Judy Schreiber - February 1, 2013
The All American Family
And uh, to make things even more complex uh, there was a period of many, many years where I never admitted to any of my friends or anyone that I was in a camp...
Hm.
That I had that background, you know, I was the all American and I am blue-eyed.
Hm.
And I, I was blondish, I did not look Jewish.
Mm-hm.
I had my yeshiva friends when I was younger uh, but all my life I've always had gentile friends also. And um, it's an odd mixture.
Mm-hm.
Very, very odd mixture and uh, when I married, twice, one husband uh, when I married him was not particularly religious and he is now ultra-orthodox
Oh wow.
With a long beard and a streimel
Wow.
And god knows what else. Yeah he's very frum. And then uh, the second man that I married had, was Jewish, but zero religious.
Uh-huh
At all.
Uh-huh.
Didn't, barely knew what it was.
Okay. So um, you were married, when were you married?
Uh, let me tell you something, I have a son.
Mm-hm. Okay.
That's '54.
Wow, what's his name?
'54 or four, something like that. Uh, Bruce, and I have a daughter, Rafalea, who is uh, 51 I think, they live in Chicago. They pretty much were controlled uh, in their later life by their dad uh, became very religious. Neither of them are particularly religious now...
No.
They've cut ties with him to a large extent. Uh, very, very messy, my marriages were terrible and messy.
Okay, we won't put that in there.
[laughs]
We'll leave that out.
[laughs]
But you have two children, Bruce and Rafalea.
Right.
What does uh, what does Bruce do for a living?
Uh, Bruce lives in Chicago...
Mm-hm.
And he manages properties uh, with this uh, man that he's worked for, for and uh, with he uh, he uh, he's worked uh, I don't know, twenty-five years. Uh, before that he uh, he had his own business, heating and cooling uh, that he did. But he um, he works for this man and they own uh, like downtown properties in Chicago, many of them, and Bruce is in charge of whatever.
And your, Rafalea, what does she do?
Uh, Rafalea uh, is a very, very qualified gar...girl, I mean, they're both religiously oriented by the way.
Mm-hm.
They lived as religious children.
Mm-hm.
And later on, neither of them are particularly religious now, but they have a, a, a deep awareness...
Mm-hm.
And knowledge of it. Rafalea worked in a yeshiva for many, many years. She was the yeshiva secretary. Rafalea had a drug problem.
Hm.
Many, many, many years, she finally the last seven, eight, nine, ten years, she's, she came out of it.
Good.
But she ended up leaving the yeshiva she couldn't function for a while and now she's working again. She, she orders, she's been working the last uh, seven, eight years, nine years also in Chicago and she orders um, um, I don't know what to call it, but anyway, she, it's, it's not as a good a job as she used to have, but it puts less stress on her. She's better able to handle it, so.
Got it.
She orders for this chain of um, hardware stores.
Okay.
Materials.
Okay. Oh, I didn't ask what you did for a living?
Well uh, I, I did a number of things. I went to college and a got a degree in um, communication studies. I graduated from the University of Detroit.
Oh.
And originally when I started working I worked uh, for an HMO.
Mm-hm.
Uh, I did like uh, I bought radio ads, I did print ads um, advertising. I wrote articles for the physicians letter that went out to the uh, HMO uh, participants. I wrote on behalf of the doctors, I, I've always been a, a decent writer and I did that for a long time.
Mm-hm.
Uh, I left towards, after I was there about ten years or so I became very sick, it turns out I was dia...diabetic and I didn't realize it. And I took off a few years um, I also worked as a theatrical agent...
Oh.
With my husband uh, my then husband, my second husband uh, Rusty. Uh, who uh, was a uh, he, he booked shows, he was an agent.
Mm-hm.
Uh, I did that for a while, but uh, after I became ill and after I was diagnosed with diabetes...
Mm-hm.
And my health went down for quite a few years uh, I began working for the Birmingham school system.
Mm-hm.
Uh, I worked in the special ed dep...first I was a uh, media person, I, because of my degree. Uh, I taught uh, I videotaped because they had their own cable channel.
Oh.
So I videotaped, I wrote stuff uh, I did things pertaining to TV, because a lot of the educational things they did within the classroom I would tape and then it would go on Cable 21...
Oh wow.
For the, for the um, students' parents, to see what was going on in the school. Then I began uh, teaching in the computer lab and I did that for a while, but I didn't like it. And what I ultimately hooked onto that I actually loved doing...
Uh-huh.
Was I started working in the special ed. department...
Uh-huh.
With kids that were uh, challenged. Autistic...
Mm-hm.
Down Syndrome, and I for some reason was able to connect with them so well, that I did that the last um, I don't know, maybe sixteen, seventeen years...
Wow.
That I worked there.
Very nice.
That was, and alongside that I always taught Hebrew school.
Oh yeah.
Almost always, yeah. I taught at uh, ???,1:44:26.534 which used to be downtown.
Uh-uh.
Uh, I even taught in the yeshiva back when I was still religious
Okay.
Uh, when I was like young. And I covered my hair and I did all that uh, but then after I grow up away from it I didn't teach for a number of years, quite a while. And then I came back to it and I, I don't uh, teach in orthodox schools anymore, but I have an orthodox mindset.
Mm-hm.
[laughs] And teach in reform schools and uh, probably do stuff in class, not probably, I know I do. Uh, that uh, is not always to reform likings, [laughs] but you know what, that's okay.
Hey, that's okay.
They, they survive it.
That's right, good, good. Alright um, so let's see uh, are you, do you have grandchildren?
Yes, I have, my son has four sons.
Let's hear their names please?
Uh, Arieh, Shlomo.
Arieh, Shlomo.
Uh, Eli--Eliahu and Mickey is the youngest. And...
Mickey?
Mickey, [laughs] I do not remember, he's the only one that was called...
[laughs]
An English name for some reason. And now I can't think of his Hebrew name. I think he was named, well I don't know it.
That's okay.
Then my daughter has one son, Shlomo also.
Okay, so you have five.
Yeah.
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