Gary Chattman’s new book is now available on Amazon.com.

Topics: IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE | Give Your Two Cents »

PRESS RELEASE

Imagine you have become two different people. Today, you are at a Bar Mitzvah, studying for a ceremony in November. Then, suddenly, you dream (a vivid one, no less!) that you have been transported back in time to 1939

Poland, and become part of a Holocaust. And you are LIVING this dream. And then you dream that you have been transported to

Poland in the middle ages. And you are a Jew. And you are to be eradicated by gentile society that sees Jews as not chosen, but sub-human. How can you react? How can you think? What do you think? What is the TRUE reality? How can you survive? And what does it mean to be a Jew, today or then? And what about GOD, ADONOY? Is GOD listening to us? Does GOD care? And most important, what is the purpose of a modern Bar/Bat Mitzvah if it doesn’t give the Jews of 2008 a link with the terrors and beliefs of the past? And if it isn’t meaningful or relevant/Imagine you are Reuben Maimon, an impressionable young man of almost-thirteen, about to take the vows of Judaism for his Bar Mitzvah, yet, with these horrible (lifelike!) dreams, he must question who he is, and what the purpose of that ceremony is.

Imagine you are Reuben Maimon, living two different lives with the same cast of people, and not knowing what the true reality is.
Imagine.

Imagine what would happen if you should die before you wake. Imgaine, if you were Reuben Maimon, if he should die before he wakes. Imagine!My book titled IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE is about lack of faith for Jews of today, particularly our young. This picture of the failure of current Hebrew school education is contrasted in “dream” sequences as a backdrop to the destruction of Jewry in
Poland, both in 1848 and of the Holocaust. We witness young Bar-Mitzvah-aged children being transported back through time (

Poland in the Middle Ages; the Holocaust) to seek the answers of faith—even though the children are really alive in 2007! They are currently studying for B’nai Mitzvot in America, and are mysteriously and miraculously transported back to

Poland in the fall of 1939, and to medieval times when anti-Semitism also flourished. Is this really a dream? Is the ceremony of Bar Mitzvah today relevant for our youth? Is religion fulfilling its role in shaping our children’s identities—our children’s view of the world? Today, oftentimes Hebrew Schools are nothing but Bar-Mitzvah “mills” which turn children away from the faith, rather than toward it. This book, as seen across the backdrop of Jewish persecution, has many lessons for Jewish families of today. Judaic education must be changed to better motivate Jewish children, and the lessons of the past must influence the survival of our faith. This novel titled IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE is about lack of faith, and questions our belief today in God, and God’s belief in us. It has many, many lessons for families of today. One lesson definitely learned is that anti-semitism today in 2008 is a useful political tool, whether used in our country by bigots such as Mel Gibson, or by radical leaders in Iran or

Syria (or Hezballah or Hamas).Another lesson learned by reading this unique book is that religious education for our Jewish children today is severely lacking of content, identity, and, yes, religion. The most important lesson found in this book is that our religion today is in turmoil, and has not heeded nor learned from the persecutions of the past. It is a fictional companion book to Gary Chattman’s published non-fiction book COMING OF AGE: BAR AND BAT MITZVAH WITHOUT

HEBREW SCHOOL, also published by AUTHORHOUSE ™ in March of 2007. THERE IS NO OTHER SUCH BOOK ON THE MARKET! This book is an indictment of Jewish religious education of our present day, reflected against the meaning of our covenant with a Superior Being, Our God, Adonoy. How can one make sense of our religion today for our children, without reflecting upon the meaning of Jewish persecution and death, throughout history? How can religious education exist as it is, today, as a social, rather than educational institution? This book asks “why?” What is our motivation towards teaching Jewish children our history, religion, culture and language without reflecting on the sacrifices of our people? How can we let Jewish education, such as it is, be the standard in 2007 for the 52% of our brethren who marry within the faith and the 48% who marry outside it? How? And Why? And what IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE ? SettingRivermont, NY and

PolandMain characters and relationship The main character is Reuben Maimon, an almost-Bar Mitzvah, living in

Rivermont, NY with his family. His parents are aloof; he loves his sister and nanny. He has a best friend, Joshua. He has a “crush” on a girl named Rebekah. He is studying for his upcoming ceremony in November, when suddenly he is transported back in time to the Holocaust in

Poland, 1939; then back to the middle ages. In these “real” flashbacks he witnesses terror, death, anti-semitism; he also lives with the same 2007 friends Josh and Rebekah back in those flashbacks. The relationship between the characters is important, for it is for them and with them that he shares these adventures which help him to view his viewpoint on the American custom of Bar/Bat Mitzvah in 2007/8. All of these characters, including a trial of “God” for forsaking his “chosen people” help Reuben to become a knowledgeable Jew for the modern world. This book is appealing to readers of all ages because it gives a perspective on the custom of Bar and Bat Mitzvah in

America today, by juxtaposing another reflective, “time-travel” experience for the characters in the book. It is a special “take” on the reality of what makes us Jewish. My target audience is all who read, who question, who seek answers from religion.Book published March, 2007 with Authorhouse: COMING OF AGE: JUDAIC RELIGIOUS STUDY FOR BAR/BAT MITZVAH–WITHOUT

HEBREW SCHOOL!Author biography

Topics: IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE | Give Your Two Cents »

News on Gary Chattman’s new, soon-to-be published novel, IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE.  Watch for this special book about how our identity as Jews in 2007 is reflected by our history of persecution.

Topics: IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE | Give Your Two Cents »

MARY POPPINS
At the New Amsterdam Theatre, New York City
Opens November 16, 2006
By Gary David Chattman

“Just a spoonful of sugar will help the medicine go down”…says one song from the Cameron MacIntosh/Disney show “Mary Poppins”, based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney movie. And you can bet that this show gives its audience more than just a “spoonful of sugar”. It is a delightful romp for all ages; those who are young, those who are older and those who are young-at-heart! Read the rest of this entry »

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Westchester Broadway Theatre
Through November 27; then “Phantom” takes a Xmas break for the production of “A Christmas Carol” from November 28-December 23.
“Phantom” resumes December 27 through February 9

Picture this, if you can. We are transported back in time, to an Opera House in Paris. The year is 1911. This is no ordinary opera house, however. This one has underground chambers, trapdoors and catacombs where anyone—or any phantom—can hide out from the world. As novelist Gaston Leroux wrote in his 1910 novel, Le Fantome de l’opera, (The Phantom of the Opera): “The Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is to say, of a spectral shade.” At the Westchester Broadway Theatre this fall you can actually see this ghost—this phantom. He is real! Read the rest of this entry »

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A Big Production of Little Shop
By Gary Chattman

If there ever was a reason to avoid Broadway theatre prices and New York City traffic, this is it. Take a short trip to Westchester Broadway Theatre, eat a superlative dinner there, but be careful. The gigantic plant, Audrey II (helmed by puppeteer Bill Diamond) might want to eat you. Read the rest of this entry »

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Yonkers bar mitzvah tutor’s book describes his motivational methods

By GARY STERN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 27, 2007)
Gary Chattman will do whatever it takes to connect with his bar and bat mitzvah students. He’ll roll on the floor with them, using puzzle pieces to teach Hebrew. He’ll make up silly songs and games with them - “Jewish Go to the Head of the Class,” anyone? - if he can make Jewish traditions stick. He’ll let them shoot baskets, but only if they answer Jewish history questions correctly.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Gary Chattman was featured in today’s Journal News in Weschester. Click here for the link.

Topics: Press | Give Your Two Cents »

Gary Chattman is a retired NYC teacher/administrator, and a current Bar and Bat Mitzvah, author, and piano teacher. He lives in Yonkers; teaches in Westchester, New Jersey, New York City, Connecticut, and has taught many hundreds of children this special program, and has officiated at over 200 B’nai Mitzvot—outside of synagogue education. Chattman’s special plan, chronicled in the book, Coming of Age, has allowed many families to enjoy the fruits of a special motivated religious education.

 TheSupertutors.com website provides copies of newspaper articles about Gary Chattman. Mr. Chattman has written several (unpublished) books to date: BELIEVE: THOSE WHO CAN, TEACHER chronicles his career as a NY City Administrator/ Teacher; two novels, THE TRIAL OF GOD and MOVIE IN MY MIND; numerous stories, and songs. He teaches, in addition to the above, S.A.T./College Preparation and tutors school subjects. He also writes for thecheappop.com, an entertainment and humor site.

Topics: Recommendations, Theater Reviews, Supertutors, Coming of Age, Links | 1 Comment »