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Remembering Harry Offenbach z"l

Harry M. Offenbach z"l, a past president of the Jewish Community Relations Council and honorary chancellor of the Jewish Chautauqua Society.Posted: Thursday, January 31, 2013 7:00 am | Updated: 2:07 pm, Wed Jan 30, 2013.
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus 

Harry M. Offenbach, a past president of the Jewish Community Relations Council and honorary chancellor of the Jewish Chautauqua Society, died Wednesday, Jan. 23 of cardiac complications. He was 96 and had been a longtime resident of University City before moving to The Brentmoor in Ladue. Mr. Offenbach was executive vice president of H. Siegfried & Sons, Inc., a manufacturer of men’s slacks, until his retirement in 1980, and was also a clinical psychologist. He was active for many years in the local Jewish community and was widely admired for his leadership skills, intellect, Torah scholarship and interfaith work. He was honored in 2010 as one of theSt. Louis Jewish Light’s inaugural class of ‘Unsung Hero’ award winners for his dedication to community service.
After many years of service with the Jewish Chautauqua Society, which promoted understanding of Judaism through interfaith educational outreach, Mr. Offenbach was named Honorary National Chancellor. He received the society’s Alfred E. and Genevieve Weil Medallion Award in recognition of his long service at a special program at Temple Israel in 2008.
Mr. Offenbach served as President of the JCRC from 1973 to 1979 and was also active with Jewish Family & Children’s Service, the Jewish Federation and its campaign, the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and the Brodsky Library. He was president of the Temple Israel Brotherhood and served on the congregation’s board of directors.
Rabbi Mark Shook, Emeritus of Temple Israel, said Mr. Offenbach — whom he met soon after he arrived in St. Louis in 1972 — was one of his mentors. “Fresh out of rabbinical school, I encountered this layperson who knew more about Judaism than I did... His love of Torah was infectious. We all caught the fever. His life combined a heart of gold and an inquiring mind never satisfied with simple answers.”
Batya Abramson-Goldstein, executive director of the JCRC, said Mr. Offenbach — through his time as president and in the years that followed — was in “ceaseless pursuit of understanding and cooperation among St. Louis various religious, racial, ethnic and civic groups…with warmth and with love. 
Offenbach was born in the northwestern Pennsylvania town of Bradford on May 15, 1916, the son of Solomon and Shulamit Laska (Jennie) Offenbach, Polish immigrants. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Chicago. He intended to earn an M.D. and become a psychiatrist, but as he put it in a 1996 interview with the Jewish Light: “Hitler put a stop to my plans for medical school.” During World War II he served in the U.S. Army as judge advocate general and clinical psychologist at the military hospital closest to the Battle of the Bulge.
He married the late Enid Gella Siegfried on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, Dec. 7, 1941. The couple had three children, daughter Jan Nykin and sons Stefan and Sigi. Enid died Sept. 26, 1981, just short of the couple’s 40th wedding anniversary.
During a funeral service last week at Temple Israel, where Rabbi Amy Feder officiated, each of Mr. Offenbach’s three children shared warm memories of their father, who always emphasized learning and always made learning enjoyable.
Following the funeral service at Temple Israel, burial was at the New Mount Sinai Cemetery, 8340 Gravois Road.
Survivors include Mr. Offenbach’s longtime companion, Helen Schwartz; three children, Stefan Offenbach (Carol) of Kansas City Jan Offenbach Nykin of St. Louis and Sigi Offenbach (Sheri) of Chicago; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Affiliate Highlights 

Temple Beth El of Boca Raton Florida -

Attracting Younger Men

Brotherhood Temple Beth El of Boca Raton designed events to increase participation of younger men in Brotherhood. We considered what would be a good 'hook' to draw this age group because they are normally so busy. We felt if we were to package exciting events for them and allow quality 'one-on-one' time for them with their children, that they would sign up. And they did! Our first BFF event (Bonding with Fathers for Fun) was with middle-and high-school age children last October -- an overnight in Orlando at Universal for Halloween Horror Nights. Fathers with pre-schoolers joined us November 27 at the Gymnastics Plus play space for a party and lots of tumbling. Then in December fathers and elementary school-age children brought their sleeping bags and favorite stuffed animals for a camp-out overnight at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach. Over 110 participants -- many of whom had never been to a Brotherhood event before -- took advantage of these events and convinced us that we are really onto something that we will continue into the Spring and beyond.Brotherhood is also about Fatherhood.
Send your Affilate Highlights to MRJ Vice President Dave Oney 

New Father-Child Events for You
Universal Overnight 10-20 for Fathers with Middle-High School Children
Mom's Morning Off    
TBE Bulletin Article  

Local Brotherhood Sponsors Religious School Class Trip to Holocaust Museum

For ten years this Brotherhood of Temple Beth Orr in Coral Springs Florida has been accumulating and investing the proceeds from the Yellow Candle Program in their Yom Hashoah Education Fund. They are now investing those funds in their temple youth. This April this Brotherhood underwrote the cost to send the religious schools 7th grade class to the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial and Miami Beach Jewish Museum.Their Brotherhood member’s investment of time, talent and treasure are returned far in excess of current market rates. -> Click to read student thank you note 

Andy Fields
President BrotherhoodTemple Beth OrrCoral Springs, FLTemple Membership 398Brotherhood Membership 102 

MRJ Men's Seder^TM 

“Where does a contemporary man go to find male bonding? Where does a man go to find a relationship with other men that is not competitive, that is not comparative, and that is not threatening and dehumanizing? Men's Seder!
…We believe this is the arena and the mandate of religion, to provide an environment where each and every one of us feels safe, accepted, loved and not judged.  We believe that religion is where a man can go and not be evaluated for his material possessions, his notoriety, his romantic conquests, or the power of his biceps.  We believe that traditionally, religion was the place where ultimate questions were asked and answered. And we believe that the experience of a male Seder offers the tools to achieve what men need.” 

The MRJ Men’s Seder™ –
Rabbi Dan Moskovitz and Rabbi Perry Netter

The Men of Reform Judaism (MRJ) invites your congregation’s participation in an exciting, new MRJ project – The Men’s Seder™.   Creating a comfortable and ‘safe’ space for the men of our congregations to explore and celebrate what it means to be a contemporary Jewish man is both critically needed, and, at the same time, challenging! Rabbis Dan Moskovitz and Perry Netter have created just such a ‘space’ using the traditional structure of the Passover Seder.

Request a complimentary copy of The MRJ Men’s Seder™  Haggadah and a copy of MRJ’s Guide “ How to Plan and Conduct a Successful MRJ Men’s Seder” from MRJ@URJ.org.  
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