Dora Mandelbaum Kaner, who
attended Windsor's Talmud Torah,
remembers a particularly painful
episode. "After two days of fooling
around, I was pushed against a radia-
tor and burnt my tush. That was the
end of my Hebrew school memories."
After leaving Hebrew school, she
studied with a tutor who hit her
with a cane every time she made
a mistake. Despite her education-
al woes, she grew up observant
and sent her children to
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah.
Annie Adelson, who
attended Shaarey Zedek
in the late 1970s,
has fond memo-
ries of Mrs.
Kirsch, a
marvelous
guitar player"
whose tunes
remain in
Adelson's
head to this
day.
"My fondest
experience in
religious school
was second
grade," recalls
Robert
Starkman, who
attended
Shaarey Zedek.
"My teacher was Joan
Provizer, and during the school
year she married my uncle. All of
my male classmates were jealous,
because not only was the teacher my
aunt, but all the boys had a crush on
her because she was the youngest,
prettiest and nicest teacher at the time
I had such a feeling of power!
"It has been 33 years since second
grade, but my relationship with my
aunt has remained a close and loving
one."
\_n
Howard Rabotnick, who attended
B'nai Moshe, remembers Jose the bus
driver, who earned favor among the
kids by screeching around corners.
He also recalls a Hebrew teacher
who smoked cigarettes during
class, and skipping class to
walk over to the Oak Park
JCC.
Sharon K_resch, who attended
Sunday school at B'nai Moshe
in the 1960s and early '70s,
recalls "the delicious bubble gum
that looked like gold coins and
could be purchased only at the
Photo by Bill Hansen
synagogue gift shop." She also fondly
remembers the "really soft chairs in
the main restroom," where she spent
hours indulging in girl talk with her
friend, Barb, instead of attending ser-
vices.
Gerald Cook, who attended United
Hebrew Schools in the early 1950s, is
sure that UHS helped foster his "sense
of Jewish peoplehood, love for Israel"
and Hebrew abilities, while preparing
him for his bar mitzvah. "I even
learned things which helped in my
general education," he recalls. "For
example, Reuven Bar-Levav taught us
English grammar before Hebrew
grammar, since we had no concept
what grammar was!"
Susan with her sons Danny and Jordan at Temple Emanu-El, where they attend
Hebrew school.
•
Evelyn Levine attended Hebrew
school in the 1970s on Long Island:
"When I was about 11, I had a
teacher named Eli, who was a student
at State University of New York and
looked like he protested on the side.
He demonstrated the process of ritual
circumcision using the sleeve of his
sweater. The whole class almost died
of embarrassment."
Susan Fershtman, who attended
United Hebrew Schools in Oak Park
from 1969-1973, recalls the "meanest
teacher in the world. I can remember
one Sunday morning when she asked
me a question and I answered it the
best I could.
"She did not like my answer and
she came right up to my desk, put her
face real close to mine and knocked on
my forehead! She said over and over ,
again, 'Hello, is anybody home?' The
other kids cracked up, and I, of
course, had to act like it didn't bother
me. Well, I'm 37 years old, and I still
remember that incident. Do you think
it bothered me???"
Larry Sklar, now 43 and a member of
Congregation Ner
Talmid in
Chicago, recalls
hitchhiking
to Hebrew
high school one day after missing the
bus: "I had several options. I could go
home, reveal my transgression, take
my punishment and go on with my
life. Not the preferred choice. Or I
could disappear for the next three or
so hours, reappearing just when I nor-
mally would after Hebrew school.
"Then there was option three,
fraught with danger but with great
potential for reward (or at least lack of
punishment). So, with hope in my
heart and an outstretched thumb, I
starting walking and hitchhiking from
east Oak Park to the UHS building on
12 Mile Road. It took a while, and I
was a little late, but I made it. When
the teacher asked why I was late, I
told him that the rides were a little
sparse at times. I'm not sure he real-
ized what I meant. Note to kids: This
was ancient history when hitchhiking
was still somewhat safe. DON'T DO
THIS NOW!"
Howard Rabotnick: "My friend
Marilyn and I were in different ses-
sions — when I got on the bus to go
home, Marilyn was just getting off to
start class. Because the chocolate milk
machine was locked up after the first
session's break, we developed a ritual
where I would buy her a milk during
my break, and hide it in my book
binder (those brown cardboard
expandable folders with an elastic
strap that always tore open after a few
weeks). I would then make the
exchange for her nickel as we passed at
the bus. We've been friends ever since,
and 14 years ago, I married her sister
Debbie!"
1/30
1998
87