[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12779-12780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING BAR MITZVAH OF CHARLIE DANN

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TIM RYAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 15, 2005

  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the Bar 
Mitzvah of Charlie Dann, on June 4, 2005. Here is Charlie's speech 
entitled ``Memory is Powerful.''

       There were many, especially some of my former Hebrew 
     teachers, who would have doubted my commitment to Judaic and 
     Hebrew studies.
       At times, to be honest, I've doubted myself.
       But I stand here today honored to join in a tradition that 
     has meant something to so many in our world, our community 
     and our family. And means so much to me. I am still not sure 
     of exactly who I am in a large context, but I continue 
     working on that with the help of so many.
       Thank you Rabbi Schonberger. And thank you Mrs. Kessler. 
     And thank you Mr. Zevor and thank you Mr. Zaltsman and yes, 
     thank you Mr. Grabiner and thank you Mrs. Schonberger. More 
     thank you's later.
       Now I want to talk about why I decided to go ahead with a 
     Bar Mitzvah.
       For those of you who know my parents, you probably realize 
     that they did not force me to go through with this Bar 
     Mitzvah. It was my choice.
       I chose to do this for many reasons. But many of them 
     center around five men and five women. Four of the men aren't 
     here in a physical sense. And two of the women aren't here 
     either. So, now before I explain more, I'd like to ask my 
     grandfather Bentley Lenhoff to stand. Next, I'd like my 
     great-grandmother, Eva Dann to stand. Now my grandmothers, 
     Hope Ellis, Michelle Dann, and Nancy Lenhoff and even though 
     she denies it, I'd also like Barbie Hodros to stand as she 
     too has been a grandmother to me. Thank you for everything 
     that you've taught me and thank you for loving me and 
     believing in me.
       Now I will explain more.
       The men that can't be here today--those that I knew and one 
     that I never met--have given me an incredible legacy. Phil 
     Arian, Stuart Dann, Julie Dann, Dean Cribbs and the men after 
     whom I'm named, Charlie Lenhoff and Phil Oxman, valued 
     tradition and doing the right things in life. None of them 
     led a conventional life. But their lives have taught me the 
     importance of being connected to a larger community and of 
     making contributions to the family.
       And my great-grandmothers--Jessie Gorsline and Bess 
     Lawrence Oxman--you were real pioneers in life. From you, I 
     have been given drive and determination. I sometimes wish I 
     had more of your scholarly dedication. But perhaps that will 
     come in time. Like my grandfathers and great-grandfathers, 
     you also valued community and being connected to larger goals 
     that extended beyond your own universes.
       I stand up here today to pay tribute to my family, of 
     course. And to Rabbi Schonberger who suffered through my 
     occasional--OK frequent--obstinence and poor study habits. 
     And I would be remiss not to thank my mom and dad, Alyssa 
     Lenhoff and Marc Dann. And my aunts and uncles, Frank and 
     Maddy Joseph, Ken and Marilyn Steinback, Kathy and Robert 
     Leb, Scott and Priscilla Dann, Dan and Nan Arian, Mark and 
     Ellen Arian and Lyndean and Myron Brick and my wonderful 
     cousins--all of you--the little ones and the big ones--Big 
     Emily, Meg, Robin, Amanda, Sylvie, Benji, Molly, Harte, 
     little Emily, Mickey, Jillian, Jordan, and Jackson.
       And there are two others who I must mention--my sisters. 
     Mavilya, Mia--who is studying somewhere in Italy or at least 
     that's what she told her mom. Dr. Gulnara Tarpe who is a lot 
     like a second mom to me as well. And of course my younger 
     sister, Jessie--Pishur to me. I love you.
       But I also stand up her to talk about my thoughts about our 
     community--the Mahoning Valley.
       I'm a politician's son. You didn't expect me to be brief, 
     did you?
       I believe our community is at a crossroads and I further 
     believe that we--as individuals--have the power to determine 
     its future.
       As a graduate of Akiva Academy, it is painful for me to see 
     the school suffer enrollment declines year after year after 
     year. It is even more painful to drive to downtown Youngstown 
     or over to Girard and see the remnants of what once was. It 
     makes me sad to think of how we--as a community--have allowed 
     our economy and our population to decline.
       Of course I realize that the steel mills can't come back. 
     And I realize that there is no magic bullet for the economic 
     development problems that plague our community.
       But I truly believe that some of our problems could be 
     cured with a little bit of the ideas that are presented in 
     today's Torah portion.
       Today's Torah portion talks about a census--counting 
     people.
       Counting people involves more than just lining them up and 
     ticking off numbers.

[[Page 12780]]

       Surveying the population of a town, a community, a state or 
     a nation is something that is critically important as the 
     Torah portion explains. But when you count them, it is 
     important to realize the value inherent in every human being. 
     We are more than numbers. I think this message is extremely 
     important to us as a community and can help us better address 
     the problems that we face.
       For too long, we have been intimidated by the declining 
     census. We have allowed ourselves to believe that we are on a 
     slippery slope down because our population has fallen.
       If we do what the Torah portion seems to advise and count 
     people as more than just numbers, our census will swell to 
     incredible proportions. We will see that among us are people 
     of immense talent and incredible energy and great values. We 
     will see that our census is among the best in the Nation.
       I am ready to join the community and to help so many of you 
     who have been working so diligently to preserve what's left 
     and to try to recapture what once was. I will join as a 
     person of a lot of energy, a lot of creativity and a great 
     deal of dedication to the values and morals that we as Jews 
     have inherited from the prophets. I believe in honesty. I 
     believe in hard work. I believe in compassion. I believe in 
     solving and not creating problems. I am sure of all of this. 
     But other questions still linger for me. What will I be? A 
     politician? Perhaps. A football player? Doubtful. A 
     journalist? Maybe. What I do know for certain is that--guided 
     by my faith as a Jew--I will be a good person. I will be a 
     person who knows right from wrong and who practices it. And, 
     I will be a person who thinks and who cares and who draws on 
     faith, memory and tradition in daily life.
       We can't forget who we are. We can't forget what we were. 
     We can't lose sight of what we could be.
       Memory is powerful.
       And they say, past can be prologue. It is up to us to 
     decide which past we choose.

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