Jewish American heritage month

Marina Berkovich, JHSSWF President

President George W. Bush was the first U.S. president to proclaim the month of May as Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) as an annual recognition and celebration of American Jewry’s achievements and contribution to the United States of America. As my followers undoubtedly noticed, I believe in the interconnectivity of certain occurrences, that’s why I must point out that the first time JAHM was actually celebrated was April 20, 2006, triumphing over the evils of Hitler on his misbegotten birth day.

The month of May in the U.S. was already designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month in 1992, two years after President George H. W. Bush signed the bill passed by Congress to extend Asian American Week (1978 Public Law 95-419) to a month.

The month of May is also celebrated as National Older Americans Month (OAM) as formally proclaimed and declared in actions by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1963 and 1965, respectively.

Florida preceded national declaration with then-Governor Jeb Bush establishing January as Florida Jewish History Month in 2003.

The Jewish Society of Southwest Florida will celebrate National Jewish American Heritage Month for the first time this year, with the release of Film 15 in its educational broadcast-quality documentary series, Southwest Florida Jewish Pioneers, presenting Sheldon Starman, a prominent yet low-key member of Naples Jewish community since shortly after his arrival in 1972.

A few years ago, when we recorded the interview with Mr. Starman, he mentioned so many people we did not yet know much about. Now, we do. They were the early participants in Collier County Jewish life – Mo Kramer, Sandy Stone, Gabe and Freda Luff, Garson and Miriam Dinaberg, the Barnett family, the Meyer family, the Meltzer family, Bob Copeland, William Ertag, Craig Frankel, Mark Rucker, Carrie Goodman, Kathy Senders, Bernie and Jerry Fliegel, Shirley Levy, Bob Hardy, Harold Supkov, Harold Hertzman and Harry Cates.

How fortunate we are that many of them are still with us. They are the makers of Collier County and Southwest Florida Jewish History, and everyone who will be in attendance of the May 23 event at Temple Shalom is in for a treat.

Whether this event will be live, remains to be seen. As of the date of this article’s editorial deadline, I am not sure. I am, however, certain that we will stream the film through Zoom in any case, for all members of JHSSWF and Temple Shalom as well as all others who register to attend and pay a nominal fee to help us reach our fundraising goals.

In addition, on April 29 at 2 p.m. Central Time, we will present Southwest Florida Pioneers films, “Gene Goodman, The Song Meister” and “Elena Rosner, When Destiny Called,” via Zoom to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Chicago.

On May 16, a presentation for the Genealogical Society of Greater Miami’s “A Slice of Jewish Life – Two Island Stories” will feature JHSSWF’s films, “Chief Plager” and “When Destiny Called,” about Richard Plager and Elena Rosner, our fabulous nonagenarians, so we are connecting to the Older Americans Heritage Month as well.

Join in, whatever you will be celebrating, and help us fulfill our mission of historical preservation and education.