When We
Were Very
Young

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

family spent a great deal of time
at the race tracks, and the boys'
mother enjoyed poker. They had
George and Ira Gershwin
little interest in religion, providing
George was born Jacob Gershvin
a bar-mitzvah celebration for only
at his home at 242
one son, Ira.
Snedicker Avenue in New
Ira Gershwin, who wrote
Fi rst
York City on Sept. 26,
the lyrics for his brother's
In a
1898. His brother, Ira, was
music, was a quiet boy who
se
ries
the first child in the family,
loved reading novels by Sir
born Dec. 6, 1896, and
Arthur Conan Doyle. Author
called Israel or Izzy.
Edward Jablonski, in his book
The boys' mother was a beauty
Gershwin: A Biography (Da Capo
named Rose, a woman whom
Press), described Ira as an excep-
George described as "nervous,
tional student with artistic (drawing
ambitious and purposeful," and
and watercolor) talent. Ira also took
never exactly the doting kind.
piano lessons with an aunt.
Their father, Morris, a shoe sales-
George had interest in little other
man, was the opposite: easygo-
than hanging out on the streets
ing, approachable. Most who
with his friends. He once held the
- knew the family commented on
title of Skating Champion of Sev-
George's similarity, both physically
enth Street. Unlike Ira, he was
a terrible student and, in a
now-famous story, was held
up to ridicule by a teacher
who caught him drawing dur-
ing class. George claimed to
hate music.
In a dramatic, true scene
that would seem to be written
just for the movies, everything
changed for Gershwin in a
single moment. When
George was 10, he was
standing outside his school
when he chanced to hear a
boy playing Dvorak's
"Humoresque." He was so
charmed (and fearful of com-
ing late to class) that he stood
George Gershwin
for 90 minutes in the rain, lis-
tening to the entire perfor-
mance. Later, he approached the
and emotionally, to his mother,
boy who was nice enough, but
while Ira was said to be much like
told George to forget music
Morris.
because "you haven't it in you.
Though Morris enjoyed opera,
there was no real interest in music
Albert Einstein
in the Gershvin home. Instead, the
Albert Einstein was born in Ulm,

A look at the chilchoods of some
famous Jewish personalities.

T

hey are a singer, a statesman,
a painter, two musicians and
a scientist. What do they
have in common? Sometimes, there
are similarities.
George Gershwin spent a great
deal of time looking after himself as
a boy; so did Albert Einstein.
But Marc Chagall was indulged,
even pampered.
Ira Gershwin loved reading, and so
did Abba Eban. But Barbra
Streisand was a top student who
knew immediately what she wanted
to do with her life, while teachers
labeled Albert Einstein mentally
retarded.
What they do have in common?
They all are Jewish, they are all
famous, and they are all fascinating.
Here's a little bit of what they were
like before anyone other than their
parents thought they were positively
enthralling.

"

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