Tributes

Maurice Roumani

Libya, Africa

There are few events in one's life that have such an impact that they can change the direction, substance, and orientation of that life.

In my case, the event that had a far-reaching implication beyond my expectations occurred through a vision and generosity of one man who turned my dreams, hopes, and aspirations into a reality -- as I am sure he did for many others like me.

This special event has a name and it is the Wien International Scholarship Program. WISP was founded by Lawrence and Mae Wien of New York, who donated a sum of money to Brandeis to allow foreign students to attend the university.

But I was not just a foreign student wanting to attend Brandeis. As a young man, I was influenced by the American Dream as it became disseminated through the U.S. cultural centers and detailed in the Point IV Program. Both gave me a ray of hope to realize my dream of getting a university education at all costs.

In the midst of a deteriorating political situation for Jews in Libya, the Wien program was not aware that by accepting this young man to the program, it offered a saving raft for him and his family from the insecure situation in Libya.

In effect, the Wien program had far-reaching implications not only for him but for the whole family after centuries living in the Mediterranean basin. Now the Roumani family found itself breathing the fresh air of liberty, democracy, and equal rights, thousands of miles away from their ancestral home.

I recall vividly the day of my arrival in the United States. It was July 4, 1960, a date that I learned to cherish and later to share with my fellow Americans. The Queen Mary docked in New York Harbor’s pier 42 and the same day I proceeded to Brandeis by train for a month-long orientation program. When I got off the train with my suitcase, a young man approached me and asked for my name. As far as I recall, he was Stephen Solarz, later a U.S. congressman from Brooklyn. He took my suitcase and accompanied me to my assigned room in the Quadrangle dormitories.

The next day I was introduced to my roommate, Masaoki Nagahama from Japan. I was so taken by his Japanese accent that we struck a deal – I would teach him Hebrew and he would teach me Japanese. But the academic load of the orientation month -- two long classes of American history and English creative writing five days a week -- took a toll on both our Hebrew and Japanese.

At the end of the orientation month, we were assigned to American families through the Experiment in International Living and I made my first acquaintance with American Jewish families. I knew nothing or very little about them, but I was fascinated by this unknown entity and soon I began to explore, to learn, and to even adopt some of their liturgical music in the synagogue. One thing became clear: I had to redefine my identity as a Jew and soon I found myself being counted among Orthodox Jews.

September came and I returned to Brandeis to start the academic year. Still fascinated by my new environment, I witnessed what I considered then to be the most impressive scenery that nature could offer: the season of foliage! The pictures that I took in those days from Fruchtman Hall and later in my senior year from the Quadrangle dormitories have a special place to this day in my scrapbooks.

As we take stock of our lives from time to time, the years at Brandeis stand as the best years of my life because they gave me a new start in life -- not only for me, but as it turned out, also for my parents, brothers, and sister.

Thus the Wien program had an effect not only on the first generation of the Roumani family, but on the second and now the third. Some of them continue to live in the United States and others chose to live in Israel.

The scholarship program was the vision of one man, who through his wisdom knew what is important for the future: education for those who seek it to make the world a better place to live in. Not only for him and his generation, but for others who will follow.