People
New youth scholarship
CYNTHIA RAMSAY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Role model, hero, mentor, teacher and friend. These were tJie words vised to describe Marilyn Berger at a tribute held in her honor at Beth Tikvah synagogue May 13. The evening also celebrated the newly established Berger-Mushkat Youth Scholarship Fund, which will be used to subsidize United Synagogue Youth activities such as regional or international conventions.
Among the approximately 150 people who came out to celebrate Berger's contributions to Jewish life were representatives of national and international Jewish youth organizations, the B.C. Legislature and Canada's Parliament. The large and varied turnout demonstrated that, while she is based in Richmond, Berger's influence has extended far beyond her neighborhood.
Professionally, Berger is associate director of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, and co-ordinator of TAG Jewish high school. In her "spare time," she has raised four boys, been a mentor to innumerable USY participants, past and present, been involved in United Synagague of Conservative Judaism, Vancouver Women's ORT and B'nai B'rith Hillel, and the Beth Tikvah board of directors.
Music, comedy and some sentimentality comprised the evening honoring Benjer, which began with the Beth TikvJih choir singing the Havadallah service under the direction of Joan Cohen, who came in from California for the special occasion. Then Berger's husband, Marshall, spoke of Marilyn's desire to give her sons the best of everything, including education, which provided some of her motivation to help build a strong infrastructure for the Jewish community's youth. With the Bci^ger-Muslikat Youth Scholarship Fund, said Marshall Berger, "Marilyn is giving all of us an opportunity to take part in her dream."
The Berger boys - Ryan, Kyle and Jory - also paid tribute to their moUier, although not as reverently as other speakers. They had the audience in hysterics witli a skit about tlicir family's foibles: "Does everyone need to know we live in a pigsty!" cried Kyle Berger in falsetto, acting the part of his mother. Father and sons also performed a song to the tune of "Runaway" by Del Sliannon about their "crazy mama" who, thankfully, never "followed through on her promise to run away," and leave them on their own.
Cohen and Perry Ehrlich put together a musical number that included joke greetings from the
Queen, who hoped that Marilyn Berger got more naches (pride) from her children than the Queen
Marilyn Berger
got from hers. Providing more serious musical entertainment were the Vancouver Jewish Men's Choir; Shira Elias, Lisa Ehrlich and Josh Epstein; and Robyn Newman and Jory Berger.
Matthew RossofF, president, Pacific Northwest Region USY, and Tova Wolinsky, a USY alumni, spoke of how important it was for teenagers to have a Jewish home and live a Jewish life, and how the scholarship frmd started by USY on Berger's behalf would help teenagers get together with other Jewish teens from around North America. Wolinsky told the audience that Berger was a role model, teacher and friend.
Eventually, the guest of honor took to the podium amidst a standing ovation. Berger's first comments were an admission that there was some truth to her family's skits about her. She then turned her remarks to the importance of the new scholarship fund.
"Eating knishes and herring does not make us Jews... it is religious Judaism that gives us our ethics and values," said Berger. Berger spoke of how she ran her household as a benevolent dictatorship: there were no choices when it came to things like her boys going to Hebrew school, participating in Jewish youth groups and attending Camp Solomon Schechter. Berger said she hopes that the scholarship fund will gro\V substantially enough so that Beth Tikvali can once again subsidize youth activities.
"I do what I do because I love it," said Berger, who admitted to being uncomfortable with being honored. "It is us together that built our amazing community," she said. "I thank and recognize all of you."
Anyone wishing to make a donation to the Berger-Mushkat Youth Scholarship Fund, call Beth Tikvah at 271-6262. □
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