Los Alamitos, CA — A room of high school students sat in silence Sunday morning as former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir recounted her signing of the Jewish nation's declaration of independence.
Israeli History Comes to Life for High Schoolers
Los Alamitos, CA — A room of high school students sat in silence Sunday morning as former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir recounted her signing of the Jewish nation’s declaration of independence.
“No matter how hard you try, you can’t kill the spirit of a people,” said Meir, as portrayed by Peter Small, a historical impressionist.
Small, 53, had his routine down for the Chabad Lubavitch of Cypress audience.
He wore a gray skirt suit to match his salt-and-pepper wig and puffed on a fake cigarette every few minutes.
Small’s character recollected, in what he described as Meir’s nasally American Midwest Jewish accent, many of the 20th-century events that led to Israel’s independence, as well as notable moments in Meir’s life, all without the use of notes. Meir died in 1978.
“It was really informative,” said Sarah Gipoor, 17, a senior at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach. “I thought it was a really fun way of teaching history. … You can tell he did his research.”
Gipoor and the class of about 30 teens sat in for the unique lecture as part of their weekly Hebrew-language school lessons.
Afterward, Small changed into denim and a sweater to drive to Pasadena, where he was scheduled for a performance as George Washington.
Small makes history come alive.When he walks into a classroom, congregation or retirement home, he’s transformed into one of his six characters, which include presidents Harry Truman and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He spends months researching his subjects, memorizing popular anecdotes and little-known trivia.He frequents thrift shops and costume retailers to get the right clothing for his subjects.
“I’m one of the few men my age to be happy to see my hair go gray,” Small said.
At elementary schools, he pulls out powdered wigs to play George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. For adults, it’s Roosevelt or Truman.
“(The adults) enjoy it. It brings them back memories of a particular time and era,” Small said.
Small spent several years in Israel in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and broadened his knowledge of Israeli history.
Later, he taught U.S. history at a Baldwin Park junior high school, often dressing as Jefferson or others to aid in his lectures.
Small left the traditional classroom, preferring to perform. He and 15 other Southern California impressionists formed a networking organization on www.history-alive.com.
Schools are charged about $350, and Small works on a sliding scale with other groups, depending on their budget.
Rabbi Shmuel Marcus has had Small over to perform for the storefront congregation three times.
“It’s so powerful to hear a first-person story, rather than opening up a textbook,” Marcus said. “He has all the dates, names, everything in his head.”
chrup!
if you ask me,he seems kinda strange. a guy dressing up in womens clothing,regardless if its for teaching purposes or not,is a bit strange…..plus,he looks kinda like mel brooks :D
yanks
you can tell the kid in front of him seems weirded out lol
CN
Is it permitted for a man to put on a woman’s clothing for the sake of chinuch?
chrup!
i doubt it
Bobaganoush
I believe he was spotted in this clothing once, and then covered it up by saying he was getting ready for teaching a class… Mighty strange indeed!
BrookAve
It is after all Klipafornia we are talking about. Anywhere else they would blush.
CN
I wonder if he tells the whole story about Golda Meir and the crimes she committed against Yiddishkeit, how she had religious Jewish children taken away from their parents in order to secularize them.
A Shliach
Well, he’s not quite as ugly of a woman as she was.
Man was she ugly!
Oh yeah, and she thought she was a man.
BrookAve
One thing you can say about Golda, she made a mean honey cake.