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Texas Jewish Historical Society - Fall, 2001 Page 1

Historical SocietyPreserving Jewish Heritage in Texas

Established 1980

Fall, 2001

Dedicated toall those who diedSeptember 11, 2001

Texas Jewish

Newsletter

Texas Jewish Historical Society - Fall, 2001

From the TJHS President

Texas Jewish Historical Society WebsiteTexas Jewish Historical Society • P.O. Box 10193, Austin, TX 78766

Telephone: 281-276-9693

E-mail address: [email protected] Site address: http://www.txjhs.com

The Texas Jewish Historical Society draws its membership from across theState of Texas, bordering states and across our great nation. TJHS supports awide-ranging agenda. Quarterly Board Meetings are held at points of particularinerest, an extensive newsletter is published regularly and a speakers bureau ismaintained. A variety of research projects are facilitated through the JewishArchives in the Barker Library, and support is provided directly for projects suchas “Virtual Restoration of Small-Town Synagogues in Texas.”

We are very proud of our organization and ask you to look us up andcelebrate the joys of Texas history.

By the timeyou receivethis Newslet-ter, I hopeeveryone isover the shockand disgustthat befell ourfellow citizens

in New York, Washington, D.C.and Pennsylvania on September11th. In this time of mourning, wewould like to express our sympathyand support to everyone from TheTexas Jewish Historical Society.This tragedy hurt us all—and willcontinue to hurt each of us—inways we are only beginning tograsp. Let us go on helping oneanother in any way we can. Maywe all continue to practice uncom-mon kindness in the years to come.

Many things are happening in

the Society with the planning of anew book, a proposal for a newJewish Museum in Houston, and aproject to put all our past newslet-ters on a CD with links to allfamily histories that have appearedin the publication. This will aid inresearch and have everything inone place. The traveling exhibitkeeps going from Synagogues toschools across the State and it ispretty well booked up until the firstof the year. Of course, the exhibitis getting a lot of miles on it be-cause of all the shipping andhandling and in the near future wemay have to replace it. The newdirectory for 2002/2003 will beready at the end of the year and Ihope with everyone’s e-mailaddresses and a lack of errors. Ofcourse, if everybody will give usthe correct information, it would

certainly help.We still are in need of family

histories and would greatly like tohave stories of successful Jewishbusinesses that started in Texas andattained some degree of majorstatus. Starting with this issue wewill try to highlight those individu-als and their business. I know thereare large retailers, insurance com-panies, manufacturers, high techcompanies, oil/research, andfarmers/ranchers. All of thesestories need to be recorded forfuture generations to know whatwe did in the on-going history ofJewish Texans.

Shalom Y’all.

NOTE: If you know of any TJHS members who havepassed away or married, requiring a change in member-ship status, please notify:

Fay Brachman, 3720 Autumn Drive,Fort Worth, TX 76109Phone: 817-924-9207; E-mail: [email protected]

In MemoriamDr. Charles Nathan

(Houston)TJHS extends condolences

to his family.

Our Membershipis now 425! 726!Your membership enables us to

accomplish our goals of collectingand disseminating the valuableinformation about the interestingheritage of the Jews of Texas.

For a non-recorded message on thefurther benefits of TJHS membership,call 817-924-9207.

We need copies of the following old NewslettersIf you have them, we promise to return them to you.

1987 - Spring, Winter1995 - Spring, Summer1997 - March, October1998 - March, Summer


Letter From the Editoror Freedian Slips Has Your

AddressChanged?

Has your address changed?What about your Area Code orphone number? Has your namechanged? Do you want your nameto appear differently on the TJHSmailing label? Please let us know.We’d really appreciate your help.Please send new information to:

Fay Brachman3720 Autumn DriveFort Worth, TX 76109phone: 817-924-9207e-mail: [email protected]

Please Note:The Texas Jewish Historical

Society and the editorial staff ofthis newsletter cannot guarantee theaccuracy or authenticity of anyarticle. This is the responsibility ofeach contributor, so please directyour questions, comments and/orcorrections to each author directly.

The Texas Jewish Historical Society Newsletteris a publication of the Texas Jewish Historical Society, P.O. Box 10193, Austin, Texas 78766

Jack Gerrick (Fort Worth) ...........................................PresidentBuddy Freed (Fort Worth) ............................... Managing EditorWalter Fein (San Antonio) ...................................... ProofreaderSandra Freed (Fort Worth) ...................................... ProofreaderHelen Wilk (Corpus Christi) ................................... ProofreaderAlexa Kirk (Fort Worth) ........................ Layout and Typesetting

The lastNewsletterfeaturing SamDreben seemed tohave been wellreceived by all.Sort of like whena Mother makes avery special meal,

the best she can hope for is a fewcompliments and no complaints.Spielberg has expressed interest in theDreben story, as have some otherpublishers. Gerald Meister, the author,is also working with a Congressmanwho may help with a Medal of Honor!Hopefully, we can look forward tohearing more about this. That meal isfinished and the next one starts.

Recently, I sent e-mails to a fewmembers seeking their thoughts ondoing a series of stories that I wouldtitle “Profiles of Success” for want ofa better name. (The naming of theseries is open for suggestions). Theidea is to collect stories of Jews whocame to America and created success-ful businesses. There have been manyof these stories that, if we don’tchronicle them, will be lost to history.And what a shame to lose such valu-able treasures! Not only should they beremembered for their accomplishmentsand contributions, their stories can andshould be an inspiration for genera-tions to come, as an example of whatcan be achieved by sheer determina-tion.

One of the things I have learned inthe many United Jewish Appeal fundraising seminars that I have attended,is when you want to raise funds, yoursmust be the first pledge made to showyour dedication to the success of thecampaign. Israelis say it best –ACHARAI! Follow me.

As an example of the stories Iwould like for TJHS members to

submit, I have written the story of howmy father (obm) came to America as apenniless immigrant with little educa-tion and built a very successful busi-ness, raised a family and contributed tothe improvement of his community. Itwill only take a little time to recordthese stories, but they can last for along, long time and, perhaps, helpsome young person, some day, deter-mine to do no less.

The stories do not have to be typedor in long hand; perhaps you wouldlike to spend some time with a friend,child or grandchild and let them taperecord an interview with you. It is amost pleasant way to spend some time.Send us the tapes and we can havethem transcribed and edited. This willbe a great contribution to the futureand to the purpose of our Society.

Wouldn’t you liketo see YOUR

family’s historyprinted in thisnewsletter?

Contact Buddy Freed at817-926-0455, [email protected]


Jewish Presence Goes Far Back1814 settler who sold land to pirate may have been earliest

by Andrea Wright, reporter for The Beaumont Enterprise

The lives and legends of the Jewsof Texas can be traced to the time theregion was still a Spanish colony.

Their names are among those whofought for Texas’ independence, andevidence of their pioneer legacies stillexists.

Perhaps the first Jew to be apermanent settler of Texas was Jao dela Porta of Portugal, according toHistorian Ruth Winegarten in “Deepin the Heart of Texas.”

De la Porta arrived at Galveston in1814, and his best customer for landdeals was the notorious pirate JeanLafitte. He, too, was of Jewishdescent, though his grandparents hadconverted to Catholicism to escape theinquisition. Nevertheless, the familysecretly remained loyal to Judaism.

With independence in 1836, Texasopened up, and advertisements entic-ing settlers spread across the continentand abroad. A headline on one foundin the University of Texas Institute ofTexas Cultures screams: “TEXASforever!! The usurper of the South(Santa Ana) has failed in his efforts toenslave the freemen of Texas ... Nowis the time to emigrate to the Gardenof America. A free passage ... isoffered at New Orleans to all appli-cants. Every settler receives ... 800acres of land!”

For often-persecuted Jews of Europe,those who were not permitted to ownany land anywhere, or those eager to fleetheir parents’ orthodoxy, such ads musthave been all the more enticing.

Most of Texas’ early Jewish settlerscame from Germany, but many camefrom Poland, Holland, Alsace, Russiaand England, becoming merchants,landowners, ranchers and importers.Most, Winegarten writes, “movedsilently and anonymously.”

Until the 1850s, there were no

communal facilities for South TexasJews, who practiced their faith athome or with relatives. Their firstchartered synagogue – HebrewCongregation Beth Israel – wasconstructed in Houston in 1859.

According to a history from TempleEmanuel, the first Beaumonter topractice the Jewish faith was Morris J.Loeb, who arrived in 1878 and opened acigar store. A few years later, HenrySolinsky and Morris Hecht openedstores, and in 1881, Sid J. Levy openedhis “Red Store.”

In 1889, Hyman Asher Perlstein, aLithuanian immigrant, came toBeaumont with $11.90 in his pocketand went to work for 50 cents a day.By 1907, he had built the town’s firstskyscraper, the Perlstein Building, thetallest structure between Houston andNew Orleans. “Grandpa was a charac-ter,” says Charles Weinbaum, 74.

Weinbaum recalls with fondnessPerlstein’s penchant for frugality inattire even after becoming wealthy.

His magnificent six-story “sky-scraper” was over the Kress store,where he and friends gathered forcoffee each morning.

When a waitress continued toignore the group, one called out andsaid, “Look here, young lady, this manowns this building! Can’t he get a cupof coffee?”

To which she retorted, sizingPerlstein up, “If he owns this building,I’m the Queen of Sheba.”

Weinbaum said his grandfather hada pat response for those who wouldcriticize his wardrobe.

“He’d say, ‘People in Beaumontknow I can buy anything I want towear. If I go out of town, nobodyknows me, so what difference does itmake?’”

Jewish women contributed greatly

to Beaumont’s community from earlytimes, forming the pioneer Ladies’Benevolent Society of Temple Eman-uel in 1895. Extending their assis-tance to the poor and the homeless, thesociety also had as its major goal toconstruct a synagogue. The firstTemple Emanuel structure was built in1901, and replaced in 1923 with thebuilding on Broadway that still servesthe Jewish community.

Winegarten topples what she calls“one of the greatest myths in Ameri-can Jewish history” in looking at Jewsholding public office.

The myth is that northeastern Jewsfirst broke ground in the politicalarena of America, but 120 years beforethere was a Jewish mayor of NewYork, there was Michael Seeligson(1797-1867).

Seeligson became mayor ofGalveston in 1853. And before him,there were David S. Kaufman (1812-1851) the first Texan to be seated inthe U.S. House of Representativesafter Texas became a state in 1845,and Adolphus Sterne (1801-1852) ofNacogdoches, elected to the TexasLegislature in 1847.

Between 1907 and 1914, 10,000Jews entered the port of Galvestonunder the Jewish Immigrants Informa-tion Bureau. From there, they wouldmake their ways throughout Texas, theSouthwest and the Midwest.

The bureau served as an aid soci-ety, with a network of contacts incommunities the immigrants wouldtravel to. Their skills were matchedwith available jobs, and committeeshelped them find living quarters andteach them English.

World War I halted the Galvestonimmigration movement, and when thewar ended, America imposed quotasthat also put an end to the movement.


The Day I Learned About Tzedakaby Gerard Meister

The following story won FirstPlace in the prestigious SylviaWolens Jewish Heritage WritingCompetition for 2001.

You don’t always learn everythingthere is to know about tzedaka from aRabbi’s sermon or in Hebrew School.Take the day when I first learned abouttzedaka ...

It was summer’s end in 1940 andthe High Holidays were fast approach-ing. Papa, who had been sick and outof work for over a year, was feelingbetter and looking forward to going toschul. The problem was that he didn’thave a new suit to wear. Or an old onefor that matter. Every stitch of Papa’sclothing disappeared along with theboarder Mama had taken in to makeends meet while Papa wasn’t working.

When my mother wondered outloud how we were going to manage –clothes cost money and we didn’t havemuch, certainly not enough for a newsuit – Papa told her not to worry.“Let’s go to a men’s store,” he said. “Ijust know something good will hap-pen.”

We got all dressed up for theoccasion: Mama put on her Shabbusdress and white cotton gloves and Iwore my best knickers. Papa didn’thave a suit or a jacket to wear, but hedid have a white shirt and tie that theboarder (or that oysvorf, as Mamacalled him) somehow missed stealing.I thought we looked rather spiffy as wemarched over to Stone Avenue wheremany of the men’s stores in Brooklynwere located.

We started window shopping andstopped in front of this one store wherea mannequin in a green tweed suitcaught Papa’s eye. We weren’t thereten seconds when the proprietorpopped out, looked Papa up and down

and said: “For you I got a suit.” Whocould resist an invitation like that?

But as soon as we got inside, Papasaid: “Balabus, I have to tell you onelittle thing.” And went on to explainour misfortune to the shopkeeper, howthe boarder, that oysvorf, had skippedout, not only with the week’s rent ofthree dollars, but also with all ofPapa’s clothes.

“Did you call the police?” themerchant asked with obvious concern.

“No,” Mama chimed in. “We wereashamed to tell the police that theboarder, a Jewish boy and a litvak yet,could be such a goniff.”

“But I do need a suit,” Papa said.Last year I was in the hospital for theHigh Holidays, and this year both mydaughters – they’re married now – arecoming over with their husbands. Canyou help us? It would be a realmitzvah, my friend, and I can put downtwo dollars and pay the rest off; I’mgoing back to work on Monday.”

“Well,” the merchant said, as hestroked his chin. “I really can’t affordit, but what can I do? I’m obligated tohelp a Jew in need, that’s the meaning

of tzedaka. The suit will cost youfifteen dollars, two dollars down, ifthat’s all you can manage, and the restwhen you have the money, but don’ttake too long or I’ll need tzedaka.”

Papa shook hands with the propri-etor and gave him the two dollars.“Tell me something,” Mama said, asPapa slipped into the suit for hisfitting. “Does the garment come withtwo pairs of pants?”

“That, too?” the merchant said, hiseyebrows rising halfway up hisforehead. “That’ll cost you an extrathree dollars.”

“Fine,” Mama said. “We’ll take itand you won’t be sorry. I swear.”

“You don’t have to swear, I’m sureyou’ll pay me back when you can –that too is part of tzedaka.”

“Did you learn anything today,sonny?” Papa asked me as we left thestore.

“Yes Papa, I did,” I said proudly.“Tzedaka comes with two pairs ofpants.”

Pam Neimand, judge; Gerard Meister, contest winner; Jerry Wolens, sponsor


My father, Solomon Charles Freedleft Pukhovichi, Minsk, Belsarusawhen he was 13 years old to come toAmerica via Ellis Island. His fatherand older brother and sister precededhim. I remember him telling me thathe had gone to the fourth grade beforehe left Russia and that was the extentof his formal education.

In New York he sold newspapers totake care of himself and to help hisfamily, as was the tradition among sovery many immigrants. After a fewyears in New York, he came to visithis oldest sister who had married adistant cousin and was living inLaredo. Although he did intend toreturn to New York, he fell in lovewith Texas and stayed.

In Laredo he started a small drygoods store. During World War I, myfather and two friends, Max Pomerantzand George Levy enlisted in the Armyand served with the Allied Expedition-ary Forces in France. When he returnedto Laredo, he found that the business hehad turned over to a relative was downand his only choice was to restart andrebuild the business, which he did. HisLaredo store was joined by another storein Cotulla, then Dilley and later inCrystal City.

My mother told me the story of howshe and my father met. He had severalfriends in San Antonio and he wouldoften catch the train that ran from Laredoto San Antonio. In San Antonio, he andhis friends would rent a room in theGunter Hotel for poker games. Mymother’s brother Max Kalvort was oneof the regulars in that game. He askedmother to come by the room and meethis friend, Sol. Later that evening theywent to a show and before the night wasover, he had proposed marriage to her!Six weeks later, they were married – amarriage that lasted 29 years, until myfather’s death in 1950.

They lived in Laredo for a shorttime and then moved to Dilley, whichwas about half way between Laredoand San Antonio. He closed his stores

Profiles of Success: Sol Freedin Laredo and Cotulla, then closed theone in Dilley and moved to CrystalCity, where he continued in the DryGoods business. Strangely, there weretwo other dry goods stores in CrystalCity, Sol Dalkowitz’ “La Casa MasBarata” (The house of bargains) andSam Pullin’s Store..

Bad luck plagued my father in hisDry Goods endeavors. When theGreat Depression of 1929 hit, he wasas adversely affected as was the rest ofthe country. He had been generouswith credit to his customers and whenthey lost their jobs and could not paytheir bills, this resulted in his having todeclare bankruptcy. Some time aftermy father’s death, a friend told me ofhis integrity. When the Court Officerscame to take over the assets of thestore, he had left cash in the register tohelp pay his creditors. Later, he paidoff every penny he owed althoughbankruptcy law does not require this.As I was growing up, my father toldme many times, if you can’t pay cash,you can’t afford it. His advice hasstood me in good stead for the rest ofmy life.

After my father lost his store, hemanaged it for a wholesale jobber inSan Antonio and remained in CrystalCity. During this time a man named J.Baylor Bell had started a spinach-canning factory at the south end oftown. He too fell on had times andwas being foreclosed by the localbank. The principle owner of the bankat that time was John Nance Garner,who became Franklin D. Roosevelt’sVice-President. It was “Cactus JackGarner” who said that the VicePresident’s job was not worth a bucketof warm spit!

Garner had known my father to be ahard working Jewish man and he(Garner) had a great respect of allJews. He made my father the proposi-tion, that if he would take over thecanning factory, his bank would givehim a line of credit. Dad’s firstresponse was that he knew nothing of

processing spinach. Garner’s replywas “Sol, you are Jewish and Jews arethe smartest people in the world. Youcan do it and be successful.” Withthis, he started a new career in theSpinach canning business.

He spent several years learning andbuilding the canning operation. Hehired a man, Mr. Jake Heaner, as hisplant manager. Mr. Heaner had been aSinger Sewing Machine travelingsalesman. Between the two of them,they made a name for Crystal City andthe spinach grown in that area. About1935, my father was in a very seriousautomobile accident that broke hisnose and deprived him of his sense ofsmell and taste. When you are in thefood processing business, these are twofaculties that are imperative!

As markets grew, he contacted foodbrokers in New York and Boston torepresent his canned spinach in thosemarkets. In order to impress upon hiscustomers of the very high quality ofhis spinach over his competitors, hewould go into a broker’s office and askto have several cans of spinach, hisamong them, put on trays for a blindtest. He infallibly picked his ownproduct, even lacking both the sense oftaste and smell. It was no trick.Spinach grown on the deep alluvialsoils in that area are not sandy, thus thesilt is easily washed off and hisspinach lacked the sandy grit of allother brands.

As the recession was winding downthe area was beginning to grow andprosper – greatly helped by the spinachcanning industry that my father sostrongly influenced. His canningfactory employed a many as 100people during peak times and this wasat a time when the Great Depressioncreated the largest unemployment inour history! In addition, farmers whoraised the spinach employed hundredsof people to grow and harvest thespinach. It has been easy for revision-ists today to claim that this factory andthe farmers paid slave wages and


exploited the downtrodden laborers.Nothing could be further from thetruth. During the depression, five orten cents per hour, if you could find ajob, could put food on the table, whena loaf of bread was only a nickel andgasoline was six cents per gallon. Iremember attending celebrations inappreciation of those who broughtprosperity to their community. It isinteresting that here was a man, whowas born in Russia, came to Americaat a very young age and with littleformal education, who learned tospeak Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew andEnglish; making speeches in Spanish!

About 1935 my father and severalother businessmen conjured the idea ofhaving a celebration of spinach. Theynamed the areas of Zavala, Dimmit andVal Verde counties as the WinterGarden District. The celebration wasknown as the Spinach Festival, whichincluded marching bands, a King andQueen of Spinach and their royal courtand a parade of floats, representing thevarious businesses of the area. Thecenterpiece of that first Spinach Festivalwas the dedication of the first andpossibly the only statue of a comic stripcharacter, Popeye.

This event was so unusual thatNational Geographic Magazine andRKO Pathe News sent teams to coverthe festivities. In those days weviewed the news at the picture show.What a thrill it was to see your home-town event on the big silver screen!Another feature of the celebration wasa spinach-eating contest declaring theone who could eat the most spinach inthe allotted time, the winner. I wonthe contest. Fortunately, keeping thatmuch spinach down was not a require-ment or several others and I wouldhave been disqualified.

There were two markets for spin-ach. One was the canning factory.The other was the fresh market. Myfather contracted with several farmersfor their spinach and furnished the seedfor the crop. The problem arose whenthe fresh market would spike and thefarmers would ship to the fresh market,leaving our factory with out produce to

can. When the fresh market wouldcrater, there was not enough hours inthe day to can all the spinach that wasbrought to the factory. To overcomethis situation, my father bought a 900-acre farm in La Pryor. This way hewas assured of produce when heneeded it and leveled the playing field.Since spinach can be grown only a fewmonths during the year, he cannedblack-eyed peas in their season, beetsand sauerkraut. He experimented withcorn on the cob but was not successful.

In 1942, when World War IIstarted, spinach and the cans needed tocontain it became strategic materials.The concerned government officeasked my father to sell the government95% of his product, leaving him 5% tokeep his brand name alive. For theduration of the war, this is exactlywhat happened. During World War II,the government instituted a program toration all kinds of goods, food in-cluded. Each family was issued booksof food ration stamps to be surrenderedto the selling store when they madetheir purchase. The grocer in turn hadto surrender these stamps to hiswholesaler when he purchased hissupplies. These ration stamps eventu-ally had to be used by the wholesalerwhen they ordered from the manufac-turer. With out these ration stamps, itwas illegal to buy or sell the affectedgoods By this time, I was in highschool and working for my fatherbefore and after school. On severaloccasions he would show me lettersfrom food brokers offering himgenerous sums of money “under thecounter” if he would ship them acarload of canned goods without themandatory ration stamps. He made it apoint to show me the letters, and thendestroyed them. These brokers seldomgot future orders filled and only thenwith the proper food stamps. Hiscounsel to me was that you could dowell without cheating!

My father always loved animals,more than I think he ever lovedcanning spinach. I have seen him walkup to horses no one could catch andgently put his belt around their neck

and lead them to the pens. In 1945 hehad an opportunity to buy a large farmand ranch. This property consisted of1,400 acres of irrigated farmland and4,000 acres of brush land. That yearhe went to New Mexico and boughtsome 2,500 head of cattle from a largebreeder. The railroad had to run aspecial train (not unusual in that day)to haul these cattle from New Mexicoto Crystal City. Before the trainarrived, he had sold half of theseanimals for more than enough to paythe transportation costs. After feedingthese cattle over the winter, his earn-ings were almost enough to clear thenote on the entire ranch. By anymeasure, this takes planning, determi-nation and real guts!

He died in 1950. Before his death,he disposed of his canning factory byarranging with local businessmen tobuy him out while providing shares inthe new operation for his long timemajor employees. He had an 800-acrefarm near his canning factory that healso sold as well as the 900-acre farmnear La Pryor, keeping only the 5,400-acre farm and ranch. I graduated fromTexas A. & M. in July, 1950 andplanned to be in a partnership with myfather. He died the following Octoberleaving me to take over and run thisoperation for seven years, beforemoving to Fort Worth.

My father, Sol Freed, was one of thevery many courageous people who leftthe oppressive environment of EasternEurope to come to America for theopportunity to be the best he could be.Within some 40 years, he served hiscountry as a volunteer in a war, builtbusinesses which provided jobs forpeople and contributed generously of hisfinancial resources. Although he livedmost of his life away from an activeJewish community, he frequentlyattended minyans when he was in thecity. Being Jewish in a small town wasnot easy, but he never let anyone forgethis Jewishness. He married, raised threechildren and made sure that they had allof the advantages that were denied him.


I, like many SCV (Sons of Confed-erate Veterans) folks in this area, hadheard of a grave marker in HebrewRest Cemetery which had a Battle Flagboldly emblazoned on it—not thenormal military-style headstone, but apersonalized marker. Two springs ago,I went south on South Main, here inFort Worth, until I came to John PeterSmith hospital. Just across the street onthe south side of the hospital is thecemetery. Once there, I didn’t have tosearch. The monument sticks out rightat you in the small, very well-keptHebrew Rest. What a sight! The gateswere, and always are locked. But, in aconversation with the Temple Beth ElArchivist, Hollace Weiner, the daybefore, she had given me permission toenter. I simply (not so simple at myage) stepped over the 36-inch concreteand iron fence by placing one foot firston the concrete, holding the iron railwith one hand, and carefully bringingthe trail leg over.

The marker is indeed unique, largegranite with the colored flag andleaning staff on the top front, thefamily name, Samuels, below and aMasonic emblem on the back. Thereare individual markers inside the plotitself for the different family membersburied there. Of course, this memorialcaused me to immediately beginresearch on Jacob Samuels, and Ifound information readily available inthe Temple Beth El archives, thegenealogy department of the FortWorth Public Library, R.E. Lee UnitedConfederate Veterans Records and TheNational Archives War Records. Apaper written by Mrs. Juliet GeorgeDees was of the greatest help. Mrs.Dees had submitted this paper to theSouthern Jewish Historical Society andit was full of information. This CSAPatriot had a lot written about him,making research not just a breeze, butextremely interesting as well.

At the age of eleven, Jacob camewith his parents from partitioned Polandto New Orleans. The Crescent City had alarge Jewish population in the 1840’sand 1850’s. Times in Europe wereextremely rough with revolutions, anti-Semitism, etc., so it is not known if theSamuels family arrived with anybelongings or simply the clothes on theirbacks. At any rate, the new immigrantstook to the opportunities in the Southand, by all accounts, were well received.This was a far better place than thehomeland they left. Jacob ended up inWaco and completed the naturalizationprocess to become a citizen there in1850.

In 1860, Jacob was living in FortWorth and working in his father’sgeneral store. He evidently had someinterest in horses; he owned some andwas well versed in horsemanship, ashis cavalry service would soon attest.

When secession hit, Jacob wasquick to sign on with his friend, J.C.Terrell. The unit was first known asCaptain J.C. Terrell’s Company,Waller’s Battalion. On August 27,1862, it became Company F, Waller’sRegiment, Texas Cavalry. Samuel’shorse was valued at $225 and “equip-ments” at $30. Once felled by dysen-tery, he pulled strings to be able to stayon active duty as a repairman ofsaddles and tack, rather than be senthome, or worse. Later he would regainenough health to engage in all thebattles of his unit.

Joseph Terrell raised “as fine acompany of Cavalry as there is in theservice” in March of 1862, but hishorse soldiers had to scavenge andforage from the start. “We had noarms,” he wrote, “but in a short timesupplied ourselves from the enemy.”Reporting first to LaFayette, Louisi-ana, the unit joined with other compa-nies comprising Lieutenant Colonel EdWaller’s Battalion. During the last partof 1862 Samuels and his comradesfought off the Union, sickness, andactually beat back a naval attack onAvery Island (now famous for TabascoSauce). Later they were ordered toLake Charles. It was at this time thatSamuels began his physical recoveryand soon was in the ranks making theaggressive charges for which theCavalry is so famous.

On April 12, 1863, sixty men wouldcome to the aid of Colonel A.P. Bagby,3rd Regiment, Sibley’s Brigade, atLynch’s Point on the Teche, a Louisianawaterway near Camp Bisland. Theserescuers would now be riding with thegallant Major Hannibal H. Boone. JacobSamuels would have a date with historyon September 29, 1863. In a charge thatBrigadier General Alfred Moutonbelieved should “stand forth to berecorded in the annals of history,”Samuels was a member of this charge.These brave riders attacked the UnionCavalry along the Fordoche River, somesix miles from Morganza, Louisiana.The Confederates “scattered them withsuch an effect that they were not seenafterwards.” Samuels made mention ofthe second charge in his R.E. Lee UCVrecords, “I was with Major Boone whenhe was shot losing his arm and fingers ofone hand.”

After two years of hard fighting,Samuels and his friend, CaptainTerrell, were able to take a smallrespite. They were camped in tents atVirginia Point near Galveston, where

JACOB SAMUELSSoldier, Citizen, Fort Worth Pioneer

by Gary Whitfield


they could burn only three sticks ofwood a day for cooking. This wasdone in the bad winter of 1863-1864.Terrell secured a two-day pass for twoand invited his buddy “Sam” to enjoythe city of Galveston with him.

Supposedly on their way to find theMasonic Lodge (both were Masons),they encountered some lovely youngladies selling raffle tickets to benefitthe widows and orphans of Confeder-ate veterans. They won a few baublesand enjoyed the evening. Awakeningthe next day from sleeping on top of acistern, and broke, they decided to sellwhatever trinkets they had left.Samuel took a bracelet around thecorner and sold it, as he said with awink to an “uncle.” The bachelor ladsregaled the rest of the day and night inraucous behavior. It was good that theyenjoyed themselves, in light of whatwas in store.

The Red River battles lay ahead.April 7, 1864, pitted three thousandTexans under Tom Green againstFederal forces. The CSA drove theenemy from the fields in what was tobe known later as the Battle of

Mansfield. But what was tocome on April 9, atPleasant Hill was to costthe Confederates dearly.Next, Yellow Bayou wasparticularly devastating tothe unit just right ofCompany F, but Terrell’smen were spared. On May22, 1864, Company Fassisted in capturingBrashear City, Louisiana.Terrell’s men inflictedheavy damage on theironclad Diana on May 24.The story of this adventurewas dwelt on in Terrell’smemoirs. In 1865 the lastengagement for company Fwas the capturing of somefour hundred organizedConfederate deserters andthen taking them toRoberson County. There,the Company disbandedand went home, as the war

was over.Jacob was Southern to the core. In

letters written to his father during thewar, he denounced the North. “BlackRepublicans,” he called the Yankees.“Dictator,” for Abe Lincoln. “Tyrantsand despots,” he described the North-ern States for denying the South thestates’ rights guaranteed in the Consti-tution of George Washington, ThomasJefferson and Benjamin Franklin.Jacob Samuels gave up a citizenship hehad held for only eleven years to casthis lot with truth and right. He becamea Confederate citizen with thoughtonly of his home, his friends, hisfamily and the aforementioned.

Samuels was known for his oratoryand good business sense. He and afellow Jewish Confederate, B. Ber-liner, were partners in a general storenear the Tarrant County Courthouse inFort Worth. Berliner, Samuels and hisgood friend Terrell were roommates inthe first brick house in Fort Worth.These bachelor days ended for Jacobwhen he married Bertha Wade in NewOrleans in 1870. From this unionwould be born Sidney (later to become

Amon G. Carter’s lawyer), Isidore,Bertrand, Annye, Alfred and May. Asa civic leader, his actions were many,which benefited the commerce of FortWorth and the well being of its citi-zens. He donated land to help bring therailroad here. He was an officer(monitor and lecturer) and chartermember and founder of B’nai B’rithLodge #269. Additionally, he was oneof the early members of Fort Worth’soldest Masonic Lodge #148.

The Grand Reunion of ConfederateVeterans paraded with “halting” stepdown the middle of New Orleans onApril 27, 1906. They had lost one oftheir most devout veterans the daybefore. Jacob Samuels departed thislife on April 26, 1906. His funeral wasone of the largest of the day. HisMasonic Brethren performed burialrites at his home. He was carriedthence to Hebrew Rest by a grandcortege of his Confederate Veteransfrom all over the state. Upon arrivingat the cemetery, the flowers from thosewho knew him were so numerous thata pathway had to be cleared for thepassing of the remains. Besides therabbi, an Episcopal priest and Presby-terian minister officiated. If there isany doubt that he was an “Unrecon-structed Rebel” — look at his monu-ment, one that his family erectedbecause of his wishes and their pride inhim and the Confederacy.

After doing this research, I tried tofind descendents of this honorable manstill living today. I have been told thatnone remains. Who, then, can speakfor Jacob Samuels in this world? Isthere no one or nothing? LOOK ATTHE MONUMENT!!!!!!!

The writer drew hevily on thesesources: Juliet George Dees, “PantherCity Patriarch”, 1978 paper to theSouthern Jewish Historical Society; 31July 1989; National Archives, JacobSamuels. Card #’s 50443470, 3511; MackWilliams, Ft. Worth News Tribune, In OldFt. Worth April 11, 1986 p 12a; PublicWelfare; Ft. Worth Daily Democrat,November 21, 1876; Beth-El Congrega-tion Archives, Fort Worth; Charles RPerkins; History of Fort Worth Lodge No.148, A.F. &A.M. 1957, p 113

Fort Worth Pioneers are shown c. 1905,seated left to right: Jacob Samuels and Sam

Woody; standing: Joseph C. TerrellAmon Carter Museum


My paternal grandfather, OscarRubin, was born in Russia and settledwith his family in Connecticut at theend of the nineteenth century. Whenhe was about 21, he traveled with hisolder brother to Texas by train. Thebrothers rented a wagon and tradedwith the farmers in south Texas. TheRubins bartered with the farmers,trading pots and pans for butter, eggs,and produce which they later sold intowns around Houston. One day,Oscar Rubin fell off the wagon andbroke his arm (leg?). His brother lefthim with a German family thatunderstood his Yiddish. He decided tostay in South Texas and started hisown trading business. There is analternate family story that Oscarentered the country throughGalveston, served in the SpanishAmerican War and that the records ofhis service were lost in the GalvestonFlood of 1900.

My paternal great grandmother,Rivka, was married to Ben-TzionRosner and had five daughters. Thefamily lived near the town ofMunkatch in Austria/Hungry. Theoldest daughter was Sara who was tobe my grandmother. The otherdaughters were Esther, Ella, Rose andLilly. When Ben-Tzion Rosner died,Rivka married David Berkowitz(Berkovics) and had one son, Harry,in Europe. Berkowitz came to the USto start a new life and establish theFort Worth German Bakery in FortWorth. He sent for Rivka as soon aspossible. On March 19, 1901, Rivkaand her six children arrived inGalveston, Texas, on a ship called“Borkum” from Austria/Hungary.They were among the few passengerswho intended to come to Texasbecause at that time the New YorkJewish community was flooded withimmigrants and most Jewish immi-grants were diverted to Galveston.

The Rubin and Steinberg Families Get to TexasBy Sherwin Rubin

My paternal grandmother, Sarawas about 12 when she arrived inGalveston with her family. She andsome of her sisters were put to workin Houston Jewish households askitchen helpers. Their mother hopedthat her daughters would have a betterchance of finding Jewish husbands inHouston than in Fort Worth, were shewas heading to join her husband. Saramet my grandfather who was almost30 , selling eggs door to door, andunmarried. She married him to get outof the indentured servitude. Hersisters also married in Texas. Esthermarried Joe Oshman in Richmond,Ella married Dave Carshon in FortWorth, and Rose married LeonAbbovitz in Wharton. Lilly did notsurvive past young-adulthood.

My father, Ben Rubin was born inHouston, Texas on March 11, 1904 toOscar and Sara Rubin. His paternalgrandmother, Rivka and her husband,David Berkowitz, were running thebakery in Fort Worth. In 1906, whileRivka was pregnant with anotherchild , David Berkowitz was killed inan accident when the horse pulling hisbakery wagon was frightened by atrain whistle. After his death, Rivkagave birth in Fort Worth to a secondson, and named him “David” after hisfather. Rivka was a very religiouswoman, who felt that Fort Worth wasnot a place to raise her Jewish sons.She wanted them to receive a reli-gious education. Rivka decided totake her two small sons Harry andDavid, back to Austria/Hungarywhere she still had a vineyard. In1906, Rivka sent for her oldestdaughter, Sara, and Sara’s husband,Oscar, to bring their child Ben andcome to Fort Worth to take over theFort Worth German Bakery. Bengrew up in the Fort Worth bakery,accompanying his father on breaddeliveries to the stockyard area homes

on Fort Worth’s old North Side.They also had a good businessfurnishing bread to the many bars andchili parlors in downtown Fort Worth.Rivka and her sister, Ella, operatedthe bakery until her health failed andthey sold the bakery. After thebakery was sold, Ella and her hus-band, Dave Carshon, opened adelicatessen on Main Street that isnow operating under new ownershipon McCart Street.

Back in Europe, Rivka sent hertwo sons, Dave and Harry, to yeshiva,and was considered a leader in hersmall Jewish community. The localprayer minyan met in her home formany years until the day a fist fighterupted over a religious argument.Rivka asked the men to meet else-where, but she later donated themoney to build a synagogue in thevillage. There is another story, told byDave Berkowitz, about the time hismother (Rivka Rosner Berkowitz)died. Her older son, Harry took theentire inheritance from his mother’sestate, forcing Dave to leave Austria/Hungary and return to the US wherehe was already a citizen. Harry andthe rest of that family died in theHolocaust.

My mother, Gertrude Steinbergwas born in Toledo, Ohio, on Febru-ary 2, 1904. Her parents were Evaand Bernard Steinberg. My mother’sfamily came to Toledo from Russia.Gerturde’s paternal grandparents,were very observant Jews. Aftersettling with their family in Ohio,Fanny and Louis Steinberg made thedecision to live the remainder of theirlives in Jerusalem. In about 1908,they migrated to Palestine where theysettled in the old city of Jerusalem,helping the young Jews who longedto establish a Jewish life there. Duringthe fighting of WW I, they gave away

Continued on Page 11


Saddam Hussein and George W.Bush meet in Baghdad for the firstround of talks in a new peace pro-cess. When George sits down, henotices three buttons on the side ofSaddam’s chair.

They begin talkin. After aboutfive minutes, Saddam presses thefirst button. A boxing glove springsout of a box on the desk and punchesBush in the face.

Confused, Bush carries on talkingas Saddam laughs. A few minuteslater, the second button is pressed.This time, a big boot comes out andkicks Bush in the shin.

Again, Saddam laughs, and againBush carries on talking, not wantingto put off the bigger issue of peacebetween the two countries. But whenthe third button is pressed, andanother boot comes out and kicksBush in the stomach, knocking thewind out of him, he’s finally hadenough.

“I’m going back home!” he tells theIraqi. “We’ll finish these talks in twoweeks!”

A fortnight passes and Saddam fliesto the US to meet with Bush again. Asthe two men sit down, Hussein noticesthree buttons on Bush’s chair andprepares himself for the yank’s re-venge.

They begin talking and Bushpresses the first button. Saddamducks, but nothing happens. Georgesnickers.

A few seconds later, he presses thesecond button. Saddam jumps up, butagain, nothing happens. Bush roarswith laughter.

When the third button is pressed,Saddam jumps up again, and againnothing happens. Bush falls on thefloor in a fit of hysterics.

“Forget this,” says Saddam. “I’mgoing back to Baghdad!”

Dubya says through tears oflaughter, “What Baghdad?”

Laugh Line_________________From the Intermountain Jewish News, August 3, 2001

almost all of their supplies to theyounger pioneers, nearly starvingthemselves to death. Both Fanny andLouis Steinberg died in 1917, andwere buried at the Mount of Olives.The Jordanians destroyed the cem-etery and used the headstones to buildwith after 1948. When the Israelistook back the land in 1967, MyronSteinberg found the grave sights andrebuilt the headstones during the1970’s. They are very impressivewith the names and dates shown inHebrew.

In about 1913, while living inToledo, my maternal grandmotherEva Shuffman Steinberg, contractedtuberculosis. Doctors in Ohio advisedthe family to move to Denver whereshe and her youngest daughter wereplaced in the National Jewish Hospi-tal. Grandmother Eva died in about

1916, and is buried in Denver.Grandfather Bernard moved hisfamily to Texas where he worked as asupervisor in a garment factory.Around 1925, he started his ownfactory located above a mortuary onWeatherford Street in Fort Worth butbefore it was financially stable, hedied of heart disease. My motherGertrude and her brother, OscarSteinberg, tried to keep the factorygoing, but they were forced to close.The banks said that they were tooyoung to establish credit.

My father Ben married my motherGertrude and they took the space andequipment left to open MaybelleSportswear in 1927. Their women’ssportswear business was very suc-cessful. Their customers includedmany small Jewish operated storesacross the country and the nationalchain of J.C. Penney. One of their

biggest customers was LeonardBrothers in Fort Worth. Ben had aclose relationship with both Marvinand O.B. Leonard and he had permis-sion to stock his own merchandise intheir downtown store. The Leonardshired a new manager from NewYork, who objected to Ben’s practiceof checking store inventories eachday and replacing stock that had beensold. He told Ben that he mustpersonally approve all merchandiseplaced in his store. Ben had a hottemper and he picked up all of hisdresses from Leonard’s. When oneof the brothers met Ben in the barber-shop he asked how business wasgoing. Ben told him that he no longerhad dresses at Leonard’s because ofthe problem with the new manager.When Ben got back to the office thenew manager was waiting for himand begging him to come back. Hesaid, “Mr. Leonard said that anyonewho couldn’t get along with BenRubin, couldn’t get along with him.”

Gertrude and Ben retired at the ageof 48 to devote the rest of their livesto family and friends. They celebratedtheir 66th wedding anniversary beforemy mother, Gertrude , died in 1993.My father, Ben, was interviewed forthe public TV program, COWTOWNMEMORIES, produced in Fort Worthin 1994, a year after the death ofGertrude. When he talked aboutcourting my mother at the old Casinoballroom at Lake Worth, about themusic they danced to and the songshe used to sing in her ear, a lot ofpeople were brought to tears. Ben wasstill telling rich and vivid tails of theold west until his death on January20, 2000.

This entire genealogy can betracked from the website of RichardAronoff at http://www.aronoff.com/genealogy.html. At last count, thewebsite had almost 10,000 nameslisted.

Rubin and Steinberg, Continued from Page 10


Deep in the heart of Texas (FortWorth, Texas, to be exact), an amazingand truly wonderful thing is occurring.Fifty-plus Jewish and Christian pro-Israel activists have formed a letter-writing coalition. No anti-Israel newspa-per article, either local, national, orinternational goes unanswered. In mostcases, no matter who has written theletter, it is sent in signed with a non-Jewish surname. Most of the Christiansinvolved don’t feel they are knowl-edgable enough about the establishmentof the state of Israel or the currentconflict to write the letters themselves,but are more than happy to sign theirnames to them.

Our group started in 1997 whenmany of us worked together putting onthe Anne Frank in the World” exhibi-tion. After the exhibit ended, friend-ships had been formed between ourtwo faith communities that we didn’twant to lose. In 1998, we started agroup called “Yad B’Yad” (Hebrewfor “Hand in Hand”). Originally, itwas intended for Christians to makethem more knowledgable about their“Jewish roots;” but very quickly, ourmembership has changed to bothChristians and Jews (at present wehave 128 families involved). NOTE:We are sorry to confess we do dis-criminate though – our Jewish mem-bers are not allowed to pay dues. Wemeet every other month with speakerson various Jewish topics.

In September when the Intifadastarted, our focus became more activistoriented. Until then, we had just beeninvolved in such endeavors as staffingwater stations along the seven-mileroute when the Torah was moved fromdowntown to the new Beth-El locationon Hulen, waiting tables for suchevents as Israel’s Independence Day,working the blood drive for the JewishFederation, etc. Now, with all theanti-Israel bias in the media, wedecided that (in contrast to the lack of

action within the Church during theHolocaust) this time, we would not besilent.

Posy McMillen, our resident internetfreak, monitors eight Israeli newsstations a day (receiving 80-90 newsalerts a day). She then culls out the mostimportant and forwards them on to the150 people on her e-mail list. As she isalso on the list for CAMERA (Commit-tee For Accuracy In Middle EastReporting) and Honest Reporting – bothwatchdog groups for Israel – we are keptaware of any anti-Israel articles innational and international papers. Posy(who most likely, if she believed in pastlives, thinks she’s a cross between Joanof Arc and Paul Revere) then sends outthe alert, and the Fort Worth YadB’Yadders go into action.

Recently, a very antisemitic articlewas written by Bob Ray Sanders, aregular columnist, at the Fort Worth StarTelegram. Our Fort Worth coalitionswamped them with letters within thefirst few hours, and eighteen of ourletters were printed. We also have alarge Arab population in Arlington; soour “letters to the Editor” section getsmany pro-Palestinian letters. These areALWAYS countered quickly and withaccurate facts. As the editor of theJerusalem Post said: “Every letter aneditor receives represents 1,000people;”so it is imperative we speak upeven if our letters aren’t printed. Weknow we will not change the mind of abigot, but we are very aware there arelarge numbers of people out there whoare clueless about the Middle East.These are the people we hope to influ-ence.

We want to encourage other citiesto start groups like this. In Decemberof 2000, fourteen mainline churchessigned an anti-Israel declaration. Wefind this quite frightening, as shouldyou. For those of you who areinternet-savvy, don’t forward newsarticles about what is occuring in

Israel to JUST the Jewish community.As we Christians would say: “You’rejust preaching to the converted.”Send them to every non-Jew youknow! They are bombarded dailywith inaccurate and biased reportsfrom CNN, etc. which need to becounter-balanced by those of us awareof what is happening in the MiddleEast. It is important also to have a“hub” for your group who keeps filesdocumenting statistics and facts aboutIsrael so that you can write intelligent,fact-based letters, not emotional ones.Also, keep your letters short and tothe point.

One of the best sources on theinternet for Israeli news is www.imra.org.il (IMRA stands for Indepen-dent Media Research and Analysisand is run by Aaron Lerner, a Ph.D. inKfar Saba). You will receive accuratenews from here much sooner thanfrom other Israeli news sites. Anotherexcellent source of factual material foruse is Joan Peters’ book, FROMTIME IMMEMORIAL. Joan was afreelance journalist for CBS duringthe Yom Kippur War. After the war,she set out to write a pro-Palestinianbook. After seven years of research inArab and British archives, she did a180 degree turnabout and wrote thisbook. When it first came out in the‘80s, the Saudis purchased thousandsof copies to get it off the market. Ithas now been republished in paper-back form and is filled with quotesand documentation from Arab andBritish archives. Her book is a wealthof information for activists.

Footnote: Joan Peters will bespeaking in Fort Worth for Yad B’Yadon Tuesday, November 13 at 7:30 PM.B’nai B’rith will be co-sponsoring.For more information, call PosyMcMillen at 817-732-6735 or HarryKahn at 817-926-9337.

New Version of “Deep in the Heart of Texas”


Were grits a common side dish atyour southern Jewish table? DidJewish holiday meals include butterbeans and fresh tomatoes? Wererelatives expected to bring bagels andrye bread back home from New Yorkand other cities? Did you buy koshersupplies or Passover foods by mailorder or drive some distance to findthem? Were African American foodtraditions intermingled with yourJewish food traditions or strictlyseparated? Were the Settlement CookBook and Five Thousand Years in theKitchen, published by Temple Emanu-El’s sisterhood in Dallas, Texas, well-used cookbooks in your family’skitchen? Did the local shochet, orJewish butcher, work out of the PigglyWiggly grocery store? Did yourfamily have a trayfe basement, garage,or summer cottage where forbiddencrabs, barbecue and other southernspecialties were eaten? If any of thesescenarios feels familiar, your tastebuds were most likely shaped in theworld of the Jewish South!

Since the first arrival of SephardicJewish immigrants in the South duringthe late seventeenth and early eigh-teenth centuries, Jews have blendedtheir regional identity both as Jews andas Southerners through the foods theyeat, the holidays they celebrate, and theproducts they buy. I am researchingthis unique world for my doctoraldissertation, “Matzah Ball Gumbo,Gasper Goo Gefilte Fish, and BigMomma’s Kreplach: ExploringSouthern Jewish Foodways.” I amexamining how food defined daily lifefor southern Jews, from foods preparedin the home and the synagogue tofood-related businesses that Jews builtand patronized. These businessesinclude restaurants, grocery stores,caterers, butcher shops, bakeries, fishmarkets, liquor stores, summer camps,and resorts. My study focuses on

southern Jewish families and individu-als from 1900 to the present. Throughfoodways, I will explore how Jewsbecame part of southern life, and inthat process how they created auniquely rich chapter in AmericanJewish history.

If your congregation or if individualmembers and families within yourcommunity would like to add theirmemories to my study of southernJewish food traditions, please contactme either by e-mail,[email protected] or by tele-phone, 202-364-4088. My researchwill be integrally tied to on-goingwork at the College of Charleston’sJewish Heritage Collection in Charles-ton, South Carolina, and the Museumof the Southern Jewish Experience inUtica, Mississippi.

• I am conducting oral histories ofJewish Southerners regarding theirmemories of both southern andJewish cuisine and would behappy to receive any sugges-tions of people that shouldbe interviewed for thisproject.

• I am also researchinghistorical materials, such asfamily papers, synagoguerecords, newspapers andperiodicals for recipes,event/holiday menus, letters,diaries, memoirs, cookbookjournals, commerciallypublished cookbooks,community fundraisingcookbooks, advice manuals,prescriptive literature,special food-related objects suchas rolling pins, recipe boxes,Shabbat candlesticks, samovars,chicken soup-making pots, andphotographs of Jewish holidayobservances at home and in thesynagogue, Jewish food-relatedbusinesses, and Jewish life cycle

events, such as weddings, Bar andBat Mitzvahs. If you have histori-cal materials that you would like toshare for this research project,please contact me.

• If you would like to participate inthis research by filling out an e-mail survey on southern Jewishfoodways, just send me an e-mailrequest for this information [email protected].

I value your stories of southernJewish life and hope that I can includeyour family and community history inmy research. Thank you for yourconsideration of my request forinformation.

With very best regards,Marcie Cohen Ferris

5819 Potomac Ave., NWWash. DC 20016

(202) 364-4088;[email protected]

Ph.D. Candidate,American Studies Dept.

George Washington University

Matzah Ball Memories in the Jewish Southby Marie Cohen Ferris

The recipe box of Luba Tudor Cohen, theauthor’s Russian and Arkansas grand-

mother, and inspiration for her study onsouthern Jewish foodways.

Watch the next edition of yourNewsletter for a story on Mr.Bernard Rappaport of Waco -A man who repeated the storyof rags to riches — big time!


Biography of E. M. “Manny” Rosenthal(1922-2001)

E. M. “Manny” Rosenthal, retiredchairman of the Board of Standard MeatCompany of Fort Worth, Texas, diedJuly 25, 2001 of complications from along illness. Mr. Rosenthal, 79, was adistinguished member of the Fort Worthcommunity, actively involved in manyphilanthropic, religious, cultural andeducational endeavors.

Mr. Rosenthal worked in the familyhotel, restaurant and institutional meatsupply business after school andsummers while in junior high schooland until his graduation from Texas A& M College in 1943 when he enteredthe armed services as an officer in theU.S. Army. Upon his return in 1945,following over three years of WorldWar II service in North Africa andEurope, he rejoined the company andbecame its president in 1959 andchairman in 1965. Mr. Manny, as hismany epmolyees called him, retiredfrom Standard Meat Company inJanuary 1988.

While at Texas A & M in 1942, hewas editor of “The Battalion,” theUniversity newspaper and “TheBattalion Magazine,” and a member ofboth the Junior and Senior MeatsJudging Teams. He had continued hisclose relationship with the Universitythrough the A & M University SystemChancellor’s Century Council and theCampus Partners Program.

Mr. Rosenthal had served as vicechairman and honorary lifetime vice-chairman of the Union of AmericanHebrew Congregations. He also servedas president of the following organiza-tions: Fort Worth Symphony OrchestraAssociation, Beth-El Congregation,Jewish Federation of Fort Worth andTarrant County, Advisory Council ofthe College of Business at the Univer-sity of Texas at Arlingon, and the FortWorth Arthritis Foundation. In addi-tion, he had been co-chairman of theUnited Jewish Appeal-Southwest

Region and a member of the NationalCabinet of the United Jewish Appeal.Other organizations in which he servedas an officer or board member includethe following: The Modern Art Mu-seum of Fort Worth, Arts Council ofFort Worth and Tarrant County, VanCliburn Foundation, National Associa-tion of Meat Purveyors, College ofAgriculture Development Council ofTexas A & M University, North Ameri-can Board of the World Union forProgressive Judaism, Texas-IsraelExchange of the Texas Department ofAgriculture, and the For Worth Chapterof B’nai B’rith from which he receivedtheir award as Fort Worth Jewish man ofthe year in 1975. He was campaignchairman of the United Jewish Appealfor Fort Worth and Tarrant County fortwo terms and a charter board memberof Performing Arts Fort Worth. Helectured regularly at the University ofTexas at Arlington College of Businesswhere he also served as Executive-in-Residence.

Mr. Rosenthal was a past memberof the Young Presidents Organization(YPO) and an honorary member ofBeta Gamma Sigma Scholastic Societyfor Business Administration.

In 1987 Mr. Rosenthal received theDistinguished Alumnus Award fromTexas A & M University and theUniversity’s Association for FormerStudents. The Texas A & M Univer-sity System Board of Regents namedthe Rosenthal Meat Scince and Tech-nology Center for him and his wifeRosalyn Rosenthal in the same year.The Rosenthals, in conjunction withthe TAMU Board of Regents, estab-lished a Chair in Agriculture in 1987 atTexas A & M as well.

When Pope John Paul II visited theUnited States in 1987, Mr. Rosenthalwas a member of the North AmericanJewish Delegation that participated inthe historic meeting with the Pope in

Miami, Florida. During 1988, Mr.Rosenthal was selected as that year’srecipient of the Tarrant County(Texas) Chapter of the NationalConference of Christians and JewsBrotherhood Citation. In 1992, hebecame a member of the Board ofDirectors of the National Conferenceof Christians and Jews and receivedthe “Keeper of the Flame” award fromthe Union of American HebrewCongregations.

In 1994, the Fort Worth Chapter ofthe National Society of FundraisingExecutives named Mr. and Mrs.Rosenthal Philanthropists of the Year.In the same year, they were honoredby the Jewish Federation of FortWorth and Tarrant County with anaward acknowledging their generoussupport and devotion to the Jewishpeople. In 1995, they were presentedthe Award of Excellence by the TexasAssociation of Symphony Orchestras.In 1997, Mr. and Mrs. Rosenthalreceived the Maurice N. EisendrathBearer of Light Award, which is thehighest honor given by the Union ofAmerican Hebrew Congegations.

Mr. Rosenthal is survived by hiswife of 55 years, Rosalyn GrossRosenthal, his daughter and son-in-lawMarcia and John Mike Cohen of St.Louis, Missouri, his son and daughter-in-law, Billy and Rozanne Rosenthalof Fort Worth and five grandchildren:Erin and Chloe Cohen and Ashli,Benjamin and Madelyn Rosenthal.Two sisters also survive him, EstherRosenthal (married to John Benjamin)of Chicago, Illinois, and SylviaWolens (married to Jerry Wolens) ofBoca Raton, Florida.

Services were held at Beth-ElCongregation in Fort Worth. Contri-butions may be sent to the Beth-ElCongregation Endowment Fund or theMS Endowment Fund-Barnes JewishHospital in St. Louis, Missouri.


Hollace Weiner of Fort Worth, a long-time TJHS board member, is the au-thor of “Jewish Stars in Texas” whichchronicles some of our legendary LoneStar rabbis. She is president-elect of theSouthern Jewish Historical Society.

Back in 1994, I was content withmy career as a newspaper reportercovering cops, corruption, and occa-sional features on the local Jewishcommunity. Then Fay Brachman,president of the Texas Jewish Histori-cal Society, prodded me to research abook on Texas Jewry. Who wouldhave guessed that, seven years later,her suggestion would have turned mefrom a journalist into a historian andthe incoming president of the SouthernJewish Historical Society?

The transition began with twolengthy newspaper profiles — the firston the career of Rabbi Alex Kline (“AReverence for Art in Lubbock”), andthe second on Corpus Christi RabbiSidney Wolf (“Prophet in a NewFrontier”). These articles, written forthe Fort Worth Star-Telegram, werepublished at the same time that twohistorians with the Southern JewishHistorical Society were compiling ananthology about Southern rabbis’impact on the Civil Rights Movement.Juliet Dees George, who was thenactive in both the TJHS and the SJHS,put those two historians in touch withme. With their guidance, the newspa-per article on Rabbi Sidney Wolf wasexpanded into a chapter published inThe Quiet Voices: Southern Rabbisand Black Civil Rights (U. of Ala.Press, 1997).

The editors of Quiet Voices, bothmembers of the SJHS board, were notfinished with me.

The Southern Jewish HistoricalSociety seeks to explore how Jewssettled across the American South andbecame an integral yet distinct minor-ity within the region. The organization

The Road from Journalism to Jewish Historical SocietyBy Hollace Ava Weiner

broadly defines the South as the 14states extending from Maryland andWest Virginia to Texas. The SJHS hada network of scholarly researchers inVirginia, Kentucky, Florida, WestVirginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisi-ana, Mississippi, and the Carolinas.They had few Lone Star connectionsand needed a taste of Texas, especiallyfor their next project.

That upcoming project involvedAmerican Jewish History, the presti-gious journal published quarterly by theAmerican Jewish Historical Society.(Begun in the 1890s, American JewishHistory’s earliest issues include articleswritten by our esteemed Rabbi HenryCohen of Galveston.) For the fall andwinter of 1997, American JewishHistory planned to publish two issuesdevoted to Dixie.

My assignment was to write anessay titled, “The Mixers: The Role ofRabbis Deep in the Heart of Texas.”Unlike my earlier articles, this one hadto be more than mere biographicaldata. The editors wanted to know howthe development of the Texas rabbin-ate differed from its evolution else-where in the South and other regions.In what ways was the Texas rabbinateinnovative? Why did Texas’ Jewishinstitutions develop later than else-where in the South? Was anti-Semitism in Texas greater or less thanelsewhere and why?

Researching the journal article tooka year. Writing and revising it tookanother six months. (The remunera-tion, I might add, was zero.) Thereward was a byline in AmericanJewish History’s September, 1997,issue and a congratulatory phone callfrom Rabbi Jimmy Kessler, co-founderof the TJHS.

By this juncture in my career,journalism was feeling superficial, likethe “rough draft of history.” I was eagerto delve deeper than today’s headlines. I

took a leave of absence from the news-paper and never returned.

In the autumn of 1997, the TexasJewish and the Southern Jewishhistorical societies held a joint meetingin Hot Springs, Ark. The contrastsbetween the two organizations wereevident. The TJHS is more involved atthe grassroots level gathering oralhistories and personal recollections andpreserving Jewish landmarks. TheSouthern Jewish Historical Society ismore academic. It seeks to document,verify, and footnote oral histories andto quote personal recollections inarticles, essays, and books that relay aperspective on Jewish activitiesthroughout the region. It gets historyinto books and documentaries.

The historians and lay people in theregional group became my academicmentors. They sent reference letterswhen I applied for research fellow-ships at the American Jewish Archivesand for graduate school at the Univer-sity of Texas, Arlington. They pro-vided expertise, encouragement, andprecedents when I embarked on apreservation project in Fort Worth. Forme, the past seven years have been anintriguing journey. I have moved fromone career field to another and broad-ened my perspective, from Lone Starto regional.

As I prepare to become SJHSpresident, another joint meeting of ourtwo societies is planned. The settingand time will be next year in Shreve-port, October 25-27, 2002. TheSouthern’s annual meeting willcoincide with our Texas group’squarterly board meeting. Helen Wilkof Corpus Christi, our immediate past-president, is on the programmingcommittee.

Please plan to participate (and toparty) in Shreveport next fall when ourtwo groups reconvene. Please join meon this journey into our past.


Texas Jewish Historical Society 2001-2002

Officers

Jack Gerrick (Fort Worth) ............................................................... PresidentCharles Hart (Temple) ............................................................ Vice-PresidentMitzi Milstein (Longview) ...................................................... Vice-PresidentCynthia Wolf (Beaumont) ....................................................... Vice-PresidentBen Pfeffer (Houston) .....................................................................TreasurerVickie Vogel (La Grange) .............................................. Recording SecretaryBeverly Beck (Houston) .......................................... Corresponding SecretaryMarvin Rich (Houston) ........................................................ ParliamentarianBlanche Sheiness (Houston) ............................................................ HistorianHoward Lackman (Arlington) .......................................................... Archivist

Board Members 2001-2003Elaine Albin (Rockport)Dorothy Borschow (El Paso)Roy Elsner (Odessa)Dorothy Harelik (Hamilton)Ruth Heidenheimer (Cisco)Leo Hoffman (Dallas)Rosalind Horwitz (Beaumont)Ed Katten (Waco)Sylvia Gayle Klein (McAllen)Sherman Kusin (Austin)

Annette Lackman (Arlington)Marvin Leshin (Corpus Christi)Selma Mantel (Houston)R. D. Moses (Fort Worth)Louis Pink (Houston)Nancy Polunsky (San Angelo)Ralph Robinowitz (Dallas)Don Schlossberg (The Woodlands)Merilee Weiner (Houston)Sherry Zander (Dallas)

Board Members 2000-2002Norman Albert (McAllen)James Alexander (Dallas)Doris Epstein (Laredo)Walter Fein (San Antonio)Buddy Freed (Fort Worth)Ima Joy Gandler (Waco)Mickey Graubart (Houston)Kay Goldman (College Station)Dave Hoff (Midland)Goldye Levi (Dallas)

Patti Maltz (Austin)Rusty Milstein (Longview)Cynthia Mondell (Dallas)Herman Morris (Fort Worth)Berta Schlesinger (McAllen)Louis Sokol (Houston)Max Stool (Del Rio/San Antonio)Mimi Toubin (Brenham)Hollace Weiner (Fort Worth)Edward Winkler (Fort Stockton)


Share the Pleasure ofHistorical Texas Synagogues

with Someone Special!Send Historical Texas Synagogues note cards when corresponding with friends or relatives.

Each pack contains color prints, two each of five different synagogues - 10 cards and 10 envelopes.

Package A contains:Temple Beth-El, CorsicanaTemple Mizpah, AbileneTemple Freda, BryanTemple Beth Israel, San AngeloSchwarz Family Synagogue, Hempstead

Package B contains:B’nai Israel, GalvestonTemple Emanuel, BeaumontB’nai Abraham Synagogue, BrenhamSinai Hebrew Congregation, JeffersonB’nai Israel, Victoria

Order FormName: ______________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address: ______________________________________________________________

City: _______________________________ State: ______________ Zip:_________________

Telephone: (_______)__________________

Quantity: _______Pack A @ $10.85 each _______Pack B @ $10.85 each

Discount to shops (40%)

Shipping: 1-5 packs: $3; 6-10 packs: $4; Over 10 add $ .50 per pack

Total Enclosed: $____________________

Make check or money order payable to: The Texas Jewish Historical Society and send it with this form to:TJHS, c/o Charles B. Hart, 2509 Redwing Drive, Temple, TX 76502. Allow 4-6 weeks delivery. Retail shops receive

a 40% discount with a minimum order of any 10 packs. A Texas Resale Certificate must be included with order.


Welcome New Members!July 26, 2001 - October 3, 2001

Appel, Jerry & Sheril, 6900 ChurchPark Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76133,817-939-6713

Aron, Hertzel & Dorita, 5315 SouthBraeswood Blvd., Houston, TX77096, 713-723-3352

Astrich, Steve, 1201 Westheimer Rd.,Ste. F, Houston, TX 77006,281-499-7105

Astrich, Sara, 7517 Brompton St.,Houston, TX 77025, 713-665-3729

Atlas, Morris & Rita, 1600 W. IrisAve., McAllen, TX 78501,956-686-4780

Barenblat, Marvin and Liana, P. O.Box 6815, San Antonio, TX 78209

Baum, Kenneth & Sandra, 4704Springwillow Rd., Fort Worth, TX76109, 817-738-2044

Blitzer, Todd and Andrea, 5205Evergreen St., Bellaire, TX 77401

Bounds, Jane and Daniel,5100 Lockwood, Waco, TX 76710,254-772-0975

Brackman, Dorothy W., 2929 PostOak Blvd., Houston, TX 77056.713-623-8076

Brin, Philip, P. O. Box 106,Longview, TX 75606, 903-758-5554

Burke, Richard & Ellen F., 4200Green Oak Dr., Waco, TX 76710,254-776-8425

Burstein, Maynard & Leah, 12502Chateau Forest Ln., San Antonio,TX 78230, 210-492-6261

Calodney, Aaron, 17909 CRRT 132,Flint, TX 75762

Carb, Mrs. Ann, 4203 ClearLake Cir., Fort Worth, TX 76109,817-923-3286

Carb-Fagan, Rita, 12110 PleasantTree Dr., Little Rock, AR 72211,501-224-0290

Faigin, Dr. Al, 5703 Westcreek Dr.,Fort Worth, TX 76133817-294-0731

Feit, Paul, 198 Quail Run, Odessa, TX79761, 915-368-7538

Feld, Edgar & Debbie,4400 Westridge Ave., Fort Worth,TX 76116, 817-829-7741

Feld, Russ & Luann, 4479 SweetgumWay, Fort Worth, TX 76133,817-263-4005

Franklin, Rabbi Wayne & Ann,130 Upton Ave., Providence, RI02906, 401-273-1342

Freidkin, Steven, 1131 East PalmaireAve., Phoenix, AZ 85020,602-248-7827

Friedberg, Ruth, 6500 E. Ridge Rd.#149, Odessa, TX 79762

Friedman, Stan & B.J., 811 PattersonAve., Austin, TX 78703,512-428-1930

Friedman, Edythe, 6410 Mesa Dr.,Austin, TX 78731, 512-345-0029

Gachman, Leon & Eleanor, 4324Hartwood Cr., Fort Worth, TX76109, 817-924-8889

Gilbert, Mr. & Mrs. Harris,245 Ensworth Pl., Nashville, TN37205, 615-292-3173

Goodwin, Dan, P. O. Box 155,Hubbard, TX 76648, 254-786-2523

Greenberg, Marvin and Sylvia,7367 Blairview, Dallas, TX 75230,214-363-6059

Hendelman, Mrs. Ruth, 3816 LandsEnd, Fort Worth, TX 76109,214-328-8447

Hochster, Mrs. Hanna, 4816 WillowRun Ct., Fort Worth, TX 76132,817-294-0055

Isgur, Benjamin & Shoshana, 19365th Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76110

Jacobson, Sally, 4420 Live Oak,Waco, TX 76710, 254-752-4638

Jacobson, Rose, 3852 Austin Ave.,Waco, TX 76710, 254-752-4638

Kanter, Jay & Nancy, P. O. Box797952, Dallas, TX 75379,972-248-8882

Katz, Howard and Joan,5916 Cypress Point Dr., Fort Worth,TX 76132, 817-361-9687

Kaye, Stephen and Valerie, 2832 Oakbriar Tr., Fort Worth, TX76109

Klein, Felice S., 2900 Broadmoor Dr.,Bryan, TX 77802, 979-774-7501

Kornreich, Peggy, 415 RamblewoodRd., Houston, TX 77079,281-497-2853

Lamensdorf, Dr. Hugh & Louise,1300 W. Terrell Ave., Suite #405,Fort Worth, TX 76104,817-738-1428

Leff, Peggy & Bruce Smith,26139 Timberline Dr., San Antonio,TX 78258

Lipsitz, Melvin, P. O. Box 1175,Waco, TX 76703

Livingston, Alan, P. O. Box 573102,Houston, TX 77257, 713-932-6748

Mandle, Louis I. & Adrienne, 1209Knallpark Cr., Austin, TX 78758,512-872-8750

Naman, Virginia & Jay, 3200Wooded Acres, Waco, TX 76710,284-776-67633

Nemzin, William & Lou Beth,10811 Briar Branch Ln., Houston,TX 77024, 713-461-5777

Nussbaum, Julius & Joan, 1715 ParkSt, Greenville, TX 75401,903-450-4707

Pluss, Steven and Pam, 5916Glendora Ave., Dallas, TX 75230

Polunsky, Sylvan & Carol,2601 Parkview Dr., San Angelo, TX76904, 915-949-5542

Pomerantz, Dr. & Mrs. Seymour,59 Serini, Apt. #8, Rehovot, TX76240

Pozez, Jerry & Deidra, 5901 CypressPoint Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76132

Rabushka, Aaron, 3400 WesternCenter Blvd. Apt. #1020, FortWorth, TX 76137, 817-306-9748

Continued on Page 19


Texas Jewish Historical Society Donor CardsThis card is available for anyone

wishing to honor or memorialize anindividual through our endowmentfund. Upon receipt of your gift, theSociety will respond with thisacknowledgement. To the memberswho have sent in funds in the past,thank you on behalf of TJHS. To allthose who will send funds in the future,please send your gift to:

Texas Jewish Historical SocietyP.O. Box 10193Austin, TX 78766-0193

The Texas Jewish Historical Societygratefully acknowledges your gift to our

Endowment Fundof $ ______________

in ___________ of________________________________________

An acknowledgement has been sent to the party you specified.

Your gift will further the efforts to record, preserve and dissemi-nate historic information about the Jewish culture in Texas.

Have Exhibit, Will TravelThe Texas Jewish Historical Society, in cooperation with the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio,

has designed an exhibit to be used as an educational tool for schools, Sunday Schools, Jewish CommunityCenters, Synagogues, Temples and Special Events in any town or city in Texas.

The exhibit depicts the journey of Jews in tiny vllages and schtetls in Europe to America and their even-tual settlement in the communities of Texas. Itshows families, businesses, homes, children,religion and holidays.

The exhibit is designed to be either hung onwalls or set up on tables on foam board with aneasel stand. The entire exhibit comes in twoboxes, weighs 40 pounds, and can be shippedvery easily via UPS. There is no charge for theexhibit and the only cost is the return chargesvia UPS.

To reserve the exhibit, along with a speaker,contact Jack Gerrick at 817-927-8765.

Robinowitz, Ralph, 7149 BlairviewDr., Dallas, TX 75230,214-368-6228

Rosen, Keith, P. O. Box 1495,Bellaire, TX 77402, 713-382-0867

Rosenthal, Carol & Stephen,2900 Fireside Cir., Sioux Falls, SD57103, 605-371-0126

Rosenthal, Haskell & Judy,2215 Briar Branch Dr., Houston,TX 77042, 713-785-4278

Rubin, Harriett, 11 Rim Rd., Kilgore,TX 75662

Ruttenberg, Hilda Laura,5813 Mt. Rockwood Cr.,Waco, TX76710, 254-772-2712

Schoen, Mrs. Leta S., 4807 Pin OakPark #96, Houston, TX 77081

Sheinberg, Joseph L. and Ruth,249 Circle Dr., Corpus Christi, TX78411, 361-852-1485

Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Jerome,8 Ryder Ln., Lexington, MA 02321

Swiff, Harry I. & Reba,6335 W. Northwest Hwy., #1013,Dallas, TX 75225, 214-373-4067

Turner, Dr. Milton, 2603 Pecos,Austin, TX 78703, 512-472-8740,

Unell, Lucille & Bernard,3901 Old Mill Rd., Waco, TX76710, 254-776-4480

New Members, Continued from Page 18


Texas JewishHistorical SocietyP.O. Box 10193Austin, Texas 78766-0a193

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDFORT WORTH, TX

PERMIT 4161

Texas Jewish Historical Society Annual MembershipmYES! I am enclosing my dues payment to the Texas Jewish Historical Society for the 2001 membership year.

I am a m New Member m Renewing Member

m $36 - Annual Member m $50 - Supporting Member m $100 - Sponsorm $250 - Sustaining Member m $500 - Benefactor m $1,000 - Patron

Name: ______________________________________________________________________________

Name of Spouse: ___________________________________ Maiden Name: ______________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________________ State: ______________ Zip: _____________

Home telephone: (________)________________________ Fax: (________)________________________

E-mail address(es): _____________________________________________________________________

Contributions to the Texas Jewish Historical Society are tax deductible within the limits of the law.Please clip and send with your check to: TJHS, P.O. Box 10193, Austin, TX 78766-0193

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