The Charlotte Jewish News- June / July 2025- Page 23
Newspaper archives are a treasure trove of collective memories, providing a snapshot of our history. The following in an excerpt from the article in The Charlotte Jewish News, May, 2014. To read the rest of the article and other issues of The CJN, visit the archives at https:// www. digitalnc. org / newspapers / charlotte-jewishnews-charlotte-nc /.
Looking Back: Year 2014 A Bar Mitzvah for Irving
By Irving Bienstock
I was born in 1926, on the 3rd day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz. My Bar Mitzvah was scheduled for the Shabbat of June 24, 1939. I attended cheder for my Hebrew education in Dortmond, Germany in the fall of 1938 where I started to learn about the laws pertaining to putting on tefillin. My parents were busy with their own preparations such as creating a special tablecloth for our dining room table and ordering the fabric for my Bar Mitzvah suit. It all came to a halt on September 28, 1938, when my father had to flee to Belgium to avoid arrest by the Gestapo. My schooling came to an end on November 9 after Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. On January 15, 1939, my mother put me on a train to Holland, where I wound up in a Children’ s Home in Wijk an Zee. Miraculously, I was reunited with my younger sister,
Sylvia, and we stayed there for three months. I was then sent to the Burger Weeshuis, the municipal orphanage in Amsterdam, which housed other Jewish children who had arrived there via the Kindertransport.
After I had been there a week, I asked the Director, Zuster Van Der Elsakker, if I could go the synagogue on Saturday. When I lived in Germany, I always went to shul on Shabbat with my father. The answer was“ yes.” Along with a member of the staff, I joined three boys my age on a walk to the main Ashkenazi Synagogue in Amsterdam. After that Shabbat, we were allowed to attend weekly, now without escort. On my second Shabbat, I approached the Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam and told him I had a problem: I was to have a Bar Mitzvah on June 24 and I would like to have my Bar Mitzvah on that day. The Rabbi was very kind and sympathetic, and told me not to worry. Не scheduled my Bar Mitzvah and sent a teacher to the Burger Weeshuis to teach me what I needed to know. The teacher, Mr. Mansbach, came and taught me to read the minimum lines required from the Torah since our time was limited.
I was fortunate to have others help make my Bar Mitzvah possible. Mevrau( Mrs.) Wijssmuler, a Dutch lady, used to visit us at the orphanage. Although she was not Jewish, both she and her husband were very good to us. One day she came and took me out and bought me a new suit for my Bar Mitzvah, complete with knickerbocker pants. My aunt, through marriage, had a sister who lived in Amsterdam whose name was Insdorf. Mrs. Insdorf invited me to spend my Bar Mitzvah Shabbat at their house, and we all went to the synagogue together. My sister, who now lived in the Jewish Hospital of Amsterdam( because of her diabetes) was also able to attend. At my Bar Mitzvah, I was called to the Torah where I read a portion from the Sedra Chukas( Chukat). The Rabbi made a wonderful speech about me. After Hagbah and Gelilah, I was given the honor of placing the silver crown and breast plate on the Torah. At the end of the services, I went to the Insdorfs for a Shabbat meal. That evening, I returned to the Burger Weeshuis and my sister Sylvia went back to the hospital.
I received some wonderful and unexpected presents. On Sunday, I returned to the synagogue where I was presented with my Bar Mitzvah certificate. It now hangs on the wall of our dining room. The Moses family, who owned a Jewish bookstore in Amsterdam, gave me a pair of Tefillin, a Siddur, and a Chumash, which I still have.
My Grandmother, who had been deported to Poland on September 28, 1938, sent me a Tefillin bag. These were all wonderful, kind people. The Insdorf family, my Aunt, along with my Grandmother, all perished in the Holocaust. I do not know what happened to the Rabbi or Mrs. Wijssmuller. Nor do I know what happened to the many other good people who helped me. I do know that I will always be grateful to them for their many kindnesses and for making my Bar Mitzvah possible.
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