Imagine LA coordinators work with facility case managers and faith partners to determine the family\’s needs and set up a plan for independent living.
CUFI\’s purpose, according to its official brochure, is \”to provide a national association through which every pro-Israel church, parachurch organization, ministry or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel in matters related to biblical issues.\”
There\’s been a Jewish community in Muskogee, Okla., since 1867, when furrier Joseph Sonderheim opened his import-export business.
In 1916 the first synagogue was dedicated, Congregation Beth Ahaba, a lay-led Reform congregation that served a tight-knit Jewish community of merchants and professionals.
\”As Oklahoma grew and prospered through the 1920s, so did our congregation,\” said Nancy Stolper, 77, who moved to Muskogee 50 years ago.
Beth Ahaba reached its height of 75 families in 1929 but dwindled to 40 families during the Depression, as stores shut down and people moved away to find work.
Since then, Beth Ahaba\’s fortunes have declined steadily. Its young people, including the Stolpers\’ four children, grew up and moved away.
Its last student rabbi left 15 years ago.
\”We\’re now just a group of frail senior citizens,\” said Stolper, noting that only eight to 10 members are still able to get to synagogue.
Three months ago they gave up their monthly Friday night services, and this High Holiday season, she fears, will be their last.
With the retirement this year of several prominent senior rabbis, youthful faces have come to occupy the majority of Westside pulpits and others throughout the city, a confluence of vitality that has the potential to herald the beginning of a new era for the wider Los Angeles Jewish community.
Through many years of rabbinic traveling and teaching, I\’ve been blessed to serve congregations from Long Island to Maui and from Canada to Australia. I\’ve prayed in shuls from Transylvania to Argentina, and I\’ve discovered that in all the world Juneau\’s community is unique. The fusion of Alaskan life and Jewish tradition never ceases to amaze me.
During Jewish holidays and festivals, many of us recite the familiar blessings for our loved ones.
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