September 2019 Elul 5779/Tishrei 5780

JCC Focus Jewish Community Center

of Corpus Christi

page 2

page 3

page 4

Do you know what a “shirtwaist” is? It was a very fashionable kind of dress that was worn by

women in the last decades of the nineteenth and first three decades of the twentieth century. The one-piece

outfit had a long, full skirt and a blouse top that was permanently sewed to the skirt. That’s how it got its

name, and shirtwaists were largely sewed by immigrant women working in sweatshops in New York’s

Garment District. A large proportion of these workers were Jewish.

They brought with them some fascinating qualities of Eastern European society, not the least of which was a growing

consciousness of the collective power of the workers. Occasionally, they were joined in their struggles for decent conditions,

honest compensation and fair working hours by members of the German-Jewish elite. Louis Dembitz Brandeis, a labor lawyer,

was one who crossed class and ethnic lines. But usually their leadership came from within their own group. Let me introduce you

to some of the most interesting characters.

Start with EMMA GOLDMAN. She was born in Lithuania and came to the U.S. in 1885. She had already been

influenced by radical social change movements in Europe, but a year after her arrival something happened. In Chicago, some

workers had organized a peaceful protest strike, seeking an 8-hour work day. But the police fired into the crowd. Several

protesters were killed. No one could say who started the violence, but a day later a bomb exploded at the protest site, killing both

police and workers. The perpetrator remained unknown, but the ensuing anger among workers led to the creation of May Day as a

time of worker unrest and protest.

Emma was deeply affected by these events and turned to full-blown anarchism. The government was evil, could not be

reformed, had to be overthrown. She continued to advocate this radical position until 1917. In that year, she was arrested for the

minor charge of trying to convince people not to vote in the election of 1918, which she considered fraudulent. Convicted, she

served two years in prison and was then deported to Russia. In many ways, she was a symbol of the first “Red Scare” in this

country.

At the other end of the spectrum was MEYER LONDON. London also immigrated from Lithuania and lived the rest of

his life on the Lower East Side of New York. (He died in 1926.) London became one of the leading advocates for gradual,

evolutionary change in the work-place. His reputation grew rapidly after his mediating role in the huge cloakmakers’ strike of

1909-1910 and in the wake of the horrific Triangle fire of 1911. He helped found the Socialist Party of America and served his

district as their congressman from 1915 to 1919 and from 1921 to 1923. Emma had considered Jews as part of the undifferentiated

proletariat and did nothing in direct aid to suffering co-religionists. Ethnic nationalism to her was an impediment to universal

brotherhood and world peace. Meyer London, on the other hand, was a committed Zionist and worked diligently to raise money in

1906 for the victims of tsarist pogroms.

Rabbi Roseman’s Corner

Continued on page 5

page 5

page 7

General Dentist

Two Locations

www.padreislanddental.com 14254 S. Padre Island Dr. Loma Alta Center # 211

(On The Island)

Corpus Christi, TX 78418 (361) 589-4090

(Visa, MasterCard and Most Insurances Accepted)

4949 Everhart Rd. Suite 105

(Everhart Rd. Near McArdle)

Corpus Christi, TX 78411 (361) 853-0439 Dental Implants

Invisalign & ClearCorrect Invisable Aligners

“Creating Healthy Smiles in the Coastal Bend since 1993.”

Now to someone you may have heard of, SAMUEL GOMPERS. Born in London, he came to the U.S. with his entire fam-

ily in 1863. As a child, he supplemented his family’s income by rolling cigars in the main room of his parents’ tenement home. By

1875, he was elected president of the Cigar Makers Union, and it became obvious that Gompers, physically unimpressive, was po-

tentially a powerful leader.

His most significant achievement was his major role in the founding of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1886.

Both locally and nationally, Gompers developed strategies to improve the conditions of working men and women. He pioneered

the involvement of labor groups in America’s political process to secure legislation favoring the agenda of organized labor. In this,

he had to wage constant battles against the powerful owners of major companies who wanted absolute control of their workers as

they had in the past. During WWI, the AFL under Gompers’ leadership convinced President Woodrow Wilson to endorse collec-

tive bargaining and unions. This was the first time the federal government had explicitly backed workers’ rights as opposed to the

power of employers. After the War, Gompers’ involvement in the Versailles Peace Conference eventually led to the creation of the

International Labor Organization.

While attending a conference in Mexico City in 1926, he became ill, was transported back to the U.S. and died in San An-

tonio.

So the American labor movement owes a great debt to the shirtwaist dress and to the immigrant Jews who plied their nee-

dles, but had the courage to pick up signs and walk away from torturous work places. If unions have fallen on hard times in our

days, it is largely because they were once essential and thanks to people like London and Gompers they succeeded.

Continued from page 4

page 6

We have several people seeking to find others who can meet at the JCC to play Mahjong. Please call Norma Levens at (361) 855-6239

for more information.

page 7

This Jewish Mom, Geneticist, and Nazi Refugee Made Pregnancy Safer For All Women

You may not be familiar with Liane B. Russell — who was known to all as Lee — but this incredible Jewish mom and Nazi refugee has likely touched your life in a very meaningful way: She helped make pregnancy safer for women all around the world.

A geneticist, Lee — who died on July 20 at age 95 — helped determine that x-ray radiation can have serious adverse effects on fetuses.

Lee was born Liane Brauch to a well-to-do Jewish family in Vienna. Up until the age of 14, she lived an ideal life — her father was a successful chemist; her mother, a voice teacher. Then came the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany, which transformed Austria into a hostile and perilous environment for Jews.

The Brauch’s were able to make a deal — Russell’s father gave up his business and home in exchange for being able to leave for London. The family later immigrated to New York.

The Brauch’s wanted their daughters to receive an education, believing that women are capable of the same scholarly achievements as men. (Hear, hear!) Lee originally wanted to be a doctor, but that all changed when she attended a summer program ran by her future husband, zoologist Bill L. Russell, while she was a student at Hunter College. She said her fascination started when she first saw a fertilized mouse egg.

Lee later got her masters at the University of Chicago, attending the same program her husband attended 13 years prior.

Together, the Russell's built the “mouse house” in Oak Ridge, Tenn., one of the biggest mice labs in the world, which held more

than 200,000 mice. The lab was the former home of the part of the Manhattan Project, which helped develop the United States’ first atomic bomb.

After the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and with the looming Cold War, Lee noted that there was pressure from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission “to investigate the hereditary effects of radiation because the country had suffered from some degree of the fallout from atomic weapons testing.” And, indeed, the Russell's did discover that radiation caused birth defects, especially when embryos are exposed to it during the early stages of development.

Thanks to their discovery, we now know to avoid doing x-rays on pregnant women — that’s why you’re always asked if you’re pregnant or planning to be whenever you get an x-ray.

But couple also made other amazing discoveries. Namely, Lee discovered that mice with a Y chromosome were male, and that female mice only had one X chromosome.

Her groundbreaking achievements earned her many awards. In 1973 she was the first woman to receive the internationally awarded Roentgen Medal. She also won one of the highest honors of the Department of Energy, the Enrico Fermi Award, in 1994 — and she remains one

of the few women to have garnered the prestigious award, including Mildred Dresselhaus, the legendary Jewish scientist dubbed as the “queen of carbon.”

In her spare time, Russell was an avid conservationist and environmental activist. In June of 1965, the Russell's went on a paddling trip that changed their life. They fell in love with Tennessee's Obed River, and when they learned a dam was supposed to be built on the site, the couple fought against its construction, purchasing around 170 acres surrounding the river.

For two decades, they fought to make the river a designated National Wild and Scenic River, under the protections and the care of the National Park Service, and succeeded. The couple had two kids. Lee was also the stepmother of William’s three children from a previous marriage, and had four grandchildren.

What an inspiration! May her memory be for a blessing. By: Lior Zaltzman Reference: https://kveller.com

TCWP founding member and long-time newsletter editor Liane "Lee" Russell died Saturday (July 20) morning. Lee was an internationally known scientist, a leader in conservation and environmental advocacy, a friend, and role model. We will miss her.

page 8

page 9

page 10

2810 Airline Road gillnursery.com (361) 992-9674

Your Best Source for Quality Tools & Equipment

WEBER BINGO

Mon.-Thurs. 7 p.m. & 9 p.m.

Fri. - Sat. 7 p.m., 9 p.m., & Midnight

Sun. 7 p.m. (Family Night)

(361) 855-3916

www.weberbingo.org

Let’s Play Bingo!

TILE MASTER

Stripping & Refinishing of Tile

Specializing In: SALTILLO-TERRAZZO-D’HANIS

QUARRY-BRICK PAVERS-CONCRETE

Mark Malowitz - Owner

Serving the Corpus Christi area for over 31 years!

(361) 949-1515 www.mmtilemaster.com

ANDREW J. LEHRMAN Attorney/Mediator

Anderson, Lehrman, Barre & Marist, L.L.P. Gaslight Square Area Code: 361 1001 Third Street, Suite 1 Telephone: (361) 884-4981 Corpus Christi, Texas 78404 Fax: (361) 888-7697

E-Mail: alehrman@albmlaw.com www.lehrman-mediation.com

1

1 Elul

2

2 Elul

3

3 Elul

4

4 Elul

5

5 Elul

6

6 Elul

7

7 Elul

8

8 Elul

9

9 Elul

10

10 Elul

11

11 Elul

12

12 Elul

13

13 Elul

14

14 Elul

15

15 Elul

16

16 Elul

17

17 Elul

18

18 Elul

19

19 Elul

20

20 Elul

21

21 Elul

22

22 Elul

23

23 Elul

24

24 Elul

25

25 Elul

26

26 Elul

27

27 Elul

28

28 Elul

29

29 Elul

30

1 Tishrei

CBI Services @ 9 a.m. Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

CBI Shabbat Services @ 6:30 p.m.

CBI Services @ 9 a.m. Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

CBI Services @ 9 a.m. Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

Shabbat ends

8:19 p.m.

Shabbat begins

7:19 p.m.

Shabbat begins

7:11 p.m.

Shabbat ends

8:02 p.m.

Shabbat begins

7:02 p.m.

page 11

CBI Shabbat Services @ 6:30 p.m.

Shabbat ends

7:54 p.m.

Shabbat ends

8:10 p.m.

JCC Community Calendar September 2019 Elul 5779/Tishrei 5780

Shabbat begins

7:27 p.m.

CBI Shabbat Services @ 6:30 p.m.

CBI Shabbat Services @ 6:30 p.m.

CBI Services @ 9 a.m. Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

page 12

Helen White Hair Removal & Body Design

Call For More Information & Monthly Specials!

(361) 991-6152 6040 SPID

In the Gulfway Center HelenWhiteElectrologists.com

Happy September Birthdays To Our Friends!

3rd Cathleen Sands 15th Norma Levens 21st Jeannetta Caplan 6th Lisa Sheinberg Bibeau 20th Chris Kuehn 22nd Daniel Householder 11th Cyndee Malowitz 21st Carol Solovey 25th Meredith Ryan 13th Tzachi Samocha 21st Debbie Canales 27th Howard Mintz 21st Jason Green

Happy 80th Birthday Robert Adler!

Mr. Adler celebrated his birthday on August 16th!

Happy Birthday from your

friends at the JCC!

page 13

Live Long and Prosper: Words of "Star Trek" and Torah for Jewish Leaders

You’re probably familiar with the Star Trek hand symbol that means, “Live long and prosper!” Did you may know that Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, was Jewish? He once said in an interview that he was inspired to create the Vulcan salute because he had seen the hand motion in synagogue as a child during the Priestly Benediction. Parashat Naso (the Torah portion we read before opening week of the Jewish summer camp where I serve as director of Jewish life) contains the words of the Priestly Benediction, the prayer the priests (the descendants of Aaron during the Temple period) use to bless the Israelites. It’s also the prayer that modern-day rabbis use to bless their communities, acting as a medium through which God reaches the people. As the Torah says in Numbers 6:23-27: “Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them: ‘May God bless you and guard you: May the light of God shine upon you, and may God be gracious to you: May the presence of God be with you and give you peace.’ Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” And according to the Talmud, in tractate Sota 39a, we see that the priests are supposed to say yet another blessing in preparation for the Priestly Benediction in order to sanctify it: “Blessed are You, Sovereign of the universe, who sanctified us with the holiness of Aaron and commanded us to bless God’s people with love.” (Sotah 39a). As Rabbi Dr. Jenny Solomon asks in her d’var Torah “What’s Love Got to Do with It?" this leads us to ask the question “Why love?” Why is it so important that the priests acting as God’s messenger bless the Israelites with love? It seems that the Talmud is saying that the blessing over the people of the children of Israel must be sanctified – and that one way of doing that is through love. This is something we also do with our campers. On Friday nights, we literally bless them during Shabbatdinner, and even when it’s not Shabbat, we use our love of community and Judaism to pass on a legacy to our children. Our leadership and staff know, too, that our words and behaviors will trickle down to our staff and our campers. In fact, in many ways, it’s a trickle-down effect of our leadership’s love and care that translates into the love and care put in by our counselors that evolves into campers’ overall love of learning, community, and camp. It is my hope, then, that even on our most difficult days, we can remember to sanctify with love everything that we pass on to our young Jewish campers – and in doing so, perhaps we can encourage them to “live long and prosper” while fulfilling the goals of the Priestly Benediction that we find in the Torah.

By: Julia Berg Reference: https://reformjudaism.org

page 14

For more information on the JCC Preschool or the JCC Summer Program Please contact: Manuela Sela, JCC Preschool Director

at (361) 855-6239 or Email: jewishcommunitypreschool@yahoo.com

AGES 15 MONTHS TO KINDERGARTEN

A Note From...

Dear Parents,

The first month of school is already over. Students are adjusting very well, and the teachers are getting to know all the students and parents. Our last Shabbat was all about safety. And who else can talk about safety better than police officers! We invited them to our school, and they talked about safety and what they do to keep the community safe. And to make it even better: all our students were able to sit in the police car and take pictures with the police officers! The month September and October are going to be very special for our school and students. The Jewish High Holidays are around the corner and that means that our students will be introduced to our Jewish New Year, Sukkot (a tent) and much more holidays and celebrations. This also means that our school is going to be closed for a couple of days. For majority of these closure days we have holi-day care available. You have until September 30th to sign up for Holiday care. If you want more information about holiday care, feel free to contact the school office. Please note that our school is going to be closed on Monday, Sept. 2nd in observance of Labor Day. With warm regards, Manuela Sela, JCC Preschool Director

Police Officer Safety Visit in Shabbat!

JCC The Place To Be!

page 15

Shabbat and Mitzvahs

Happy Birthday!

Sept. 15th Norma Levens (JCC Director)

Sept. 19th Bernadette Olivo

(Aftercare Teacher) Sept. 30th

Cassandra Olivier (Aftercare Teacher)

Sept. 6th ……….…Shabbat 9:00am/ Mitzvah Ms. Kim “Taking care of Pets” Sept. 13th ……..…..Shabbat 9:00am/ Mitzvah Ms. Iris “Grandparent’s Day” Sept. 20th ……….…Shabbat 9:00am/ Mitzvah Ms. Manuela “Happy Birthday to the World” Sept. 27th ……..…..Shabbat 9:00am/ Mitzvah Ms. Kim “Taking care of Pets”

Have a great school year!

2nd Labor Day (No School/No Holiday Care)

12th-20th JCC PTO Book Fair 13th Grandparent’s Shabbat (Hosted by the PTO) 24th-25th Fall/Sibling/Group Pictures 26th PTO Meeting 9:00 a.m. (Boardroom)

27th Birthday Party for the World Celebration

30th Rosh Hashana (No School/Holiday Care)

Labor Day JCC PTO Book Fair

Grandparent’s Shabbat Fall/Sibling/Group Pictures

PTO Meeting 9:00 a.m. Birthday Party for the

World Celebration Rosh Hashana

750 Everhart Rd. Corpus Christi, TX 78411 (361) 855-6239 jcccorpuschristi.org

Return Service Requested

Please Note: The JCC Focus is only mailed out to JCC Members. Don’t let this be your last FOCUS! Renew your JCC Membership to continue to receive our monthly newsletter. Thank you for your support!!