The Southern Shmooze
October 2022
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Shanah Tova ✡︎ שנה טובה ✡︎ Happy New Year
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From our Museum family to yours...
G'mar Chatimah Tovah גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה
May you be sealed for good (in the Book of Life)
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From The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, Virginia, 1893.
It is customary to support charitable causes in the days before Yom Kippur.
Please consider making a meaningful gift of $57.83 or any amount, dedicated to your Southern Jewish experience and to the Museum's mission of education, understanding, and acceptance. Thank you.
We hope to see you at MSJE in 5783!
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Photo of the Month
Big Crowd at Weiner's Department Store
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This month, from a collection of photos, letters and documents donated by Drs. Susan and Eugene Sherman, comes this wonderful photograph of Tupelo, Mississippi's Main Street and an enormous crowd of townsfolk gathered outside Weiner's Department Store. Weiner's was opened by Sol and Lucille Weiner, in 1933, shortly after the family moved to the city from the small town of Merigold, MS. The Weiners ran the store until they retired in 1967.
We don't know what brought this crowd to the corner of Main and Green streets on this day. A closer look shows a man standing in the bed of a truck holding what looks like a microphone. Is this a political rally? A store raffle drawing? We wish we knew. Do you?
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From the MSJE Collection of Drs. Susan and Eugene Sherman in honor of the descendants of Celia and Sam Feldman. |
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A Remembrance
Richard Berenson Stone (1943-2022)
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Our museum family lost one of our Founding Donors this spring. Richard Berenson Stone, a New Orleans native and son of the late Sara Berenson Stone and Saul Stone, died suddenly in New York on May 29, 2022, at age 79.
In remembrance of his remarkable life and legacy, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana, Congregation Beth Israel, and the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience posted a full-page memorial in The Times-Picayune newspaper. Click below to read about Richard's life.
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U.S. President Joe Biden, Malcolm Hoenlein, and Richard Stone. Credit: White House Photo. |
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Programming at MSJE
Celebrate Sukkot with Dan Nichols & MSJE
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Come celebrate Sukkot with MSJE and welcome Dan Nichols back to New Orleans! We'll take a look back at Road to Eden, the film he made ten years ago during his Sukkot tour of the deep South. Together, we’ll explore what Sukkot means to Southern Jews today – and of course, sing along with Dan!
WHAT: Jewish rockstar Dan Nichols at the MSJE! We’ll celebrate ten years since the release of his documentary Road to Eden: A Southern Sukkot Journey... and jam together!
WHEN: Wednesday, October 12th for Youth, 4th-10th graders, 4:30pm–6:00pm; and Thursday, October 13th for all ages, 5:30pm–7:30pm
WHERE: MSJE, 818 Howard Ave., New Orleans (this program will not be available online)
TICKETS: $5 for MSJE Members, $10 for General Public
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Book Talk: The Thread Collectors
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In their new historical novel, The Thread Collectors, co-authors Alyson Richman and Shaunna J. Edwards (an Isidore Newman alum) tell the story of a Black woman in New Orleans and a Jewish woman in New York, whose lives unexpectedly converge during the Civil War. Come listen as they share their own family histories that influenced this remarkable story of female empowerment, courage, and collaboration. Book signing to follow.
Who: Alyson Richman and Shaunna J. Edwards–authors of The Thread Collectors
Where: MSJE, 818 Howard Ave., NOLA
When: October 27, 2022, 6:00pm–8:00pm
Cost: Free, reservations recommended
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Do you know what Shemini Atzeret is?
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No, but I'm going to look it up!
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We are pleased to have Rahima Olatinwo interning with us this semester. Rahima, a native of Alexandria, LA, is studying neuroscience on a pre-med track at Tulane University and hopes to go into pediatric neurology. But she's not all about science–she has an artistic side, too. Rahima is our first photography intern and is helping us capture images for our online Museum Store, as well as other photography projects.
"I am excited to be interning at MSJE because it is a great opportunity to learn about a culture and history different than mine. I love taking photos and everyone here is so nice and welcoming."
We're glad you're here, Rahima!
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The Museum’s Charles D. Zucker Jewish Studies Internship Program provides opportunities for college and graduate students interested in gaining museum, non-profit, and Jewish community work experience. To inquire about internships, email lizzi@msje.org.
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Museum Store Item of the Month
Hut... Hut... Tyke!
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We're not promising that your favorite team will win the big game if your baby* is wearing a new black and gold "Shalom Y'all" Onesie, but we're not saying they won't. Win or lose, your baby will be ready to tailgate in a snap!
Get yours now in Museum Store or online. Available in 6 and 12 months sizing!
*Baby not included.
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The Museum Store is dedicated by Harold Wainer in memory of George & Helen Wainer and Harriet Wainer Kugler. |
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This Month in Southern Jewish History |
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LOUISIANA: October 1, 1958
Ground is broken for the building of the Kaplan Memorial Hospital, a 30-bed public facility in Kaplan, a town started by Polish Jewish immigrant Abrom Kaplan in 1902. The town's mayor served as master of ceremonies. Kaplan, who died in 1944, had developed land, established local banks and credit unions, and financed the excavation of irrigation canals. Most significantly, he developed a flood control method to keep salt water out of the bayous, allowing the rice growing industry to thrive across southwestern Louisiana.
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NORTH CAROLINA: October 2, 1981
Harry Golden dies at his home in Charlotte. Golden published and penned the contents of The Carolina Israelite newspaper from 1942-1968, and counted among his subscribers Harry Truman, William Faulkner, and his good friend Carl Sandburg. Golden was a prolific writer of often-satirical social commentary, publishing books of his essays, including "Only In America" and "For 2¢ Plain." He once wrote, “The Southern Jew of the city lives in constant fear of someone’s passing an anti-Semitic remark ‘to his face.’”
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GEORGIA: October 12, 1956
The Temple in Atlanta is bombed. Someone placed enough dynamite against the building to cause $100,000-$200,000 worth of damage. As the explosion occurred at 3:30am, no one was injured. A number of white supremacists were arrested, one was tried, but none was convicted. Rabbi Jacob Rothschild was a supporter of civil rights for African Americans, often drawing the ire of and threats from militant segregationists. The following day, Governor William Hartsfield (pictured) condemned the bombing while visiting the site.
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SOUTH CAROLINA: October 22, 1803
The Charleston Daily Courier reports that the city's Hebrew Society for the Relief of Orphans and Indigent Children has elected new officers, including Emanuel De La Motta, Jacob De Leon, Philip Cohen, and Myer Moses, all prominent citizens and civic leaders in Charleston. At the meeting, the society raised $778 toward its mission ($19,000 in today's dollars). Charleston, with one of the oldest Jewish communities in the United States, was home of many Sephardic Jews who's families had immigrated from British and Dutch colonies in the Caribbean.
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TEXAS: October 23, 1976
On Episode 5 of the second season of Saturday Night Live, Kinky Friedman performs as the musical guest. Friedman, who grew up in Kerrville where his parents ran a Jewish summer camp, sang the song Dear Abby, by John Prine. Steve Martin was the show's host. Friedman has made a career as a musician, social commentator, writer, and political campaigner. His band Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys made fun of western stereotypes with satirical songs.
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ALABAMA: October 27, 1940
Congregation Temple Emanu-El, of Dothan, lays the cornerstone of their synagogue building. Rabbi Edmund Landau was the main speaker and was joined in the ceremony by rabbis from Birmingham, Mobile, and Pensacola. Emanu-El received a rescued Torah scroll from a synagogue in Breslau, Germany, which had been burnt to the ground during Kristalnacht, in 1938. Construction of the synagogue was completed in 1941.
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End-of-Year Giving Opportunities |
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GIVE ONLINE
MAIL US A CHECK
to PO Box 15071, New Orleans, LA 70175
DONATE FROM YOUR IRA
required distribution
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DESIGNATE MSJE
as a recipient of your Donor Advised Fund
DONATE STOCK
or other marketable securities
INCLUDE MSJE
in your estate planning (we can help)
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Shalom. Make yourself at home.®
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Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience
818 Howard Avenue | New Orleans, LA 70113
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Banner images (l-r): Members of Congregation Beth Israel in Clarksdale, MS, c.1910. Collection of Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience; Blue Star campers, North Carolina, 2016. Courtesy of Blue Star Camps.
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