PASSOVER MEMORIES 2010

Passover always reminds me of going to Boby's house. We went there, my mother and I, every Friday night for Shabbos and for all the Jewish holidays until she died when I was 12. Shabbat was festive, but the holidays were more so ……"snowy white tablecloth, special silverware that came out of a velvet-lined wooden box", only for Passover; Ken was there, Aunt Ruth, I don't remember barbara there; my Zaidy lead the Seder, and Ken and I always kicked each other under the table……and put up such a ruckus while Zaidy read from the Haggadah  + tried to tell the story, so finally everyone said, I'm starving , let's eat.  That's what I remember.  Let the feasting begin………gefilte fish, I never liked it so i skipped to herring in wine sauce, horseradish, chicken soup, brisket, chicken, tzimmes, potatoes……..now that i think of it, i can't recall any green vegetables…..honey cake, sponge cake, barton's almond kisses and those 1,000% sugar jellied candies, red, yellow, orange + green…….walnuts.....in the shell; you had to use a nutcracker.........oh, the most important holiday food, matzah ! My mother sent me to school with latke tuna sandwiches.......she made the best latkes, from farfel and matzah meal. She also made those little popovers with farfel that were delicious. 

SUNDAY OUTING

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We decided to take a look at a very unusual, some would say whimsical, some would say, funny looking building at MIT by architect Frank Gehry. I love it....the building was open so we went in and had a lot of fun exploring. Please keep in mind that the main building material here is red brick.........so this is definitely 'thinking out of the box' as they say at MIT ! It is an engineering building. Aside from the leaking and subsequent litigation, it's fabulous !

Frank Gehry's interpretation of a 'bay window.

A SPECIAL UNCLE

While searching for Roby's published articles I found a newspaper article and some other information that he sent me on Synagogue Architecture. As I surveyed the voluminous piles of paper, all spread out on the floor, it was amazing to see how much correspondence there was over the years. Consistently on his end ! Mine, not so much...........i was admittedly, a poor correspondent........still, i was struck by how he patiently ( he only said once, "oy carol, why do you want to know this information on the family ?" That was when I asked him if he could please tell me everything that went on at 48 Harlem Street that he could remember. That definitely elicited an "oy carol, I am busy, I have three articles coming out, but I will get to it......" And he did.

ROBERT SANDLER PUBLICATIONS LIST

Last sunday, I devoted the day to my uncle Roby who asked me to please write a list of all the published articles he ever sent me. Deep breath.......I opened the box labelled Sandler Family Archives and took out all the letters from Roby that he ever sent me over a twenty year period.......upon looking at all the material, I thought, no....he sent me more than that. So I had to open the closet in the hallway, which contains 10 boxes from California, never unpacked.......sure enough, another box labelled Family Papers. I dragged it out; what a find ! And sure enough, more articles and letters from Roby.

ROBERT SANDLER - LIST OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES

3.7.10

1. WHY DON'T THEY KNOW ? The National Jewish Post & Opinion, July 15, 2009

Vol. 75, No. 21, www.jewishpostopinion.com

2. What Is A Jew ? Was this published ? Where ?

(contains pencil underlining/highlighting)

3. WHAT EXACTLY IS OUR JEWISH HERITAGE ?

Proposal for an Adult Education Course - typed;

Where was the course given ?

4. "THE LAND OF ISRAEL: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE", PART 1, Rutland Herald, July 25, 2001 (in the Commentary column) by Robert Sandler, Projessor of English, Emeritus at the University of Miami

5. "THE LAND OF ISRAEL: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE", PART 2, Rutland Herald, July 26, 2001 by Robert Sandler, Professor of English, Emeritus, at the University of Miami

6. (typed with no title, beginning with "From time to time, in the 10th + 11th centuries, and again in the 15th + 16th centuries, there were many places in Palestine where significant numbers of Jews - poor but strongly committed - eked out a living……."

one page typed, double-spaced; Was this published ?

(it came in the same envelope with the "Land of Israel" article, but contains no info. re. being published……)

7. "I DISAGREE WITH DR. RABUSHKA" by Robert Sandler, The National Jewish Post & Opinion, Vol..66, Number 52, September 6, 2000

8. "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM" by Robert Sandler, Professor of English Emeritus of the University of Miami, Miami, FL, Midstream: A Monthly Jewish Review, November 1999, p.15 -17

9. WHY ARE THERE TWO VERSIONS OF CREATION IN GENESIS ? by Robert Sandler, Midstream: A Monthly Jewish Review, February/March 1999, p. 13-16

ARTICLES I DON'T HAVE THAT YOU WROTE ABOUT TO ME IN YOUR DECEMBER 13, 1999 LETTER

"WHY MORE JEWS DON'T ATTEND SHABBAT SERVICES, Jewish Post & Opinion, September 1,1999

"WHO IS A JEW: A HALACHIC PERSPECTIVE ?" ??? published where ?

GOOGLE SEARCH - ROBERT SANDLER, PROFESSOR, UNIV. OF MIAMI, FL

I googled you just now: sunday, 3.7.10; below is a reference to an article you wrote in Liberty Magazine; I don't have it.

December 3, 2005:

Writing in Liberty Magazine, Robert Sandler, professor emeritus of history, University of Miami, writes about the making of the Constitution in 1787 and an attempt (of which I’ve never previously heard) to get the name “Jesus Christ” put into the original Constitution. Supposedly, a group of orthodox Christians asked George Washington (president of the Constitutional Convention) and company that an “explicit acknowledgment of the only true God and Jesus Christ be included in the Constitution.” [quotes in the original]

Sandler writes:

After deliberation the delegates denied the request.

Thomas Jefferson, who in 1776 had written the Declaration of Independence, was in France at the time the Constitution was written. He knew most of the delegates. Upon his return he made it a point to contact as many delegates as he could. He had, of course, met and worked with most of them before. Thomas Jefferson, a fine writer, had been keeping a journal of these important days, and he was interested in writing about the appeal of the religious group. He wrote the following description of the delegates’ response to the clergy: “The insertion [the only true God . . . Jesus Christ, etc.] was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they [the delegates] meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its [the Constitution's] protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and infidel of every denomination.” Those are the words that the writers of our Constitution gave to Thomas Jefferson for his journal (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. I, p. 45).

GOOGLE SEARCH: SEE BELOW REFERENCE

Robert Sandler, a Professor Emeritus of the University of Miami, has written an opinion piece in the July 15th edition of The National Jewish Post & Opinion. The article — entitled “Why don’t they know?” — deals with the Palestinian-Israeli land deal. Download it here.

http://www.tbam.org/default.asp?main=main8&sub=sub79&CalendarID=0&cate=0&Alias=

Here are additional articles I just found:

"YOU CAN'T BE BOTH CHRISTIAN AND JEW", MIXING RELIGIONS,

The Miami Herald, April 19, 1997

"U.S. CONSTITUTION: A CIVIC, NOT A RELIGIOUS DOCUMENT", Liberty Magazine, March/April 1997

ADULT ED COURSES AT JCC:

"WHAT EXACTLY IS OUR JEWISH HERITAGE ?"

I found your course Proposal, your OUTLINE OF JEWISH HISTORY (to 1800) and Suggested Reading List for "What Exactly is our Jewish Heritage ?

ROBERT SANDLER JUDAIC STUDIES

I spoke to Roby yesterday, my Uncle Bob who lives in

Florida with his wife, my lovely and musical aunt Bernice. Roby and I had the best conversation we ever had.

Professor Robert Sandler started the Judaic Studies Department at the University of Miami where he taught in the English department for 34 years. He is now Professor Emeritus and continues to write thoughtfully provoking pieces for various journals and newspapers on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other topics related to Judaism and the Middle East.

The most recent good news is that he will be receiving the Talmud Torah Award from Temple Beth Am where he has been a member for over 30 years.


Talmud Torah Award

With the approval of the Adult Education Committee, Temple Beth Am in 1999 instituted the Talmud Torah Award to honor congregants who contribute to the Temple by engaging thoughtfully in its Adult Education programs.

Nature of the Award

Recipients receive three forms of recognition.

• An article in the Commentator provides the congregation with the winner’s biographical sketch and photograph.
• A plaque on the wall of the sanctuary lobby records the names of the recipients.
• And, most importantly, the recipient receives recognition at a Friday night service in the Spring, and then delivers a D’var Torah on the weekly torah portion.

Selection Process and Criteria

The award is presented to a congregant who has demonstrated superior commitment to adult Jewish education in general, and to the Temple’s adult education programming in particular. The award may also be given to related congregants to honor their joint participation. Recipients should demonstrate both breadth of commitment by participating in a variety of activities and depth of commitment through consistent and thoughtful participation. Ordinarily, recipients should be members of the congregation not associated with the clergy.
A subcommittee of the Adult Education Committee selects the recipient based on recommendations from the Clergy, participants in Temple adult educational programming and other interested members of the Temple community. Prior recipients are included in the subcommittee.

These days a major concern is what to do with the the legacy of written material he has amassed over these last thirty years. We talked about setting up a website or a blog where all the articles can be scanned into the computer, set up on a blog and that way, anyone searching by subject on Judaica or his name will find him and his body of work. That way the work will be there in cyberspace forever !

I am very excited to work on this project with him. We didn't know each other very well while I was growing up so it's another chance to connect.
He invited me to the Awards ceremony in May and I plan to be there!

click here to read 7.15.09 article: