![Vitage porcelain clown made for charlrs serouya](https://kumkoniak.com/64.jpg)
On Succot, Charlie had a huge succah built for the shul. Today that boy is known as R’ Isaac Dwek, Rabbi of the Synagogue of Deal. For that particular young man, the Bar Mitzvah was only the beginning of a long and enriching relationship with Charlie. Among those who did receive a special YMD Bar Mitzvah – was a boy who had arrived from Syria just several months before. Today, over half a century later, some of the boys who moved out of Bensonhurst before they turned 13, say how disappointed they were to have missed the privilege of having a YMD Bar Mitzvah. Everyone eagerly awaited their turn to bask in Charlie’s attention. The lucky boys would receive a siddur inscribed personally in his unique handwriting, a brand-new talit and koratcha (talit bag), and many boxes of chocolate. He would make all the party arrangements himself. When boys in YMD approached their 13th birthday, Charlie would be the one to teach and prepare them for the big day. Before long, YMD became the proud owner of two new blue Ford station wagons, which Charlie used to pick up boys at home and bring them to early services at YMD. Never one to miss out on a donation to YMD, he called Ford and explained to them that he ran a youth program that effectively attracted kids and kept them off the street. They explained that it was a gift from the Ford Motor Company, to their religious institution. As he helped them to the car he couldn’t help but notice their beautiful new station wagon. Nouri Dayan (see #195b) at Bibi and company, two nuns came to the store to buy some lighting. Once, while working as a chandelier salesman for Mr. He even took the kids on outings by subway, including trips to the hospitals to visit the sick.ĭetermined to make the minyan work, Charlie used every connection and innovative stratagem to raise the needed funds. This would serve as the model “youth program” for all future programs to follow. Under Charlie’s guidance, YMD became more than a minyan, it was a virtual youth program. Through his dynamic personality he made YMD a place where children wanted to be. Among his first novel ideas, he pioneered the concept of a youth minyan, named Young Magen David (YMD). Recognizing the terrible danger this posed, he set out to do something about it. When “Charlie” lived in Bensonhurst in the 1950s, the community was small, and in danger of losing its youth to the allure of the street culture.
![Vitage porcelain clown made for charlrs serouya](https://kumkoniak.com/64.jpg)