Artists and Teachers: Marsha and Chick Schwartz and Congregation Beth El

"Discourse" (cast in brass)

Chick and Marsha Schwartz began in 1983 to commute to Beth El from their home just across the border in Canada. They led children into artistic exploration of the symbols and joy of their heritage and encouraged them to build an outdoor structure for Sukkot. Chick’s re-creation of the West Wall of Jerusalem adorns the entire east wall of Beth El’s sanctuary. Marsha taught the children’s Hebrew School [as did Chick from time to time], and filled other leadership roles as needed, including (much later) sharing the presidency. In this, the Schwartzes followed in the footsteps of other couples who’d devoted enthusiastic support to whatever the synagogue needed. (from Congregation Beth El, A History With Recipes of the Jewish Community in St. Johnbury, Vermont)

Sukkah across the Canada border; Marsha Schwartz standing at left within, Chick almost hidden behind her. Rick Schwag toward right with red hat.

Part of the West Wall sculpture at Beth El

"Tightrope Walker" (ceramic 3D sculpture on flat back)

Painting, 2010 (Cedar Key, Florida)

After raising four sons and seeing them married and scattered, raising families of their own -- one to Burlington, Vermont, one to Canada, one to Florida, one to Alabama -- Chick and Marsha began their farewells to the Vermont congregation in 2003. They chose a rural Florida community for the next chapter of their lives, building a home on high, hurricane-resistant and flood-proof piers, in the small town of Cedar Key, Florida. A quiet estuary shields their home from the Gulf of Mexico just beyond -- roughly where Florida's peninsula and panhandle meet.

But that is much shorter than the story needs to be. Chick (Charles) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee; Marsha, in Brooklyn, NY, and grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. When they first married, Chick's career was in engineering. From this, he gained many of the skills he would need to fix up their snug homestead just across the border in Stanstead, Quebec, and also to begin the sculptures that used more and more of his time -- some small enough to sit on a table, others larger than a truck. Marsha sometimes served as model for the womanly figures Chick often crafted. But also driving his work were scenes of urban life, Jewish or otherwise: the angle from a high city window to a line of laundry, or the unforgettable vision of people at Jerusalem's Western Wall -- men in Orthodox garments of somber hue, women wrapped in bright cloth, heads covered. Chick's artwork fills the entire West Wall of Beth El's sanctuary, a modern and thought-provoking backdrop to the bimah. His work also became an expected feature of major art shows in Canada and down the East Coast.

Marsha's brightly painted wooden furniture projects blossomed even more brightly as she added mosaics to their surfaces. Smashed china or other dishes became valued raw materials. More reserved than Chick about showing her artwork, she rarely exhibited or gave her pieces away during her Vermont years. But at Beth El, she undertook endless assignments, from newsletter production (for years!) to sharing the congregation presidency with Jay Abramson. Marsha and Chick also had a year of being co-presidents together.

Among the many programs they arranged for members of the congregation was a visit from speaker Curtis Whiteway, an American soldier who took part in the liberation of the Daschau concentration camp; and a joyous trip across the Canada border to Montreal for Beth El members to visit Spanish and Portuguese synagogues, see where immigrants in Montreal had traveled and lived, and savor the offerings of the city's delicatessens.

Leaving the Beth El community after so many years of investing themselves took courage and determination, but the couple knew the warm Gulf climate was their goal, and they chose a town with an existing art community, where they have collaborated in gallery shows, community fundraising, library support, and networking.

The two mosaic pieces shown here are Marsha's, from a November 2011 show in Cedar Key, Florida; Chick's work now includes many paintings incorporating boats and water and sky, or trees and sunsets and open space, as well as new forms of multimedia sculpture that can be seen at http://www.chickschwartz.com.

If your children participated in Beth El's classes with Marsha and Chick, or learned to play the shofar with Chick or one of their sons, or you have vivid memories of Marsha's careful co-leadership, especially as Beth El wrangled with the congregational issue of recognizing Jewish patrilineal descent in 1998, please do add comments to this post.

When people participate as whole-heartedly in a community as the Schwartzes, for a generation, their move to a warm-climate home can't take away their lasting effects here in the north country.

Marsha's mosaic work

Mosaic on vase, by Marsha Schwartz

Alfred Zeller, Vermont's Personal Furrier

An earlier post showed this photo of three long-serving presidents of Congregation Beth El in St. Johnsbury, and Ben Harris, on the left, was featured in another post. Now it's time to write about the man in the center: Alfred Zeller, better known as Al.

The 1920 Census showed Al's father Harry as born in Austria around 1887 (arriving in the US 1913), with a trade of furrier, and his mother Sarah as born in Russia around 1896 (arriving in the US 1912); there were already three siblings (Bertha, Theda, Esther) in the Lowell, Massachusetts, Zeller home by 1920, and Al was born a year later, in 1921. Al served in World War II among the warrant officers, enlisting December 26, 1942, at Fort Devens. After the war he arrived in the Northeast Kingdom around 1950 and shared married life first with his wife Esther (née Cohen). She died in 1969, and on October 14, 1971, Al married Lillian E. Sacks, whom he'd met in Montreal, Canada. Lillian was a perfect partner for Zeller Furs; not only did she help run the business, but she often modeled the fur coats, stoles, and wraps. A common way for the couple to market their furs was to present them at a hotel in another city, such as Burlington, where people could come to see the line; Lillian served as the gracious and stylish hostess for these events.

A Zeller fur wrap.

The couple held many roles in the synagogue community, too, where Al regularly led services; for many years he assisted in training young men and women to become bar/bat mitzvah; he led the religious committee for at least a decade; and even in his later years, he continued to take part in the lay-led service rotation, always using "the blue book," the Reform tradition siddur.

As his wife Lillian recalls, Al particularly took a strong role when the congregation decided to purchase land and have its own synagogue built. Along with the Harrises and Caplans and many others, the Zellers helped raise funds, draw community attention, and make decisions about how the structure would be finished. Lillian recalls with special fondness a fund-raising party that she and Al hosted, around the built-in swimming pool at their home about a mile from the shul.

Here are the segments of the congregational history that mention the Zellers:

Alfred Zeller, who owned a furrier business in town, became president of the St. Johnsbury Chamber of Commerce. He would later be synagogue president for three years, and had already begun guiding young men and women through becoming bar or bat mitzvah (the first was Harvey Caplan, who would also become a synagogue leader). Al’s wife Lillian enjoyed co-hosting a highly successful fundraiser as a “pool party” at their home. 

* * *   

Ellie Dixon, a congregation member and reporter for the Caledonian-Record, wrote nostalgically of the [congregation's] 33 years in rented rooms over McClellan’s department store:

In the simple rented quarters on the second floor of a store front building, the whole gamut of Jewish life was experienced. Babies were named, bar and bat mitvahs were held and holidays were observed with all their traditions. Some of the youngsters who played dreidle games at Hannukah parties 30 years ago now watch their children play the same dreidle games at the same Temple, during the Festival of Lights holiday. … The Temple’s religious leader, Alfred Zeller, … predicts that the congregation will be in its new building a year from now. “The enthusiasm of the local selectmen and area residents is overwhelming,” said Zeller. He noted that contributions toward a Temple building fund have been offered from Jews and non-Jews here and in neighboring New Hampshire.

* * *

[When the synagogue building was complete] Rabbi Max Wall came from Burlington to deliver the dedication address; Ben Harris as president and Alfred Zeller as religious committee chair shared the pulpit. Area priests and ministers attended. And the synagogue announced that its membership included “about 20 Jewish families … and 14 children in its Hebrew School.”

* * *  

[In 1985] Al and Lillian Zeller sold their 35-year-old furrier business.
* * *

Al Zeller died in 2009, but among the many young people, now adults, whom he led to the Torah, his memory lives brightly. Beth El dedicated the publication of its history in that year to Al Zeller, who gave in so many ways to his community. His obituary is found in the February 5, 2012, post here.

The Zabarskys and St. Johnsbury Trucking: A 20th-Century Force of Economic Development

In the early 1900s, probably between 1906 and 1911 (the stamp on the form is too faint to read), Daniel Zabarsky become a US citizen. Born in "Tsartorea," Russia, in 1871, he'd married Ida Shusterman from Russia and arrived in Chelsea, Massachusetts, for his new life. And in a few years, the couple would have a large family in northern Vermont. Two of their sons, when grown, would make St. Johnsbury, Vermont, a name familiar to people all over the Northeast through their long-haul trucking firm: St. Johnsbury Trucking.

How Daniel reached America in 1906 is worth noticing. Ancestry.com explains: "In the port cities on the east coast of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century, many charitable organizations aided immigrants arriving from Europe. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) was one of these organizations. There were 'ethnic' or 'immigrant' banks in many port cities ... where newly-arrived immigrants tended to settle. ... a place where recent immigrants could save money and arrange to bring their families to the United States." Daniel Zabarsky arrived in early 1906 on a steamship ticket from one of these: the Blitzstein Bank.

Harry's World War I registration card

Daniel's birthday is recorded as November 1, 1871, and his wife Ida's as December 25, 1877 ; "December 25," like "July 4," was a date often assigned when an immigrant didn't know her or his actual date of birth, and that seems likely for Ida. Records show a son, Harry Daniel Zabarsky, born in 1899 or 1901; another, Milton R., who would be nicknamed Mickey, born in 1907; a sister Betty in 1909; and Maurice, arriving in 1918, would be noted at the hospital in Newport, VT, as the sixth child of these parents. Daniel was a "driver" at the time of naturalization; his sons Harry and Mickey became truck drivers, too.

Younger brother Maurice's birth record

Harry's story is the better known one. According to the Bangor (Maine) Daily News of June 4-5, 1988, in spring 1920 Harry's work involved driving a Ford truck along the back roads of Barton, VT, collecting milk from dairy farms, delivering it to the creamery (milk processing plant) in town. He also took on some other hauling. When he hauled a truckload of furniture up from Boston for a summer resident, the rest of that resident's belongings came by train -- and didn't arrive until three weeks later. Said the Maine paper, "Zabarsky realized the possibility of long-haul trucking" at that moment.

He chose to start his long-haul business in St. Johnsbury. "For a short time in 1921, he hauled milk to the creameries and delivered ice cream to local hotels, but the road to success started with the decision to deliver meat door to door to the resort hotels in the area."

Harry's brother Mickey joined him, and the two began hauling butter to Boston from creameries in Vermont. By 1927 they had six trucks and delivered milk to Arlington and Somerville, Massachusetts. In 1929 the company established headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., but the terminal in St. Johnsbury continued active (and much later would become a computer hub for the firm). The Great Depression nearly wiped them out, but they recovered and in 1938 expanded into Maine. The trucking business eventually became an icon of New England, with depots in many states and boldly marked truck trailers. In 1975 the Zabarskys sold their business to Sun Carriers, Inc.; in 1988, when the Maine paper reported on the company, it had more than four thousand employees and provided freight service to fifteen northeastern states and two Canadian provinces.

But as the Interstate Commerce Commission changed its rules, and the trucking business became dominated by fewer, larger firms, St. J Trucking met its end on June 15, 1993, with the announcement that it would close. It was a "victim of the deregulated road," said news accounts.

Few thought of St. Johnsbury Trucking as founded (and long owned) by Jewish brothers. Nor did the Zabarskys take on any large roles within the Jewish congregation, although their accomplishments were recognized within the synagogue community. Yet Harry's wife Molly was an active member of the early Beth El Sisterhood, and at least one Beth El gathering was held at Harry and Molly's spacious "cabin."  The Jewish roots of the Zabaarskys were undeniable: Harry, for instance, married Molly Fruchtman (born in Australia, 1903) at the "Jewish Share Hashomayium" in Quebec, Canada, about two hours from Newport, VT, and a very large Jewish center then, as now.

Harry Zabarsky died in 1982 in Boston; Mickey died in 1995 in Needham, Mass. A road in St. Johnsbury bears their name, and St. Johnsbury Academy owns the property where Harry and his wife used to welcome guests.
**
A note to St J Trucking fans: I was unable to find a photo of a St Johnsbury Trucking vehicle that was available for use here. If you have one you'd like to share, please do!

Rosalie and Ben Harris, St. Johnsbury, VT

In February 2012, Rosalie and Ben Harris celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary and Ben's 99th birthday, on the same day. Although they don't "go out" as often these days, the couple enjoyed a birthday gathering with a dozen friends at a local restaurant, and the local newspaper, the Caledonian-Record, ran their photo. 

Considering how often the two Harrises had their photos and names in the St. Johnsbury newspaper over the past 63 years, it was about time another photo got printed! Even into his 90s, Ben often made the "Community" pages, as did Rosalie; in 2009 the two of them were statewide news, as word arrived that "The Vermont Community Foundation is proud to announce Ben and Rosalie Harris as the 2009 David G. Rahr Community Service Award recipients." As part of the award, the couple specified a community group to receive a $2,500 grant from the VCF, and they chose St. J's Kingdom Community Services because, as Rosalie said, "There is an obvious need to feed people who are hungry."

Over the decades, Rosalie and Ben took mostly separate leadership roles: Ben in the business community (he was proprietor of Nate's, a men's clothing store in St. J), and Rosalie with missions that connected to her Canadian nursing degree, a career given up as she crossed into the United States to marry Ben in 1942. In St. Johnsbury after World War II, once their three children were in school, Rosalie helped establish the county's Home Health Agency and developed a lasting volunteer relationship at the region's hospital.

(Image of Nate's envelope courtesy of Dave Kanell.)

It was a long journey from the start of each one's life -- Ben as a child in the railroad town of St. Albans (his father Hyman was born in Russia, his mother Yetta in Austria), and little Rosalie Goldstein of Montreal, sharing with her sister the care of the family's apartment and household, resilient during the Depression but feeling deeply the death, when Rosalie was seven, of their mother.

Inevitably, as Jews who treasured the traditions and celebrated each holiday, savored traditional foods, and welcomed guests into their home, the Harrises filled essential roles in the Beth El congregation. Rosalie's story is told in some detail in the 2009 book To Life! A Celebration of Vermont Jewish Women, a project of the Vermont Jewish History Project. In fact, Rosalie's face is on the cover shown here, at the center of the top row.

But the way that Rosalie and Ben took part at Beth El was multilayered, loyal, and constant, even as Ben's mobility diminished. Their willingness to be public faces of traditional Judaism in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont continues to be an asset to the Jewish community. But here, from Congregation Beth El: A History With Recipes of the Jewish Community in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, is another insight into how they shaped the community's growth:

For many years [1949-1981], High Holiday services were conducted by student rabbis, most of whom only stayed with Beth El for a year or two. Their letters fill a thick looseleaf notebook with evidence of their earnest efforts, charm, and affection. Often these young leaders stayed with local residents, and members took turns feeding them. It was another way in which community emerged and thrived.

         The official list in the blue loose-leaf binder kept by Ben Harris begins in 1948 with Rabbi Milton Richman of Scranton, Pennsylvania. . . .  The student rabbis were always addressed as “Rabbi” when they came to Beth El. Although they came from all over the country, and even from Quebec, they seemed to retain a fondness for their time in Vermont. Often they wrote to share their lives’ accomplishments: Rabbi Herbert Rose, writing 20 years after his 1951 time at Beth El, sent family photos and described a book he’d written on a Jewish philosopher, A. D. Gordon. Rabbi Milton Schlager, the 1952 student rabbi, settled in South Carolina in 1982 after his years in Mississippi. Rabbi Sydney Hoffman (1953 at Beth El) became the only U.S. military Jewish chaplain in the United Kingdom, in Alconbury, England; in 1969, Rabbi Herbert Bronstein recalled his 1954 season in Vermont, writing, “I have very vivid memories of the [Ben and Rosalie] Harris household and my wonderful stay in St. Johnsbury.”  

Soon the congregation added a building of its own and steady leadership, including a monthly lay leader visit (from Julius Lester) but still depending on members to lead services two to three times per month, and Ben and Rosalie served on the board and its committees for decades, and attended almost every Shabbat and holiday service, steadily corresponding with members and guests who'd moved on, bringing their greetings "home."

Many long-time Beth El members moved South for a gentle retirement. Ben and Rosalie stayed in St. Johnsbury instead, and kept the community gentler through their presence. 

Jewish Summer Camp: Did You Go to Camp Lown in Maine?

summer in Maine; photo courtesy of juhansonin

While we savor our winter weather, it's also fun to think of summer. If you attended Camp Lown in Maine, the Documenting Maine Jewry project is looking for your help. Here are some new files the project just provided:

• American Team Songsheet 1911-1987 ( Waterville ) -
• Camp Lown : Kadima - beginning of session edition 1961 ( Waterville ) -
• Camp Lown : Kadima - end of season edition 1960 ( Waterville ) -
• Camp Lown : Kadima vol 10 no 2 23 Aug 1955 ( Waterville ) -
• Camp Lown : Kadima Vol 10 no 2 23 Aug 1959 ( Waterville ) -
• Camp Lown : Kadima Vol 11 no 2 24 Aug 1958 ( Waterville ) -
• Camp Lown : Kadima vol 12 no 2 25 Aug 1957 ( Waterville ) -
• Camp Lown Israel Songsheet 1961 ( Waterville ) -
• Camp Lown Reunion 1984 ( Waterville ) -
• JCC Bulletin vol XV no 14 Jan 9 1953 ( Portland ) - Sidney Lerman & Don and Ellen Ward
• JCC Bulletin vol XII no 32 May 12, 1950 ( Portland ) - Sidney Lerman & Don and Ellen Ward
• JCC Picnic Bulletin Vol XV - no number June 18, 1953 ( Portland ) - Sidney Lerman & Don and Ellen Ward
• Kadima Reunion Songs August 1958 1958 ( Waterville ) -
• Playbill: Camp Lown CIT Show, Carousel, 1961 1961 ( Waterville ) -
• Portland, Me : Jewish Census Data ( Lewiston ) - David M. Freidenreich the Colby College Maine Jewish History Project (2011)
• Rockland, Me : Jewish Census Data ( Lewiston ) - David M. Freidenreich the Colby College Maine Jewish History Project (2011)
• World War I Yiddish poster encouraging Jews to buy war bonds 1914 circa ( New England ) - Elizabeth Stevens Bangor Public Library

Three Men, Three Stories of Family, Work, and Service to the Community

Here is a photo of the three "presidents emeritus" of Beth El Synagogue in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, probably taken around 1991 or 1992 at a 10th anniversary celebration for the congregation's building. The gathering was held at the Creamery Restaurant in Danville, Vermont.

From left to right, the men are Ben Harris (who turned 99 on Feb. 1, 2012), Al (Alfred) Zeller (1921-2009), and Dave (David) Kanell (husband of your blog coordinator). Dave was president of the synagogue at that time.

I'll add stories of each of these men and of their families over the weeks to come. For today, here is the Caledonian-Record (St Johnsbury, VT) obituary for Mr. Zeller, whose absence is very much felt.

10/5/2009 8:00:00 AM Alfred Zeller Dies

Alfred Zeller of St. Johnsbury, Vermont's personal furrier, passed away quietly Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, surrounded by his family. He was 88. He was born in Lowell, Mass., on April 11, 1921, the son of Harry and Sarah (Shertock) Zeller. He was predeceased by his first wife Esther (Cohen) Zeller. Alfred was indeed known as "Vermont's personal furrier." He took great pride in bringing his fur business, with his wife Lillian, to the people by setting up hotel shows, particularly in White River Jct., Montpelier, and Burlington. Many may remember their TV ads on WCAX. He maintained his fur business in the Palmer Building on Eastern Avenue in St. Johnsbury as well as a close relationship with the Palmer family over the years. He sold his fur business in the fall of 1985. Alfred was an active man all his life, which made the last two years difficult in that he could no longer golf at St. Johnsbury Country Club, sail his sailboat on Joes Pond, swim in his backyard swimming pool, or ski at Burke Mt. (although ski he did on his 80th birthday!). Alfred was instrumental in the relocation, building, and operation of the Beth El Synagogue. He is survived by his loving wife of 38 years Lillian; son David Zeller and his wife Virginia of Swampscott, Mass.; daughter Susan Zeller-Kent and husband Tom Kent of Woburn, Mass.; step-daughter, whom he loved as his own, Donna Oplinger and husband Thomas of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y.; two granddaughters Kayla and Merina Zeller; two brothers: Nathan Zeller of Peabody, Mass., Philip Zeller and wife Jeanne of Lowell, Mass.; sister Esther Alexander of Atlanta, Ga.; and many nieces and nephews. A public memorial service will be held at Beth El Synagogue Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. Beth El Synagogue is located at 1097 Hospital Drive (on the left going up Hospital Hill). The family will observe his burial privately at the family cemetery in Pelham, N.H. Memorial contributions could be directed to Congregation Beth El, PO Box 568, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819.