Teacher Extraordinaire:

Barr None

Sylvia Barr was
all smiles on the
bimah.

Temple Shir Shalom recognizes Sylvia Barr on her 85th birthday
and a semi-scaled back b'nai mitzvah tutoring schedule.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
StaffWriter

A

t Shabbat services April 11,
Temple Shir Shalom hon-
ored Sylvia Barr, who has
tutored more than 2,000
b'nai mitzvah students and is entering
semi-retirement.
Forty years ago, Barr lost her 12-
year-old son in a tragic accident. He
had been a student of Temple Israel's
Rabbi M. Robert Syme, who taught
the grieving mother how to say the

4/24
1998

Kaddish prayer.
"It was very easy for me [to learn
Kaddish], and it took me a long time
to realize that God took my 12-year-
old boy but has given me hundreds to
teach to read from Torah," says the
85-year-old teacher.
"He [Rabbi Syme] taught me to be
able to accept 12-year-old children
again, when I would look at 12-year-
olds, not to burst into tears," she said.
"He put me into teaching."
Barr and her late husband, Sam,
raised two daughters, one of whom,

Rochelle Barr, performs with her
mother at the piano. Between
Rochelle and Barr's other daughter,
Brenda Sage, Barr has seven grand-
children and one great-granddaugh-
ter.
"I have tutored at least 2,000 chil-
dren to prepare for bar/bat mitzvah,"
Barr recalled. "I have young men
come up to me with babes in arms
and they say, 'Hi Mrs. Barr,' and I
look and look because after all, young
men change from bar mitzvah to the
time that they're in their 20s. Very

often if they don't have a grandma, I
become their grandmother."
Matt Mercadante can attest to
Barr's caring. He studied with her to
accomplish bar mitzvah as an adult
last June, at age 19. "She was strict,
but she was the most caring person,"
said Mercadante, adding that he
learned a lot from her.
Barr admits that she's a strict
teacher, although "I have mellowed
through the years. I think I look at
these children as part of my family.
The secret is they have to do well and

