MAMA MIA "AO Style"

As we celebrated Pesach this week, I think of the lessons we should learn from this holiday - - - the importance of working together for a common good; the importance of learning from wise elders; the concept that miracles are possible; and that while Moses led the Israelites, the importance and support of his family- his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam. Reconstructionist Jews even set the Seder table with two symbolic glasses, instead of the one used at Traditional Seders. The other glass which sits side by side next to Elijah’s glass (which is filled with wine) is Miriam’s, which is filled with water, symbolizing Miriam’s well.
About twenty years ago, I introduced a program to Alpha Omega that I called “The Choice.” It was a program where Alpha Omegans would encourage teens and college students to seriously consider dentistry as a profession. During his year as International President, the late Mike Kohleriter reinvigorated the program. When I recently saw the wise elder, D. Walter Cohen, I asked him how we could get more potential Alpha Omegans to consider dentistry as a profession. Always the sage, Walter said that we have to teach the mothers that dentistry is a great profession, and they will then influence their children. That was made obvious to me during my recent visit to Boston. Shawn Groyeski ,BU President and our student editor, told me how he called his mother the night before to have her listen to the speech he was giving at the Alumni Brunch. At the BU luncheon, the BU chapter decided to use the CHOICE program to encourage local college students at Brandeis U to attend dental school. When Avi Feygin informed his mom that he was accepting a residency in NYC after graduating from BU dental school, his mother was thrilled because it meant he would be living closer to his parent’s home in New Jersey. Josh Bratt, a BU 3rd year student, excitedly told me how proud his mother was with his accomplishments. Stephanie Rashewky told me a great story about when she first purchased her Mac Book, she and her mother alternated weeks taking lessons so that they could easily communicate while she was at Harvard Dental School, with her mom at home in Michigan. At Pesach and throughout the year, mothers develop a bond and exert influence with their children that lasts a lifetime - - as a mom, I like to believe that moms count most!
In the March 15th ADA News, on page 40, Detroit Alumni Chapter active member, Marc Dwoskin is pictured volunteering with the Give Kids A Smile program at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry. This program is a great example of the potential our GOHI programs can offer in bring dental and oral health care to the undeserved. When the Admin Committee met in San Diego In January, we had the pleasure of meeting the Dean of Mercy Dental School, who is in regular communication with San Diego’s magnificent Irv Silverstein and his pre-dental students. Irv is doing the CHOICE program in the BIGGEST way. What a small, but wonderful AO World!
Perhaps the most emotional discussion I had this week was with PIP Bill Kampel. I have had the pleasure of knowing Bill and Hannah, as well as Kathy and Michael, my entire married life. My husband’s family spent countless hours with the Kampels, and the Kampels have been at all of our simchas, as well as our sadder moments. The bond with Hannah goes back even further, because my mother-in-law Bea worked at Hannah’s family restaurant as a teenager. As many know, Bill has been the unofficial Alpha Omega Historian, as well as the 100th year event fraternity historian, and listening to his memories and observations is a privilege! Bill and I spent a wonderful time on the phone, when I asked Bill to reminisce about his years as a Line Officer of Alpha Omega. As some may know, Bill was the first Alpha Omega President installed in Israel in 1972 (by the way, Sandy Scheingold was the second). This became all the more relevant to me, because in doing our Pesach cleaning, we discovered some of my father-in-laws old pictures which included photos of the organizing committee from that first AO Convention in Israel 1972 (some recognizable faces included Jack Lewin-Epstein, Shalom Sussman, Yehuda Kaufmann, and of course Eli). Bill said that he had great memories from his years as a Line Officer, and raved about the wonderful committed fraters who were on the Line with him (including Larry Gimplin, Bud Krasne, Eli Brody, Ron Goldstein, and others). Bill explained that being the President was different then, because the President traveled predominantly domestically (there were far fewer International Chapters then), and life had far less technology (no internet, e-mail, etc.), thus communication was by “snail mail,” telephone, fax and face-to-face. Line Officers therefore depended less on Headquarters support, because it would have taken much more time to do it that way, and each officer had to do a lot more paperwork, etc. Bill happily told me that he remembered his Presidential year as a good year, with no memorable conflicts. He told me what great “team players” his fellow officers were. Bill and I agreed that one of the most important duties of the AO President is representing the Fraternity in a positive light, for its members. We both agreed that the Fraternity is all about its members!
I hope you have all had a Zizen Pesach, and that we all learn from the experiences of the Chag. Since Seder means order, let us also, in an orderly manner, work together to enhance the Alpha Omega experience. In the near future, we will be announcing our new and enhanced Member Benefits program. These enhanced benefits will be another bonus of Alpha Omega membership, but let’s all remember that Alpha Omega is important because of our triangle - - - our Professionalism; our unique Fraternalism; and our actualization of Judaic principles.

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