Posted on 06/08/16
Baltimore, Md - June 7, 2016 - I felt like I was taking a trip down Memory Lane while simultaneously traveling the Road of the Future, when I attended the Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim-Talmudical Academy’s (T.A.’s) 99th Annual Banquet at Beth Tfiloh on Sunday evening. More than 800 attendees came to honor:
Guests of Honor Mr. Ari and Mrs. Shoshana Krupp
Tribute to the Krupps begins at 4:19 of video below
Golden Anniversary Service Award recipient Mrs. Reva Gold
Tribute to Mrs. Gold begins at 14:35 of the video below
Alumnus of the Year Mr. Gobbie Cohn 
During the cocktail hour, it was an honor to meet Mrs. Hadassah Poliakoff, whose husband, Rabbi Manuel Poliakoff, z”l, --the former Rav of the Beth Isaac Adath Israel Congregation--was the grandson of Baltimore’s “Chief Rabbi” and T.A. founder, Rav Avraham Nachman Schwartz, z”l. It was also wonderful, later in the evening, to schmooze over the lavish Viennese dessert table, with Mrs. Glicka Creeger, who was active in T.A.’s Ladies Auxiliary for 28 years.
On the way into the dinner, I was fortunate to find honoree Mrs. Reva Gold in the crowd who told me: “It’s a beautiful honor and I wish I were younger so I could keep going and going and going, because I hate to leave these kids….I will volunteer, but I think I’ll volunteer in the elementary school, so I can be with the little ones.”
It was also a pleasure to meet Arnold and Miriam Begleiter, who have been attending the T.A. banquet for twenty years. Mr. Begleiter attended T.A. in 1953 when he moved to the U.S. from Rishon L’Tzion, Israel, thanks to his uncle, philanthropist Harry Weinberg, a“h. He was only eight years old and couldn’t speak any English, so he was put in T.A for 3 or 4 years before attending public school. “I support T.A. and all the schools,” noted Mr. Begleiter. “I feel it is everyone’s obligation. Unlike a secular school that may have an endowment, or only let you in if you have the money, Jewish schools find out what you need, let you in, and then raise the money if you don’t have it--regardless of your financial situation. Every month, T.A.--and every other school--gets a check from me….It doesn‘t have to be a big check, but I send it to show my support.”
It was a busy weekend for T.A. parent/grandparent, Leah Kossman, who attended the banquet with her husband, Simcha. She practically ran from one event to another over the weekend, which kicked off with their grandson’s bar mitzvah on Shabbos. The two-time Jewish Caring Network Women’s 5K winner ran in record time on Sunday morning before attending the T.A. banquet that same evening. Mrs. Kossman remarked, “My son went here, my grandsons go here and hopefully this tradition will continue for many future generations.”
Attending the banquet was also nostalgic for Howard Tzvi Friedman, who shared his memories of honoree, Gobbie Cohn. “Gobbie is a second generation alumnus. When I was a kid in Shearith Israel, I remember sitting right behind his father and grandfather who would say every word of davening out loud with amazing kavanah. This carried down the generations here in Baltimore and that’s why it’s so nice that they’re honoring Gobbie.”
As T.A. is about to embark on its second century, the excitement of the younger alumni, whose sons now attend the yeshiva, was obvious to me. It was epitomized by parents such as Attorney Yehuda Leib Katz, an alumnus of the Class of 2003. “My father [Rav Dovid Katz] teaches here; my grandfather, [Reverend Leo Katz], taught here in the 50s. I am very happy to be here. My son is in the school--a fourth generation T.A. person--and I’m excited to get involved at a young age to help shape the school for the future.”
During the dinner, which featured a Pirouette of Sea Fresh Citrus Dill Salmon appetizer and grilled Boneless Breast of Chicken coated with a Mediterranean Herbal Rub as the entree, a beautiful video presentation, created by T.A. rebbe, Rabbi Elchonon Ciment, expertly wove together T.A.’s celebratory past and future. It featured Banquet Chairs Mr. Aryeh Gross and Mr. Dov Ocken, who welcomed the attendees, followed by Dvar Chizuk from T.A. President Rabbi Yehuda Lefkovitz. The Chairman’s Message was delivered by Chairman of the Board, Mr. Peretz Wertenteil.
The video celebrated the fact that T.A. opened its doors, in 1917, with only six children--only the third school of its kind in the U.S.--and how it has grown to a yeshiva boasting almost 1,100 students and thousands of alumni who are now roshei yeshiva, rabbonim, and lay leaders across the world. As the yeshiva enters its second century in 2017, the video noted, it will be a year of reflection on the past with its eyes on the future--its new 11.5 acre campus, will literally lay the foundation for the next century. The yeshiva announced that in commemoration of T.A’s milestone, Guests of Honor Mr. and Mrs. Ari Krupp, together with Mr. and Mrs. Barry Ray, will dedicate a sefer Torah and present it to the school on its 100th anniversary.
“Today, we all have the great opportunity of planting the seeds for Torah in Baltimore,” explained Mr. Wertenteil, in the video presentation. “Our capital expansion, which will bring us into our 100th year, is well underway with plans and permits in, and the yeshiva is within a short time of launching the project.”
How especially fitting that, as T.A. is about to lay--literally and figuratively--its exciting foundation for the future, built upon its illustrious past, that Gobbie Cohn was selected as the Alumnus of the Year Honoree.
“I went to T.A., my father went to T.A., and Boruch Hashem, my boys go to T.A.,” said Gobbie, “and my grandfather really made accommodations for what it means to be involved in a school.”
As Gobbie’s father, Jeff Cohn, Publisher of BaltimoreJewishLife.com added, “My father was involved in many communal organizations, but his main love was T.A. When my father was a little boy, there was no T.A. Obviously, he saw a need becasue without Torah, there’s no further klal Yisroel, and he made sure to become involved so his children and grandchildren could attend a school like T.A.”
Photo Credit: Esky Cook eskycook@gmail.com
