WEBVTT

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(tranquil music)

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- [Beth] I'm just always in
my mind, I have that verse.

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Not always, but whenever I am
able to be conscious of this,

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teach me to number my days

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so that I may attain
a heart of wisdom,

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and I'm still working on that.

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- [Jonathan] Welcome
to my synagogue.

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- But I know one thing to
be true and wise is that-

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- [Jonathan] That's my
sister Beth, a cantor.

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- It's all about the people
and the connections as-

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- [Jonathan] These
are my parents.

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- And to be able to be
here in the good times,

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in the bad times-

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- [Jonathan] Cross the
aisle are the Kirshenbaums.

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Dear friends who, in
the most meaningful way,

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are family as well.

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- Lived in this building

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and to be able to
be here right now.

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- [Jonathan] In this
sheol, Temple B'Nai Shalom,

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in the small city of
Benton Harbor, Michigan

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is where I grew up.

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(singing in a foreign language)

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Beth leads us in Hineh Ma Tov,

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a song which, in Hebrew,
means how wonderful

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it is for us all to be together.

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It's true, it is wonderful

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but the emotions
beneath are complex.

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There's sadness, a sense
of loss and even fear

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about what will become
of the community

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my parents and grandparents

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and generations of
Jews before me created.

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And there's also
a profound irony.

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Our parents'
generation forged us

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into becoming the people we are,

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all committed on some level

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to our Jewish
heritage and faith.

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And with all that,

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we ended up doing what
they encouraged us to do.

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We left.

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And though we come
back to visit,

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we cannot help but
wonder, will it live on?

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(Beth singing in a
foreign language)

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(waves crashing)

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(serene music)

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I'm Jonathan Levin and
as funny as it may seem,

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now I'm an immigrant.

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Some years ago I moved with
most of my family to Israel.

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Now Haifa, the country's third
largest city, is my home.

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I'm a clinical social worker.

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In the virtual age I
work in the modern way.

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I see clients online, the
majority from the U.S.,

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and can do that from
just about anywhere.

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(serene music)

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I've adjusted.

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Life in Israel is another
world from Benton Harbor,

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a place where being Jewish
is a given, the norm.

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I mean, over the
course of my life

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I've gone from being
part of a minority,

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now I'm part of a majority.

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When I was young it was
my family, my friends,

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and my synagogue that
supported my Jewish identity.

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Now it's my entire country.

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A lot of that's
comforting, but some isn't.

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Becoming an Israeli has
taken me far from my origins.

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That distance is what got
me to tell this story.

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It just came upon me, the
idea that my roots, my family,

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and my family friends,

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it all stems from this core
connection to Benton Harbor.

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A connection between my mom

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and someone who's
really close to her,

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someone who from a long time ago

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was just another kid
in the neighborhood.

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- [Sondra] Aswalds lived
next to you, right?

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Right there, yeah.

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- [David] Yeah, about
somewhere in there.

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- Do you remember the night
that their house burned?

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You remember the fire?

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- Just vaguely.

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- Somehow I remember being
awakened. It was wild.

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- [Jonathan] On a hot July
day, my mother, Sondra Levin,

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and her lifelong friend,
David Kirshenbaum,

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take a walk with me on Thresher
Avenue in Benton Harbor.

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(upbeat music)
This is where they grew up,

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right across the street
from one another.

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Amazingly, they were
born just one day apart

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in December, 1938.

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Was this your driveway?

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- [Sondra] I'm thinking
it could have been.

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It had to have been. Yep.

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(upbeat music continues)

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- [Jonathan] That's
David as a toddler.

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That's my mom.

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Just a baby.

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Today, the old houses are gone,

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but as they walk the empty lots

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they can bring it all back.

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- You were another
kid on the block

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but you were special
because you were Jewish.

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and I liked you and we played
ball together, basically.

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And you were there.

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- There was a certain energy

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because of the
projects after the war,

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the fact that this
was, not in most part,

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but in a large part,
a Jewish community.

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Kosher, I mean a synagogue.
- Orthodox synagogue.

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- Another synagogue
down the block,

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on Mary City of David there
was another synagogue,

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which everyone forgets about.

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- [Jonathan] It's almost
hard to imagine today

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but these two.

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- [David] I want to
walk to that back lot.

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- [Jonathan] Now pillars in
a fading Jewish community

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grew up in a thriving one.

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By the fifties many of
the Jews in Benton Harbor

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owned retail businesses.

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But well before that, in
the early 20th century,

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Jews escaping Eastern Europe

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where they couldn't own land,

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were attracted to
places where they could.

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For some families
here one of the things

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that brought their ancestors

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to the southwest of
Michigan was farming.

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- Yeah, that would
be a strange thing,

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for the typical
Jewish American kid

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to know anything
about Jews and farming

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and those were skills
that they may have brought

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from the old country
and in some cases,

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I think, that they just adopted
that when they got here.

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(upbeat music)

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Grandpa was a farmer.

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He was really a blacksmith.

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And when he came over
and landed in New York,

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he came with the skills
of really knowing

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how to make mattresses.

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Blacksmithing and those kinds
of things, metalworking,

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and he elected to come
to southwestern Michigan

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and to take up the only
thing that he could here,

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there was not enough
money in blacksmithing

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so he went into farming.

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- [Jonathan] Benton Harbor
and its neighboring city,

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St. Joseph, are along the fruit
belt in southwest Michigan.

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Farming was, and still is,
(insects chirping)

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part of the landscape.

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But less known is that for a
good part of the 20th century,

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Jewish farmers and
Jewish businesses that
supported farming,

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were in the mix.

07:22.300 --> 07:24.266 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
That included my grandfather.

07:24.266 --> 07:27.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- My dad's name was
Maurice B Gelder

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and he worked in the family
business almost all of his life.

07:34.133 --> 07:35.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
He was the parts manager

07:35.733 --> 07:38.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
at Louis Gelder and
Sons in Millburg.

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He was the third
generation of sons.

07:44.300 --> 07:47.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
They sold tractors, spray rigs,

07:47.066 --> 07:50.733 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
anything associated with
the physical act of farming.

07:50.733 --> 07:52.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
At the synagogue,
as we were there,

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we were at the
Rosenberg brothers.

07:55.266 --> 07:59.600 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- There were
probably 20 families

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with close association
to the farming.

08:04.166 --> 08:05.700 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
(upbeat music)

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- [Jonathan] But for some
like, Mendel Kirshenbaum,

08:06.900 --> 08:08.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
patriarch of the
Kirshenbaum family,

08:08.633 --> 08:10.666 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
farming was never a good fit.

08:10.666 --> 08:13.666 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- What I'd heard was that
Mendel, my great-grandfather,

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I think on weekends, on Shabbat,

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convened the Jewish
farmers for Talmud study,

08:21.400 --> 08:24.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
but not a lot of talk
about farming skills.

08:24.266 --> 08:26.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
So my grandfather
didn't graduate,

08:26.366 --> 08:27.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
he didn't go past eighth grade,

08:27.600 --> 08:30.966 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and he left to go work
for a truck driver

08:30.966 --> 08:35.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and as he talked about,
we were cold and hungry

08:36.633 --> 08:39.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and I think there might
have been a feeling

08:39.366 --> 08:41.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
that they wished
Mendel would've focused

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a little more on the farming

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and maybe a little
less on the Talmud.

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(upbeat music)

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- He didn't make enough money
even to raise his family.

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They all left.

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My dad ended up a driving truck

08:58.666 --> 09:02.400 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and went to the McAllen
Valley in Texas for a while.

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And it was hard.

09:06.866 --> 09:08.900 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
It was just a hard life
for him. For all of them.

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(orchestral music)

09:14.766 --> 09:16.966 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- [Jonathan] Despite these
hardships, our grandparents,

09:16.966 --> 09:18.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
like many Americans of that era,

09:18.666 --> 09:21.066 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
were a launchpad for
the next generation.

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They encouraged education

09:22.900 --> 09:25.566 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and gave up a lot for
their kids to get one.

09:25.566 --> 09:29.400 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
My dad, Al Levin, was one of
the few Jews from Decatur,

09:29.400 --> 09:31.200 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
a small town nearby.

09:31.200 --> 09:33.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
My parents briefly met
at a Jewish youth group

09:33.433 --> 09:34.966 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
during their high school years

09:34.966 --> 09:37.766 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and like my mom, he went to
the University of Michigan

09:37.766 --> 09:40.400 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and for them, that's
where it all began.

09:40.400 --> 09:44.200 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
- And she actually called me

09:44.200 --> 09:47.566 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and asked me to one
of her dorm dances.

09:48.733 --> 09:50.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
That's what kind of started our.

09:50.766 --> 09:53.000 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- Were you surprised to
get a phone call from her?

09:53.000 --> 09:55.666 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- I would've been surprised
to get a call from anybody

09:55.666 --> 09:59.566 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
from the opposite sex,
to tell you the truth.

09:59.566 --> 10:01.366 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
(upbeat music)

10:01.366 --> 10:03.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- [Jonathan] That call
led to a first date.

10:03.900 --> 10:07.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Within six months things
were getting serious.

10:07.200 --> 10:10.633 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
And do you remember a time
during those six months of,

10:10.633 --> 10:12.566 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
"Huh, I'm in love
with this guy,"

10:12.566 --> 10:14.533 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
or, "I'm in love with her,"
do you remember that at all?

10:14.533 --> 10:16.700 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5%
- I do.
- I do, yeah.

10:16.700 --> 10:18.133 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
- It felt different?

10:18.133 --> 10:20.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- It felt different. It
wasn't casual anymore.

10:20.433 --> 10:22.800 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- Yeah I think, I
remember one time,

10:22.800 --> 10:25.566 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
just when we were dating,

10:25.566 --> 10:28.200 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
we were taking a walk
around campus or something

10:28.200 --> 10:33.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and we had a very serious talk
about where this was going

10:34.433 --> 10:35.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and I think we realized
(violin music)

10:35.966 --> 10:40.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
that it was gonna be a
forever thing, right.

10:41.633 --> 10:43.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
- That must have been exciting.

10:43.100 --> 10:47.733 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- It was. When you realize
that you're in love.

10:51.266 --> 10:54.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- [Jonathan] In 1961,
my parents were married.

10:54.533 --> 10:56.133 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
Around the same time,

10:56.133 --> 10:59.533 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
David Kirshenbaum was getting
fixed up on a date in Chicago

10:59.533 --> 11:02.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
to a young woman named
Elaine Shankerman.

11:02.100 --> 11:07.100 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- It was a really blustery,
wet snow kind of a day

11:08.300 --> 11:11.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and this cute guy
comes to the door

11:11.833 --> 11:16.233 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and sits down on the couch
to wait for me to come out,

11:16.233 --> 11:19.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I wasn't ready,
getting dressed yet

11:19.200 --> 11:21.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and I came out in
my little outfit

11:21.933 --> 11:25.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
and with my little cutaway shoes

11:25.100 --> 11:29.533 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
that I got in downtown Chicago

11:29.533 --> 11:31.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
and he looked at me and he said,

11:33.133 --> 11:35.966 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
"Why are you in that kind
of a shoe in this weather?

11:35.966 --> 11:39.766 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
"That's ridiculous."
(everyone laughing)

11:39.766 --> 11:42.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
And I thought right
away, I like this guy.

11:46.033 --> 11:49.100 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- [Jonathan] David and
Elaine were married in 1963.

11:49.100 --> 11:52.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
At the time, Southwest Michigan
was a surprisingly good fit

11:52.100 --> 11:55.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
for young Jewish
couples, especially
those with family here.

11:55.833 --> 11:58.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Years later, Bob
and Diane Yampolsky

11:58.766 --> 12:00.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
would get married
at the synagogue

12:00.333 --> 12:03.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and for them it was not
a hard decision to stay.

12:03.433 --> 12:06.533 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- The heart of Benton
Harbor was it's businesses,

12:06.533 --> 12:09.533 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
it had a lot of Jewish
merchants, grocery stores,

12:09.533 --> 12:13.600 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
it was a strong community

12:15.033 --> 12:16.766 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
and at that time,

12:16.766 --> 12:18.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
I think at one time we had like,

12:18.433 --> 12:22.000 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
well throughout the county,
we had 215 Jewish families.

12:24.600 --> 12:26.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
And at one point, I
know my folks belonged

12:26.800 --> 12:30.700 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
to all three congregations.
(upbeat music)

12:31.833 --> 12:33.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- [Jonathan] As
the couples joined,

12:33.100 --> 12:35.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
there was another
union in the making

12:35.000 --> 12:38.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
but this had all the makings
of an uneasy marriage.

12:38.000 --> 12:39.333 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
So at that point,

12:39.333 --> 12:41.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
there were two main
congregations in Benton Harbor.

12:41.633 --> 12:44.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Temple Bethel, which was reform.

12:44.100 --> 12:47.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
And Children of Israel,
which was conservative.

12:47.000 --> 12:50.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
And as it turns out, my
grandfather and my dad

12:50.000 --> 12:52.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
were part of secret negotiations

12:52.033 --> 12:54.333 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
to merge the two synagogues.

12:54.333 --> 12:57.733 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- I think we all realized
that neither congregation

12:57.733 --> 13:00.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
was gonna grow that
much all by itself

13:00.500 --> 13:05.166 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
so we put this together and
we actually kept it secret

13:05.166 --> 13:09.300 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
from the boards of
both congregation

13:09.300 --> 13:14.066 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
until they called meetings
for both congregation

13:14.066 --> 13:19.066 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
the same night and presented
the articles of a merger.

13:21.833 --> 13:24.033 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- [Jonathan] To non-Jews,
merging two synagogues

13:24.033 --> 13:26.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
might seem like no
big deal, but it was.

13:27.833 --> 13:30.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Jack Keller, a
prominent local attorney

13:30.100 --> 13:32.066 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and longtime member
of the synagogue,

13:32.066 --> 13:34.166 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
was part of the merger deal.

13:34.166 --> 13:38.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- We were proud because
I don't think there's

13:38.333 --> 13:43.266 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
a lot of communities where
congregations of differences

13:43.266 --> 13:46.966 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
gelled and came together and
I wanted to be part of that.

13:46.966 --> 13:48.700 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- And you helped create that.

13:48.700 --> 13:51.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
- And that was my focus.

13:54.733 --> 13:58.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- [Jonathan] It worked.
(singers vocalizing)

13:58.400 --> 13:59.733 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
Even though the
merger represented

13:59.733 --> 14:01.833 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
the shrinking of
two congregations,

14:01.833 --> 14:04.066 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
it ended up creating
a stronger one.

14:04.066 --> 14:06.066 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Temple B'Nai Shalom
was dedicated

14:06.066 --> 14:09.566 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
on the corner of Broadway
and Delaware in 1962.

14:09.566 --> 14:11.133 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- My aunts and
uncles went there.

14:11.133 --> 14:13.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Bob and Sybil's
brother went there.

14:13.133 --> 14:14.266 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- So it brought
families together.

14:14.266 --> 14:16.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- It brought our
family totally together

14:16.666 --> 14:18.266 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
and we could do more things.

14:18.266 --> 14:23.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
Instead of having two separate
Purim carnivals, both small,

14:23.200 --> 14:26.633 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
that we could have one really
nice one, that is an example.

14:26.633 --> 14:28.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
And I loved the service.

14:28.866 --> 14:31.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I mean, I had no problem
with the service at all.

14:31.900 --> 14:35.000 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
(singers vocalizing)

14:37.800 --> 14:39.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- [Jonathan] By the time
my generation came along

14:39.733 --> 14:40.933 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
there was definitely a sense

14:40.933 --> 14:42.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
that though we were
a tiny minority,

14:42.900 --> 14:45.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
we were a strong,
tight-knit group.

14:45.000 --> 14:47.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- So when I think
about growing up here

14:47.466 --> 14:48.733 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
in this Jewish community,

14:50.200 --> 14:54.733 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
I think about, in a sense,
being raised by a village

14:56.400 --> 14:58.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
in the way that
we talk about it,

14:58.200 --> 15:03.200 align:left position:25% line:77% size:65%
the cliche of, it
takes a village, and
I actually had that.

15:04.633 --> 15:06.733 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
So I've had occasion
to actually try

15:06.733 --> 15:09.066 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
to describe the
components of that,

15:09.066 --> 15:13.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
like how it was that I grew
up feeling so taken care of

15:13.200 --> 15:16.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
by many families and how the way

15:16.433 --> 15:19.300 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
that the families of
Temple B'Nai Shalom

15:19.300 --> 15:21.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
conceived of community for real.

15:21.966 --> 15:25.033 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
(singers vocalizing)

15:27.500 --> 15:30.300 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- What I talk about now a lot

15:31.433 --> 15:35.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
in my 30 years in
the Jewish community,

15:35.333 --> 15:37.933 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
is that in some ways

15:40.800 --> 15:43.633 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
I have been recreating this

15:43.633 --> 15:46.300 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
in the community
that I'm in now,

15:47.833 --> 15:51.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
that sense of, this is a
place that can hold you,

15:51.366 --> 15:53.200 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
this is a place
that can know you,

15:53.200 --> 15:56.900 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
and I learned it all here.

15:56.900 --> 16:00.133 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
(singers vocalizing)

16:00.133 --> 16:02.300 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- [Jonathan] For both the
Levins and the Kirshenbaums

16:02.300 --> 16:05.566 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
there were multiple
generations all in one place.

16:05.566 --> 16:07.300 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- When we moved back
to Benton Harbor,

16:07.300 --> 16:11.233 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
I definitely entered
into the Jewish life

16:11.233 --> 16:15.100 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
and belonged to the temple
and Sisterhood Odessa.

16:15.100 --> 16:16.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- [Jonathan] In
neighboring St. Joseph

16:16.366 --> 16:18.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
there was my Aunt Cindy,
my mom's younger sister,

16:18.900 --> 16:21.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
my Uncle Andy, and their
three kids, my cousins.

16:21.766 --> 16:24.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- It was a wonderful
time to raise children.

16:24.200 --> 16:26.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
It wasn't a big
Jewish community.

16:26.300 --> 16:30.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
The Sunday school classes
were very, very small.

16:30.000 --> 16:34.666 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
Did my children have
Jewish friends? Yes, a few.

16:34.666 --> 16:38.166 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
(singers vocalizing)

16:38.166 --> 16:40.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- I think it came very,
very natural to us

16:42.066 --> 16:45.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
to see the progression
of the kids

16:45.266 --> 16:48.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
from just going
to Sunday school,

16:48.666 --> 16:51.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
doing their bar
and bat mitzvahs,

16:51.366 --> 16:56.366 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and then continuing on
leading a Jewish themed life.

16:58.800 --> 17:01.366 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
(singers vocalizing)

17:01.366 --> 17:04.766 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
It was wonderful being
part of it. It really was.

17:11.066 --> 17:13.800 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
(waves crashing)

17:18.366 --> 17:20.966 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
(serene music)

17:37.766 --> 17:38.700 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
- [Jonathan] Haifa.

17:40.800 --> 17:42.266 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
It might sound funny

17:42.266 --> 17:45.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
because Haifa is such a big
and culturally different place.

17:45.233 --> 17:47.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
6,000 miles away from
where I was raised.

17:47.900 --> 17:50.966 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
But for me, it's hard not to
stand by the Mediterranean

17:50.966 --> 17:54.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
looking west and think
about Benton Harbor.

17:54.000 --> 17:56.900 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
Sometimes I think I'm looking
out over Lake Michigan.

17:56.900 --> 18:00.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
(serene music continues)

18:10.533 --> 18:13.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
There too is a parallel
kind of natural beauty.

18:13.500 --> 18:15.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Benton Harbor sits
along Lake Michigan

18:15.300 --> 18:16.800 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
where the beaches are stunning

18:16.800 --> 18:19.200 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and the sun sets into the
horizon over the water.

18:21.400 --> 18:23.066 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
But there is more to know.

18:23.066 --> 18:25.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
For many, Benton Harbor
is more associated

18:25.633 --> 18:27.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
with its struggles
than anything else.

18:29.800 --> 18:32.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Historically, it was a
hub for manufacturing,

18:32.833 --> 18:34.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
partly in the automotive world,

18:34.166 --> 18:37.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
but mostly around one
huge company, Whirlpool.

18:37.800 --> 18:39.266 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
The headquarters of Whirlpool,

18:39.266 --> 18:41.033 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
a giant in appliance making,

18:41.033 --> 18:43.700 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
has remained in Benton
Harbor since its founding

18:43.700 --> 18:47.400 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
but over time, white flight
and changes in manufacturing

18:47.400 --> 18:50.066 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
left Benton Harbor
with fewer resources.

18:50.066 --> 18:53.100 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- I think downtown
Benton Harbor,

18:53.100 --> 18:56.366 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
back in the 1940s and fifties,

18:56.366 --> 18:58.333 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
and right through
the early sixties,

18:59.800 --> 19:04.600 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
I would say 50% of the retail
businesses were Jewish owned.

19:06.033 --> 19:09.300 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
So it was very much, very much
like what you read in books

19:09.300 --> 19:13.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
actually, about
the Jewish downtown

19:13.200 --> 19:17.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and the different
family owned businesses.

19:17.166 --> 19:20.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
It was still viable
and going very strong

19:20.633 --> 19:25.633 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
when we first got married
and moved back here

19:26.800 --> 19:31.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
but then it declined
rapidly in the 1960s.

19:33.333 --> 19:35.900 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
(serene music)

19:39.200 --> 19:40.633 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- [Jonathan] By the seventies,

19:40.633 --> 19:43.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
Benton Harbor was mostly African
American and lower income.

19:43.533 --> 19:44.866 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
Just across the river,

19:44.866 --> 19:47.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
St. Joseph was mostly
white and middle class.

19:47.633 --> 19:50.333 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
In Michigan, the twin
cities, as they were called,

19:50.333 --> 19:53.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
were known for their
racial and economic divide.

19:53.200 --> 19:55.800 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
(serene music)

19:57.233 --> 19:59.900 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
Through the years, a lot was
done to turn things around

19:59.900 --> 20:01.566 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
and there have been successes.

20:03.566 --> 20:05.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
But on a summer weekend,

20:05.100 --> 20:07.933 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
the contrast between the two
communities is pretty stark.

20:07.933 --> 20:11.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
As children, that complex
history weighed on us.

20:15.000 --> 20:19.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- So growing up
Jewish in this town

20:19.133 --> 20:23.033 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
was a strange experience,
as we all experienced,

20:23.033 --> 20:24.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
the only Jewish
kid in this class

20:24.166 --> 20:26.400 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
and that class and whatever.

20:26.400 --> 20:30.033 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
But what I remember
is that I was clear

20:30.033 --> 20:32.333 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
that I was anchored somewhere.

20:32.333 --> 20:33.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I remember like
everybody else made

20:33.900 --> 20:36.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
the Christmas trees
out of the felt

20:36.166 --> 20:40.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
and I was very clear that I was
to say that I don't do that.

20:43.566 --> 20:45.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I don't have a memory
of being embarrassed.

20:45.200 --> 20:48.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I have a memory of being
clear. This is who I am.

20:53.000 --> 20:56.533 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- The synagogue was always
my favorite place to be

20:56.533 --> 21:01.500 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

21:02.900 --> 21:07.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and I am probably one of
the only people who enjoyed

21:08.333 --> 21:09.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
going to Hebrew school
and Sunday School

21:09.600 --> 21:14.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and immediately felt the
importance of community

21:14.366 --> 21:19.366 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and felt so safe and enjoyed
the sense of belonging

21:22.500 --> 21:25.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
from as early as I can remember

21:25.100 --> 21:29.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and just having so much
fun with our friends

21:29.433 --> 21:32.966 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and I just wanted
to keep coming.

21:32.966 --> 21:37.966 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

21:40.100 --> 21:41.933 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- Beth means the world to me.

21:41.933 --> 21:44.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
When I turned 13 and she was 16,

21:44.000 --> 21:46.800 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and I was her first
bat mitzvah student.

21:48.833 --> 21:49.800 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
- I did not know that.

21:49.800 --> 21:51.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
- She'd just gotten her license

21:54.433 --> 21:58.066 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and I was a really good bat
mitzvah student, as she said,

21:58.066 --> 22:00.633 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and we'd sit in the library
and I would show her

22:00.633 --> 22:02.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
that I knew all my
stuff and she'd be like,

22:02.466 --> 22:03.933 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
"Okay, let's go.
Let's go driving,"

22:03.933 --> 22:07.966 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and so we'd ditch the lesson,
my parents never knew,

22:07.966 --> 22:10.766 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and she'd like drive
around with her new license

22:11.966 --> 22:14.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and that was the
beginning of our-

22:14.466 --> 22:15.700 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
- Of your long conversation.

22:15.700 --> 22:17.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- It was beginning of
a long conversation.

22:17.833 --> 22:21.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
(group chatter)

22:21.000 --> 22:23.300 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- [Jonathan] That conversation
has never been far

22:23.300 --> 22:25.966 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
from the central topic
of what shaped our lives.

22:25.966 --> 22:28.466 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
No doubt growing up,
we had each other,

22:28.466 --> 22:30.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
but our parents
wanted more for us.

22:30.766 --> 22:33.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- But we made sure,
we tried to make sure,

22:33.466 --> 22:38.466 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
that you were exposed to other
Jewish experiences like camp.

22:39.900 --> 22:42.666 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
Camp was, to us, a Jewish
camp was very important

22:42.666 --> 22:44.166 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
for you to go to

22:44.166 --> 22:48.633 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and see how the rest of
the world lived Jewishly.

22:48.633 --> 22:51.700 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
(singers vocalizing)

22:53.500 --> 22:55.233 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- [Jonathan] A bunch
of us went to camp.

22:55.233 --> 22:57.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Mike Kirshenbaum and I
were in the same grade.

22:57.666 --> 22:59.066 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
Mike did other stuff,

22:59.066 --> 23:01.533 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
like going to teen conventions
run by Young Judea,

23:01.533 --> 23:03.100 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
a Jewish youth organization.

23:03.100 --> 23:06.266 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- So the conventions were
actually in hindsight,

23:06.266 --> 23:08.266 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
kind of meaningful in a way

23:08.266 --> 23:10.433 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
because it was
during adolescence

23:10.433 --> 23:15.433 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and it was like being around
that many other Jewish kids,

23:16.833 --> 23:18.066 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
which just didn't happen,
we were so small here

23:18.066 --> 23:19.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and there was a
part of it, like,

23:19.333 --> 23:21.366 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
oh, having a crush
on a Jewish girl,

23:21.366 --> 23:24.033 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
there really weren't
opportunities for that here

23:24.033 --> 23:24.966 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
with our age.

23:24.966 --> 23:26.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
- How'd that go with the girls?

23:26.100 --> 23:27.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- Not well.
(everyone laughing)

23:27.900 --> 23:30.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I thought about it
a lot. Never acted.

23:30.233 --> 23:33.233 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
It's part of the deal.
- It is, until I was like 22.

23:35.933 --> 23:38.433 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- So, it did sort of
open you up a little bit.

23:38.433 --> 23:40.266 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
Okay, we were here
in Benton Harbor,

23:40.266 --> 23:41.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
sort of comfortable
in B'Nai Shalom,

23:41.700 --> 23:44.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
but then we did, you
can speak for yourself,

23:44.266 --> 23:46.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
we saw that there was
a different world,

23:46.233 --> 23:47.700 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
there's more out there, there
could be more out there.

23:47.700 --> 23:49.000 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- And making those connections

23:49.000 --> 23:51.966 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
to other Jewish
youth adolescents,

23:53.133 --> 23:55.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
it wasn't just, oh, the
people I know in town,

23:55.133 --> 23:56.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
but this is something
common I share

23:56.466 --> 23:58.333 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
with a lot of people
around the world

23:58.333 --> 24:00.933 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and this is a way to kind of
come together around that,

24:00.933 --> 24:02.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
so that was meaningful
in that way.

24:02.766 --> 24:06.333 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
(singers vocalizing)

24:06.333 --> 24:07.533 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- [Jonathan] For
my brother, Bruce,

24:07.533 --> 24:09.533 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
camp was more than meaningful.

24:09.533 --> 24:11.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
It shaped his identity
and gave him something

24:11.933 --> 24:13.733 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
that other parts of
his life could not.

24:13.733 --> 24:15.633 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
It seems like it was
almost more your identity

24:15.633 --> 24:18.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and then going to school
and everything else

24:18.300 --> 24:20.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
was sort of secondary in a way.

24:20.166 --> 24:22.066 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- It was, it was, I mean,
all my friends were like,

24:22.066 --> 24:23.300 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
even from here were like,

24:23.300 --> 24:25.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
oh, we're not gonna
see you in the summer

24:25.233 --> 24:26.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
because you're gonna be at camp.

24:26.433 --> 24:28.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
We're not gonna see
you on weekends.

24:28.033 --> 24:32.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
And again, with the full
support of mom and dad,

24:32.266 --> 24:34.633 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
sending their 17 year old,

24:34.633 --> 24:37.133 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
here take the car for the
week and go to Ann Arbor,

24:37.133 --> 24:39.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
plan a convention and come back.

24:41.433 --> 24:42.466 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
- It was never a question.

24:42.466 --> 24:43.633 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
- It was never a question

24:43.633 --> 24:44.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and I probably
took it for granted

24:44.666 --> 24:47.433 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
that this is what people do.

24:47.433 --> 24:52.433 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

24:53.866 --> 24:56.233 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- [Jonathan] My sister Beth
had other things to consider.

24:56.233 --> 24:59.300 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
As a teenager, she certainly
understood she was Jewish

24:59.300 --> 25:00.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
and she would learn she was gay,

25:00.866 --> 25:03.733 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
two attributes in a community
with little of either.

25:03.733 --> 25:06.200 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
Was there a sense that
you were gonna come back?

25:06.200 --> 25:08.700 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
Did you know right away that
you weren't gonna come back?

25:09.866 --> 25:13.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- So, I have a deep
love for Benton Harbor

25:13.200 --> 25:18.200 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
but I knew that I would not
be able to have a life here.

25:19.400 --> 25:21.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
So especially when
we were growing up,

25:21.900 --> 25:26.900 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
this, and now as well,
Benton Harbor did not offer,

25:28.133 --> 25:30.300 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
I mean, I'll speak
for me personally,

25:30.300 --> 25:32.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
there was no gay community here.

25:32.600 --> 25:34.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
There was not an LGBT community

25:34.400 --> 25:39.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and I knew that I didn't
feel safe on that front

25:40.133 --> 25:41.766 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
and that there wasn't,

25:41.766 --> 25:44.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
weren't gonna be people
to meet and all of that.

25:44.300 --> 25:47.533 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
So I knew I needed
to be in a place

25:50.500 --> 25:52.000 align:left position:27.5% line:89% size:62.5%
that offered more,

25:52.000 --> 25:56.100 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and then of course we know
economically and everything.

25:56.100 --> 25:59.600 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
I knew also that I wanted to
work in the Jewish community

25:59.600 --> 26:04.066 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
and that there wasn't
enough Jews here for that.

26:04.066 --> 26:06.666 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
(serene music)

26:10.833 --> 26:14.400 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- I can imagine, as a parent,
what that must be like.

26:14.400 --> 26:17.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
As a parent, not
seeing your kids,

26:17.833 --> 26:21.300 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
you want them to be happy,
you want them to prosper,

26:21.300 --> 26:23.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
you want them to
follow their dreams

26:23.300 --> 26:24.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and you don't wanna
hold them back,

26:24.500 --> 26:26.833 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
you don't want
them to be limited

26:26.833 --> 26:28.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
and I think that mom and dad,

26:28.833 --> 26:30.333 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
as hard as it was for them,

26:30.333 --> 26:33.866 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
encouraged us to not limit
ourselves to being here.

26:33.866 --> 26:35.100 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
- The cost is that.

26:35.100 --> 26:39.533 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- And the cost is
that this community,

26:39.533 --> 26:42.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
this temple, may not
survive because of that.

26:42.600 --> 26:45.166 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
(serene music)

26:50.333 --> 26:52.000 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- What are we doing
for dinner tonight?

26:52.000 --> 26:54.766 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
(group chatter)

26:54.766 --> 26:55.900 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- [Jonathan] If you
went through a list

26:55.900 --> 26:57.233 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
of most of the Jewish kids

26:57.233 --> 26:59.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
in Benton Harbor
from my generation,

26:59.300 --> 27:01.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
most of us landed
somewhere else.

27:01.533 --> 27:03.333 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
Gayle Kirshenbaum
settled in Brooklyn.

27:03.333 --> 27:05.600 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
Her brother, Mike,
in Washington State.

27:07.300 --> 27:11.966 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(family speaking in
a foreign language)

27:13.200 --> 27:15.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
My sister, Beth,
and brother, Bruce,

27:15.166 --> 27:18.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
both live in the Boston
area and I'm in Israel.

27:18.566 --> 27:21.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
It wasn't easy for our parents
that we all moved away,

27:21.200 --> 27:22.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
but they never objected.

27:22.766 --> 27:24.633 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- I think all three of you,

27:24.633 --> 27:28.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
what you're doing is
very Jewishly oriented.

27:28.500 --> 27:31.366 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
Beth is the most obvious,

27:31.366 --> 27:34.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
but you and Bruce
becoming social workers,

27:34.333 --> 27:36.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I've always
considered social work

27:36.800 --> 27:40.566 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
as being heavily
influenced by the prophets.

27:40.566 --> 27:43.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I mean, they were
the ones that told us

27:43.700 --> 27:45.166 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
to watch out for the widow

27:45.166 --> 27:47.733 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and watch out for the
stranger and the children

27:47.733 --> 27:51.866 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and whether you knew it
or not, you're doing that

27:51.866 --> 27:55.766 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and we're very proud of what
all three of you are doing.

27:55.766 --> 27:58.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
You're carrying the
banner of Judaism.

28:00.133 --> 28:02.166 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- And it's okay that it's
not in Benton Harbor?

28:02.166 --> 28:05.533 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- It is, I mean, we'd love
to have you in Benton Harbor,

28:05.533 --> 28:09.700 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
but we didn't really mean for
you to go to Israel either.

28:09.700 --> 28:11.866 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
But it's fine with us.

28:11.866 --> 28:13.600 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
You're doing what
you need to be doing

28:13.600 --> 28:18.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and if you're happy we're
happy and we're proud.

28:18.000 --> 28:23.000 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

28:24.133 --> 28:25.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- [Jonathan] As the
kids from my generation

28:25.066 --> 28:26.666 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
took off to new destinations,

28:26.666 --> 28:29.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
the temple maintained a
semi peaceful existence

28:29.366 --> 28:31.566 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
with just enough new
members trickling in

28:31.566 --> 28:32.766 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
to keep things going,

28:32.766 --> 28:34.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
but even if the
future was tenuous,

28:34.833 --> 28:37.300 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
the community was still
making great connections.

28:40.033 --> 28:41.700 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
- I came to Benton Harbor,

28:42.633 --> 28:46.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
served in, I think it was 1999,

28:47.533 --> 28:52.433 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and I felt almost
immediately at home.

28:53.800 --> 28:55.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
- [Jonathan] Jan Katzew, a
scholar in the reform movement,

28:55.866 --> 28:58.400 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
got an invitation to lead
the High Holiday services

28:58.400 --> 29:01.166 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
in Benton Harbor back in 1999.

29:01.166 --> 29:03.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
He accepted and for
more than two decades

29:03.633 --> 29:06.000 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
he came back every
fall to do the same.

29:06.000 --> 29:08.266 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
- People from this shtetl,

29:08.266 --> 29:12.000 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
from this very small
Jewish community,

29:12.000 --> 29:14.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
in many respects had an
international network.

29:14.600 --> 29:17.033 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
There were leading doctors.

29:17.033 --> 29:22.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
There were surprisingly
worldly lawyers and accountants

29:23.466 --> 29:28.433 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and teachers and thinkers and
I think that my perception,

29:30.333 --> 29:31.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
not just of small town Judaism,

29:31.900 --> 29:36.100 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
but of small towns in the
Midwest in particular,

29:36.100 --> 29:41.100 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
was exploded by getting to
know the human beings there.

29:42.666 --> 29:46.800 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

29:46.800 --> 29:48.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- [Jonathan] But if
spirit was a strength,

29:48.666 --> 29:50.466 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
demographics were a problem.

29:50.466 --> 29:52.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
For any synagogue
service to take place,

29:52.800 --> 29:55.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Jewish custom calls for
a quorum called a minyan

29:55.500 --> 29:58.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
to have at least 10
members in attendance.

29:58.533 --> 30:00.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- We've lost, over the
last couple of years,

30:00.500 --> 30:05.500 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
we lost several key people
who attended services

30:06.633 --> 30:09.000 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and it was difficult
getting a minyan

30:09.000 --> 30:11.866 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
before the covid shutdown.

30:13.500 --> 30:17.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Now we have no idea
whether or not,

30:17.466 --> 30:21.133 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
we figure on Friday night
we will have a minyan.

30:21.133 --> 30:23.933 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
Saturday is gonna
be very questionable

30:25.100 --> 30:27.066 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
and it's gonna take some work

30:27.066 --> 30:31.100 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
to try to get at least
10 people every Saturday.

30:31.100 --> 30:33.833 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- Shabbat shalom everybody.
- Shabbat shalom.

30:33.833 --> 30:35.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- [Jonathan] Once
covid did come,

30:35.733 --> 30:38.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Temple B'Nai Shalom
had to adapt, quickly.

30:38.600 --> 30:41.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
For a period of time all
services went online.

30:41.800 --> 30:44.500 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
- [Diane] Let us
turn to page 13.

30:44.500 --> 30:46.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- [Jonathan] On a Friday
night my mother leads

30:46.433 --> 30:48.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
a Zoom service from
the bench of her piano.

30:49.766 --> 30:52.066 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- The first two and
the last two verses

30:52.066 --> 30:53.000 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
of the (foreign language).

30:54.966 --> 30:59.933 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

31:02.966 --> 31:05.266 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- [Jonathan] The temple no
longer has a full-time rabbi

31:05.266 --> 31:07.900 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
and though there are two
part-time rabbis who help,

31:07.900 --> 31:09.300 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
services are now conducted

31:09.300 --> 31:11.666 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
mostly by lay
leaders like my mom.

31:11.666 --> 31:13.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- [Diane] But every
Friday evening,

31:13.300 --> 31:17.400 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
we have the opportunity
to make the journey anew.

31:17.400 --> 31:19.733 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- [Jonathan] Diane Yampolsky
co-chairs the ritual committee

31:19.733 --> 31:22.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and co-leads
services with my mom.

31:22.000 --> 31:25.033 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
She recalls a time years ago
when she was less involved

31:25.033 --> 31:27.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and she didn't want
to go to services.

31:27.166 --> 31:30.000 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
But as she got pulled into
other synagogue activities,

31:30.000 --> 31:31.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
she started showing
up for Shabbat.

31:31.900 --> 31:36.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- And then I began to
have a feeling from it,

31:38.100 --> 31:41.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
a part of belonging and
not necessarily believe

31:41.100 --> 31:45.566 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
in all that I was praying,
and I still don't,

31:45.566 --> 31:49.733 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
but there was a connection
and it was like by osmosis,

31:49.733 --> 31:53.400 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
it became part of me.
(singer humming)

31:56.200 --> 32:01.166 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
And we became more of
members of a community

32:02.033 --> 32:04.966 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
that we feel is like family.

32:06.233 --> 32:07.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
I mean, I look at your parents,

32:07.866 --> 32:10.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
I feel like they're our family.

32:11.066 --> 32:13.900 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
(singers humming)

32:17.000 --> 32:22.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
- We just have grown up together
and had families together

32:23.200 --> 32:26.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and shared the joys of
our children together

32:27.300 --> 32:31.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
and it's a wonderful community.

32:31.833 --> 32:32.666 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
- It's a gift.

32:33.966 --> 32:37.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

32:42.900 --> 32:45.400 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- The emotions about
family, community,

32:45.400 --> 32:48.500 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and connection at Temple
B'Nai Shalom are often raw,

32:48.500 --> 32:50.600 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
right on the surface

32:50.600 --> 32:52.266 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and there's a simple
reason for that.

32:52.266 --> 32:53.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
When you think about it,

32:53.600 --> 32:55.400 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
it all comes down to
what's been, so far,

32:55.400 --> 32:57.333 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
an unsolvable problem.

32:57.333 --> 33:00.600 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
Membership has been in
decline for several years now.

33:00.600 --> 33:04.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
But one thing I found
interesting, even unexpected,

33:04.200 --> 33:07.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
is when I ask people about
the future of the synagogue,

33:07.000 --> 33:09.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
I got very different responses.

33:09.600 --> 33:12.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- You never write off
a Jewish community

33:12.700 --> 33:16.466 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
because, or as I put it
sometimes, don't say kaddish

33:16.466 --> 33:19.333 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
for the role and place of
a synagogue in Jewish life

33:19.333 --> 33:23.533 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
because they will revive.

33:23.533 --> 33:25.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
- David Nelson, a retired rabbi

33:25.733 --> 33:27.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
who leads services at
Temple B'Nai Shalom,

33:27.900 --> 33:30.000 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
was characteristically upbeat.

33:30.000 --> 33:32.100 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- So I think that
these communities,

33:32.100 --> 33:33.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
and this one especially

33:33.366 --> 33:36.433 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
because I have never
seen a community

33:36.433 --> 33:38.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
that has the vitality
and the dynamism,

33:38.433 --> 33:41.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
even with 15, 20 people,

33:41.433 --> 33:44.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
it's remarkable and
it's gonna stay.

33:44.800 --> 33:49.800 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

33:53.133 --> 33:54.233 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- [Jonathan] The
rabbi is not alone

33:54.233 --> 33:55.833 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
with that optimistic view.

33:55.833 --> 33:57.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
My sister, Beth, who
you could say was formed

33:57.933 --> 34:00.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
both personally and
professionally at the synagogue,

34:00.500 --> 34:02.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
believes there's a way forward.

34:02.233 --> 34:06.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- And what I believe is that
the Jewish community here

34:06.000 --> 34:07.900 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
will never go away.

34:07.900 --> 34:11.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I think that its
roots are so deep

34:11.433 --> 34:12.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
and it has been through so much

34:12.833 --> 34:14.766 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
and has weathered so much

34:14.766 --> 34:18.700 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
that I think this
is a hinge moment.

34:18.700 --> 34:23.100 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
I believe that with the
change of post covid life

34:23.100 --> 34:24.633 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
and people leaving cities more

34:24.633 --> 34:27.900 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
that people are
gonna find this area

34:27.900 --> 34:30.666 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and they're gonna wanna
raise their families here

34:30.666 --> 34:35.666 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and I think this is nearing
the end of a chapter,

34:39.133 --> 34:40.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
but the book isn't over.

34:40.933 --> 34:45.933 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

34:50.300 --> 34:51.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- [Jonathan] Others
aren't so sure.

34:51.766 --> 34:54.633 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
For several years, David
Kirshenbaum has been trying

34:54.633 --> 34:56.700 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
to figure out what to do next.

34:56.700 --> 34:59.633 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- And I don't like to look
upon it as a balance sheet

34:59.633 --> 35:04.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
or just some cold statistics
but we're running outta people.

35:04.500 --> 35:07.666 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
We're flat out running outta
people and young people.

35:07.666 --> 35:09.533 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- [Jonathan] One
possibility, David explored,

35:09.533 --> 35:12.133 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
was to move the synagogue
to another space.

35:12.133 --> 35:14.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
The idea was to sell
the current building,

35:14.233 --> 35:17.866 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
possibly to a church
group, and just be smaller.

35:17.866 --> 35:20.366 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
As he made a series of
attempts to find a buyer,

35:20.366 --> 35:22.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
there were a flood of emotions.

35:22.300 --> 35:24.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- I've been in a slow,
saying goodbye process

35:24.900 --> 35:26.966 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
to the community
that I've known,

35:28.033 --> 35:31.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
that has held us all over time.

35:31.733 --> 35:35.066 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
I think that when the
possibility of the building

35:35.066 --> 35:38.700 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
being sold came up,

35:38.700 --> 35:42.766 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
I felt just a complete panic
actually and immediate sorrow.

35:42.766 --> 35:44.233 align:left position:35% line:89% size:55%
Like, no.

35:46.900 --> 35:48.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I see entirely how this
might not make sense

35:48.866 --> 35:50.966 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
to have this building anymore

35:50.966 --> 35:54.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
but how could we
lose that building?

35:54.366 --> 35:57.300 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- [Jonathan] Turned out a
sale never materialized.

35:57.300 --> 35:59.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
But oddly, in the
midst of covid,

35:59.600 --> 36:01.666 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
David saw a glimmer of hope.

36:01.666 --> 36:05.266 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- I think one of the things
that the pandemic showed us,

36:05.266 --> 36:09.333 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
there's ways to exist, and as
a matter of fact, to thrive

36:09.333 --> 36:12.133 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
and when you have
a way of operating

36:12.133 --> 36:15.300 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
that's tailor made for a
congregation that's aging,

36:15.300 --> 36:18.566 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
in that you can get
on the internet,

36:18.566 --> 36:22.033 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
even our oldest people
were able to get on Zoom.

36:22.033 --> 36:23.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
So yes, there is a way.

36:23.700 --> 36:27.566 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
But for the pandemic, I
would not be sitting here

36:27.566 --> 36:29.600 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
telling you that I think
there's a way for us to exist.

36:29.600 --> 36:32.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
A brick and mortar
existence? Probably not.

36:32.566 --> 36:36.033 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- Let's join together
with a Shammah on page 41.

36:37.566 --> 36:41.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
(Sondra singing in
a foreign language)

36:41.000 --> 36:42.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- [Jonathan] My
parents, for their part,

36:42.633 --> 36:45.033 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
sound resigned to the future.

36:45.033 --> 36:47.400 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
At the very least,
they can look back

36:47.400 --> 36:49.866 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and know they did
everything they could.

36:49.866 --> 36:54.866 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- It's a painful subject to
see something possibly ending.

36:56.066 --> 36:59.766 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
Personally, I think
that, as it is now,

37:01.200 --> 37:04.900 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
it would not survive
but I have hopes

37:04.900 --> 37:09.900 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
that there are enough young
people in the community,

37:11.066 --> 37:13.433 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
if they were to take
an interest in it,

37:13.433 --> 37:17.200 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
it could be molded to
become a synagogue for them.

37:18.766 --> 37:20.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
It might not be
anything like it is now,

37:20.866 --> 37:25.866 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
but it could become
meaningful to them.

37:27.266 --> 37:31.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
- I don't know how much more
effort I want to put into this,

37:35.100 --> 37:40.100 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
I've put in a lot, I've
fought a few battles in there

37:41.600 --> 37:46.333 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
and I feel happy with
what I've been able to do,

37:46.333 --> 37:51.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
however, I don't see
the level of enthusiasm

37:52.133 --> 37:55.133 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
that was there years ago

37:57.600 --> 37:59.600 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
when you guys were
growing up in town

37:59.600 --> 38:04.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and we had 40, 50 kids
in the Sunday school,

38:04.200 --> 38:07.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
all this has passed as
far as I'm concerned.

38:07.200 --> 38:09.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- What is the emotions
that you feel with that?

38:10.766 --> 38:14.800 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- I'm sad, but I'm realistic.
(group chatter)

38:14.800 --> 38:17.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- [Jonathan] Realistic.
That's my dad.

38:17.666 --> 38:20.466 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
But on this summer's weekend
he can be something else,

38:20.466 --> 38:23.333 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
happy.
(group chatter)

38:23.333 --> 38:24.866 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
The Kirshenbaum
and Levin families

38:24.866 --> 38:26.700 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
are gathering for a cookout.

38:26.700 --> 38:28.266 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
- Lunch is ready!

38:30.166 --> 38:32.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
Are you hungry?

38:32.000 --> 38:33.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- [Jonathan] It's a good day.

38:33.833 --> 38:35.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
We don't have to worry so much.

38:35.633 --> 38:37.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
We can hang out,
eat, and sing songs

38:37.800 --> 38:39.966 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
we learned in Sunday
school and camp.

38:39.966 --> 38:42.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

38:42.933 --> 38:46.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
We experienced the joy, the
power of our connected families,

38:46.633 --> 38:48.866 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
the feeling of just
all being together.

38:51.200 --> 38:56.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
(everyone laughing)
(everyone applauding)

38:57.066 --> 38:57.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
But what we couldn't know was

38:58.700 --> 39:00.333 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
it would be one of the last.

39:12.300 --> 39:15.300 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
(singer vocalizing)

39:47.366 --> 39:52.366 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

39:59.100 --> 40:00.866 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- [Jonathan] A
Shabbat in August.

40:00.866 --> 40:04.066 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
I'm back in Benton Harbor
visiting for a couple weeks.

40:04.066 --> 40:07.300 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
Diane Yampolsky, my mom's
partner as lay leader,

40:07.300 --> 40:10.566 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
is conducting the Saturday
morning Torah service.

40:10.566 --> 40:13.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
(Diane singing in
a foreign language)

40:13.933 --> 40:15.633 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
The removal of the
Torah from the arc

40:15.633 --> 40:17.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
is a sacred part of the liturgy.

40:17.633 --> 40:20.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
During this part,
congregants are called up

40:20.000 --> 40:23.133 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
to the Torah to say a prayer
as portions are chanted,

40:23.133 --> 40:24.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
then later interpreted.

40:24.733 --> 40:29.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
(congregation chanting
in a foreign language)

40:33.633 --> 40:36.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I stand with my mom
and say the blessing.

40:36.133 --> 40:38.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
United with her and
others who have come,

40:38.500 --> 40:40.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
these days almost
all services are held

40:40.433 --> 40:42.000 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
in the synagogue's library

40:42.000 --> 40:45.266 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
because the much larger
sanctuary would be too empty.

40:45.266 --> 40:49.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- Anybody on Zoom
with any names.

40:49.000 --> 40:51.866 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- In the Zoom era, the
library has gone high tech

40:51.866 --> 40:54.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
equipped with a couple
TV screens and a camera.

40:54.633 --> 40:56.200 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
Some, like my Aunt Cindy,

40:56.200 --> 40:58.066 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
chant sections of
the Torah online.

41:02.066 --> 41:04.233 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
There's just enough
for a minyan today.

41:04.233 --> 41:08.100 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
A total of 14 people from
Zoom and in-person combined.

41:08.100 --> 41:10.900 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
While I feel a connection
with my hometown synagogue,

41:10.900 --> 41:13.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
there's also a
deep sense of loss.

41:13.833 --> 41:17.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

41:25.200 --> 41:30.200 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- I want to believe that I've
shared with my children values

41:31.366 --> 41:32.566 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
that will make their
lives more meaningful.

41:33.600 --> 41:34.866 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- [Jonathan] Just a year ago,

41:34.866 --> 41:36.833 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
I interviewed Jack
and Julie Keller,

41:36.833 --> 41:38.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
key members of the synagogue.

41:38.833 --> 41:42.400 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
For 12 years Jack
battled leukemia,

41:42.400 --> 41:45.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
then, only months
after I spoke to him,

41:45.033 --> 41:47.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
Jack got covid and died.

41:48.566 --> 41:50.400 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
- We miss him, all of us.

41:50.400 --> 41:53.500 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
The love of my life. He
had a great sense of humor.

41:53.500 --> 41:55.700 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
No one could replace
such a person.

41:55.700 --> 41:58.733 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
He played the violin and
the piano and practiced law.

41:58.733 --> 42:00.866 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
He did everything, was
involved in the community.

42:00.866 --> 42:05.933 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
He was quietly wonderful and
very appropriate at all times.

42:06.800 --> 42:10.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

42:17.433 --> 42:18.866 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- [Jonathan] There
would be more.

42:18.866 --> 42:21.933 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
When I sat with my
parents in 2021,

42:21.933 --> 42:23.700 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
my dad had been diagnosed

42:23.700 --> 42:27.100 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
with a neurological
disorder called siderosis.

42:27.100 --> 42:30.000 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
- He was getting
weaker every day

42:30.000 --> 42:33.100 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and had more and
more trouble walking

42:33.100 --> 42:35.300 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
and it just, throughout July,

42:35.300 --> 42:38.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
it picked up its rate of change,

42:38.200 --> 42:41.133 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
I think it got worse, faster.

42:41.133 --> 42:42.400 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
- [Jonathan] We brought him

42:42.400 --> 42:43.600 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
to a nearby nursing
care facility where,

42:43.600 --> 42:45.400 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
for a while, he was okay.

42:45.400 --> 42:48.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
But within just days of
Jack Keller's passing,

42:48.200 --> 42:51.233 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
my parents got bad
news from the staff.

42:51.233 --> 42:52.866 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- And then they
came in and said,

42:52.866 --> 42:57.733 align:left position:22.5% line:77% size:67.5%
"Mr. Levin, you've
tested positive,"
which was a huge blow.

42:57.733 --> 43:01.466 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
So they retested, of course,
and he was still positive.

43:01.466 --> 43:05.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
He had covid and there we were.

43:05.666 --> 43:10.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

43:10.466 --> 43:14.033 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
At the end they give them
morphine when they need it,

43:14.033 --> 43:15.700 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
which he needed very
little by the way.

43:15.700 --> 43:20.000 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
He was unresponsive.
He was peaceful.

43:20.000 --> 43:24.700 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
For me, I wanted
to talk some more.

43:25.833 --> 43:27.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- That was the hard part
about the isolation.

43:27.966 --> 43:30.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
- We didn't have that last talk.

43:30.700 --> 43:34.866 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I had it, but I have
to think he heard it.

43:37.200 --> 43:41.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

43:43.233 --> 43:47.900 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- Dad faced his challenges
bravely, head on,

43:47.900 --> 43:50.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
with courage and
with great dignity.

43:50.800 --> 43:52.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Always our greatest role model.

43:55.100 --> 43:59.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Dad, we will miss you
and love you forever

44:00.733 --> 44:03.400 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and we will forever cherish
the gifts of your life.

44:05.000 --> 44:09.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

44:22.033 --> 44:23.700 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
- Before we do the
Mourner's Kaddish,

44:23.700 --> 44:27.066 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
I'll read the (indistinct)
for this week.

44:27.066 --> 44:28.900 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- [Jonathan] Jewish tradition
calls for remembering

44:28.900 --> 44:32.300 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
those we lost on the
anniversary of their deaths.

44:32.300 --> 44:34.000 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
One year after their passing,

44:34.000 --> 44:38.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Jack and Al, my dad,
are on a list of names.

44:38.033 --> 44:41.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- Judy Frank, Eileen
Martin, Dorothy Gobaum,

44:41.800 --> 44:45.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Jack Keller, Al
Levin, Julius Turk,

44:45.300 --> 44:47.533 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
Diane Kirshenbaum and Berdino.

44:49.133 --> 44:52.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
(congregation speaking
in a foreign language)

44:52.700 --> 44:55.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- It's hard being back here
without him, obviously,

44:55.200 --> 45:00.200 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
because he's so much of
a part of our world here.

45:01.400 --> 45:04.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
(congregation speaking
in a foreign language)

45:04.500 --> 45:07.166 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- It's hard to think what
this community would've been

45:07.166 --> 45:09.266 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
without him and Jack Keller

45:09.266 --> 45:13.533 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and all the leaders that
sort of built this community.

45:13.533 --> 45:16.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
The loss of the two of
them two weeks apart,

45:18.966 --> 45:20.533 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
it's just sort of unbelievable

45:20.533 --> 45:23.000 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
and it's still just
devastating for everybody.

45:23.000 --> 45:25.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
It still feels like a nightmare

45:25.433 --> 45:29.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and it still feels
like unreal at times.

45:29.466 --> 45:33.800 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

45:33.800 --> 45:36.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
- [Jonathan] The sudden loss
of two pillars of the synagogue

45:36.233 --> 45:39.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
was a shock, a reminder,
the institution

45:39.000 --> 45:41.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
and its members are vulnerable.

45:41.100 --> 45:42.966 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
I met again with
the two old friends,

45:42.966 --> 45:44.466 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
my mom and Dave Kirshenbaum,

45:44.466 --> 45:46.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
who had had his own
struggles to deal with.

45:46.466 --> 45:50.300 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
- 9-11 of last year,
coming up on a year,

45:50.300 --> 45:53.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
I had a stroke at
10:45 at night.

45:53.233 --> 45:55.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I was only in the
hospital for two nights

45:55.800 --> 45:57.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
but that put in motion
a whole bunch of things

45:57.900 --> 46:00.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
that we as a family
had to plan for.

46:01.566 --> 46:04.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
And then in March of this
year, Elaine had a heart attack

46:05.300 --> 46:08.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and so the theoretical
began to move into

46:09.533 --> 46:12.833 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
more of a magnified view of
what the future looked like.

46:12.833 --> 46:17.233 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

46:17.233 --> 46:20.366 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- [Jonathan] At times that
future has looked bleak.

46:20.366 --> 46:22.800 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
The losses at Temple
B'Nai Shalom were arguably

46:22.800 --> 46:26.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
not just reflective of one small
town synagogue in Michigan,

46:26.466 --> 46:28.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
but part of a
cultural, religious

46:28.466 --> 46:31.400 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and demographic shift
across the Jewish landscape.

46:32.833 --> 46:35.600 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
Small town Judaism is, by
some measures, disappearing.

46:35.600 --> 46:38.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Rabbi Jan Katzew quoted
Simon Rawidowicz,

46:38.866 --> 46:41.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Jewish philosopher and scholar.

46:41.000 --> 46:44.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- Rawidowicz is the one
who spoke about the Jews

46:44.200 --> 46:45.900 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
as and ever dying people.

46:47.100 --> 46:48.633 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
Well, if you're an
ever dying people

46:48.633 --> 46:50.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
then you're an everliving people

46:52.066 --> 46:57.066 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and because of this great
concern about living on

46:59.700 --> 47:02.366 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
and will it go on, et cetera,

47:02.366 --> 47:05.200 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
that question is animating
(serene music)

47:05.200 --> 47:06.866 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
the soul of the Jewish people.

47:09.833 --> 47:11.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- [Jonathan] One of the
extraordinary things

47:11.333 --> 47:14.166 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
about my hometown is the way
the sky can explode with color

47:14.166 --> 47:16.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
as the sun sinks
into Lake Michigan.

47:16.700 --> 47:19.800 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
To some extent, I had expected
to come back to Benton Harbor

47:19.800 --> 47:21.400 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
ready to describe an ending,

47:21.400 --> 47:23.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
how the sun was setting
on the Jewish community,

47:23.833 --> 47:26.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
but that's not
exactly what I found.

47:26.300 --> 47:27.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
- It just meant something to me

47:27.733 --> 47:31.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
that these people hung together
in the face of everything.

47:31.966 --> 47:34.066 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
So I became president.

47:34.066 --> 47:36.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
- [Jonathan] Ruth Kremer is
president of the synagogue board

47:36.300 --> 47:38.700 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
and has brought a
renewed sense of mission.

47:38.700 --> 47:40.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
- In Southwest Michigan,
an organization

47:40.866 --> 47:42.900 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
dedicated to helping
mothers and infants

47:42.900 --> 47:45.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
delivered 5,000 diapers

47:45.700 --> 47:48.033 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
to the county health
department there.

47:48.033 --> 47:50.633 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- [Jonathan] She's made
social justice a priority,

47:50.633 --> 47:51.933 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
making interfaith connections

47:51.933 --> 47:54.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
between the synagogue
and local churches.

47:54.233 --> 47:56.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Just one example,
she created a drive

47:56.800 --> 47:59.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
to supply infant diapers
to people in need.

47:59.366 --> 48:02.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- Rosh Hashanah is
Sunday, September 25th

48:02.000 --> 48:03.466 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
and we'll have a study session

48:03.466 --> 48:05.566 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
with Rabbi Katzew before then.

48:05.566 --> 48:08.266 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
- For Ruth Kremer, the key
to attracting new members

48:08.266 --> 48:10.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
isn't primarily
religious observance.

48:10.800 --> 48:15.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
- If I can build this temple
into a focus of social justice,

48:15.100 --> 48:17.333 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
those Jews will come
out of the woodwork.

48:17.333 --> 48:21.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
By becoming a recognized and
valued member of the community,

48:21.333 --> 48:24.900 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
it will be okay to be Jewish
again and we can have,

48:24.900 --> 48:26.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
through this social
justice action

48:26.800 --> 48:28.600 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and that's my vision
for the future.

48:30.600 --> 48:32.733 align:left position:22.5% line:77% size:67.5%
- [Jonathan] That
sense of purpose has
been helpful to many,

48:32.733 --> 48:34.200 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
including my mom

48:34.200 --> 48:36.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
but it took her a while
to find her footing.

48:36.633 --> 48:40.600 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
After my dad died, she slowly
returned to services in part

48:40.600 --> 48:43.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
because she knew he
would've wanted her to.

48:43.000 --> 48:45.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
Eventually she went
back to leading them.

48:45.633 --> 48:47.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
But she couldn't
have done any of that

48:47.100 --> 48:48.366 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
without community support,

48:48.366 --> 48:50.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
particularly from David
and Elaine Kirshenbaum.

48:50.933 --> 48:52.766 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
- From my perspective,

48:53.933 --> 48:57.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
for a long time I
needed taking care of

48:57.233 --> 49:00.366 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and David and Elaine
were there for me

49:00.366 --> 49:04.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and I hope I can be
there as much as I can,

49:04.466 --> 49:07.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
which I'm ready to be, for them.

49:07.300 --> 49:10.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
I think we could become closer.

49:10.833 --> 49:12.066 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
- Yeah. Oh, for sure.

49:12.066 --> 49:13.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- I mean, it's in a
different way too.

49:13.633 --> 49:16.466 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
It's like you said, David,

49:16.466 --> 49:19.300 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
you appreciate the
people that are left

49:19.300 --> 49:23.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and want them to be
as good as they can be

49:25.100 --> 49:27.100 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and it feels good to do
something for someone else.

49:28.933 --> 49:29.866 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

49:29.866 --> 49:31.666 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
- For both my mom and David,

49:31.666 --> 49:34.766 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
loss brought about emotions
they did not quite expect.

49:34.766 --> 49:37.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
No doubt there is
grief and uncertainty,

49:38.833 --> 49:41.166 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
but there's also determination

49:41.166 --> 49:43.600 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and I think that comes from
a profoundly Jewish idea

49:43.600 --> 49:46.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
passed on from
generation to generation.

49:46.000 --> 49:47.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Let's say something bad happens,

49:47.300 --> 49:49.800 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
like a death before a
wedding, in that case,

49:49.800 --> 49:53.166 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
if that happens, you have
the wedding, you keep going.

49:53.166 --> 49:56.500 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
And in the face of the losses
at Temple B'Nai Shalom,

49:56.500 --> 49:58.400 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
it's the same idea.

49:58.400 --> 49:59.500 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
(congregation singing
in a foreign language)

49:59.500 --> 50:02.100 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
You just keep going.

50:02.100 --> 50:05.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
- And if we do that, then we
can do something constructive.

50:05.000 --> 50:08.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
But if you just say it's
all gonna die, it will.

50:08.000 --> 50:10.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
If you say it, it's
like wishing it.

50:10.533 --> 50:14.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I mean, getting Jews to
agree on the synagogue

50:14.600 --> 50:15.900 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
and then what's the definition

50:15.900 --> 50:17.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
of being here and being present.

50:17.833 --> 50:19.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Sometimes it's just showing up.

50:20.933 --> 50:24.700 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
And regardless of the fact

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that the numbers
are what they are.

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You just can't
take an early exit

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'cause the people are not
gonna follow you that way.

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- So keep showing up.

50:37.533 --> 50:39.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
- Yeah, you gotta
keep showing up.

50:40.000 --> 50:44.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

50:44.000 --> 50:46.833 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
- And I think being made to
think has made it helpful

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as well as difficult,

50:48.733 --> 50:53.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
it's made me reflect on the
whole history of Benton Harbor,

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not just our section of it,

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and I'm sure you feel the same
way with your grandfather,

50:59.366 --> 51:03.300 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
that my grandparents
helped build Temple Bethel

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and it went down for my parents
and you had the same thing.

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It puts things in
perspective in a way

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that we're part of this

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and that's one reason that
I'm optimistic about it

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is that I'm not gonna
let it go easily.

51:18.833 --> 51:23.366 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
Too many people in my
past have worked too hard.

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(singing in a foreign language)

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- [Jonathan] There's
another thought,

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not a pleasant one, but
also not unrealistic.

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What would we say or feel
if someday it turns out

51:35.833 --> 51:38.166 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
the community did not live on?

51:38.166 --> 51:39.666 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
What to make of all of this

51:39.666 --> 51:42.500 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
if the cocoon of my childhood
were to come to an end?

51:43.700 --> 51:46.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
For Rabbi Jan Katzew,
if that were to happen,

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there would be, strangely
enough, something to celebrate.

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- Then I ask myself,

51:52.233 --> 51:56.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
well, would it have been
better if it had never existed?

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No.

51:59.400 --> 52:02.700 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
Would it have been better
if the last 30 years

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of B'Nai Shalom had not existed?

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Absolutely not.

52:07.500 --> 52:12.500 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
So, Judaism is so much a
this world centered faith

52:16.700 --> 52:18.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
that there is something

52:18.400 --> 52:22.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
and the faith to me adds to hope

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an element of the divine,
an element of uncertainty,

52:26.733 --> 52:31.733 align:left position:22.5% line:77% size:67.5%
an element that
recognizes nothing is
certain in human life,

52:32.600 --> 52:34.066 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
other than perhaps death,

52:34.066 --> 52:38.766 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
but I'd like to think that
the existence of B'Nai Shalom,

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as long as it does exist,
will have been for good

52:45.533 --> 52:49.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
and to me that's more
than good enough.

52:50.766 --> 52:54.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
(singing in a foreign language)

53:25.866 --> 53:30.866 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
(uplifting music)
(children playing)