Oral history interview with Janellen Radoff conducted by Barbara Tabach on September 26, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Radoff discusses training in interior design and architecture, finding employment as a commercial designer, and working at Wynn properties. She also talks about her involvement in the interior design for Congregation Ner Tamid.
Roberta “Bobbie” Kane (1932 - ) is the first known Jewish child born in Las Vegas. Her parents, Sallie and Mike Gordon, were liquor stores owners and among the founders of the first Jewish congregation in Las Vegas. Bobbie’s childhood remembrances are as a young girl who was fully aware that “Friday nights were reserved for religious services. Saturdays were always reserved for gin rummy.” In the late 1940s, as a teenager at Las Vegas High School (and 1950 graduate), Bobbie recalls Las Vegas as a small town and a joyful place to grow up. She briefly attended University of Southern California before marrying and beginning her family. In time, life brought her back to live with her parents. She pursued a career working for the Desert Inn group of hotels and helped open the Stardust in 1957. She was mentored by Mark Swain, “a six foot-four hunk of a cowboy” who worked for Moe Dalitz. This experience included driving Mark’s pink Cadillac to pick up hotel guests. This provided her with a
Oral history interview with Gertrude Rudiak conducted by Claytee D. White on January 11, 2007 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Rudiak discusses her personal history and being a member of the Jewish community of Las Vegas, Nevada. She describes her husband being stationed in Las Vegas while serving in the United States military, their move to Las Vegas in the 1940s, and his law career after military service. Rudiak discusses race relations in Las Vegas during that time and her husband's efforts to pass a law to end segregation in Nevada as a state assemblyman. Rudiak's son, Richard Rudiak, also speaks, and talks about political history in Nevada during the late 20th century. They conclude by discussing the opening of a Jewish school in Las Vegas, the history of Jewish people in the city, and how Las Vegas and its casinos have changed.
Dr. Leonard Kreisler, MD, was born August 3, 1930 in Brooklyn to post World War I European Jewish immigrants. Raised in the smaller community of White Plains, New York, he worked happily by his father?s side. The elder Kreisler was a cabinet maker and carpenter, who Len describes as fiercely independent. Young Len keenly helped his Yiddish language father write his contracts and guided him to increasing his prices. At an early age, Len knew that he would become a medical doctor?little did he know what an amazing life was in his future. It was while attending the University of Vermont, College of Medicine that Len met his wife Joan. They married in June 1957. Joan became a teacher and later a real estate agent while in Las Vegas. This interview includes stories about his medical education and his thirteen year private medical practice in Peekskill, New York. This was followed by a career in occupational medicine and over seventeen years as the Medical Director at the Nevada Test Site for Reynolds Electric and Engineering Corporation (1973 ? 1990). During that time he was also elected Chief of Staff at University Medical Center (UMC) for two years and helped create the Children?s Miracle Network Telethon and the UMC Foundation. When he recalls moving to Las Vegas, his memories include jogging by Temple Beth Sholom and joining a minyan. He became a congregation vice president. When his career at the Test Site was halted, his medical adventure led him to be a maritime physician for a cruise liner. He also ran twice for Clark County Commissioner against Thalia Dondero. Dr. Kreisler is the author of several books: Death by Any Means (2005); Roll the Dice, Pick a Doc and Hope for the Best (2009); The Codes of Babylon (2010); Shortfall (2011); The Obligated Volunteer (2014) and In Bed Alone, A Caregiver?s Odyssey (2016).