“Throw a dart at a map of Wisconsin,” Andrew Muchin has been known to say, “and you’re bound to hit a community where a Jew is living or used to live.”
In the 163 years of organized Jewish life in the state, Jews have lived in more than 200 villages, towns and cities.
“And it has been, as they say, good for the Jews,” Muchin said as he listed accomplishments of some of the state’s Jews during the concluding panel discussion of the sixth annual “A Day of Discovery,” held Saturday night and Sunday, Feb. 26-27, at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center.
Entitled “The Milchig (Dairy) State: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Wisconsin,” the panel included an introduction by Muchin, director of the Wisconsin Small Communities History Project of the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning; Harold Hoffman, a lifelong Sheboygan resident; Larry Orenstein, a Milwaukee native; and Gwen Rivkin, who was born and raised in Wausau.
“In the late 1930s and early 40s, there were three synagogues in Sheboygan,” recalled Hoffman. “If you didn’t like one, you went to another one.”
Today, Sheboygan includes 25 Jewish families in one synagogue. “It sort of hurts,” he said. Recalling the days of daily minyans, Hoffman said, “Now we just have Shabbat services and we barely make the numbers.”
Born in 1926, Orenstein reminisced about Milwaukee in the 30s, when Walnut Street boasted “one store after another with Jewish content.”
The 30s were a booming time for Jewish life in the state, Muchin confirmed, calling Walnut Street “a mini-Lower East Side.” The state’s Jewish population peaked at 39,000 in 1939, compared to some 28,000 Jews now, he said.
Rivkin recalled her life in Wausau in mixed tones. “We were a very visible minority in a town that had no real interest or patience with minorities,” she said.
Her parents made an effort to get her and her (now rabbi) sister out of Wausau whenever possible. They visited relatives in Chicago; they attended youth conventions; they went to summer camp.
“I vowed that my children would get the Jewish education I couldn’t get. I’ve been spending my whole life playing ‘catch-up,’” said Rivkin, now co-president of the society for Jewish learning.
‘ Whet your tastes’
The panel topped off 24 hours of learning through some 50 presentations on a multitude of subjects, including cooking, art, history, spirituality, mysticism, music, technology, Jewish texts, Israel, literature and more.
More than 500 people attended throughout the day, according to the Coalition for Jewish Learning, the education program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, which co-sponsored the event with the JCC and the Wisconsin Council of Rabbis.
Themed “Celebrating the 350th Anniversary of Jewish Life in America,” the day began on Saturday night with a family havdalah service led by the (religious schools) Principals Council, separate programs for adults and children, and a dessert reception.
Entitled “350 Years of Jewish Life in America Through a Child’s Eye,” the children’s program included swimming, crafts, activities and sports.
Adults gathered to watch “Tonight America” with Ben Merens, host of “The Ben Merens Show” on Wisconsin Public Radio. Merens “hosted” four “guests,” historical figures from the 17th through 20th centuries.
In his introduction, Merens referred to the day’s theme. “Dr. Seuss wrote a book, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ Tonight and tomorrow, we’ll find out the places we’ve been.”
The sessions on Sunday included a debate about Israel, entitled “Is Peace Possible?” which featured Seymour Pikofsky and Michael Cohn, and moderator Circuit Court Judge Glenn Yamahiro. Some 45 to 50 people attended.
Cohn, an attorney and a member of Americans for Peace Now, contended that Middle East peace is possible because Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, has had a “breakthrough” realization that “Israel can’t govern the Palestinian people indefinitely.”
Pikofsky, vice chair of the national executive committee of the Zionist Organization of America, contended in contrast that Middle East peace is not possible “as long as the Palestinians continue to teach hatred” of Jews and Israel in their schools, textbooks, newspapers and sermons.
Summing up the day, co-chair Barbara Abrams called the day “absolutely fabulous.” Presenters and organizers “try to make each years’ program better and more meaningful.”
“We hope that these short tastes will whet your tastes for future study,” said co-chair Rena Safer.
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