Students hone skills – and learn plenty – by interviewing grandparents

This article was written by the seventh-grade students in Sue Oclassen’s class at Temple Sinai, in Cranston. 

Arthur Schoenwald began climbing the 10-foot fence to get out.

He and his friends had just finished playing basketball after hours in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York. The park had been closed for the night. Arthur had to get home because the next day he was going to become a Bar Mitzvah and he knew his parents did not want him playing basketball.

He scrambled up the fence. But, unfortunately for Arthur, he fell from the top of the fence to the ground, hurting his right ankle.

Arthur was in pain. But he knew he couldn’t tell his parents because telling his parents would be even more painful.

The next day Arthur, trying to hide his limp, went with his parents to his temple, which also happened to be in Prospect Park. He made his Bar Mitzvah, the first Bar Mitzvah in what was then the new Prospect Park Jewish Center, and never told his parents about the injury until he confessed to his mom 25 years later, when she was on her deathbed. Arthur Schoenwald related these memories to his grandson, Chase Schulte.

This was one of the many childhood stories recently told by grandparents to seventh-graders in Sue Oclassen’s Temple Sinai Sunday School class.

In conjunction with this year’s project-based learning objectives, the students practiced interviewing techniques with guest author and journalist Steven Krasner, then interviewed their grandparents to gain an understanding of their lives during an earlier time, one without cell phones, shopping malls and the Internet.

An introduction to the Holocaust, through the experiences of children and survivors, followed this project. All classes at Temple Sinai are doing project-based learning activities. 

Harrison Goldberg discovered that his grandmother, Laura Resende, was raised only by her mother. Her father wasn’t a positive presence in her life, as he was depressed and left the family many times throughout her young life. She was the oldest daughter, so she felt it was her responsibility to help her mother. His grandmother was a very talented crocheter.At a young age, she would teach classes to earn money to feed her siblings. There was one other sister, and there were four brothers. All the other siblings died as infants or toddlers, which was common then. His great-grandmother had 15 children altogether, which included two sets of twins. 

Harrison’s randmother told him that on many days, she would eat just bread with tea because there was no meat or vegetables, not even dairy. There was never enough money. Her mom wouldn’t ask for help from extended family because she was ashamed that her husband couldn’t provide for his family. But, even with all that, Harrison stated, “This made my grandmother the strong, kind woman she is today. I am so proud to call her my grandmother and I will make sure her story lives on for generations, because she is the reason I am here.”

Dr. Martin Feldman, Marisa Pressman’s grandfather, said he wasn’t a religious person. He did not become a Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13. Instead, he became a Bar Mitzvah at the age of 54. When he was on a family vacation in Israel, he felt it was the right time to become a Bar Mitzvah.

So, with his youngest son, Andrew, he traveled to Masada, where Jews had a big battle for survival. He wanted to become a Bar Mitzvah there because he wanted to show his son how important it is to become a Jewish adult.

Josh Land’s grandmother, Sheila Land, remembered being sent to her school in Providence by shuttle service when her parents felt it was unsafe to walk alone. Although they liked a Greek restaurant around the corner, Sheila’s family almost always ate at home; they could count on eating “deli” every Friday night and hot dogs on Sundays.

Marsha Davida Rosenfeld, Lucy Kirshenbaum’s grandmother, said she never became a Bat Mitzvah, but she went to Sunday School, High Holiday services and to Friday night services once in a while.

She said she never learned to read or write Hebrew, but she learned the religious traditions and stories. Her favorite Jewish holiday is Rosh Hashanah because she likes getting together with the family, she said. Her passion is cooking and baking. She loves seeing her family eating her food.

Lucy’s grandfather, Allan Kirshenbaum, became a Bar Mitzvah at 13 at an Orthodox synagogue called Sons of Abraham. He went to Friday night and Saturday morning services every week, as well as High Holiday services. He learned to read Hebrew when he was 11, but he didn’t learn how to write it. His favorite holiday is Passover because he likes seeing family eating his wife’s food and being entertained by Lucy and her cousins.

Bennett Fine’s grandmother said, in her day, only girls from wealthy families could become a Bat Mitzvah. 

Suzanne Glucksman, Ella Glucksman’s grandmother, told of parents who would hire professional dancers for big parties.    

Sam Latzman interviewed his grandparents, Arlene and Morris Chorney. Morris Chorney remembered blackouts during World War II. They would have to shut off all of the lights so they couldn’t be detected by enemy aircraft. Near the end of the war, he witnessed a bonfire where they hung an effigy of Adolf Hitler and lit it on fire.  

Arlene talked about how her school had air raid drills. Students would go to the basement, where each class had a space. She said they would cover their heads and faces to protect their eyesight and spines. Even though the fear of getting bombed during the Cold War was real, the kids never took it seriously and used to laugh during the drills, she said.

Arlene Chorney said she loved her parents. They were very sickly. Her father had polio and couldn’t walk. Her mother had Parkinson’s disease. Since both parents had disabilities and couldn’t work, she grew up very poor. But she became a doctor of educational administration. She was the principal at the Rhode Island Training School. She was also an English teacher. Like Arlene, Morris Chorney was a teacher. He was a science teacher at Birchwood Middle School, in North Providence, for more than 20 years. He also served in the Navy for 18 years.

Arthur Schoenwald went to Harvard and became a doctor of finance, achieving his life’s goal of getting a doctorate and becoming a professor. As a professor at Rutgers University, in New Jersey, Schoenwald received tenure after only two years, winning the school’s first Professor of the Year award the same year.  

The interviews weren’t totally devoted to Jewish upbringing. Some of the grandparents aren’t Jewish. But there were many interesting stories from their memories.