Max Frankel. 2. Life in Vienna

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• published: 14 Oct 2012
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In this video, #2 of 8, Max "Meir ben Isak" Frankel z"l shares some background about growing up in Vienna. This video was filmed on July 14, 2005 by David Frankel, a little less than six years before he passed away on May 13, 2011. In addition to an abiding faith in God and a commitment to Torah and Tradition, Max Frankel bequeathed to each of his four sons a wealth of memories that is treasured by each. He will be profoundly missed. Obituary from American Israelite (Front Cover Article) May 26, 2011 The Israelite is saddened to learn of the death on May 13, 2011 (9 Iyar, 5771) of Max Frankel. Although some will remember with fondness how Frankel led the auxiliary services for the High Holidays for many years at Golf Manor Synagogue, and his extraordinary Jewish Culture & Arts program which featured noted artists and performers several times each year, Frankel is perhaps best remembered in local circles for his 25 years of dedicated service as the Executive Director of the Bureau of Jewish Education. At the time of his retirement 14 years ago, Frankel was the most senior in length of service of all directors of Bureaus and Central Agencies for Jewish Education in the United States. His administration of the BJE was marked by tireless effort and numerous innovations that made the now defunct Federation-funded agency an effective and respected partner of all area Jewish schools. Many of the programs and services the BJE provided year-round, were introduced, developed or expanded during Frankel's tenure. Among the better-known of these were: the Jewish Teacher Center; the Jewish Media Center; the TIKVAH Juniors and Seniors programs for the developmentally disabled; the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School; the Jewish Heritage Seminars for public school teachers; Professional Enrichment and Growth Subsidies and Incentive Grant Programs for teachers in Cincinnati's religious schools; Teen programs e.g. the March of the Living trip to Poland and Israel, the Panim el Panim Youth Mission to Washington, and the Teacher Assistant Program, training day school Junior high school students for service in Cincinnati's congregational schools; the year-round Discount Jewish Book Store; and the much beloved Jewish Book Fair and Entertainment Series ... the list could go on. As a Yiddish speaking twelve-year-old, Frankel immigrated with his parents to the United States in 1940 after experiencing two years of forced house arrest in Vienna, Austria during WWII. Only narrowly escaping with his parents on the last passenger ship out of the port of Trieste, Italy, Frankel's four older siblings were sent ahead of them to America, England and Holland to escape the escalating Nazi terror. Despite the fact that each survived the war (his older brother Hesh had harrowing stories of his near death experiences in several concentration camps), Frankel's oldest brother, Efraim, sadly died only shortly after arriving in America. After arriving in America, and graduating from the Yeshiva Israel Salanter (now SAR Academy in Riverdale, NY), Frankel went on to attend Yeshiva University's high school and college. A cum laude graduate of the Teachers Institute of Yeshiva University and of Yeshiva College of Liberal Arts, Frankel went on to serve in several prominent educational settings in Rochester, Erie, Boston, Philadelphia, and finally, Cincinnati. All told, Frankel served 48 years as a master educator and educational administrator. Described at his funeral as a gentle, kind-hearted, and affable man who loved a good joke and always had a book in his hand and a song in his heart, Frankel was laid to rest by his loving family at the Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, NY (the same cemetery as his oldest brother Efraim) and is survived by his wife of 58 years, Gloria Frankel of Cincinnati OH; their four sons, Edwin (Anna) Frankel of Columbus, OH; Jeffrey Frankel of Commack, NY; Daniel (Jodi) Frankel of Suwanee, GA; and David (Cindy) Frankel of Kew Gardens Hills, NY; his older brother Hesh (Miriam) Frankel of Givatayim, Israel; his oldest sibling Molly Frankel Neuman of Englewood, NJ; and his ten loving grandchildren, Joshua, Elisheva, Sara, Dustin, Kaitlyn, Sydney, Sarah, Shayna Laya, Shira, and Miriam. Shiva was held at David's home in Kew Gardens Hills, NY through Friday, May 20.