18—Friday, November 1, 1974 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
78-Year Old Yiddish Student Studying Psychology at OCC
Abraham Beitner, who at
78 is the oldest of the 6,000
students on the Orchard
Ridge Campus of Oakland
Community College, finds his
role as a student exciting.
An immigrant from Bend-
zin, a Russian occupied vil-
lage in Poland, Beitner at-
tended secular H e b re w
school from age four to nine.
He left his rural village for
further study of Polish, Rus-
sian, and German, and while
a teen-ager, he continued his
study of Hebrew and Yid-
dish.
When Beitner was 16, he
moved with a cousin and
niece to Toronto, and two
years later to New York
City where he attended night
school. In 1916, he came to
Detroit to join a cousin and
work as a women's hat mak-
er for the Crown Hat Corn-
pany•
Later he started a grocery
store with another man who
eventually had great success.
As Beitner explains, "My
partner became a millionaire
but died at the age of 65.
I am not a rich man, but
have lived longer!"
After leaving the grocery
business. Beitner and his wife
started a laundry and clean-
ing establishment on Dix
Avenue, where they worked
for the next 20 years. He
left the laundry business and
ABRAHAM BEITNER
started General Textile Manu-
facturing, which made shop
aprons and plastic items for
laundry services. When his
wife became ill, he went into
semi-retirement, finally re-
tiring from business in 1965.
"Following the death of my
wife a couple of years ago,"
Beitner explains, • "I realized
there was more to life than
just the four walls of my
home. I became interested in
some programs that were
offered at the Jewish Center
and became involved in a
`personal gr o wth class,'
which was a little unsual at
my age."
At the Center, he saw a
brochure from the Orchard
Ridge Campus advertising
SAL
Saturday classes. He corn-
commented, "It was a big
decision to go to the campus
since I did not have a for-
mal high school education."
Last spring, Beitner enroll-
ed in his first college course,
introduction to psychology.
Asked about his reasons
for taking college classes in
this stage of his life, Beitner
explains, "For many years I
have been involved in a Yid-
dish atmosphere and felt
that my own development
could be expanded by going
into another environment."
There was, of course, a
period of adjustment. He ex-
plains, "My first reaction
was, "Why should I knock
myself; out for a course if
it has no application to the
future?' I was planning on
another career. But then I
discovered that was keenly
interested in what the' pro-
fessor was talking about."
Beitner is currently en-
rolled in his second psy-
chology course and is al-
Holocaust Victims
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—A
drive was launched in area
synagogues, temples and
Jewish communal centers to
collect the names of Jews
who perished in the holo-
caust.
A spokesman for the Coun-
cil of Post war Jewish Or-
ganizations which is search-
ing for names said the group
expected to gather at least
25,000 names of Nazi victims
to forward to the Yad Vash-
em memorial in Jerusalem.
ready inquiring about the
class schedule for the winter
semester.
Other members of the
family have encouraged him
to continue his college ex-
periences. His daughter, Ce-
cile, a social worker for the
Livonia _school system; her
husband, Emanuel Mark, as-
sistant fund raiser for the
Jewish Welfare Federation;
Beitner's son, Elliot, an at-
torney and adjunct professor
at Wayne State and Oakland
universities; and Elliot's wife,
Mollie, also an attorney, have
set educational examples for
him.
A little knowledge that acts
is worth infinitely more than
much knowledge that is idle.
—Kahlil Gibran
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