I have nothing but fond memories of Talmud Torah, despite receiving the strap (in what seems to me) on average once a week during grades one and two. I am sure I deserved it, for I also recall being something of an unruly scamp in those early, rambunctious years. Nevertheless, Talmud Torah laid the foundation for my understanding and appreciation of Hebrew, Judaism in general, and in particular Israel and Zionism, during my formative years from kindergarten and grade one through junior high. I graduated grade six in 1959 when Israel was not yet a teenager but already a heroic and historical entity. In those days we used to exalt that in Israel if you threw a stone at someone, they Samuel Koplowicz Samuel Koplowicz Class of ’59 Class of ’59 would use it to start building a house.

My earliest memory is of the original school on 103rd Street, where I attended kindergarten. Then the “new” school opened in Glenora at 106th Avenue and 133rd Street opposite the old traffic circle on 107th Avenue and Groat Road. I went to Oliver Junior High for grades 7 and 8, and continued the afterschool program at TT for two years while also studying for my Bar Mitzvah with Mr. Yedlin and Mr. Chetner. For grade nine I was sent to yeshiva at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, after which I returned to Edmonton to complete high school at Ross Sheppard, class of 1965. I then attended the University of Alberta, majoring in English with a minor in Philosophy, class of 1968. In 1969, I attended the University of California, Los Angeles, in the MFA program for Motion Picture Direction & Production. I returned to Edmonton in 1970, where I eventually worked with Film West Associates Ltd, a local independent film production company, and also ran the Cinematheque 16 at the Edmonton Art Gallery for several years. I then worked for the City of Edmonton Parks & Recreation Department out of the Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium, writing, directing and producing audio/visual programs for a number of city departments.

In 1982, I accepted a job in Victoria, working first for the Ministry of Social Services in a staff training capacity, then for Government Information Services for a number of years. In 1987-88, I moved to northern California and worked for twenty years as an audio/visual and multimedia producer at San Jose State University in the Academic Technology Department. In 2007, after my Dad passed away, I took early retirement and moved back to Edmonton to look after my elderly mom and quickly became involved with the Edmonton Jewish Film Festival, which continues to this day.

I remember most, but not all, of my TT teachers. They included Mrs. Gershon and Mr. Bar-El, Mrs. McLeod, Mrs. Yedlin, Mr. Yedlin, and Mr. Chetner, who was also the principal and ran Junior Congregation, where we learned to daven the Shabbat service. I think I also had a Mrs. Flint at some point, who made us sing “Santa Lucia” over and over again. My favorites were Mrs. McLeod and Mrs. Yedlin. Mrs. Yedlin in particular encouraged my interest and skill in Hebrew calligraphy by having me fill the chalkboards that ran along the upper edge of the classroom with Hebrew sayings in upper case lettering. I am sure it was her way of keeping me busy by channeling my youthful exuberance into something productive. I also remember most of my classmates from elementary school at Talmud Torah. They include (on the male side) my cousin Sam Winter. I was Shmuel alef, he was Shmuel bet. Other members of my cohort were Mike Mishna, Ben Zalmanovich, Joe Shafir, Sid Shugarman, Irving Kusin, Nathan Feldman, Jack Lisker, Stan Wiseman, Jack Epstein, David Milner, Sid Antflick, Cliff Goldstein, Saul Markovich and Selig Sacks. On the female side, my cohort included Lynn Weinlos, Anita Satanove, Janet Rosen, Bonnie Koliger, Maxine Frolich, Beth Rudolph, Evelyn Eaman and Evelyn Hardin. I was also friends with certain students who were one year older as well as one year younger than I. In particular I recall Benny Landa, Wayne Shur, Jeff Dvorkin, Ralph Shapiro, Frank Phillet, Sheldon Schloss, Bruce Mintz, Milton Bogoch and Barry Slawsky. From the younger class I remember Mitch Wise, Earl Bogoch, Sid Estrin, Bobby Landa and Arnie Landa.

I was very active in Young Judaea in those days, and went on to hold some local, regional and national offices, as well as conducting drama programs at senior YJ camps in Ontario and British Columbia through the 1960s. Perhaps my most vivid memory of my Talmud Torah years is riding my 3-speed bicycle to school, both summer and winter, down Stony Plain Road from my home on 116th Street, and through Glenora and Capitol Hill after school to the Weinlos house to hang out with my lifelong friend, Lynn Weinlos, then riding home later down 102nd Avenue.