Search Results
Gary Sternberg Papers
Identifier
Abstract
The Gary Sternberg Papers are comprised of correspondence, publications, and videos documenting Sternberg's involvement with the Las Vegas Jewish community from 1983 to 2015. Organizations represented in the collection include Congregation Ner Tamid and the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada. Also included are digital photographs of Sternberg in 2015 wearing his Caesars Palace dealer's uniform.
Archival Collection
UNLV University Libraries Photographs of the Jewish Community of Southern Nevada
Identifier
Abstract
The UNLV University Libraries Photographs of the Jewish Community of Southern Nevada (2015-2018) are comprised of digital images captured as part of the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. The photographs include members of the Southern Nevada Jewish community, synagogues Temple Beth Sholom (current and original site), Congregation Ner Tamid (including aerials), Chabad of Las Vegas, Temple Sinai, and Midbar Kodesh Temple. There are also photographs of The Desert Torah Academy's Robert Cohen Educational Campus, the future site of Chabad of Green Valley, the Holocaust Resource Center, Manpower Las Vegas’s 50th anniversary celebration, and the House of Straus.
Archival Collection
Transcript of interview with Rabbi Malcolm Cohen by Barbara Tabach, December 16, 2015
Date
Archival Collection
Description
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.
Text
Transcript of interview with Rabbi Felipe Goodman by Barbara Tabach, March 9, 2015
Date
Archival Collection
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.
Text
Doug Unger oral history interview
Identifier
Abstract
Oral history interview with Doug Unger conducted by Barbara Tabach on August 26, 2014 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Unger discusses his upbringing in Cleveland, Ohio, working at a family-owned mattress factory, and attending boarding school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He recalls joining Jewish youth groups in Cleveland, his employment with Sealy Corporation, and buying his own mattress factory in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unger then talks about being invited to a Jewish Federation meeting, attending Temple Beth Sholom and Congregation Ner Tamid, and becoming more involved with the Jewish Federation (currently known as Jewish Nevada). Lastly, Unger discusses being co-chair of the Holocaust Library committee, fundraising for the Jewish Federation, and obtaining funding from Governor Brian Sandoval for the Jewish Federation.
Archival Collection
Transcript of interview with Hershel Brooks by Barbara Tabach, December 8, 2016
Date
Archival Collection
Description
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. Before assuming his first rabbinical position, Brooks married his wife, Alma, and graduated with his BA from the University of Miami. He was first hired by a conservative congregation in Miami, and subsequently led congregations in Savannah, Georgia, Greensboro, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Eventually, he joined a temple in Anaheim, California, where he served for twenty years. In 1996, Brooks retired to Las Vegas. He was soon asked to lead services at Temple Bet Knesset Bamidbar [BKB] twice a month as its rabbi. He still is active at BKB, though he retired in 2011. In this interview, Brooks reflects on his family background and the path that lead to his becoming a rabbi in the Conservative Jewish Movement. He talks about his career, including his involvement with BKB as well as other Jewish community service, including facilitating adult bar mitzvah classes and serving on the local Rabbinical court of Judaism, known as Bet Din.
Text
Transcript of interview with Harry Sax by Barbara Tabach, April 8, 2015
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Interview with Harry Sax by Barbara Tabach on April 8, 2015. In this interview, Sax discusses his family history and upbringing in Chicago, and his military service in Munich. He returned to Chicago and became business partners with Michael Schulson, with whom he opened several Arby's outposts, and expanded to Las Vegas in 1968. He talks about life in Las Vegas in the 1970s and the competition in the fast food industry. He then talks about the reform congregation in Chicago and his connection to Judaism throughout his life. He describes himself as a "closet Jew" before becoming president at Congregation Ner Tamid in 2007. Sax discusses the programs at Ner Tamid for all ages, and his continued involvement in the community.
In 1939, Harry Sax was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son to first generation American Jews. He spent his childhood on Chicago's South, where his family belonged to a progressive Reform congregation. After graduating from Hyde Park High School, he continued his education at Indiana University. In college, Harry was a member of the ZBT Jewish fraternity, participated in a singing group, and was a cadet in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Upon graduating from college, Harry was stationed in Munich, Germany as a second lieutenant in the Quartermasters Corps. In addition to his required military duties, he also participated in an after-hours acting group; through this group, he was hired as an extra and for small roles, including The Great Escape. When he finished his service, Harry returned to Chicago, where he connected with a high school friend, Mike Schulson. The two became partners and purchased Arby's franchises in Chicago and Las Vegas. Thus, in 1968, while his partner remained in Chicago, Harry moved to Las Vegas and opened two franchise locations in two weeks. Though it took a few years to stabilize the business and overcome competition, he opened a third location in 1972 on South Decatur, what was then the western edge of the city. Today, Harry has nineteen locations in Las Vegas, with additional franchises in Reno and Barstow, California, and employs nearly 300 people. After about twenty years as a "closet Jew" in the city, Harry reconnected with Judaism and joined Congregation Ner Tamid in the late 1990s. He served on its board, eventually becoming vice president and then president (2007-09). He also dedicated himself to have a bar mitzvah, following up on his Jewish education and confirmation as a teenager. Harry has also served on the Anti-Defamation League's board as well as an active member of the Chamber of Commerce.
Text
Temple Sinai roundtable oral history interview
Identifier
Abstract
Oral history interview with the Temple Sinai roundtable conducted by Barbara Tabach on April 26, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, five congregation members of Temple Sinai in Las Vegas, Nevada talk about its formation in 2007 as a result of the merge between two struggling synagogues, Adat Ari El and Temple Beth Am. They discuss the struggles each synagogue had leading up to the merge and Temple Sinai's current Jewish community. Foremost, the members explain the personal connections they each have with Temple Sinai as well as the warm atmosphere they strive to uphold for all of the congregation.
Archival Collection
