Jewish religious schools

Alex Berman, a Louisville native, recalls family immigration, reasons for immigration, and European conditions. His parents were Meyer Berman of Covna and Esther Spindler of Grodna, Poland. He discusses associated families such as Goldsmith, Fink, Schuster, Sher Askenaz, Frehling, Mandel, Banshek (St. Louis), Goldberg, Bornstein, Goc, Arthur Kling, Israel and Zehavi Naamani. He describes Louisville merchants in 1912; family life; traditions; the University of Louisville in 1929; Market Street; 4th and Hill Streets; neighborhood stables; Ali Bornstein, builder; Ohio River's importance; Young Men's Hebrew Association; Jewish Hospital; Louis Hebrew School; Jewish Professionals; the Haymarket; Demolay for Boys; Congregations. Tape 2: Discusses Rabbi Zarchy; Rabbi Madlebaum 1940 - as president Kennesseth; World War II; B'nai B'rith; the 1937 flood; shabbat; Four Courts.

Berman discusses Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the Louisville Hebrew School, the Young Men's Hebrew Association, Neighborhood House, the Adath Jeshurun Sunday school, synagogue picnics, the Phoenix Hill Neighborhood, Liberty Hall, and World War I.

Annette Gale's parents were Jenny and Aaron Vine, her grandmother was Blema Vine. They were all from Poland and immigrated to New York and then to Louisville in 1922. She tells of her youth and the Walnut to Magnolia and Brook Street areas. Her parents had a grocery store. Associated families: Eva Yussman, Herman Cohen, Freda Gurwitch, Minnie Cohen, Rose Tarbis. Discusses Jewish merchants, the American Grocery Co., the University of Louisville, Girls High School, transportation, Adath Jeshurun, Talmud Torah, going to Keat's Theatre at 5th and Walnut, radio, Young Men's Hebrew Association, World War II, and the 1937 flood.

Hyman Gurwitch's father, David Lee Gurwitch, arrived in the USA in 1910. His mother followed with his sisters Mildred, Molly, then Freda and Bessie. David Lee Gurwitch bought a butcher shop on 7th Street. Associated families/people: Nathan Khan, Flumbaum, Baniss Cohen, Sol Waxman, Eichel, Lipetz, Goldsmith, O'Koon, Streicher, Shaiken, Joseph Friedman, Rosen, Harry Goldberg, Block, Fehr, Rosenbaum, Eichenholtz, Morgan, Ethel Sher, Jerome Binder, Harry Cole, Willie Waits, Ike Gumer. Discusses Sidney Passamaneck/Leonard Stern and the Model Drugstore. Discusses Young Men's Hebrew Association, Adath Israel Sabbath School, Talmud Torah, Brook and Floyd (Simon's Grocery), 7th Street, Liberty and Jefferson. Graduate in pharmacy. Discusses YMHA Basketball, gold, handball, 1936 car prices, 1937 flood, 1974 tornado, and a tribute to Pauline (Sandler) Brill.

Irving Lipetz was born in 1930. His parents, Morris and Jenny Lipetz, came to the United States from Grodna, Russia in 1904. They landed in New York and moved to Louisville in 1916. He discusses his siblings. One of his grandfathers was doctor, one was scribe, wrote Torahs. Describes the Preston Street "ghetto," where everyone was poor but they didn't know it. He describes the neighborhood including Synder the Butcher; Kommors's Dry Cleaning Plant; and Gershune's, which peddled Wiener-Wurst. African Americans and Italians shared the same street. He discusses Talmud Torah, prices back in the day, the River Road football team, and the Young Men's Hebrew Association. He met his first wife, Blance Ginsburg, at Center - YMHA Camp. He talks about community work - after University of Louisville, was social case worker, Social Security Administration 1941-1980.

The narrator discusses the origins of the Brith Sholom congregation, her childhood on East Market Street, the Young Men's Hebrew Association, and the Louisville Hebrew School.

Ringol's father was a doctor who graduated from the University of Louisville in 1908. He was the first resident at Jewish Hospital in 1909. Ringol's parents married in 1910. Her grandfather, Jacob Brownstein, arrived in the United States in 1884 and was a charter member of Anshei Sfard. Her mother's parents, Phillip and Bern Synder, were tailors from Odessa. Their parents were from Warsaw. They moved to the Highlands in 1931. She discusses Peerless Manufacturing Company, at 7th and Main; the family business in men's clothing; an uncle, Simon Agranot, who became Chief Justice of Israel and handed down the Eichmann decision. She remembers living at Floyd and Walnut streets; YMHA basketball games; Adath Jeshurun Sisterhood; Fourth Street; Brown Hotel; Canary Cottage; living at 2nd and Hill Streets; front porch gatherings; the Depression. She married Louis Ringol in 1935. He was a dentist. She describes the 1937 flood; Pearl Harbor, World War II and the USO; Old Talmud Torah; Riva Waldman Entertainment; the Rarbis Family; the Ray Baer Family; Pearl Goodman; Lester Lipson; University of Louisville, and the Normal School for Teachers.

Switow discusses his father, a Russian immigrant who owned movie theaters in Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia; his father's work in Louisville's Adath Jeshurun congregation; his childhood and education in Louisville at Cochran Elementary School, the Louisville Hebrew School, and Louisville Male High School; service in the United States Navy during World War I; engineering education at the University of Kentucky; Louisville during the 1937 flood; work with World War II bond drives; and views on the creation of Israel following the war. Switow concludes by discussing Jewish assimilation and changes in the local Jewish community.