Category: Arts & Culture
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Holocaust Art & Essay Winners Announced
Memphis Jewish Federation’s 10th Annual Holocaust Art and Essay Competition invited students to respond to the topic Sustaining Culture and Community: The Many Faces of Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto. Open to all students in Tennessee and the Mid-South, the contest drew submissions from a diverse group of students from…
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Tastes of Jewish Memphis: Gila Golder’s Homemade Matzo Balls and Seder Appetizer Plate
We’re launching this new recipe series just in time for Passover, with two dishes from JCP’s own Gila Golder, our Community Impact Associate. Do you have a beloved family dish, a creative twist on a classic, or brand new concoction you’d like to share with Jewish Memphis? Pitch your idea…
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An Israeli in Memphis: I Feel an Embrace
Tali Versano Eisman, resident of Memphis’s Israeli partner city Shoham and a member of the Memphis-Shoham project’s steering committee, visited Memphis in October to deepen ties between the two communities, and to speak at this year’s Israel Festival. In this piece, she reflects on her visit, the love for Israel…
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Bringing Hanukkah to Christian Brothers University
By Dr. Stan Eisen, Professor and Director of Preprofessonal Health Programs, Biology Department, Christian Brothers University Photos by Mary Nikkel Christian Brothers University prides itself as welcoming students and staff of all traditions and faiths. Even so, there has never been a Hanukkah Menorah lighting ceremony until now. On…
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Omri Casspi Celebrates Hanukkah with the Memphis Jewish Community
When all 6 feet and nine inches of Israeli basketballer Omri Casspi ducked under the door and into the MJCC’s Belz Theater, the crowd gathered for this one-of-a-kind Hanukkah celebration knew they were experiencing something special. Rabbis from every Memphis congregation and agencies like the MJCC and Hillels of Memphis…
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Memphis Jewish Federation Announces Need-Based Israel Travel Subsidies for First Timer Adults
MJF is thrilled to announce the creation of a new Lemsky Endowment Fund initiative providing travel subsidies for first-time Memphis Jewish adults participating in an organized Israel trip, who have demonstrated financial need. Any Jewish Memphian over age 32 (post Birthright) who joins a Memphis-based Federation, Synagogue or JCC trip…
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Stephanie O’Dell: Peace and Zen in Israel
By Stephanie O’Dell The question of how was your trip to Israel is such a hard question to answer. However, it is a question I have been asked a lot since I have returned. I was lucky to have gone on this journey through the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP),…
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Travel to Europe, Israel Builds Lifelong Friendships, Memories for Memphis Teen
By Sarah Unowsky Prior to my BBYO trip this past summer, my knowledge of Israel was rudimentary. I had been able to learn the basics: Israel has a parliamentary form of government, Israel’s capital is Jerusalem, Israel is a world leader in technology, etc. What no one had ever attempted…
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Healing After Horror: Outpouring of National and International Support
Support from Around the World In the wake of the horrific violence at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, community gatherings like the one in Memphis Sunday evening have taken place across the country. Many, like ours in Memphis, were attended by Jews and non-Jews alike, perhaps…
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Persona Non Grata: Tennessee Film Premiere Tells Untold Holocaust Story
During the chaos of the Second World War, a Japanese diplomat working in Lithuania concocted a desperate plan to save as many Jews as he could, ultimately securing the safety of some 6,000 Jewish refugees. A powerful film depicting this important but lesser-known story will have its Tennessee premiere at…