Oral history interview with Deanne Alterwitz-Stralser conducted by Barbara Tabach on November 01, 2014 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Alterwitz-Stralser discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and their four children to assume ownership of Walker Furniture, leading the design and merchandising elements of the business, and integrating into the local Jewish community.
Temple Beth Sholom invitation and program for the building dedication includes a guide to the Judaic art in the synagogue and a list of past presidents.
In 1961, at the age of thirteen, Gerald “Jerry” Gordon became a bar mitzvah. This typical coming of age celebration was unusual in that he had simultaneously studied in both his home state of California and his adopted home of Las Vegas, where he spent summers with his grandparents. 1961 is also the same year that the Gordons made Las Vegas their permanent home.
Jon Sparer is an architect in Las Vegas, Nevada who has worked on numerous hotels and casinos. He moved to Las Vegas in July 1981 and worked for the architecture firm Rissman and Rissman before joining Marnell Corrao. After briefly retiring in 1999, Sparer opened his own architecture firm and was contacted by Congregation Ner Tamid (of which he was a casual member) to design their new temple in Green Valley. He was also the architect for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (“The Center”) in Las Vegas.
Hershel Brooks was born December 3, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised in an orthodox Jewish household, along with his four siblings, and attended Jewish community schools before pursuing his rabbinical studies. He studied at TelsheYeshiva in Cleveland, Torah Vodaath in New York, and Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.