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Markyour calendarsnowfor our winter
o p e nme e tin g :
suNDAY,
28, 1979
JAN1JARY
B e d e r m aAnu di to ri u m- S p e rtu sC o l lege
613 S. |tlichi gan Avenue
Next 0penM eeting:SUNDAY,
NOVEM BER
l9
Bederman
Auditorium- SpertusCollege
618 S. M ichiganAvenue
' I :30 Social Hour- 2:30 Pr ogr am
ker - GuestSpea
I : 3 0 So ci a l H o u r-. 2 :.3 0P ro g ram
SAlliLESNER
,ALAVEI
HALAVAH'
CANTOR
ABRAHAI'I
LUBIN
IiY I]EIIIORIES
OFTHEYIDDISH
TI]EATRE
IN CfICAGC
THECANTOR-PAST,
PRESENT
& FUTURE
SAM
-GuestSpeaker-
l^lITHHIGHLIGHTS
ONCHICAGO
CANTORS
.
'
ffi
ffi.
LESNER
is knownto
Chicagoland
fans pr i m ar il y
as the av,,ard-wi
nni ng movie
and night life cr iti c of
the late ChicagoDaily News.
CantorAbraham
L u b in w a s b or n in
l-iewaswith the paper49
-39
L
ffi]pftft'.
.l o
9n
3d
7o
. ,n E n gland in
years
)
and11nonths,from
ru/tm
A s a chi I d
APt"i1
1' 9 2 8u' n til the
h i s p a re n tsbr ought W.ffi
,
paper
'
s
.folding .in M ar c h,
h i m to P a l estine,
just
1978,
one
fr
onth
shor
t of his gol der ,
th e b i rth p l ace of
.
itnn
paper
.
i)
er
sar
y
with
the
h i s e n ti re family.
W
hat
isn'
t
well known,howeve r ,i s that
H e i s a n i sraeli of
ear ly in his jour nalismcar eer Les nerw as
th e fi fth g ener -a
the..YIDDISH
THEATRE
CRITIC,.ofth e D ai IV
ti o n .
News,and therefore comesto our forum
I n I s r a e l Ca n to rL u b i n re ce .i ve dhis
fuliy equippedto speakabout the Yi ddi s h
ea r i y J e w i s han d se cu l a r e d u ca ti o nand
Theatr
ein Chi caqo.
alr e a d y i n h i s yo u n gfo rma ti veye a r s, he
ha d s h o w na t al e n t a n d l o ve fo r- si nging.
SamLesnerjoined the staff 0f the News
A s a c h j l d o f e i g h t h e sa n gso l o w iih as a libr ar y assistant while stud y i ng pi ano
t he r e n o v r n ed
Ri vl i n C h o i r i n Je ru s alem.
and voice ( "for gr andoper a, no le s s !" ) at
I n l 9 5 l C a n to rL u b j n re tu rn e d to Engthe ChicagoanciAmer icanConser vator j es
of
la n d w j t h h i s p a re n tsw h e reh e co ntinu6d
llusic. As he r ecalls, "A fr iend v i hohad
his e d u c a toi n a t th e E tz C h ai m ye shivah
a fr iend on the Daily Newsstaff s pok eup
in L o n d o n . H e e n te re dth e Je w sC ollege
for me becauseI neededmoneyto pay for
Ca n t o r i a l Sc ho o la n d g ra d u a te dto r ec6ive vojce
and piano I essons.
"
on p.5, col . 2)
{
cont.
( c o n t. o n p . 5 , co l . 1 )
,6-
SO C IETY
NEId S
.2-
tjl'lllttJE,
IIARKED
ailNJ
VERIARY.
FAI']ILY
CHICAGO
BYOLD
b y C h a rle s B . B e rn ste j n
S o ci e ty
L i k e m o s t gra n d mo th e rs,
JE
A
N
E
T
T
T
is
S . F R E IL ER
f ou n d i n gm e mb e r
g
ra
n
d
ch
i
l
d
re
n
g
re
atpro u do f h e r
and
gra n d c h i l d . H o w e ve r,i n Mrs. F re i ler ' s
c as e , t h e y i n d e e dh a vea u n i q u ed i stinct io n - - t h e y a r e si xth a n d se ve n thg ener at io n C h i c a g oa n s.
M r s . F r e i l er, a fo u rth g e n e ra tion
Ch i c a g o a ni,s th e d a u g h te ro f th e late
Mr . a n d M r s . Ern st S te i n . l 'l rs. S tein,
t he f o r m e r El l a B a rb e ,w a s a n a ti ve Chic a g o a nw h od i e d i n 1 9 7 5a t th e a g e of 98'
He r p a r e n t sw e re Mr. a n d Mrs. Ma rtin
B a r b e . M r . B a rb e 's b a n mi tzva h i n Januar.y, l85l , was the secondsuch ceremony
t o o c c u r i n C h i ca g o , H i s w i fe , th e for me r L i z z i e T he re saS p e i g e,l w a s b or n in
0h i o , b u t s e ttl e d i n C h i ca g ow i th her
mo t h e ra f t e r he r fa th e r w d s ki l l e d in
ac t i o n i n t h e C i vi l t/a r. S h ew a s am ong
Ch i c a g oJ e w r y's l e a d i n g so ci a l se rv ice
workersof het' time.
L i z z i e ' s f ath e r, C o l. l 4 a rcu sM.
.i n b a ttl e o n the Red
Sp i e g e,l l v a ski l l e d
Ri v e r i n L o u i si a n a .,H e w a s a b ro ther of
J o s e p hSp i e g e,l w h o se e a r'i y C h i cagofur nit u r e s t o r e e vo l ve d i n to th e S p i egel
n a il - o .rld8e5r3f,i rm.
In
Co l . S p i e g e lma rri e d
Ca r o l i n e F r a nce sH a ml i n ,.o f L yma nville,
h th5e3r ,to C h i cago,
0h i o . H e t h en b ro u g 'I8
1 2 5ye ar s ago'
wh e r e o n A u gu st2 l ,
s h e w a s c o n v e rte dto Ju d a i sm, T h e cer emo n yw a s t h e fi rst o f i ts ki n d e ver held
in C h i c a g o . A t th a t ti me , C h i ca golacked
the
t h e t h r e e r a bb i s n e ce ssa ryto co m pose
witness
t ra d i t i o n a l co l l e g j u mre q u j re d to
a c o n v e r s i o n ,so a l e a rn e d l a yma n,Samuel
Str a u s , a n d a ra b b i i mp o rte dfro m Clevela n d , I s i d o r K a l j sh , j o i n e d R e v. Ignatz
Ku n r e u t h e r t, h e u n o rd a i n e dsh o h e tand
re a d e r o f KA l 4T e mp l e ,i n o ffi ci a ti ng at
C a ro l .i n ew a s g i ve n the tr adit h e c e r e r n o ny.
t io n a l n a m eof H a n n a hd, a u g h te ro f Abr aham
t h e Pa t r i a r ch .
M r s . F r e 'lie r h a s d o n a te da fa scinating
c o l l e c t j o n o f fa mi l y me mo ra b i l i ato the
C H I C AGJ O
E l , \j ISAHR C H IV E ST. h e co l l ection
'in c l u d e sa b o o kl e t o f me mo i rsw ri tten by
jn Barbe, daguerrotypesof memMrs. Ma.rt
NOVEI.I BER
,
I978
FORtvlONACEP
BUSTOUR
RUNS
SOCIETY
ICd A hJS tOT i C
DR. iRVINGCUTLER
tour
on Sundaya.fterbus
Chicago
Jewish
noon, rJctoberl5 for ltlONACEP--the
0akton Com m unity
CollegeAdult and C onti nuing EducationPr ogr am. The tou r w as
opento the public. About 35 enthus i as tic per sons,r anging in age fr om the
20' s to the 60' s, attended.
Dr . Cutler , a r esident of |^ l i l m ette,
is chairmanof the Department
of Geography at ChicagoState Univer sity and a
member
of the Boardof the ChicagoJervjsh Histor i cal Society.
The tour beganand endedat N i l es
Nor th High Schoolin Skokie. Inc l uded
wer e the histor ic Jewishcom r i uni ti esof
the downtown
area, f,laxwe'l
I Street, Lawndale and par ts 0f the nor thwestand
nor th sides, Ther ewer e several s tops ,
i ncludinq St. Basil' s,Gr eek0r thodox
Churchwhich was formerly the 0haveAnshe.
SholomShul ( Mar iampoleiShul) on the
l,JestSide. As usual whenDr . C utl er
takes a tour to see th.is former landmark shul, refneshments
were servedto
the iour jsts by m emberand
s sta ff of
the chur ch.
AnothersloD was ai the cemeter Yi n
Niles that had once beendefiled by the
Nazis and which the JDL cleanedup and
r e- dedicatedjust a few weekspr i or to
the visit by the tour qr oup.
The gr oup also got off the bus for a
visit to the Tels ' /eshivain Al banyPar k .
The Society conductsits 'ot,^jn
bus tours
in the spr ing and sumnr erbut
, thi s i s the
fir st tour it has r un for anotheror ganization at t,heir r equest. If y ou k now
of other gr oupsthat would like to hav e
us conducta histor ic JewishChi c ago
bus tour for them , call our offj c e w i th
your r equest: 663- 5634.
ber s of the fam ily, letter s wr itten
by Co1. Spiegeiwhile on active duty ,
j or
i ssi on of Bri gadelvla
and the comm
awardedto ColonelSpiegel by 0hi o
GovennorSalm onF. Chasein ' i859.
S0CIETY
NEl,lS
- 3-
NOVEI4BER ,'I978
PRESIDENT'S
IV]ESSAGE
SHALOM,
The past few monthshave broughtmany
newm e m b e rtso o u r S o ci e ty a n d I w o u l d Iike
t o t ak e t h i s o p p o rtu n i tyto w e l co me
th e m
all. A l s o , t o w i sh b o th o l d a n d n e wmem ber s
L' s han aT o v a h .
O u r v o l u n t e e r sta ff h a s b e e nse n d i n g
me m b e r s h ci pa r d s t o a l I cu rre n t me mb er s,
as
w e ll a s d u e sn o t i ce s to th o se w h o h a venot
ye t re n e w e d
t h e i r m e mb e rsh fo
i p r 1 9 7 8 . But,
we are volunteers- we are busy - and we
be lo n gt o t h e f a s t e st g ro w i n gJe w i shH i stor i c a l So c i e t y i n t h e co u n try. If yo u h a ve
no t b e e np r o p e r l y b i Il e d fo r yo u r d u e srenewal, or havenot yet received an acknowle dgeme not f y o u r n e wme mb e rsh p
i pl e a se be
pat ie n t . l , l ea n t i ci p a te mo reh e l p i n o ur
off ic e f o r t h i s c o mi n gse a so na n d h o p eto
i n c re a s eo u r e f f i c i e n cy w i th th e i r p a rticipat io n . F o r m o r e e ffi ci e n t h a n di'ln g o f our
or ganiz a t i o nw e n owh a vea 9 to 5 d a i l y answ e ring
s e r v i c e . P l e a sel e a ve yo u r me ssages
fon our officers or committeechairmenwith
her a n dy o u r c a 11 wi l l b e re tu rn e da s soon
as pos s i b l e . T h e n u mb efo
r r o u r o ffi ce as
w e lI a s f o r o u r a nsw e ri n gse rvi ce i s:
66 3-56 3 4 .
O u r a c t i v i t i e s co n ti n u e- co rn i tte e s m et
durin g t h e s u m m er
m o n th sa n d a re n o wp e r sui n g m a n yo f t h e p ro j e cts i n i ti a te d th e n. l^le
' in v it e y o u t o j o i n i n . Ou r S o ci e ty, a s I
sta t e d a b o v e ,i s ma d eu p o f vo l u n te e rs. Your
t ale n t s a r e n e e d e dto ma keth i s a co n ti nuin g , e x c i t i n g a n d u se fu l o rg a n i za tj o n . [,,1e
hav ep u r p o s e l ya v oi d e da n y fu n d -ra i si n g,
and re ly s o l e l y o n co n tri b u ti o n s a n d d ues
pay men tfso r o u r o p e ra ti n ge xp e n se s,F or
t his re a s o nw e e m p h a si ze
th e i mp o rta n ceof
ea c hme m b e r ' cs o n tri b u ti o n o f ti me a n d
know-how,
as well dues payment,
E XH I B I T
C 0 I 4 MIT TNEEE[i S : S p e rtu sC o l lege
has in v i t e d u s t o a d d to o u r e xh i b i t o f
Ch ic ag oJ e w i s hh i s to ry i n th e ca se so n the
se c ondf l o o r o f t h e S p e rtu sb u i l d i n g , We
w e lc on ey o u r h e l p a n d su g g e sti o n sfo r this
ex hi b i t ,
T V - T h e C h i c a g oB o a rdo f R a b b i sh a s
as k edu s t o p r e p areso mema te ri a l fo r viewin q on th e i r T V p ro q ra ms. D o e sth i s i n ter est
and int r i q u e y o u ? F l e a seca l l a n d vo l unteer
yo u r a s s i i t a n i e i n th j s e xcj ti n g n e wp roject.
0RALHISTORY
M Ii l T Z
- chair per sonMOStLLE
of the com m itteeneedsmor etr ansc r i ber s to
type the permanent
records of the tapes for
our Ar chives. Or al hi stor ies ar e b ei nq tak en
by manymembers
of our Society and we ire
anxiousto makethemavailable to studentsof
ChicagoJewishhistor y. To do this the tapes
m ust be tr anscr jbedby a typist us i ng one of
our tr anscr ibing machines. Inter v j ew er sar e
also needed,and EDWARD
MAZUR
has beenconducting tr aining sessionsto teach peopl e
the techniquesof goodor al histor y tak i ng.
If you would like to lear n mor eabout thi i
and get involved in a ver yexcitingas pec t of
r ecor dingour histor y, pleasecal1 our offi c e
and leave a message
for Moselle.
ARCHIVES
C0MM ITTEE
chair per son ,ELSIE
oRLINSKY,
with the assistanceof RIC H AR D
MARCUS,
is also seekingmater ials o f i m por tance for the Ch' icago
JewjshAr chiv es , T he
com m itteeis involved in the collec ti on,
pr eser vationand r ecor dingof the ac qui s i tj ons .
A call to the office to volunteerei ther v our
ser vices or your ar chival m ater ials w i l l - be
gr atefu l1y appr eciated.
0FFICEMANAGER,
vice pr esident RU T H
BR AN D Z EL
has just r etur nedfr om an extendedv ac ati onand
' is managing
our office ( on the 7th fl oor of the
Sper tusbui ldlng) . Ruth is alwaysther e on
W ednesday
m or ningsand hand1es
m an ydetai l s of
our onganizationincluding the gr ow i ngdem ands
of outrSpeaker sSer vice, This serv i c e w as
injtjated to pr "ovideor ganizationsw i th s peak er s
or slide pr esentationsof ChicagoJ ew i s hhi s tor y .
Ruth can also use volunteer help an d w oul d
welcom your
e
call .
As your pr esident i take gr eat pr i de i n
br inging you all of the abovenews ,and am
also pleasedthat muchof the r em ai nderof
this issue of S0CIETY
NEWhas
S beendev otedto
the biogr aphiesof someim por tantChi c agopeopl e,
an histor ic r eunion,as welI as other i nfor m ati on.
Hopethat you find it all inter esti nq,..
MURIELROBIN
SOCIETY
NEI^]S
- 4-
I'IAZEL
TOV
I'iOSELLE
Ii]NTZ- NORI1Al,l
SCHI(ARTZ
T w oo f t h e mo st vi si b l e , mo st a ctive,
and m o s te n t h u si a sti c fo u n d i n gme m ber s
of t h e S o c i e ty h a vea n n o u n ceth
d e .i r
f o r t h c o mni g m a rri a g e . 0 n S u n d a y,
26, 1978they w.i11become
Novernber
Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz. l,,leare del ighted
and wi sh thema hearty I\,1AZEL
T0V, a
1on g , h a p p ya n d p ro d u cti vel i fe to gether ,
an d h o p et h a t b h e i l i n vo l ve me n t'i n the
Jewishcommunity
in general and t.he
Ch i c a g oJ e w i shH i sto ri ca l S o ci e ty i n
pa r t i c u l a r w i il b ri n g a d d e dfu l fi l l rnent
t o t h e i r I i v e s.
CJHSIIEETS|^j]THREPRESENTATIVE
OF AJHS
0 n F r i d a y a f t ern o o n ,0 cb o b e r2 0 , a
m e e t i n gr ^ / a sh el d i n o u r o ffi ce h e tween
sonreof our boardmembers
and Saul
Vie n e r o f t h e A me ri ca nJe w i shl -l i sbor ical
Soc i e t y . T h e p u rp o seo f th e me e ti ng
was t o b e g i n a d i a l o g u eb e tw e e nth e
1 o c a 1o r g a n i z a ti o na n d th e A rre ri can
J e w i s hH i s t o r ica l S o ci e ty a n d to com pare the work and background
of the
Ch i c a g oi e w i s h H i sto ri ca l S o ci e ty with
t h e S r u t n e l nJe u ri shH i sto ri ca l S o ciety.
I'4ernbers
oi the board of the CJHSwho
a t le n d e cal r "eCH A R L E
BS
E R N S T E IN
S H, AINA
COH NA, D E L H
E A S TR
, A C H EHLE IMOV ICS,
RICHAI.iD
MARCLJS,
ED MAZUR,ELSIE ORLINSKY,
N0RI1AN
SCHI^IARI'Z
ANDSID SORKIN.
I978
NOVEMBER
,
ADLER
PLANETARIUI']
I\IEETING
I1AKES
HI STORY
Sundayafter noon, Septem be2r4, 1978
has beenr ecor dedin the annalsof the
ChicagoJewishHistor ical Socie ty as
anothermemor able
occasion. 0ur m eeti nq
at the Adler PlaneLar ium
m adeh i s tor y
for Chicagoand for ChicagoJewr y .
For the fir st time an or qanizati onw as
per nr ittedto hold a meetingin the
Planelar ium ,and for the fir st ti m e a
special tr ibute to The Adler and R os enw al d
far niIies was the topic of an open
meetingto which the comm unity
c ar nej n
lar ge number . 0nly the confusionc aus ed
by tlr e MayorDaleyM ar athonand i ts
ensuingtr affic pr obler ns
mdr r edthe
beautifu I and exciting day.
Char lesB. Ber nstein, our chai r m anof
the day, jnvjted m ost outstandi ng
speaker sto give us insights int o l l enefactor s of Chicago. Rober tS. Adl er ,
RalphF Colton, and Joanl' ,/eilS al tz s tei n
pr esentedus with a fascinating and
beautiful hjstor y of these tur of am ous
ChicagoJewishfani I ies, and we ar e
gr ateful t0 then and to ChuckBer ns tei n
for a ver y special after noon,
Our apologiesto the nanynlem berand
s
guestswhower e inconveniencebdy the
tr affic pr oblem s. W ear e tr uly s or r y .
But havingcr ossedthe bar r ier s of the
0uter Dr ive, the stalwar ts wer eal l v er y
well r ewar dedfor their effor ts.
W elook for war d to futur e m eeti ngs
to pr ovide similalinsights jnto 0ther
outstandingChicagoJewishfanr ili es ,
and inv'it.e the suggestionsof clur member ship.
Sau l V i e n e r g avea sh o rt p re se n ta ti0n
o f t h e h i s t o r y a ri dw o rk o f th e A n rer ic a n J e r , "r ' iH
s hisl o ri ca l S o ci e ty. T he
m e m b e r s h ai pn d fu n d ra .i si n gco n ce rnsof
t h e A J H Sw e r e i n d i ca te d a s w e l l a s
t h e i n c r e a s i n gco n ce rno f th e A JH Sfor
I o c a l J e w i s hHi sto ri ca l S o ci e ti e s
t h ro u g h o u t h e co u n try. S a u l me n tioned
t h e n e r v l ye s t ab lj sh e d C o rn mj tteoen
L o c a l J e w j s hl lj sto r j r:a l S o ci e ti e s, under
t h e c h a i r m a n sh iopf D a vi d B re n e r, a s
wel l a s t h e m e e ti n g,.,^rh
ch iS a u l ch a ir ed
la s t S p r i n gw i th re p re se n ta ti ve sfrom
I o c a l s o c i e t i es.
Sqcj!-iYl\lEl^ls
- Pirblished r-rythe Chicago
J;wi-s.hHlstol'ica1 Society, 6l B S. Michigrn
Ave., Chicago,60605,Tel . 663- 5634
Als o d i s c u s s e dw a s th e p o ssi b i l i ty of
'loca 1p r o g r a m mi n g
u n d e r th e j o i n t
a u s p i c e so f t h e A JH Sa n d th e C JH S .
Edifor : :
ROBERTA
BERNSTE IN
Pr esident: MURIEL
ROBIN
CJIISLogo: ROSEANN
CHASMAN
EN
CES
CON
DOL
To the fam ily of Sar ahSper tus ,
( llr s. fler m anSper tus) . Flr s. Sper tus
was the motherof Philip Sper tu sand
si ster of Rosel- evin.
S O C I ETY
N ENS
( C a ntor Lu b in , c ont. from p. 1, coi
NOVEM BE
I978
R,
r)
t h e d i p l o m ad f H a zza n . H e .p u rsu e dh is
s e c u l a r m u s i c a'lstu d i e s a t th e L o n d on
Colle q eo f l l u s i c w h e reh e re ce i ve d
t h e d i p l o m aA , L .C .M.(A sso ci a teo f
t h e L o n d o nC o l le g eo f Mu si c). A t
t h is c o l l e g e h e w o na si l ve r me d a 1o f
m e ri t f o r e x c e l l e n ce . C a n to rL u b i n
is a l s o a g r a d ua teo f th e C o l l e g e
Co n s e r v a t o roy f Mu si co f th e U n i ve rsity
of C i n c i n n a t i , w h e reh e o b ta i n e da
B a c h e l o ro f M u si cd e g re e . A t D e P a ul
Un iv e r s i t y h e r ece i ve dh i s l 'l a ste ro f
l, lus i cd e g r e e( w i th d i stj n cti o n ).
Du r i n gh i s p e ri o d o f tra i n j n g ,
Canto rL" u b i n s a n g i n ma 'n yl e a d i n g
s y n a g o g u easn d co n ce rti ze di n L o n d o n
a n d t h r o u g h o u tEn g l a n da n d S co tl a n d .
At t h i r t e e n h e wa s i n vi te d to co n d u c t t h e S e r v i ce sa t l e a d i n g syn a g o gues
in t h e a r e a . At fi fte e n , C a n to rL u b in
s a n gh i s f i r s t H i g h H o l yd a yS e rvi ce .
At seventeenhe was engagedas Hazzan
a t L h eJ u b i l e e S t. Z i o n i st S yn a g o g ue
in L o n d o n . Al n i n e te e n ,A b ra h a m
L u b in a c c e p t e dth e p o si ti o n tn a d e
a v a il a b l e t h r o u o hth e re ti re me n t o f
h is t e a c h e ra n d-me n to r,a t th e fa me d
jn London. He
BayswaterSynagogue
was in d u c t e d i n to o ffi ce b y th e th e n
Chie f R a b b,i D r . i sra e l B ro d i e .
Ca n t o rL u b i n w a s a ccl a i me db y th e
presi a t t h e t i m e a s th e vo L tn q e st
Haz z a ne v e r t o ho l d su cha P o st i n
t he h i s t o r y o f th e B rj ti sh U n ite d
Sy na g o g u e .
Ca n t o rL u b i n a rri ve d 'cri th e se sh o r es
in 'l9 5 8 , a n d s o o na fte r h i s a rri va l he
was engagedby the Beth Abraham
Sy na g o g ui e
n D a yl o n ,()h i o w h e reh e
s e rv e dw i t h g r ea t d i sti n cti o n fo r te n
yr.ars,
.|9 6 8 ,
C a n to rL u b i n
In 0ctober,
acceptedthe call of the famedCong rc g a t i o n R o d f ei Z e ,i e ki n C h i ca g o ,
I 11in o i s , a n d a ssu meth
d e p o st a s i ts
L a z z a.n
H e h a s a p p e a rcdi n n ra n yco n ce rL
re c ib a l s a n d a t n u me ro unsa ti o n a l
o rg a n zi a t i o n a l b a n cu e tsth ro u g h o u t
a re a .
Chic a g oa n d t h e Mi d rrre st
C a n t o rL u b i n's re p e rto i re i s a va st
o n e . l l e i l v e r s e di n H a zza n u t,H e b rew,
I s rae l i , a n d Y i d d i sh so n g s,h e a l so j s
a t h o m ei n t h e op e ra ti c, o ra to ri o ,
( c o n t. o n p .6 )
I\em
Iocnor
.^n+
fv.nm n
1
r
r!v,.
nl
,\
L/
In the summ er
of ]932 he was handed
hjs fjr st wr iting assignm ent:r evie w i ng
bandconcer tsin the Daily NewsPla z a for
the National Contestfor SymphonByands
for the 1933Centur yof Pr ogr essFa i r .
His successfulr eviewsled to aooo i ntm ents
as assistant musiccr itic and assis tant
dnamacr itic thr oughoutthe thir ties . It
was in this latter capacity that h e w as
askedto cover pr oductionsof the Y i ddi s h
Theatr ewhich at that tim e was flour i s hi ng
in Chicagoand other ) ar ge Jewishmetr opoI itan center s. Suchlum inar iesas l 'l aur i c e
Schwar tzcould not be ignor edby th e paper ,
no m atter what their language,and Les ner ,'
t.thowas fluent in Yiddish and had grownuir
in the envir onment
of the Yiddish Theatr e,
was the per fect m anfor the job.
Thoughthe Yjddjsh Theatr esoonbegan
its demise,Lesner ' scar eer as cr iti c w as
nowfu11y launchedand r ising r apid l y .
In l94l he wasm adefull- tim e en ter tai nment features writer and soonprogressed
to night club editor , while continui ngas
assistant to r adio, dr am aand musi cc ni ti c s
simultaneousiy. He continuedto wr i te
about night life until the paper ' s dem i s e.
As night club editor , he is cr ed i ted
with helping to "djscover " DannyThom as ,
whowas then wor kingin a small Chi c ago
night club, the 5.l00Club.
In 1944,Lesnerenter edthe ar m y" and
was classified as a medic, since th e Ar m y
had no im m ediate
needfor a night c l ub c r i tic, as the classifying officer infor m ed
m e. I ser ved in Fr anceand Belgiumunti l
Aug.ust, 1945and helpedto build t he l 30th
Gener alHospital in a Belgiancow p as tur e.
I lear nedall the newpsychiatr ic a nd m edi cal treatmentsfor combat-exhausted
and
battje- shockedsoldibr s and as a r e s ul t,
became
som ethingof an ' author ity' am ong
' the local cr itics with the r ash of pos twar ' psychiatr ic' films.
This war - ear nedexper tise equall y
qualified him for the movjecr itic' s j ob
whjchwas handedto Lesner
.l945, uponhjs r etur n
fr om the ser vjce in
and for the nex t
26 year s, he r eignedas the deanof m ov i e
cr itjcs in Chicago,while still' sem i nq
as night Iife ed' itor . So outstand i ngw as
his cr itjcism that he was saluted by the
Var jety Club of Ill inois jn l963 w i th a
star - studdedluncheonand a testimoni al
( cont. on p. 6)
-S0CIETY
NEi,,lS
NOVEM BER
] 978
.
(Lub i n , c o r t . fro n P a g e5 , cu l
( Lesner ,cont. fr om p.5, col . 2 )
L ied e r , a n d i t a l i .n re p e rto i re . C a ntor
L u b i n h a s a p p ea re dj n o p e ra ti c sce nes
a t t h e L J n i v e r si tyo f C j n ci n n a ti o p er atic
producti ons.
C a n t o rL u b in i s a me mb eorf th e
I o.Fthe Cantors
Execut'iveCounc.i
of
and js a member
Assemblyof Amert'ca
t h e E d i i o r i a l Bo a rdo f th e Jo u rn a l of
Sv n a q o q uMeu sj cp u b li sh e d b y th e C antor s
niseftUiv. He i s the recent rec ipi ent
o f t h e C a n t o rsA sse mb l y'sco ve te d2 5th
AWARD
"in recogAnniversaryYUVAL
nit i o n o f h i s d i sti n g u i sh e dca re e r in
Hazz a n u t . " At th e 2 8 th N a ti o n a l C ony eld
v e n t i o n o f t h e C a n to rsA sse mb l h
in N e wY o r k ( l 4a y,1 9 7 5 )C a n to rL u b in
re c e i v e da s p e ci a l ci ta ti o n fro m th at
b o d y . I n \ 9 7 7 h e w a s d e si q n a te da n
Ho n o r a r yF e l l ow o f th e C a n tp r's In slitute
of t h e J e w i s JTr h e o l o g i ca lS e mi n a ryof
America.
C a n t o rL u b i n se rve so n th e b o a rds
of t h e f o l l o wi n g e d u ca ti o n a li n sti tutions:
n ch e ch te rD a yS ch o o l s'
T h eS o l o m oS
Jer w i shD a yS ch o o.l
A k ' i b a - S c h e c h te
C a n t o rL u b i n i s Ii ste d i n th e Who' s
i g i o n , N o ta b l eA me ri ca ns
l, lh oi n R e 1
an d t h e D i c t i on a ry o f i n te rn a ti o n al
B io g r a p h y . H e i s th e a u th o r o f a
ne wa d a p t a t i ono f th e cl a ssi c p ra yen
Ele h E z h e r a hi n th e n e we d i ti o n o f the
t{lgI"FioTyfayPrayer Bookptrblishedby
t he R a b bni i c aI A sse mb l Y .
pl aquethat r ead: " For h is un ending
and continual effor ts in behal
f of the
.l 966
enter tainmentindustr y." In
he
r eceivedthe covetedDir ector s Gui l d
of Amer icaCr itic' s Awar dfor h i s
"outstanding contr ibution to m oti on
pictur e cr iticism ." He is the onl y
Chicagocr itic ever to r eceive thi s
awar 0.
He also was on the sceneto c ov er
the bir th of the television as an
ehtertainmentmedium. From1948thru
1955he senvedas TV editor . Les ner
r ecalls that flat that time ther e w er e
only about 400 sets in Chicago,
mostly in saloons, and I had to qo to
a saloon to see the TV pr ogr amsi
cover ed,
In addition to his jour nalis ti c
car eer , he has m aintaineda Iife- l ong
secondcar eer in musiceducati on. As
speciaiist in bar oquemusic for the
recorder, he has beenan Instructor
in MusicTheor yand Teacherof the
Recorderat the Central YMCA
Adult
Education Pr ogr amsince ' i947.
His fr iends knowhim also a s an
accompl
i shedgardener.
CountlessChicagoans
haveknow nhi m
over the year s by sight and soundas
well as thr u the pr int mediumfor
,
he i s
a well knownr adio and TV per s onal i ty
in his ownr ight thr oughhis o w ns how s
as well as fr equent guest appear anc es .
He is also well knownin the Jew i s h
Community
as a frequent .speakerto
Synagogues
and Jewishgr oups.
.l940s
the co ur ts
late 1930sand the
tr ied to place childr en in fost er hom es .
0ther childr en, despite br okenhom es o
found car e with their ownfatnili es .
In 1946the homeclosed its do or s .
For the childr en ther e in the l as t
year s, the war mspir it of cam ar ader i e
s not as strong as before. But for
r,Ja
those whogrer{up in the homein
ear ljer , har der tim es, u/henther e
was no other place for then to go, the
w as
ChicagoHomefor JewishOr pha ns
family, fr jends, and the oniy hom e
they knew. "Therewas such a warm
spir it of fr ater nal feeiing amongthe
peoplehere that the hometo themwas
like having br other - sister ." T hat
war mfeel ing dr ew these "br oth er s and
sister s" together in r eunionhal f a
lifetir ne later .
(R e uino n, c o nt. fro m P .7 )
Stories of haPPymemories- and of
c h i l d h o o dt r o u b l e s - fi l l e d th e ro om '
E d d i eG i n s b u rgre ca l l e d th e P e sa c h
Se d e ra s a s pe ci a l e ve n t - " a n o u ts t a n d i n gm e al." l ^ Ji thso n l a n yp a rticipants,
v jsi t o r s a s w e l I a s a l I th e ch i l d ren'
innovationswere madein the customary
s e r v i c e . I n ste a do f d ri n ki n g fo u r
q l a s s e so f w i n e , th e ch i l d re n si p ped
io u r t i m e s f r om o n e g 1 a ss. T w o
afikoinenswere hidden, one for the boys'
t h e o t h e r f o r th e g i rl s. T h e re a dingof
" E c h a dM i Yo d e a h " ", l ,,l h kn
o o w so n e ?",
co
mmu
n ae lve nt as
a
f
u
n
fi
l
l
e
d
became
knows
and
read
i
dren
stood
two ch I
, "l',Jho
three?
"
knows
chimed
?" , three
"l',lho
tr^ro
yo
u
n
g
ste
rs
i
n
q
l
a
u
g
h
t
h
i
r
t
e
e
n
untiI
c o m pel t e d t h e re ci ta l .
A s s o c ja l th i n kin g ch a n g e da b out
chjldr en'
t h e b e s t u p bri n g i n gfo r h o me l e ss
the
In
home.
to
the
fevrerwere sent
SOC
I ETYNEt^is
NOVEM BER
1978
,
- 7-
CHICAGO
HONE
FORJEI^IISH
ORPHANS
UNiOUE
REUNION
HOLDS
by ADELEHAST
explain ed
"0 u r t i e s h e re a re stro n g e r th an in a blood fami1y." SID SAM PS0N
t h e e m b r a c eof
s l o n g -se p a ra te b
d re thr en and the joyful shoutsof r ecognitionth at
f ille d t h e r o o m. T h i s w a s a re u n i onof a special family, the for m er "hom ekids "
o f t h e C h i c a g oH o me
fo r Je w i sh0 rp hans,held in ChicagoSeptem ber
?- 3, 1978, th i r ty t wo y e a r s a f t e r th e h o meh a d cl o se d. ROYKL0W DEN
of Chicagoor iginal ly planne da
s m a l l r e u n i o no f th e l o ca l a l u mn i o f the home. W henRACHEL
HEIM 0VICS
of the C J H S,
whoa s s i s t e d wi th p u b 'li ci ty, p l a ce dan announcement
of the r eunion in JewishpubI i c a t i o n s t h r o u g h o u th
i e co u n try, responsesmushr oomed
i ! " 0n Satur day
, " I ' m comng
,
Sep t e m b e2r, a b o u t se ve n ty-fi veo u t- of- towner sgather edat 65.l7N. Califor nia for
t h e f j r s t d a y o f re u n i o n . A b a n q uetthe next day, at the M axDolnick Com m un i C
tyenpeop.le- - "home
t e r, 6 1 2 2N . Ca li fo rn i a A ve n u e ,b ro ughttogether thr ee hundned
kids "
a n d t h e i r s p o u se s--fro mt.h e C h i ca goar ea and sometwenty states. In an emoti onf ille d w e e k e ndth
, e j o yfu l p a rti ci p ants r em inisced,shar ing their m emor ies
with
ADELE
l'lAST,M0SELLE
MIllTZ,and NORMAN
SCHWARTZ
of the CJHS0ral History Cornmittee.
l'1oso
t f t he ch i l d re n a t th e h om ewer e not tr uly or phans,but thejr familie s
c ou l d n o l o n g e r ca re fo r th e m. T h e ir par entswer e gener ally ir nmigr ants
whofound
t h a t t h e h a r d sh i p so f l i fe ma d ei t impossibleto pr ovide for their childr en: a
m o t h e ru i d o ' i r ed
a t tw e n ty-n i n ew i th five youngster s;a father infected with tuber c u l o s i s ; a d i vo rce th a t l e ft ch i l d ren homeless;a stepmotherjn confl ict with h er
h u s b a n d ' ss o n s. T h e ch i l d re n ca meto the hom eafter exper iencingemotionaltur noi I
a n d u n h a p p i n css,
a n d fo u n d , d e sp i te the institutional natur e of the place, a st abl e
env i r o n r n e naLn d a n e wfa mi l y.
o f S t. L o u j s e xplained: "For som eone
whocamefr om a br oken
M O R i { IAB
S R A MS
h o r n e i,t r v a su n b e l i e va b l e . Y o uco uld makebuddies. Ther ewer e about seventy- fi v e
b o y s , a n d e a c ho n e p i cke d a b u d d y." SID SAM PS0N
told of the special fr jendshi ps that
youngster
g
i
ve
n
had str ongest ties w i th
developed:
a R e fo rnJe w j she ducation,each
t h o s e i n h i s co n fi rma ti o ncl a ss.
G0LDI' |AN'
home,
s wer e each handeda nic k el
Se v e r a lgu e sts, w h o sta ye da t RUSTY
o n a r r i v a l - - "y o u r w e e kl yS a tu rd a ya llowance," Satur daywas evenmor especial: i t
m e a n th a v i n g ice cre a n d e sse rts, savor .ingveal chops,and going to the moviesin
brsought
t he a f t e r n o o r r--th eT i vo l i , th e l 'l a ryland,and the Dr exel Theatr es. Sur nr ner
o u t d o o re v e n t .s,p i cn j csi n l ^ Ja sh i n gton
in
August
when
the
days"
Par k and "automobj
le
Thr
oughout
the
Pank.
boa r do f d i r e c to rs i o o k th e ch i l d ren on an outing to Lincoln
l ,l o o ste ri n RoundLake, Illinois, in gr oupsof thir ty boy s
s um m e rt,h e y w e n t b o C a mp
g
i
r
l
s
.
and
W h a td r e wto g e th e r p e o p l ew h o had not seeneachother for thr ee decadeso r
'longer?
l"lhatimpelledthemto travel from the corners of the country to their
r ec hi l d h o o dc i t y? A l u rn n ie xp l a i n e dtheir power fulem otionalties. Onewoman
g
o
i
n
g
hated
another
.
"I
fr om one foster hom eto.
me m b e r ehde r exp e ri e n ce si n
e v e r y o n e . T he yd i d n 't ca re a b o u t m e and m y sister ." ldhenshe finally cameto the
Ch i c a g oH o m efo r Je tri sh0 rp h a n s,i t gave her fr eedom . "I was fed, taken car e of,
had m o m e n tosf d e l i g h t. F o r a tro ubled child whohad suffer ed tr auma,the home
wa s a s a f e p 1 a ce ." A n o th e rp a rtj ci pant joined in with het' stor y. For her imm i gra n t p a r e n t s, l i fe i n C h i ca g ow a s shor t and bitter . Her m otherhad djed whe nthe
c hj l d w a s o n l y s'i x, a n d h e r fa th e r followed in death a few year s iater . ller s i x t ee n y e a r o l d si ste r, l e ft w i th th e r esponsiblilties of r unninga household,was
thejr haven.
un a b l et o k e e pth e ch j l d re n to g e th er , and the homebecame
/rnnr
nn
n
A\
SOCIiTY
HISTORICAL
JEI.iISH
OFTHECHICAG()
OFPURPOSI
STATEI'IINI
l{ nncH 13' I977
BY THE tlEI\4BERSHIP,
rJN A N rM0 u sLAyp P ROVED
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rrreqFrve and exhibit
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the
and
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Jews
and
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settlement,
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pertaining
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and
conduct
to
Illinois;
metropolitan
Chicago,
of
Jewish community
and disseminate
encourage study and research,
eclucation progrlms,
of Jews and
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history
to the settlement,
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to
fLl t:
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fQ()tl ,
u)')i (rh
y()(r
a,t)ti 12e
btrs's rt 11s-.:,r*
I t0
ha' (rrr)
lvtl'il
ft
tl
cbtcc;rc,o Je(r)rsY) LrtstoraICOL sooetA
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