Transcript of bus tour of "Jewish Las Vegas" by Temple Beth Sholom, May 17, 2015

A BUS TOUR OF "JEWISH LAS VEGAS" Hosted by Temple Beth Sholom, narrated by Arlene Blut and others May 17, 2015 NOTE: This event was coordinated, hosted and conducted by Temple Beth Sholom (Las Vegas, Nev.) on May 17, 2015. The Oral History Research Center of UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada Las Vegas, digitally recorded the audio during the bus tour and location stops, which include Woodlawn Cemetery and the former Temple Beth Sholom campus at 1600 Oakey Blvd. The audio was transcribed as part of the Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project. The Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project Oral History Research Center at UNLV University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas i ?Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2014 Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV - University Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Project Manager: Barbara Tabach Transcriber: Kristin Hicks Interviewers: Barbara Tabach, Claytee D. White Editors and Project Assistants: Maggie Lopes, Stefani Evans ii The transcript was been made possible through the generosity of a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant. The Oral History Research Center enables students and staff to work together with community members to generate this selection of first-person narratives. The participants in this project thank University of Nevada Las Vegas for the support given that allowed an idea the opportunity to flourish. The transcript received minimal editing that includes the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. In several cases photographic sources accompany the individual interviews with permission of the narrator. The following interview was transcribed under the auspices of the Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project. Claytee D. White Director, Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas iii NOTE: This event was coordinated, hosted and conducted by Temple Beth Sholom (Las Vegas, Nev.) on May 17, 2015. The Oral History Research Center of UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada Las Vegas, digitally recorded the audio during the bus tour and location stops, which include Woodlawn Cemetery and the former Temple Beth Sholom campus at 1600 Oakey Blvd. The audio was transcribed as part of the Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project. Named narrators: Abbey, Joshua "Josh" Blut, Arlene Blut, Jerome "Jerry" Collins, Lori Goodman, Felipe (Rabbi) Goodman, Oscar Steinberg, Faye Wilner, Martin "Marty" ARLENE: I'm going to quote Adele Baratz, who came here in 1928. She knows where all the bodies are buried. She said, "No sturdier population has grown from such small beginnings as had the Jewish community in Las Vegas." When she came, there were two people of the Jewish faith; there was Eddie, the part-time news boy, and Abe, the tailor. Those were the guys. Others who came after, while Boulder Dam was being constructed, had no idea what the late-comers would build in this city of destiny. The first beginnings of the Jewish community in Las Vegas came through the efforts of Nate Mack. I want to tell you there are two major Mack families. One is very active in Temple Beth Sholom. The Macks I'm going to be talking about were the original Macks in Las Vegas, a whole other family. Thomas and Mack is named after them. They started Valley Bank. I'm sure you all know who that family is. In any case, it was Nate Mack who came to Las Vegas during the Boulder Dam era and found nine of his countrymen here. Mack saw the possibilities of the area early on and knew that if the city continued its growth, the Jewish population would grow in proportion. So he set about organizing the Jewish Community Center; that was our original name. According to Adele Baratz, who came as an infant in '28, a few Jewish people were here. Her mother used to cook for them at the back of the store. Her father worked for a bootlegger, a bootlegger material's person. Yes, he did. There were about twenty-five altogether and they used to gather in the back of the bootlegger store. They prayed and they taught Judaism to their children. I don't think they got to sample anything. It was held in someone's house and occasional services were held in the Eagle's Hall on Fremont Street. It's no longer there, unfortunately. For several years the community arranged for a cantor from L.A. to conduct the services for the High Holidays and for a service in those days at the Mack home at number seven Bonneville, also no longer there. Sandy and I drove up and down Bonneville; there is no number seven. It was tough to have a service in those days as there were only ten men. You know what it takes to make a minyan? The ten men. So they all had to be present. When the community grew larger and more Jews arrived, by the years '43-44, the High Holidays were held in the rectory of the Catholic Church at Second and Bridger, also not there, and in 1945 in the old Elks building. Did I tell you that's not there? Led by the Mack brothers, a group of dedicated citizens gathered pledges to construct a building. In September '46, in time for the High Holidays, the Las Vegas Jewish Community Center at 1229 Carson?it's there; we're going?was erected for twenty-six thousand dollars. FEMALE: Spendthrifts. ARLENE: Spendthrifts, right, but they paid their pledges. Within a year everyone had met their pledges and the mortgage was burned. They didn't want any money up front. I'm quoting Adele now. "First, they built the building then they 2 collected the money. They got a hundred percent of the money pledged. Nate Mack was criticized because he was building the structure too large and they thought it was too far out of the city." Wait till you see where it is. At Carson Street address, her brother was collecting the tickets on the High Holidays. Well, Joe E. Lewis?I don't know if you guys remember him, a famous comedian at the time? came with his secretary. He had no ticket. The brother wouldn't let him in. He had his secretary write a check there and then and they got in. One of the high points of the center's activities came in 1947 when the local center sponsored the big show to the United Jewish Appeal. They brought Eddie Cantor to Las Vegas for the affair. They were great days. A total of forty thousand dollars was raised, the highest per capita contribution made by Jewish people anywhere in the United States. After that Israel was born. I'm not sure if it was born because of the money raised in Las Vegas, but in 1948, Israel was formed. We get to the fifties. Adele says, "The 1950s were wonderful in the beginning, like a family; everyone working for a common good." That's Adele. "A growing contingent of Jewish hotel owners in the fifties meant holiday dinners at the Dunes, Riviera, Sahara. Jack Entratter was the entertainment director at the Sands. He brought in people like Steve Lawrence and Metropolitan Opera star Jan Peerce to sing the Kol Nidre for Yom Kippur." "By 1957, membership had grown to a hundred seventy-five families. As the center became overcrowded"?remember they thought it was too big??"fundraising began anew. There were benefit fashion shows, plays, pool party at the Last Frontier"?not there?"where Phil Silvers, Ray Bolger and Hopalong Cassidy auctioned their autographs. The top cash producer, though, was the annual gin rummy tournament hosted by the casinos." We'll come 3 back to the gin rummy tournaments. "In '52, they placed posters in every hotel in town advertising seats for the High Holidays." This was done right up to when I came?yeah, the ladies were selling raffle tickets in the hotels always, right? FEMALE: Fay Mushkin did that, didn't she? ARLENE: You bet. McClicken, may she rest in peace. Anyway, seats were always saved for members of the armed forces. As you know, the air force base is here. Louis Mack and Hank Greenspun?you may know that name, the original member of Temple Beth Sholom who started the Las Vegas Sun here?anyway, ran arms to Israel. Louis Mack and Hank Greenspun were appointed to telephone people prior to the holidays regarding buying aliyahs. Did you hear that, Rabbi? Okay. I think it's a great idea. The Jewish population in Las Vegas was about three hundred fifty families and the center had an adult membership of about two hundred. In 1954, the Passover Seder was held at the Silver Slipper. High Holidays were held in the Huntridge Theater. Side note: Lloyd Katz, member of the temple, owned the Huntridge Theater. He gave it for a fundraiser for the temple and they showed 12 Angry Men, classic. I'll tell you more about Lloyd later. Where was I? FEMALE: He was one of the first presidents. ARLENE: Absolutely. One of the first presidents of the board. A card and latke party for Hanukkah was held at the Silver Slipper and they raffled a white fox fur. I love that. That is so cute. Lloyd Katz requested that a men's club be formed. 4 All right. As they outgrew the community center, Irwin Molasky, who you may have heard that name, headed the building committee. With considerable help from the hotel owners' men, property was purchased at sixteen hundred East Oakey and groundbreaking took place in 1956, which we call the Old Temple which we'll be going to and you'll get a much better tour, as I said, from Josh Abbey. In 1956, a resolution in the bylaws, the board of trustees decided eighteen men would be on the board. So a motion was made that "the board shall be composed of eighteen members in good standing," which permitted both men and women to run. The motion was defeated thirteen to one. I'm looking for the one vote. In '56, a memo from Merv Adelson?Merv Adelson was a long-time member and one-time president. He owned Lorimar studios in Hollywood. He built Sunrise Hospital, the Boulevard Mall...I could go on...the?what's it called? FEMALE: That was Nate Adelson who did that. Merv Adelson's son. ARLENE: I'm sorry. Merv was his son. Nate Adelson who did that. Thank you. FEMALE: Related to Sheldon or no? ARLENE: Not at all. No relation. Sheldon was still driving a cab in Boston. Merv Adelson reported that the gin rummy tournament should replace the dinner at Moe Dalitz'. You all know the name Moe Dalitz? ALL: Yes. ARLENE: Can we talk? A little shady, kind of connected. At one time owned the Dunes. FEMALE: But retired. ARLENE: Retired from everything. 5 It was replaced by a gin rummy tournament because that made more money. All the hotels were being asked to participate and publicity was being arranged with Walter Winchell. You know that name? It's amazing, this history. And now what have you got? Me, Sandy and Flora. Jerry Lewis entertained the donors' luncheon at the Sands Hotel that year. It was suggested by a rabbi Dr. Bernard Cohen that we affiliate with the conservative movement by joining the United Synagogues of America. It was reported that Sabbath services in recent weeks have been attended by opera singer Jan Peerce and comedian Myron Cohen. A loan from the First National Bank of Nevada in the amount of two hundred thousand dollars for the completion of construction of the new temple had been approved with a guarantee from the resort hotels. What are the chances today? Sahara, Desert Inn, Riviera, Thunderbird Hotel, Fremont, Sands, El Rancho and the Tropicana. The gin rummy tournament was now under way by the board of directors of the Las Vegas Charities Foundation?this is all of the Las Vegas charities?with the understanding that the net proceeds from the tournament would be used for the payments called for on the note. And I think that's quite amazing, the whole community. If they failed to do so, the hotels were liable for up to twenty-five thousand dollars each plus interest for each hotel. Once again, women failed to get on the board. It was moved that the bylaws be amended to permit women to be elected as directors for the general meeting of the congregation. The motion was not acted on for a failure of a second. Have you ever? Were they scared? Moe Dalitz has accepted to serve on the board. No connection here, I'm sure. The importance of hiring a good executive director was discussed at length. The executive director would also be a part-time Hebrew teacher. On July 14th, 1958, Judge David Zenoff, who was very highly thought of in this community, moved that the Jewish Community Center be known as Beth 6 Sholom. Adoption of the name of Temple Beth Sholom was unanimous. Any questions yet that I can't answer? The red brick structure faced East Oakey in the southern section of Las Vegas. It continued to be the center of all Jewish activities for Southern Nevada. Remember, this is the only synagogue in town. The social hall and auditorium provide meeting places and activity rooms for all Jewish organizations, their temple men's club, Sisterhood, B'nai B'rith, men and women, AZA, B'nai B'rith Girls, Jewish War Veterans and its auxiliary, National Council of Jewish Women, and the Jewish Center Social Club. The largest congregation attended holy day services in the new temple in October 1958; over twelve hundred people occupied each seat in the chapel and in the assembly hall at Kol Nidre and memorial services. That's amazing. Jack Entratter?once again, the entertainment director at the Sands?suggested the Kolod Foundation be contacted about buying the ground for a Danny Kolod memorial. I am told he drown in Lake Mead. Do you know, Flora? FLORA: That's what I was told. He was twenty-three, I believe. He was a young man. ARLENE: And the reason that's relevant...You'll see that next to the temple and I'll tell you about it a little later. In 1959, a giant auction and bizarre sponsored by the temple men's club featured a special door prize?this is really good?a 1959 Norge freezer completely stocked with food. By May 1959, the schoolrooms were furnished, permanent seats were ordered for the sanctuary, the bema had been remodeled, a stage curtain donated, the kitchen completed, and Kolod memorial building being erected with landscape going forward. Temple Beth Sholom, if you don't mind, will be now referred to as TBS, okay? TBS 7 announced its first formal confirmation class service with six confirmations. The Huntridge Theater?I already told you about the 12 Angry Men, from Lloyd Katz. Temple president, now, was Jack Entratter. He announced a double ring ceremony at Temple Beth Sholom for Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher by Rabbi Bernard Cohen. Fisher appeared before Judge Zenoff with attorney David Goldwater, who was also a member, for his divorce that morning. There's a picture of that wedding in the hallway. Be sure and look if you haven't seen it, of the new temple. The 1960s brought the Six-Day War to Israel. The Danny Kolod Memorial Youth Center became a separate but adjoining building with complete recreational facilities, including a tennis court, and by 1963 it had a membership of a hundred and fifty boys and girls age nine to seventeen. Most of our kids went there and had a ball. TBS almost tripled its membership to four hundred families and seventy-five single memberships while the population of Southern Nevada doubled from the late fifties to the middle sixties. The original temple on Carson Street had been sold to the Greek Orthodox Church for seventy-seven thousand five hundred. That's still there, but the Greek Church has moved to an enormous building west. Lloyd Katz arranged for the fundraiser of Exodus at the Guild Theatre. To avoid attempted sabotage of demonstrations at the theater, both the temple and the theater will be patrolled. Now, tell me if I'm wrong on this. Lloyd also owned the Guild Theatre downtown, kind of an art theater. And I think the reason they had all of this patrolling was he started integration in Las Vegas and especially of his movie theaters. FEMALE: He and his wife marched for equal rights. ARLENE: His wife, who you also may know or have heard of, Edythe Katz, marched in the 8 march for integration and they're very active in many ways. FLORA: And also, Hank Greenspun was very active. ARLENE: And Flora says Hank Greenspun was also very active in that march. By the way, there is a movie coming out about the Moulin Rouge, which is a wonderful documentary. It has nothing to do with Temple Beth Sholom. It was a black nightclub here, casino that was fabulous. It's a whole other story. It's another bus ride. FEMALE: The Jewish Film Festival. ARLENE: I'll get to that, too. That's my baby. There were three hundred sixty guests at the Passover Seder, fourteen new members and a profit of eight hundred dollars. The Sands' chef cooked and staffed the dinner. Lloyd Katz arranged?well, I just told you that about Exodus downtown. There was a newly formed dance cotillion. A constant discussion of rules for a Jewish cemetery and its upkeep kept the board busy. It was suggested that upon completion of the work, the cemetery be properly dedicated. Rabbi will tell you all about that when we get there, and I think we're almost there. The men's club and Sisterhood combined efforts by staging Make a Million. Were you in that, Flora? It was cast with temple members. Sisterhood fashion shows were held in the Arabian Room at the Dunes Hotel. In 1963, the youth program at TBS, under the leadership of Cantor Cohen, expanded to the Hebrew school with a hundred? MALE: I have a question. ARLENE: Oh, question. Yes, sir. MALE: This is a comment. Not only is it very interesting, but we're about five minutes from 9 the cemetery. ARLENE: Oh, thank you. MALE: So the timing is going to be very good here. I'm just letting you know. ARLENE: Hey, for what I'm being paid, I'll give it my all. FEMALE: Good. You're doing a great job. ARLENE: You know gornisht? Okay. We're talking about the youth program in '63 at TBS with Cantor Cohen. It expanded the Hebrew school, a hundred seven pre-bar mitzvah and fifteen post-bar mitzvah students. Sunday school had one hundred sixty-one children. Little League teams, dancing classes, dancing parties, barbeques, lectures, arts and crafts instruction. FEMALE: Do I have the preschool in there somewhere? ARLENE: Yeah. And also Josh will talk...You know who was in the preschool at temple? Jerry says nobody knows or cares. But Senator Dick Bryan. Many gentile people went to the preschool at temple. FLORA: Oh, they all did. ARLENE: All of them. Flora says all of them. FLORA: In fact, it was the best preschool in town. So everybody went there. ARLENE: It still is. It got an award. MALE: I was going to tell you that I knew numerous non-Jewish friends here in Las Vegas who grew up in Las Vegas and most of them went to the temple preschool. I know well-known attorneys who played basketball as they were growing up at the Kolod Center and that was a place to go because there really wasn't? ARLENE: It was the only game in town. 10 MALE: ?anything else, any other facility for teenagers. FLORA: Arlene, when you talk about the preschool, Carson Street also started a preschool. ARLENE: Oh, thank you. FLORA: We have a picture of children on Carson Street. So education is always important when you build a synagogue. ARLENE: True. Right. Very true. Thank you. Should I stop? Yes? FEMALE: The community around the temple, was it just about all Jewish or what was it like? ARLENE: You mean around the temple? We're going to show you. But, yes, many Jews especially observant?my mother-in-law?lived near the temple so they could walk. We stayed at her house during the High Holidays. Sometimes we walked home with the Goodmans, Oscar and Carolyn. We lived close by. They still live in the house; we don't live in the house. Yes, we're going to show you some houses of people you know?the Steinbergs, both families, Leon and Irv; the Marshalls, who were very, very active in the temple; Adele's house; Miriam Sharp's house. I'm not sure that you know her. FLORA: She just passed away. There should be a map in here of the neighborhood with many of the people's names who lived around the temple. ARLENE: If you can't read it? FLORA: I didn't realize it was going to be so small. ARLENE: I've got it. I've got it. FLORA: When we drive by, hopefully put on your reading glasses and you'll be able to. ARLENE: Well, I've got the names here. So I can tell you whose house they were. FLORA: There really wasn't a Jewish neighborhood. 11 ARLENE: No. That was, I think, very important in the Jewish community was there was no ghetto. There was no Jewish neighborhood. There was no Jewish country club. I think it was a plus. Jews were very active in the community. I think they began the Las Vegas Country Club. But there was never this is the Jews and this is the gentiles. They've always grown up together, lived together, which was part of this city's charm, I think, very, very non-separated, unlike most communities I think in the United States. I personally grew up in Duluth. I don't have to tell you there was no Jewish ghetto in Duluth. My house. FLORA: The entrance is right here. [At the cemetery - Woodlawn Cemetery, 1500 N. Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV 89101 ] RABBI: So before I show you a couple of specific graves, I want to take just a couple of minutes to understand the relevance and the importance of Woodlawn Cemetery. It's a historical site in the United States, by the way, because of the first graves that are made here are for people who were born and buried in the eighteen hundreds. So it's a very, very important thing to understand. But also, wherever Jews stayed whether in the United States or anywhere else in the world?[Too much wind noise; indiscernible] So the relevance of having our own cemetery is very, very important. Now, this area right here is not owned by Temple Beth Sholom. Our area is on the other side of the cemetery. This actually is owned by the City of Las Vegas and [wind noise]. Now, on the other side of the road, we have some graves actually were purchased as a block of graves by Temple Beth Sholom, which is what Arlene was explaining at the very beginning. Now, I'm going to just tell you something that's very, very telling of a Jewish community. When I first moved to Las Vegas, I kept having this recurring nightmare that I was not going to 12 be able to be buried in Mexico. And a few people usually have that same thing. Oh, my God, I'm leaving now Chicago, but I want to be buried in Chicago. You cannot see yourself buried? I'm just mentioning Chicago; I just picked that randomly. You cannot see yourself being buried anywhere else but the place where you spent most of your life until that time. So for people to actually acquire a cemetery and start burying their family members here, it's much more of a statement not only of I'm Jewish; I bury my dead in a special way, but also I am part of a city; I am here to stay and I'm not going. So one of the reasons...On the other side my father is buried here. I clearly passed that mental barrier at some point in my life and I said, "Listen, this is where I am. This is my city, my congregation, my community." And I think that all of us by virtue of being here and dedicating cemeteries like we did in Woodlawn are saying, The Jewish community in Las Vegas is here to stay and it's not leaving anytime soon. Believe it or not, cemeteries are not about the past, but are very much about the future because without the cemetery, community cannot exist. It is very, very difficult. Now, there were a lot of very, very wonderful people that were laid to rest in this section. I'm choosing one in particular right here. Get in closer. There were two people that to me were very, very old time. One was Philip Rosenberg and the other one was Charles Salton, who is Bill's brother, because they were here. I mean they came to Las Vegas very, very long ago. And Phil actually used to come to shul every Shabbat and used to sit in the same seat, took the same seat from Oakey at Temple Beth Sholom (indiscernible), had the same seat. And he was one of the most wonderful, amazing people I ever met in my life. Feel good stories, feel good life. When he died he left me his cufflinks. I always used to go to see him and say, "Look, I love your cufflinks." They were these huge like old Las Vegas cufflinks with a menorah on them. FEMALE: Bling. 13 RABBI: Yeah, but they're real bling. So the story is that the cufflinks were given to him by one of the mob bosses. He never told me who it was. Maybe he made it up; I don't know. But it's one of those things that really make you understand what this city was once all about. Like Jerry was saying, this is one of the only cities, small cities in America aside from something like New York or maybe Chicago that Jews really built with their own hands because you were empowered to really build this city. And Woodlawn Cemetery is a testimony to that. FEMALE: Etta Hormel, before your time, right, Felipe? RABBI: Yeah. That's the Sisterhood. FEMALE: Etta Hormel worked tirelessly at the gift shop on Oakey and she was president of I guess the women seniors and she was a fixture. FEMALE: She also worked at Beth Sholom. FEMALE: She also worked in the kitchen. RABBI: She also cooked. FEMALE: I was just going to say that she cooked for every event, all the Sisterhood lunches, all the Women's League lunches every time. It was fabulous. RABBI: So do you want to go to the other side? Let's go to the other side. We're going to see Adele Baratz. So I'm going to tell you a quick story. Make sure record what to tell her. FEMALE: I will. RABBI: So the Strausses?everybody remembers Ruth Goldfarb? Ruth Goldfarb who still comes to shul every Saturday now again. But Ruth was (indiscernible) and Ruth has been a really, really big force behind our congregation in a very special way. These are Ruth's father's parents. We have a Torah in our arc that actually is about three hundred years old, which is the 14 only Torah that we have that is not written on parchment; it is written on actual leather. Now, the unique thing about this story is not that it's three hundred years old; that's not uncommon. It's a Moroccan Torah and that's really unusual. It's a Torah that was written in Morocco; that's unusual on its own. But the Strausses came from Germany and they brought this Torah with them to the United States. They settled in New Jersey. They had a farm in New Jersey and then they came to Las Vegas with the Torah. They brought the Torah. FEMALE: They brought the Torah when they escaped from Germany from the Nazis. RABBI: Right. So the amazing thing is people say to you these days, If there was a crisis where you are and you needed to take some of your possessions, what would you take? So people would say, "Well, photographs, my passport, some money." But they took the Torah. This was their life. That Torah, again, Ruth doesn't know how it got to be that a Moroccan Torah ended up in Germany. It's very, very unusual. Nobody can explain it to us. But that is definitely the Torah they brought with them and that is definitely the Torah we have in our arc. It's one of those (indiscernible) in Jewish history. There was not a lot of cultural exchange at the beginning of the twentieth century between Morocco and Germany. So it's one of those things that is really unique about our congregation. We read from that Torah once in a while at Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah to honor Ruth's parents who are buried here. In my house I have?Ruth gave me as a gift?they also had a (shavez lamp), which now is a very, very prized possession by Jewish museums, which is a lamp that you put on your ceiling; it's shaped as a star, and you put oil on it. And as the oil burns, the lamp goes lower to illuminate better. It's a mechanical marvel of the Jewish people and it was used on Shabbat. You lit it at the beginning of Shabbat and it gave you light for the holy day. So I have that. It used to belong to Ruth's parents. 15 So it's a very, very emotional thing to be able to stand here and know that people like that really risked it all to come from the old country to the United States and then, again, right, because who went west to the desert? Imagine. Ruth was from Bavaria, which is a very nice green area of Europe, to Las Vegas. So just for you to imagine the cultural change twice in a lifetime. It's not easy. The history of the Jews in the United States...If you stayed on the East Coast, it's great. But if your parents came to the West Coast in the thirties or the forties or the fifties, it was a big deal. It's not just like you take a plane and you go. So that's why graves like these and history like this is so important, should be so important to us. And in understanding where we should be going in the future, we have to remember where they came from. Thank you so much for listening. I think it's a wonderful, wonderful (indiscernible). FAYE: Talk about Lena. She would go into homes that needed extra help. She would do things...Prior to a funeral, she would go and help with the Shiva. She would go help with everything. This is a remarkable woman that I loved. Lena, if she would say, "Faye, I need you," I'd say, "I'm coming." But she helped everybody and she did it in a quiet way. She was a remarkable woman. FEMALE: She lived across the street from Sarah. FAYE: Do you remember? FEMALE: Yes, I remember Lena very well. And she lived across the street from Sarah and they were best friends. Lena did not drive, but she managed to get to the hospitals. Every week she would go and visit the sick. FAYE: She would walk from temple to her home every day. FEMALE: Well, that was just a block or so. But she would manage to do whatever she could 16 do?I mean whatever was needed to be done, she did it without a big fuss. JERRY: I was just going to?Faye knew?my late mother, she was her best friend because they lived around the corner, my mother lived. FEMALE: How precious. JERRY: And they were both Orthodox and they would walk to the temple. RABBI: Before we leave I just want to share with you something else about the cemetery itself. When Gene Greenberg was president of the congregation?maybe a little bit before Gene, but Gene actually solidified it?we bought a tremendous amount of land on the other side of the cemetery and many of us have loved ones buried there. We have children, spouses, siblings, grandparents. We still have about a thousand plots on the other side of Woodlawn Cemetery. There was a time when Palm started developing their property in Henderson, many people chose to go there because this was not a comfortable area; it was downtown; people didn't like it that much. But as far as history goes and as far as we can attest, everybody who is buried here is actually Jewish. This is the only cemetery like that in Las Vegas, our sections of Woodlawn. I think that when they sat down and they bought those spaces over there, they didn't really realize the impact that it would have on our future. But it's very, very comfortable for us to have that because we know that no member of our congregation would ever go without a Jewish funeral if that would be the case. We could always do something for someone. Just for you to know, Temple Beth Sholom also participates with the community, with the Jewish community in our indigent burial understanding where rabbis throughout the community donate their services to bury people who can't afford to be buried and King David and the other funeral home also donate their services. But Temple Beth Sholom actually donates the plots to the indigent burials, which is something that nobody else does. You cannot quantify 17 that in money because it's invaluable. If we didn't have that the community would have to pay maybe two hundred thousand dollars a year in funerals for people to afford to be buried. So just for you to know, the relevance that our congregation still has in this community and the impact that we have is nothing to sneeze at; it's actually very, very significant and we should be very, very proud of it. FEMALE: To help bury the Jewish indigents or all? RABBI: Yes, for only Jewish indigents. I w