Arden “Ardie” Wandel, who rigorously, patiently and lovingly readied thousands of Jewish boys, girls, men and women for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs over several decades, passed away Feb. 10, 2020, in Denver. He was 77. Rabbi Yaakov Chaitovsky officiated at the Feb. 12 service at BMH-BJ.
Interment followed at Rose Hill Cemetery. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
“All of us who knew, admired, respected and loved Ardie Wandel are absolutely grief stricken right now,” intoned Chaitovsky, the sole eulogizer. “We are in shock . . . perplexed . . . emotionally paralyzed.
“Like Aaron the High Priest, confronted by the deaths of his two sons, we are ‘stunned into silence.’
“Simply put, Ardie loved life and lived life fully,” the rabbi said. “He was gregarious and friendly. He could talk to almost anyone and immediately make them feel like an old friend . . . Ardie was genuinely interested in people — in what others had to say, in what they thought. He loved to hear and learn from their stories.
“Will Rogers reputedly said, ‘I’ve never met a man I did not like.’ About Ardie, one could say that it would be difficult to find anyone who did not like him.”
Ardie Wandel was born and raised on Denver’s East Side. His father passed away when he was not quite three. His mother Hazel married Herman Gensberg when Ardie was nine.
Wandel attended elementary school on the East Side and graduated East High.
By all accounts, Ardie was not a “rough and tumble” teenager, Chaitovsky said. He did not hang out with the “wrong” kids, and never saw the inside of a principal’s office.
“He was even friends with some of those difficult teens who spent lots of time in the principal’s office — because he was friends with everyone.”
Rabbi Samuel Adelman, then rabbi of BMH, took a deep interest in Wandel and influenced him Jewishly.
Under Adelman’s tutelage, Wandel became a youth counselor and then youth director at the synagogue. His tenure as a religious school educator “made Jewish learning fun and Jewish living come alive.”
Ardie Wandel earned a business degree at DU and began working for the family business, Wandel Press, with Jake Wandel and then Sid Wandel.
Printing was a chosen career but his passion was tutoring 11- and 12-year-old boys and girls for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, after school, in the evenings and on the weekends.
“He had students of every stripe — gifted and talented to those with learning challenges,” Chaitovsky said. “Ardie’s natural gifts were fully deployed for each and every student.
“He was a perfectionist, to be sure. And he pushed his acolytes hard. Yes, at times he got angry with a student for not practicing enough, but Ardie was really a patient and understanding taskmaster.
“Parents were often amazed at what he was able to accomplish, and some of them attended lessons with their children.”
Wandel welcomed children and adults from all Jewish denominations into his classes, modeling what is now called pluralism — respecting and embracing all Jews — long before anyone coined a word for it.
Past president and longtime board member at Beth Joseph, he was one of the architects of the merger of BMH and Beth Joseph into BMH-BJ.
“He loved, loved, loved all three congregations,” Chaitovsky said.
Wandel established an educational fund at the temple for scholars-in-residence and contributed openly and at times anonymously to the synagogue.
The Denver Jewish community honored Wandel numerous times — with the Temple Sinai Anita Fricklas Award in 1992; by Beth Joseph in 1993; by Temple Emanuel in 1997; by CAJE in 2000; and by BMH-BJ in 2010. Chabad also honored him.
“Ardie was a melamed, a teacher,” Rabbi Chaitovsky said. “He made indelible impressions on each of his many students — standing in front of him in the classroom, on pulpits or at camp.
“Many others were clients, business associates, synagogue board members, committee workers or fundraisers; his beautiful and caring family; and even rabbis . . . He may be gone, but I know for certain he will never be forgotten.”
Ardie Wandel is survived by wife Charlene Wandel; children Stephen Wandel and Rayna Wandel; mother Hazel Gensberg; sister Sura (Norm) Veta and brother Mort (Fran) Gensberg.
Contributions may be made to the Arden Wandel Education Fund c/o BMH-BJ.
Copyright © 2020 by the Intermountain Jewish News
