a
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Veterans Hospital Patient Recalls
Stronger Tie to Judaism During Stay
By MORTIMER. BARR
Patient at VA Hospital,
N.Y.
Northport,
Editor's Note: The National
Jewish Welfare Board,
through its commission on
Jewish chaplaincy and wont-
en's organizations' services,
serves the religious, social
and cultural needs of Jewish
rn. i l i t a r y personnel, their
families and patients in Vet-
erans Administration hospi-
tals. Jewish chaplains serve
Jewish military families all
over the world. In the Vet-
erans AdMinistration, Jewish
chaplains visit the bedridden,
conduct services in the hos-
pital chapel, and in other
ways keep the men in touch
with the Jewish community.
They are assisted by a corps
of JWB volunteers. The fol-
lowing comments by a pa-
tient in the Northport, (Long
Island, N.Y.) VA Hospital
are excerpted from a letter
to Chaplain Herman E. Gross-
man, who serves the Jewish
patients at the hospital.
* *
I was born of a Jewish im-
migrant father and a first
generation American Jewish
mother, raised as if she were
still in Europe. I am typical
of those college - educated,
Jewishly ignorant persons
whose numbers are altogether
too large.
My religious education is
38—Friday, Sept. 27, 1974
the result of the frustrated
efforts of an immigrant
teacher who, though fluent in '
Yiddish and Hebrew, spoke
English poorly. I had very
little understanding of Yid-
dish and none of Hebrew.
My father spoke four lan-
guages fluently, and English
without an accent, as did my
•mother. My mother knew
Yiddish but rarely used any-
thing but English when talk-
ing with my father. So I did
not learn the language that
could have tied me more
closely to my Jewish 'heritage.
I haven't ever really prac-
ticed my religion — having
appeared in the synagogue
only for my Bar Mitzva and
once a year on Yom,Kippur.
Nevertheless, I consider my-
self a Jew and take pride in
the Israelis' accomplishments.
What has all this to do with
my story? Well, for the first
time in my life I had a pro-
found Jewish religious ex-
perience—at least I so con-
sider it.
It happened at a Shavuot
service in the chapel at the
Northport Veterans Admin-
istration Hospital. The previ-
ous day the Jewish chaplain
at the hospital invited me to
the service. The bait was that
afterwards the volunteer 'la-
dies of the Long Island JWB
Committee would serve ge-
filte fish, blintzes and sour
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Arth Announcements
Sept. 19—To Mr. and Mrs.
Robert Lenhard (Bunny Mil-
ler), former Detroiters of
Deerfield, Ill., a son, Jeffrey
Michael.
* *
Sept. 15—To Mr. and Mrs.
Yosai Gittleman (Debbie
Hertz of Detroit) of Jeru-
salem, Israel, a son, Gilad
Zvi.
Sept. 1.2—To Dr. and Mrs.
Gary Pesselnick (Barbara
Moscow), former Detroiters
of San Diego, Calif., a--daugh-
ter, Ilene Beth.
*
*
Sept. 12—To Mr. and Mrs.
Michael Lesnick (Mona Roth-
stein), 22101 Parklawn, Oak
Park, a son, Marc Allan.
* *
RABBI LEO
Sept. 10—To Mr. and Mrs.
David Rosenthal (Cheryl
Handler), former Detroiters
of Lafayette, Ind., a daugh-
ter, Meredith Amy.
* * 4:
Sept. 10—To Mr. and Mrs.
Gerald Slutzky (Ellen Frank-
lin), 30645 Woodstream,
Farmington Hills, a daugh-
ter, Dana Michelle.
* * *
Sept. 9—To Mr. and Mrs.
Gerald Gershune (Rochelle
Singer), 13335 Hart, Hunting-
ton Woods, a son, Jeffrey
Allan.
GOLDMAN
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*
* *
Sept. 9—To Dr. and Mrs.
Frank Middleman (Sherry -
Stecker), 1898 Wingate,
Bloomfield Hills, a daughter,
Jody Brooke.
* * *
Sept., 5—To Mr. and Mrs.
Paul S. Richman (Gloria Rae
Pleasant), 31644 Fairfax,
Livonia, a son, Chad Manuel.
* * *
Sept. 5—To Dr. and Mrs.
Raymond Sneider (Barbara
Wilhelm), 23501 Cloverlawn,
Oak Park, a daughter, An-
drea Freya.
* * *
Sept. 4—To Mr. and Mrs.
Gary Cohen (Marcia Snider),
25835 Branchaster, Farming-
ton Hills, a son, Brett Joseph.
Evans , "T he Provincials' Talks of Growing Up
Jewish in the New Testament-Oriented Southl
In "The Provincials"
(Atheneum) Eli Evans wrote
a personal story, of a life-
time of experiences in the
South—all intermingled with
many years of research into
historical events.
In this "Personal History
of the Jews in the South,"
as Evans subtitled his book,
he explores a particular his-
tory from the early 1800s.
The provincials first came
to the tobacco belt in the
1800s when Buck Duke im-
ported 125 R u s s i a n and
Polish Jews to roll and pack
his cigarettes. They were
driven out of Durham by the
invention of a cigarette-roll-
ing machine — perhaps the
first victims of the American
Industrial Revolution. Jews
later reentered the South as
immigrant peddlers, pouring
into many of the postwar,
devastated regions to open
small stores and later larger
ones.
Evans' book is at once a
personal chronicle of his
family and an intimate nar-
rative of the Jewish South.
The author, whose grand-
parents came to the South
from Lithuania, grew up in
Durham, N.C. in the 40s and
50s and his book spans that
period as well as the three
American generations of his
family.
Evans has experienced the
South both as a Southerner
and as a Jew; his father,
Emanuel Evans, was mayor
of Durham from 1950 to
1962, when the South was in
reaction to court-ordered de-
segregation; his mother,
Sarah Evans, was president
of the Durham chapter of
Hadassah as well as of the
seaboard region and repre- -
sented the South on the na-
tional board.
Mrs. Evans traveled the
SOuth for the Women's Zion-
ist Organization in the crucial
years before the establish-
ment of the state of Israel.
"risking denunciation as a
radical and ugly opposition
from the older German Jew-
ish famlies who feared re-
percussions of a J e wish
state."
As a student at the Uni-
versity of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, Evans was
elected president of the stu-
dent body, a tough election
for a Jewish boy running
against a non-Jewish op-
ponent. He won, a friend
told him later, b,e c a u s e,
"Ever ybody` heard they
might have a Jewish presi-
dent so they went out and
voted for Eli Evans to stop
Bill Baum."
For the book, Evans inter-
viewed the Grand Dragon of
the North Carolina Ku Klux
Klan, black ministers and
mlitants, filling station at-
tendants and farmers,
churchwomen and postmas-
ters. These conversations re-
veal the nuances of many a
Southerner's attitude toward
the Jews he knew on Main
Street and how he reconciled
this knowledge with the
chosen people he read about
in the Bible.
Here are excerpts from
"The Provincials" that lend
added significance to the re-
search evidenced in Evans'
MAKE IT PAY
work:
Nothing wrong in charging
"Private Isaac Gleitzman
it up to experience if you can of Arkansas fought under the
cash in on the lesson learned. daring command of Nathan
cream, coffee and cake.
My religious education is
weak, my knowledge of He-
brew and Yiddish is sorely
lacking, but my palate is
equal to anyone's when it
comes to Jewish cooking. On
this point—my taste for food
—my parents left an indelible
mark.
Promptly at 10 a.m. I pre-
sented myself at the chapel
in hospital pajamas, bathrobe,
and slippers—a proper attire
under the circumstances. One
other man from my building
and unit was similarly
dressed. The large chapel
room was occupied by about
20 other resident veterans
dressed in assorted clothes,
mostly ill-fitting. (I shall call
my unit-buddy Joe and use
fictiOnal names for all the
others as well.)
It suddenly struck me that
except for Joe and I, the four
JWB. volunteer women, the
chaplain and 'his son—also a
rabbi—and a small number
of the other congregants, all
the others present were suf-
fering from mental ailments.
This became more apparent
as the services progressed. I
later learned that some. of
these mental patients were
longtime residents at the hos-
pital.
The chaplain opened the
services. At once one of the
patients, Harry, strode forth
and at the altar took up the
poition of cantor. Harry is a
burly, broad-shouldered man
in his 50s. There he stood, his
yarmulke on the back of his
head, his prayer shawl across
his shoulders, as• command-
ing as any cantor who ever
stood before the faithful.
- In keeping with the words,
"sing 'both the praises and
glories of the Lord," Harry
opened his mouth and in a
loud, shouting voice sang the
hymns and the prayers.
Harry's singing is unique.
The shout can be heard for a
mile and his retarded speech
comes out slowly, haltingly.
'Yet, through it all, Harry's
chant was authentic—at least
to my untrained ear it sound-
ed similar to the chanting I
had heard on my rare visits
to a synagogue on the High
Holy Days. Somewhere in the
past Harry had had a good
religious Hebrew education.
Harry sang joyfully and
shouted with all his strength.
Ever so often, one of the
patients would get out of
hand, but the chaplain with
studied indifference—almost
nonchalantly — would bring
him under control quickly.
Soon the service was over.
As promised the gefilte fish
with horseradish, the blintzes
with sour cream, and coffee
and cake were served. Be-
cause the chapel lacks facili-
ties for heating food, the
blintzes were only half-
warmed—not as these-Jewish
mamas would have liked.
Yet, that food tasted better
to me than my favorite dish
at the Porn Pom Rouge. It
was cold in the chapel as the
temperature had dropped
sharply, but I was warm all
over.
Bedford Forrest. While the
Confederacy awarded him
its Cross of Honor for 'con-
spicuous gallantry in the
field,' he was proudest that
he had never eaten any
`traif' or non-kosher food
during his entire four years
of military service. His fam-
ily retains to this day the
two mess kits he carried
with him during the war, one
for meat and one for milk."
* * *
"The Southern atmosphere
is pleasant for a rabbi; they
are respected, called 'doc-
tor,' and many of them stay
for long periods of time.
`Professionally,' said a Con
servative rabbi, 'it's a nicer
life here. It's the Bible belt,,
and the clergy has a higherl
standing. People in the South
are less urbane and sophisti-
cated, it's true, but they
take religion a lot more seri-
ously.' "
* *
"Judah Touro, the first,
Jew known to have arrived'
in New Orleans after 184SA
was one of several Jewish
merchants and land investors
to flourish in this
frnos- i
phere. Touro's fan will
in 1854, which was publish-
ed in the New York Times
because it left $483,000 to
charity, established him as
America's first philanthro-
Engagements
pist . . . He even left $60,0)-40
for various causes in Part6s-
Mr. and Mrs. Theodore tine and $15,000 to help
Ross, former Detroiters of save the Jews of China."
Skokie, Ill., announce the
engagement of their daugh-
ter Sharon Linda, to Steven
Michael Mallen, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Hyman Matlen of
Selkirk Ave., Southfield. ' A
November wedding is planned.
Attention
Parents!
LET YOUR CHILDREN'S FEET
GROW PROPERLY
pat your money where your
heartis —
EN AMERICA
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