They found their calling more than half a century ago, and despite the usual life challenges of the intervening years, they’re still at it when most people are long retired.
In half a century a lot can change in a high school, but one thing has always been dependable at Baltimore’s Talmudical Academy: Mrs. Reva Gold would always be in the office, taking care of “her boys” — from plying them with coffee and snacks to proofreading their essays
By Margie Pensak
Riiiing! It’s 11:15 a.m., and Mrs. Reva Gold, the indefatigable secretary at Baltimore’s Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim Talmudical Academy, gives me a knowing look. “That’s the recess bell,” she warns in her Southern drawl. “It’s going to get mobbed in here!”
Seconds later, several talmidim pile into her office. “Hi, Mrs. Gold! Can I have a Band-Aid?” “Mrs. Gold, is anyone leaving now? I need a ride home.” “Mrs. Gold, can I please use the phone?” “Good morning, Mrs. Gold! Can I have a cup for coffee?” The organized and efficiently run office that serves a middle school and high school suddenly morphs into a friendly, inviting, and warm teenage oasis, as it has for close to half a century. This is just one opportunity for which the students have earned the privilege of using the menahel’s Keurig coffeemaker in the adjoining office.
This spunky, stylish native Baltimorean worked for the city’s Department of Education and for the Air Force before landing her job as the middle/high school secretary at TA. That was back in 1966, when the Vietnam War was in full swing and a gallon of gas cost 32 cents. The current school campus had not yet been purchased, and the 60 or so talmidim were learning in Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation.
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