Did You Know

Here is an excerpt from a story about Abraham Shrem and his Family, about Abraham Selim Shehebar:
For the entire story, click here.

Gabriel and Saul A Shrem ("Charlie") were born in Cairo. Saul is 3 years younger than Gabriel. The life in Egypt during the 1920’s was relatively pleasant, peaceful, with no real political hardships. The Jewish Community of Egypt was large and influential. The synagogues in Egypt were large and beautiful. Saul recalls hanging out by the large courtyards of the synagogue listening to Dibre Torah from rabbis after the prayer services.

Finances were the reason for leaving Aleppo in the early 1900’s, and finances, again, were the reason for leaving Cairo, in the later 1920’s. There was no work!

In 1929, Saul was 9 years old and he got on a boat heading to the United States. Before getting onto the boat, the inspectors of the boat held back his brother, Gabriel (age ~11), due to an eye condition common in Egypt (Trachoma) that was thought by Americans to be contagious. For whatever reason, Saul, who had the same problem, was allowed to get onto the boat. Upon hearing that Gabriel was not allowed to get onto the boat, his two grandmothers (Salha and Esther) who originally came for the trip to say farewell, forced Flora, Gabe's mother, to get onto the boat without Gabe and continue the trip while they take care of Gabriel until further notice.

Saul never visited Egypt again and never again saw his grandparents or Uncle Abraham Chehebar. The boat ride lasted 30 days, and Saul Shrem recalls that Flora cried all 30 days on the boat about leaving her son, Gabriel, behind. The boat was nice and they were able to eat Kosher food on it. The destination was New York City's Ellis Island, and then down south to Macon, Georgia, where Abraham Shrem, the father of Saul, had a small linen shop.

Gabriel Shrem spent the next two years in Egypt with his maternal uncle, Abraham Selim Chehebar. The original name of the Chehebar family was LAHAM, and was changed to CHEHEBAR (SHE’HE BAR = “The Boy Should Live”) to stop the curse of Selim Ibrahim Chehebar’s parents constantly losing children at childbirth. Abraham Chehebar (born 1884, Aleppo, and moved to Egypt in 1906) was married to Abraham Shrem’s sister, Zakieh (also known as “Giselle?”). Abraham Chehebar had two wives prior to Zakieh. The first wife passed away without any children in Aleppo. His second wife, Latifa Bobo, also passed away, but leaving one child, Solomon Chehebar. Zakieh raised Solomon Chehebar after his mother passed away. Zakieh’s 8 children were: Gabriel A Chehebar, Joseph, Alice, Allegra, Maurice, Charlie, Aslan, and Nina. Abraham Chehebar took great care of his nephew, Gabriel, for the next few years and assumed the responsibility of father while the rest of the family was in the US.

Uncle Chehebar took everyone to synagogue each Shabbat to the Baqashot. Abraham was a genius when it came to pizmonim, and took a special interest in teaching Gabriel, similarly a genius in pizmonim. Abraham Chehebar was very influential in his congregation, especially when it came to all aspects of Baqashot and prayers. In Egypt’s Aleppo Jewish community, he and two others (Obadia Antar and Joseph A Levy) put together “Miqrah Qodesh,” a Baqashot book, in 1930. Gabriel A Chehebar, Abraham's son, was also good at pizmonim and Hazzanut. Saul Shrem did not learn pizmonim, because he was in the US at the time. Abraham Chehebar did well in his business even though his store was the size of a closet. It was insisted by the grandparents that Abraham G Shrem go all the way back to Egypt by boat in order to pick up Gabriel and bring him to the United States. This would be the first time in approximately ten years that Gabriel has seen his father. The grandparents intentionally delayed Gabriel’s Bar Misvah until father returned to Egypt when he was age 14. (Whether Gabriel wore Tefillin at age 13, as per Halakha, is questionable to me.) While in Egypt, Gabriel celebrated his delayed Bar Misvah with his father, and then left on a boat with him. Gabriel was too young at the time to be involved in leading the services in Egypt (pre-Bar Misvah aged).

Regarding the family of Gabriel A Chehebar, most siblings eventually moved to the United States. They opened a successful retail chain called "Rainbow." They are also involved in many charitable causes associated with Congregation Ahaba VeAhva as well as the larger Jewish community in the United States.

For whatever reason, once in the United States, the Chehebar family associated themselves with the “Egyptians,” whereas the Shrem family associated themselves with the “Syrians.” Meanwhile, both families are identical in heritage; Syrians who moved to Egypt and then moved to the United States.

Abraham Chehebar died in Egypt as did the Shrem's grandparents. They never came to the US.

Gabriel A Shrem came to the US in 1930, whereas the rest of his family came to the US in early 1929. The first ten years in the United States, ages 14-24, were spent mostly in the South.

Once in Macon, Saul Shrem went to the local public school and ended up getting his high school diploma. After high school, Saul participated in the family business.

At the late age of 14, it is unclear whether Gabriel went to public school without knowledge of English. A great majority of everything that Gabriel A Shrem knew was self-taught. By the time he was an adult, Gabriel’s proficiency in the English language was so advanced that he would read “The New York Times” newspaper every day.

In the late 1930's, while passing through New York for an occasion, Gabriel A Shrem met with the greatest hazzan of his generation Hakham Hazzan Moshe Ashear ONLY ONCE prior to Ashear's death in 1940, and later assumed his cantorial position at Congregation Magen David from 1944-1963. Gabriel said that he only learnt one pizmon from Ashear (“LeMee Yizrah Or”, Maqam Lami, page 183). When Gabriel got to the Brooklyn community in the 1940’s, he caught on quickly to how they conducted their Shabbat prayers. He was immediately offered the prestigious position of Hazzan of Congregation Magen David of 67^th Street.

Florence Shrem Zeitouni recalls that throughout her childhood, there were less than 40 “Shomer Shabbat” families in the community. Though she went to mainstream Magen David Yeshiva with other “SY’s,” when they got home, the only people that they socialized with were the Shrem cousins. “Our cousins were our friends,” says Florence.

Gabriel was hazzan of Congregation Magen David and Bnai Yosef Congregation. Gabriel spent about 15 years of his life putting together the Red Pizmonim Book, “Shir Ushbaha Hallel VeZimrah.” All of his works, recordings, and writings have been compiled, digitalized, and modernized by the Sephardic Pizmonim Project at www.pizmonim.com. Gabriel was also the administrator of the Bnai Yosef Congregation since the synagogue's inception until his death. Florence Zeitouni, Gabriel's daughter, has assumed this role at the Bnai Yosef Congregation since the 1960s. Gabriel was a professor at the Yeshiva University Cantorial Institute in the 1970s, where he recorded Hazzanut tapes for his students. Both Gabriel and Saul Shrems were also founding members of Yeshivat Mikdash Melech (under Rabbi Haim Benoliel).

According to some close family members, they did not appreciate the fact that Gabriel was more often in the synagogue than in their home. Rachel Shrem is quoted as saying, “We should move your bed into the shul!”

His Pizmonim and Hazzanut, though by far, the most important accomplishment in terms of his legacy, was only a side-job. It did not pay the bills, and he received very little money for his services. Gabriel needed to take any side job that he can get as a shipping clerk in order to make money for his family.

According to Morris Arking, who happened to be in studying in Israel at the time of Gabriel A Shrem’s funeral in 1986, recalls that Eddie J Sitt exclaimed “Gabriel A Shrem was the most humble man on the face of the Earth!” Joey E Mosseri recalls that his death was a very sad day for the entire community.