Austin Anthony/Flin t Journ a l
frontlines
Never Too Late
David Harris
Flint Journal
Flint Township
I
t was more than 75 years late, but
Lee and Lillian Cronenwalt of
Flushing finally had their bar and
bat mitzvahs.
"It's never too late Lee Cronenwalt,
90, said in a Dec. 27 story in the Flint
Journal.
Lee said a prayer in front of the
Torah, while Lillian said the blessing
over the challah to a crowd of about 25
people at the Chabad House in Flint
Township.
At the start of the service, Rabbi
Yisroel Weingarten wrapped tefil-
lin around Lee's arm and head to
signify the action of prayer and intel-
lect. Tefillin are first worn when one
becomes a bar mitzvah. Cronenwalt
also was dressed in the traditional
Jewish talit and kippah.
There were plenty of mazel toys,
singing and well wishes as each corn-
pleted their prayer.
"You look like you're 13:' joked
Weingarten as he was congratulating
Lee. "Maybe 14:'
His wife added, "You've become a
man at 90."
When Cronenwalt turned 13, which
is the traditional age for a bar mitzvah,
he had to work at a jewelry manufac-
turer in downtown Flint. It was in 1934,
the middle of the Great Depression.
"We all had to work to
put food on the table he
said.
He never had time to
study for his bar mitzvah.
"It was something I
missed in my life he
said, adding that the cel-
ebration has made him
Lillian Cronenwalt, 89, of Flushing gets ready to
become a better Jew.
recite the blessing over the challah as part of her
Lillian, 89, who also
bat mitzvah in late December at the Chabad House
grew up in Flint, said her
in Flint Township. Her husband, Lee, 90, right,
family was too poor to
celebrated his bar mitzvah at the same time.
have her bat mitzvah.
She said Weingarten
approached them about the service. She
said she was glad she did it.
"I think it's wonderful," she said. "The
feeling inside me I can't express at all."
Weingarten called the Cronenwalts
young at heart" and enjoyed working
with them. He said it's never too late to
have a bar or bat mitzvah.
They were the oldest people he ever
helped become bar and bat mitzvahs,
he said. He likened the feeling to a 50th
wedding anniversary of parents.
"They are just wonderful people and
are Jewishly inclined:' he said.
Cronenwalt said he's not done with
his learning yet.
"If I live long enough, I hope to learn
Hebrew:' he said. II
C C
©2012 The Flint Journal. All rights
reserved. Used with permission of The Flint
Journal.
Cronenwalt talks to Rabbi Weingarten
as he puts on tefillin before a
ceremony for his bar mitzvah.
As a girl, Adina Rubenstein spent
her summers at Tamarack Camps,
singing, swimming and laughing
with her friends. "A lot of my Jewish
identity was cemented during those
summers," Adina says.
Adina also credits Tamarack
with influencing her adult interests.
"I teach biology and environmental
science, which probably began at
camp - running around outside, being
a 'tripper,' and understanding and
respecting the outdoors," she says.
It was natural, then, for Adina to
look to Tamarack for her daughter,
Bella. She approached Hebrew Free
Loan for help with the costs.
"As a single mom, HFL makes
it easy and possible for me to give
Bella those summers, and to spread
out the payments. Now she walks
the same paths I did, sings the
same songs, and creates her own
identity. Those opportunities are
important to both of us."
"It's so much fun," Bella says.
"I was in the horse program last
year, and my friends are there, and
we do really cool stuff. I love it."
The story doesn't end here.
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