Sholom Aleichem Club members promote
Jewish culture, values
By Carole Verona
On paper, the Sholom Aleichem Club defines itself
as an organization dedicated to preserving and promoting secular
humanistic Jewish culture and values in the Greater Philadelphia
Region and beyond. The club is named after writer Sholom Aleichem,
whose Tevye stories were the basis for Fiddler on the Roof.
Sholom Aleichem also means "peace" in Yiddish and Hebrew.
In reality, the Sholom Aleichem Club is a family,
some 200 members strong. The organization, which celebrated
its fiftieth anniversary on May 3 with a gala banquet for
members and guests, prides itself on the relationships that
have been formed and nurtured over the years.
Doris Kaplan, 83, of Mt. Airy, explained that
because most of the club's members are senior citizens ‹ many
with children who have moved away‹there was a need for people
to support each other as a family would. Through its Dynamics
of Growing Older Committee, club members formed "family units"
that meet once a month on a Sunday morning. Speaking of the
24 members in her unit, Kaplan said, "We've helped each other
move. We've helped each other during times of crisis. We've
helped each other deal with issues like retirement, illness
and aging."
Kaplan was initially attracted to the organization's
ideas about social justice and its progressive stance in supporting
Israel. A retired occupational therapist, Kaplan has served
as the club's treasurer "in perpetuity." Keenly interested
in Yiddish culture, she helped develop a Yiddish-speaking
group as a way "to preserve my identity."
Herman Solitrin, 78, also a Mt. Airy resident,
joined the Sholom Aleichem Club in the 1960s. "As a secular
organization, it satisfied my need for Jewish identity. The
club is not religion-oriented and its members have other ideas
of how to celebrate the holidays.
It's a highly democratic organization with an
active, involved board." Solitrin, a retired private school
director, has served as a board member, officer and chair
of various committees over the years, including the 50th
Anniversary Celebration Committee.
The Sholom Aleichem Club sponsors dynamic,
stimulating programs throughout the year on topics ranging
from national and world affairs to the relationship between
Blacks and Jews. It has brought in well-known performers to
grace local stages, including Belle Kauffman, author and granddaughter of Sholom Aleichem;
actor Howard DiSilva; humorist/actor Feivish Finkel; actor/singer
Avi Hoffman; the New England Conservatory Band, and actor
John Randolph.
The club's impact and influence reach beyond
its membership and the Delaware Valley. Locally, members of
the Club helped to establish the Jewish Children's Folkshul,
a still-thriving Secular Jewish Sunday School in Germantown.
The club is also an affiliate of the Jewish Community Relations
Council of Greater Philadelphia, has had a long relationship
with the Church of the Advocate and the late Father Paul Washington,
and has been active in Action Alliance of Senior Citizens
and voter registration drives. Internationally, club members
helped to establish the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations
of North America and the International Federation of Secular
Humanistic Jews.
Club publications have brought the group national
and international recognition. The Club has published Pushcarts
and Dreamers, New Yorkish and other American Yiddish
Stories, and Festivals, Folklore & Philosophy:
A Secularist Revisits Jewish Traditions. Its latest product
is a CD/cassette Mayn Oytser-My Treasure: Sherm Labovitz
Sings Gems of Yiddish Art and Folk Songs
The prized publication of the Club is its Haggadah
for a Secular Celebration of Pesach, first published in
1975. The Haggadah is a book of instructions, prayers, blessings
and stories that lays out the basic order for the ritual surrounding
the Passover dinner or Seder. Now in its fifth edition, the
Club's Haggadah, written in English, Yiddish and
Hebrew, has sold more than 20,000 copies worldwide. It presents
the Passover story in a way consistent with Secular Jewish
philosophy. It includes songs of peace, resistance and joy
and references to other historic events that can be related
to the liberation story. A companion tape of the songs included
in the Haggadah is also available.
Kaplan said that income from membership dues,
book sales and events help support the club's donations to
"organizations whose philosophy and approach are consistent
with ours." For example, the club supported the Jewish
Studies Program and the hiring of a Yiddish language professor
at the University of Pennsylvania and has provided funds to
local food banks and other social service agencies.
Solitrin and Kaplan are equally concerned about
the club's future. "When younger people come and see our gray
hair—that's a concern," Kaplan said. "We do get new members,
but they're all the same age, in their fifties or sixties.
We've tried reaching out to young people and we will continue
to do so for as long as we can."
"The Sholom Aleichem Club gave us a community
of people that are compatible. We have a great deal of affinity
and efficacy for one another." Solitrin and Kaplan are both
passionate about passing these values on to the next generation.
For further information about the Sholom Aleichem
Club, its publications and activities, visit their web site
or call 215-242-6594.
