Rabbi Moshe Yosef Engel, shliach 54 yrs, Long Beach, CA - College campus, Shul - RC Dalfin #5

look this is part number five in the interview with for 54 years since 1970 in Long Beach California so let's talk now about the 80s 90s how how did the kab community of Long Beach develop continue developing here so one of the things one of the growths of the community was that we started an outreach program a college outreach program right and the way it started is we had somebody who was very interested in in college kind of work and he said he'll help support it a local person a local person and he helped support it and I said okay we help support it I'll do it so once a week you didn't have enough on your plate so once a week I was on college campus what university of what Long Beach Long Beach Long right Cal State Long Beach yeah and the way it worked is because I was a teacher morning and afternoon she taught all day yeah at at that time yeah so on Wednesdays the school made it that I taught from like 8:30 till 10 10 to 10:15 was re 10:15 till 10:45 we it V 10:45 till was PE and then in the afternoon I thought just the opposite lunch then was event then was PE and so basically I had a 3our break mhm and at 10:45 I hopped over to the campus and it was a 10 105 minute drive and I was there till a quter to two and what got a table well times when I remember somebody coming over to me and this the second year he says boy you guys know how to do this look at this you put a sign you put a temp put sign up you do this you and was talking about the CC we build a CC on what year did you start this in the 80s or the 70s uhuh I'm going to guess either late 70s or early 80s and how many years did it did I well I stayed on campus for about 20 25 years but in the interim um they got some people push for from uh Hill actor when from Hill director came I worked with him for a while but after a while he was able to be there five days a week I was able to be there one day three hours so I said just doesn't make sense so that's when I started uhhuh um okay that was after like 20 years 20 years I I did chers I did all kinds of stuff right now you must have taught uh hundreds thousands of children at the Hebrew Academy and talk about the the the growth of Hebrew Academy from those 14 children to how many to 3 400 the HEB Academy kep growing and growing every year and was very successful s in the English Department and S the Hebrew Department department and at a certain point we got up to know 3 400 kids we we closed the registration not didn't a cap the cap at that yeah I at the same time started Camp well you said you you made a camp you made a day camp the year after you came yeah 72 right so I saying but I was running the and C grew and it grew and it grew it was one year actually that the state of California I forgot the guy's name but anyway he passed him that there should be there there should be no summer school that year because it cost this city too much money I don't remember the detail I just remember that year our camp went from 225 kids to 355 kids it was the only year oh and then then went back what right now were you also respons responsible for the financial finances of the camp yeah everything I ran the camp period mhm and and did a very big job in hiring good counselors I went into New York every year even after I was married yeah and that's why I met the counselors from last year and asked them to help me pick up counsels from this I beat the crowd that's what happened later I mean now you start already right day after summer you already but it was always it was always a day camp it was not wasn't an overnight camp right a day camp and mostly were for the children of the Hebrew Academy of the school that attended the camp no Noy and and others where was the campus on the Westminister campus the the school Camp School Camp right well well when we were on Long Beach so we had part of was in the sh and part of it was in a park right cuz we had boys and girls and right and we rotated right but once we moved to once we got the building because we were for year without the building also Westminster uhuh but once we got that building that became I mean this 10 acre building right right okay so we spoke about the Camp uh we spoke about the college programs what other interesting things did you do in your 54 years in Long Bach that you didn't tell me about because I know that youro hands and everything in a positive way right and and you and you were you were a paid employee of the school right you didn't have to raise your own funds Al so all your all your uh projects were yeah but many of them were not projects that cost money example my classes a lot of classes didn't cost money right I worked with the college campus one day a week and that guy paid for that right PID the school for right right what about you said yesterday you told me that you were doing alumni work can you tell me a little about that yeah once I stopped teaching which was about 10 years ago okay I'm not sure exactly you retired from teaching I retired okay so then I want I want to be still part of the school yeah oh I felt I could I couldn't handle a whole day anymore that's what it was okay school gave me a job we have alumni we have thousands of alumni start making with them and that's what I do now you like to make programs for them not so much programs but I do programs yes we do from time to time we do a reunion from time to time oh one of the things that we do that was very successful is we decided the first year that we would when our school has a big dinner for for Big Money raise money we inv one class and that class would be free them that they to come to the dinner right come to the first Ser of was two or three classes but then as the classes got bigger two classes this one and from let's see this year I dealt with about 100 students 100 what people that went through the had graduated in 98 didn't not not necessarily graduated the Hebrew Academy and graduated in 98 so that means that you could have been in second and third grade and graduated 98 there could be someone in 11th and 12th grade graduated 98 right but you were all the same age I understand some of them knew each other and some didn't and usually we get to that get about 20 people okay first of all it's hard for us to track them down can't find the numbers and can you know that's a major part of that job and then once you're TR on Hebrew I went to first grade yeah yeah yeah that's one reaction other reactions are so nice to hear from you R get a s like me you still why how about here's a big check that hasn't happened but but but but it is true that some of the come checks but most of them were more on the traditional side right even before uhhuh and uh and they were the honores of of the school actually this year example this year was very different than every year the were Rabbi Mrs Greenwald so many years of working for 40 years or whatever right Paris Paris Paris and he collects money yeah and she's teaching all these years but he he doesn't know for sh always having people in the house he's made a lot of a lot of connections to that and the other one was Newman's son I have no idea what he gave but I'm sure that it was at least $25,000 at least right he he's lives in LA but but what about R Spirit you know do do you do you also talk to some of come up you know if they're not religious of course that's part of are you going to show for coming are going to show you know but I find out that I would say a third have become much fmer a third have stayed where they were right and I will say not a but maybe a little less have really not no sh right no connection no connection but we try and re we we reopen that connection that's what that's part of my job so that's that's what you're doing now is the alumni right uh what final message would you like to leave uh to to to the the Jewish World to the world to your family if you had to sum up uh what would you say number one I would say is never give up just keep going and you will succeed okay especially if you have a good project or a good um a good thing you're working on what whatever it is exam a perfect example is our school our school at a certain point had I think I told you 5% uh from people just basically the rabis and the children and now our school has from people that have passed through the school and so on I would say 25% of them have G Noti mhm so noticeably me to the point where they became totally f and then there's some that have become our friends almost like friends of laish they they are supporters they love enough from but they support everything that we do financially and and in other ways right okay so the first thing is don't give up um what's the second thing you wanted to say the second thing is if you have a success a project that's worthwhile it will succeed if you don't give up right what what about any thoughts about Reich you know you've seen it so many years right interestingly enough Maybe not maybe we haven't done enough we don't emphasize in a big way mostly because a school in other words what what you didn't finish we don't emphasize enough in a big way that weage because that's what people are afraid of maybe but you in the school everyone here emphasizes that laage who doesn't emphasize that laage our school is different uhuh in our school is different because everyone here 80% are from yeah we had in our school over the years we had very few from G then started growing and growing growing we added a high school the high school added from kid so now I would say I really don't know the numbers but I would say 50% of the people that come to our school from right but but but but but I'm I'm asking a different question I'm asking you you you know you came as a little boy you went through the Yeshiva you told us earlier you love being in the Yeshiva in the environment get married you go out Onis you know to California you're there 54 years you've seen laich in this infancy State oh absolutely that's what I want well first of all in California itself has grown and grown and grown unbelievably now I think we have about 300 when I came I think I was maybe the seventh not even sure exactly and and see AR was former former the most the houses that you know just open our was because we had all the teachers and you know so a lot of places what happened is came up Russ keeper from all the cities where they were sending to our school they came to our Sho right now we've opened shoes in all those places right right so so in a sense some of the people have become much closer to Kad because they their supporters there there they there I don't think people have become less comfortable with K if anything sometimes people are a little afraid you know becomes religious right do you do you do you find do you feel that you missed out on you know being in New York in the center with you know frite and yish andab and you know in a way in a way it seems to me tell me if I'm wrong you were sheltered you were sheltered in the sense of you had you were so dedicated to the Hebrew Academy and to your but it was like you didn't really involve yourself or even know about everything that was happening well yeah yes and no first of all each of us went to New York at least twice a year right I I went on F every years and years yeah besides that I mean we are ourselves our toal about yeah of course of course we learn we learn about we speak in our speeches his voice coming out right and so on that that we probably less than many a lot of get them involved meanwhile and bring them to the re right that wasn't our emphasis it was not your emphasis right maybe that was uh maybe it was because we had a school rather than they had a Sho right you had a Sho so you want to bring the B somewhere right right we have the school you're not bringing little kids right although at a certain point the high school girls right every two years or so go go to New York and right right okay anything else that you want to yeah I just want to talk thank you much Ang for your time Family Children grandchildren great grandchildren and we sh only see each other on such a wonderful occasion