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February 14, 2013 - Image 41

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2013-02-14

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10,000 Feet from page 40

Commentary

cious and remarkable man."
In 2009, Nathan penned his memoir
To Life: A Story of Survival. He and
his brothers, Bernard, 84, now liv-
ing in Krakow, and Sam, a longtime
Detroiter who died last year at age 91,
all survived the Holocaust. The broth-
ers were born in Krakow and the only
family survivors. More than 50 family
members perished, including their
parents and a sister. In May 2012, the
brothers did a collective book sign-
ing of their respective memoirs at the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in
Washington, D.C.
Nathan is active in Holocaust edu-
cation as well as the New Cracow
Friendship Society, which is a
Holocaust organization intended to
unite survivors from Krakow.
The Offen brothers were confined in
the Krakow ghetto before being sent to
Nazi Germany concentration camps.
Bernard was liberated from Auschwitz
in Poland. Nathan and Sam were liber-
ated from Mathausen in Austria and
taken to a displaced persons' camp in
Modena, Italy. The two later joined the
Polish army under British command as
part of the occupation forces in Italy.
Bernard later reunited with his broth-
ers with the aid of a published survi-
vors' list. In 1946, the three arrived in
London, where Nathan met his future
wife, Helen Goldberg.
In 1951, the brothers immigrated
to America; for a time, all lived in
Detroit.
Nathan spent about a year in
the Motor City, working at Sam's
Menswear, before settling in Jersey
City, N.J., with his new bride. She died
in 1990.

Jewish High School Students Need Jewish Heroes

Nathan's wish when he turns 100 is to
be the first Holocaust survivor to travel
in a spaceship.
"And why not!" declares his niece
Gail Offen, of Hartland, Mich.
Daughter of Sam, Gail tells the JN:
"I think my uncle, just like my father,
has a zest for living and learning. He
started painting at the age of 80 and
wrote his memoirs at the age of 85. He
travels; he sings in a choir; he belongs
to many clubs. I think of it as trying
to make up for lost time. Just like my
father, Uncle Nathan's embrace of life
so vividly is the ultimate proof of sur-
vival."
At 90, instead of just savoring the
Florida sunsets, Nathan Offen, ever
vigorous, continues to think big and
stretch the days to the fullest.



See Nathan's jump on YouTube: http://

youtu.belyMrGsy EqL0.

Port Chester, N.Y.

Wayne proud. The doctor. The lawyer.
The businessman with a gold Star of
David resting upon his opened shirt
button, buried beneath curled hair.
More than 17 drawings in all.

f you're interested in an informal
education experiment, grab a sheet
of paper, find the nearest teens or
adolescents and give them one instruc-
tion: Draw a Jew. It may sound ridicu-
Seizing The Moment
lous, but over the past seven years,
To be sure, this was a teaching
this simple exercise has taught me a
moment I could not resist.
great deal about the state of Jewish
"What's missing from this picture?"
life today.
I asked.
Seven years ago, I instructed a
A student ran up the board and
group of students at Walter Payton
amended his picture of the business-
College Prep (in Chicago)
man by inserting a bagel in his
to complete this exercise
hands. Not the answer I was
for the first time. Every
looking for.
Monday, students from all
There were a lot of things
backgrounds (Jewish and
missing from the picture, of
not) met after school in
course. But perhaps most
the foreign language room,
egregious was that not a single
under the auspices of a
female had been drawn, despite
network of Jewish culture
more than half of the artists at
clubs across the coun-
the board being young Jewish
try (now called Jewish
women themselves.
Student Connection).
I also was curious as to why
Brad Sugar
As they converged upon
none of the participants had
the whiteboard to com-
drawn themselves or some-
plete the task, I remember at once
one that wasn't an obvious caricature
being taken aback with their artistic
or stereotype. Here they were, in a
skill yet saddened by their repre-
self-selecting Jewish club, clearly
sentations of what "Jewish" was. As
identifying as being Jewish — yet no
you might imagine, stereotypes ran
one "regular" was represented on the
rampant. Of course, there was the big
board. This really bothered me, and I
nose. The Orthodox rabbi, replete with
spent the next hour after the meet-
payot to the ground and a brimmed
ing had finished asking each student
black hat that would make John
about his or her representation of a
Jewish person.

Dry Bones TERMINOLOGY

Personal
Implications

ENTRY

As it turns out, most
of them fell back on
stereotypes because
there were no signifi-
cant Jewish leaders in
their lives other than
immediate family. Few
belonged to syna-
gogues, and fewer went
more than once a year.
Jewish camp was not
on the radar; Hebrew
school was anathema
and the acronyms of
the local Jewish youth
groups were simply
gibberish to them.
As teenagers, they
had no true Jewish
heroes; no immediate
Jewish role models to
emulate, to seek out or
to spend time with. The
best representation of
Jews to them was the

H

FLOWERS,
AND PRODUCTS
GROWN OR
PRODUCED ON
FORMERLY BARREN
LAND ON THE
WEST BANK BY
JEWS .. .

d bones.com ca•lecartoons.com

OR AS WE IN THE
ANTI-ISRAEL
CAMP SAY

stereotypical male rabbi.
Some suggest that the most viable
solution to inspire our youth to lead
Jewish lives is to provide them with
rich Jewish experiences. This may
be true, but defining the desired out-
comes for these experiences is diffi-
cult. The Jewish Student Connection's
approach is very specific: to expect
our Jewish youth to grow into par-
ticipating Jewish adults, we need to
provide them access to affable and
knowledgeable Jewish role models
and leaders they can trust. Men and
women. Religious and secular. Gay and
straight. Jewish professionals and pro-
fessional Jews. Young and old.
The high school and college years
are such critical periods, not just
for adolescent development, but for
Jewish development, too. Think of all
the important conversations that take
place during this period: dating, friend-
ship and loss, just to name a few.
If only our teens could have these
conversations in a Jewish context,
in consultation with a Jewish men-
tor they trusted. Perhaps their future
decisions also would be made in a
similar context.
Think about the Jewish mentors in
your life with whom you've had these
discussions. Perhaps it was a camp
counselor, a youth director or a rabbi.
Maybe it was a Hillel professional or
maybe even a relative. The point: It is
the people in our lives that mold us as
we grow. Relationships almost always
last longer than experiences; as such,
we must invest our resources in fos-
tering meaningful relationships with
those that matter.

_Agreed The Sunshine

To Jewish Student Connection (JSC),
teens matter.
To celebrate the Jewish inspira-
tions in our lives, JSC has begun a
campaign to recognize the individuals
in our lives — past and present — that
have made a Jewish difference. Please
join us in recognizing these difference
makers in our lives. Become partners
in our mission to provide the very
same experiences to the next genera-
tion.
Join Jewish Student Connection as
we celebrate those who have made
a difference in our lives. Join the
cause!



Brad Sugar is Jewish Student Connection

director of operations. Learn more at www.

myjsc.org/mentors and via JSC representative

Gail Rauner, (914) 481-5505 or gail@myjsc.org.

February 14 • 2013

41

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