Date: Fri 28-Mar-1997

By KAAREN VALENTA

Published: Aug 11, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Adath-Israel-purim

Full Text:

with photos The Golem Of Newtown

Fourth grade students at Adath Israel presented The Golem of Newtown, a play

in celebration of the Purim holiday last weekend.

Purim is a public victory celebration, like the street celebrations that

follow wars and World Series victories, often with costumes and parties that

are almost the equivalent of Halloween - a day when nothing must be taken

seriously, according to Michelle Tenenbaum, who wrote and directed the play.

The Golem of Newtown tells a story of a great rabbi by the name of Rabbi

Shmiley who once lived in Newtown. To protect all the people of Newtown from

evil, he called his disciples together to fashion a golem, or clay figure,

from riverbank clay. When the disciples circled the golem, chanting and

praying, it came to life.

The golem built a new synagogue, next to the existing one in Newtown, and

everyone was so pleased that Rabbi Shmiley and the first selectman granted the

golem American citizenship for his "hard work, unselfishness and dedication to

the Jews of Newtown."

But the golem was lonely. After hours of debate, the rabbi and his disciples

decided to make a female golem. The play ends with a wedding celebration

accompanied by the song "Chussen Kallah Mazel Tov."

"Chussen and Kallah mean groom and bride. Mazel Tov is congratulations," Mrs

Tenenbaum explained. "The golem is an old Jewish legend. Golem means idiot.

The legend is a story about a stupid monarch who is manipulated by a hateful

minister. The idea for our play was inspired by Steve Bamber, a member of our

congregation."

The cast members of The Golem of Newtown included Ben Striano and Alana Wenick

(a third grade student) as the two golems, James Oros, Matthew Parkhurst,

Jacob Wishko, Henry Washburn, Samantha Friedman, Marley Dorchinsky and

Stephanie Greenfield as the disciples; Lisa Grossman and Rebecca Gellis as the

narrators, Stephanie Greenfield as the police officer, and Allex Gamse as

Rabbi Shmiley.

Also helping with the production were Elana, Josh and Hannah Tenenbaum,

scenery, and Jacob Rebb, stage crew.

In addition to the play, Congregation Adath Israel held a Purim family service

at its synagogue on Huntingtown Road led by Rabbi Moshe Betan.

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Reservoir Rd. does indeed appear to have an interesting history that I often ponder as I hike the Rochambeau Trail. Early on it was apparently part of a main route from the center of the Borough to Taunton, which went up Mt. Pleasant Rd. and then roughly followed a watershed boundary from Mount Pleasant to Taunton Hill. When the current switchback road was built from West St. to Castle Hill in the 1800s, replacing the indirect route through the campground that Rochambeau used, the part of that original route to Taunton now known as Reservoir Rd. became redundant. But on an 1868 town map and topographic maps from 1892 and 1915, it looks like both routes were still maintained as roads. By the time of the 1934 aerial survey of CT, the connection to Mount Pleasant Rd. (maybe called Reservoir Rd. by then since the reservoir is visible) even had two outlets onto Castle Hill Rd. Since it is only shown as a partial dashed line on a 1953 topographic map, it may have stopped being maintained as a passable through road by then. But on a 1963 topographic map, where the section down to Knollwood Dr. had become a normal road again, the other end is shown as a dashed-line road, still with two connections to Castle Hill Rd., and a structure on the east side where one can still find remnants of a house today. Maybe a longtime resident can add comments about what it looked like in the 1950s and 1960s?

Clarity on Reservoir Road and the Rochambeau Trail

Please stop referring to your fellow Newtowners as the Mob. I was at the Legislative Council meeting where Mr. Pisani insulted the intelligence of a room full of Newtown voters; twice, and not in a satirical way. Plenty of new projects have been given the green light - the repurposing of the Taunton Press property is a welcome addition to Town, a new retail center is under construction on Church Hill Rd there are ongoing plans for the existing Fairfield Hills campus. Newtown is a wonderful place to live. Kudos to the Town officials who have managed to grow Newtown and maintain a small town feel, which may mean saying no to development more often than you would like. There will always be two sides to any proposal - different points of view are welcome and essential - name calling adds nothing to the conversation.

Who is Calling Newtowners Stupid?

Appreciate your perspective. Rather than litiate all of your opinions expressed here, here....I would like correct your opinion about the BOS having the final authority on road discontinuance decisions. State statute (CT GS 13a-49), requires the BOS' decision to be approvate by a majority vote at a regular or special town meeting (just like the one Newtown had a few years back to decide to spend the money to build an addition onto the High School). In towns that no longer have any town meetings, that responsibility would fall on the town's representaive government, or legislative body....in Newtown's case, our Legislative Council. Failure to follow this statutory process is but one of the reasons the town/the BOS is being sued.

There are many private roads in Newtown where they property owner owns right to the center line, for example this is often true in the lake communities. Many of these roads predate and do not conform to the Town's roads standard and therefore the Town never accepted them into the Town road system. Does the Town actually own this road?

It’s important to clarify the tone and context of Derek Pisani’s remarks, particularly the satirical line about suing Newtown for "Gross Stupidity." This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek jab at the exhausting culture of legal threats that’s become a staple on the local Facebook Group forums. It was a reflection of frustration over endless regulatory hurdles and obstructionism, and the desire to avoid common sense solutions not an insult aimed at residents. Satire, is meant to provoke thought and highlight the absurdities. If we are unable to distinguish between satire and literal threats, perhaps the comment hit closer to the truth than we’d like to admit. Rather than focusing on Pisanis style, we should be discussing the substance of what he’s pointing out: that Newtown’s progress is being routinely blocked by a small but vocal contingent who seem intent on saying “no” at every turn. They are saying no to any development, no to common sense solutions to crowd control, etc. Newtown deserves leaders who are willing to call things as they see them, even if their language ruffles feathers. That doesn’t mean they lack respect for constituents—it means they care enough to challenge the Mob and push for solutions. Isn't that what we elect people to do? I applaud Pisani's dedication, he certainly has earned my vote. Regardless, let’s not reduce conversation to tone-policing and outrage. Let’s focus on the issues that matter.

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Date: Fri 28-Mar-1997

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