L'Chaim (newsletter) article, March 2020: The Good, The Forgotten, and The Ohev-y

• Did you know that our Ohev Shalom Library, the Ray Doblitz Library, was named after a WOMAN named “Ray”? And for many, many years, just about everyone I asked at Ohev thought it was a man!?
• Did you know that there’s a crystal dove hanging in a display case in our hallway, donated by local area churches in 1978, to commemorate Kristallnacht? Or that one of the trees on our property is a Cedar of Lebanon, also given decades ago as an interfaith gift to the congregation?
• Did I ever show you the “Thank You” card I found in my office, addressed to Rabbi Louis Kaplan from the office of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, thanking him for the condolence card??? 
• Or has anyone shared their recollection of the day Richard Nixon’s motorcade stopped in Chester to pay tribute to a powerful, local politician? And many of that senator’s associates were Ohev members… who also ran some of his “operations” in Chester?

One thing that I think many of you do know, is that I LOVE Ohev history! I love learning stories about Chester – whether about the time it was under consideration to become our nation’s capital, or the underground railroad stops that could be found there, or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s tenure in the city – and about how Ohev Shalom members were intricately bound up with all these incredible tales!

At least one reason why I care so deeply about learning this information, is because I feel it makes our community come alive. Names on memorial plaques, synagogue doors, or cemetery headstones become *real* people; whether as heroes or foes in some pretty incredible moments in American history! I want to know where we’ve come from and who our ancestors truly were… don’t you?

On March 22^nd, I’ll be giving a talk as part of our Centennial, on some of my favorite moments in Ohev history. Some are remarkable, others may be notorious, but I think all contribute to the fabric of our congregation, and are vital to understanding who we are and where we’ve been. I’ve been advised not to use a Spaghetti-Western as inspiration for my title, so instead I’m going with “Ohev Shalom Americana: We were there for that!” Maybe it’ll change again, we’ll see…

I hope to follow that up – on April 26^th – with a Chester Walking Tour, where we’ll see some of the things we heard about in the Americana-talk. I hope you’ll come for the discussion and/or the walk. Because you know… it’s your history too.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Gerber