00:00:01.390 - 00:00:21.520

Charter member of this congregation and served as the 7th president. Um I'm now 83 years of age just bordering on it had served as secretary of Beth Israel for some eight or nine years before continuing on as a board member Uh three or 4 years after

00:00:21.520 - 00:00:38.790

that. Many of the things which I know and saw with my own eyes and participated in are not in the book that Ruth Cohen wrote and tried to give the story of the rebellion of the secession of whatever you wanna call it. Many of the

00:00:38.790 - 00:00:55.090

things happen on the streets of Houston. Many of the things were thought to be smothered and completely extirpated from all the records and it's good that it did because there's no no sense of having any wrinkle. I'm the last person on earth to hold any wrinkle

00:00:55.100 - 00:01:12.740

because as I look at this congregation, it was a God given opportunity. Where would the Jews of Houston be today? If there hadn't been Emanu-El? Population, Jewish population in this town has probably doubled although the, they won't admit it when they get to work out

00:01:12.750 - 00:01:31.510

the pledge cards. The U. J. A. Which is just as well too. But we need to, if you add up the combined obligations of several congregations, I'm talking about financial obligations, the Jewish Community Center in the home for the aged and the Family Service, all those

00:01:31.510 - 00:01:50.940

things- add the debt, combined debts and you've got about $10 or $15 million. It takes money to take people and people is what we're talking about. Background wise, let me say to you that we came to Houston in January 1903, it'll be 75 years

00:01:50.940 - 00:02:09.250

in January. I peddled papers in my kid days. I was only eight when we came here. I was born in Luling which was a little mecca Luling at the time of my birth had a good 75 Jewish families. And between Houston and San Antonio, there's only

00:02:09.250 - 00:02:30.890

one town where the Jews had any recognition and that was in Luling. I have tintype pictures of members of my family myself included. We came to Houston because of a peculiar incident that occurred in our family. My sister Anne uh you know, affection players and and

00:02:30.890 - 00:02:49.880

I suppose that Lewis and an L. And Cookie's mother was a schoolteacher. She graduated from high school in looking at the age of 16. Sadie Epstein was one of her co graduates. She had a one room school about 16, 18 miles from Gonzalez in the country

00:02:49.880 - 00:03:09.610

town known as Montella. Most of the teachers, most of the pupils were either Bohemian or German and they knew Jews only because the priests told him to stay away from Jews Jews were no nos and she had to teach everything from A. B. C. S in

00:03:09.610 - 00:03:24.920

the first grade to simple ciphering and and the percentages in the fifth grade and all the way up to American history in the 10th grade and get it all in everyday terms. Well there was a young man, about 15 or 16 years old who towered over

00:03:24.920 - 00:03:41.050

her just like the number building towers over the church on the corner and she sought to reprimand him to direct them and do something and he drew a knife on him and he's about ready to use it. He retreated and he stopped when she came home

00:03:41.050 - 00:04:06.530

over the weekend. Told my mother, she told my daddy and he said we got to get out of here. This is no place for us. That happened in the fall of 191. Gonzalez. My dad was never poor man. He was never a gambler. He took things

00:04:06.530 - 00:04:28.530

as he came. He gambled on my mother and it paid off big nine years of married life. She was 86 when she died. I lived in 11 years, he was 79 when he died in 1935. The background into which I was born is very unusual. My

00:04:28.530 - 00:04:42.230

mother and father married, she was 16 and he was 20, her father was a rabbi and his father was a rabbi. And on her mother's side there were rabbis. Also incidental Rabbi Kahn knows a lot of this history I'm giving you because he's in the same

00:04:42.230 - 00:05:05.520

thing. Mhm My grandfather on my mother's side couldn't make a living as a rabbi because he had to have Jewish customers and the Jewish customers didn't have any money in order to supplement that right that income that he didn't have Grandmother and Aunt Annie Annie Annie

00:05:05.520 - 00:05:22.890

Nathan, Legal Lake. My mother's senior sister by four years. They ran a little bakery. Now this is cut that off and I'll tell you something, I don't want this to go in the book. I don't mind y'all hearing it. Grandmother Nathan was a widow When she

00:05:22.890 - 00:05:42.210

was about 52 years of age and she had six daughters at home, all of whom were of marriageable age, all of whom were good looking and, and and could have married if there had been an opportunity. But you must remember that the period I'm talking about

00:05:42.210 - 00:05:57.600

historically was a period of great depression in the Eastern Europe Poland had been dismembered not once, not twice, but three times by the three great powers of Austria and Russia and Prussia. So the best that girls could do was to get married if they could. Bill

00:05:57.600 - 00:06:19.910

Andrew tells you the whole story, none of the girls ever had trouble. None of the boys ever had. Despite the fact that grandma was running a hotel on the border With soldiers every 25 yards, what have you? 50 ft? Because the border was tightly tightly guarded.

00:06:19.920 - 00:06:41.520

Much more so than the border between Mexico and Texas is this fair day, All the boys and all the girls came to United States except one. And I'll tell you about her in a minute. Uh Well, what brought them to Luling Texas. My mother had a

00:06:41.530 - 00:07:01.150

brother, Uncle Hyman, who is the He had already established himself. He came to Luling about 10, 12 years before my Daddy did and he was 10-12 years older. Now that's on the Klan smith side. My mother was a Klan smith, but my aunt Annie, it was

00:07:01.160 - 00:07:20.490

my mother's sister, she was a clan smith and she was married to. Uncle Julius was my daddy's brother. Two sisters married two brothers. Yeah. Now Luling was a natural break in transportation. There is a natural unloading place. Remember the farmers in those days were not cattle

00:07:20.490 - 00:07:37.310

raisers. They raised very little cotton because it had a sad experience with cotton in the Civil War, when there was no market for it as a result of the blockade that were being imposed by the, by the United States Navy, on the British fleet. The British

00:07:37.320 - 00:08:00.120

British ships when they come to pick up, there were no highways and there were no fences and the fact that there were no fences led to the tragic period in Texas history known as the yeah, as the, what do you call these things, barbed wire barbed

00:08:00.120 - 00:08:21.990

wire barbed wire fence war. Their plan is what they were, had wide open spaces to graze their own cattle. But when they drive the stock from Brownsville area of Eagle Pass area up to Abilene Kansas making a wide swat Chisholm Chisholm trail. You know that story.

00:08:22.520 - 00:08:39.480

uh the cattle sometimes as many as 100,000 and one drive, taking maybe three or four months to go from one point to the other where they had to go, they trample everything to pieces. The farmers that could stop it so they put up their barbwire fences.

00:08:40.130 - 00:08:53.060

The uh wire clipper was the use so the cowboys clipped it, the clip, defense ability cattle through. The next time that happened, the farmers were out there with their shotguns. How many people feel? I don't know, I don't know the statistics and I can tell you

00:08:53.060 - 00:09:09.050

that arranged for about eight or 10 years. My father was caught in that economic situation So much so that when he came over here with 35 cents in his pocket, it went a long way because in less than a year's time he had enough money and

00:09:09.050 - 00:09:20.590

sent her Mama, she wouldn't come another year. He had more twice that much. She still wouldn't come, she didn't come until he and he sent her tickets. He didn't tell her, he didn't tell her to come. He sent her a ticket in those days, tickets went

00:09:20.590 - 00:09:40.480

before the person he bought the tickets. North German Lloyd are another German land. It'll come to me mama wouldn't come. She want to come to Texas, she had her wild stories about Texas, they all Texans had horns, they carried guns in their boots. They didn't keep

00:09:40.480 - 00:09:58.750

kosher, they didn't have shoes. Older uncle uncle William, I mean uncle Simon did. He was quite appears quite a man in his in his day. She finally came. Now that is in 1879, 1879 when my mother came to the United States and she was just 18

00:09:58.750 - 00:10:19.720

years of age and she had been married for over two years and she she never saw her father or her mother again. Last time she saw them now. Uncle, Uncle William, the oldest of the boys, oldest Children on my mother's side, he was a rabbi in

00:10:19.720 - 00:10:40.460

Detroit. But here again, what the rabbi do? Reform Jews weren't there? The Orthodox users, they were coming in today and going tomorrow. They're trying to make a living and all they could do is have a thomas have a she offered to provide, uh, meet indicate the

00:10:40.470 - 00:10:53.810

chickens slaughtered the animals such as that as sweets. And since he started his own eyes, most of the stuff that I'm telling you, I saw when I was a little boy, when I take chickens down to Mr Harris is down on 2nd 100 block of Hamilton's

00:10:53.810 - 00:11:09.390

street at five o'clock in the morning. We lived in 19 5 bell. There's a lot of these things should be telling them and it was wet and it was cold as always in a bunch of paper dark as the dickens. I'd walk the middle of sweet

00:11:09.390 - 00:11:31.440

pistol. Nothing I could do. I got home to her though because I had school go to anyway, the growth of the towns was in proportion as the immigration laws were favorable and permissive and with those things, the Jews had absolutely nothing at all to do? None

00:11:31.440 - 00:11:58.320

of the wealthy, Jewish people, Jewish families. Lazarus is and stilettos and wise is and Warburg's and no, I'll read them shift the new york jews read the read Birmingham's book out crowd and you'll get all the names you want. And the pattern was uniform. Everyone did

00:11:58.320 - 00:12:13.200

the same thing from the back on the back because the wagon with one horse to the wagon with two horses and then with four horses and then carrying his own tint and then carrying his own cook and then opening a little store in the country where

00:12:13.200 - 00:12:30.030

he had no chance. Barry Goldwater tells you to start his memoirs of his grandparents and I've seen it with my own eyes catchments, father jake grosses father, remember how they used to go around the neighborhood pedaling. The Germans have got the best word for peddling. You

00:12:30.030 - 00:12:46.100

can imagine how zero means to go from house to house. That's right, that's what they did. That's what they did. It's expressive German accepted an unimaginative language but but they sure hit it on the on the head with that when you came to Houston we came

00:12:46.100 - 00:13:08.080

here. Did you uh did your family have an interest in being part of a synagogue? Was there one here. sure there was a reform Beth Israel was here. But this was found in 18 1854. They celebrate their 10th anniversary in 1954. They were here. That's the

00:13:08.080 - 00:13:34.320

oldest congregation in Texas. Is that correct? That is not correct. That is not correct. What is maybe Victoria? I'm not sure. Oh, My brother bud and I were both sent to down on Hamilton and Preston back in 194, before the railroad moved in. Had an old

00:13:34.400 - 00:13:47.850

Mohammed there, the rabbi core. And I'll never forget it because hands were drawn like that. And the guy never had an idea and you had to follow what he said. And you had to read it out of the book. And if you didn't, you gotta. Oh

00:13:47.850 - 00:14:06.240

the knuckles with rule. So my brother, but I don't know if France large, you might remember but said I'm not gonna do it. I'm I'm gonna stay away. Well don't you tell mama? So I didn't tell mama but she suspected something. Soc asked bud, did he

00:14:06.240 - 00:14:24.970

go to Haiti this afternoon? Said no yesterday. No. Why? Os will he'll tell you bud was a stubborn because he was a great guy. One of the greatest minds I've ever known. Honestly, he could figure he could figure in his head arithmetic. Take you half an

00:14:24.970 - 00:14:42.590

hour to put a farmer on the board. He had just that quick impact on his head. Too bad. It didn't turn into properly and he could have been a great, a great computer uh competitor because he could beat the computers really. Anyway, she hates me. I

00:14:42.590 - 00:14:59.420

was not good. I told her so she she said tell your daddy when he comes home. So I came home I think he's making all $15 a week at that time. Working at Radar's down on Preston Avenue. Your father was around the corner I think I

00:14:59.420 - 00:15:18.310

know the gross ones around the corner. My daddy got home and my mother told me a story but now we both called in proper he can ask me any woman. He didn't want me to snitch on my brother. He wanted me to hear, he wanted me

00:15:18.310 - 00:15:35.830

to see. So he sent but came on in the room and joined my dad and me said they're getting money. He said what happened? He said what? That is. I didn't make out the letters right now and I didn't care to, I wasn't worried about setting

00:15:35.830 - 00:15:51.520

it said he'd strike me over the hands with knuckles. Where did you see what I suggest that is. It happened like bud said, I said exactly. Did advocate you and me two other boys also. So my daddy turned to my mother and said take out and

00:15:51.520 - 00:16:09.650

take will out to take them both out. She said that's what I want to leave Europe for. This is America that doesn't go somehow the smoke where are we going to go? Only one place to go about this and Beth Israel is down on Franklin and,

00:16:09.660 - 00:16:32.390

and Crawford at that time. Little one little monetary hall fire trap for the sunday school and temple. Uh the brick unbuilt ified. I want success raw. But there's no beauty to it. Not a, not a single thing beautiful except the arc. I'll never forget the ark

00:16:32.390 - 00:16:50.830

and I'll never forget the plaque on the back wall directed erected to the memory of Galveston's lady. And that's when you just thought about it. You didn't see back here. She was the first person who left the legacy in her will. And that is where it

00:16:50.830 - 00:17:12.760

was and that's where it was from 1903 to 1909. In the meantime, the town was getting a good growth. Many of the jews who had been in Galveston and who had escaped The high waters are 1900 and who had lost one or more members of the

00:17:12.770 - 00:17:33.030

family had left Galveston. And come here. Uh, I can name you any number of them. But the great shift of the Galveston's Jews to the Houston area didn't happen until about 1916. That is when George Cohen brought out the Foley Brothers and built up the

00:17:33.030 - 00:17:59.670

store which was able to buy and sell a piece of property. George Cohen personally owned the property on Main and Mckinney where Where world work is and solely for $2,000 per linear inch. What would that be valued at today. Just about the same in my opinion

00:17:59.670 - 00:18:26.120

because all of that is a few blocks over and two blocks further, not the library was there? The First Presbyterian Church was that beautiful pink glass pane glass windows which now form the for that joke right over here on Main and yeah in that area there,

00:18:26.130 - 00:18:45.040

if you haven't, if you haven't been in that load, you please go to see it because it's one of the show spots in Houston. Anyway, the Jarvis and Jews came here. Uh George Cohen White had six brothers and all of them came with their families and

00:18:45.040 - 00:19:04.500

they built up their families. In the meantime the Grossman family was developing and the wine garden joe and a been solved in any of their family. And uh Lever brothers, five brothers there of whom only one had married and that was like who was the father

00:19:04.500 - 00:19:20.840

of Adele Bad? I am never, never married and Haskell never married, He died just before. Miss Harriet did, she was the last one. And Mr Goldman who married Miss Penny Levy. There were two sisters and Fannie Mr Goldman was in the business. Maurice was in the

00:19:20.850 - 00:19:34.860

business. Uh Leo was in the business but they never, they had made a place for it but that didn't feel like making one for Leo, not kind of he wanted. So he went in business on his own and that didn't work out in the meantime, the

00:19:34.870 - 00:19:59.820

Foley Brothers was expanding. Mhm. The Cohen family of whom there were six brothers then was one who was one of our founders as you know, uh there arose in the community a clash of ideas. The Orthodox Jews and the Reform Jews just didn't mix period. Uh

00:19:59.820 - 00:20:24.100

huh If you weren't referring or you were Russian, your Russian Jews, that same kind of prejudice that existed in my wife's family, I think my aunt and he was about ready to say Scottish, but she knew that Irma was gonna marry me, but he's a Russian

00:20:24.680 - 00:20:41.860

Grandma said, said what of it? You're Spanish and she was grandma and I were the biggest sweetheart you've ever thought she was a wonderful woman. She lived in my home for 25 years and every day was a blessing grandma, you want to go to my way

00:20:41.860 - 00:21:00.640

of thinking on going to Colorado won't leave after tomorrow, I'll be ready tomorrow morning. She was, she was that she's a great girl. Anyway, uh, there was some Jewish families here. They looked at Orthodox Jews look down their noses on reform because they did the reform

00:21:00.640 - 00:21:16.840

Jews didn't have any education, which was true. They knew nothing of Yiddish kite, which was true. Some of the daughters married going and some of the son's marriage the going as well. Uh not realizing that it would happen to Orthodox Jews, just as well as reform,

00:21:16.840 - 00:21:41.140

that there's no distinction as to when, where, how it happens, it happens, that's always to it. So the natural animosities. I saw the cloud forming, I saw the cloud of anti Jewishness forming when men like Moses, Fell, Joe Weingarten, other Jewish families, I can mention whose

00:21:41.140 - 00:22:08.780

daughters went to Beth Israel and the moment confirmation was open, went back to the Sheriff. Unquestionably not that yeah. Unfortunately insurance couldn't keep a rabbi because it was fractionalized at the end of degree Is is recently or rather as far back as 1912, 1911, 1912.

00:22:09.470 - 00:22:29.100

There's a schism over there. They pointed out on the basis of the should ride by willing to be the spiritual head enough. Then you formed a new congregation with your daddy and Mr Mendelssohn at the head of uh of uh that's l uh and Oliver Wolf,

00:22:29.110 - 00:22:41.260

I think was the secretary. They approached me, they want me and I said, no, I don't get mixed up in that because my lawyer, it was too bad because that's where I was confirmed and that's where I was, My mitzvah and I was very close to

00:22:41.260 - 00:22:59.940

Dr Johnston and both of my sisters were confirmed that my brother and I, there are four of us were confirmed that my sister Ray as far back as 19, 1905, seeing the Doctor Dr Les Singer in the other one who played the Gilbert and Rachel

00:22:59.940 - 00:23:17.040

Rachel was a doctor, I know what Gilbert did And then my sister said came along in 1907 and but in 1908 and I was confirmed in 1990, I have a letter. Judge Dennis Baum wrote me in the summer of 1909, because I was I ran the

00:23:17.040 - 00:23:34.190

services of Beth Israel Dr babies, 1910, I think 99. I know he went to Europe in 1910. He married in 1910. I know that some of the Houston women went there with him to be at his wedding. I ran the services for Dr and it wasn't

00:23:34.190 - 00:23:54.180

a year if it's gone well, you do so. And so, uh I had the services of Mr Bennish for his, his tombstone setting. So I was so integrated in the Beth Israel that there wasn't anything could get me away except what happened in the congregation. Now,

00:23:54.190 - 00:24:16.090

in addition to the Orthodox and reform and the great play that Galveston's Jews had to do with the development of the thoughts in the direction in Houston. There was also the question who was going to succeed Henry Bunch and his oldest son went to rabbinical school

00:24:17.600 - 00:24:34.890

And he was a frequent visitor during the year. On Friday evenings, if you might say from September to June, you might be on five or 6 cents occupying a public preaching a sermon. So, members on the board and I told jobs on the board for long,

00:24:36.270 - 00:24:50.050

we're beginning to get Dr Bronson expecting to pass the ground down to his son, is he is he the heir apparent? And they didn't like it. And furthermore, Dr Bronson was never a person who told you that to anybody unless they're extremely wealthy, but none of

00:24:50.050 - 00:25:06.930

the gardeners and Jews could match. Leave your family. Harriet and Abe they're the ones, they were the ones who pushed Dr Bronson followed because he was he was a great, the great emissary to the game. Let's not kid ourselves. He was on the school board and

00:25:06.930 - 00:25:38.510

I mean on the library committee, on the on the symphony committee. Uh And he was in every sort of civic endeavor in the city of Houston. Now the reason back to opinion was losing standing in faith with the people. It was not his trouble at all.

00:25:38.510 - 00:25:54.330

It was not caused by him at all. Was caused by his wife who was not a mixer. Ruth was not a mixer. She was completely anglicized and she never got away from her anglicization. She never adopted methods of the american girl. She smoked, she played

00:25:54.330 - 00:26:11.760

golf. Uh She uh she did the things that you don't expect the religion to do that's all. Was she just a little ahead of her time. She was decidedly belong way ahead of time. You c and o then she was, she was not like her sister

00:26:11.770 - 00:26:29.980

the first, she was the second Mrs Barnes and Ruth is the second Mrs Bronson Ethel was the first one Ethel died in 19. Well, Alfred was about, I don't know what happens. A little fella. I know that my sister say died in 1918 in October 1918

00:26:29.980 - 00:26:49.180

and then Dr. Barnes came back through Fort wWorth and that spring with his wife with the cops. She died up in Denver I think so he met me at my crane. I met him in his dream. Well the friendship between him and me had nothing at

00:26:49.180 - 00:27:10.720

all to do with the, with the beginning of the congregation. I was in Birmingham had just been elected president because the neighborhood tradition when as soon as I got in he told me, he said you have some, you have some phone calls are very critical character,

00:27:10.720 - 00:27:27.090

you got to get them before you take your clothes off before you change. I talked to most. I talked to Nathan plan, talk to Jake Barb. They told me what was brewing, what did I do with Harry Catholics, people like that. And I participated in the

00:27:27.100 - 00:27:46.450

fateful election in November before. When Stockdale came here and I had worked with the, I was invited to meetings at both places. I went to no meetings whatever except one or two. After the thing got started. George Cohen called me to meetings at his home. I

00:27:46.450 - 00:28:01.570

refused to go George go and I have been very good friends up to that time. Ah The doctor didn't ask me how I stood, he knew how, he knew executive had to stand because I, he knew my background, he knew how loyal I was to Judaism

00:28:01.580 - 00:28:20.600

and I took the position in my paper, no matter which way you cut the cloth that Israel is going to lose because there would be a breakaway. I knew that men like is Freelander and Sam miller uh, and George Cohen we're not going to stand idly

00:28:20.600 - 00:28:39.640

by. Oh and Maurice Den Bomb. I read both the sacrifices. They were not going to stand idly by that. They were going to push the thing as far as they could. Dr Bunsen however, had already been relieved. Dr Bronson practically forced out dope cyclists made a

00:28:39.640 - 00:28:53.440

call to his home and told him what the score was asking for, his resignation, that only the ones who are on the end knew about that. And I happened to be on the end because I was um, well I was still on the board. No, I

00:28:53.440 - 00:29:09.290

had just left the board of the congregation, but they were still coming to me. Well, what do you do? For instance when I had my conversation with Nathan and and the most around the table, Well, you've been in this business a long time. What do you

00:29:09.290 - 00:29:19.160

have to do now to have a congregation? I said there are four essentials that make up the kitty. You've got to have a congregation. You've got to have a rabbi, you gotta have a temple, You've got to have a religious school, You gotta have a cemetery.

00:29:20.070 - 00:29:42.720

I said there were those you can build a congregation with -1. You don't have anything take any one of them out. You don't have anything. Well, it is a very dramatic damaging meeting. It was damaging in that secret which they had hoped keep Kevin accidentally came

00:29:42.720 - 00:30:00.840

out. I was the only one who delivered a set paper. I still have my paper available, expect to turn all my things over to the congregation and then this paper I took the position that growth is necessary. That contention is a part of the growth. But

00:30:00.840 - 00:30:26.730

we don't have to tear down in order to build up their intermediate steps. And I played for I won't say compromise. That wasn't the word for an understanding. Let me give an example the Presbyterian group in Houston and a hand to any other group because my

00:30:26.730 - 00:30:45.870

secretary is a Presbyterian and she's been on the diaconate, which is the ruling body of her church for many years. She has been to services here with Herman and Miss Miss uh Florence knows Miss Curtis. She told me this, she said you know, we've been building

00:30:45.870 - 00:31:01.240

so fast and I just don't know what we're gonna do. I said to you mean in your church you said Yeah. So how did you get formed? And she told me about a dramatic story. She said the same thing that happened in your congregation. She knew

00:31:01.240 - 00:31:14.850

what took place about this because she came up and she helped me for two months, the first two months of our congregation life. She didn't work for me at all. She helped me. I happened to notice that in in some letters, I was reading that May

00:31:14.850 - 00:31:32.590

Lyons made a request for someone to relieve Miss Kirkland because she was being taken out of your office. That's right. Uh What they would do. That would be a group of 10 or 15 members of couples. Everything is done by families, investment, Presbyterian, great in the

00:31:32.600 - 00:31:48.800

group. That's a piece of property over here. It costs $5,000 to build it to buy the property. The mother church would take it out from. This is your gift. You. That's the way we start. That's where you get started Six months later. They need $10,000 or

00:31:48.800 - 00:32:10.590

$20,000 to start a building. They stirred up as much as they could with their group. They didn't call it and built a building and had uh the plan, just like we did the same steps exactly when they built some additions on the Presbyterian Presbyterian church out

00:32:10.590 - 00:32:27.640

in Bellaire. She wouldn't let him sign anything until I first looked over everything because the experience we had building this building and how we got our money from Rice. And that's a dramatic story too. That could have been done. Except we went back. They were

00:32:27.640 - 00:32:44.200

not about when I say they, I mean they leading men and women, they had some women in that too. Not many, but some and we had some women with us too. I'll never forget Aunt Rachel Bonner Jimmy's mother. I'll never forget that woman's booming voice when

00:32:44.200 - 00:33:13.370

she was called upon to have an opening prayer at a meeting, she prayed She preaches one character. So they had they had the problem overcoming the Panama City is that we talked about a few minutes ago and building some sort of positive thing. They couldn't do

00:33:13.370 - 00:33:32.850

it because the american council of Judaism wouldn't let them. The American council kept them all stirred up. Then it became a conflict in the council itself so serious in fact, that the one of the prominent rabbis in the east who took us strong any Zionist stand,

00:33:32.860 - 00:33:50.870

which is not at all justified. Now, this is before the horrors of Germany came to be displayed. If if the the uh camps have been exposed one year before, there have been no manual, that would have been necessary. Beth Israel would probably have doubled their facilities

00:33:50.870 - 00:34:04.570

to keep everybody under one roof. Which has been a fine thing except for the fact that we needed three rabbis. And then you had 25 different voices running. It would have been big. Right. It sure would have been because look, we've got a congregation of population

00:34:04.570 - 00:34:28.440

around 43 4400 people, men, women and Children best got around 5500 Beth Israel's. I don't mean that, I mean Beth Beth Israel's. I'll get it right that the assurance budget for their school Is equal to 80% of our full budget. Well that's a full time day.

00:34:28.440 - 00:34:44.580

Sure that's right. And that's what we need here. I'd be tickled to death to see it. But we're not gonna get it neither in my lifetime that I've done my Children, you know that? Well, I don't know it. We never had four candidates. Mr Members by

00:34:44.580 - 00:34:59.500

border still don't want to teach Hebrew here. A black sail says it's all money thrown away. I said members of our board, he is past president congregation. He fought me on religious school. He fought on the purchase of this land here. His only took the floor

00:34:59.500 - 00:35:14.750

against it when we bought that land on the corner. You know how I bought the land? I said why? I called me? He said well I just spent some money. I said where the hell did you get it from? He said, look you gotta you gotta

00:35:14.750 - 00:35:27.790

take this acre. We paid $25,000 an acre. And I had to make a quick decision. I couldn't call Nathan and I couldn't call Mose I couldn't call anybody else. It is either buy it now. I don't buy it at all. I said Arthur, we haven't got

00:35:27.800 - 00:35:46.310

the money. He said, well I'm looking I'm looking at your page in the ledger, I used to selling papers when I was a kid. That's what he called me will he said the Restricting expire in 1990, he said, you want to want to talk next to

00:35:46.310 - 00:36:04.840

you, you want to be a parlor, you wanna massage parlor? Are you crazy? He said no. He said, I'll tell what you do. Yes sir, you'll be better off buying that property than taking a chance and losing your your synagogue through a fire, cancel the fire

00:36:04.840 - 00:36:22.250

insurance. And when I use that, when I use that argument that you'll get more for your money by canceling your insurance here than putting it next door in the ground or they thought I was crazy. Okay. Anyway, we bought it. Now let me go back to

00:36:22.250 - 00:36:49.450

the basics basics. Now I handed a few minutes ago, disciple mentis meeting in November 1943. The cat accidentally slipped out of the out of the bag. When is Freelander accused me of saying something in the paper that wasn't there. I rose to a point of privilege,

00:36:49.460 - 00:37:04.550

personal privilege. And I had my paper and I said, I challenge you to find that what you can just now said is and I challenge you to find that in my paper. But he couldn't find it. And there was a law and people begin to stop

00:37:04.550 - 00:37:17.640

him and will is right and he's wrong, he's right, he's wrong. So all around. So it's got all excited and he took the floor. The gist of what he said was I don't care whether it was in the paper or whether it wasn't in the paper.

00:37:17.650 - 00:37:39.920

What I'm saying to you is I don't want we don't want to see all of these Yiddish speaking Jews in this congregation which made it made club the Korean the wealthy and the recent recent immigrants. Yeah. The fact that their mother might have come in the

00:37:39.920 - 00:37:58.330

same boat with my mother and spoke the same issue, came out of the same town and married into the same family and I'm not giving you a hypothetical case. I'm giving you an actual case because Reba and Sophie is my hand. Sophie and Reba's aunt Jenny

00:37:58.810 - 00:38:15.840

was my aunt Jenny. So you see there was an intellect there. In the meantime the council of Judaism was collecting as it went and they had some fatalities and it's too bad that they did because one of the men committed suicide and I knew him very

00:38:15.840 - 00:38:43.830

well respected and highly. I shall not mention his name for obvious reasons. When the horrors with Germany began to be exposed in the depths of the crane were lame before the American people. American Jews Wasn't anything new to us accepting quantity, not quality juice has gone

00:38:43.830 - 00:39:10.470

through the same thing. In 1492, the Jews in York England and gone through the same thing in 1291. Uh huh. This is barbaric Christianity, barbaric western Europe and civilization France. Italy Spain England in America in Germany now one of the, one of the Orthodox boys men,

00:39:11.900 - 00:39:29.060

I talked both of his sons gave me, He says, well, I think you're making a mistake. I said why? He said, I think the Zionism should never be mentioned. I said, well, we're not we're not Emanu El into Zionism. I said we're trying to find some basis

00:39:29.060 - 00:39:40.530

of living. I said, when I say we I'm aligning myself with the men and the women who are going out. They knew we were going out. They didn't know they were going to flood them with 100 and 48 resignations 11 day though. And that's what we

00:39:40.530 - 00:40:04.940

did. I grew up there, I grew up the resignation and was signed by 148 couples. Is there a record of that in the congregation archives? The number varies from person to person. There there is a a written list of names. I think you'll find it. It's

00:40:04.940 - 00:40:29.130

in there. I gave back so much stuff that he was just flooded. But I've got I've got all the minutes un reduced postage size stamp. Like all right. I've got them all I know about. I think I -3 bulletins over the years to they're gonna have

00:40:29.130 - 00:40:52.220

all been bound into volumes. Also got most of my peace of mind. You're going to get them anyway. If not, I'll send him up to Jake Marcus, Who's Jake Marcus, How about Jacob Mark, you don't read the National Post, How can you know what's taking place

00:40:52.220 - 00:41:08.360

in life If you don't want to be a suburbanite, you want to be an evangelist, You're subscribed to America. I've been reading the National George Post since 1925. Jake Marcus had a big lead article, there was a big lead article about him last week, he was

00:41:08.370 - 00:41:28.480

81 years of age and he is the he is considered the outstanding Jewish historian of the world today and Jewish archives. If you don't have them in the library, I think they're here. I think I have to put it on the list. I'm waiting for Stanley

00:41:28.480 - 00:41:48.200

Seagal to tell me that they need them at the University of Houston. I've got about 15 years in my garage waiting to be pulled out, which I'll do uh where was I? How did I get that way? I think that was what your answer was. What

00:41:48.200 - 00:42:12.610

I'm trying to give you talking about. Well he said he made the point that we shouldn't designed it because it makes for anti Semitism. I said what is, what is that? He said, it creates anti Semitism. The two causes with anti Semitism, one is the Jew

00:42:12.610 - 00:42:29.060

and the other is a Christian. That's all I said. If you don't if you do something that the your neighbor doesn't like, he dislikes you for that? If the thing works the other way around? I said as long as the Catholic church is going to continue

00:42:29.060 - 00:42:44.730

to preach the the uh the resurrection story and the and the patient, if Jesus father is on the cross, just that long, will there be anti Semitism and I don't care whether the pope is Leo or Paul or John or whoever it might be, that's what

00:42:44.730 - 00:43:00.840

you're going to come out with. Well, didn't Pope John change some of that wording, He did, he changed some of it, That's right, but unfortunately he didn't live long enough, that's right. And you wouldn't have any ecumenism at all today if it hadn't been for John

00:43:00.850 - 00:43:30.480

because he did a terrific job. We're talking about the possibility of the barbeque creation. The Union's position was most abominable. The Union American Mr Rosenberg of Cincinnati, who was the executive director, he wouldn't see any background because we weren't coaching and he couldn't afford to alienate

00:43:30.490 - 00:43:43.580

Beth Israel's affection. Because the question of how much do is they would get out of Beth Israel and how much they would lose if they didn't get it and how little they could expect to get out of the Emanu El and what little we could give them

00:43:43.590 - 00:43:59.030

would make any difference anyway because we were just beginning and he talked to any of our leaders at all. We're fortunate, we got Alan to come down, I don't know who it was mentioned, Allen, I don't, I think Nathan heard about Allen more than anybody else,

00:44:00.120 - 00:44:19.690

I think Nathan Klein went to a convention there and was introduced to anyway, we were very fortunate At the time when there's no office space in Houston. We got office at the time when you end up in the same floor where I am now 844. You

00:44:19.690 - 00:44:35.300

couldn't buy a table, you couldn't buy a chair, you couldn't get anything. One of the lawyers in the building, I was opposite at that time in the, in the uh, what was originally the Post Dispatch building that is then known as the I don't know whatever

00:44:35.300 - 00:44:54.840

it was. Judge would heard about it and he was trying to compress his face. I said Judge, how much will you charge my congregation? About a dozen of these classrooms. Book cases, he said who's your congregation? And I told him, how many do you want? He

00:44:54.840 - 00:45:08.540

said, well we can hear about six or eight, you see, just taking my gift, don't worry about it. Somebody had a secondhand table. Somebody has a secondhand desk, somebody has something to take it and we don't want to be paid for it. So Alan Greene was

00:45:08.540 - 00:45:20.130

quite correct when he said that the Lord had his hands on our back. Every step we made, we didn't have a rabbi. So we called Hammond Ettlinger for one friday evening, we had Darby clan, another one had Aaron Shepherd. They were made at the University of

00:45:20.140 - 00:45:39.190

Texas. I spoke on Jackson. What is the jewel of this, Jewish heritage or whatever it might be. I think Ben spoke, Oh, I don't know anybody. We could get media spoken Jewish music and we were bundling up, you know we're just wrapping this thing up but

00:45:39.190 - 00:45:52.740

we will never got any sympathy, never got any understanding at all. Dr Cohen who had been one of my closest friend, I was great in marriages and he was a great environment. I sent him a copy of the paper that I delivered and instead of getting

00:45:52.740 - 00:46:11.010

a very cordial note back I got a little postcard, that's the postcard deal with you have read your, your magnum opus or something like that. Uh Not sarcastic because he wasn't that type of man look black, black and green is green, but I think that he

00:46:11.020 - 00:46:29.750

didn't want to involve himself because after all he and Johnson were good friends who came from the same town. He was born some senior George Cohen was one of the mentors and one of the subjects, one of proteges, don't forget George Cohen ramrodded the big celebration.

00:46:29.760 - 00:46:53.990

His 50 years in the ministry in 1938. Uh He did that for Dr Cohen, this building that we are sitting in now this piece of land was a dairy belonged to a man by the name of Weber, whoever baby B. R. And his insane sister. The

00:46:54.000 - 00:47:11.060

property was discovered by German Cohen through his friendship with family. Diego. Yeager was a real estate man and there was 11 acres here that could have been bought for $4500 an acre. I was one of the few men who pleaded to buy the whole blooming business

00:47:12.210 - 00:47:29.510

because I thought I knew what I was talking about. We had hardly, the ink was hardly dry on the earnest money contract that I looked over until we had a phone call from somebody who knew how much we're paying for it. With seven acres. We paid

00:47:29.510 - 00:47:59.300

$7,000 an acre and he was offering $75,000, cash. Yeah, 20, yeah, no, 25,000 profit profit on ideal. So while the deal was cooking and we was examining the abstracts and full bribers examined the abstracts and we've already spotted in the loan and so forth. Uh, Mo's

00:47:59.300 - 00:48:13.870

called me one day most fell called me, he said, well, he said, Levine is back to hand uh, where he told me. I said, well, we're within the safe district, safe distance in the city. To see the, the location of the cemetery depends upon its nearness

00:48:13.870 - 00:48:26.880

and its proximity to a city and the size of the city determines the distance. You got to get away from it. The further away from the, the larger the city, the further away from the heart of the city, you've got to be measured with the city

00:48:26.880 - 00:48:40.320

as the center of the circle and the radius is the distance that you've got to get away, which is simple enough mathematically if I explained to you that They're supposed to be 22.5 acres out there grinding from the American National Insurance Company has the most that

00:48:40.320 - 00:48:53.350

you can do for money. He said, I don't know. What do you think? I said, how far we're going on on our pledges. He said, oh no no you can't take anyone from the cemetery from the temple for the cemetery. I said how much are we

00:48:53.350 - 00:49:08.510

gonna need? I think the purchase price of the land is $11,500. Said you gotta have some drainage, you gotta have some roads, you gotta have a gate, you gotta have a fence. You better ask about 20,000. Will you never put it over? You don't know where

00:49:08.510 - 00:49:32.120

I'm going. He said use your own judgment. So I called her. He said what do you want? I said I come out and talk to you. I said I wanna borrow $15,000 on who it was. I was treasurer of the Board of Rice Institute. There is

00:49:32.130 - 00:49:48.390

some probably 90 years of age and he's out of San Antonio. And I hope the Lord was spared for a long time. But if he doesn't want you girls to make a note of that must be flowers. And whenever it maker responsible for that is responsible

00:49:48.400 - 00:50:09.800

for this because all the rest of the guys most wanted to go to Boston First National Post and somebody else is one of the banks out on the west coast. Somebody to Chicago. Don't you think so? Well I said I think you're not said what what

00:50:09.800 - 00:50:27.010

would you do? Diamonds are in your own backyard? I said who knows more about you than rice. I said who knows more about the locale. The area in which you're building the area in which you expect to live for many years. That is before this stuff

00:50:27.010 - 00:50:41.020

up here. Showed his head. We don't know anybody. Rice Is that? I do but go to see him. All right. I went to see him and I had it all worked out before. I talked about the cemetery. Cemetery is coming on before we even got to

00:50:41.020 - 00:51:00.810

the point where we close out this deal. They're just about I said we can get along on about 12.500. He said who is we? Who is? Right. Who is it? Emanu El? I said you have heard yeah, you know Herbert Cohen yeah you know a black you

00:51:00.810 - 00:51:14.280

know Julius Post? Oh that's enough. Well how much money do you have to have? I said that 12,000 get back. How much do you actually have to buy the land? I said ought to buy the land. 11,000. You mean you want to borrow 11,000? You don't

00:51:14.280 - 00:51:31.030

want to borrow 12,000. I said we gotta we gotta beautified. We've got to drain it. It's wild as a QB that is before. Business wasn't paid country club wasn't in. Oh boy. They still great because they didn't buy it. They were turned down as much as

00:51:31.040 - 00:51:46.080

$20,000 an acre Years ago. 12 years ago. I don't know. But I don't know what it's worth today. Probably $50,000 an acre. He said, all right, So you want me to pick up the tab of that? I said, yeah. He said what? The rate of increase

00:51:46.080 - 00:52:01.260

you're gonna pay us? I said 4%. Well all right. And said, we want an honor before note. But as you want will I said, look I'll make you a deal. He said, wait a minute, I'll make you a deal. What's your deal? We can let you

00:52:01.260 - 00:52:13.310

have the money on your turn. On one condition. You know what the hell is up to? He said, when you get ready to build your synagogue, I heard you bought that progress here. I'm gonna talk to you about that next. When you get ready to build

00:52:13.310 - 00:52:26.670

it, give us the first crack at it. Well, to make a long story short, I approved the title and I found that we had about a one acre one acre shortage. I said most what we do. He says forget it. He said by the land to

00:52:26.670 - 00:52:40.320

show you how wise our judgment was how smart we were when we were building the building at University of Texas and were dedicated in 1948. I was riding on the plane Mr Kempner. He was the chairman of the board and I was I was the vice

00:52:40.320 - 00:52:56.710

chairman. I told him about this deal. He said you paid what $250 an acre for that self? I said yeah Maybe It's 350. He said well you're not supposed to know anything about real estate, said your lawyer said but most felt supposed has some sense. I

00:52:56.710 - 00:53:10.530

said he got plenty of sense. He said for 315 acres for that stuff. I said yeah he says I've got 75 acres across the road. I said it's sold he took up and took off his life. He says tell me something. He said he said what's

00:53:10.530 - 00:53:23.530

taking place? I said when are you gonna be in Houston? He said well I've got to be the commissioner drinking but tomorrow that's money. He said I'll see you Tuesday call me at 10 o'clock Tuesday morning whatever I'm doing I'll bring my car down whatever I'm

00:53:23.530 - 00:53:39.420

doing. I'll drive out there with you and you see for yourself and answer your own questions About a quarter to 10. The phone rings. Well this is I kept yes. Mr Templar how you look today. He said I changed my mind lands off off off the

00:53:39.420 - 00:53:56.930

market. I said you don't want to go with because it's not necessary. I got all the facts thanks to you six months later you sold the land for $2,000 to make it did you get a commission? No but that made him and me very good friends

00:53:56.930 - 00:54:10.130

so much so that when he was after he had to fall it resulted in his death and he went around his office in his wheelchair he said well I'm not going to get up for you. I said I don't want you to. He said I can't

00:54:10.130 - 00:54:40.430

even shake hands with you and said yes you can because I'm gonna come right around here. As you look back over. I believe the Lord gave us tears years to answer your question. Wait let me finish telling about the building. We had a $400,000 in cash

00:54:41.270 - 00:55:01.310

in the savings account for this building. We're ready to talk about the time when our money would run out and we'd have to have some money. I went back to see see Mr Mr Blair. He says how much you need real said I don't know. He

00:55:01.310 - 00:55:10.440

said how much do you want to borrow? I said I don't know. He said why did you come out of there for? I said I came out here to tell you we need some money and I want to be darn sure we got it when it's

00:55:10.440 - 00:55:24.570

necessary. He said how do you expect me to put up to the current to my board your proposition. I said all right here's a balance sheet. You want that. He's I don't want your balance sheet. He says I know but I know who you are. I

00:55:24.570 - 00:55:39.490

said, all right. As I see it, let's have a variable note. You'll agree to let us have up to $350,000 if we need it. You put that aside and we'll pay you interest only from the we'll execute and open the deed of trust. Put all those

00:55:39.490 - 00:55:58.330

provisions in it and you will pay us only as we could draw and we'll pay you interest only as we use it. He says, fair enough. Just take the abstracts up to full price was with big pots that represented rice as you know. So I came

00:55:58.330 - 00:56:11.520

back and everybody gave me a big hand. Well, it were two loans that I made with rice for the benefit of congregation. Could I say no? When he came to buying this piece of property, he says will cost you $1000 a year, which is $83. Um

00:56:11.520 - 00:56:24.890

And then if you're busted and can't afford $83 a month, by God, we're gonna call, you know, do I said Arthur, go ahead and get in shape. I'll get the money and that's when it was bought. And we had an overdraft in my administration. Listen to

00:56:24.890 - 00:56:46.190

this. Your brother will bear me out when I took over as president, we had a deficit budget. We had an overdraft at the bank and we had not paid a secret person's salary for 60 days in this place In 60 days time. We paid salaries. We

00:56:46.190 - 00:57:05.130

balanced our budget during the year and we wound up with the surplus, which has never been done before. And I was not the magician. I had been noble. I had loose line. I had men and women working and we use that telephone until we must have

00:57:05.130 - 00:57:21.550

worn the wires off. But we had money and we got it. And it's never happened since. I'll never forget that. One day I was on the telephone trying to shore up things, get things going. I got some gentleman, I don't know who he was. I'm sorry,

00:57:21.550 - 00:57:34.960

Mr Nathan. I just getting ready to call. You said I lost my job last week and my wife is sick and I'm canceling my membership and Emanu El, I can't afford to pay. I said, you can't afford to pay, but you're not canceling your membership. Oh, no,

00:57:34.960 - 00:57:50.380

no, no, I'm canceling my membership. I said, look buddy, I said, you need God now I'm going to need you before. He says, how much? How much am I down there? I said you're down here for whatever we want to put you down and so you

00:57:50.380 - 00:58:05.690

forget about it. I said, Rosh Hashana is around the corner and you'll get your tickets. We hope your wife gets better. I checked it up and I found that we're heading down here about $125 a month that year. I mean year that year. His dues are

00:58:05.690 - 00:58:22.870

omitted the next year. He doubles his dudes and the year after that he doubles that I cited mentioned because I've always taken the position. This is a voluntary organization. You don't need to come if you don't want to. You come on your terms, not on our

00:58:22.870 - 00:58:38.190

terms. If you need religion, it's worth that much more. Let me give you one more incident. We'll get back to the temple and I'm gonna quit within the time that max was on the board. I mean, you know, as our executive secretary, he will be able

00:58:38.190 - 00:58:55.400

to bury me out. There was one about gentlemen. I've forgotten his name. He was living at the Shamrock. He is a member of a country club. He had one Cadillac and his wife had another one. We had an application from him To join the congregation I

00:58:55.400 - 00:59:11.660

think was $200 a month for $300 a month. And we had him down for seven. I mean, a year. I'm sorry. We had him down for, I think $600 or $700 a year. People just trembling, centering. You'll hurt his feelings. And of course. And then don't

00:59:11.660 - 00:59:25.950

do this. Don't do that. We all sat around the board. Don't you think so, will I said no. I think you're dead wrong. I said our policy has not been to put the screws to anybody. Whether he lives in the Shamrock or whether he lives in

00:59:25.950 - 00:59:43.800

the Hubble. I said, the man needs religion, Give it to him, Give it to him. Don't charge him anything for him. Make make a god fearing man out of him. Will you write the letter? The letter? I wrote the letter. Who was the president signed it.

00:59:44.760 - 01:00:01.820

The guy had to see me. He said, I'm not a I said, well don't act like I said, if you can afford to live in the Shamrock, you can afford to join the the Country Club. I said you can afford to do your share as a

01:00:01.820 - 01:00:17.820

Jew. We're not calling on the going to help us run our congregation. We're calling on our own people. Well, how much did you ask me for? I said, you know, as well as we do whatever it was, he said, I'll pay this year. Pay that amount,

01:00:17.830 - 01:00:31.090

but I'll do next year. I don't know next year he up to the year after that. He upped it and they continued up. But as long as he was a member of our congregation, that's what you get when you don't, when you don't pressure people because

01:00:31.090 - 01:00:48.370

you don't have to join your congregation, you don't have joined any congregation. I'm old enough to remember. You are too. The the the ticket taker was outside in the lobby and daddy didn't buy a ticket mama didn't have a place to sit down. Alright now, I

01:00:48.380 - 01:01:03.930

told you about this building here. Oh you didn't finish about this building when the steel came in began to come in here, We had a strike in the process that constructed this building, You might have remembered it. The steel strike in the United States lasted about

01:01:03.930 - 01:01:21.420

six months. There's no steel to be had in this shell of a billion was standing out there. But when the steel did come, we exhausted our money so fast. It's just like the snow melted before this, before the sun. We had to start drawing money in

01:01:21.420 - 01:01:47.960

conjunction with the loan. I was called upon to make the decision real fast fast. The decision I've made after the papers were all finished and everything's been signed up. I said to Arthur O'Dwyer, I mean to Arthur Charlie Baker Butts. The author was a very fine

01:01:47.960 - 01:01:59.080

fellow. He had a little shrunken hand up here like this. But he was a great when you shook hands with his hand, you you knew it. I said, Arthur, give me a bill, will you please? He said, we don't judge convocations. I said, just give me

01:01:59.080 - 01:02:14.030

a bill. Come on, he said, we're not charging that. I said you are charging me and we are going to pay you. He brought me back the bill for $25 which is all right, as long as he gave me a bill, as long as he let

01:02:14.030 - 01:02:31.220

me pay because if there were any mistakes I didn't make them. I could never let him ever say that any of his congregation board members up there ever saying that the jews took advantage of the situation And I had to do some face thinking on that

01:02:31.850 - 01:02:52.220

and I'm very proud of myself because it's been 2500 dogs. It wouldn't have been a bit more to me because I made my point, you know. Exactly. And I reported to the board because when I was doing work with Beth Israel when I was in so

01:02:52.220 - 01:03:04.820

they insisted on paying me. So I gave the money back in some way that they didn't know. But I never made any money in any money off of the congregation. One of my dear friends, well she told Irma, she said, well I don't know what you're

01:03:04.820 - 01:03:23.050

worried about during the depression said Will's got a good job. Doesn't does he get $500 a month? The secretary of the congregation, would you believe it? Why didn't you get so much as serving the congregation is one of your privileges. That's right. It's an obligation to.

01:03:24.080 - 01:03:39.390

Alright, now finished up with religious school. I taught one class that I taught the first confirmation class for a while. Then they had to give it up because we had too many other things we wanted to do. But it's been a great source of pleasure, source

01:03:39.390 - 01:04:02.340

of headache. We haven't had very many problems down here. We've been very question. Yeah. With all of our hard hands. We had crackerjack with max I don't know how Max Sennett as long as he did. The boy is really something they, I'm awfully sorry that we

01:04:02.340 - 01:04:15.960

didn't buy the other four acres in the north. I mean mentioned to it, I think it Marty Needleman has been giving it a little more rain. We might have picked up that four acres and held it. I think Julius Post might have come in with Julius

01:04:15.960 - 01:04:36.690

Post was an unusual person. Julius Post. One of the founders of the Free Synagogue of New York, Julius Post is probably one of the greatest geologists. How generation knows he was the one who is professional. He gambled his professional reputation as a geologist on a field

01:04:36.690 - 01:04:55.100

and uh, Louisiana. And he said it's there. And when you got to 10,000 ft, they said no, he said it's there. So they got to 15,000 and another new, he said, it's there again. You got the 19,000 ft and you brought it in. It saved his

01:04:55.100 - 01:05:13.310

reputation. It broke the people who were putting up the money 19,000 ft to drill a well, 30 years ago. You know how much that was close to a million dollars. You know how much it is today. 2.5 million. 3.5 million. Well, what words of advice would

01:05:13.310 - 01:05:46.620

you have for future generations, who might be listening to this tape of your recollections of the beginning of Temple Emanu El could be approaching several angles. First of all, you've got to have loyalty. Unfortunately, your loyalty in this congregation is very thin. If you look at

01:05:46.620 - 01:05:59.410

the number of members who are brought in during the year and the number of members that you have after that add all your classes and all your mind and says you're managing your growth hasn't been very small. If you look at the number of people who

01:05:59.410 - 01:06:20.340

resigned from the congregation leaving unpaid pledges, that's an absence of loyalty. But it's the same old story. A handful of people run this congregation and always have, and it's not right. The job is big enough to be distributed among many people. I would like to see

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the board compressed. We've got entirely too many people on the bullet compress the board into about eight or nine strong committees and eight and 9 men can sit at the table and parcel out the work. Unfortunately, the people in the current do on committee a don't

01:06:38.530 - 01:06:58.240

give much thought of attention to people on the committee on X, Y or Z. And we have had, we have had people who cannot stir up the activity and develop the energy, uh, to see the congregation problems is unitary. There isn't a single thing we can

01:06:58.250 - 01:07:14.390

do here that doesn't reflect on something else. If you under pay your help, you got sloppy work outside inside here there and elsewhere. If you don't take young boys like we've got now. I mean, the rabbis were very fortunate that we got To Stem one is

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I love this for like I think he's going to get someplace when you're talking about Roy you'd never get, you'll never be able to replace it. So you really got smart rabbis with smart reference in each one. I've got a smart smart now you can't cut

01:07:31.890 - 01:07:49.310

the cloth. But Rabbi and his wife, we made we made that mistake when when we had Alan and Francis Green. This is Bob job and Alan convinced smart wouldn't have asked even to hold on but we asked him. We stopped about ourselves and doing it because

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later when the contract came, we couldn't do anything about it. We couldn't negotiate from strength. We had to negotiate from weakness. We should have taken a position bob despite the fact that we need help. We can't get ask Alan who is Bob senior to be Bob

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junior. We don't have the money to get another man. And we didn't have sense enough to look forward now unless you have a survey committee in constant operation like to monitor everything takes place. Then you're gonna fail financially. You're gonna dump against it. Spiritual will be

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up against it and this building will sag on its foundations and fall into ruins. Look my granddaughter is living out in Quail Valley would you know you would know because your daughter is involved in it. They got the neighborhood chapter for the girls. They got to

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the neighborhood large for the men Body in the in the men and 35 in the girls. You mean to tell me they're gonna trudge 17 and 17 or 20 and 20 miles on a Friday evening on a Sunday morning to bring the kids to religious school

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and come to services. They're not going to what if they're not on the memorial? They got a satellite congregation. Breath is really is over here. Two more of them over here Betty Sharon and the one the the central congregation and he makes Kahane's congregation. There's just

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so much money that jews have got despite the fact that they go and think we've got all the money. We don't got all of it. Not yet. Not yet. We've got to learn how to make our dollar go further. Yeah. I think that people who have

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dealt with money would be able to do it. We're not getting the best best bet because we're not getting the best blood. We're not getting enough blood where the patient is anemic and we don't, we can't stand for any anemia. That's right there. There's a lot

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of how many people come to temple Friday night. That's the best example of your husband and I was the only two past presidents of the congregation to hear this past Friday night. But there were a lot of people with the past present. Perhaps now you need

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loyalty. You needed the queen with the basic facts of Judaism, not the basic principles to guide Jews such as they did open. But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the basic facts of life. Judaism doesn't grow, it dies, it doesn't really progress, it dies.

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I'm gonna tell you a picture that I saw when I was a young man and after that I'm gonna quit the historian magazine. Published known as a review of reviews, go to library and you'll see it and it is very prominent. And I remember that in

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one issue that had a reproduction of a painting by an american artist I think was sergeant, one of the sergeants. I don't forget, I forget which one it was, but it was the same one whose frescoes were in the Boston library. He had a picture there,

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an old woman, I was sitting all bunched up and she was sliding off of her throne and she's clutching herself here and trying to, trying to grab a crown there and her face was, had the look of terror on it and she was sliding out of

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the chair for just about ready to fall in the name of the picture was the synagogue. Thank you. Thank you