News from Middle Tennessee's Jewish Community |
Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025
A recent Mah Jongg tournament raised much needed funds for the Alzheimer’s Association of Middle Tennessee. Forty players participated in the tournament at the Gordon Jewish Community Center. Alongside the 39 women players was Howard Pink, the lone gentleman, who celebrated his 80th birthday at the tournament. During the lunch, catered by Goldie Shepard, tournament organizer Michelle Tishler presented Pink with a celebratory cookie cake. This year’s event also showcased Pink’s progress in the game over the last 17 years. Tishler says, “Howard participated in my very first tournament in 2006, where he placed last. I honored him with a prize of a ‘Crying Towel.’ In this tournament, he placed first in his division.” During the fun filled afternoon, participants boned in the “tossing of the tiles,” meeting new players and enjoying the game of Mah Jongg.
This year’s Yom Hashoah event featured music, speeches, and candle lighting to remember the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The event included memorial certificates from Remember Us, a Holocaust B’nai Mitzvah project that invites children preparing for Bar or Bat Mitzvah to remember a child who was lost in the Holocaust. There was also artwork from the Butterfly Project. Through the painting of ceramic butterflies, described as a symbol of hope and resilience, people will remember the 1.5 million children who also died.
Akiva School celebrated its 2023 Graduation Ceremony on May 24th, honoring eight graduates and their families. As they prepared to leave Akiva, the graduating class could not help but feel a bittersweet sense of farewell as they stood ready to embark on the next phase of their educational journey. Looking back on their time at Akiva, graduate Lyla Banish reflected that, “One of the best things about being at Akiva is how I’ve made awesome friendships with my classmates, teachers, and even students from other grades. At Akiva, it’s really like everyone is part of a big family, your grade or age doesn’t matter.” Her fellow graduates unanimously share this sentiment, adding that “we will miss the strong friends we have made here, but know those friendships will continue to grow and be strong.”
As expectant women approach their due dates, a variety of emotions tend to surface. Some women are filled with excitement, anxiously anticipating the day that they will meet their baby face to face. Others get the jitters, nervous about the upcoming hours of labor. All women pray to G-d for a healthy baby. Many Jewish women would be thrilled to know that there is one special prayer that has been customary for centuries in our tradition to safeguard both the mother and the baby. This prayer is the Shir Hamalot (Song of Ascents, Psalms: 121). The verses of this psalm declare our dependence upon the Creator for our safety and wellbeing and His commitment to guard us at all times.
Friends of the Chabad of Nashville community celebrated Lag B’Omer with a beautiful outdoor celebration for children and adults from all walks of Nashville community. It was an event of true Jewish pride, celebrated in the spirit of Lag B’Omer camaraderie and friendship.
“Being faced with the reality of the horrific actions of the human species to each other and the earth, alongside our admirable advances in civilization over the centuries, I chose to express my personal notion of G*d in a poem, in hopes of expanding an optimistic perspective that does not preclude doubts or disasters.” Richard R. Forberg
According to Everytown Research and Policy institute’s website, every year 1,385 people in Tennessee are killed by guns, with the state ranking number 29th in the country for gun law strength. They also report that the gun homicide rate in the U. S. is 26 times higher than in other developed countries. As of February, 59 percent of adults or someone they know has experienced gun violence. That statistic in Nashville is undoubtedly higher, in the wake of the Covenant School shooting in March when an emotionally disturbed former student killed six people with an automatic firearm, one of five purchased legally prior to the murders.
(JTA) — When Rep. Rashida Tlaib joined a Zoom with 40 teenagers, she soon found herself talking about the kinds of topics — academic and otherwise — that tend to take up their days.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville hosted its first ever “Community Sing!” last month in celebration of Israel’s 75th birthday. Participants from all walks of life and all ages gathered to learn a special song composed by Israeli artist Matisyahu. The result is a planned music video recording of the event, to be streamed soon.
On March 27th, I was at an assisted living facility close to Covenant school when the Covenant School shooting occurred. The building went on lockdown and there was nothing to do but watch the emergency vehicles speed past and wait for news. I felt helpless.
Joel C. Gordon, 94, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather and devoted business and civic leader passed away peacefully at his home on March 30 surrounded by the love and presence of his family. He is survived by his wife, Bernice Weingart Gordon; their four children, Sherrie Gordon Eisenman (Alan), Robert A. Gordon (Julie), Frank E. Gordon (Gwen) and Gail Gordon Jacobs; 12 grandchildren, Kelly Eisenman Unger (Jacob), Tracy Eisenman Gagin (Eyal) and Ryan Eisenman- Zachary, Brian and Michael Gordon - Gavin, Cameron and Taylor Gordon - Matthew, Tyler and Morgan Jacobs; and four great grandchildren, Hudson, Graham and Elle Unger and Eden Gagin. Mr. Gordon took great delight in his large and close knit family. The 67-year partnership he shared with his wife Bernice was the loving platform for everything he accomplished over the years. The love, encouragement, nurturing and support they provided to each other brought out the best in them both.
Erin Coleman, a member of the Jewish Federation of North America National Young Leadership Cabinet, traveled to Latvia and Hungary on a mission trip.
