Month: May 2015

A Busy Week in April, 2015:
Presenting “The Lost Wooden Synagogues of Eastern Europe”
Wednesday April 15: Commemorating Yom HaShoah –
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Hebrew Center of Martha’s Vineyard

Our friends, Linda and Gaston Vadasz, residents of Martha’s Vineyard, had been discussing the possibility of inviting me to speak at the island’s Hebrew Center. The opportunity arose when the Center was planning their Yom HaShoah commemoration and I was engaged to be the presenter for the event.

And so my wife Elaine and I left our winter home in sunny Florida early, returning to the still cold Northeast. We were looking forward to visiting with Linda and Gaston, but not quite before warmer weather came. In addition, Martha’s Vineyard is not the easiest place to get to, with air travel very expensive and the ferry about five hours from our Long Beach, LI home. Getting our usual slightly late start on Tuesday, we arrived at the 2PM ferry with plenty of time, in spite of the incessant rainfall all the way there. On a positive note, we enjoyed wonderful New England clam chowder on board. This was also the first time we were visiting Linda and Gaston since their recent relocation to Martha’s Vineyard from their previous home in Budapest, Hungary. We had fun cooking together, producing a great meal, followed soon after by a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday was a warm picture perfect day. Linda made breakfast with rather pricey local range free eggs – six dollars a dozen! The afternoon was spent exploring The Vineyard. At night we headed for the Hebrew Center. There we attended a special service for Yom HaShoah, followed by my presentation. I arranged this talk to highlight not only the events of the Shoah relating to my art, but also including information about the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1653. This event saw the death of a large percentage of Jews in Eastern Europe, targeted for death by the nationalist Cossacks of the Ukraine. The presentation was so very well received and I was, of course, quite pleased. . We spent the day relaxing, touring and celebrating Linda’s 70th birthday Party.

Friday April 17: Commemorating Yom HaShoah on LI
Temple Beth Torah
Melville, NY

We left the Vineyard with the usual Farran drama. With so many changes in our plans, I had changed our Ferry reservation from Thursday at 10:30 AM to Friday at 8:15AM. Although I wrote it down, 10: 30 time stayed planted in my brain. On Friday at 7:30, I called the Steamship company to ask if we could get catch an earlier ferry. The answer was that we already had an 8:15 AM reservation! With Keystone Cop music running in our heads, we literally threw everything into the car, said our goodbyes and made the ferry with ten minutes to spare; our car was next to last on the ferry to Cape Cod. From the Cape, we travelled to New London, Connecticut where we ferried to Long Island, and then drove in pouring rain, arriving at Beth Torah in Melville with plenty of time to spare.

I was invited at the behest of George Borsuk, a member of the congregation to be the speaker for their commemoration of Yom HaShoah. The Friday services had run overtime, giving me ample time to set up and display my art around the room before my scheduled appearance as the after-dinner speaker. Fifty nine people were prepaid and twenty more paid on site. It was a full house! How cool! My presentation was almost the same as the one did in Martha’s Vineyard.

Before the presentation began, Rabbi Susie Moskowitz reminded the assembled group about their fund raiser, which is to purchase an “ambulance cycle” for Israel, enabling first aid personnel to arrive at accident scenes with lightning speed. I offered to donate 50 percent of my sales to the cause. I was able to fulfill my promise rather generously because of the volume of purchases made by the congregants.

This presentation was one of the best I have ever given because of the enthusiasm expressed by the , and I was “really in the moment” with them. There were so many questions and comments that Elaine and I did not arrive home until midnight.

Saturday April 18: Unveiling My Artistic Rending of a Synagogue

Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek
Chester, Connecticut

Arriving home late from Melville, we jumped into bed in Long Beach, only to quickly awake and be on the road by 6:50AM – a Farran record! After driving three hours, we arrived in Chester on time – another Farran record. However, on this day I was not presenting, but rather “unveiling” the art work I was commissioned to create by the Congregations’ Wednesday Minion Group (the “Minyonaires”). First we participated in their beautiful and inspiring Shabbat service. The Rabbi wove a discussion of the “lost synagogues” into her remarks about Yom HaShoah. She called me to the Bimah to take an Aliyah. Following services, a ceremony was held to unveil the art work. Steven Davis, the president of the congregation, introduced me in a way that seemed larger than life. I was deeply touched. The loved the art and, along with Linda Pinn, coordinator of the Synagogue Art Gallery, began to make plans to do fund raising using my commissioned art work as a vehicle. Since they do not want copies for this purpose, we decided that I would create original works ordered in advance by Congregation members.

I was especially honored by the Congregation’s gift to us of synagogue membership for a year. Elaine and I look forward to spending more time with this extraordinary congregation at their many exciting events and services.

After a special lunch we bid farewell to “our synagogue” and our new friends there, and made our way back to Long Beach for some well-deserved rest.

Continue reading A Busy Week in April, 2015

This Article was written for the JEWISH GENEALOGY SOCIETY OF LONG ISLAND’S award winning quarterly “Lineage”  Spring 2014

As a way of introduction I am a printmaker who has been making linocuts and woodcuts of wooden synagogues of Eastern Europe. I have reached into my past life as a history and geography student and teacher.   In addition I have an interest in genealogy through marriage.   As I created linocuts I also learned as much as I could about wooden synagogues, the towns they were built and the people who lived within. These people are people are our ancestors. The vast majority of our ancestors attended wooden synagogues. They were built

mainly in small market towns, which were called shtetls.   Over the years many towns were able to replace wooden synagogues with Stone and Brick buildings. Many of these stone synagogues are being restored today, but wooden synagogues are all gone. Lets go to our first Town.

Sapotskin, Belarus

Alternate names: Sopotskin [Russian], Sopoćkinie [Polish], Sopotkin [Yiddish], Sapotskin [Belarussian], Sapackinė [Lithuanian]

Sapotskin is a small town located in Belarus, where Poland, Lithuania and Belarus come together. The shtetl of Sopoćkinie[Pol] was part of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania. It during this time that the old wooden synagogue was built. After the Partition of Poland, Sopotskin[Russian] became part of the Russian Empire. After World War I, Sopoćkinie[Pol] was again part of Poland. During World War II, the town fell under Russian Control and then German control. The Jewish town of Sopotkin [Yid], ceased to exist in November of 1942. As a result of World War II Sopotskin[Russian] returned to Russian Rule. Today, Sapotskin, is located in Belarus. Until World War II the vast majority of the town’s people were Jewish. Today the town is almost 100% Polish, and is the only town in Belarus that is allowed to have bi-lingual street signs.

 

Sapotskin owed its existence to the geographical fact that it is was situated on the road between Grodno and Kovno. It was linked by road and canals. Jews made their living from this trade and trade in forest products. Once World War I ended and borders were erected between Lithuania, Poland and Russia trade was halted and the town withered away.

World War I had a great effect on the Jewish community. In the first weeks of the War the Germans occupied the town. They turned the old wooden synagogue into a stable and two stone synagogues were converted into hospitals. The Germans liberated the Jews from the harsh control of the czars. After a few weeks the Russians returned. They feared that the Jews would be loyal to the Germans and forced all Sapotskin’s Jews to move away from the border region deeper into Russia. After six months the Germans returned and made Sapotskin a regional center. Those Jews who were not deep into Russia, returned to find their homes destroyed. As World War I come to a close the Germans retreated and the newly formed nation of Lithuania invaded Sapackinė [Lith] in a failed attempt to keep the region from becoming part of the newly formed nation of Poland. When the Poles took control, the Jews of Sopoćkinie [Pol], faced hard times as the town lost much or its economic base and the new Polish government became increasingly anti-Semitic.

 

The Jews of Sopotskin did not stand by passively. The town was the center of the Zionist movement in the Grodno District. Sopotskin’s great Rabbi Shemuel Yaakov Rabinovitch was an early force in the Zionist movement. The vast majority of the town’s youth belonged to various Zionist groups. The bund was also strong.   Many town members were lucky enough to settle in the land of ISRAEL.

 

 

 

 

Last winter Elaine and I were concerned about Sugar in our diet.  This inspired me to make this linocut.  Kind of stick it on the fridge.  This Spring I was informed about the Huntington Arts Council  Main Street Gallery Art Show  “Don’t Eat This!” Juried by Beth Giacummo.  I entered and was juried into the show.  The show starts May 22, 2015 9:00 am and ends: May 22, 2015 5:00 pm.  The Gallery is located at 213 Main Street, Huntington, NY, 11743.

 

 

 

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