Ramblin’ Conrad’s moved twice and had a kiosk at The Waterside, before finally giving way to big box music stores, closing its Ghent location in 1995. Zentz, however, continued his folk music journey, travelling to distant places such as Finland and Australia to perform.

Zentz and his wife, Jeanne, have been together for 18 years, although one of their first meetings took place in 1983 when she interviewed him for Y-96. The interview can be found on their website, bobzentz.com. They reunited in 2007 and, as Jeanne recounts, “our marriage took place on Jan. 4, 2017, in Rabbi Roz’s office at Ohef Sholom Temple.”

For two years during COVID, the couple played music for services and holidays at Beth Sholom Village and sang for the memory unit. “It was a wonderful experience,” Jeanne says. They also hosted a monthly Zoom “Havdalah Hootenanny” for Ohef Sholom members. “We did the Havdalah service first, singing the Debbie Friedman song,” recalls Jeanne. Members were encouraged to take turns performing – and plenty did. “It was a real folk-jam,” she says.

A musician, Jeanne calls herself, “Bob’s backup band.” Anyone who has heard her, of course, knows she’s being humble.

“After 60+ years, Bob is still preaching the gospel of folk,” says Jeanne. “It’s tikkun olam. . . how a song can repair the world.”

Now participants in Ohef Sholom’s weekly Torah Study, Zentz says they “enjoy listening to the different opinions that people bring.”

About the couple’s collection of instruments, Jeanne promptly says there “are too many.” Banjos, guitars, hybrids, squeeze boxes, dulcimers, autoharps, the list continues.

Still, they use most of them.

Later this year, at the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA, most call it) near Boston, the couple will perform and create the “Rambin’ Conrad’s experience in a tent in the 75-year-old festival’s exhibition hall.” They’ll also perform at the Ocrafolk Festival (named by Zentz) in Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. Locally, Zentz will continue to play his regular gigs at the Waterman Museum in Yorktown and the Virginia Beach Antiques Mall, among others.

Zentz is also passing on his passion to a new generation of musicians, teaching music at Ohef Sholom Temple, where he encourages children to write songs and sing.

Through the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Zentz’s music will be archived and available in perpetuity for future music-lovers. According to its website, “Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution… We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world.”

In 2017, Zentz received a bronze star on the Legends of Music Walk of Fame on Granby Street – the walk recognizes Hampton Roads natives who have made significant contributions of national or international significance to the world of music. Among his fellow honorees are Ella Fitzgerald and Bruce Hornsby. Referring to the names on the Walk of Fame, Jeanne adds, “Bob is the only folk musician and maybe the only Jew.”

From his earliest days at Maury High School to his international gigs to his very local and intimate performances, Bob Zentz has entertained and inspired countless audiences. A talent worthy of a lifetime achievement award.

Found in all sizes and colors, dreidels are made from the most mundane of materials to the most
glamorous – from plastic to jewels – and are designed to either be played with or showcased as art.  

With so many possibilities, there’s no wonder that collections of this classic Hanukkah toy abound. Here, Wendy Auerbach, Ilene Goldman, and Jamie Alpern share a bit about their collections.

Jamie Alperin

Twenty-four-year-old Jamie Alperin, a Tidewater native currently studying for her Psy. D. in clinical psychology, has amassed a dreidel collection beyond her years. 

Started by her maternal grandfather when she was five years old, Alperin’s collection stands at 32 dreidels, often receiving more than one per year from her Florida-based grandparent.

James Jacobson decided it would be fun to start collections for both of his granddaughters when they were young. For older sister, Jenna Alperin, he gifted menorahs. 

Jamie’s dreidels have been purchased from Judaica stores and other shops where Jacobson found the spinning tops. A few in her collection are made from clay, “painted and man-made by my child hands,” Alperin says. 

Her favorite? A menorah-dreidel made of glass. “It makes me feel closer to my sister.”  

Ilene Goldman

When Ilene Goldman married her husband, Dean, her parents gave the newlyweds a Hanukkah menorah as a wedding present. Ever since, Goldman has received dreidels and menorahs as gifts, regardless of the occasion. “I guess I’m a hard person to shop for!” she laughs.

Each Hanukkah season, Goldman displays the dreidels and menorahs on her dining room table and makes a big spread. In the collection are roughly 10 dreidels and eight menorahs. Many of these works are not run-of-the-mill Judaica; instead, these high-end selections are made from crystal or other artistic creations. She favors two cut-glass crystal dreidels that she purchased for herself.

When her children were young students at Norfolk Collegiate School, Goldman was the mom who came in for Hanukkah. She purchased small, easy-to-spin, wooden dreidels on Amazon and taught the classes how to play dreidel games. Goldman also brought gelt candy and showed these youngsters how to bet. At the end of the game, this doctor mom threw away the gelt that had been handled by children with colds and other winter crud, and instead sent each student home with a bag of untouched chocolate.

“It started in kindergarten, but the kids wanted me to come through fifth grade. I read the same Hanukkah book to the class for six years in a row!”

Wendy Juren Auerbach

Wendy Auerbach’s dreidel collection, a Maccabean army of 78 spinning tops, started by chance. “I love Hanukkah, and these portable, functional works of art make them fascinating to me. I like that something can be interpreted in so many ways.”

Auerbach’s collection includes dreidels made from various materials, including felt and other fibers, as well as glass and metal. “A few are from my mother, because she knew I was collecting them.”  

While most dreidels in Auerbach’s cabinet have been purchased, she has crafted some herself, including an oversized, paper mâché object that she painted, and a dreidel she crocheted from old t-shirts. She considers several standouts in the collection, dreidels made from unusual materials or different shapes, but she is partial to those made from common objects, such as Legos, wood, paper, and nuts and bolts. “I even have one made from leather, which is from the Jewish Museum in New York.” 

Auerbach says that most of her dreidels spin, and they all contain the four letters on the sides. Several dreidels in this vast collection come from Israel, where one of the letters differs. Instead of the common “nun, gimmel, hei, shin,” (a great miracle happened there), a dreidel from Israel ends with a “pe” (a great miracle happened here)