Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1991-04-11

              v.
ft
»■
J-
I!'
i*;
I-
i;».
?l
I'll
K'.
IP''.
"-™ 60 YEARS OF SERVICE
THE
7   ■      -,
■e va
- *
J'
i I .
I   i I
' L
I 2
o   Hist.Society   Lxbr.
2   Veima   Ave.
umbus,   Ohio   •'      *   *    .    •
11 COMP
% Schecter —
r Extraordinaire
iSSfc' The Ohio Jew ish Chronicle
liJSfSV     .     tr     _i    - n/     I
lfm#ME60
;»tn   ,.i
J   rrj
APRIL 11,1991
27 MSAN 5751
\     l |       i       i \
mm
tl$iat to tell
fe»Tewish child
-^.tfi*
abfiut the Holocaust
page 3
Tibor to speak
at Holocaust Memorial
* page 4 '
,Q(kbmunity College
|pnng classes begin
^$f±_  - paRe 6
iel 43 activities
iinue to grow
page 7
tel awarded
ik
Hbnal grant
page 12 i
plman Scholarship
n^blished.
4$fVgudas Achim
Page 13
itors to assist
ib search
En >The Chronicle
page 15
■       t    t ■ i
6,7
12-16
•       «   •   IfJ  44*| f                 I   •  •                      • ■■■!■
J*     f                 ■«■                 1       •   » ,,,,■■■■            ■«
fl«Bqf«f*                 ■■• ■■             •                                       D
.                   e       *           ■ •  r ■           4       .  9  1       t  * *    All) I*
■  «k      m .  .           ■■■ f • ■           ■  ■  • ■           • * a    V
• # • ■     *
By Ina Horwitz
On April 15, Bexley resident
Sylvia Schecter will celebrate
her 80th birthday. Thus, it
would seem timely for members of the community to reflect upon the life of a woman
who has given 60 years of volunteer service to the major
Jewish organizations in Columbus.
It comes as no surprise that
Schecter is included in Who's
Who of American Women.
Many of her positions. and
many of her recognitions were
given to very few women, and
in some instances, to no woman other than herself.
She said that it has been a
hard life at times but a very
full and rewarding one. "My
life has been changed by
everything I've done," she added. "I'm a different person
today."
A Columbus resident all her
life, she started work at age 11
as a stock girl at Reiser's, an
area retail store. At 12, she
was a salesgirl in the Born-
heim Cahn Department Store.
At 13, she was secretary to an
attorney, Goldie Kantor. Her
responsibilities in childhood,
as well as a "wonderful family
life," contributed, she explained, to her desire to help
others. Most important, her
family set a" pattern,'a way of
life for her to follow.
She graduated from Central
High School at age 16, one of
two youngest graduates in the
entire Columbus school system. She married her husband, Joseph, at age 19. They
were married for 57 years, un-
td his recent death from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.
Schecter worked with her
husband in his businesses. She
remembers his great motivation and aggressiveness and
said that being with him gave
her the inspiration and abilities to accomplish her volunteer work.
Very early, she became involved in volunteering. As a
teen, she belonged to Junior
Hadassah. When she married,
she became a charter member of B'nai B'rith Women. "I
was a shy young woman
then," she said.
Schecter is well known for
her leadership and commitment to her synagogue,
Agudas Achim, and to Judaism, represented by her dedicated work in the Jewish community. Her recognitions and
awards are so numerous that
listing them all here would be
impossible.
B'nai B'rith Women is one
of the beneficiaries of
Schecter's volunteerism. She
founded the Columbus Chapter, which she served as president. Later, she became president of the State Association
and District «2 Grand Lodge
BBW, participating on National Commissions about Hillel,
'ADL, adult education, BBYO
and the Children's Home in Israel.
During WWII, Schecter organized and set up the B'nai
B'rith Women's Production
Shows, 1941-43. During that
period, she also organized the
Jewish Blood Donor program
and was made honorary
chairwoman of the Community Blood Donor Program in
1989-90. In 1959, she was one of
Achim Sisterhood. It Was
painted in 1972 by artist Fay
Ruben, who has also done portraits of notables, such as former Governor James Rhodes.
The Sisterhood has never presented another portrait to anyone.
On June 11,1987, the Agudas
Achim Brotherhood honored
Sylvia Schecter
only 17 women to attend the
International B'nai B'rith convention in Israel, the fust of its
kind held there.
On May 15, 1977, Schecter
was presented with the National Men's B'nai B'rith
Guardian of the Menorah
award. She is one of only two
Columbus residents to receive
this recognition.
She has devoted a great deal
of time to the OSU Hillel Foundation, especially during the
construction of the present
building. She remembers sewing drapes by hand for the
original small house, where
the present facility now
■stands.
She was a member of the
Boards of Hillel and the Jewish Center. She also helped organize, over 50 years ago, the
Women's Division of the Columbus Jewish Federation, as
well as the Columbus Torah
Academy and the Women's
Chapter of Rrandeis University. From 1984-87, she was the
co-chairwoman of Cash Mobilization for the Federation.
At Agudas Achim, she's instituted many programs and
, projects. She was elected the
first woman member of their
Board of Trustees an the first
woman officer^ the congregation. '
A large painting of Schecter
hangs in her living room that
teas a gift from the Agudas
her with the "Flowers for the
Living" award in recognition
of her "deep concern for traditional Judaism" that "led her
to serve her congregation with
zeal and devotion."
Schecter said that her association with many "great people" has given her a broader•__
outlook on life. She is a very
caring person and very proud
of her family. "My children,"
she said, "have always supported me in my woric" and
she always included them in
everything she did. They are
Beverly Feiges of Milwaukee,
Elaine Grossman and Benson
Schecter of Columbus, plus
five grandchildren.
Schecter is a Zionist, who'
has visited Israel .several
times and would like to go
back. She said that shess hot
afraid of being in Israel and
would travel there anytime. If
.she could have gone, she said,
even the'Gulf War would not
have stopped her.
Perhaps her most continuous devotion to any Jewish
organization has been her 35
years of service to what started as the Columbus Jewish
Home for the Aged, became
Heritage Village and is now'
Wexner Heritage House. She's
been an Auxiliary president
and served an unprecedented
three-year term as president
of the Board of Directors, only
one of two women to have held
that office.
She said that she enjoys
training and instructing
others and has done much in
. the coordination of Heritage
House volunteers. She also
helped pick the fabrics and
furnishings for the recently remodeled building, not going
with the more traditional dark
colors, but using bright colored fabrics and plaids instead: "We selected decorating ideas that we could enjoy, using 35 to 40 different
wall coverings alone," she
said. "After all, it could be me
there someday."
In fact, her mother, once a
resident, brought some of her
own items and furniture from
home; Now, touches of home
can be seen in almost every
room.
Schecter also helped with
the building of Heritage
Tower and the restoration of
the assisted living facility,-
Heritage Manor. She was the
first recipient (March 19,
1976) of theJEleanor and Jack
Resler "Life with Dignity"
award for outstanding devotion and commitment to residents of Heritage House.
. .Her newest project is Woods
at Heritage House, a proposed
apartment building for the elderly who may need access to
daily amenities, such as a
meal system, but who don't
need nursing home care. •
"Volunteering for Heritage
House these last 35 years has
really been my Ufe^' Schecter
said, "and a very exciting one.
We are very fortunate to have
such dedicated, caring people
in the Jewish community to
allow Heritage House to creates and provide services for
the elderly that many Jewish
communities do not have."
Executive Vice President of
Heritage House Gerald N
Cohn called Schecter "an incredible woman. In everything good on our campus, she
has played a major role. She is
an inspiration to our staff and
is never one to stop and rest on
her laurels!"
Retired executive vice president of the Columbus Jewish
Federation and director emeritus of the Columbus Jewish
Foundation, Ben Mapdelkorn,
said, "If ever there was a
model volunteer who personi-
-fied all that is good in contributing to a community in every
feet, that's Sylvia. She's a loving, kind, highly respected,
self-disciplined person... an
] innovator.. .who stirs people
up and stimulates, them...."
Rabbi Alan G.  Oner of
Agudas Achim said of her: "It
is Sylvia Schecter's rooted-
ness in the traditions of her
faith that have made her the
driving force behind so many
worthwhile projects in the
> Jewish community. The ideal
of'Chesed'has been the value
that encourages Sylvia to continue to exhibit the boundless
energy that is her."
Ina Horwitz is a local freelance writer and a /requent..
OJC contributor. V
. i . i ., » -> i i • , i i • i i i i > > > ' \ > i ,
i t , ,    i i . , i ( i » i • • • > ' i '* 'i» ■ < -
,..,,, ,    I    ) 1     '    S    )    1    •     '    )    i    •     '   \   ,
'III,     I ,1 I 1 > I ) 1 i  > } I • ■ ■' 'f>
.   .  i   .      .   i   i   .   ,   i  )   t   i  "I   '  )   ■   '   '  '   N« r ■