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Cheshvan/Kislev 5778 November 2017
Cheshvan/Kislev 5778November 2017
CONTENTS november 2017 • cheshvan / kislev 5778volume 88 • number 11
4 From the Editor 5 Returning Home to My Jewish Community by Jesse Ulrich
5 Butterflies 6 Mazel 6 Deborah Lipstadt Delivers Frank Memorial Lecture by Brian Edward Brouse
7 Marc Chagall & Charles Sorlier, A Printmaking Partnership by Mickel Yantz
8 What’s the Thing that Scares You the Most? by Yohai Gross
8 Mah Jongg Tournament 10 The Jewish Jeans Maker by Phil Goldfarb
12 November Community Events 14 The Dao of Being Jewish, an Excerpt, Part 1 by Irene Shaland
17 Only at Mizel by Lillian Hellman
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JEWISHTULSA.ORG 3
Tulsa’s PreK through Grade 12 Independent Episcopal School
hollandhall.org
The possibilities of and. The assurance of all.
EunicePrimary and Middle School parent
I wasn’t sure this was the right choice.
I respect public schools.
I value diversity.
I want my children attuned
to the real world.
But I realized my kids needed choices—
from a range of engaging electives,
enlightening arts programs,
exciting athletic opportunities,
ANDclassmates from many
walks of life.
as the one school in Tulsa
bringing together
what they need for
ALL
they’re becoming.
Holland Hall was a wise decision—
From the Editor
Founded in 1930 by Tulsa Section,
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“Be present in all things and thankful for all things.”
–Maya Angelou
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a problem being “present” when going about my life. It is so easy to get caught up in the mundane aspects of daily life: work, family, sleep, and repeat. It is also easy to become so overwhelmed in the tasks of daily life that it is hard to stop and just “be” in the moment. Our world moves at such a rapid pace sometimes, that it can be hard to savor the little things that when added together make a life.
Just recently, I had my plans to go to an out of town wedding change at the last minute. Instead of staying home alone, I tried to get my two best girlfriends together for an impromptu dinner. While one of my friends readily assented, the other begged off to stay home and do housework in preparation for her son’s upcoming birthday party. After dinner, my one friend and I talked about how we missed the third part of our trio and decided to make a delivery of Starbucks as a special treat for our missing friend. One stop later, with three different variations of pumpkin spice lattes in hand for three very different women (regular, non-fat, and coconut milk), and we were all together in her kitchen having a quick catch up and toasting our friendship. That grande, non-fat pumpkin spice latte may have seemed like such a small thing, but it proved to be just the thing that all three of us needed. It reminded us to stop and take a moment to be present for one another, and sitting around that kitchen in Bixby, it reminded three busy working women that there were many things for which to be thankful…friendship and lattes among them!
I encourage all of you in this month of Thanksgiving to always be present and always be thankful!
–Melissa
FromRobert AligLaurie & Bob BermanIrene & Stan BurnsteinRandee & David CharneyRosalie ChildsFrieda GrossbardLauren & Paul GrossbardKim KlineTed KriegsmanShirley & Norman LevinMyrna LubinSallye MannRichard MeekerMarilyn MillerSharon NeuwaldDebra O’HearnJennifer & Leo Rose Isabel SanditenAngie & Jon StolperMaxine Zarrow
BirthdayGerry Bernstein
HonoringSam Brenner
Speedy RecoveryEstelle Finer
In MemoryMargaret DonelsonPauline DubinCarolyn KriegsmanMarjorie LubinNancy MayhughDaniel & Myrna RaffkindDave RichJolene SaizowHarry Skuy
Butterflies Honoring Donors to the Zarrow Pointe
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Returning Home to My Jewish Community
by Jesse Ulrich
It is funny returning home to the community that helped raise me, where I run into people who have known me at all stages of my life. Some of you might remember me, but for everyone else I should introduce myself. My name is Jesse Ulrich. I was born in Tulsa, gradu-ated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in History and then moved to Boston in 2005 where I received a Master of Arts in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis Univer-sity. After finishing at Brandeis, I spent the last 10 years working for a multitude of different Boston Jewish non-profits. I worked for a Conservative Synagogue, a Jewish Arts & Culture organization, Hebrew College (a pluralistic Rabbinical and Cantorial university), and spent the past two years working as the Manager of Content for JewishBoston.com, the digital home for Boston Jews that is supported and financed by Combined Jewish Philan-thropies, the Jewish Federation of Boston.
I used to joke that the TJCC, as I still call it, is the closest thing to a second home I had in Tulsa. I went to Heritage Academy here. I went to Camp Shalom here. I spent my weekends here, either during my time in BBYO or just hanging out while my dad worked on the Tulsa Jewish Review. When my wife, Michelle,
and I began our plans to move back home from Boston, the old ‘TJCC’ was not the place where I thought I would land. But it feels wonderful—and really prophetic—that I am here—again.
In my new role as Director of Holocaust Education and Community Relations, I get to live the Jewish value of zikaron, remembrance of the past, but also to help the Tulsa Jewish community build for the future. Our community here is small, but I feel we are surrounded by religious and cultural communities that are not only curious about us but who are perfect partners in our desire to make Tulsa a beautiful place in which to live.
I look forward to continuing our rela-tionships with school districts around the state as they educate their students about the Holocaust, as well as helping Tulsa remember and deal with its own violent history. I am a strong advocate for studying history: our history, America’s history, and our state’s history. It is from history that we learn not only about the past, but also about why people think and act—and react today.
Whether it is through The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art or the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, I intend to engage in and with the greater Tulsa and Okla-homa communities, both religious and communal, in the role I have been playing since I was a child here: a representative of our vibrant Jewish community to the greater Tulsa community. ■
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Deborah Lipstadt Delivers Frank
Memorial Lectureby Brian Edward Brouse
The tulsa community has benefited in so many ways from the Frank Family and its foundations.
On September 17, Dr. Deborah Lipstadt delivered the ninth annual Irvin and Sharna Frank Memorial Lecture in Judaism and
Contemporary Issues. This year’s lecture was entitled, “Does Everybody Really Hate the Jews? Contemporary Antisemitism—An Assessment.”
The Barbara and Dave Sylvan Auditorium was filled with over 240 people who came to hear the talk. Dr. Jacob Howland, University of Tulsa professor and a member of The Frank Memorial Lecture committee, introduced Dr. Lipstadt and also recognized the Frank Family members who were in the audience.
Dr. Lipstadt, who created the Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University, stated that anti-Semitism is irrational, a delusional sentiment, a conspiracy theory. She mentioned different types of anti-Semitism, ranging from the extreme hatred of Jews to the “accidental” sort that unthinkingly reflects popular prejudices. In illustrating the pervasiveness of anti-Semitism in certain parts of “polite” society, she referred to Isaiah Berlin’s definition of the anti-Semite as “someone who hates Jews more than is absolutely necessary.”
Another question Dr. Lipstadt asked was, “How dangerous is anti-Semitism?” She stated that today we by and large do not see “official” anti-Semitism. However, she noted that anti-Semitism exists on both sides of the political spectrum: the old-fashioned bigotry on the far right is matched by promoters of Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS), who hope to make Israel toxic in the minds of people, on the left. What is really necessary is not to just criticize people on the other side of the political aisle, but to also root out anti-Semitism in our own midst.
Dr. Lipstadt stated that although we are naturally most concerned about the welfare of our own group, we must also be concerned about others. If we do not speak out when others are wronged, who will speak out when we are wronged? She urged everyone to look for the lover of Semites, and to recognize those who speak up and do not accept intolerance and discrimi-nation. ■
from left: Brian E Brouse, Eva K Unterman, Dr. Jacob Howland, Dr. Deborah Lipstadt
Bat Mitzvah: Eliana Joels
Eliana Elizabeth Joels, daughter of Jennifer and Sam Joels, and sister of Sarah, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on Saturday,
November 4, 2017, which corresponds to 15 Cheshvan 5778, at Congregation B’nai Emunah.
Eliana is a seventh-grade honor student at Union 6th/7th Grade Center. Her interests and activities include dance, singing, musical theater, robotics, 7th grade girls’ engineering club, and Girl Scouts. Eliana also enjoys participating at synagogue and spending time with family and friends.
Eliana spent many years visiting her family members at Zarrow Pointe. While there she would visit with others and developed a place in her heart for the residents. This connection made her passionate about choosing Zarrow Pointe Health Care Center for her mitzvah project. Sunday afternoons, Eliana spends her time chatting with residents and assisting with the Bingo game.
Eliana is the granddaughter of Eric Bolusky and the late Janis Bolusky, Gloria Joels and the late Robert Joels, all of Tulsa. Eliana will be joined by aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends from across the United States.
Preparations for her Bat Mitzvah have been led by Jackie Lasky. Please join the Joels family for services at 9 a.m. and the Kiddush luncheon to follow in Kaiser-Miller Auditorium. ■
Mazel
Marc Chagall & Charles Sorlier, A Printmaking Partnership
by Mickel Yantz, SMMJA Director of Collections and Exhibitions.
By 1950, chagall was already a famous artist but there was one medium that he still wanted to take on; printmaking. Chagall was 63 years old when he began to study with printmaker Charles Sorlier.
Sorlier was deported to Pomerania during World War II and remained there for over 40 years, assisting many famous artists aside from Chagall such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Fernand Léger. However, his working relationship with Chagall was perhaps the most significant of his lifetime, as the two men were not only artistic collaborators, but also great friends.
In working together to create Chagall’s original lithographs, Chagall and Sorlier developed a methodical procedure. Chagall would draw a composition in black on stone, zinc, or transfer paper, creating the general outline of the work. After printing a few proofs, Chagall would then add color in watercolor or pastel. Once he was satisfied, he would print the principal plate. Sorlier and Chagall would then conduct color tests, assuring that everything was in order. Chagall was a perfec-tionist, and he would revise and rework his pieces until they met his high standards. Sorlier’s role in this process was to touch up the plates and add color to Chagall’s specifica-tions. This would save Chagall trips to the studio, as he trusted that his master printmaker could adjust his works to his liking.
Chagall and Sorlier were so close that Chagall gave Sorlier permission to engrave interpretive lithographs after his original
paintings. These so called “afterworks” are currently some of the most valuable and sought after works of Chagall’s entire artistic body of work. Chagall’s Windows of Jerusalem litho-graphs are some of the most important that showcase the beauty and intricacy with which Chagall designed an archi-tectural masterpiece in the stained-glass windows at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center located in Jerusalem, Israel. The window installation in 1962 was the culmination of years of labor; this lithograph series portrays Chagall’s passion for religious narration and the inescapable draw that everyone has to his dreamy interpretation of them.
The exhibit Chagall Windows, Lithographs by Charles Sorlier shows you the many steps that it took Chagall to finalize the design for the stained-glass windows while displaying Sorlier’s wonderful attention to detail through reproducing them as lithographs. Through their united vision and amiable relation-ship, these two gifted artists changed the face of printmaking, creating original lithographs that to this very day inspire awe and spark the imaginations of viewers worldwide.
Chagall Windows, Lithographs by Charles Sorlier is on loan and co-curated by Executive Director Scott Peck from the Museum of Biblical Art and the National Center for Jewish Art located in Dallas, Texas. The exhibition will be on display through the end of 2017 in the museum’s Brodsky Fine Art Gallery. ■
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What’s the Thing that Scares You
the Most?by Yohai Gross
What is the thing that scares you the most? In some cultures, the common answer will be a terror attack. In others, it will be the fear of being poor, while in yet others the answer
will be technology.For most of us technology is a given fact. We all use our
phone in so many ways that it’s hard to think how we were able to live our life before it. The phone wakes us up in the morning. We read the news from the phone. We are using the phone to direct us how to get from one place to the other. We have our most important memories inside the phone with the thousands of videos and pictures that we take. We ask Rabbi Google everything we need to know through the phone. We share with the world everything we do with the phone. We also sometimes talk on the phone. Sometimes we even pretend to do something with the phone just because we are embarrassed in public or are trying to avoid talking with a stranger.
Now try to imagine your life without the Internet or your phone. You are late or in danger and you can’t call anyone. Where and how do you keep all the contact info for friends and colleagues or just try to think about not knowing what’s going on in the world every second of the day—actually sounds nice.
For some societies, technology is a big threat. It’s a risk for the ongoing way of life and the phone and Internet are the biggest symbols of that threat. Professor Rivka Neriya Ben Shahar delved into this topic with her research about Old Order Amish and Lithuanian and Hassidic Jewish ultra-Orthodox in Israel. Professor Ben Shahar will be sharing what she discovered in a lecture and reception at the Federation on December 10 at 7 p.m.
Her talk explores how women in two devout religious communities cope with the internet and its apparent incom-patibility with their communities’ values and practices. Look for your invitation to this event wrapping up the 2017 Tulsa Jewish United Fund campaign. ■
Professor Rivka Neriya Ben Shahar delved into this topic and will
be sharing what she discovered in a lecture and reception at the
Federation on December 10 at 7 p.m.
Mah Jongg Tournament
Congregation B’nai Emunah Sisterhood is pleased to announce the inauguration of its first Mah Jongg Tournament. Please join us as we compete in individual levels that include beginner, inter-mediate and advanced players. Prizes will be awarded at every level and delicious homemade baked goods and beverages will be provided.
The tournament will be held on Sunday, December 10, 2017 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Synagogue. The cost is $18 per person. Please send a check by December 1, made payable to B’nai Emunah Sisterhood. Mail to: Terry Marcum, 3637 South Florence Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74105. Indicate your level of play with your reservation. Questions regarding the tournament may be directed to Barbara Eisen at 918.645.7452. ■
Please note that the telephone number listed in the 2014 Tulsa Jewish Community Directory is incorrect. We apologize for any inconvenience.
The correct number for Fitzgerald Funeral Service is 918-585-1151.
918.585.1151
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The Jewish Jeans Makerby Phil Goldfarb
How many people do you know who have never worn jeans? Not very many! We can all thank a Jewish immigrant
by the name of Levi Strauss for this fash-ion statement. First of all, it is surprising that a lot of people over the years have thought that Levi Strauss & Co. was start-ed by a Mr. Levi and a Mr. Strauss or even by the French philosopher/anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, this of course is not true at all.
Levi Strauss was born Loeb Strauss in Buttenheim, Germany, on February 26, 1829, in the Franconian region of Bavaria,
Germany, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family. He was the son of Hirsch Strauss and his second wife Rebecca Haas Strauss. Levi had three older brothers and three older sisters. Two years after his father succumbed to tuberculosis in 1846, Levi, his mother and two sisters emigrated to New York, where they were met by his two older brothers who owned a New York City based wholesale dry goods business called “J. Strauss Brother & Co.”
Levi soon began to learn the trade himself and went to live in Louisville, Kentucky, to sell his brothers’ supplies in Kentucky. In January 1853, Levi Strauss became an American citizen.
The family then decided to open a West Coast branch of the family dry goods
business in San Francisco, which was the commercial hub of the California Gold Rush. Levi was chosen to represent the family, and he took a steamship for San Francisco, arriving in early March 1853.
He established a wholesale dry goods business under his own name and served as the West Coast representative of the family’s New York firm. Strauss opened his dry goods wholesale business as Levi Strauss & Co. and imported fine dry goods—clothing, bedding, combs, purses, handkerchiefs—from his brothers in New York. He made tents, and later jeans. Levi lived with his sister Fanny’s growing family who also moved to San Francisco.
Unbeknownst to Strauss, in 1872, Jacob Davis, a Reno, Nevada tailor, had a problem. One day, the wife of a local laborer asked Davis to make a pair of pants for her husband that wouldn’t fall apart. Davis tried to think of a way to
strengthen his trousers and came up with the idea to put metal rivets at points of strain, like pocket corners and the base of the button fly. These riveted pants were an instant hit. Jacob quickly decided to take out a patent on the process, but needed a business partner to help get the project rolling. He immediately thought of Levi Strauss, from whom he had purchased the cloth to make his riveted denim pants.
Davis then wrote to Strauss to suggest that the two men hold the patent together. Levi, being an astute businessman, saw the potential for this new product, and agreed to Jacob’s proposal. The two men received patent #139,121 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 20, 1873 which is considered the “birthday” of blue jeans. Although denim pants had been around as workwear for many years, it was the act of placing rivets in these traditional pants for the first time that created what we now call jeans.
Soon, the first riveted clothing was made and sold. The first jeans were out of denim—the traditional fabric for men’s workwear. Within a very short time, the jean was a bona fide success. (They were called “waist overalls” or “overalls” until 1960, when baby boomers adopted the name “jeans.”)
Strauss carried on other business pursuits during his career, as well. In 1875, Levi and two associates purchased the Mission and Pacific Woolen Mills, as well as becoming a charter member and treasurer of the San Francisco Board of Trade in 1877. He was a director of the Nevada Bank, the Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Company and the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company. He was also one of San Francisco’s greatest philanthropists. Levi was a contributor to the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home, the Eureka Benevolent Society and
the Hebrew Board of Relief. In 1897, Levi started the Levi Strauss Foundation which provided the funds for 28 scholarships at the University of California, Berkeley, all of which are still in place today.
At the end of the 19th century, Levi was still involved in the day-to-day workings of the company. In 1890—the year that the XX waist overall was given the lot number “501®”—Levi and his nephews officially incorporated the company.
Levi Strauss died on September 26, 1902, in San Francisco at the age of 73 and is buried in Colma, California. He never married, and left the business to his four nephews, Jacob, Sigmund, Louis, and Abraham Stern, the sons of his sister Fanny and her husband David Stern. He also left bequests to a number of charities, including the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. Levi’s fortune in 1902 was estimated to be around $6 million ($166 million in 2017 dollars).
The Levi Strauss museum in Buttenheim, Germany, is located in the house where Strauss was born. There is also a Visitors Center at Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters in San Francisco, which features historical exhibits.
So, the next time that you put on a pair of jeans, you should remember the Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant from Germany … Levi Strauss! ■
Phil Goldfarb is president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tulsa and can be e-mailed at: [email protected]
Levi Strauss
NOVEMBER COMMUNITY EVENTS
Jewish Federation of TulsaMovie Screening: Weapons of the Spirit • Sat., Nov. 11 • 7 p.m. • Circle Cinema • Join the Council for Holocaust Education for a special screening of Pierre Sauvage’s Weapons of the Spirit. Sauvage was born in a small village in France in 1944, among what would become as many as 5,000 Jews who were helped by the collective efforts of the town, hidden from occupying Nazis by the kindly residents. This documentary explores the supernatural goodwill by the people in the village. Sauvage will conduct a Q&A with audience members immediately following the film. Tickets available at Circle Cinema Box Office. Adults: $9/Seniors: $7.50.
Kristallnacht Commemoration • Sun., Nov. 12 • 2 p.m. • Holocaust survivor and documentary filmmaker Pierre Sauvage will be the guest speaker for this year’s commemoration in the Sylvan Auditorium. His talk will address the “conspiracy of goodness” that took place in the village of Le Chambon in France during World War II as they provided refuge for 5,000 people fleeing Nazi persecution and the implication their actions hold today. Questions? Contact Jesse Ulrich at 918.495.1100 or [email protected].
Men’s Club • Wed., Nov. 15 • 11:30 a.m. • Once again we will have an intergenerational Thanksgiving program with Mizel Jewish Community Day School. Cost of the luncheon is $10. RSVP to Falisha at 918.495.1100 or [email protected] by noon on Tues., Nov. 14. Please note: this will be the only Men’s Club in November.
Ladies Who Lunch • Mon., Nov. 20 • Noon • Come enjoy pleasant conversation and great food at Charlestons (6839 S. Yale.) Each person pays her own check. RSVP to Mindy at 918.935.3662 or [email protected] no later than Wed., Nov. 15.
Institute of Adult Jewish Studies Fall 2017 • Mondays, Now-Dec. 4 • All classes will be held at Temple Israel, 2004 E. 22 Pl. First-hour classes starting at 7 p.m. and second-hour classes starting at 8 p.m.
The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art
Exhibit—All Are Welcome: Jewish Art Through the Eyes of Refugees • Now–Fall 2017 • This original exhibit showcases the diverse work of Jewish artists who defied all odds to share their voices through art. The mission of the SMMJA is to preserve and promote Jewish heritage, culture, history, and community through art and education, and the work of these refugees to America exemplifies the museum’s mission.
Exhibit—The Anguish of Liberation as Reflected in Art • Now–Dec. 31 • This exhibition from Yad Vashem features 11 works created immediately after the liberation until 1947 that attempt to investigate how survivors reacted to the liberation through art. When liberation finally arrived, the survivors found themselves torn between their desire to return to life and their need to face the devastation and mourn.
Exhibit—Chagall Windows • Oct. 4–Dec. 31 • The exhibition features 43 pieces, including two Chagall originals, that showcase the creation of stone lithographs for a series of stained glass windows installed in the Abbell Synagogue at the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem. The work was engraved by Charles Sorlier, who worked in close collaboration with the artist and is printed on watermarked Arches wove paper. This exhibit is on loan from the Biblical Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas.
Exhibit—Auschwitz: A Place on Earth, The Album • Now–Jan. 2018 • Six million Jewish men, women and children were systematically murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Over one million were murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest extermination camp during WWII. This exhibition depicts the only known visual documentation of the arrival of a transport of Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The exhibit comes from Yad Vashem.
Congregation B’nai EmunahSynagogue Millennials: Challah 101 • Thurs., Nov. 2. • 7 p.m. • There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked challah filling the kitchen. A community of Millennial Jewish Tulsans gather to learn the significance and practice of this famous braided bread. Each participant will leave with challah ready to be baked at home just in time for Shabbat. Contact Sara Levitt at [email protected] for questions or to reserve your spot in the workshop.
Shabbat for Everyone • Fri., Nov. 10. • 6 p.m. Dinner/7 p.m. Celebration • A monthly, musical, Shabbat celebration. This is a destination for joyful singing, lively dancing and vibrant communal experiences. At 6:15 p.m. we will begin with a special Shabbat dinner. We cook and clean so that you can truly enjoy the pleasures of a restful Shabbat. By 7 p.m. we will be singing, storytelling and experiencing the warmth of Shabbat at B’nai Emunah. No reservations are necessary for the service, but please RSVP for the meal by visiting our website or calling the Synagogue office.
Bibi-Dibi: Shabbat for Little Ones • Fri., Nov 17 • 6 p.m. • A Shabbat experience for our very youngest members, we sit on the floor, sing songs, play games and dance our way into the weekend. With blessings to share and good food to enjoy, this is one fantastic way to connect to community. Parents, grandparents and community members are invited to the short service. However, we do ask that you make reservations if you plan to join us for the Shabbat dinner which follows. Visit our website or call the offices today.
Seventeenth Street Deli • Sun., Nov. 19 • 6 p.m. • It’s the tastes of tradition. Our pop-up Jewish Deli opens its doors to any eager to experience the smells and tastes of Jewish culture. You can make your reservations by visiting tulsadeli.org or calling the Synagogue office. Knishes, pastrami, corned beef—it’s all waiting for you at the deli.
Temple IsraelFirst Fridays at TI! • Fri., Nov. 3 • 6 p.m. Service/7 p.m. Dinner • Join us for an informal, family-friendly service featuring joyful music with the TI Band followed by a catered dinner. RSVP to [email protected] or 918.747.1309 by Wed., Nov. 1. Dinner is generously sponsored by the Sharna and Irvin Frank Foundation.
Scholar-in-Residence Weekend• Fri., Nov. 10-Sun., Nov. 12 • Rabbi Reuven Firestone, Ph.D., is a professor at Hebrew Union College and a renowned expert on Jewish – Islamic relations which will be the topic of his talk. He will be speaking at Friday evening Shabbat service beginning at 7:30 p.m., Saturday morning Shabbat service beginning at 10:30 a.m., and at the TI Brotherhood breakfast Sunday morning. Sunday breakfast will be at 9:30 a.m. and Rabbi Firestone will begin his talk at 10:00 a.m.
Tot Shabbat • Fri., Nov. 17 • 6 p.m • This Shabbat service is especially for families with babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and young elementary school children. The whole mishpacha (family) is welcome to attend. This fun-filled experience is followed by a delicious pizza dinner. RSVP to [email protected] or 918.747.1309 by Wed., Nov. 15.
Torah Study with Rabbi Simon • Sat., Nov 18 • 10:30 a.m. • Join us monthly for bagels, coffee and Shabbat Torah study. All are welcome, no experience necessary.
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THE ISLAND WITHIN AN ISLAND: IN SEARCH OF A CUBAN JEWISH STORY
To be Cuban and to be Jewish is to be twice survivors. Maritza Corrales, “The Chosen Island”
My visit to Cuba in March of 2017 led to a remarkable personal discovery that went against everything I read before the trip. Today, the Jews of Cuba, once called a remnant of the 15,000-strong community, demonstrate a phenom-enon of rebirth and reinvention. The tiny community of one thousand on the island of 11 million people is robust, has a strong sense of identity, and is very different from the Jewish community before the 1959 revolution.
The contemporary Cuban Jewish narra-tive depicts a fascinating trajectory. First, a descent from vibrancy and prosperity to near oblivion after the mass exodus of the 1960s and years of imposed atheism. Then, a recent sudden ascent to becoming a
“Celebrity of Tropical Diaspora,” arguably the most visited and photographed of the world’s Jewish communities. The Cuban Jewish story reflects not a single commu-nity but rather a mosaic of several, varied greatly in their languages and cultures, and which was built by five distinctly different waves of Crypto-Jewish and Jewish immigrants.
CONVERSOS ARRIVECuba has been a welcoming refuge
for the Jews since 1492, when conversos sought a safe haven from the Spanish Inquisition. There is no documented evidence proving the arrival of the first Crypto-Jews to Cuba. However, suppos-edly, the first European settler in Cuba was a converso Luis de Torres, born Yosef ben Levy Ha-Ivri. An explorer and translator, he sailed with Columbus on the Santa Maria, and is credited with being the first person of Jewish descent settling on the island. Moreover, de Torres is often proclaimed the first Jew to set foot in the Americas! The Luis de Torres Synagogue in Freeport Bahamas was named after him. Many conversos settled in Cuba following de Torres, but little is known about them and their Jewish ancestry. The West Indies’ Inquisition records contain lists of suspected Judaizers. One of those maranos, Hernando de Castro, built the first sugar mill near Santiago and is considered the pioneer of the sugar industry on the island. The Inquisition records also show details of several trials and executions of Cuban Judaizers, such as the 1613 burning of a rich landowner Francisco Gomez de Leon. The Holy Office in the Spanish colonies was abolished only in the early years of the 19th century, and until the end of the Spanish-American War of 1898, only
An internationally-pub-lished writer, Irene Shaland
introduces her latest book The Dao of Being Jewish. In
a traveling lecture series, she shares her “Stories Behind
the Stories” inviting you to embark on a fascinating journey, both familiar and
unknown. While travel-ing from Europe to Asia and Africa, from Vienna
to Delhi and Nairobi, you are immersed into a collec-tive Jewish narrative from
all parts of the globe. These stories strive to preserve Jewish heritage, identity,
memory, and history. This article is the first install-
ment of a three-part series on the Jews of Cuba.
Irene will serve as the speaker at the 2018 Tulsa
Jewish United Fund Campaign Opening Event
on February 20, 2018. More details about the event and a formal invitation will follow.
The Dao of Being Jewish,
an Excerpt, Part 1
by Irene Shaland
Catholic religious services were allowed. What the Cuban settlers of Jewish descent wanted was to blend with the Spaniards and “disappear” into Cuba.
And they did.
THE MOST FAMOUS CRYPTO-JEW OF CUBA WAS …
… Fidel Castro himself, who admitted on a few occasions that his own ancestors were of Jewish descent. Patrick Symmes in his remarkable study of Cuba, The Boys from Dolores (2008) quoted Castro’s classmates who remembered young Fidel stating that though many young people in the 1930s were fascinated with Hitler, Franco or Mussolini, he could never do so because those leaders were anti-Semitic. And, as Fidel explained, he could not be “against the Jews” since he, Fidel, was one himself: he descended through his grand-mothers from the Jews of Spanish Galicia and Canary Islands.
THE 20TH-CENTURY JEWISH STORY PRIOR TO CASTRO’S REVOLUTION
AmericansOur first stop in Cuba was Santiago,
the city that brings history pilgrims to the very roots of Cuban and Jewish history. Columbus landed in 1492 about 200 km to the east of what is today Santiago, which became one of the first Spanish
Fidel Castro’s memorial in the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery. He grew up in the nearby sugarcane plantation outside Santiago and studied in the elite Jesuit school, Colegio Dolores, in the city. The legendary dictator admitted on a few occasions that his own ancestors were of Jewish descent.
Havana street scene
Entrance to the Great Synagogue of Cuba—Beth Shalom of Havana
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Only at Mizelby Lillian Hellman,
Director Mizel Jewish Community Day School
Being the only Jewish Day School in the entire state of Oklahoma might be distinctive enough for Mizel Jewish Com-
munity Day School, but what makes us stand apart even more from other schools in the area is the unique cultural oppor-tunities that are available to our students.
Our children are regularly exposed to the many beautiful and stirring stories and customs of 4,000 years of Jewish history. They grow and flourish Jewishly from the twice weekly prayer services, where we discuss the Torah portions and explore how they apply to our everyday lives. We immerse them in the Shabbat and the many Jewish holidays that fill our calendar while nurturing their moral and spiritual character.
But we do not do this alone. We are very fortunate to have access to many
talented and learned individuals in our community, who give their time and expertise to our children.
One such special person, who has supported our school for many years, is Rabbi Yehuda Weg, the rabbi of Chabad of Tulsa. He has spent many hours with our students, sharing insights into the meanings of the Jewish holidays, the importance of giving tzedakah, how to do mitzvahs and behave as a mensch. Our students enjoy his game show format of teaching about the holidays, and their parents and the greater community benefit from his many interesting and enjoyable programs.
One very special activity that is reserved just for our school and just for our graduating class, is the shofar-making workshop. So many of our fifth graders over the years have had the very unique opportunity to learn about and actually help create their very own shofar. Rabbi Weg brings an array of drills, hacksaws, a sander, sealer, protective gloves and goggles, a box full of hollow goat horns
and an entire lesson on what makes a shofar kosher. The students select their horns and with the rabbi’s help, form them into real shofars.
The students learned that not all horns can become a shofar. First, they must come from a kosher animal, though he noted the one exception: the horns of kosher cows are not used since they remind us too much of the Golden Calf. He explained that horns must have an inner core of cartilage; antlers do not, so they cannot be used for shofars. The horns are then boiled and the cartilage is removed (a very smelly process that thankfully we avoided, since these horns were already empty when we got them).
To create the mouthpiece, each student used a hacksaw to cut off about an inch of the tip and then drilled a hole. They sanded and coated their finished product and tested their shofar. It was an exciting, unique educational experience. I can honestly say that we are the only school that teaches Shofar Making 101, and we have Rabbi Weg to thank for it.
For more information about Mizel JCDS, please visit us at: www.mizel-school.org, or call: 918.494.0953 for a tour. Enrollment is always open. ■
Rabbi Yehuda Weg, the rabbi of Chabad of Tulsa, engages with
Mizel students.
settlements on the island. In July 1898, Theo-dore Roosevelt’s cavalry attacked San Juan Hill and captured the city, ending Spanish domina-tion in Cuba and bringing final victory in both the Spanish-American War and the Cuban War for Independence. The American Jews began arriving shortly after. They were the first
“real” Jews to settle on the island as part of the much larger and fast-growing American expat community. Attracted by the opportunities of investment and the promise of wealth, they saw themselves as first and foremost—Ameri-cans and sought to replicate their American environment in Cuba. In 1904, they founded the first synagogue in Havana, a reformed Union Hebrew Congregation, and in 1906 they acquired a plot for a Jewish cemetery. These two events are often considered the official beginning of the Cuban Jewish commu-nity, an English-speaking Cuban-American Jewish community to be precise. An American island within the island of Cuba came into being. And American Jews created their own comfortable corner within it.
SephardimSephardic Jews arrived next, mostly refu-
gees from Turkey. Speaking Ladino, they did not have the same language or cultural barriers as did the other Jewish immigrant groups, and so had an easier time acclimating to their new home. The largest group settled in Havana. In 1914, the Sephardi established their own communal organization Chevet Ahim to provide orthodox religious services to the entire Sephardim of Cuba. They built their own secure corner within the “Jewish island” of Cuba, firmly rooted in strict tradi-tions and religion.
“Polacos”Escaping the escalation of rabid anti-
Semitism and violent pogroms in Russia and Poland, Ashkenazi Jews began to arrive in Cuba in the beginning of the 20th century through the late 1920s. The locals called them
“Polacos” (Poles) even though many were not from Poland. Unlike Sephardim, the Ashke-nazim saw their time on the island as only a brief stopover before entering the United States. They called Cuba the Akhsanie Kuba or “Hotel Cuba” in Yiddish. In 1924, when the U.S. immigration laws stiffened, the Cuban loophole was closed. The Jewish Cuban “hotel” had to become a home.
Paperback and Kindle editions of Irene’s latest book The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories are available at Amazon. ■
The arch-enemy: the United States Embassy is open again in Havana
Spanish cannons at the El Morro fort in Havana
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