Oral history interview with Barbara Raben conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 24, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview Raben discusses her involvement with Hadassah, a women's Jewish organization, in Southern Nevada, and the various groups within that organization. She also talks about her family, her relationship to Judaism, and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1991. Raben discusses the business she built in Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas, Nevada called the Candy Factory. She then talks about the formation of Midbar Kodesh Temple with other families from Temple Beth Sholom.
In this oral history interview, Adele Baratz and Florence Frost discuss their experiences as members of the Las Vegas Jewish community, particularly as it has evolved and grown over the decades.
Adele Baratz and Florence Frost discuss their experiences as members of the Las Vegas Jewish community, particularly as it has evolved and grown over the decades. As active members of the Temple Beth Sholom congregation, the two recall others that made significant contributions to the local Jewish community as well as programs that strengthened Jewish life, including Women?s League, Fifty-five Plus and the Hebrew Day School. In addition, Adele and Florence recall efforts to pressure the Clark County School District to accommodate absences for the High Holidays. Adele (Salton) Baratz was born August 11, 1926, to Russian immigrant parents. The family moved to Las Vegas when Adele was two years old, making her the longest residing Jewish resident in Las Vegas. Adele graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1944, and then attended nursing school at Baltimore?s Sinai Hospital, from which she graduated in 1947. While visiting a friend in Philadelphia, Adele met her husband, and the couple lived there for a few years. When the couple divorced, Adele returned to Las Vegas with her children, and eventually also returned to nursing. She retired from Sunrise Hospital in 1991, after 17 years. Florence (Levine) Frost was born March 24, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. She married Robert L. Levine in 1949, and the two had three daughters. In 1960, Robert?s work as a decorator brought the couple to Las Vegas. Not long after moving, she joined Temple Beth Sholom, where she worked as an executive secretary for two years. It was at temple, as members of Women?s League, that Florence and Adele met. Florence was a two-term president of the Women's League beginning in 1970; established the Fifty-Five Plus Club for seniors; and served on the congregation's board of directors for many years. Florence?s other leadership roles in the Jewish community include: chair of the Anti-Defamation League committee of B'nai B'rith, president of the National Council of Jewish Women, and president of the Las Vegas chapter of the Brandeis National Committee (2010-2011).
In this interview, Schwartz talks at length about her passion for compassionate hospice care, and her broad involvement with the Nathan Adelson Hospice, from volunteering to serving on the board to philanthropy, which included opening the Walter Schwartz Center for Compassionate Care. Schwartz also talks about other philanthropic giving which includes establishing scholarships at George Washington University and University of Michigan as well as support to Temple Beth Sholom gift shop.
He was once the hazzan (cantor) at Temple Beth Sholom. He and his wife attended the Temple Beth Sholom construction celebration in Las Vegas, circa 1996.
Jared Shafer is a former board member of Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas, Nevada. He served as president of the congregation from 1984 to 1986 and also managed the temple's preschool. He moved to Las Vegas in 1944.
Roundtable Interview with Members of Temple Beth Sholom, 2015 January 14. OH-02459. Transcript. Oral History Research Center, Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rose sells real estate in Las Vegas, Nevada. She also did the real estate deal to sell the old Temple Beth Sholom location, and attended the Temple Beth Sholom construction celebration in Las Vegas, circa 1996.