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Feb. 17, 2006
Building more Jewish education
School's founding families put heart and soul into KDHS and its
previous incarnations.
KELLEY KORBIN
The creation of a Jewish high school in Vancouver has long been
a dream for many in the community. Without the continued financial
and volunteer commitment of a passionate group of community members,
it could never have become a reality. Certainly, there were dozens
of families without whose support the school could have never survived,
far too many to profile in a short article. But there are three
families whose vision and commitment will be forever connected to
the establishment of King David High School (KDHS): Naomi and Dennis
Frankenburg, Sam and Frances Belzberg and Evelyn and Leon Kahn.
These families all had one goal in common: to fight assimilation
with the proven weapon of Jewish high school education.
Over the past 15 or so years, the school has gone through numerous
names and bumps on its road from a small high school in the Schara
Tzedeck Synagogue to rented portable classrooms to the state-of-the-art
facility that is now KDHS, yet the commitment of these three families
never wavered.
"They are absolutely wonderful people," said principal
Perry Seidelman. "They and a group of parents who hung in there
have made sure this place was here."
Claudio Grubner, chair of KDHS's development committee and himself
a long-term supporter of the school, said he would never put himself
in the league of the Kahns, Frankenburgs or Belzbergs. About the
late Leon Kahn, he said, "This man was a kohain (spiritual
leader) to our entire community. He was very beloved and very generous
with his money and his body. He was an anchor and a great mentor
for the people committed to the school."
Evelyn Kahn explained that to her and her late husband, both Holocaust
survivors, Jewish education meant everything.
"We are here to show that we're proud of our heritage and that
we are carrying on despite the hate we witnessed," she said.
"It's our affirmation."
She added that KDHS was, "my husband's most cherished project."
She is extremely proud that two of her grandchildren, Alexander
and Charlene, are now attending the school. "It is very special
to see them honoring the legacy of their grandfather, who put his
heart and soul and every penny into it," she said.
Grubner said the Belzbergs were the "guardians of the founders
and single-handedly financed the school for the longest time, because
they don't know how to say 'no.' "
Naomi Frankenburg was president of the school for 10 years. Grubner
praised her tenacity for staying with the school through
extremely challenging times, when it faced imminent extinction.
Frankenburg, who is a life member on the board of directors for
the school, said she and her husband gave as much as they could
and have supported the school for so long because, "I have
always been a tremendous believer in the importance of Jewish education.
There is no point in giving Jewish education only up to the bar
mitzvah age; we must establish Jewish roots beyond that."
There is no doubt that King David High School is a success story
for the Vancouver Jewish community. According to Evelyn Kahn, that
success is due to the fact that "Sam, Leon and Naomi had the
faith and foresight to see it through to its fruition."
All three of the founding families are grateful to the Diamond Foundation's
generous contribution of the land and the building for the school.
They agreed that the building has contributed greatly to the school's
success. Grubner pointed out that with the new building, the school
has gone from 89 students to 153.
"Excellence was hard to believe when we were in portables,"
he said. "Now we are a success story. What we've experienced
is magical."
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