Herzlia hat finds its owner – 40 years later

As United Herzlia Schools celebrated its 80th anniversary with an online musical extravaganza on 25 October, Barry Lipchin was thousands of kilometres away, sleeping, in Auckland, New Zealand. He was awoken with a flurry of text messages from family and friends telling him that Herzlia had found his hat.

“I asked, ‘What hat?’” says Lipchin. “It turned out it was one I lost when I was really little, more than 40 years ago. I was laughing. I couldn’t believe it!”

As part of the evening’s presentation, Herzlia Director of Education Geoff Cohen and his co-host, Lisa Chait, shared some lost property that had remained on the school campus for decades, and Lipchin’s name was written in the cap. Chait asked him to “please come and collect your hat from lost property”, and as thousands of Herzlia alumni from 48 countries across the world were enjoying the show, the message quickly made its way to him. He has since unearthed a photo of him wearing it, along with his “safari suit” Herzlia uniform.

“It’s quite remarkable. My mother wrote my name in it, and she passed away a month ago, so it was very meaningful. I do remember losing it. I was a diligent little boy, so I looked for it! I’ve also still got my kippah from that time.” Lipchin started at Herzlia 1977, and matriculated there in 1988.

“I told my colleagues I wish I would hit the lottery like that! It almost seems like the same chance that my hat would be found 40 years later.”

Says Cohen, “We have a storeroom in the building that we use for lost property. Generally, after a while, we give a lot away to charity. Some of the uniform items are given to pupils as second-hand items. We have kept some as archival items, and Barry’s cap was in that box.”

Lipchin recalls an idyllic childhood in Rocklands Avenue, a street away from the school, and he would often walk home at lunch time. “Most of my friends are from our Herzlia days. I spoke to two of them yesterday. Many of us lived close to the school, and my dad had a pharmacy in District Six and then at the top of Derry Street in Vredehoek. So this moment made me feel very nostalgic.”

Lipchin, his wife, Hayley, and their three school-going sons emigrated to New Zealand in 2018, and one thing he says is impossible to replicate there is the Jewish education that Herzlia offers.

“It’s a tiny and very fragmented Jewish community here, and it’s difficult to be Orthodox. If I look back at the education level at Herzlia, it was off the charts, especially in Hebrew, Judaism, and Zionism. You just can’t find that in New Zealand.

“Up until the age of 13, Jewish kids here can have a secular education with a ‘Jewish flavour’. I call it a smattering of Judaism,” says Lipchin. “They learn the chaggim and a bit of Hebrew, but I’m teaching my youngest son the rest, and I got that knowledge from Herzlia. I’m teaching him Hebrew because I want him to be able to read fluently at his Barmitzvah in four years’ time. Herzlia gave me that grounding and identity.”

Lipchin’s brother-in-law, Yinon Levy, collected the cap from Herzlia, and Lipchin will pay for it to be posted to him. He promises to share photographs when it’s finally returned to him.

Herzlia alumni and supporters enjoyed the online event to celebrate the school’s eight decades, which included messages from prestigious alumni like Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and music and dance numbers from current and past pupils. It was presented live from the school’s library, and a stream of messages from the audience allowed alumni and supporters to celebrate and connect from all over the world.