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Call The Saks Department (248) 354-7123 Ext. 209
1/23
1998
16
After 25 years of planning, Phyllis and Ithamar
Koenigsberg finally make the move to Israel.
LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
StafT Writer
• Maple or Oak installed for $5.99 per square foot
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eg.istry, The, tahoiiias
Of Heart
And Home
or years, Phyllis and
Ithamar Koenigsberg
refused to buy a freezer
because they couldn't take it
to Israel with them. When the vacu-
um cleaner broke in 1972, Phyllis told
the salesman she needed the cheapest
model as a replacement because "we're
leaving for Israel soon."
Last week, that vacuum cleaner sat
out by the curb, waiting for garbage
pickup. The Koenigsbergs' furniture,
dishes and every other working item
in their Oak Park home was packed
into a moving truck headed for the
Jewish state. It only took about 25
years.
Last Sunday, the Koenigsbergs
waved goodbye to lifelong friends and
the family members who still reside in
Michigan as they boarded a plane for
Israel. The day before, their shul,
Young Israel of Oak Park, hosted a
Shabbat kiddush in their honor, and
on Saturday night, YIOP's annual
melava malka to welcome new mem-
bers also included a farewell to the
Koenigsbergs and recognition of their
commitment.
"The Koenigsbergs really reflect
the values of the congregation," says
Rabbi Steven Weil. "These are peo-
ple who are accomplished and are
serious in their professions. They are
quite educated Jewishly; they put a
lot of time each day of their lives
into their Jewish education; they've
raised all their children [to be] corn-
mitted to the Jewish people and have
moved to Israel and are making con-
tributions to the Jewish homeland."
Mrs. Koenigsberg taught kinder-
garten at Akiva Hebrew Day School
through 1995, and Mr. Koenigsberg
worked as an accountant for four
decades. Their five children attended
Akiva, have all made aliyah, and now
live all over the Jewish state. The
Koenigsbergs did not know where
they would ultimately live but were
starting out in the Har Nof neigh-
borhood of Jerusalem.
"They made aliyah because we
always talked about it," says Mrs.
Koenigsberg of their children. "We've
talked about it for more than 25
years."
"The children grew up in a house-
hold where we spoke of Israel and
our love of Israel all the time. We
had maps of Israel on the walls.
Before we made a purchase, we
thought, 'Would it be good in
Israel?"'
Both Mr. and Mrs. Koenigsberg
grew up in strongly Zionist homes,
she in Detroit, he in New York. Her
brother lives in Israel, as do his four
sisters.
Phyllis and Ithamar Koenigsberg.
"We felt like we belonged there,"
Mrs. Koenigsberg says. "We knew it
was a mitzvah to live in Israel."
But it took a quarter of a century
to make the move because "there's
always been a reason for a delay," she
says, including business, illness, even
graduate school.
Last week, as the movers packed
their belongings in the truck, she
kept running out to peer inside and
make sure they were really her fami-
ly's belongings being sent to Israel.
"God has given us the z'chut, privy
e to be able to realize our
ilege,
dream," says Mrs. Koenigsberg. "I
keep pinching myself. It's something
that we've longed for, for years.
Israel's been in our hearts."