Yom HaShoah Week Reaches Hundreds of People
From April 27 through May 4, the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County sponsored eight different programs commemorating the Holocaust with the financial support of the Tandy/Posy McMillen Endowment for Holocaust Education, the Dan Danciger/Fort Worth Hebrew Day School Supporting Foundation, and the Multicultural Alliance. The week started with a moving presentation by Alice Murray, Paul Kessler and Julie Berman explaining the importance of the Dallas Holocaust Museum. On Thursday, April 28 and Wednesday, May 4, the film, “100 Voices: A Journey Home” was screened to rave reviews. On Friday 6, Linda Negron shared a film about a survivor’s journey back to the concentration camp, Julie Berman showed several pieces of her artwork and talked about her inspiration, and the film, “Toyland” was shown. Erev Yom HaShoah brought the annual Community Yom HaShoah Service and Program with featured speaker, Rabbi Michael Berenbaum. Winners of the Jewish Labor Committee Holocaust Education Program, Megan Gordon and Linda Negron, were announced. They will be traveling to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, four concentration camps and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem this summer.
The next week started with a presentation about the Survivor Mitzvah Project. This program helps elderly survivors who are destitute and get no reparations or assistance. The goal is to allow them to live out the rest of their lives in dignity. That evening Cora Latta told the story of her father who was a righteous gentile in Holland during the Holocaust. On Tuesday, Professor Zsuzsanna Ozvath, gave a talk entitled, “We Remember.” Her experiences as a young child in Hungary during the Nazi invasion were most interesting. And that evening, the Center High School Theatre Dept. performed their one-act play, “The Survivor,” at the Scott Theatre. These high school students did an amazing job with one man’s story of the Warsaw Ghetto. Most of the students didn’t know very much about the Holocaust before they did the play. Before they performed, survivor Paul Kessler told them his story, which gave even more depth to the production.
Committee members, Julie Berman, Elizabeth Cooper, Cora Latta, Posy McMillen, Linda Negron and Herb Silverberg did an amazing job pulling all of this together. The events were held at Congregation Ahavath Sholom, Beth-El Congregation, McKinney Memorial Bible Church, Arborlawn United Methodist Church and the Scott Theatre. A diverse mix of Jewish and non-Jewish Tarrant County community members attended these events.
The community is eagerly looking forward to this Sunday’s Yom HaAtzmaut celebration at Ahavath Sholom from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Committee members Ilana Knust, Naomi Brand, Louise Vermillion, Shoshana Thoma-Isgur and Julie Blacker have been hard at work planning a fun and inspiring day for all.
Wednesday, May 18, Beth El Congregation will participate in NY’s 92nd Street Y program. Award-winning satirist, Andy Borowitz of the “Borowitz Report,” has been called “America’s Satire King,” by “The Daily Beast.” In what promises to be an irreverent and certainly one of the earliest looks at the 2012 elections, Borowitz will be joined by an A-list panel of comedians and journalists. The program is partially funded by the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Suggested donation is $3; the program begins at 7 p.m.
Save the date: Kreditor returns to Cowtown
Mark Kreditor will return to the Daytimers with his “Jews of the American Song Book” program on June 15 at noon at Beth El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Road. Put some fun in your life with song and shtick from Cabaret to Bye Bye Birdie. It’s sure to be an afternoon of cultural continuity, education and music. Kreditor, who was a personal favorite of our beloved Rene, z’ll, said recently, “Pack the house! I can’t wait to see all my Fort Worth friends again.” In addition to being a song maven, Kreditor is very active in the Dallas Jewish Federation, where he chaired the most recent Super Sunday, and at the Jewish Community Center, where he has chaired the annual Bagel Run for many years. Kreditor donates all the proceeds from his programs to Levine Academy, Dallas’ conservative Jewish Day School. Did you know that there are many Fort Worth Connections to Levine? A number of our town’s children and grandchildren attend, or have attended the school including Marla Dolginoff, daughter of Janet and Todd Dolginoff; Jordan Gernsbacher, daughter of Toni and Harold Gernsbacher; Jacob and Jillian Herstein, children of Berta and Scott Herstein; Davi Hopkovitz, daughter of Andrea (Rubin) and Michael Hopkovitz; Amanda, Bennett and Zoe Oberstein, children of Stephanie and Edward Oberstein and grandchildren of Diane Oberstein; Benjamin, Sam and Jimmy Ray, sons of Sharon Wisch-Ray and Alex Ray; Molly and Dillon Shipper, children of Cynthia and Ronnie Shipper and grandchildren of Sandra and Rick Williams.
Be generous. Bring your cash and your checks made out to Levine Academy. Last time well over $400 was raised for the school.
Mazel tov
Carly Maia Karten, daughter of Mona and Steve Karten and granddaughter of Fay Green and Barry Green and Sol and Phyllis Karten will graduate from Western Hills High School on June 4, 2011 with high honors and ninth in her class. Carly will attend Young Judaea Year Course in Israel, and then the University of Texas at Austin. We would like to hear from our readers. Send us news about your graduates to sharonw@texasjewishpost.com.