Messenger - May 2024

THE SYNAGOGUE | CONGREGATION B’NAI EMUNAH | PUBLISHED MONTHLY | JUNE 2024

MILESTONES

IN MEMORIAM

David “Dale” Hatchell Stepfather of Paul Woods

BIRTHS

Eden Kantor-Wunch born to Rebekah and Travis KantorWunsch. Grandparents include Karen and Joel Kantor.

Heidi Jane Petrazzi born to Eli and Stephanie Petrazzi. Grandparents include Sal and Louise Petrazzi. Niece of Cassidy Petrazzi.

MAZAL TOV

To the Sherwin Miller Museum, which was named a 2024 ONE Award winner in the education category by the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits. We’re proud of this recognition of the museum’s important work and of having served at its original home from 1966 until 1998.

To Brandon Sweet, who graduated this May from the University of Tulsa with a BFA in graphic design.

MASTHEAD

Daniel S. Kaiman .......................................... Principal Rabbi

Marc Boone Fitzerman ......................... Rabbi (of Counsel)

Marc Goldman ....................................................... President

Aaron Miller ................................ Executive Vice President

Ross Heyman ................................................. Vice President

Brae Riley ....................................................... Vice President

Noah Bleicher ......................................................... Treasurer

Jennifer Airey ........................................................ Secretary

Sara Levitt Director of Jewish Life and Learning

Cassidy Petrazzi Director of Operations

Richie Bolusky Director of Programming

Shelli Wright Preschool Director

Genevieve Jaber........... Director of Refugee Resettlement

Cheryl Myers .................................... Operations Associate

Shawna Fain ...................................................... Receptionist

Rebecca Fine Stallings ...................... Sisterhood President

Nancy Cohen ........................... Sisterhood Gift Shop Chair

JUNE PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

AFTERNOON/EVENING SERVICES

Join us on Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:30 p.m. in the Davis-Goodall Chapel for traditional prayer and community Mourner’s Kaddish. Both in-person and Zoom participation are available. Please register for in-person attendance on our website.

SHABBAT MORNING SERVICES

Every Saturday at 9:30 a.m., we celebrate Shabbat through song, Torah study, and fellowship. These services, available both in-person and via Zoom, offer a chance to mark anniversaries, celebrate milestones, and engage in our congregation’s ritual life.

4 FAMILY JEWISH COOKING CLUB

Join the club and embark on a flavorful family adventure starting at 5:30 p.m. The fourth and final edition of the series will meet for dinner, schmoozing, and a hands-on kitchen session. Each family will leave with their Shavuot-themed dish in hand, along with a recipe and instructions to recreate the experience at home. To register, please visit tulsagogue. com/events.

9 GENEALOGY IN THE DIGITAL AGE: UNVEILING ANCESTRAL ROOTS WITH AI TECHNOLOGY

ON THE COVER

Jewish organizations founded the first summer camps around the turn of the century to promote Americanization for children of recent immigrants and serve as a welcomed refuge for those growing up in dense urban areas. By the 1930s, Jewish summer camps had grown in popularity and were largely funded by communist, socialist, Zionist, and Yiddish organizations. Founded as a day camp in 1941, Camp Massad grew to three sleep-away camps whose intentions centered on Hebrew immersion. This was an anxious time for American Jews, affected by the anti-Semitic discrimination on American soil and the realization of the fate of European Jewry gripped by the Holocaust. Concerned about the future of Jewish culture and Judaism, Jewish summer camp was embraced as an antidote to assimilation and erasure. While Massad in the Poconos closed in 1981, its legacy continues at Camp Ramah in the Rockies, Camp Ramah Darom, and other camps that will be welcoming Jewish children across America in the coming weeks. For thousands of American Jewish kids, including many from Tulsa, camp continues to be a place of community, belonging, and living Judaism.

THE MESSENGER

June 2024, Published Monthly

CONGREGATION B’NAI EMUNAH

1719 South Owasso Tulsa, Oklahoma 74120

Office: (918) 583-7121 School: (918) 585-KIDS

Fax: (918) 747-9696 Website: tulsagogue.com

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news. (Isaiah 52:7)

Please join us June 23 for SEVENTEENTH STREET DELI

This online Zoom session, starting at 3:00 p.m., in collaboration with the Tulsa Jewish Genealogy Society of Tulsa features guest speaker Jerry Scherer. The son of Holocaust survivors, he will share his firsthand experiences and insights into how artificial intelligence can transform genealogical research. For more information and to receive the Zoom link, please contact us at 918-583-7121 or at tulsagogue.com/events.

11 SHAVUOT JOURNEYS DINNER

We begin this harvest festival at 6:00 p.m. with a celebratory dinner featuring seasonal foods connected to the central ideas of the holiday. Following the mass consumption of cheesecake, we’ll delve into traditional Jewish texts to explore themes of life journeys. We’ll honor members of our community that have chosen Judaism to be a part of their lives in their own personal journey. Reserve your place at the dinner table by visiting tulsagogue.com/events.

12 & 13 SHAVUOT YOM TOV SERVICES

As always, a full complement of Yom Tov services will take place throughout the holiday. Each morning will begin at 9:30 a.m. These services will include Torah readings tied to the season, messages associated with the holiday, and sweet treats at the conclusion. A yizkor (memorial) service will be chanted on June 13 toward the end of the morning celebration.

16 FATHER’S DAY MORNING CO-ED SANDLOT SOFTBALL

Grab your glove and bat, and join us for a fun-filled game of softball and grilling. Don’t feel like playing, but like watching an entertaining game? Bring the whole family to enjoy a day in the park and a cookout lunch. To register, please visit tulsagogue.com/events.

19 LIFELONG LEARNERS

Ageless seniors from all over the community are invited to join Rabbi Kaiman and our community for a lunch and literature session starting at 11:30 a.m. A complimentary bus service is available from Zarrow Pointe at 11:00 a.m. Please reserve your spot by visiting tulsagogue.com/events or by contacting the Synagogue at (918) 583-7121.

20 BLATT + BLUE: THE GATEKEEPERS

The Gatekeepers can be screened for a token fee on Amazon Prime any time this month. Join the moderated discussion in the Synagogue Zoom Room at 7:00 p.m. The Zoom meeting ID is 918 583 7121, and the session will conclude at 8:00 p.m. Newcomers are welcome to join the dialogue.

21 SHABBAT SHALOM: MUSICAL CIRCLE

Experience a musical Shabbat evening with songs and stories, starting at 5:30 p.m. This event is an ideal introduction to Shabbat traditions, welcoming participants of all ages and backgrounds.

21 SHABBAT SHALOM DINNER

There are few things better than a bountiful Shabbat feast enjoyed with family and friends. Join us at 6:15 p.m. for this catered dinner filled with conversation and community. We’ll do the cooking and cleaning so you can relax and enjoy. Register at tulsagogue.com/events so we can plan for your participation.

23 SEVENTEENTH STREET DELI

Indulge in the delectable offerings of the Seventeenth Street Deli, where our kitchen crafts dishes with a perfect blend of slow cures, a touch of pepper, and heaps of love. Our muchloved pop-up restaurant is making a return, inviting you to enjoy both dine-in and take-out dinner services. Ensure your place in this culinary experience beginning at 5:30 p.m. by pre-registering at tulsadeli.org and choose from our delightful pastrami, corned beef, or deli egg salad options.

FROM RABBI KAIMAN

ON TEMPLE ISRAEL’S NEW BUILDING

I bet some of you have noticed the leak that keeps popping up just outside the courtyard in the middle of the Synagogue building. Plumber after plumber swears the problem is resolved, and then, a few months later we’re greeted by the return of a persistent drip. Such is the blessing and burden of a Synagogue building.

matters is that we invest ourselves fully in doing our very best at every step of the way.

By now, many of you have heard the news that Temple Israel, our sister congregation in Jewish Tulsa, has made the institutional decision to construct a new facility on property adjacent to their current building. This means the landscape

I say burden because we all know that beautiful spaces take both effort and resources to maintain. As soon as an issue is resolved, a new matter must be addressed. At times, we might desire respite or relief from the constant need, but we know this is mostly a fantasy. There is no parking lot that will never need repair; there is no carpet that will never be stained, and there is no plumbing that will never leak. We must learn to live with these imperfections and see them as a reflection of the blessings in our lives.

Our parking lot needed renewal because of its near-constant use by congregants, employees, students, and clients. Our carpets sometimes need cleaning because we accidentally drop sweet treats after Shabbat morning or holiday celebrations. Our plumbing sometimes leaks because that’s what happens in a big facility. The attention we need to give our physical space is the result of the many blessings in our lives. A full and active Synagogue will always need this sort of attention. What

“The landscape of Jewish life in Tulsa will continue to embrace diversity in practice, institutional style, and offer multiple locations of connection, meaning, and programming across the community.”

FROM MORAH SARA LEVITT

SUMMER READS

of Jewish life in Tulsa will continue to embrace diversity in practice, institutional style, and offer multiple locations of connection, meaning, and programming across the community. Healthy congregations mean opportunities for real leadership and tone setting. That means more people thinking about the future of our community.

I know that our members are enthusiastic about this good news. At the Temple, lay and professional leadership have shared their excitement about this next chapter and the potential it brings for a new surge of creativity in congregational life. While we know firsthand the challenges of construction (remember that parking lot?!), I am confident the effort will be worth the investment.

In the meantime, I want to wish my colleague, Rabbi Weinstein, President Jon Stolper, and the entire Temple Israel family blessings and strength on their exciting decision. May this new building be a blessing to us all!

I’m a Floridian at heart. A Disney-loving, sandals every season, Hurricane watching, Floridian. While I lovingly deepen my roots as a Tulsan, there is is one part of my Floridian heritage that I will never let go of: the love of the beach. As a child we’d drive up for the morning to our favorite beach spot in the summer, grabbing our Publix subs on the way and stopping for ice cream on the drive home. We’d spend a week on the coast in Florida or the Carolina’s every summer of my childhood. Beach vacations continue to be a regular part of our family culture. As a parent now, I’ve watched my children experience their first dips in the water, drip castle making, boogie boarding, and it’s even better than I imagined. There is no better place to think, dream, read, and, in my family, plan for the next year of Religious School. I come from a family of Sunday School directors and teachers, and the beach is our favorite place to share plans, gab about the joys and challenges of Jewish communal life, and brainstorm new ideas. While things quiet down over the summer for our school programs, I am busy reading, researching, and dreaming about new programs and ideas to enrich the experience for our Synagogue kids. Each summer, I pick a few books I’ve been waiting all year to read while I dig my feet in the sand. Check out my summer reading list. I hope you’ll read along with me!

the Heart of Jewish Life by Shai Held. This book delves into how love is woven into Jewish philosophy and theology. From loving our neighbors to loving God and God loving us, I’m eager to take the essence of this book and imagine how to incorporate it into our work at the Synagogue. For years, I’ve been fascinated by the mystery of the Ultra-Orthodox. The books, movies, and TV series about Satmar and other ultrareligious Jews always make their way to the top of my queue.

First is Here All Along: A Reintroduction to Judaism by Sarah Hurwitz. Hurwitz (former speech writer of Michelle Obama) writes about her quest for a more evolved understanding of Judaism in her adulthood. I’m interested to learn more about her journey to understand many different perspectives on Jewish practice. Next up is Judaism is About Love: Recovering

American Shtetl: The Making of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic Village in Upstate New York by Nomi M. Stolzenberg and David N. Myers, is right up my alley. A few honorable mentions for my beach reads: The Jews of Summer by Sandra Fox, about the emergence of Jewish summer camp in the United States, sounds incredibly interesting, alongside one of my favorite Jewish parenting books, Nurture the Wow by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg. Ruttenberg helps frame parenthood (and working with children) through a uniquely Jewish lens, adding layers of Jewish values and ethics in everyday parenting tips and tricks. Whether you’re dipping your feet in the Atlantic or not, I hope you’ll pick up one of these selections with me this summer! I can’t wait to share my gleanings and be inspired for our next school year and beyond.

Rendering of the new Temple Israel building

MAKE DAD’S DAY! JUNE 16

FATHER’S DAY MORNING CO-ED SANDLOT SOFTBALL

RABBI MARC BOONE FITZERMAN

A CENTURY AGO

Evil things sometimes have innocuous names.

In 1924, the U.S. Congress approved a bill that shaped American policy for decades. It has come down to us as Johnson-Reed, which sounds like nothing so much as a chain of drugstores, or maybe a company that manufactures shoes for children. Something safe. Something benign. You wouldn’t know just from looking that its ultimate result was millions of dead people. Named for the men who engineered its passage, it was a nasty, draconian piece of legislation that carefully described the universe of immigration, namely what kind of newcomer would be good for America

aspirations of upstart minorities. The Greenwood Catastrophe was not an isolated phenomenon.

Johnson-Reed was a part of this unholy development. It institutionalized ideas about who could be an American, which denied the rich diversity of the country. It sought to make America great again by marginalizing minorities and preserving the “purity” of the race. America closed its doors to the huddled masses, and repudiated the idea of American exceptionalism, at least when it came to the question of immigrants. Fearful of the Chinese, the Slovaks, and the Jews, it closed down the nourishing supply line of new Americans.

The result of this failure was annihilation. In the case of the Jews and many other others, taking refuge in American

and who would remain forever behind the door. It was, in its way a natural product of its time: the perfect storm of bigotry, nativism, and a visceral, racist fear of the Other. In apportioning quotas of allowable immigrants, the bill privileged northern Europeans with Scandinavian good looks who would not threaten the “Aryan” Hitlerian ideal. Hairy Jews and loud Italians who smelled of fish and garlic and talked with their hands could never qualify as potential citizens. The era of mass immigration from Europe—nearly forty years that changed the demography of the country—came to an abrupt and consequential end.

On one level, it was an overdetermined change. The culture that emerged out of the First World War was an agitated paradox of conflicting impulses. Women could suddenly dress the way they wanted, and by 1920 were certified to vote. You see this shift in Downton Abbey where the female characters move from prewar bustles to slinky sheath dresses that reveal more than they conceal. But this made for a kind of anxious outrage. The 1920s gave us a race massacre in Tulsa, the Osage killings, and parallel pogroms in Easten Europe. Reactionary politicians and their soul-sick supporters slapped down the

was no longer possible. First came the exclusionary laws of Nurenberg, then the roundups and confiscations. Peddlers and intellectuals, tailors and physicians were marked by a society which saw them as criminals and rapists, animals and “non-humans,” undeserving of life. By the time Hitler invaded Poland in ‘29, Auschwitz was a kind of ideological necessity. How else to preserve the purity of “nice” countries like Germany?

All of this happened a century ago. In the last days of May, just a week ago, we observed the centennial of Johnson-Reed, one of the lowest points in American history. It marked a moment suffused with anger, eugenic theories about good people and bad people, and the sense that America was threatened by contamination.

We should never come that way again, but it will require a kind of open-hearted love, and a belief in the inherent goodness of human beings who only want what America still offers: opportunity, acceptance, mutuality and mercy. The tired and the poor are once again standing at the wall. We should be brave and trusting enough to open the door, share what we have, and bless our good fortune.

Emigrants crowded aboard a ship to New York City in 1906.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SYNAGOGUE

Brian Sweet Multi-Media Fund

Linda Brown

Brouse Family Shabbat and Holiday Fund

Rosalie and Bob Hanson

Barry and Deborah Lederman

Betty and Keith Lehman

Chevra Kadisha

Allan and Elaine Jeffy

Dave Sylvan Joyful Music Fund

Barbara Sylvan

Joe Kantor Hebrew School Fund

Jon Kantor

Joe and Dorothy Katz Senior Adult Fund

Barry and Deborah Lederman

Rabbi Daniel S Kaiman

Discretionary Fund

Jason Brimer and Mary Cantrell

Schnake Turnbo Frank

Rosalie and Bob Hanson

Eric Scholl

Rabbi Marc Fitzerman

Discretionary Fund

Rosalie and Bob Hanson

Rose Borg Sukkah Fund

Richard and April Borg

Refugee Resettlement

Sally Hubbert

Alex Lobodiak

Gale Mason

Eric Scholl

Sam Plost Matzah Fund

Julie Frank

Gale Mason

Louis and Kathe Stekoll

Shirley Rabinovitz Children’s Fund

Lou & Kathe Stekoll

Jay and Sheryl White and Family

Synagogue General Fund

Ayca Ciftcikara

Sally and Bob Donaldson

Rachell Elwell

Carol Miller

Carol Phillips

Megan Shepherd In Memory Of

Miriam Abravanel

Harry Borg

Eleanor Brimer

Maurice Frank

Sharna Frank

Don Irwin

Jonathan Jeffy

Joe Kantor

Sam Kassel

Leslie Troeger Markman

Henry Melville Mason

Jay Newman

Raymond Stekoll

Carol Sweet

Dave Sylvan

Robert D West

THANK YOU

TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED TO HOLY HOEDOWN! LOOK FOR A FULL LISTING OF DONORS IN THE JULY MESSENGER.

BLATT + BLUE: THE GATEKEEPERS ON THURSDAY, JUNE 20

In the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, American and Israeli Jews have expanded their discussion on security, deterrence, and the ethics of asymmetrical warfare. How can Israel protect itself, and where are the points of vulnerability in a vaunted system of detection and early warning? Is a fail-safe regimen truly possible?

These are some of the issues addressed in The Gatekeepers an internationally co-produced documentary film by director Dror Moreh that tells the story of the Israeli internal security service, Shin Bet (known in Hebrew as Shabak), from the perspective of six of its former heads.

The film combines in-depth interviews, archival footage, and computer animation to recount the role that the group played in Israel’s security from the Six-Day War to the present. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards.

The Gatekeepers will be the subject of discussion on Thursday, June 20 at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. Security protocols

will be in place for the discussion. The film can be screened for a token fee on Amazon Prime any time this month.

Blatt + Blue is the longest-running project at the Synagogue dating from the height of the pandemic. Now in its fifth year, the series expresses the Synagogue’s commitments to an inclusive and pluralistic vision. Film and television enthusiasts David Blatt and Alice Blue begin each session with a summary of the featured material, which means that you’ll be able to follow the conversation even if you have to delay your viewing of the material itself. After that, it’s questions and comments from the Zoom Room audience.

Join the moderated discussion in the Synagogue Zoom Room. The Zoom meeting ID is 918 583 7121, and the session will conclude at 8:00 p.m. If there is a film or broadcast you’d like to see in these sessions in the future, please reach out to Richie Bolusky, Synagogue Program Director, at (918) 583-7121 with your suggestions.

TALK ABOUT THE

AFTER MUCH RESEARCH, WE DEVELOPED THIS PASTRAMI SANDWICH, SOURCING THE MEAT, DEVELOPING THE SEASONING, AND OVERSEEING THE CAREFUL PREPARATION OF THE PASTRAMI TO GET IT JUST RIGHT AND SHARE THIS TASTE OF NEW YORK WITH TULSA. COME AND GET IT!

JUNE 23 THE DELI RETURNS.

RYE BREAD + PICKLES + SAUTÉED ONIONS + PASTRAMI + SPICY MUSTARD + OLD FASHION SODA & CHIPS

Ensure your place in this culinary experience beginning at 5:30 p.m., June 23 by pre-registering at tulsadeli.org and choose from our delightful pastrami, corned beef, or deli egg salad options.

Saturday, June 1–24 Iyyar

Ralph Goldsmith

Charles Kaufman

Gary Leff

Nathan Livingston

Ruth Poznik

Joshua Price

Sunday, June 2–25 Iyyar

Pauline Bercutt

Cy Gershone

Philip Oberstein

Monday, June 3–26 Iyyar

Julius Bergman

Nathan Dundee

Herbert Kallmeyer

Jane Kaufman

Charles H. Solow

Tuesday, June 4–27 Iyyar

Issac Alcouloumre

Gretl Neuwald

Nathan Rips

Ruth Marie Watt

Florence Wolens

Wednesday, June 5–28 Iyyar

Lila Berger

Sarah Goodall

Bessie Markovitz

Meyer Miller

Chaye Gitel Plost

Pauline Rabinovitz

Sarah Spector

Zelma Zeldich

Thursday, June 6–29 Iyyar

Anna Gruwer

Beatrice Newman

Abraham Pollock

Yetta Zolt

Friday, June 7–1 Sivan

Ida Taxon

YAHRTZEIT CALENDAR — 24 IYYAR THROUGH 24 SIVAN

Saturday, June 8–2 Sivan

Joann Darby

Golde Finkelstein

Isadore Teichman

Albert Weise

Sunday, June 9–3 Sivan

Meyer Greenberg

Leah Kraus

Richard “Dick” Raskin

Maurice N. Solow

Monday, June 10–4 Sivan

Adelle Bookman

Hazel Loftis

Albert Mizel

Mary Rosenstein Zeligson

Tuesday, June 11–5 Sivan

Rose P. Alamar

Jennie Myers

Jan Pastor

Eide Rochverger

Rosalie Cohen Rosen

Wednesday, June 12–6 Sivan

Sam N. Dundee

Louise Karchmer

Aaron H. Kirsh

Hersh Schneider

Thursday, June 13–7 Sivan

Sol Eisen

Eunice Frank

Sylvia Gore

Sayde Rita LeVine

Leonard Rozin

Hyman Teller

Friday, June 14–8 Sivan

Jeanette Bookman

Beverly Laura Gabel

Irvin Lenovitz

Jean Panken

James Franklin Smith

Harold Stein

Rebecca Zoblotsky

Saturday, June 15–9 Sivan

Norman Bortel

Frank Fitterman

Fannie Guller

Fannie Hoffman

Rabbi Arthur D. Kahn

Morris B. Lhevine

Edgar R. Sanditen

Sara Shapiro

Florence Weisberg

Sunday, June 16–10 Sivan

Richard (Rick) Dyer

Jewels E. Fuhrman

Celia Glasser

Marion Janson

Barnett Unger

Monday, June 17–11 Sivan

Irving Antell

Rita Joyce Mason

Jean Rubinoff

Irving Shalom

Betty Siegel

Seymour H. Taxon

Hymie Viner

Tuesday, June 18–12 Sivan

Jenny Fischback

Simon Newman

William Sanditen

Alex S. Singer

Jessie Ungerman Marcus

Wednesday, June 19–13 Sivan

Harvey Fisher

Max Himelstein

J.M. “Jacob” Stekoll

Thursday, June 20–14 Sivan

Boruch Henech Sorokin

Friday, June 21–15 Sivan

Harry Lantz

Saturday, June 22–16 Sivan

Jack Avery

James Dworin

Paula Finer

Otto Hart

Ann Tilkin

Sunday, June 23–17 Sivan

Bertha Friedman

Monday, June 24–18 Sivan

David Livingston

Louis Myers

Israel Getzel Stekoll

Sanford Whitehouse

Tuesday, June 25–19 Sivan

Renee Billings

Lloyd E. Isham

Simon Lebow

Charlotte Miller

Evelyn Trynin

Wednesday, June 26–20 Sivan

Rose Erdberg

Abraham M. Goodall

Thursday, June 27–21 Sivan

Etta L. Galerston

Dr. Allan Hurst

Bess Karchmer

Mollie Krisman

Florence Sokolof Maske

Friday, June 28–22 Sivan

Audrey Grubman

Charles Kolisch

Sophia Nadel

Mary Sanditen

Saturday, June 29–23 Sivan

Ruth Lenske Borg

Rose Charney

Leonard Krisman

Sunday, June 30–24 Sivan

Harry Rudman

Rose Kreger Solow