This sound postcard combines a field recording from May 15, 2022, of Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid’s Sunday religious school with two oral history interviews. On Friday, April 29, 2022, Liz Spaide sat down with lifelong CBINT member Mark Freedman MD and conducted an oral history interview. On June 10, 2022, Elaina Nelson interviewed Gayle Weber Rakita, who has been an active member of CBINT since she moved to Milwaukee from Pennsylvania in 1975. The recording begins with the singing of Oseh Shalom, a Jewish prayer for peace, by the fourth-grade religious school class and Jonah, the class instructor. The class discusses the meaning of the prayer. The field recording also includes the sounds of a group of children led by Israeli instructors, Gal Garti and Itay Rokban of the MKE Shin Shins. Gal and Itay work with the children as they try to put together a map of Israel in record time. Interspersed with the sounds of the children are clips from the oral history interviews. Both Mark Freedman MD and Gayle Weber Rakita speak to the importance of a Jewish education and what it is to be Jewish and partake in the Jewish way of life. A theme that arises is passing the torch to the next generation. Mark Freedman MD references the pride he feels seeing his children and now grandchildren continue the Jewish way of life. Gayle Weber Rakita speaks to how Judaism is an evolving religion and how the synagogue must also continue to evolve. It is important bring in new people to do the synagogue work, contribute ideas and volunteer hours so that the “scepter” can be passed on. The postcard ends with the religious school students, the next generation, singing the prayer for peace.
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- children
- Congregation Beth Israel
- Conservative Judaism
- Education
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- Field Recording
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- Freedman, Mark
- Friends
- Gayle Weber Rakita
- Glendale
- Glendale, WI
- Israel
- Judaism
- Leadership
- Music
- Oral History
- Peace
- Prayer
- Religious Education
- Synagogue
- Source: Sonic Postcard: CBINT Sunday Religious School Recorded on May 15, 2022. Clips from Liz Spaide’s April 29, 2022 Interview with Mark Freedman MD and Elaina Nelson’s June 10, 2022 interview with Gayle Weber Rakita. Edited by Elaina Nelson and Liz Spaide June 2022. Image: Back Cover Torah Shall Come From Zion: The Word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Milwaukee, WI: Congregation Beth Israel, n.d.).
- Creator: Elaina Nelson and Liz Spaide