On a beautiful night in August, a strange phenomenon occurred as 70 people gathered in a beautiful Elberon, NJ home—and not for a bake sale. It was like a dream; a blast from the past. People who hadn’t seen each other in 33 years gathered in the same place at the same time just to reminisce about the past. The 1975 graduating class of Magen David Elementary School was reuniting. Yearbooks, photos and reading glasses were passed around. And although most of us recognized each other immediately, the most significant difference was the hair! Gone were the afros with kippahs perched on top. Balder heads, blonder locks, and specks of gray were de rigueur.
How did this phenomenon come to be? Through sheer determination, combined efforts and divine intervention. The first line of attack, finding a venue for our meeting, became an easily solved challenge when Mozelle Kassin Mimran offered her home. Next the menu: desserts or a full meal, cooked by classmates or catered? After making a few calls, we uncovered a wealth of contributors within our class roster. Joey Zami, caterer par excellence was contacted. Morris Swed of Yudah’s Café, the spouse of one of our classmates contributed to our fare. Randi Rishty Gindi offered to supply paper goods from her brother and Esther Schweky Schnepp’s son-in-law Ilan offered Ouri’s fruit. Food: check.
Tables and cloths were borrowed from our very own community G’machs. Flowers were cut by Robin Moyal from the garden. Finding our classmates, which we imagined to be a daunting task, was simply a matter of chain calls from one person to another who were still in touch with the other, and after two weeks every class member was contacted. No small feat after 33 years!
In order to add to the festivities, Alyce Cohen Adjmi contacted some of the class’ former teachers. Mrs. Bonnie Mansour, our first SY teacher, sent us a CD which we played during the event. She told us that she always remembers us, the first and only class she ever taught at Magen David. Was it something we did? She sent us words of encouragement and blessing for success. Thank you, Mrs. Mansour.
Rabbi Shimon Cohen, a class favorite, came all the way from Brooklyn for this event and the smiles all around could not have been brighter. Rabbi Cohen, in his true humble manner, spoke to each of us individually, inquiring about our lives and wishing us well. He was and continues to be an inspiration to us and all his students.
Rabbi Saul Kassin, our Chief Rabbi, graciously agreed to join us and Rabbi David Ozeirey addressed our group with the funniest Magen David stories ever. He had us in stitches reminiscing about the idiosyncrasies of our teachers and lunchroom escapades. On a more serious note, he reminded us that in the days before Tisha B’Av and Rosh Hashanah, we all have it in our power to make small changes that will enhance our lives and bring beracha to our community. He encouraged us to pray for one another for good health and success.
While we are all so grateful for the opportunity to have gathered together again, we acknowledged the loss of one of our classmates, Morris Cohen, A”H. He is sorely missed.
Lots of pictures were taken, phone numbers and email addresses were exchanged, and promises to keep in touch were offered. An unbelievable night in August, when everyone stopped in their tracks to spend one special night together, was coming to a close. We looked around and it still hadn’t fully registered that we had indeed pulled it off. Our thanks to all those who contributed their time and effort to making this a midsummer night’s dream come true.
Who’s Up For Next Time? Arthur Shweky’s Two Cents—A Glass of Wine Anyone?
If we were Irish, a chance meeting in a liquor store might not be such a big deal, but on this Friday afternoon in Deal (in the Kosher wine section of course), three Magen David Yeshivah graduates bumped into each other and a reunion of the class of ’75 started taking shape.
With high school and college reunions, why would an elementary school reunion be so special to all of us? Because for nine years, from kindergarten through 8th grade, we grew up together. We sat side-by-side in the classroom, the lunch room and assembly. We studied together, laughed with each other and at each other. We knew who the artists were, the brains, the athletes, the drama queens and of course, the trouble makers! And this went on year after year after year as we matured from little tykes learning our Alef Bet, to young men reading from the Torah at our bar mitzvahs.
To have our whole grade assembled together again for the first time in 33 years was such a blessing! Everyone was smiling and had funny stories about everyone else. The friendships that bonded us together years ago were renewed as if we were back in school! Except now, we are parents, accomplished in our businesses and careers. We have a few doctors, a caterer, a musician, a therapist, and many who carry on the businesses built by their families.
Gone were the young girls with braces and frizzy hair. These refined women are all mothers now and a few of the girls are even grandmothers (although grandma’s never looked like them when I was younger)!
Unfortunately, not everyone in our grade was there. Our former class president Morris Cohen had passed some years ago. Others had previous plans that night and we weren’t able to get in touch with a few. But they were all in our stories and in our hearts, and they were certainly missed.
I know I’m speaking for the majority of our class when I say that we all genuinely cared for each other and this was a very special night that we will never forget!
So to all of the Magen David Elementary class of ’75, I say “L’chaim, and thanks for a lifelong friendship!”—Arthur.
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Alyce Cohen Adjmi and Moselle Kassin Mimran served as reunion chairpeople, and were members of the graduating class of 1975.
