulations,
Vicky and Laureve!
Fondly,
Barbara Zahler and Martin Gringer
Special wishes to our Auntie
on her 103rd birthday.
Love always,
Bernice & Adella
D o u bl e C h a i
Gordon and Nancy Baldwin
The Benjamin Family
Bernhardt/Giovannetti Family
Woody Blaufeux
Brickner/Makow Family
The Fox Family
Dominic, Ilana, Georgia and Caleb Fumusa
Judith Gottfried
Donna, Neil, David, Salley, Rebecca and Lily (the Boxer) Kafko
Norman Korowitz, Nadine Kochavi, Linda Sussman (METNY)
Peter and Gail Loibl
Richard and Candace Mandel
The Nemetz-Kane Family
Marjorie, Joel and Sam Rothenberg
Rabbi Charles Savenor and Julie Walpert
The Solomon-Elam Family
Jonathan and Jo Weber
David and Barbara Werber
our children — our jewels
Jenny Aji
Max Aji
Rafi Aji
Yesehak Badner
Jack Eric Bowen
Lilly Rose Bowen
Matthew Lian Bowen
Mira Liane Bowin
Silas Brickner
Katelyn Brickner
Caleb Seigel Browne
Gideon Seigel Browne
Yona Seigel Browne
Amelie Druker
Liliana Druker
Naomi Watanabe Druker
Emily Hannah Falcon
Zoe Ann Falcon
David Richard Falcon
Anna Farber
Leo Feuerstein
Ruby Feuerstein
Katherine Fong
Seth Francis
Rose Batzion Gitlin
Amelia Jordan Goldin
Jonah David Goldin
Adrian Halme
Dina Gould Halme
Ezra Louis Halme
Eve Juno Harris
Nina Devi Harris
Benjamin Holladay
Erin Holladay
Evan Hollady
Ryann Holladay
Victor Holladay
Caroline Kaplan
Katharine Kaplan
Elliot Max Kleinman
Jacob Henry Kleinman
Roger Samuel Kleinman
Denise Kohn
Caleb Kohn-Blank
Julius Kohn-Blank
Talia Kohn-Blank
Nathaniel Solomon Koyfman
Hannah Clara Koyfman
Isaac Harry Kueny-Lichtman
Noah Arthur Kueny-Lichtman
Ariel Sadie Lichtman
Daniel McCormack
Moses Eli Millman
Avishai Benzion Najman
Eliana Hadas Najman
Ephraim Meir Najman
Menachem Tzvi Najman
Eli Nass
Jacob Nass
Ronit Nolte
Bleu Parks
Lucas Parks
Brian Rifkin
Michael Rifkin
Elie Romano
Jordan Romano
Judy Romano
Leah Romano
Jose Daniel Rubenstein
Raya Josette Rubenstein
Jake Sanders
Remy Bernard Sanders
Talya Gould Sanders
Dahlia Scheindlin
Dov Scheindlin
Ezekiel Alexander Scheindlin
Ellie Schneider
Hannah Schneider
Zachary Schneider
Miles Xander Shapiro
Tessa Rea Shapiro
Bayle Smith-Salzberg
Caleb Smith-Salzberg
Fayanne Smith-Salzberg
Abigail Goldschein Stern
Julia Telzak
Samuel Telzak
Sarah Telzak
Daniel Lev Weintraub
Gabriel Jonathan Weintraub
Jayna Ilanit Weis