Jewish
Frontier

On Wednesdav. May 10, 2000 — Israel's 52nd Independence Day — we received distressing news about the deaths of three outstanding chaverim of the American Labor Zionist movement. The news was forwarded to us by Saadia Gelb, of Kibbutz Kfar Blum, who had received a personal letter from Yonina Heller Lamdan (formerly of Cleveland Habonim, now of Kibbutz Urim). We reprint Yonina's letter, with a brief introduction by Saadia.

Matz Lamdan was in Bronx-Brooklyn Habonim. He was influenced by Ben Zion llan to go to Hachshara (training farm) and he quit school to do so. Machon refers to the Jewish Agency youth leadership seminar in Jerusalem; part of the course was a stay at Kfar Blum for the Habonim participants.

Joey Criden

Kibbutz Urim
May 5,2000

Dear Saadia and Ayala

I have been wanting to write for a long time, but only now, in the wake of so many recent events, I simply decided to put everything aside — I am always in the middle of something — and write.

First, my condolences on the death of our three old friends, — Moshe Kerem, Joe Criden and now, Sid Troy. How aware and sensitive we have become to those approaching their end — usually, the sick being the first to go. It's not easy getting the news whenever that time comes. I expressed my condolences to Neri (Criden's son) by telegram and telephone and will speak to him personally when he gets down to Urim. I simply wanted you to know that I have joined the many from afar who wish to offer words of comfort. I dropped a few words to "Habonet", not in any capacity of "historian", but simply as one of his former charges and his friend of many years.

My son, Dani — at the present time a shaliach — was in touch with Sid Troy, visited him and took part in several meetings held at his home in New Jersey. Dani respected him and greatly appreciated his devotion to and involvement with Habonim, despite his illness. It seems that Sid also left an endowment to Habonim — perhaps the same fund in the name of Harold Warshawsky to which Zamira and Chico contributed.

Both Dani and Miriam work hard to "meet the challenge" of Habonim's renewal and the merger ofHabonim-Dror with Hashomer Hatzair. Miriam is working at the Aliya Desk and the children, ages respectively 13 and 1. 5, are apparently getting along well at school (and at chess — Yonatan's hobby; and ballet and jazz dancing — Noa's choices).

Our October visit to Florida and Canada on the occasion ofMatz's niece's wedding was most rewarding. We managed to see a great many friends from bygone days... To tell the truth, as happy as I was to see everyone's material wealth (in Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, New York), I am jealous of not one of them. We also saw many relatives, but neither would I exchange places with any of them.

We held a reunion of our 1948 "Institute" group at Nechemiah Meyers' place in Rehovot. That was a dramatic, unforgettable year. Of the 29 participants in the program, more than half remained and settled in Israel and most of the others still maintain contact. That evening, Nechemiah asked each one of us to relate to the question: If you were to make your decision anew today, would you retrace your footsteps or follow a different course?

At first, people were reluctant, but after he spoke, most of those present — about 30 people in all, including spouses — responded. It was very interesting: It was a sort of "Roshomon" situation. Everyone saw the events in a different light and in the perspective of the 52 years that had passed!

There was another reunion of the Fifth Machon, in which I had participated in 194950, when it took place in Bet Habonim in Kfar Blum. The reunion took place at the time of the aforementioned wedding in Florida. I was sorry to have missed it, but there is always the matter of priorities. My neighbor gave me an interesting book with the biographies of all 10 Institute students who hailed from nine different countries!

Time passes and the children and grandchildren are growing and developing! Yesterday, Matz and I were invited to Ramleh for a ceremony where new grades were being awarded to officers in the Home Front Command. Ami was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. All of our children are men of peace, but nonetheless, they do all that is necessary for the security of the country! That sounds like a hackneyed cliche, but that's how it really is.

We have three sons and two daughters. For the past 15 years, I have been a mother to soldiers in the regular army and the wife of a husband who up to the age of 54 served in the Reserves. Dani too was also relieved of reserve duty only last year after reaching the rank of major. He then decided to serve as a shaliach (an emissary working abroad.)

Last year, Yosef won two awards and was named "outstanding reservist of the year'. Have you ever heard of such an award? Neither had I until I attended two ceremonies, one at the Kirya and another at P.U.M. (Staff and Command Headquarters!) Yael works at the Urim service station at the nearby new Urim Junction. Shani teaches 7th and 8th grades in the elementary school and does her level best as the mother of four children who have become no easier to handle since her divorce.

Matz and I are busy with our work: tractor and sculpturing, and are blessed in the fact that all our children are (for the time being!) near to us. That includes 12% grandchildren living under our very noses.

Too many of our friends are very sick. It is hard for us to give all of them necessary attention. We try. And how are you?

Much love, Yonina

Sid Troy

2nd of May, 2000

Dear Shulamith and Girls,

It was with the greatest sorrow that we received the news of Sid's passing. We knew of course how ill he had been, but we kept on hoping he would pull through.

Now all that we who knew him personally at Plasson and in Maagan Michael are left with are memories of the exceptional person we encountered and of the long road we traveled together. There can be no question as to the importance of Sid's place in our history — the personal history of one each of us who knew him and the history of the development and professional growth of Plasson. Sid extended us his hand and his understanding support during the first critical years of our company, when we were struggling to establish Plasson as the means of ensuring a decent livelihood for the members of the kibbutz. We so much appreciated the strong element of Zionist commitment in the support he gave us and how he saw in the development of Plasson's American market his and our success as one. All that he did was coupled with unstinting devotion to the job. We could see all the time how much Plasson mattered to him and how deeply he believed in the need to extend assistance to Israeli enterprises to enable them to break into the American market and succeed there.

The early years were not easy, either for us or for him, but Sid was never put off by difficulties. He gave the work his all and never spared himself any effort, whilst also whipping up our sometimes flagging exertions. He painted us a faithful portrait of the realities of work in America - ways which were not familiar to us and which were much more complex and demanding than those to which we were used. The breakthrough which we made under his guidance helped us subsequently in the development of other markets and our success there owes much to what we learned from Sid in North America.

All along the road we traveled together we experienced the personal warmth which emanated from him, and were touched by his friendship and wisdom - all rare attributes in business relationships. We have lost a dear friend, a man of vision who will always be remembered in our hearts. We are with you in your sad loss.

On behalf of all your friends in Plasson and Maagan Michael . . .

Remembering a local leader

Sidney Troy was a man with diversified interest.

Mr. Troy rose from the poultry farm of his parents in Toms River, where he grew up, to become a leader in American and Jewish business, political and social affairs, and the founder in 1967 of Diversified Imports, which marketed products from a kibbutz, a collectivist farm in Israel.

Mr. Troy's death Saturday at age 72 caused family members and friends to recall his busy and productive life. Mr. Troy was a modest man. When he and his wife Shulamith, whom he married in 1949, were honored at the Jewish National Fund Third Seder Dinner in 1993, he recalled that he had told dinner organizers for years that he "helped Israel because he believed in Israel, not to get honors." He always felt he was too young to be honored, he said, and he kept telling the dinner leaders that "next year would be a good year for me."

One of his proud moments was in May 1990 when he and his wife hosted Edward 1. Koch at their Lakewood home at a reception just before the former New York City mayor spoke at the fifth annual lecture series as a benefit for the Solomon Schechter Academy, Howell Township. Koch drew an overflow crowd to the Congregation B'nai Israel synagogue in Toms River. Mr. Troy was the first president of the academy, one of numerous organizations he supported for decades with funds and his own time.

As a chicken farmer, Sid Troy knew the adage, "never put all your eggs in one basket." After he sold his share of Diversified Imports in the Lakewood Industrial Park in 1989, he continued to head Bitro International Marketing, which imported early childhood furniture from a kibbutz in Israel.

While director of TOMCO, an egg-marketing cooperative, and vice-president of the Toms River Community of Jewish Farmers, Mr. Troy's interest increased in organizing Habonim, a Zionist youth group, whose membership rose to 300 in the region from Toms River to Freehold.

This put him in contact with national leaders who were bent on furthering the viability of the fledgling state of Israel, which was created May 15, 1948. This was the year Sid Troy became a member of the crew of the ship Pan York, bringing 2,600 Jews from France to Israel in an underground immigration effort. He joined the Israel army two weeks after Israel was created and served nine months, participating in the War of Independence, where he was a member of an army outpost in the Negev. Israel defeated six Arab nations.

Sid Troy was graduated from Toms River High School. Among the people who most impressed the youth was Dr. David Tutor, head of the school agriculture program, who encouraged Sid to study agriculture and see it in a positive light. He got Sid into the Future Farmers of America.

Sid Troy leaves a legacy difficult to match. But he didn't shape his productive life to be compared or matched. He did it for his family and community in the United States and Israel. Condolences to his widow Shulamith, their three daughters Beth, Debbie and Sari, and all the Troy family. Ocean County is a better place because Sid Troy called it home.

(Reprint from Ocean County Observer)