Oral history interview with Lynn Rosencrantz conducted by Barbara Tabach on January 07, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Rosencrantz discusses her various job changes including: jeweler designer and multi-media artist; teacher of deaf children; buyer at her family’s business, Garrett's furniture store. She also talks about being a longtime member of the Las Vegas, Nevada Jewish community.
In this interview, Rabbi Malcolm Cohen speaks about observed differences between British and American Jewish communities as well as new Temple Sinai initiatives to build community and engage younger congregants. Rabbi Cohen and his wife have two children, Elijah and Rachel.
Rabbi Malcolm Cohen was born on October 7, 1973 in London, England. He describes having the typical Reform Jewish upbringing of a second generation Londoner. His mother worked as an office assistant, and his father ran a bookshop and also prepared youth for their bar and bat mitzvahs. It was his father?s dedication to Jewish education and service that greatly influenced his career path. After earning a degree in psychology from Southampton University, Rabbi Cohen went on to get a professional qualification in youth and community work. He subsequently became the British Reform movement?s first outreach officer, leading the efforts to engage 20- and 30-year-olds to Judaism. At his wife, Sarah?s, encouragement, Rabbi Cohen enrolled in Leo Baeck College to become a rabbi. Upon finishing his studies in 2006, he got a job at West London Synagogue, a large Reform congregation, where he worked with a team of rabbis. In 2009, Rabbi Cohen took the position as Temple Sinai?s rabbi, where he has served ever since. In this interview, he speaks about observed differences between British and American Jewish communities as well as new Temple Sinai initiatives to build community and engage younger congregants. Rabbi Cohen and his wife have two children, Elijah and Rachel.
Oral history interview with Andrew and Debbie Levy conducted by Barbara Tabach on September 12, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. The Levy couple discusses the changes they saw in Las Vegas, Nevada, from when Andrew was a kid to the times they raised their own daughters, Sarah and Jenna. They also describe booms in the real estate market and growth in the artistic and cultural aspects of Las Vegas. Debbie provides a perspective of the growth of the local Jewish community.