Oral history interview with the Congregation Ner Tamid roundtable conducted by Barbara Tabach on September 21, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Rabbi Sanford Akselrad and five members of the congregation discuss the founding of Congregation Ner Tamid, the first reform synagogue in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1974. They go into detail on how the synagogue was formed, the building-hopping they did until they built their current structure, and the funding it took to get to that point. The interviewees reveal a few donors, such as Morris Dalitz and Frank Sinatra, who helped to build their synagogue and school. The interview ends with meaningful stories and memories the members have relating to Congregation Ner Tamid.
Oral history interview with Steven Eisen conducted by Barbara Tabach on September 14, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Eisen talks about growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada and being of Jewish ancestry. He also discusses being the CEO of Children’s Heart Center Nevada.
Sgt. Steve Riback is a Detective Sergeant for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. He has been with the police force for nearly twenty years. On the night of the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting, he had just returned home shortly after 10pm. He had been on an overtime assignment at the Golden Knights hockey game at the T-Mobile prior to the shooting. When he was abruptly awaken by a call from his lieutenant, he was oblivious to the time and immediately rushed into action—contacted his squad members and sped to his station in northwest part of the city. He reflects on his overwhelming pride of the police that day, recalling what he heard on his police radio, seeing the rush of police cars being dispatched, and watching a body camera video later. Sgt. Riback’s squad was assigned to Spring Valley Hospital where they worked tirelessly to identify victims, both injured and deceased. His reflections stir the image of medical professionals and police officers urgently fusing together to handle the situation at hand. Riback shares a myriad of emotions, talks about the options available for officers to deal with their personal trauma, and how he explained to his eight-year-old why Daddy was crying. Riback is also known as the Kosher Cop and has authored a book, My Journey Home, about becoming an observant Orthodox Jewish officer and his struggle for the right to wear his beard and a yarmulke while on duty.
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.
Oral history interview with Ellis Landau conducted by Barbara Tabach on November 28, 2017 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Landau discusses his education at Brandeis University, and Columbia Business School. He also talks about his involvement in the Las Vegas, Nevada Jewish community, the Temple Beth Sholom, working for Boyd Gaming, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Nathan Adelson Hospice.
Oral history interview with David Wasserman conducted by Barbara Tabach on October 21, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Wasserman discusses inventing, with his father-in-law, the "Sani-Tip" a dental product that revolutionized dentistry infection control at the onset of the AIDS epidemic. He also talks about being involved within the Las Vegas, Nevada Jewish community and the Congregation Ner Tamid.
Phil Fiol shares a kiss with his wife Raymonde "Ray" Fiol as they show of photos of their younger selves at their Summerlin neighborhood home. A Jewish Holocaust survivor whose parents were killed in Auschwitz, Raymonde was hidden by a Christian family of resistance fighters during her childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, France.
Transcript of a speech delivered by Senator Chic Hecht at an Israel Bond Dinner regarding the Jewish experience in the United States, the needs of Israel, and affairs in the Middle East.
Oral history interview with Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel conducted by Barbara Tabach on April 19, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Tecktiel discusses being a rabbi of Midbar Kodesh Temple since 2008, his involvement with the Board of Rabbis, and Las Vegas, Nevada Jewish Federation's Community Relations.