By Patricia Rice, Special to the Beacon   

Posted Sun., 4.17.11

ST LOUIS BEACON

At Passover Seder dinners in Jewish homes across the world, the youngest child will ask “Why is this night different from all other nights?”

Then, the story is told of that spring night when, according to the Book of Exodus, God’s angel “passed over” Jewish first-born sons as the Egyptians’ first-born males died in the 10th plague. Moses then led the enslaved Jews across the parted Red Sea to freedom.

On Passover as St. Louis Jewish grandparents and elders look with loving pride at their young questioners, many will talk about the next generation. Will young American Jews have the desire and support to celebrate their Jewish faith in St. Louis?

“Our numbers in St. Louis are diminishing,” said Barry Rosenberg (right), executive director of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, a planning and fund-raising umbrella group. It serves all Jewish denominations, including Jews who are not synagogue members. Lower numbers hurt, he said. In January the federation announced that its annual fund-raising campaign brought in less that its $10 million goal. The total of “just under” $9.95 million was the lowest campaign results in 13 years. For each of the previous three years, the total has diminished.

In response to reduced numbers – in giving and in members – the Jewish Federation, which has a $100 million endowment, developed an energetic strategic plan to streamline its resources, cut duplication and “sunset” some programs.” For a decade it has urged synagogues with declining membership and high staff and maintenance costs to merge.

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NEW YORK (JTA) — Jews from more than 15 countries will compete in a “Jewish World Cup” in New York on June 27. 

The soccer tournament, hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, will take place on Randall’s Island, between Manhattan and the Bronx. The tournament is for adults; soccer clinics are planned for children.

The tournament is part of JCRC’s effort to reach out to overseas Jews living in New York and integrate them into the American Jewish community.

“There are many different groups of international Jews in New York who are not connected to each other as a community, nor are they connected to the broader community of New York Jews,” said Hindy Poupko, director of Israel and international affairs at the JCRC. “Our goal is to bring these groups together as international Jews and as a part of the broader Jewish community.”

by Allison Krant

Early Years

Iceland does not have a very rich history of Jewish culture. There are no synagogues or rabbis, and the congregations that do exist are very small.

It is widely assumed that the first Jews to travel to Iceland were traders and merchants who arrived as early as 1625. Most of these merchants came from Denmark, and trade continued during the 18th and 19th centuries. Native Icelanders owned most of the trading businesses, but a small number of wholesale firms in Iceland were owned by Danish Jews.

Few Jews lived in Iceland at this time. During the period of Western emancipation, there was no economic or personal incentive for Jews to immigrate to Iceland. It was a country where the practice of a non-Christian faith was not tolerated. Jewish immigration to Iceland did not really begin until the mid-1930s, when Jewish refugees from Europe began arriving in the country.The term for Jew in the Icelandic language is Gyoingar, and most Icelanders only knew of the Jews from the Bible. The term Gyoingar still holds negative connotations today.

The First Jews

The first Jew to be recorded in Icelandic annals was Daniel Salomon, a Polish man who resided in Denmark. However, when he arrived in Iceland in 1625, he was no longer a Jew. He converted to Christianity in Copenhagen and changed his name to Johannes Salomon just a few years prior.

The first Jewish ship, named the Ulricha, arrived in Iceland in 1815. The ship belonged to a Danish merchant, Ruben Moses Henriques, who sold hats, fabrics, and paper.

On April 5, 1850, the Danish King implemented a law that allowed foreign Jews to settle in Denmark. In 1853, the King requested that Iceland, too, implement this law, but the Icelandic parliament, the Althing, rejected this request. Two years later, the parliament overturned the original decision, and chose to implement the law. There is no documentation, however, of any Jews permanently settling in Iceland at this time.

As the first practicing Jew recorded in Icelandic annals, Max Nordau was a physician as well as journalist from Pest, Hungary who first came to Iceland in 1874 to cover the celebration commemorating the country’s millennium anniversary. Nordau was known at the time for his Zionist affiliations.

In 1906, a young merchant from Copenhagen, Fritz Heymann Nathan, arrived in Iceland, and became the first practicing Jew to settle there. His company, Nathan & Olsen, became one of the largest and most successful businesses at the time. However, the absence of any Jewish culture in Iceland greatly bothered Nathan, and after marrying in 1917, he decided it was impossible to live a Jewish life in Iceland with his family. After the completion of the first five-story building in Reykjavik, he left Iceland and returned to Copenhagen.

WWII Period

In 1933, a small Nazi party was founded in Iceland, and in 1934, it became a National Socialist party with official ties to its German counterpart.

In November 1937, C.A.C. Brun, the first secretary of the Danish legation in Reykjavik, met with the Icelandic Prime Minister, Hermann Jonasson to discuss the plight of a Jewish family that was threatened with expulsion. In his diary, Brun exclaimed, “Iceland has always been a pure Nordic country, free of Jews.” This view echoed the sentiments of many other Icelanders at the time.

In 1938, after Denmark closed its doors to Austrian Jews, Iceland soon followed suit. Several Jews were expelled from Iceland during this time. Throughout the late 1930s, Icelanders became increasingly hostile to Jews living within their borders, and the few Jews who resided there were very poorly treated. Anti-Semitic trends could be seen in many aspects of Icelandic society. In 1939, a report written for the Aid Association of German Jews concluded that refuge in Iceland to escape Nazi Germany was impossible.

It was not until 1940, when British forces arrived in Iceland with some Jewish soldiers included among their ranks, that the first official congregation was established in Reykjavik. A service was held in 1940 that included 25 servicemen from Britain, Canada, and Scotland on Yom Kippur in a lodge that belonged to the Good Templars. They used a borrowed Torah scroll, the only one available in Reykjavik, and had two prayer shawls and one skullcap. This service was the first non-Christian religious ceremony to take place in Iceland in 940 years, since the nation officially embraced Christianity in the year 1000.

Jewish life became much more active after the arrival of American troops to Iceland in 1941-1942. An American rabbi arrived in the country in late 1941, and a few years later, in 1944, there were 500 Jews present at a Rosh Hashanah service that took place at Naval Air Station Keflavik with a Torah scroll flown in from the United States.

In 1944, about 2,000 Jewish servicemen were stationed in Iceland. A rabbi was present in Keflavik for a few years after 1944, and two Jewish congregations existed until the mid-1950s.

According to Iceland’s Statistical Bureau, there were only 9 Jews in Iceland in 1945.

Iceland officially became independent in 1944.

Post WWII

Although Iceland and Israel had virtually no ties, Iceland was one of the nations that voted in favor of the Partition Plan at the United Nations on November 29, 1947.

Of the small number of Jews who remained in Iceland after World War II, many preferred to keep a low profile, and not call too much attention to themselves or their Jewish faith. Almost all adopted Icelandic names, and shed their Jewish identity altogether and adopted an Icelandic one.

After author and journalist Alfred Joachim Fischer visited Iceland in 1955, he wrote an account of Jewish life in the country. Fischer himself was a Jewish German refugee who settled in London and Berlin. In his writings, Fischer described the first Yom Kippur service of 1940, and also noted that most Jews who had settled in Iceland had taken Icelandic names.

Jewish Life Today

The Jewish community that exists in Iceland today is relatively small and unassuming. All are married to native Icelanders. Religious observance remains minimal, although they do gather in Reykjavik on the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover. Most do not have a strong Jewish identity, and some have even kept their Jewish faith a secret from their children. Many took Icelandic names in the mid-1950s and prefer to assimilate because of the strong anti-Semitic climate that has resonated throughout the years in Iceland.

The Jewish congregation first established at the American NATO base in Keflavik during WWII is still active..

The most prominent Jew in Iceland, however, is the First Lady, Dorrit Moussaieff, wife of President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, whom she wed in 2003. She was born in Jerusalem to a wealthy Bukharian Jewish family. Although she is secular, she is well known among Icelanders for bringing a positive view of Judaism to their country.

Source: The Virtual Jewish Library

“Preserving and Unifying the Ideals of the Russian Speaking Jewish Community”

Each culture, each community brings something unique to America. Often referred to as a melting pot many Americans confuse this with an abandonment of their historic communities. In fact, America is not so much a melting pot as it is a tapestry of unique cultures and people. In this way preserving the American way of life is about preserving individual cultures. In America we celebrate and are nourished by other communities, other cultures. In this way we are the standard-bearers of, and responsible for, keeping our culture alive. America is not a chorus that sings unison, it sings harmony. Therefore, preserving and unifying the ideals of the Russian speaking Jewish community with its varied history and culture is an American expectation, an American responsibility, that each culture is expected to shoulder.

The Challenges We Face

We are first and foremost Jews. In Russia geography, where we were from, did not matter. In coming to America we have lost sight of this one immutable fact – we are Jews, and we need to let the differences in geography not deplete us but enrich us and our communities. Because we are so diverse the challenges we face in trying to keep our community intact are difficult but not insurmountable. One of the greatest challenges we face is keeping our community together.

Why it is important to keep our “neighborhood” intact.

It is important to understand that while it is best if we have Russian-Jews living and working in close proximity to one another so there is a large Russian-Jewish presence this is not always possible. However, moving away from the community does not mean leaving the community.

Keeping Traditions Alive

Keeping our traditions alive will strengthen our heritage and strengthen the bonds between us. Traditions establish a support network for all Russian Jews now and into the future. When people move away and do not stay connected to their community they weaken those bonds and make it easier to lose them.

Keeping traditions alive means we must create an environment that is the type of environment we want to live, work and raise our children in. Issues such as schools (education) clean, safe streets, open green spaces (parks and fields), and zoning and development issues are all better addressed by an intact community with a unified voice.

Traditions however do something even more important, they strengthen the bonds between parent and child. By readily reinforcing a common culture we create an environment that we all understand and can function most effectively in.

Founder: Emanuel David

Program Director: David Mirand

Jewish Edmonton, Canada??

There is so much oil within a radius of 250 miles around Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, it’s bonkers! It’s the 21st century “oil town” in the Western World. Not only is it found in liquid form, but mostly in “tar sand” form; the amount in reserve is staggering, possibly more than in Iran, Kuwait and The United States - combined. Oil has hit a record, recent low because of the World’s economic downturn. But rest assured, if and/or when the World’s economies rebound, there will be mad frenzy for petroleum and petroleum bi-products. If you know about Peak Oil (if you don’t, read about it online), and you understand that eventually the cost of converting tar-sands into oil will get less expensive…or just more worthwhile. This Edmonton, may just be the place, for what’s left of the 12 tribes, still living outside of Israel, NYC or South Florida.

I made the move down here, and I want others to join me. Read the report below on the growth of Edmontonian Jews. Regardless, we are about 0.006% of the Edmonton population

-David Mirand

EDMONTON, capital of Alberta, Canada. Edmonton was first incorporated as a town in 1892. At that time, there were about 700 permanent residents. Founded on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River on the site of the former Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Edmonton, it gradually began to attract settlers. Abraham and Rebecca Cristall, Edmonton’s first Jews, arrived in 1893. Their children, George and Rose, were the town’s first Jewish-born children. Abe became a successful businessman and encouraged Jews from his native Bessarabia to come. By 1901, there were 17 Jews in Edmonton. In 1904, Edmonton became incorporated as a city, and in 1905 Alberta officially became a province and the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived.

In 1905, William “Boss” Diamond came to Edmonton from Calgary, where his businessman brother Jacob had been Alberta’s first Jewish citizen. William set up in the clothing business in competition with Abe Cristall, but the two competitors worked together to establish Edmonton’s Jewish community. Together with eight other men they formed the Edmonton Hebrew Association in 1906. They hired Rabbi Hyman Goldstick of Pilton, Latvia, to be rabbi, shoḥet, and mohel to serve both the Edmonton and Calgary Jewish communities.

In 1907, Abe Cristall purchased land on the south side for a Jewish cemetery and the ḥevra kaddisha was formed. In 1912, the foundations were laid for the Orthodox Beth Israel Synagogue. Cristall served as its first president, and William Diamond its second president, a position he held for 31 years. In 1912, the newly founded Edmonton Talmud Torah Society organized classes in the synagogue basement. In 1925, the Society erected its own building and in 1933 it was incorporated as the first Hebrew day school in Canada.

In 1928, a second congregation was started in the basement of the Talmud Torah building, which in 1932 became the Conservative Beth Shalom Congregation and engaged Rabbi Jacob Eisen, who became one of the first English-speaking rabbis west of Winnipeg. Also at that time, the Peretz or New Yiddish School was organized and opened its own building. An offshoot of the Arbeiter Ring, which started in Edmonton in 1922, it had its heyday in the early 1930s, but had to close in 1939 due to declining enrollment. By 1941, Edmonton’s population had increased to 93,817, and the Jewish population stood at 1,449. Of the 120 men and women from Edmonton’s Jewish community who served during World War II, 11 were killed in action.

The postwar years saw rapid growth in both the Jewish and general population of Edmonton. With prosperity and a shift by Jews into the city’s West End, a new Beth Shalom Synagogue was built in 1951. A new Beth Israel Synagogue building was also constructed as well as a new Talmud Torah building. In 1954, the Edmonton Jewish Community Council was formed as a community-wide umbrella organization and served as such for 28 years. On September 20, 1982, the Community Council merged with the Edmonton United Jewish Appeal to become the Jewish Federation of Edmonton.

Alberta’s booming oil-based economy brought increased immigration to Edmonton including that of Jews from other provinces in Canada, as well as from Hungary, Russia, and South Africa. From a Jewish population of 1,748 in 1951, the community grew to 2,910 in 1971 and 5,430 in 1991. In 2001 it stood at about 6,000.

All these new immigrants contributed to Edmonton’s vibrant Jewish community life. Local branches of prominent Jewish organizations thrive, including the Canadian Zionist Federation, Edmonton Hadassah-WIZO, chapters of ORT and Na’amat, B’nai B’rith and Emunah, all of which are actively working for the welfare of the State of Israel. Local offices of the Jewish National Fund are located at the Edmonton Jewish Community Centre, founded in 1970. The now defunct Edmonton chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women was responsible for founding the city’s Jewish Seniors’ Drop-in Centre (formerly the Golden Age Club) in 1954, as well as Jewish Family Services.

The community’s third congregation, Temple Beth Ora Reform Congregation, was founded in 1979, and incorporated in 1980. It rented space at the Jewish Community Centre. In 1996 Congregation Beth Tzedec, a breakaway from Beth Shalom, incorporated and began to hold services at the Talmud Torah. Chabad Lubavitch arrived in Edmonton in 1991, and in 1993 a second Hebrew day school, the Orthodox Menorah Academy, was founded. In 1999, a new building for Edmonton Talmud Torah was erected and the next year a new Beth Israel Synagogue was opened reflecting a further westward shift in population.

In the fall of 2004, Edmonton elected its first Jewish mayor, Stephen Mandel. Mandel had previously served as a city councilor, continuing a long tradition of Jewish city councilors, including Dr. Morris Weinlos, Helen Paull, Mel Binder, Tooker Gomberg, and former MLA Karen Leibovici. There has also been a strong tradition of Jewish civic involvement in the larger Edmonton community, with members serving on the boards and executives of many local arts, cultural, educational, and fundraising organizations, as well as on the judiciary.

The Jewish Archives and Historical Society of Edmonton and Northern Alberta (JAHSENA) was founded in 1996 to preserve and promote the history of this vibrant Jewish community.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

U. Rosenzweig (ed.), The First Century of Jewish Life in Edmonton and Northern Alberta, 1893 – 1993 (2000).

[Debby Shoctor and

Ed Mickelson (2^nd ed.)]

The new mansions Russian Jews are building in Queens are creating quite the controversy in their communities. A lot of residents in Forest Hills and Rego Park are complaining that the new homes stand for power and wealth and are an unnecessary addition to the neighborhood. However, shouldn’t we have a right to build are homes however we see fit if we buy the property? Share your opinions on this debate.

Bukharian Jewish Community at the Israel Day Parade.