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Transcript of interview with Melody Stein by Barbara Tabach, August 16, 2016

Date

2016-08-16

Description

In this interview, Stein lovingly describes various forms and mediums of art, especially rubber stamping, which included starting and managing a related craft publication, National Stampagraphic, as well as working with polymer clay. She talks about her involvement with the local Polymer Clay Guild, of which she is president, and their various projects, including Bottles of Hope and Hearts for Heroes. Stein also discusses her teaching career at the Hebrew Academy and Adelson Educational Campus.

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Transcript of interview with Jay Poster by Barbara Tabach, August 26, 2016

Date

2016-08-26

Archival Collection

Description

Music brought Jay Poster to Las Vegas for a brief time in 1974. Jay wanted to pursue a musical career and his cousin was a professional musician with the Nat Brandwynne Orchestra at Caesars Palace. To Jay?s disappointment, within a few months his cousin Jack Poster left Las Vegas for a road tour. So Jay decided his best strategy was to return home to San Diego and his studies at San Diego State University. It would be over a decade later before Jay returned to Las Vegas to live and this time it became permanent. This time it was not for music. For beyond his musical talent, Jay had a gift for connecting with people of all of ages and walks of life. He was good at sales and his day job selling office furniture offered him the opportunity to transfer to Las Vegas in 1986. Within a few years, however, it was a recruiter for Palm Mortuaries who introduced Jay to his defining career moment and to Allen Brewster, a prominent Jewish leader and founder of King David Cemetery and Mortuary. It was 2001. Jay has been King David?s ever since and is the General Manager. In this interview, Jay describes his personal and spiritual growth through his career in funeral services and his respect for the Jewish traditions of burial and grieving. In addition, his passion for music has also soared and he talks about his participation in the Shabbatones at Congregation Ner Tamid and Desert Winds, a community based performance organization. He shares his love of traditional Jewish klezmer music and the Meshugginah Klezmorim.

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Transcript of interview with Leonard I. Gang and Roberta Gang by Barbara Tabach, September 14, 2016

Date

2016-09-14

Description

Leonard Gang (1935 - ) and Roberta Gang (1940 - ) are both natives of New York, though different boroughs and Jewish traditions. The couple met in 1960 while students at Cornell University and married in 1961. Two years later, Len graduated from New York University School of Law. Leonard had fallen in love with Western United States as boy on a family vacation. So when a notice was posted for a law clerk with the Supreme Court of Nevada, he knew he wanted to apply. When he presented Bobbie with a choice of Alaska or Nevada, she flatly responded that Nevada was as far west as she was willing to move. Thus, began their long and influential residencies in both Carson City and Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, Temple Beth Sholom was quickly a welcoming place to be for the Gang family. While Leonard?s law career flourished, Bobbie realized her energy and commitment to become an advocate for the benefit of the vulnerable. Over the years, she actively participated in the political campaigns of others and even entered the political arena herself, which she discusses in this oral history. During Leonard?s successful legal career, he held positions as Deputy District Attorney and Deputy Public Defender in Clark County and was in private practice. From 1971 ? 1974, he was District Court Judge in Clark County before returning fulltime to private practice. By 1988, Bobbie and Leonard had become forceful lobbyists including representing Nevada Women?s Lobby among others. In 2012, Bobbie received the Virginia Cain Progressive Award from the Washoe County Democratic Party for her leadership and dedication to the rights of others. In this oral history, the Gangs highlight their tireless efforts, the long list of political and civic leaders that they worked alongside of, some of Leonard?s high profile cases, and their Jewish heritage. They are parents of three: Lynne Moore, Karen Schnog, and Joshua Gang.

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Transcript of interview with Myra Berkovits by Barbara Tabach, August 21, 2014

Date

2014-08-21

Description

Interview with Myra Berkovits by Barbara Tabach on August 21, 2014. In this interview, Berkovits talks about growing up and starting her teaching career in Chicago. When she moves to Las Vegas, Berkovits eventually purchases a dining concierge business, but returned to teaching, and is now involved with the Sperling Kronberg Mack Holocaust Resource Center.

Myra Berkovits was born Myra Mosse in 1944 in Chicago, Illinois. She became an elementary school teacher in Chicago before moving to Las Vegas in 1980. Myra has made contributions to Las Vegas in the public and private sectors. She owned several businesses then returned to teaching, heading to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to renew her teaching license and later received her master's degree. After a year of teaching in multicultural education, Myra was then in charge of the school district's homeless program, seeing its growth from serving 1,200 to 6,000 students. Myra's other passion was for Holocaust education and she became one of six interviewers in the city for the Shoah Foundation, documenting survivors' stories. One interviewee, David Berkovits, would later become her husband of fifteen years. Myra's own Holocaust education was aided by powerful trips to Israel and Poland. She used these experiences to develop and lead student-teacher conferences and classroom curriculum for the whole state. Myra still serves at the Education Specialist at the Holocaust Resource Center.

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Transcript of interview with David Wasserman by Barbara Tabach, October 21, 2016

Date

2016-10-21

Description

For nearly two decades between 1950 and 1970, only one dentist of Jewish ancestry was known to be licensed to practice in Nevada. That was Dr. Joe Chenin. Finally, in 1971, the steadfast and easy mannered Dr. David R. Wasserman (1944 - ) broke through the barrier to become the second Jewish dentist serving the Las Vegas community. Over the following years, Dr. Wasserman built a sizeable following and immersed himself in the Jewish community of Las Vegas. Among his achievements is his participation and leadership in the formation of Las Vegas’ first Reform Jewish synagogue, Congregation Ner Tamid. He also would be active in the Jewish Federation. In 1992, as the HIV-AIDS epidemic affected dental offices throughout the nation, Dr. Wasserman saw an opportunity to get ahead of the infection. With the help of his wife Juanita Davis-Wasserman and his father-in-law Warren Davis, he developed, patented, manufactured and distributed a disposable tip for a treatment instrument commonly found in dental offices called a tri-syringe. This disposable tip brought sanitary options and great financial fortune to Dr. Wasserman and his family. In this oral history, Dr. Wasserman reflects on his joy of living in Las Vegas. He is a highly regarded dentist and leader in the Jewish community.

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Transcript of interview with Marcy and Jack Simon by Barbara Tabach, May 16, 2018

Date

2018-05-16

Description

It was 1964 when Jack Simon met Marcy Stiel at a mutual friend’s wedding. Smitten from the beginning, the couple married shortly thereafter. Thus began their loving partnership that has flourished in business, community involvement, and most importantly in raising their two sons, Ron and Steven. The Simon’s can be a modest power couple. However, they are clearly capable of making things happen. When they first married, Jack was a California electrical contractor and homebuilder and Marcy became his business administrator. The Simons through their Electrical Company, Expo-Tech Electrical & Plumbing Services, Inc. won the contract to provide all of the electrical services for the entire 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, encompassing (26) twenty six venues located in California spanning from San Diego to Stanford University. The trajectory of the business was extraordinary, establishing twelve offices nationwide to provide temporary electrical and plumbing services for conventions and special events. Expo-Tech was eventually bought by industry giant GES. Their success was due in large part to Jack’s technical knowledge and Marcy’s administrative and marketing skills. With entrepreneurial zest, and over the period of eleven years, the couple found their way into the ownership of four local casinos in Elko and Wendover Nevada. Marcy was one of the first women in Nevada to hold multiple gaming licenses. In total, she held four Unrestricted Gaming Licenses. The Simons hosted Passover Seders for the Elko Jewish Community during their ownership of the casinos. In 2004, Marcy and Jack sold the four casino operations. Since moving to Nevada in 1994, the couple has made a warm and lasting impression, being generous in their focus for the well-being of the Jewish community. They are among those that actively paved the way for SB26, which outlaws government bodies from conducting business with companies that boycott Israel. They continue to be tireless advocates and philanthropists in Jewish organizations of Las Vegas and Nevada.

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Transcript of interview with Stanley and Sandy Mallin by Barbara Tabach, January 7, 2015

Date

2015-01-07

Description

Stanley Mallin (1923- ) was a native of Kansas City, Missouri; the son of Bess and Louis Mallin. His mother was a homemaker and his father was an industrious immigrant from Ukraine who earned his US citizenship through combat in World War I. Stan was the middle child of their three. It was while Stan attended the University of Missouri that he met Jay Sarno. The two men’s fast personal friendship made them solid business partners. Their first endeavor was in Florida with a tile business. It was during a holiday stay at the Flamingo that the two dreamed a bigger, better hotel-casino. The result was Caesars Palace. He has lived and helped develop Las Vegas since 1968. In 1982, Stan married his wife Sandy (neé Jacoby) Mallin. Sandy grew up in New York and arrived in Las Vegas in 1977. She has provided dynamic leadership in the Jewish community. For several years she was President of the Women’s Division of Jewish Federation. She then followed this as the first woman to be President of T

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Transcript of interview with Rabbi Felipe Goodman by Barbara Tabach, March 9, 2015

Date

2015-03-09

Description

Rabbi Felipé Goodman was born in 1967 and raised in an established Conservative Jewish community in Mexico City. This community would financially and emotionally support his seminary education was in New York City at the Jewish Theological Seminary. As a young rabbi eager for his own congregation, he became restless in 1998 and began his search for options which lead him to a listing for a rabbi at Las Vegas’s oldest synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom. During this oral history, Rabbi Goodman weaves a fascinating story of chance and good fortune of his interview process and visit to Las Vegas—including the generous parting gift of Snapple—and his surprising decision to take the position. Now, almost two decades later, he reflects on several of his accomplishments in addition to being Temple Beth Sholom’s longest serving rabbi to date. He mentions the opening of the synagogue’s move to a beautiful new building in Summerlin, where they were able to include a mikvah for conversions. He shares how he and Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn, formerly of Midbar Kodesh Temple, worked together to establish chevra kadisha for burying Jewish people. As a member of the Rabbinical Assembly he was especially please to help host the 2011 annual conference in Las Vegas after years of persuasion. Israeli political leader Tzipi Livni was the keynote speaker. Rabbi also speaks about his passion for Israel, AIPAC and the Conservative Movement in Judaism.

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Transcript of interview with Sharon Maurer-Schwartz and Edna Rice by Barbara Tabach, February 1, 2016

Date

2016-02-01

Description

Born in 1939, Sharon Maurer-Schwartz’s life experiences have traversed a groundbreaking era: she’s a female, Jewish and a married to a Protestant lesbian. This oral history reveals what it has been like for her as she explored her Judaism and recognized her personal identity. Her Judaic foundation began in the Reconstructionist movement in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has never wavered from her religious identity, though she has belonged to various types of synagogues. She and Ande (Edna) Rice, who also participates in this interview, were legally married in California in 2008, but have been together since the 1980s. They raised Sharon’s daughter Julie, pursued careers and moved to Las Vegas in 1999. Ande is a Protestant and the topic of blended religious couples is discussed. Sharon is devoted to her life coaching business – Growth Unlimited – and to helping others.

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Transcript of interview with Greg Goussak by Barbara Tabach, May 19, 2015

Date

2015-05-19

Description

Interview with Greg Goussak by Barbara Tabach on May 19, 2015. In this interview Goussak discusses his upbringing in Las Vegas, including his education in the Clark County School District and his experience with bussing to Sixth Grade Centers as the school district attempted to desegregate. As a teenager, he became involved with the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization through Temple Beth Sholom. Goussak talks about his mother's involvement with the Albert Einstein Hebrew Day School, which later moved and became the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Educational Campus, and the kidnapping of Cary Sayegh. He then discusses finding his niche in accounting through taking an accounting course at UNLV as a high school student. Goussak talks about his education, career path as a controller in the gaming industry and public works projects, and becoming a professor.

Greg Goussak is a Las Vegas native, born January 1961, just after his parents moved to the city for his father's work as an accountant. His mother was a dedicated educator, who served throughout the city as a teacher and principal, including as the director of the Hebrew Day School in the 1970s. Greg's childhood was shaped by experiences with Las Vegas' sixth grade centers, challenges with scoliosis, and especially, involvement with B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO). In 1974, Greg helped start the city's new Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA) chapter for BBYO, and his involvement with this youth organization became a formative part of his junior high and high school years. During this time, he became very involved with AZA at the regional, district and national levels, and made lifelong friends. As a high school student, Greg participated in UNLV's Early Studies Program, earning him college credit, and there he discovered his aptitude for accounting. He began tutoring fellow high school students in accounting, and thus, simultaneously discovered his passion for teaching. After earning his bachelor's degree in hospitality administration from UNLV in 1984, Greg got a job at Dunes Hotel and Casino, then under the leadership of Moe Shenker, working as an operations analyst. Over the next decade, Greg worked as a controller at several properties around town, including Nevada Palace, the Four Queens, Fitzgeralds, as well as a project on Boulder Highway. In 1992, seeking a reprieve from the gaming industry, Greg went back to UNLV to achieve his master's degree, in hotel administration. After graduating, he worked for Riviera Hotel and Casino, and established and oversaw their auditing department as well as box office. During this time, Greg met his wife Cynthia (Cindy) Riceberg, and the two were married in 1996. That same year, Greg took a position with Sigma Game, and soon after became Chief Financial Officer for Manpower Temporary Staffing. In 2002, deciding it was time to work for himself, he bought Haynes and Thomas Printers, which he owned and operated for the next eight years. Greg started teaching in 1989 as an adjunct professor in the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at UNLV. In 2010, having finished his doctorate the year before, Greg assumed his first fulltime faculty position as an assistant professor at the University of Southern Nevada. The next year he was hired as an assistant professor at Ashford University, where he continues to teach today in the Forbes School of Business. Greg and Cindy have two daughters: Ariel, who is seventeen years old, and Alyssa, who is fourteen years old.

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