A Rabbi's Daughter Finds Her Birth Parents, and Now Has Two Families LAST CALL for BINGO at MALDEN SHUL
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MARCH 12, 2020 – 16 ADAR 5780 JEWISHVOL 44, NO 16 JOURNALJEWISHJOURNAL.ORG A rabbi’s daughter finds her birth parents, and now has two families By Michael Wittner watched it many, many times, JOURNAL STAFF and it was very cool to see those secret workings.” LYNN – Last Christmas, Still, Mendez had been told Miriam Mendez logged onto when she was very young that Facetime. Her hands were trem- she was adopted, and she felt bling and her skin was covered different from all of her peers in goosebumps. A few seconds attending Orthodox schools. later, she was staring at a cer- “I didn’t fit in with them char- tain form of reflection: a man acteristic-wise,” she said. “In with her pointy ears, a woman my family, I can’t say that I felt with her gray-blue eyes. Mendez apart, but there were times called it an “out of body experi- where I didn’t feel comfort- ence.” able. You know they’re trying to This couple, John and Teresa include you, but as an adoptee, Callicoat of Galloway, Ohio, you always feel those weird feel- were her birth parents, and it ings, like, ‘Do they really accept was the first time she had ever me as part of the family?’” seen or spoken to them. At left, Miriam Mendez of Lynn with her adopted parents, Rabbi Martin and Bella Twersky of Lynn. At These feelings grew more You can’t put that under a right, Mendez with her recently discovered birth family: parents John and Teresa Callicoat, and sister acute as she got older and tree. “My [birth] father told Nicole Buzzard. Orthodox tradition dictated me it was the best Christmas strict gender divisions and gift they’d ever gotten,” said his wife, Bella. They brought Zaitchik, lead the congregation When Mendez wasn’t at modesty requirements that Mendez. Mendez up in a house near in prayer. Ahabat Sholom, she was she found suffocating. Because For Mendez, 44, it was a the old shul where everyone “We were there all the time,” somewhere in the back at The she grew up in a community Hanukkah miracle. At just three – Martin, Bella, and Mendez’s she said. “There was something Butcherie. “I used to watch without many other observant days old, she was adopted husband, Benjamin, and their very homey about growing up them cutting up the meat families, she was aware of how by Rabbi Martin Twersky, the five children – still live today. at Ahabat Sholom and having and I learned so much that I different her family’s traditions longtime associate rabbi at the Mendez was raised Orthodox, my uncle Rabbi Zaitchik [as could probably be a mashgi- were from those of everyone former Congregation Ahabat and in her early years, she loved the leader]. If someone could ach, blindfolded,” she said. “I else, even more secular Jews. Sholom in Lynn and the mash- going to shul every Saturday to go back in time and copy what watched how they cut the arter- “I thought there was a lot giach (kosher supervisor) of see her father and his uncle, he was doing, life would be ies and how they soak and salt it extra that didn’t need to be The Butcherie in Brookline, and the esteemed Rabbi Samuel [Jewish] back in Lynn.” seven times, and I sat there and continued on page 11 LAST CALL FOR BINGO AT MALDEN SHUL By Bette Keva have a sandwich and play cards until JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT the first game started at 6:45 p.m. These were the people who stayed at home or MALDEN – It started nearly 50 years worked close by. The second shift began ago when a tight-knit, vibrant Jewish at 8 p.m. and lasted until 9:30 p.m. In its community lived in the Faulkner section heyday, bingo brought in close to 200 of Malden. Bingo! It was a fun night out players. Until recently, it drew about 80 with sociability on tap and you, maybe, regulars. could rake in some real gelt. Winnings could be impressive. Marilyn Masters, who is 83, has been Depending upon the strips or cards a part of the bingo scene at Congregation player would buy, he or she could go Agudas Achim-Ezrath Israel on Bryant home with a bundle. Street for nearly half a century – as long “Every game was worth either $50 or as bingo’s uninterrupted run on Tuesday $75 or $100. Cover the whole card for nights lasted. It was the go-to place after $500. Someone could win $1,100,” said working at home or in offices all day, Weiner. “People have won $1,000 and up a way to kibbitz with your fellow play- to $2,000. For many years it was a very Photo: Philip Butkovitz David and Bella Westerman, Marilyn Masters, and Dottie Scott recently played their ers, have some excitement and see old profitable venture for the temple. That last game of bingo at their Malden temple. friends. was our big moneymaker.” The regular players and some 25 vol- The Faulkner section of Malden, an years were not. to the point where it was just break- unteers got the announcement recently: immigrant neighborhood bound by “We had all ethnic groups. Some ing even. The opening of the Encore The long run would end this winter. Ferry Street on the west and Everett on couldn’t even speak English,” she said. Boston Harbor casino “down the street” There would be no more Tuesday night the south, was once filled with working- They’d come from East Boston, Lynn, in Everett didn’t help, she said. bingo in the Malden Conservative syna- class Jews, Italians and Irish. But those Everett and Revere. Two sisters came While synagogue membership at the gogue’s social hall. days are long gone. The Jews have moved, every Tuesday in an Uber from Newton. temple stands at 80, members vow to “There were tears,” said Barbara several other synagogues are gone, and The bingo evening was an important find other sources of revenue to make Weiner, 83, a caller at the shul’s bingo now there is just Agudas Achim-Ezrath part of their lives, said Weiner. up for bingo. They will explore renting tournament for a half century. “It was a Israel and the Orthodox Congregation As interest in bingo waned (200 to 300 out the hall on Tuesday or other nights, sad evening. Unfortunately, in this day Beth Israel. bingo parlors have closed in the state and they intend to continue with small and age, it’s not the same.” The bingo volunteers were Jewish, in the last 10 years, said Weiner) the fundraisers throughout the year. People would come at 5 p.m., sit and said Weiner, but the players in recent synagogue made less and less money, continued on page 20 MORTGAGE. 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