Parents, teachers and students are getting things done at religious school

By Patty Lewis
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I am going to start out by bragging about our religious school.

About 11:30 a.m. one Sunday, I went down to the Temple to get a few things done, and listened and watched the students during their class.

I was so impressed with the parents, teachers and older children who were helping. As the class came to an end, everyone gathered in a circle and sang a song together and it was beautiful.

There are larger congregations with more children in religious school but you would not find a school run as well as ours.

If you ever question the future of our religious school, please visit and watch the students in action.

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Student Rabbi Jonathan Falco bids farewell to ‘community of longtime friends’

By Student Rabbi Jonathan Falco
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We presently find ourselves in a period where we are literally counting the days until our next holiday.

Jews are always looking ahead, planning for the next occasion where the pulse of our calendar year brings us together in joyous or somber moments.

During these intervening days between Passover and Shavuot, we are commanded to count the omer of 49 days.

I’ve counted my year in monthly visits, trips to the “Enterprise” in Cincinnati and drives across the beautiful Indiana countryside.

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Students set an example as they work toward ideal of peace and reconciliation

By Betsy Frank
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On April 7, United Hebrew Congregation welcomed the Terre Haute South Vigo High School STAND club, whose members commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide with a program entitled, Together We Remember.

Rwandan genocide survivor Emmanuel Habimana served as the event’s main speaker. He recounted how as a 9-year-old, after witnessing his father’s murder, he escaped through the jungle with another child of similar age.

The local students who planned this moving program under the direction of THS teacher Peggy Grabowski understand their generation must work toward peace and reconciliation amongst all peoples.

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Dr. Nancy Sommers to honor her mother, Louise, as Yom HaShoah keynote speaker at UHC

By Terry Fear
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Dr. Nancy Sommers, a native of Terre Haute and former member of United Hebrew Congregation, will be keynote speaker for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 5, at UHC.

Her subject will be “My Mother’s Story — Creating Light from Darkness and Optimism out of Tragedy”. Dr. Sommers’s mother is longtime UHC member Louise Levite Sommers, a Holocaust survivor and resident of Terre Haute.

The program is sponsored by UHC and CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

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