Man Reunites with Childhood Shul in London 72 Years Later

By COLlive reporter

When David Shube, a resident of Los Angeles in California, visited England at the end of June, he took the opportunity of reuniting his ties from 72 years ago with the Enfield & Winchmore Hill Shul in London. It was where he had celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in 1951.

The Rov of the shul, Rabbi Yitzchok Sufrin, was on hand to welcome David and to assist him in laying tefillin. David said he could not remember if he had laid tefillin at the time of his Bar Mitzvah and emotionally embraced the mitzvah, possibly for the first time.

Rebbetzin Tzipporah Sufrin noted that her grandfather was the famed Boyder Rov, Rabbi Meshulam Yeshayahu Zusia Shube OBM, who served as the Chief Rabbi of Moscow during the oppressive years of Communist rule in the former Soviet Union.

She mentioned how David could be a distant relative. David was aware of the origin of the surname Shube relating to a Shochet or Bodek.

Senior Warden, Henry Jacobs was able to show David a handwritten entry in the shul records from January 1951 which included a Mazal Tov to “Master David Shube on his forthcoming Bar Mitzvah.”

David related the kindness shown to him by the first Rov of the shul, Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Lewin who during the Second World War opened his home to many of the Kinder escaping Nazi Europe.

David emigrated to the US in 1959 and worked for McDonnell Douglas Company/Boeing, rising to become the General Manager of Strategic Planning.

On his visit to London, he was accompanied by his wife Gailyn and his niece, Allison. David remarked that coming back to the shul he grew up in after 72 years was a highly emotional experience and the welcome and the experience much more than he could have hoped for.