By Ann Muro
The ongoing and dangerous Israeli – Hamas war is another horrific Incident in the world. It also
brings to mind all the various incidents, conflicts and wars involving Israel.
One involved the Midchester Jewish Center in the Colonial Heights section of Yonkers. The
Midchester Jewish Center was a very well known and popular synagogue in the Colonial Heights
section of Yonkers. My parents’ home was close to Midchester and we had many neighbors and
friends who invited us to different functions that were held there in conjunction with the Jewish
Holidays.
When I was married, my husband and I were very friendly with Rabbi Bolensky and his family.
Rabbi Bolensky also got a kick out of the fact that I was a member of Hadassah and spoke
Yiddish, even though I was not Jewish. My husband was also invited to join the Knights of
Pythias, the Jewish men’s fraternal organization.
One night we were at a dinner party at Midchester (in the late 60s) when there was a loud
threatening call and bomb scare regarding the Arab-Israeli War. Everyone was told to evacuate
the temple asap. Everyone ran out, myself included, but my husband did not. He had a Yamaka
on and ran into the temple and grabbed the Torah and holy books that were inside.
He brought them to Rabbi Bolensky’s house nearby. Everyone thanked Mike for saving the
Torah, and for going in to saving it.
Weeks later, we received a wonderful letter from the Rabbi and the members of Midchester citing
Mike, for his outstanding friendship and bravery (I still have and cherish the letter).
One day, my Aunt Hannalore, who was German and lived in Germany during the Holocaust told
me what happened to her family. You see, her mother was hiding Jews, and when the Nazis went
to check on them, they asked her where she was hiding them. She would not say so they went
and shot and killed my Aunt’s three year old brother.
There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t see or hear about all the horrible incidents of man’s
inhumanity to man, Anti-semitism, racism, hate crimes and discrimination, have not changed.
I remember what Rabbi Bolensky said that the bomb threat was so frightening. He also spoke
about the continuing stages of Arab-Israeli conflicts and wars.
Things have not changed. Don’t we often hear it said that “the only thing permanent in life is change.”
