chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/1999/cjh.3.1999.pdfwriting his own account of the...

chicago jewish history

Vol. 23, No. 3, Summer 1999

chicago jewish historical society

Look to the rock from which you were hewn

IN THIS ISSUEMemoirs: HistoricJewish Summer Camps

Ben Hecht: A Story ofTravel in Old Russia

From the Archives:Rosemary Krensky’s Israel Travel Diaries

Oral History Workshop:Hints for Interviewers

Society Celebrates Successful Year,Welcomes New Board Members,Enjoys Lox and Laughter

The Society’s Annual Brunch was held on Sunday, June 13 at theSpertus Institute of Jewish Studies. The gourmet lox buffet and socialhour were followed by a program chaired by President Walter Roth.

By unanimous vote, Harold Berc and Joe Kraus were elected to theBoard of Directors, and Danny Greenberg was re-elected to anotherterm. Office Manager Eve Levin, who has served the Society for nineyears, was honored for her excellent work. Bev Chubat, named editor ofCJH this year, was commended for her efforts.

Camp Avodah: “Victory Farm Volunteers of America”photograph reproduced from 1944 promotional piece, courtesy Ira Glick

continued on page 3

Sites of Jewish Summer Campsdiscussed in our articles

Phelps•

•Minocqua•Eagle River

•PelicanLake

Chicago•

South Haven •

WI

Lake

Mic

higa

n

IL IN

MI

•RollingPrairie

Des Plaines•

MI

New Buffalo ••

Buchanan

•Hartland

Officers 1999Walter Roth PresidentBurt Robin Vice PresidentClare Greenberg SecretaryHerman Draznin Treasurer

DirectorsLeah AxelrodHarold BercCharles BernsteinDr. Irving CutlerCarolyn EastwoodSheldon GardnerElise GinspargDanny GreenbergDr. Adele Hast*Rachel Heimovics*Janet IltisBea KrausJoe KrausSeymour PerskyMuriel Robin Rogers*Norman Schwartz*Ethel ShulmanMilton ShulmanNorma SpungenDr. N. Sue Weiler

*Indicates Past President

Chicago Jewish HistoryChicago Jewish History is publishedquarterly by the Chicago JewishHistorical Society at 618 SouthMichigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois60605. Telephone (312)663-5634.Please send submissions to the editor,Beverly Chubat, at 415 WestFullerton Parkway, #1102, Chicago, Illinois 60614-2859. Single copies $1.50 postpaid. Successor to Society News.

Editor/DesignerBeverly ChubatImmediate Past EditorJoe KrausEditor EmeritusIrwin J. Suloway

Editorial BoardJoe Kraus, Burt Robin, Walter Roth, Norman Schwartzand Milton Shulman


2 Chicago Jewish History Summer 1999

President’s Column

SOME TIME BACK, I ASKED A NUMBER of my friends whether they had any recollectionsor memorabilia from a summer camp I hadattended for eight weeks in 1946––Camp Avodah,located near Buchanan, Michigan.

To my considerable surprise and pleasure,nearly all of those I talked to had affectionateremembrances of their camp experience atAvodah. Some had been at the camp a few years

earlier, in 1943, when it was founded in Des Plaines, Illinois, andsome were there in subsequent years. Some of them sent me materialthey had saved for over 50 years!

In this regard, I particularly wish to thank Werner Frank, who iswriting his own account of the camp in his forthcoming book. IraGlick had the foresight to preserve his considerable collection ofpublications, brochures and the like from the years when he wascounselor at the camp. Herb Glass also sent me material he hadretained. Bernie Lewis phoned me a number of times from his homein Los Angeles with great enthusiasm about his years at Avodah.

As I reviewed all this material, I realized that Camp Avodahneeded a much more lengthy and comprehensive treatment thanChicago Jewish History could handle.

So for this issue of our quarterly I have written a short pieceabout my own memories of Camp Avodah, limiting myself to thesummer of 1946. In the future, I hope to write in detail about thehistory of the camp, its purposes and its programs.

Avodah, of course, was not the only Jewish summer camp thatserved Chicago-area youth in the 1930s and 1940s. Our editor andeditorial board, with their own happy recollections in mind, decidedto expand our coverage to include other camps of that period.

But with space sharply limited, we are including reminiscences ofonly two other well-remembered places––Camp Kinderland, theWorkmen’s Circle camp that was located near South Haven,Michigan––and Camp Interlaken, founded by Herb Magida, theJewish athletic coach at Chicago’s Von Steuben High School, andlocated in Wisconsin––first at Hartland, and then at Eagle River.

Also mentioned, briefly, and in connection with our features:Camp Moshava, in its formative era at Rolling Prairie, Indiana;Camp Tel Chai, then at New Buffalo, Michigan; and the group ofprivately-owned Jewish camps, (some still in operation), in theirearly years in the North Woods of Wisconsin.

The historic period we covered pre-dates the founding of CampRamah of the Conservative movement, Olin-Sang-Ruby UnionInstitute of the Reform movement and other new, thriving, camps.

In this hot and sultry, (and fortunately, air-conditioned),Chicago summer, join with us in recalling the camps of 50 years ago,when Jewish concerns and causes may have been different than theyare today, but the weather was just as hot and sultry. �

Walter Roth

3Chicago Jewish History Summer 1999

Annual Brunchcontinued from page 1

President Roth noted thewell-attended 1998-99 OpenMeetings featuring illustratedtalks by interesting lecturers:Michael Karzen’s “ChicagoJewish Artists 1940-1980: AnOverview;” Larry Stern’s“Photographs: The Synagoguesof Chicago;” and Helen Sclair’s“From Lincoln Park to Eternity:An Overview of Chicagoland’sJewish Cemeteries.”

Roth also recalled the JointMeeting (with the AmericanJewish Congress and theHuman Relations Foundationof Illinois) featuring authorLouis Rosen in a discussion ofhis book, “The South Side: TheRacial Transformation of anAmerican Neighborhood.”

Also noted was the excellentOral History Workshop con-ducted by Emma Kowalenkoand Victoria Haas on May 23.

Tour Committee ChairLeah Axelrod remarked on thegood rate of registrations forthis year’s Jewish historic tours.

The Brunch concludedwith hearty laughter stimulatedby our guest speaker, SteveCohen, in his presentation,“The Best in Jewish Humor.”His jokes and stories were deliv-ered with warmth and insight,reflecting the wisdom gained inhis “real life” identity––as Dr.Stephen Z. Cohen, Ph.D.,recently retired Professor at theJane Addams College of SocialWork in the University ofIllinois at Chicago, and lectureron aging and the family.

Burt Robin, Vice-Presidentand Program Chair, organizedthis successful event. �

Meet Mike HechtContributor to CJH

Ben Hecht, the world-famouswriter, is represented by stories inthe Spring and Summer 1999 issuesof Chicago Jewish History.

But earlier, we had published apersonal memoir by Mike Hecht,[“My Maternal Grandfather,” CJHWinter 1999], and we neglected tooffer any information about thistalented local contributor. So weasked our Mr. Hecht to tell usabout himself, and he replied:

“Mike Hecht, approaching 80,works as a printing press andboxmaking technician and inventor;he is the husband of one, the fatherof three, the grandfather of two; alifelong Zionist; a full-timecurmudgeon; a regular schleppermanin Pesach and Rosh Hashanah fooddistribution to Chicago’s needy byMaot Chitim; and for 31 years, theshofar blower at Temple B’nai Torahin Highland Park.” �

Elsie Orlinsky Z”L

photograph from the publicationThe Chicago Jewish Historical Society:

A Ten-Year History 1977-1987

Guilty Verdict in Murderof CJHS Board Member

Five years after the brutal1994 carjacking murder of ElsieOrlinsky, a jury returned a ver-dict of guilty against DemetriusCunningham.

Mrs. Orlinsky, who hadtraining as an archivist, was thelong-time chairman of theSociety’s Archives Committee.In this capacity she had super-vised the receipt, sorting, andclassifying of a mass of materialso that the task of future histo-rians might be made easier. �

Bea Kraus to Discuss Era ofSouth Haven Jewish Resorts at

Open Meeting on October 10 Mark your calendar for Sunday, October 10. Bea Kraus, writer, teacher

and CJHS Board Member, will carry you back to the heyday of the Jewishresort area in South Haven, Michigan––the “Catskills of the Midwest.”

Come and hear all about it––where it began and why it faded out.Experience the pre-expressway trip to the beautiful white sand beaches andthe lake that sometimes thinks it’s an ocean. Recall the sumptuous meals atthe fine resorts and the chaos of sharing a kitchen with five other families.

Historical information and anecdotes have been collected by Ms. Krausin her newly released book, “A Time to Remember: A History of the JewishCommunity in South Haven,” and the meeting will include a book-signing.

Bea Kraus’s illustrated talk will begin at 2 p.m., following a social hourstarting at 1 p.m., at Temple Sholom, 3480 North Lake Shore Drive.Members and friends are cordially invited to attend. �

September 9: Society Video to beshown on WTTW–Channel 11.See page 15 for details.


A few years back, while vacationing at my summerhome in Michiana, Michigan, I took a side trip withsome friends to Buchanan, a small industrial townabout 75 miles from Chicago. From Buchanan wedrove another few miles to Clear Lake, a small body ofwater in the midst of the beautiful rolling farmland ofsouthwestern Michigan. We stopped at a small store onthe lake shore and ordered some ice cream. An elderlylady waited on us. Trying to make conversation, I toldher I had spent two months at a camp located on theother side of the lake, over 50 years ago.

“Oh,” she immediately answered. “You must be oneof the Jewish boys from Chicago who camped there.”

Indeed I was. In June 1946, after my junior year atHyde Park High School on Chicago’s South Side, Ijoined two of my classmates, Werner Frank and EddieRosen for a summer at Camp Avodah at Clear Lake.

We knew of the camp through our involvement inJewish youth organizations. Camp Avodah was spon-sored by the Chicago Board of Jewish Education and itcost little money, since it was said to be a work-camp.

When we arrived at the camp––I believe it was bybus––we discovered that the camp was just starting up.Tents had been pitched, and counselors––just a littleolder than me––were engaged in erecting army-stylebarracks for more permanent sleeping accomodations.

The camp was new to this site. For its first twoyears, 1943-44, Camp Avodah had been locatedin Des Plaines, Illinois. The original camp had

been devoted almost exclusively to agricultural work atnearby farms. But the work, although often gruellingand difficult, was done in a Jewish setting, with thepurpose of helping the war effort and bringing youngJewish boys together in a spirit of comradeship andcommon identity. By 1944, as the war raged on, manyof the boys were inducted into the armed forces. In1945, the camp relocated to Winfield, Illinois.

My friend Bernie Lewis remembers the 1945 camp: “We were about 55 campers and counselors with

one woman who cooked for us. Everything was primi-tive. We had to dig a latrine first, just for our outhouse.We put up army tents that held eight campers. We hadto build––from scratch––the mess hall and the kitchen.Our shower was outside. In the beginning we had to goto Wheaton, Illinois, to the local pool, to take a shower.Everything was built by us––a real kibbutz. We workedfor the local farmers, detasseling corn, baling hay,

shucking oats, and doing other work as they needed us.For me it was a tremendous growth experience. Weobserved all the rules of kashruth and the Sabbath.”

Now, in 1946, Camp Avodah had obtained the giftof a beautiful piece of open land bordering Clear Lake.There were about 100 campers, including about 25boys from the Marks Nathan Home, a Jewishorphanage. The war was over, and Camp Avodah wasenergized with a different purpose.

The director was Sam Kaminker, a legend todayto the campers and students who were under histutelage 50 years ago. He was the son of an

Orthodox Rabbi on Chicago’s West Side. Sam wassteeped in Jewish learning and ritual, yet he was also anardent Zionist and had been a member of HashomerHatzair, a leftist Zionist youth group. His chief assis-tants were Herzl Honor, Aryeh Simon and EdRothbard. The first two made aliyah to Israel. (They arenow deceased.) The camp also had the creative help ofBen Aronin, a poet and musical talent, and the artistTodros Geller.

Under the staff were a group of counselors. Amongthem were Frederick “Fritzie” Schwartz (later Rabbi ofTemple Sholom), and Jerry Rivlin (later a successfulinvestment advisor). Others included future RabbisMorrie Kipper and Kenneth Rivkin. My fellow HydeParkers Werner Frank and Eddie Rosen have remainedmy life-long friends.

“Victory Farm Volunteers of America” was agovernment-sponsored program created to alleviate thefarm labor shortage caused by the war, and we boysbecame participants. The camp received compensationfor our labor. From early morning through mid-after-noon we worked on the farms in the Buchanan area.Our assigned roles included hoeing, weeding and, inseason, picking vegetables and fruit such as raspberriesand peaches. We were given a break for lunch and oftenate with the itinerant farm workers.

The labor was difficult at first––for the campersand also for our camp back-up. In the beginning, evenlunch proved to be a problem. When we first went outto work we found to our consternation that our kitchenhelp had made lox sandwiches for us. This was consid-ered a treat by the Jewish woman who ran the kitchen.Of course, the salty salmon made us very thirsty as weworked under the broiling sun––so lox was eventuallyreplaced by tuna.

Camp Avodah 1946BY WALTER ROTH


Camp Avodah: Picture and Quotation from 1946 Brochurephotograph reproduced from printed piece; courtesy Ira Glick

“Where dreams come true for teen-agers! Every camper at Morris Perlman Camp Avodah on beautiful ClearLake, Buchanan, Michigan is a lucky boy (age 12-17) who is awarded ascholarship by the Board of Jewish Education of Chicago because heshows qualities of leadership and genuine interest in Jewish life.

For eight glorious weeks, Avodah is a self-governing community wherethe emphasis is on a well balanced program of physical, social, agri-cultural, and Jewish cultural activities, with particular attention givento individual needs. The spirit and inspiration of Judaism andAmericanism are embodied in its daily life. Out of this environmentemerge the Jewish leaders of tomorrow.”

Our afternoons were spent onclean-up, rest, swimming and othersports. There was also, as I nowrealize, a rather subtle study ofJewish history, with an emphasis onZionism and the leaders of themovement. All this while we wereputting up our khaki-coloredpermanent barracks, exactly, wewere told, as the Jews in Israel werebuilding their kibbutzim.

The cultural programming wasintense. For example, one night wewere awakened and divided intothree groups: Jews, British andArabs. We were taken through anexercise on how to bring Holocaustsurvivors from Europe illegally intoIsrael. On another night, in front ofa roaring campfire, we went througha mock trial of Josephus, the Jewishgeneral, who in the great uprisingagainst the Romans, after orderinghis men to slay each other, betrayedthem by surrendering himself to theEmperor Titus. We learned thatJosephus had gone on to become afamous historian, preserving for hispeople an eye-witness account of therevolt and creating a lasting recordof Jewish history. Was his contribu-tion as a historian a vindication ofhis betrayal? What did we think?We split on this issue but theprogram was brilliant in its concep-tion and execution.

In another program, wepretended to establish a kibbutzovernight––just as had been done inPalestine to confound the Britishauthorities.

The Sabbath was the highlightof the week. The arrival ofthe Sabbath was heralded by

music emanating from loudspeakers––glorious classical and Jewishmusic. Every Friday evening beganwith music from Grieg’s Peer GyntSuite, a most melodic, serenemusical piece which still bringswaves of nostalgia each time I hear

it. The Sabbath service, while basically secular in nature, was filled withreadings from various Jewish sources, including material written by BenAronin.

We had a camp newsletter for which I did some writing. I had encoun-tered some anti-Semitism from one of the farmers and I wrote about it,naming the farmer. It raised a commotion. Sam Kaminker backed me, but

continued on page 12


Teen-age Dancer Pearl Lang (Perele Lach) photograph by Paul Berg; courtesy Pearl Lang

Counselor Perele and Girls of Dorm #4Camp Kinderland, 1937

photograph courtesy Bev Chubat

On Stage at Camp Kinderland BY BEV CHUBAT

South Haven, Michigan: Camp Kinderlandand the Colony were established in 1924 bythe Jewish socialist fraternal organization,

the Workmen’s Circle (Arbeter-Ring). The directorsof the camp were chosen from among the teachersin the Workmen’s Circle Yiddish folk schools. Thecounselors and campers were mostly students inthose folk schools and usually the children ofWorkmen’s Circle members. In 1964 the propertywas sold, and turned into a tennis camp. Just a fewyears later it was sold to the present owner, anindividual who owns an art gallery in Saugatuck,Michigan. The land is now fenced-in, and is notvisible or accessible to the public. �

From the time I was a toddler, I was lucky enoughto spend some weeks every summer in South Haven,Michigan. In my Chicago West Side neighborhood, inthe late 1930s and 1940s, the summer wind blowingfrom the southwest carried the reek of the UnionStockyards. There were city parks and beaches, butthere were also polio scares. It was good to get away.

My mother, my older sister Jean, and I would sharea room at a resort, a cottage or a koch-alein.

In the summer of 1942, wartime black-outs werein effect, even in South Haven. The total darkness gavecover to a group of our friends, teen-age Jewish boys,who were proceeding to steal the “GENTILES ONLY”sign from the gate of a nearby resort.

That summer we paid some visits to Kinderland,located a few miles north of town. I had been therebefore, as a little child, when my sister was a camper,and Mother and I had stayed at the Workmen’s CircleColony, the resort adjoining the camp.

(I had heard about Jean’s counselor, Perele Lach, abrilliant young dancer and choreographer who hadrecently been accepted into the Martha Graham dancecompany, and was now known as Pearl Lang.)

On that visit in 1942, I was thrilled by the beautyand spirit of Kinderland. The following summer Ibecame a camper and began a ten-year association withthe place and a life-long affection for its people.

In a recent phone conversation with Ms. Lang sheoffered a word-picture of Kinderland in the 1930s,when she was a camper and counselor: “The land on


Pioneers at Camp Moshava In 1939, a group of Chicago members of

Mizrachi, the Religious Zionist Movement,purchased 12 acres of land in Rolling Prairie,Indiana, and established a summer camp.The campers and staff built the camp ‘fromscratch’ every year, putting up tents, erectinga wooden watchtower, and creating for them-selves a real moshava––a cooperative settle-ment like those in Eretz Yisroel. The boys andgirls felt like they were real chalutzim––pio-neers! At first, the camp site had only onepermanent building, which was used as akitchen. In 1940, a dining hall was added.

which this camp was built ismagnificent. The wide field wasframed by four dormitories on theeast and six cabins on its north side.A single row of trees on the westside also edged the cliff along thegrand and beautiful Lake Michigan.The field was the focus of thecamp’s activities––baseball games,volleyball, campfires, running racesand folk dancing. The south side ofthe field was open to a farmer’s ryefield. The whole feeling of thiscamp was of light, wide spaces, andfreedom to run and play and grow.

“Kinderland was also a learningexperience in how to live withpeople. The first words we heardwere ‘alle far einem, un einem farall…’ (all for one, and one for all).The focus of the camp was Yiddishculture: daily choral singing in

Yiddish and plays in Yiddish whichculminated in a concert at the endof each two-week period. As adancer and choreographer it was acreative nurturing ground that I feelprivileged to have experienced.”

At this point in the chroniclingof Kinderland, a leading actor takesthe stage––Maynard Wishner. In1940, Maish joined the staff, and

Lya and friends: Camp Moshava, Rolling Prairie, Indiana, 1940sphotograph courtesy Lya Dym Rosenblum

Exterior, Dining Room–Theater, 1947 Workmen’s Circle Colony & Camp KinderlandSouth Haven, MichiganSign reads: Welcome Delegates and Guests to the Opening of the 23rd Season of the Workmen’s Circle Colony & Camp

Interior, Dining Room–Theater, 1951photographs courtesy Bev Chubat


for the next eight years starred inthe bi-weekly concerts, coached thecampers in their roles, equalledDanny Kaye, (we thought), incomedy scat singing, and even hitan occasional home run to thefarmer’s field. In the early ‘40s, theKinderland baseball team wouldtravel by car caravan to Camp Tel



MISHKIN’S MINYON

E WERE discuss-ing vacations andSammy, who iseleven years oldgoing on twelve,listened nervouslyto his father.Finally Sammyspoke up:

“I won’t go,”he bristled. “No, I won’t go if Igotta tell the conductor I’m underfive. I ain’t going.”

Sammy’s father coughed withsome embarassment.

“Aha!” said Feodor Mishkin,removing his attention from thebowl of fruit. “I see it takes morethan naturalization papers tochange a landsmann fromKremetchuk.” And he fastened ahumorous eye on Sammy’s father.

“It’s like this,” continued theFalstaffian one from RooseveltRoad: In Russia where my friendhere Hershela comes from, that isin Russia of the good old dayswhere there were pogroms and

ghettos and provocateurs––ah, Igrow homesick for that old Russiasometimes––the Jews were notalways so honest as they might be.Don’t interrupt me Hershela. Myfriend here I want to tell a story tois a journalist and he will under-stand I am no ‘antishemite’ if Iexplain how it is that you wantyour son Sammy to tell theconductor he is under five.”

❊ ❊ ❊

Turning to me, Mishkingrinned and proceeded.

“The Jews, as you know, aregreat travelers,” he said. “Theyhave traveled more than all theother peoples put together. Andyet, they don’t like to pay car fare,in Russia, particular. I canremember my father, who was agood rabbi and a holy man. Yes,but when it came time to ride onthe train from one city to anotherhe would fold up his long beardand crawl under the seat.

“It was only on such an occasionthat my father would talk to awoman. He would actually rathercut off his right hand than talk to a

woman in public that he didn’tknow. This was because RabbiMishkin, my father was a holyman. But he was not above askinga woman to spread out her skirts sothat the inspector coming throughthe train couldn’t see him underthe seat.

“Of course, you had to pay theconductors. But a ruble wasenough, not ten or twenty rubles,like the fare called for. And theconductors were always glad tohave Jews ride on their trainbecause it meant a private revenuefor them. I remember that theconductors on the line runningthrough Kremetchuk had learned afew words of Yiddish. For instance,when the train would stop at astation the conductor would walkup and down the platform and cryout a few times––‘mu’ kennt.’ Thismeant that the inspector wasn’t onthe train and you could jump onand hide under the seats. Or if theinspector was on the train theconductor would walk up anddown and yell a few times,‘Malchamovis!’ This is the Hebrew

AROUNDthe TOWN

A THOUSAND ANDONE AFTERNOONS

IN CHICAGO

By BEN HECHT

W e received such positive response to the first Ben Hecht storywe published, [“Romance,” CJH Spring 1999], that we arepleased to present a second one. This story, like the first one,

dates from 1922, when Ben Hecht was writing a daily column for theChicago Daily News that was featured on the back page of the newspaper.

In all, Ben Hecht wrote over 400 Daily News columns under theheading “Around the Town–A Thousand and One Afternoons inChicago.” These lively columns displayed the genius for dialogue thatmade Ben Hecht’s stage and screen writing so successful.

Included among Hecht’s columns were stories featuring his creation,

Feodor Mishkin, “the corpulent freelancer of West Side journalism.” BenHecht was an assimilated Jew, part of the avant garde culture of literaryChicago, but as the son of immigrant parents from Ukraine he under-stood and could identify very well with the Yiddish-speaking culture ofthe Jewish West Side.

Copies of the Mishkin stories were sent to the Society by FloryceWhite Kovan, a writer and scholar who claims to have collected all 400 ofHecht’s Daily News columns. We have used the author’s original spellingand punctuation, simulated the style of the original column heading andreproduced the decorative drop letter that started the first paragraph. �


word that means Evil Angel and itwas the signal for nothing doing.

“The story I remember is on atrain going out of Kiev,” saidMishkin. “Years ago it was. I wassitting on the train reading someRussian papers when I heard threeold Jews talking. They had longwhite beards and there were markson their foreheads from where theylaid twillum. Yes, I saw that theywere holy men and pretty soon Iheard that they were upset aboutsomething. You know what? I’ll tellyou.

“For a religious Jew in the oldcountry to pass an evening withouta minyon is a sin. A minyon is aprayer that is said at evening. Andto make a minyon there must beten Jews. And they must stand upwhen they pray. Of course, if youare somewhere where there are noten Jews, then maybe it’s all rightto say it with three or four Jewsonly.

“So these holy men on the trainwere arguing if they should say aminyon or not because there wereonly three of them. But finally theydecided after a theological discus-sion that it would be all right tosay the minyon. It was dark alreadyand the train was going fast andthe three Jews stood up at theirplace at the end of the car andbegan the prayer.

“And pretty soon I began tohear voices. Yes, from under nearlyevery seat. Voices praying. A

mumble-bumble that filled the car.I didn’t know what to make of itfor a few minutes. But then Iremembered. Of course, the carwas full of rabbis or at least holymen and they were as usual ridingwith their beards folded up underthe seats.

❊ ❊ ❊“So,” smiled Mishkin, “the

prayer continued and some of thepassengers who were listeningbegan to smile. You can imagine.But the three Jews paid no atten-tion. They went on with theminyon. And now, listen, nowcomes the whole story. You willlaugh. But it is true. I saw it withmy own eyes.

“The minyon, like I told you,must be said standing up. At leastit is a sin to say the last part of theprayer, particularly the ‘amen,’without standing up. So as theprayer came towards its finishimagine what happened. Fromunder a dozen seats began toappear old Jews with white beards.They crawled out and withoutbrushing themselves off stood upand when the ‘amen’ finally camethere were eleven Jews standing upin a group and praying. Under theseats it was completely vacant.

“And just at this moment, whenthe ‘amen’ filled the car, whoshould come through but theinspector in his uniform with hislantern. When he saw this wholecar full of passengers he hadn’t seen

before he stopped in surprise. Andthe finish of it was that they all hadto pay their fare––extra fare, too.

❊ ❊ ❊“It is a nice story, don’t you

think, Hershela?” Mishkinlaughed. “It shows a lot of things,but principally it shows that a holyman is a holy man first and that hewill sacrifice himself to an inquisi-tion in Madrid or a train inspectorin Kiev for the simple sake ofsaying his ‘amen’ just as he believesit should be said and just as hewants to say it.”

Sammy’s father shrugged hisshoulders.

“I don’t see how what you sayhas anything to do with what myson said,” he demurred. “Sammylooks under more than five andwhat harm is there in saving $15if––”

Sammy interrupted with a wail.“I won’t go,” he cried. “No, if I

gotta tell the conductor I’m underfive I better stay home. I don’twanna go. He’ll know I’m ‘levengoing on twelve.”

“All right, all right,” sighedSammy’s father. “But you see,” headded, turning to Mishkin, “it ain’ton account of wanting to say aminyon that my son has such highideas.” �

Ben Hecht, 1924photograph from the book

History of the Jews of Chicago;published by the Jewish Historical

Society of Illinois, 1924


Camp Interlaken, Hartland, Wisconsin, 1935Al and Gil Magida (seated, fourth and fifth from left)

photograph courtesy Gil & Esther Magida

In 1935, when Herb Magida was the soccer coach atVon Steuben High School in the Albany Parkneighborhood of Chicago, he bought a resort hotel

in Hartland, Wisconsin, and turned it into a summercamp for boys. The hotel was named Interlaken––andthat name stayed with the camp for its 30 years underprivate ownership.

Although Herb Magida coached in Chicago, privatecamp rates were too expensive for the boys of AlbanyPark, and the Interlaken campers were drawn from theNorth Side and North Shore suburbs. Counselors ofages 18-19 were recruited from local colleges. A widevariety of athletics and crafts were offered, in a highlystructured program. The spiritual side of life wasacknowledged at this Jewish-owned camp; Friday nightservices were held and the hamotzi blessing was saidbefore meals. About 95% of the campers were Jewish.

From the start, Interlaken involved the wholeMagida family. Indeed, it became a way of life for them.Herb started the camp; his brother Jack was the book-keeper; Jack’s wife and her sister were the cooks, andJack’s sons, Al and Gil, were campers. Gil went on tobecome Assistant Director. After Esther married Gil shebecame part of the Interlaken family, too. Their first-

born, a daughter, came to camp with them from the ageof one, and their two sons became long-time campers.

Esther eventually went on to become a CampMother and to run the dining room and meal planningat Interlaken. From her years of supervising the locally-hired kitchen help, Esther remembers a terrible food“crisis”––the day a cook spread butter on the cornedbeef sandwiches. The sandwiches, of course, went uneat-en by the Jewish boys.

H artland was the site of Camp Interlaken foronly its first three years. In 1938, Herb Magidapurchased a parcel of land from real estate

entrepreneur Morrie Holtzman in the North Woods ofWisconsin at Eagle River, and that became the perma-nent home of the camp.

A number of other Jewish summer camps wereestablished at that time in the Eagle River area. Therewere incidents of hostility toward the Jews by the localpeople. Wisconsin was a stronghold of the German-American Bund before and even during World War II.But by persevering, keeping a low profile, and especiallyby providing income for the local merchants, the Jewswere tolerated––at least during the summer months.

Memories of Camp InterlakenBY GIL & ESTHER MAGIDA as told to Bev Chubat


blazing campfire, facing Lake Finley––asbeautiful and inspirational a setting as anyhouse of worship. Milt Shulman acted asRabbi on more than one occasion.

P elican Lake, Wisconsin, was the siteof Camp Maccabee, owned byHarold Korey. The camp director

was Ben Aronin, the educator and author,known fondly to generations of youngChicago Jews as “Uncle Ben.” When thetruck carrying Interlaken boys to a ball-game at Maccabee would approach hiscamp, Ben Aronin, standing at the gate,would call out in dramatic style, “Shalom,Gil Magida!” (This would become an‘inside’ greeting of the Magida family.)

In 1948, Camp Interlaken was sold byHerb Magida to his head counselor, JoeKupcinet, and the prominent Chicagoattorney Arthur Morse. (Joe Kupcinet wasthe football coach at Taft High School––always a power in the Chicago PublicLeague. Arthur Morse was the owner ofthe Chicago pro basketball team, theStags, predecessor of the Bulls.) GilMagida became head counselor.

In 1965, Camp Interlaken was sold tothe Milwaukee JCC, and that institutionoperates the camp today.

As for Gil and Esther, they derive greatpleasure from their frequent contact withformer campers and counselors, who speakwith nostalgia of those, their best years. Allagree that much good can come to youngpeople from the experience of group livingwith high standards and caring leadership.

Last year’s reunion brought together150 former Interlakenites. Dennis Dermerpresented each participant with a tee shirtbearing the original ‘CI’ logo. Grown menbecame delighted boys! �

Nate Wasserman, the football coach at Chicago’s South ShoreHigh School, purchased the Comiskey estate in Eagle River andturned the property into a Jewish boys’ camp––Camp Menominee.(The Comiskeys were the owners of the Chicago White Sox baseballteam.) Camp Menominee is still a thriving privately-owned camp, asis its associated camp for girls, Camp Marimeta.

Camp Ojibwa, for boys, and Camp Chippewa, for girls, are stilloperated under private Jewish ownership, as is Birch Knoll, the girls’camp in nearby Phelps, Wisconsin. (For three years, 1962-64, Gil andEsther Magida were the co-directors of Birch Knoll.)

In Minocqua, two privately-owned Jewish camps still operate––Kawaga (for boys), founded in 1915 by Reform Rabbi Bernard C.Ehrenreich, and Agawak (for girls), established a few years later by therabbi’s sister-in-law. Camp Kawaga is currently owned by the Fisherfamily of Cincinnati. [Editor’s Note: A collection of historic materialfrom Camp Kawaga was donated to the Chicago Jewish Archives at theSpertus Institute, and is available for viewing by appointment.]

West of Minocqua, in Minong, there was a camp that no longerexists––Camp Horseshoe, founded in 1926 by Rabbi Hirschberg ofNew Orleans. This privately-owned Jewish camp operated until 1991.

There was exciting inter-camp sports competition among theboys’ camps. And there was another kind of excitement, too.Hormones raged in anticipation of social visits to the girls’

camps. On these occasions, Camp Interlaken was awash in VaselineHair Tonic. It was the fad in those days for the boys to present theirgirlfriends with mezuzzah pendants. Part of Esther’s job as CampMother was to console fellows whose mezuzahs had been returned byfickle females.

Friday Sabbath services were always held at sundown around a

Camp Interlaken, Eagle River, Wisconsin, 1941Counselors Milt Shulman (standing, center), Joe Turoff (seated, center)

and Campers of Cabin #5 photograph courtesy Gil & Esther Magida

Thanks to Milt Shulman of CJHS andJordan Shiner, director of Camp Kawaga,for their help in researching this article.

Gil Magida was a physical educationteacher for 25 years in the public schools of River Forest, Illinois. Later he served as physical education supervisor for gradesK-8 in Park Ridge, Illinois.


MEN OF AVODAH 1946Allen, Fred Levine, HowardAuerbach, Herbert Levy, SidBarney, Robert Levy, StephenBerkove, Larry Lewis, BernardBrandes, Harry Minkus, HerbertBrotman, Irwin Neu, HenryBurstein, Aaron Newman, MarshalBykoff, Donald Niebow, ClarenceCooper, Mark Elliot Niebow, LeonardCornfield, Gilbert Oesterreicher, EdDaskal, Richard Ozeran, MortonDavidson, Philip Ozeran, RobertDavidson, Sandy Pitler, BarryDerin, Albert Postal, PaulEisen, Irwin Rivkin, JerryEisen, James Rosen, EdwardEllis, Bernard Rosen, SeymourEngel, Manfred Rosenfeld, RalphFisher, Charles Roth, WalterFrank, Harvey Rothbart, JackFrank, Werner Rothstein, LeonardFrooman, Richard Sacks, MarvinGans, Werner Schloss, Walter J.Garbow, Burton Schwartz, FredGiss, Herbert Schwartz, Robert J.Gold, Norman Schweitzer, Donald R.Goldman, Norman Shirow, LarryGortman, Leo Silver, LessingGreen, Melvin Simon, AryehGross, David Simpson, KennethHarris, Norman Sklamberg, LawrenceHarris, Robert Slaw, AlbertHelfer, Charles Slaw, StanleyHelfer, Reuben Smidt, SeymourHandelman, David Spiegel, JerryHonor, Herzl Spira, Robert A.Jakowsky, Max Sultan, EarlKagan, Leon Vinik, SheldonKatz, Joel B. Wagner, SheltonKorshak, Brian West, StanleyLabes, Marvin Zacovitch, JerryLapporte, Bob A. Zimmerman, PhilipLasky, Allan Zuckerman, Phillip

names copied from printed piece, courtesy Ira Glick

warned about printing the farmer’s name. The farmerhad told me that the German prisoners of war who hadworked for him the previous year were better workersthan “Jew boys.” There was also a sign, near the store,with which I started this story, that said only Christianswere welcome.

Of course I made many new friends that summer.But I also learned about Theodore Herzl, Ahad Ha-am,Ze’ev Jabotinsky, David Ben-Gurion and JosephTrumpeldor, the hero and martyr of Tel Chai. As forSam Kaminker, it was a great loss to us all when he leftChicago for Los Angeles in 1948. Sam died in the1960s, at an early age.

Camp Avodah continued to prosper along with itsneighbor on the Clear Lake property, Camp Sharon.Established in 1946 by the Chicago Board of JewishEducation, the smaller Camp Sharon emphasized thestudy of Hebrew language and literature, and welcomedgirls as well as boys. [See Chicago Jewish History, Winter1998; “Archives Offers Glimpse of Life at CampSharon, a Place for Study and Fun” by Joy Kingsolver.]

By the 1960s, Camp Avodah had lost its appeal forChicago Jewish boys, and it was sold to a Christianevangelical church, which to this day uses it as asummer camp for its members.

When I last visited the camp site and walkedthrough the area, the people were pleasant to me. I toldthem that I was one of the “Jew boys” who had campedthere in 1946. They said, jokingly I hope, that I waswelcome to come again––if I became a born-againChristian. I looked for the tree where I had carved myinitials so long ago, but did not find it.

W hy had Camp Avodah ceased to exist? Nodoubt it was due to loss of support for acamp sponsored by the Board of Jewish

Education, whose primary purpose was Jewish educa-tion, without commitment to any particular move-ment, such as Zionism. Back in the wartime years ofthe 1940s, when the State of Israel had not yet beenestablished, Sam Kaminker and his group had been ableto convince the Board and B’nai B’rith (the organiza-tion that had helped raise funds for the camp), thattilling the soil was a worthwhile activity for youngJewish boys. In postwar 1946, Kaminker could includeZionist activities in the educational process–– the return to the land and the rescue of Holocaustvictims made the establishment of a Jewish State a lesscontroversial goal.

Avodah continued from page 5 By the 1960s, Chicago Jewish boys could partici-pate in any of a growing number of travel-work-studyprograms in the State of Israel. They could do agricul-tural work on a real kibbutz and debate the character ofJosephus while standing upon the actual site of thebattle. But we “Men of Avodah 1946” will alwaysremember the physical challenges, intense idealism andtrue comradeship of our summer in Michigan. �

Walter Roth is President of the CJHS.


Joy Kingsolver is Director, ChicagoJewish Archives at the SpertusInstitute of Jewish Studies. Pictureswere scanned by Melissa Oresky,Conservator at the Archives.

R osemary Krensky, lifelongsupporter of Israel andcommunity activist, traveled

to Israel several times in the 1950sand 1960s in an effort to under-stand the nation that was takingshape. Daughter of Reform RabbiBernard C. Ehrenreich, and ardentZionist, she and her husbandMilton J. Krensky established oneof the first municipal parks inJerusalem, called the Garden ofGenerations, and were active inraising funds through State of IsraelBonds and other organizations.

But Rosemary was not contentto just tour Israel; she recorded herimpressions in travel diaries,reflecting on what she saw andheard. Several of these diaries areincluded in the Waterman-Bock-Ehrenreich-Krensky papers at theChicago Jewish Archives.

“Extremes of old and new inliving couldn’t possibly have a moredramatic setting,” she wrote duringa 1959 trip. “High on one hill,sturdy youth in blue shirts andshorts busy at many cultural andagricultural enterprises––on therolling hills below, black Bedouintents, slow-moving camels, andkaftaned and turbaned Arabs

seeking the shade of a roof shelter.”At times, her impressions were a

little less romantic. She recordedmeeting many Israelis who weredisgruntled with governmentpolicies. “Food is scarce,” she noted,“lack of rain hurt crops––sugar indocks but unreleased because oflack of funds––black market ineverything…”

Finding herself in Jerusalemduring the High Holidays, shediscovered, to her disappointment,that the local synagogues were toocrowded and noisy. She also metsome young sabras, who said theyweren’t going to synagogue, sincethey had been on a kibbutz all yearand hadn’t sinned. “I cannot callthem irreligious,” she mused.

In spite of minor disappoint-ments, Rosemary never wavered in

her hopes for the future of Israel.After a 1960 tour she wrote, “Thethought rather comes to my mindof Ben Gurion, white wispy hairedwith a rosy, ragged, youthful face,squatting himself here like anancient Buddha impenetrable andimmovable, and by his examplemaking this once lost land the hopeof Israel’s future. He has willed itand so it shall be…Let the hatred ofthe defeated send forth the Jews.Israel, with our help has preparedfor them. Never again will there beno land to receive them.”

Rosemary’s sense of history ledher to record her impressions andset the tone for her other endeavors;she was the first woman trustee ofSpertus College and generouslysupported the Archives. RosemaryKrensky died in 1996. �

Rosemary Krensky, 1950

Rosemary Krensky’s Travel Diary, 1959

Rosemary Krensky’s Israel Travel DiariesFROM THE

CHICAGO JEWISH

archives By Joy Kingsolver


Oral History Workshop: Hints for Interviewers

One of the ongoing projects of the Society is tocapture the history preserved in our midst throughthe recollections and stories of community leaders,business pioneers and other exceptional ChicagoJews. In order to bring new participants to theproject and to sharpen the skills of our experiencedinterviewers, the Society hosted a hands-on work-shop on May 23 at the Spertus Institute.

The excellent presenters were Victoria Haas andEmma Kowalenko of the Chicago Oral HistoryRoundtable; both are experienced professionals inthe field of information technology.

The manual that they distributed at the work-shop offers a guide to conducting a good interview,and starts with the preparatory hints listed below.

The more you know, the more you will find out. Learn everything possible about the narrator andthe material to be covered before the interview.

The interview is not a friendly social visit.Take it seriously. Plan in advance by havingquestions written down on a note pad. Plan onwriting more questions during the interview.

Make sure your tape recorder (and/or video-camera) is in good condition before theinterview. Check batteries, converter and adapter.

Listen, listen, listen. The narrator is giving information––it may be his/her life story. Don’tcompare personal experiences. Ask the question,then relax and listen. Maintain an attitude ofneutrality during the interview.

To learn more about the oral history project,phone the Society office at (312)663-5634. �

Kinderland continued from page 7

Moshava continued from page 7

Among the teenagers at Camp Moshava in the1940s was Lya Dym, who had been a member ofHashomer Hadati in her native Germany.

Lya remembers the trip from Chicago to Moshavaby truck. It took many hours of travel in those days.

The directors of the camp were Moshe Litoff andMoshe Weiss. Lya’s madricha (counselor) was EstherKahn, later the wife of Rabbi Nachman Frimmer.

Improvements were later made in the camp’sphysical plant with the expansion of the kitchen and

dining facilities and the construction of a synagogue-recreation hall and an infirmary.

In 1955, with the purchase of a large camp site inWild Rose, Wisconsin, the era at Rolling Prairie cameto a close. Today, the Mizrachi Camp Moshava inWisconsin is the summer destination for hundreds ofboys and girls of the Religious Zionist movement. �

Thanks to Lya Dym Rosenblum for sharing her mem-ories with me. Thanks to Sanford L. Aronin for allow-ing use of excerpts from his article “Mizrachi CampMoshava” in Barr’s Post Card News. BEV CHUBAT

Thanks to Clare and Danny Greenberg, Bea Kraus,Pearl Lang, Bina Nadler, Lya Dym Rosenblum andMaynard Wishner for sharing their memories with meand assisting in the research for this article.

Chai, the Labor Zionist camp in New Buffalo,Michigan, for a game, and then host the Tel Chai teamin South Haven. This competition, accompanied byteam cheers in Yiddish, continued through 1942.

In 1947, Mr. Wishner starred opposite our singingstar-counselor, Mindl Mallin, in an abbreviated buteffective production of the Goldfaden operetta,Shalames. Then, with other members of the staff, hewrote and performed the parody, Shalameter-Ring, thatreplaced the operetta’s quartet of suitors for theheroine’s hand with that year’s field of presidentialcandidates: Harry S. Truman, Thomas E. Dewey,Henry A. Wallace, and the triumphant (in the parody)Socialist Party candidate, Norman Thomas.

In 1943, an amazing teenage girl led the wholecamp in morning callisthenics, acted as lifeguard for usall, and also sang lullabies to the girls of Dorm #4.This was my counselor, Lya Dym. Lya’s summers,before and after her time at Kinderland, were spent atCamp Moshava [see separate article].

After the war, our long-time director Ben Graubardmade sure that we older campers went to hear theWarsaw Ghetto survivors, Vladka Meed and ShloimeMendelson, when they spoke at the Colony. Walkingaround a campfire, Graubard would say the names ofthe concentration camps, so we would never forget.

By 1950 a new auditorium had been built so thedining room would not always have to be reconfiguredfor concerts. Ben Graubard had been replaced by SamSigal, who, after an interim, was suceeded in 1950 byCamp Kinderland’s last director, Avrom Gurwitz. �


Society QuarterlySeeks Memoirs ofJewish Chicagoans

CJH occasionally publishesmemoirs of individual Chicagoans.Much of the rest of the work wepublish in CJH focuses on broadthemes, famous individuals, andnotable events. Memoirs allow us tofocus on the history that most of usactually lived.

Manuscripts should be nolonger than six double-spaced pages,and preferably should be submittedon Macintosh-compatible diskusing one of the popular wordprocessing applications. But typedcopy on paper will work just fine!

We attempt to comment onevery memoir submitted, but arenot always able to do so, and cannotguarantee the publication of anywork. Be sure to include a returnaddress and phone number withyour submission.

Send memoirs to the editor ofChicago Jewish History, Bev Chubat,415 W. Fullerton Parkway, #1102,Chicago, IL 60614-2859. �

Tribute Cards Offered for Special OccasionsThe Society wishes to remind

members about the availability ofour Tribute Cards. These attractivecards can be used for many reasons:to honor someone, memorialize aloved one, thank a friend, or offercongratulations.

The cards are printed on heavywhite stock, 9-1/4” x 4” folded.They bear the handsome Societylogo on the outside.

The copy on the inside describesthe purposes of the Society: “TheChicago Jewish Historical Society,through its many programs andpublications, collects, preserves,records and retells the history of the

Jewish community of Chicago” and

“A GIFT HAS BEEN MADE TO THE CHICAGO JEWISH

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BY_________________________”

There is also ample space foryour personal message if you wish toadd one. A package of eight cardswith matching envelopes is $10.

Individual cards can be mailedfor you from our office at a cost of$5 per card, (postage included). Toorder packages of eight, or individ-ual cards, phone the Society office at(312)663-5634 or Clare Greenbergat (773)725-7330. �

Follow-Up: “From Lincoln Park to Eternity”Helen Sclair, in her talk at

the Society’s March 14 OpenMeeting, offered a point ofinformation that we wanted tobring to our readers who maynot have attended the event.

Starting only in the 1920s,she told us, were the graves ofJews in American militarycemeteries marked with the Starof David. Until that time allgraves would have been markedwith a cross.

We discovered a 70-year-oldnews item also concerning theinterment of Jewish war dead.The Sentinel, the Chicago Jewishweekly, in its August 30, 1929issue, announced the dedication,on Sunday, September 8, of theJewish War Veterans’ Section atOakridge Jewish Cemetery,Roosevelt and Mannheim Roads.

The new section wouldinclude a Military Plot and aNational Jewish War Memorial(to Jewish war dead of all warssince the Revolutionary War).

Sponsoring the event wasThe Yarmo-DeVere Post of theAmerican Legion, to whichalmost all of the West SideChicago Jewish war veteransbelonged. Joseph R. Dorfman,Commander of the Post, wasgeneral chairman of thededication committee.

Who were Yarmo andDeVere, for whom the Post wasnamed? Robert Yarmo, Sergeantof Company I, 152nd Infantry,was a veteran of the Spanish-American War and a well-knownfigure in local sports circles. Hewas killed in action at Albert,France, on August 10, 1918.James DeVere, Jr., Seaman FirstClass, died as the result ofwounds received in actionaboard the U.S.S. Chincha offthe coast of France on November9, 1918. His interment was inMount Carmel Cemetery.

Today, Oakridge JewishCemetery also holds a HolocaustMemorial. �

Society Welcomes New MembersMrs. Allan AdelmanRosaleah GolandMr. & Mrs. Irwin LappingCarole MillerLorie ShapiroSara Shapiro

TV Viewing Reminder:The Chicago JewishHistorical Society’s Video“Romance of A People” Thursday, September 9WTTW-Channel 11 7:30 pm

PresortFirst Class

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618 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago IL 60605


Look to the rock from which you were hewn

What We AreThe Chicago Jewish Historical Societywas founded in 1977 and is in part anoutgrowth of local Jewish participationin the American Bicentennial Celebra-tion of 1976. Muriel Robin was thefounding president. The Society has asits purpose the discovery, preservationand dissemination of information concerning the Jewish experience inthe Chicago area.

What We DoThe Society seeks out, collects and preserves appropriate written, spokenand photographic records; publisheshistorical information, holds publicmeetings at which various aspects ofChicago Jewish history are treated;mounts appropriate exhibits; and offerstours of Jewish historical sites.

Minsky FundThe Doris and Joseph Minsky Memorial Fund was established inmemory of two of the Society’sfounders and longtime leaders. It seeksto publish annually a monograph onan aspect of Chicago area Jewish history. Society members receive a copyof each monograph as it is published.Manuscripts may be submitted, andcontributions to the Fund are welcomeat any time.

MembershipMembership in the Society is open toall interested persons and organizationsand includes a subscription to ChicagoJewish History, each monograph pub-lished by the Minsky Memorial Fundas it appears, discounts on Societytours and at the Spertus Museum store,and the opportunity to learn andinform others about Chicago Jewishhistory and its preservation.

Dues StructureMembership runs on a calendar year,from January through December. New members joining after July 1 aregiven an initial membership throughDecember of the following year.

Life Membership..............$1000Historian..............................500Scholar .................................250Sponsor ................................100Patron ....................................50Family ....................................50Senior Family .........................35Individual...............................35Synagogue / Organization ......25Senior Individual / Student ....20

Make checks payable to the ChicagoJewish Historical Society, and mail toour office at 618 South MichiganAvenue. Dues are tax-deductible to theextent permitted by law.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIESWould you like to become moreinvolved in the activities of the ChicagoJewish Historical Society? We’d love tohave you! Following are the variouscommittees on which you can serve.Contact the Society at (312)663-5634or any of the Chairpersons listed below.

� PROGRAM COMMITTEEDo you have a great idea for a meetingtopic? If you are organized and creative,friendly and outgoing, the ProgramCommittee would welcome your helpin planning and implementing our bi-monthly and annual meetings. Contact Burt Robin (773)667-6251

� MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEEThe Society’s membership continues togrow, and you could help us introduceChicago Jewish history to even morepeople. Share your ideas and energy!Contact Elise Ginsparg (847)679-6793or Janet Iltis (773)761-1224

� TOUR COMMITTEEBring your creativity and organizationto planning and promoting our popularroster of tours on Jewish history. Contact Leah Axelrod (847)432-7003

� EDITORIAL COMMITTEEDo you like to write? Are you a greatproof-reader? You can contribute to ourquarterly publication, Chicago JewishHistory. Contact our Editor,Bev Chubat (773)525-4888

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