Mazel Toy!

Never Too Late

Pogroms, war don't stop
Irvin Forman's bar mitzvah dream.

Leonard Poger
Special to the Jewish News

I

rvin Forman, who will be
100 years old this sum-
mer, didn't have much
chance for a bar mitzvah when
he was the traditional age of
13. He and other Jews in Czarist
Russia were too busy fleeing at
least three pogroms at the start
of World War I and the invad-
ing German army..
It wasn't until six months ago
that his dream of a bar mitzvah
surfaced in a talk with a grand-
daughter, Sandy Robbins of
Farmington Hills.
"I knew that he didn't have
a bar mitzvah [as a.youngster]
and we decided that we could
make this work for him. My

feeling was that it was never too
late. People would say to me, It
can't be done; and I responded,
`Why not?'"
The dream will become a
reality at 9 a.m. Sunday, May
28, when Forman will recite
prayers at a special service
arranged by Rabbi Avi Shapiro
at the Fleischman Residence in
West Bloomfield.
How excited is Forman about
the upcoming simchah? "This
much:' he said, holding his
hands wide apart. "I'm very
excited!'
Helping to celebrate the event
will be many relatives, includ-
ing son Sidney from California,
daughter Sheila Guz from
Florida, seven grandchildren
and 10 great-grandchildren.

May 4

Jill (Kofender) Schram and Anthony
Schram are delighted to announce the
birth of their son, Adin Maddox.
Welcoming Adin home is big sister Chloe
Alexa, 3. Proud grand-
parents are Dr. Marvin
and Judy Kofender of
Commerce Township
and Mrs. Sandra
Schram of West
Bloomfield. Sharing
in their joy are great-
Schram
grandmothers Lillian
Wolfson of West Bloomfield and Belle
Schram of Oak Park. Adin is named in
loving memory of his paternal great-
grandfathers Max Gottlieb and Mitchell
Schram and his maternal great-grand-
mother Minnie Kofender.

April 7
Alyse (Cohen) and Howard Nathan of
Novi are thrilled to announce the birth of
their son, Henry Jacob (Shalev Yaacov).
Sharing in their happiness are proud
grandparents Sheila and Sidney Cohen of
West Bloomfield and Audrey Nathan of
Oak Park. Henry is named in loving mem-
ory of his paternal grandfather Herbert
Nathan and maternal great-grandfather
Solomon Cohen.

98

May 25 • 2006

JN

Mr. Forman was also the
father of the late Leon
Forman. The bar mitz-
vah will be followed by a
Kiddush at Fleischman.
Forman was aware of
his Jewish identity while
growing up in Pinsk, but
with all the unrest and
displacement of Jewish
families, "we couldn't
get a minyan" when he
was 13. He has vivid memories
of his difficult childhood, the
pogroms, the family living
in cramped quarters and a
relative's quick action to escape
German soldiers. "I never had
the chance to have a childhood;'
he said.
His father, a carpenter and
furniture craftsman, immi-

Madeline Gallant Burg will be called
to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Saturday,
May 27, at Congregation Chaye
Olam. She is the daughter of Jeffrey Burg
and Laury Gallant Burg and big sister to
Henry and Charles.
She is also the
granddaughter of
Sylvia Goldfarb,
Marion and the late
Norman Gallant,
Milton and the late
Edna Burg.
A seventh grade
student at Derby
Burg
Middle School
in Birmingham,
Madeline vol-
unteered as an aide with students at
Pembroke Elementary School's latchkey
program.

Byck

Seth Maxwell
Byck will be called
to the Torah as a bar
mitzvah Saturday,
May 27, at Temple
Emanu-El. He is
the son of Michael
and Stacey Byck
and brother of
Samantha. Proud

grated to Philadelphia before
the start of World War I. But the
war delayed the rest of the fam-
ily. They arrived in Philadelphia
in 1919.
With little formal education,
Forman was kept after school
by a teacher to help him learn
English. But with little supervi-
sion, Forman admits to "falling
into some bad habits!'

He was sent to Detroit to live
with an uncle, Abe Paul, who
persuaded Forman to attend
school, "got me a job, taught
how to save a dollar and helped
me become a mentsh."
Forman worked in dry clean-
ing. In 1930, he married Katie
Matz. They were wed for 69
years, until her death in 1999.0

grandparents are Howard and Beverly
Goldberg and Shoshana Byck. He is also the
grandson of the late Arthur Byck.
Seth is a student at Berkshire Middle
School in Beverly Hills. His most mean-
ingful mitzvah project was working with
children at the Temple Emanu-El summer
camp.

Jamie Sara Gildenberg will be called to
the Torah as a bat mitzvah Saturday, May
27, at Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Southfield. She is the daughter of Arlene
and Alan Gildenberg and younger sister
of Elyse and Eric.
Proud grandpar-
ents are Vivian and
David Gildenberg
and Jack Backalar.
She is also the
granddaughter
of the late Edde
Backalar.
Jamie is a sev-
Gildenberg
enth-grader at
Orchard Lake
Middle School in
West Bloomfield. Her favorite and most
meaningful mitzvah project is volun-
teering at the Friendship Circle in West
Bloomfield.

Goldstein

Nathan
Goldstein
will become a
bar mitzvah on
Saturday, May 27,
at Congregation
B'nai Moshe.
He will celebrate
with his parents,
Jacqueline and
Neal Goldstein, his
younger brother

Ben and sister Audrey.
He is a seventh-grader at Abbott Middle
School in West Bloomfield. For a mitzvah
project, Nathan organized a book drive
and collected over 700 books for the
Detroit Jewish Coalition for literacy.

Jake Alexander
Katzman, son of
Sandy Wolfe and
Steven Katzman,
will celebrate his
bar mitzvah as
he reads from the
Torah Saturday,
May 27, at Temple
Katzman
Israel. Very proud
stepparents are
David WOlfe and
Bridget Katzman. Esther and Irving Morof