The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Oct. 20 feature article on former Milwaukee assistant district attorney David Lerman, 56, who died of cancer on Oct. 18, emphasized his secular social activism and his work on restorative justice.
What it did not mention was how active he was as a Jew, and how his interest in restorative justice came at least partly from Jewish ideas.
As he told The Chronicle in a Bagels ‘n Bytes column in the issue of March 3, 2000: “On Yom Kippur, we Jews ask God for atonement for our sins. But Maimonides tells us we must go to the victim to ask for forgiveness of sins committed man against man.”
And that is the fundamental principle behind restorative justice. As he put it, “The idea is to look at how to repair the harm that has occurred and not just at the punishment of the perpetrator.”
Milwaukee native Lerman became interested in social justice not only because his father, the late Philip E. Lerman, was a civil rights and labor activist. His father also was a Labor Zionist.
David became active in the Habonim Labor Zionist youth group, and he said he remembered skipping school to hear Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir speak in 1969. After graduating from a Madison high school, he went to Brandeis University, but took time from that to go to Israel, where he was during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
“I went to Israel because I believe Zionism is the pinnacle of Jewish life,” he told The Chronicle. “And that Jewish experiences would be meaningful, almost cosmic, there.”
Ultimately, he returned to Madison, where he earned an undergraduate and a law degree at the University of Wisconsin. In Madison, also met Sharon Marcus, whom he married.
They moved to Israel, but after the first of their three children was born, they moved to Milwaukee. The readjustment went well, but Lerman said he missed the range of Jewish music he heard in Israel. “I loved it all, from Sephardic to Moroccan to Yemenite.”
He ended up for a time hosting a WYMS radio show, “Celebration of a People: Jewish Music and Culture Hour.”
He returned to Israel many times. He taught the National Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution in Israel’s Ministry of Justice about restorative justice in 2004, and spoke at a Jerusalem symposium on restorative justice in 2005.
Lerman also helped found Congregation Shir Hadash, Milwaukee’s Reconstructionist synagogue; was active in the Milwaukee Area Jewish Committee; and helped revive the Milwaukee chapter of Americans for Peace Now in 2002 and was a past president of this group.
In addition to his wife and three daughters — Rachel, Nomi, and Ilana Lerman — he is survived by sister Liz (Jon Spelman) Lerman and brother Richard (Mona Higuchi) Lerman.
Goodman-Bensman Whitefish Bay Funeral Home handled arrangements. The funeral took place Oct. 21 at Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid. Burial was in Mound Zion Cemetery.
The family requests memorial contributions to the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, Adamah Farm Fellowship, or Core El Centro.
Lawrence J. Meldman of Middleton died Sept. 8 of cancer. He was 69.
He was a Milwaukee native who graduated from Whitefish Bay High School, Los Angeles Valley College, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
He was a broadcast journalist and public information officer for the Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education. He won multiple awards as a producer of public spot announcements and of training films for emergency medical technicians and fire rescue personnel.
He was a collector of rare and classic films, and was also interested in the history of radio.
He is survived by his mother, Edith Meldman; his son, David Meldman, and his former spouse and friend, Margie Lasecke.
Cress Funeral Home in Madison handled arrangements. Rabbi Ronald Shapiro officiated at a memorial service in Milwaukee on Sept. 14.
Holocaust survivor Lena Obar, nee Markus, of Glendale died June 14. She was 92.
She was born in Poland, and she witnessed the murder of her sister by German Nazi soldiers. She was sent to forced labor camps, but managed to escape; and she was taken in by a Catholic family and disguised herself as a Polish Catholic.
After the war, she learned that her parents and three other siblings had been murdered. One brother survived, and she met a friend of his, concentration camp survivor Adam Obarzanek. The two married in a displaced persons camp, where their two daughters were born.
In 1949, the family moved to Milwaukee, where they opened a successful grocery store on 15th St. and Juneau. After her husband at age 45 died of a heart attack, she continued to run the business until what the family called “health issues” forced her to sell it. “After her health issues were resolved,” she worked for other grocery stores.
She was active in Milwaukee’s Holocaust survivor community, and was a member of the New American Club and the Generation After organizations.
She is survived by daughters Esther Foreman of Glendale and Anna (Gary) Lichtenstein of Chicago; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Blane Goodman Funeral Service handled arrangements. Rabbi Shmaya Shmotkin officiated at the funeral on June 17. Burial was in Agudas Achim Cemetery.
The family would appreciate memorial contributions to the American Heart Association or The Shul in Bayside.
Milwaukee native Harriet Pulley, nee Meyers, died on Sept. 27 in Fairfax, Va. She was 87.
She graduated from Shorewood High School in 1942 and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She met her husband, George Pulley, when they were both serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.
After the war, they moved to Oklahoma City, Okla. She ultimately earned an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in vocational counseling at Central State College in Edmond, Okla. She worked as a counselor at Grant High School for 30 years. After retiring, she worked as a substitute teacher in Oklahoma City, and then for five years in Fairfax, where she moved in 2003, until she turned 83.
She was a member of Temple B’Nai Israel in Oklahoma City. She enjoyed cooking and entertaining guests.
Her husband died in 1988. She is survived by daughter Sarah Weaver of Indianapolis; sons Lewis Pulley of Fairfax and Jeb Swan of Edmond; sister Lenore Clark of Evanston, Ill.; brother Jack Meyers of Milwaukee; one grandchild; and one great-grandchild.
The funeral was held Oct. 24 at Temple B’Nai Israel, with interment at Memorial Park Cemetery in Oklahoma City.
Donations may be made to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.
Former Milwaukeean Aaron Rabinovitz died Sept. 1 in Overland Park, Kan., after a short illness. He was 79.
According to his family, he “was a warm, loving man who had a lifelong interest in education, and a strong commitment to community and family.”
According to the obituary posted online by Fitzgerald Funeral Service, he began studying chemical engineering, but was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954. He worked in the Medical Service Corps and was stationed in France and Germany. During a leave in 1955, he married Shirley Spector.
After discharge in 1956, he moved to Lawrence, Kan., where he worked in his in-laws’ scrapyard; and he stayed in the recycling field for most of his employment life.
He lived in the Kansas City area until 1975 and moved to Tulsa, Okla., to work at Borg Compressed Steel from 1975 until 2003. For the last nine years, he has lived in Overland Park and Leawood, Kan.
He was an active member of two synagogues, Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, and Congregation B’nai Emunah in Tulsa. He also volunteered and tutored GED preparatory students.
He enjoyed cooking for his family and friends. He was a lifelong learner who “studied everything from theoretical mathematics to musical composition to Talmud.”
His wife died in 1999. A few years later, he met Gloria Gershun, and lived with her until her death in 2010.
He is survived by daughter Shanny (Eric) Morgenstern of Overland Park; sons Paul (Amy) Rabinovitz of Omaha, Joel (Debi) Rabinovitz of Fairview, Tex., and Mark (Susan) Rabinovitz of Tulsa; sisters Leah (Yale) Knight and Mimi (Harold) Paley of Milwaukee; and seven grandchildren.
A memorial service was held Sept. 3 at Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park. Burial was at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tulsa on Sept. 4.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Congregation Beth Torah, Congregaton B’nai Emunah, CASA of Jackson County, or Jewish Family Services of Kansas City.
Gloria Joy Grossman Schnoll, nee Astrin, of Mequon died Oct. 12 of leukemia. She was 81.
She was born in Chicago, graduated from Von Steuben High School in 1948, and moved to Milwaukee the following year. She married Milwaukeean Gordon Grossman, whom she had met at a summer resort, in 1949, and according to her family “was a busy stay-at-home mom for many years.”
She was an active volunteer that served on many community organizations’ boards. In the late 1960s, she started an antique jewelry business with a friend.
However, according to her family, “her true passion was decorating. In the beginning, she worked for other decorators, and in the early 1990s, she ventured out on her own, forming Gloria Grossman Interiors. She was truly in her element.”
She was a member of Congregation Shalom. She enjoyed cooking and knitting.
Her first husband died in 1996. She married Ed Schnoll in 2003, and they established a winter home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
She is survived by children Shari (Gary) Liess, Candy Oyler (Arnie Benardette), Wendy Grossman, Julie Kurutz, David (Steven Files) Grossman; 14 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Blane Goodman Funeral Service handled arrangements. Services were at Congregation Shalom on Oct. 14. Burial was in Mound Zion Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Congregation Shalom or a charity of choice.
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