This segment was broadcast on WERS 88.9 FM on Sunday, July 13, 2024, and streamed around the world on WERS.org.

The post Cantor Alicia Stillman on WERS Radio, “Chagigah”: Cantor’s Corner appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

This segment was broadcast on WERS 88.9 FM on Sunday, October 29, 2023, and streamed around the world on WERS.org.

It will be rebroadcast Chagiah Radio all week long on WERS.org/Listen Again.
Click on Playlist and choose “Chagigah Radio”, October 29. Cantor Stillman’s segment is at 51:55

The post Cantor Alicia Stillman on WERS Radio, “Chagigah” appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

[90004.004]

FROM THE TEMPLE ISRAEL ARCHIVES

This is Temple Israel television program: Model Passover Seder, April 11, 1954. Temple Israel of Boston Archives.

In the April 11, 1954 episode of the This is Temple Israel television program Israel Archives, Senior Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn stages an abridged Passover Seder to introduce Passover rituals to people who have never witnessed or held one. Set up as a family event, Rabbi Gittlesohn plays the role of the father and Helaine (Mrs. James M.) Berenson, President of the PTA, plays the mother. The children, preteen students in the religious school, are Vivian Gilman (who chants the Four Questions), Peter Coppelman, Carol Levy, Arthur Finstein, and Nancy Bayard. The Temple Israel Quartet, led by Temple Israel Music Director Herbert Fromm, performs choral versions of the prayers and sings “Adir Hu,” “Hodu L’Adonai Ki Tov,” and “Eliahu Hanavi.” 

This audio recording represents the seventh episode of the television program, This is Temple Israel, which aired from 1953-1978. Sponsored by the Temple Israel Brotherhood and recorded at the Temple Israel of Boston campus on Commonwealth Avenue, it was broadcast on Massachusetts television station WNAC on the second Sunday of each month until 1978, when the show’s title and format were changed. 

This recording, along with several hundred others that capture services, sermons, and other events from 1934-1979, have recently been digitized by the Temple Israel Archives. Free streaming access to these recordings is available via the Digital Commonwealth, The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), or by request from the Wyner Archives, Temple Israel of Boston. This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

If you have memories of this or similar TI events, or any other comments or feedback that you would like to share, please send them to archives@tisrael.org.

The post Model Passover Seder, Television Program, April 11, 1954 appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

FROM THE TEMPLE ISRAEL ARCHIVES

In this sermon, excerpted from a radio broadcast that also includes a short Sabbath service, Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn recalls preaching, along with a Lutheran minister, to his frightened troops the evening before the Battle of Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. The solace the sermon offered confirmed what religion could mean to human beings in an emergency, taught him that that the best way to deal with his own fear was helping others, and greatly informed his widely-known eulogy for the Dedication of the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima on 21 March 1945. The eulogy he wrote for the 2,200 men buried there personalizes the casualties of the battle and emphasizes the commonalities between those who died there: “Here no man prefers another because of his faith or despises him because of his color. Here there are no quotas of how many from each group are admitted or allowed. Among these men there is no discrimination. No prejudice. No hatred. Theirs is the highest and purest democracy. Out of this, and from the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this, will come – we promise – the birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere.” This recording was part of a radio program series (1924-1964) sponsored by the Temple Israel Brotherhood, recorded at Temple Israel, and broadcast by transcription on local and regional radio stations. Choral music by Temple Israel Choir, Herbert Fromm, Music Director.

This recording, along with several hundred others that capture services, sermons, and other events from 1934-1979, have recently been digitized by the Temple Israel Archives. Free streaming access to these recordings is available via the Digital Commonwealth, The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), or by request from the Wyner Archives, Temple Israel of Boston.

If you have memories of this or similar TI events, or any other comments or feedback that you would like to share, please send them to archives@tisrael.org.

See Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings blog post “The Timelessness and Timeliness of Rabbi Gittelsohn’s Words” which refers to this sermon.

The post Radio broadcast of Temple Israel partial Sabbath service with Sermon from Radio broadcast by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn, “A Chaplain Remembers,” April 4, 1954 appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

[90103.001]

FROM THE TEMPLE ISRAEL ARCHIVES

This is Temple Israel television program: Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn and Rabbi Leon A. Jick: “The Meaning of Purim for Our Time,” March 17, 1957. Temple Israel of Boston Archives.

The March 17, 1957 episode of the This is Temple Israel television program features a brief Purim service, a description of the Megillah, the story of Esther, and a discussion between Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn and Assistant Rabbi Leon A. Jick about its universal meaning and continued relevance. They state that the Megillah provides insight into the causes of prejudice against Jews and minority groups and how those groups might respond. The rabbis argue that prejudice is due to the psychological fears of the oppressor and antisemitism exists because Jews have been a symbol for freedom and nonconformity of the individual and of minority groups. 

The audio of the program begins with an abbreviated Purim service and a discussion of the significance of the holiday of Purim. Rabbi Gittelsohn and Assistant Rabbi Jick conduct the service as a conversational dialogue, and Temple member Frank P. Cohen periodically provides commentary. Three Purim blessings are chanted by the choir and the rabbis read from the Megillah in Hebrew and English. The two rabbis note that, while scholars have debated the historical accuracy of the story, there is much to learn from the Book of Esther that is still relevant today. 

The rabbis state that, although Haman demanded that Jews conform to the majority in the name of uniformity, the real reasons for his prejudice were revenge, greed, and insecurity. Rabbi Gittelsohn also suggests that antisemitism has existed over many centuries because Jews have been a symbol for the rights of individuals and minority groups to follow their own religious beliefs, rights that are key in a democracy. King Ahasuerus characterizes those who, when confronted with prejudice, are apathetic until something directly impacts them. As the Megillah makes clear, however, there is no such thing as ethical neutrality; we are all responsible, especially in a democracy.  Even Queen Esther is a complex symbol. She conceals her religion to become queen and is initially reluctant to risk everything to help her people. Only when she acknowledges her true identity does she redeem both her people and herself. 

This is an audio recording of an episode of the This is Temple Israel television program (1953-1978). Sponsored by the Temple Israel Brotherhood and recorded at the Temple Israel of Boston campus on Commonwealth Avenue, it was broadcast on Massachusetts television station WNAC on the second Sunday of each month until 1978, when the show’s title and format were changed. The  program broadcast program was produced by Alfred Sherman and directed by Ted Fechter and Tony Lang. Herbert Fromm, Temple Israel’s Music Director, was the conductor.

This recording, along with several hundred others that capture services, sermons, and other events from 1934-1979, have recently been digitized by the Temple Israel Archives. Free streaming access to these recordings is available via the Digital Commonwealth, The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), or by request from the Wyner Archives, Temple Israel of Boston. This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

If you have memories of this or similar TI events, or any other comments or feedback that you would like to share, please send them to archives@tisrael.org.

The post The Meaning of Purim for Our Time, Television Program, March 17, 1957 appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

Temple Israel of Boston Archives

Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman’s speech at the Boston Garden “They Must Live” rally on October 11, 1947 was delivered to a capacity crowd of more than 16,000 and broadcast on WNAC radio to tens of thousands more. Sponsored by the Combined Jewish Appeal, the rally opened the Appeal’s Greater Boston campaign to raise $9,100,000 to aid the 1,500,000 Jews in Europe uprooted by the war and the 250,000 in displaced persons camps, transport them to Palestine, and help create a Jewish state in Palestine. In his speech, Liebman argues that philanthropy is required “to save our brothers in refugee camps who are starving in body and mind,” and that we must give because of the many Jews and Christians who were war heroes who resisted the Nazis and sacrificed their lives to rescue Jews. “It is, indeed, for us to choose whether to finish Hitler’s work or to undo Hitler’s work.” He goes on to state that every Jew in Boston must help, not just now but in years to come, until all those suffering will be in Eretz Israel, the community of “Israel will be healed,” and Israel will be an independent state and “have a new freedom.” Boston Jews, he declares, “will be the co-builders of bridges from blood-drenched Europe to the rivers of Jordan. We will be opening the door of hope, and the bricks of our gold and silver will be milk and medicine for all the children of Israel. We are pioneers for the world for the redemption of Israel.”

Rabbi Leibman’s speech was considered a “high point” of the rally. Other speeches were given Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who would become the first president of the new State of Israel, Israel Friedlander, president of the Combined Jewish Appeal, Herman Gilman, general chairman of the Appeal, Boston’s temporary mayor, John B. Hynes, and Mrs. E. Geoffrey Nation, chairman of the Women’s Division of the Combined Jewish Appeal, along with other speakers and musical performers.

This recording, along with several hundred others that capture services, sermons, and other events from 1934-1979, have recently been digitized by the Temple Israel Archives. Free streaming access to these recordings is available via the Digital Commonwealth, The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), or by request from the Wyner Archives, Temple Israel of Boston. This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Image from The Jewish Weekly Times, October 16, 1947, courtesy of American Jewish Historical Society-New England Archives

The post Recording of Radio Broadcast of a Speech by Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman at the “They Must Live” Rally at Boston Garden, October 11, 1947 appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

[90065.001]

FROM THE TEMPLE ISRAEL ARCHIVES

In this December 11, 1953 audio recording, Temple Israel’s recently installed new Senior Rabbi, Roland B. Gittelsohn, hosts the third episode of the newly initiated This is Temple Israel television show. Sponsored by the Temple Israel Brotherhood, which had been sponsoring radio broadcasts since 1924, the This is Temple Israel television program was initiated in October, 1953, soon after Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn’s installation. Hoping to extend the Brotherhood’s efforts “on behalf of better human relations” into a new medium, the program was designed to acquaint a broad audience with Jewish teachings and practices in celebration of the synagogue’s centennial year.  Recorded at the Temple Israel of Boston campus on Commonwealth Avenue, it was broadcast on Massachusetts television station WNAC on the second Sunday of each month until 1978, when the show’s title and format were changed. 

The December show focuses on the history and rituals of Chanukah, with Rabbi Gittelsohn first telling the story of the Maccabees’ battle for religious freedom, their reconsecration of the Second Temple, and the legend of the tiny flask of oil that lasts eight days. He then discusses the holiday’s modern message—that minorities have the right to resist conformism and the power to defeat formidable oppressors through faith and courage. 

Next, nine young girls perform a Chanukah ceremony in which they each represent and explicate the meaning of one candle “light.” The girls had presented this ceremony a week earlier at the Sisterhood’s first Chanukah Mothers and Daughters Religious Service and Luncheon, which was also the first Temple Israel service ever led entirely by women, and Rabbi Gittelsohn subsequently invited them to repeat their performance on television. Finally, Rabbi Gittelsohn shows his audience three menorahs from the Sisterhood Ceremonial Museum and performs a “candle lighting ceremony in our temple… such as you might have witnessed in almost any Jewish home around the world.” 

The  program broadcast program was produced by Alfred Sherman and directed by Ted Fechter and Tony Lang. Herbert Fromm, Temple Israel’s Music Director, was the conductor.

This recording, along with several hundred others that capture services, sermons, and other events from 1934-1979, have recently been digitized by the Temple Israel Archives. Free streaming access to these recordings is available via the Digital Commonwealth, The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), or by request from the Wyner Archives, Temple Israel of Boston.This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

If you have memories of this or similar TI events, or any other comments or feedback that you would like to share, please send them to archives@tisrael.org.

The post Chanukah and Its Rituals, Television Program, December 13, 1953 appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

The post “My Childhood Rabbi” Rabbi Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings 9/17/21 appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

The post Mourner’s Kaddish appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.

The post Shehecheyanu appeared first on Temple Israel of Boston.