Englewood—The Chumash that Oscar Fingerhut bought and studied from in pre-war Poland sustained him through a move to Berlin, during the growing awareness of Nazi atrocities against the Jews, and on an ocean voyage to a new life in America. Now the Chumash is in the hands of his great grandson, Evan Haimm of Englewood, a sixth grade student at the Moriah School, and forms the basis of a family history presentation that was selected as one of 30 winners in the My Family Story contest, an international family history event sponsored by Tel Aviv’s Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People. Evan is flying to Israel, courtesy of the museum, accompanied by his father, to accept the award for his winning entry in a ceremony on June 9.
My Family Story is an annual competition designed to tell the story of the Jewish people around the globe, this year drawing 82 institutions with over 13,000 students. It’s the first year Moriah has entered, Evan’s English teacher, Rachel Schwartz, told JLBC. She said it was a good fit as the students were already preparing for Moriah’s Heritage Fair, in which each sixth grade student selects a family heirloom to showcase with a written description of its meaning. The My Family Story competition takes the idea a step further, with the story depicted in an artistic representation along with a family tree.
“Evan put forth so much effort into making this project capture the meaning of his family history in conjunction with his connection to Judaism,” said Schwartz. She explained that he used materials to create the Chumash and placed it on a bottom of faux grass to make it look like the foundation of a garden with a fence. From that foundation, he created a tree trunk and branches with the names of family members, and pictures of birds hanging from the tree. In his description, Evan wrote about how both the bird and the Chumash symbolize freedom. D’vora Daniels, Director of International Programs for Beit Hatfutsot, said she was impressed with the way Evan’s project “represents two important Jewish motifs: The Tree of Life and a Chumash.”
Schwartz said the family learned that Evan was a winner on Mother’s Day; a fitting tribute. “We are very proud of Evan and how diligently he worked on this project to reflect his family’s heritage in a meaningful manner,” said Mrs. Haimm in an e-mail.
Evan is looking forward to the awards ceremony at Beit Hatfutsot. “This honor is important to me because I get the chance to express the story of my family and how we managed to find freedom in the United States,” he told JLBC in an e-mail. “I am so privileged to represent Moriah in Israel.”
By Bracha Schwartz
