The Southern Shmooze
December 2020
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Chanukah Means Dedication |
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When temperatures dip below 70º, Southern Jews know that Chanukah–the Festival of Lights–can't be far off (it starts this year on the evening of December 10). This eight-day festival commemorates the Israelites’ defeat of the Syrian/Greek army in 165 BCE and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it had been defiled.
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It is a mitzvah (commandment) for Jews to place their Chanukah menorahs (or chanukiahs) in a window where their candles will help illuminate the darkness outside. If you are lighting Chanukah candles this year, think about the darkness that you would like to see illuminated in our communities, in our country, and in the world–and think about how you will dedicate yourself to making that happen. The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience is dedicated to illuminating the contributions of Southern Jews to American history and to exploring the value of diversity, tolerance, and community.
From our Museum family to yours, have a happy and safe Chanukah!
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From the Collection: An Immigrant's Trunk |
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For thousands of Jewish immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Statue of Liberty and the bustling docks of Ellis Island were the first sights that greeted them on their arrival to America. For others, however, their first American experience was a distinctly Southern one. Wherever they landed, they often came with only the things they could carry. |
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Rachmiel Shapiro arrived in America from Russia two years before the Galveston Movement, an initiative between 1907 and 1914 that redirected nearly 10,000 Jewish immigrants away from densely populated cities on the East Coast into the American heartland via the port of Galveston, TX. This steamer trunk, owned by Shapiro and donated to the Museum by his granddaughter, Carla Klausner, is a symbol of the miles, borders, and dangers so many Jewish immigrants traversed to come to America. |
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Fearing conscription into the tsar's army and seeking religious and political freedom, Rachmiel Shapiro secreted himself across the Russian border and gained passage to America on a ship departing from the German port of Bremerhaven. The sights and sounds of the Galveston docks were Shapiro’s first experience of America when he arrived there in 1905. Rachmiel, who later changed his name to Robert, eventually settled in Missouri and married Fannie Fogel. His story is a reminder that the American South was the first step for thousands of Jews in their American journey. |
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Did You Know?
Penina Moise and Her Hanukkah Hymn
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Penina Moïse is known by many for writing Fancy’s Sketch Book, a book of poems and the first book published by an American Jewish woman, in 1833. Moïse’s parents had arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1791 after fleeing the Haitian Revolution and Penina grew up in Charleston's Jewish community, one of the largest in the country and one of the first to embrace the American form of Reform Judaism.
But Penina is also responsible for helping to promote Chanukah–a minor Jewish festival–into a celebration as popular as Christmas. In 1840, Moïse wrote Hanukkah Hymn, alternatively know as Great Arbiter of Human Fate. Written and sung in English, the hymn was included in Congregation Beth Elohim's hymnbook and became a favorite with Reform Jews across the country. Singing hymns in English, along with the inclusion of organs and choirs into synagogue services, is one example of how many Southern Jewish congregations acculturated into the surrounding Christian communities while maintaining their religion.
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Penina Moïse's Hanukkah Hymn in The Service Hymnal, published by Edward Stern & Co., Philadelphia, 1904
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My Three Favorite Stories Are... |
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How does that old Southern Jewish saying go: You can't fit ten pounds of latkes into a five pound sack (or something like that). Well, we have a similar problem in our Museum. We can't fit all of the interesting, unique, meaningful, and surprising stories about the Southern Jewish experience into our limited exhibit space. That means we have to make choices about what we include. This can be very tough considering the fact that we cover thirteen Southern states and more than 300 years of history.
Hence our State-by-State exhibit, where visitors will be able to explore each state's Jewish experience on interactive touchscreens. But even here we are limited by space and time in what we can include. What to do, what to do?
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✏️ YOUR WINTER BREAK ASSIGNMENT ✏️
(should you choose to accept it):
If MSJE could tell people just three stories about the Southern Jewish experience of your state, which stories would you want us to tell? Kosher Girl Scout cookies in Savannah? Louis Armstrong's relationship with the Karnofskys in New Orleans? Gertrude Weil's progressive activism in Goldsboro? Louis Brandeis's Jewish upbringing in Louisville? Rosalie Beekman and the Union bombardment of Natchez?
Help us choose what stories we should highlight by submitting your ideas through the online form below. The best stories are those that surprise, delight, or educate visitors about the broader Southern Jewish experience. Who knows, you may see your story in the Museum!
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If you missed our latest program
The New Orleans Jewish Orphans' Home
A Conversation with Marlene Trestman
you can watch it here:
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If your congregation or community would like to learn more about the
Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience...
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This Month in Southern Jewish History |
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SOUTH CAROLINA: December 2, 1778 |
The South-Carolina and American General Gazette publishes a reply to an article questioning Jewish patriotism. The letter ends, "The Charlestown Israelites... hitherto have behaved as staunch as any other citizens of this State, and I hope their further conduct will be such as will invalidate the malicious and designing fallacy of the author of the piece alluded to. I am, Sir, Yours, etc, A real AMERICAN, and True hearted ISRAELITE."
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ALABAMA: December 10, 1911 |
The cornerstone of Mobile's Orthodox congregation Ahavas Chesed is laid. As reported the next day in The Montgomery Advertiser, members of the town's Reform congregation Shaarai Shomayim participated in the ceremonies and Mobile's Jewish mayor, Laz Schwartz, addressed the "large concourse of citizens, representing different creeds."
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TENNESSEE/MISSISSIPPI December 10, 1925 |
Jack Cristal is born to Jewish Russian and Latvian immigrants in Memphis. After studying broadcast journalism in Minnesota, he began a career in sports broadcasting. In 1953 Cristal was hired by the Mississippi State University to call Bulldogs football games, which he did for the next 58 years. From 1957 until 2011 he also called MSU's men's basketball games. His trademark call to "Wrap it in maroon and white," meant a Bulldogs victory. |
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GEORGIA: December 15, 1989 |
Driving Miss Daisy opens in just three theaters, but a month later gets a wider release and becomes the number one film in the country. The movie follows the relationship between a Southern Jewish widow and her black chauffeur. Penned by Atlanta writer Alfred Uhry and based on his play of the same name, Driving Miss Daisy went on to win four Oscars that year, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Jessica Tandy.
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OKLAHOMA: December 27, 1966 |
William Scott Goldberg is born in Tulsa, OK. He became a bar mitzvah at Temple Israel there, played football at University of Georgia, and then pro football with the Rams and the Falcons. But it was as a professional wrestler that "Goldberg" made his mark, becoming WWE's 1998 Rookie of the Year, winning multiple world championships, and being induced into their Hall of Fame in 2018. |
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LOUISIANA: December 31, 1860 |
Judah P. Benjamin gives his farewell speech in the United States Senate. He admits that the time for compromise had passed, appealed to his Northern colleagues not to invade the South, and finished by saying, "... you never can subjugate us; you never can convert the free sons of the soil into vassals, paying tribute to your power; and you never, never can degrade them to the level of an inferior and servile race. Never! Never!" Benjamin went on to serve as secretary of war and then secretary of state for the Confederacy. |
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GIVE in 2020/VISIT us in 2021
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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed this year by Congress to help combat the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19. The act provides increased tax incentives for charitable giving for both individuals and corporations. As you consider your support for MSJE at this crucial time, be sure to explore how the CARES Act may positively impact your charitable contributions in the 2020 tax year.
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GIVE ONLINE
MAIL 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
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Shalom. Make yourself at home.®
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Banner images (l-r): Members of Congregation Beth Israel in Clarksdale, MS, c. 1910. Collection of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience; Blue Star campers, North Carolina, 2016. Courtesy of Blue Star Camps.
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