70 Faces of Memphis

Interview and photo by Lynnie Mirvis

Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

Meet Charlotte: Charlotte, or ‘Toot’ as she is called by her friends, says her family goes back a long way in Memphis – over 100 years. Her father‘s family came from Minsk and Grodno, and her mother’s family were of Scottish-Irish origin. He had been a medic in World War II and married her mother after the war.

“With my dual worldview, I knew Christians were ok, Jews were OK. So, why did each group fight among themselves? Why didn’t they all get along?”

“The goal for me is living up to treating people humanely and kindly, living out of inclusiveness that I interpret as part of Judaism – the Golden Rule. Help people, and if you have more, share more!”

“In junior high, we rode buses, and my friend and I gave our seats to black people because we were taught to respect elders, but we did it whether they were black or white. It was 1960. It was against the norms of the time.”

“Once when I was walking home from school, I told some boys to leave this little boy alone – they were bullying him. It wasn’t the right thing to do, to take advantage of someone smaller.”

“Later, I followed my bliss and got degrees and work in psychology and art history, and met my husband here in Memphis.” She also became an avid gardener, giving care to her garden as she did to the people in her life.

“When I helped people in alcohol and drug treatment, the focus was on the positive, on the person making a difference in their own life.” Her strong sense of family and deep values have made a difference!

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Interview and Photo by Chany Fleischhacker

Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

Meet Chana: Chana Rovner is an empathetic middle school student who genuinely loves to help people in any way that she can. An aspiring oncologist, she likes to have the ability to change someone’s life for the better. That is why she is constantly on the lookout for ways that she can help those in need.

When she heard about the flooding situation in Houston this past fall, she decided to create her own Hot Dog Stand to raise money to help with their relief. More recently, she and her friend Pesi organized a pop-up bakery to raise money for the students that were affected by the Stoneman shooting in Florida.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, bike riding, and hanging out with her friends. Her advice to other teenagers is to find something that you are passionate about and then ask around for ways that you can help, and to always have someone you trust to turn to for advice.

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By Erez Kaganovitz

Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

Meet Celia: “My mother always tells me that girls can do everything if they put their minds into it and that not like boys we can actually do more than one thing at a time. She inspired me to start playing soccer and when I will grow up I want to play at the American national team and represent my country at the Olympics games.”   

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Photos and interview by Melinda and Michael Lejman

Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

Carter Rosenthal’s life was reshaped by parenthood. And, over the years, his dedication to work and family has extended beyond his home to include the community that helped his family grow and succeed. Born to a black Christian mother and a Jewish father, Carter recalls being very happy, but increasingly aware of the two worlds his heritage placed him in. He lived with grandparents in Little Rock from the time he was born until 1957, three blocks from Central High School in Little Rock, and remembered his grandmother bringing lemonade to the troops enforcing the federal desegregation order. Born in a diverse community, he identifies the Central High Crisis as “the first time I had ever really seen that hatred.”  Shortly following he moved to Chicago to live with his mother and attend high school.

Carter came of age in Chicago, a product of Hyde Park and the heavily Jewish South Shore community. It was only over time that he understood why they always lived in Jewish neighborhoods, despite attending an Episcopal Church near Barrack Obama’s Chicago home.  Carter remembers high school fondly.  He played sports and graduated with a class full of promising young students and artists that included Suze Orman and Mandy Patinkin.  But the upheavals of the 1960s changed Carter’s mentality and caused him to reevaluate his own identity.

“When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated I just went into this black shell…and I just kinda become, not radical but more in tune with what I really was because that’s what people saw me as.” The assassination of Robert Kennedy and the chaos of the 1968 Democratic National Convention there in Chicago erupted around him.  “I went from being this fun-loving guy who loved to play football and baseball to just being hard, I didn’t want to be Jewish, I wanted to be black and proud.”  Carter credits his children with fostering hope and a sense that “you just did what you had to do”.  Parenthood and work became his focus and this led to his involvement in community schools following the move to Memphis from Dallas during his time working for Frito-Lay.

Here in Memphis, Carter has a long history of involvement through the Jewish community and public education.  His six children led him to volunteer opportunities at Memphis schools where has served in every manner possible, from fundraising to multiple PTAs. He takes pride in his children’s’ achievement in high school and college and specifically points to their growth in Memphis public schools. Judaism is both a part of Carter’s identity and the path that led him to his deep appreciation of what people can do when see they each other as part of a family. Nowhere is this more apparent they when he speaks about his belief in public education and our shared commitment to future generations. Reflecting on parenthood, work, and his years of volunteering to support Memphis youth, Carter believes that “If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t change it. I am really so happy with myself right now because I get to do the things I never thought I’d do.”

Carter Rosenthal, one of Memphis Jewish Federation’s 70 Faces of Memphis, has been a committed volunteer throughout his life. Through Temple Israel’s MRJ Brotherhood, Carter volunteers to lead the Team Garden on the synagogue’s campus.

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Interview by Gila Golder Photo by Ronnie Booze

Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

A native Memphian, Bert Wolff learned the value of community leadership and civic engagement as a youngster. Her father, Johl Adler, operated one of Memphis’s first integrated restaurants. He also served as president of the Memphis Welfare Fund, the predecessor to Memphis Jewish Federation. Like her father, Bert became active in the Memphis Jewish community as well as in the broader Memphis community, working to effect change through consensus-building. She has held leadership roles in Hadassah, the National Council of Jewish Women, Temple Israel, the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA), and the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

In 1982, serving as school board president, Bert oversaw a controversial vote to desegregate Memphis city schools. Her vote in favor of desegregation caused her to lose her seat on the board.

“We got bomb threats, death threats. I had obscene phone calls every night till the election,” recalled Bert in a 2013 interview with the Commercial Appeal. “But I’d do it all again. It was the right thing.” Following her ouster from the board, Bert continued to fight for civil rights in Memphis. She and her husband Art, of blessed memory, were founding members of the National Civil Rights Museum, established in 1991.

Bert and Art were also instrumental in bringing the Israeli Scout program to Memphis. Since 1971, Memphis Jewish Federation has hosted two Israeli teens every summer from the Tzofim, a scouting organization in Israel. The Scouts work to spread a universal message of friendship and brotherhood. For over 45 years, Bert and Art acted as adoptive grandparents for each pair of visiting Scouts, taking them on outings throughout the summer and making them feel at home in Memphis. They also served on the Israeli Scouts planning committee and provided financial support for the program.

Art passed away in February 2017, and the Summer 2017 Israeli Scouts program featured a tribute to Art and his tireless work on behalf of the Scouts— a bittersweet moment for Bert and her family.

Photo: Bert Wolff, one of Memphis Jewish Federation’s 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham, is comforted by family while attending a special Israeli Scouts Caravan performance at the MJCC which featured a memorial to Bert’s husband Art, of blessed memory. For 45 years, the Wolffs were instrumental in the tradition of yearly Scout visits to Memphis, become adoptive grandparents to the Israeli teens during their time in Memphis.

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Interview and photo by Leah Goldman

Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel in meaningful ways, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project also serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

I‘m a fourth-generation Memphian with a strong history with the Jewish community. I was on the board of the Federation for 20 years, the Temple Israel board, I helped start the Hillel, and I’ve been to Israel more than five times on young leadership missions.

Lately I’ve gotten more involved in civic opportunities, as I joined the board of the Levitt Shell and the Mississippi River Parks Partners, and I was the President of the Memphis Zoological Society and the Pink Palace Museum. I also chaired the renovation of the Lichterman Nature Center, which was named after my grandfather. The Levitt Shell is the project that I currently feel the closest to, although my first love will always be the Jewish Community Center.

When I got on board with the Shell, I had just sold the family business, Lichterman Shoe Company, which my father Herbert Lichterman started. I was a retired shoe salesman, so I didn’t know about starting a performing arts center, but the Levitt Shell was the easiest thing I’ve ever sold in my life.

Everybody loved the Shell and had a memory, nobody wanted to see it torn down. By making the Shell free, we leveled the playing field. It’s wonderful seeing people gather who otherwise wouldn’t have met. Music is a wonderful way to do that.

Tikkun Olam is the basis for everything that I’ve wanted to do. I think joy in life is something that everyone is entitled to, so I make sure whatever organization I am part of has an equal access component, and I think inclusivity is a Jewish concept.

I studied with an Orthodox rabbi from Israel every Thursday morning for an hour. For over five years we held that sacred — it was 4 pm his time, and 8 am my time. It took us over two years to get through a book called the Kuzari. We would read and then argue and explain. I didn’t agree with everything he said, but it’s funny- when you’re interested in something, that’s not important. I learned more about Judaism than I ever had.

My Jewish values inspired my drive for community building, and the Levitt Shell is a joint effort from people all over Memphis. In 10 years, the Shell has become an iconic amenity in Memphis today. People who were considering living in Memphis but were in doubt reported back that when they came to the Shell, they decided this was the community they wanted and made decisions to move here. The Shell belongs to everyone. This is our Shell. This is our community.

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Story and photo by Chani Fleischhacker

Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel in meaningful ways, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project also serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

Meet Amara (and Judah): Amara Levine-Reich is the quintessential Jewish Mother with a lot of love to give and the need to feed. Judah is a fun-loving 6-year-old who is passionate about geography and weather and has a great sense of humor.

Amara works as a communications manager for an insurance company and is raising a son with high functioning autism. Yet she somehow manages to find time to run an online meal service program for the Jewish community.

“Take Them a Meal’ sets up a family who might need a little help with nutritious dinners provided by their friends and neighbors. Whether it’s a mom with a newborn baby, a family sitting shiva, or a new family that has just joined the community, Amara makes sure that they are taken care of. It’s important to her because here in Memphis, we all take care of each other, and this is a small part of that.

“Food is our universal language of caring,” she says.

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Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel in meaningful ways, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project also serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

Interview and photo by Melinda Lejman

Meet Alvin.

“I was a friend of the executive director and he asked me if I would serve on the board (of Memphis Jewish Home & Rehab). The Jewish Home has special meaning. The people who serve here don’t have a particular agenda — they do it out of the goodness of their heart.

“I have a vested interest. A few years after I served as president, my wife had a stroke, and she needed this facility for residence, and so it became very real to me how important the strength of the Home was- the Jewishness, the love, the compassion, the idea that it’s a place where we want residents to feel happy and comfortable.

“This place has a feel that is just different. Every Shabbos we light candles at every nurses’ station. The caring that goes on here, people like the volunteers- you can’t buy that kind of love and devotion. My wife’s been here now over eight years, so it’s very important to me, the care she gets and the attention. I come visit her every day.

“Marcia and I got married very young — I was 19, she was 20. Marcia and I dated all through high school together. Marcia was very talented in art, and in cooking and baking, and just had a lot of common sense. When we got married, I was from the old school. I told her I didn’t want her to work. Her comment to me was, ‘You make a living, I’ll make it worthwhile,’ and she did.”

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Interview by Gila Golder

Photos by Rivka Braverman

Part of Memphis Jewish Federation’s ongoing efforts to connect Memphis and Israel in meaningful ways, the 70 Faces of Memphis and Shoham project was designed to form real connections between the people of Jewish Memphis and the people of Shoham, Israel, Memphis’s partner city through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2Gether program. The project also serves as a way to connect Jewish Memphians to each other by showcasing their unique character and contributions to the community.

“I have spent virtually my entire adult life in the tikkun olam world,” said Alayne Shoenfeld.

Originally a teacher, Alayne transitioned into a school administrator, recruiting volunteers and later managing mentorship programs for what was then called the Memphis Mentoring Partnership.

“One major funder was the Grizzlies Foundation, and after a couple of years, their executive director thought, ‘We’re doing the same work, why is Alayne down the street?’ So the Mentoring Partnership became part of the Grizzlies’ charitable foundation. For the last five years of my working life, I was a Grizzly!”

Now retired, Alayne keeps busy volunteering at Beth Sholom. “I became active in the tikkun olam committee because the fellow who used to run it wanted to reinvigorate it, and I said, ‘Well, I happen to be in the volunteer management business.’”

Eventually, Alayne learned how to read Torah, and now she serves as chief gabbai (synagogue sexton).

“The reason I’m gabbai is, I served on the board for many years and I needed a break from it and I told the president at the time, ‘Thank you very much but I don’t think I’ll continue next year.’ And he said, ‘Well, in that case, you must be gabbai,’ and I couldn’t refuse.”

The gabbai assists with the Torah service, following along to ensure the reader chants the appropriate words. “I believe I probably am the only female chief gabbai in Memphis. That’s my claim to fame at Beth Sholom.”

Alayne has also volunteered for Jewish Family Service’s Friendly Visitors program. “After my mom passed away, I missed the company of that generation, so I started visiting this awesome woman at Belmont Village. We talked about everything— a lot of girl talk. And I visited her every Shabbat after services because her daughter is Orthodox and Shomer Shabbat, so it was the only day of the week that her daughter couldn’t drive to visit her. I became the Shabbat elf.”

“I’ve spent my career in education and community service because of my parents. They had a clothing business which took a lot of time, and after hours they served the shul in many capacities and volunteered for local organizations. When I was little, I resented all the time they spent away from us, but when I got old enough to understand, I learned from their example that when you grow up, you give back. I respected their commitment to making our community better. I could have chosen to do many things in life, but having the honor to do good in the world was more important to me than financial gain. All I do today is in honor of my parents.”

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