This series is comprised of records created by congregations and other organizations in the Las Vegas, Nevada Jewish community from 1988 to 2004. In addition to newsletters from various congregations in the Las Vegas Valley and the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada, the series also includes form letters, fliers, programs, invitations, photographs, audiovisual materials, and other ephemera documenting the events and activities of the Jewish community.
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Oral history interview with Rona and David Mendelson conducted by Barbara Tabach on April 26, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Rona and David Mendelson describe moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1973 as a married couple and how they became board members of Congregation Ner Tamid, which led them to getting involved with the small and growing Jewish community. They discuss their activities and their current family ties within the Jewish community in Las Vegas. As educators, they also delve into their experiences with the school system in Southern Nevada and the discrimination they faced as Jewish educators and parents.
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Rabbi Felipé Goodman was born in 1967 and raised in an established Conservative Jewish community in Mexico City. This community would financially and emotionally support his seminary education was in New York City at the Jewish Theological Seminary. As a young rabbi eager for his own congregation, he became restless in 1998 and began his search for options which lead him to a listing for a rabbi at Las Vegas’s oldest synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom. During this oral history, Rabbi Goodman weaves a fascinating story of chance and good fortune of his interview process and visit to Las Vegas—including the generous parting gift of Snapple—and his surprising decision to take the position. Now, almost two decades later, he reflects on several of his accomplishments in addition to being Temple Beth Sholom’s longest serving rabbi to date. He mentions the opening of the synagogue’s move to a beautiful new building in Summerlin, where they were able to include a mikvah for conversions. He shares how he and Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn, formerly of Midbar Kodesh Temple, worked together to establish chevra kadisha for burying Jewish people. As a member of the Rabbinical Assembly he was especially please to help host the 2011 annual conference in Las Vegas after years of persuasion. Israeli political leader Tzipi Livni was the keynote speaker. Rabbi also speaks about his passion for Israel, AIPAC and the Conservative Movement in Judaism.
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Hardin speaks about karma and fate, her former home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, past lives, UFOs, religion, her past marriages, wealth, and answers callers questions.
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