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Click the underlined lines below link to the following information on this page:
- The First Ten Years
- The Second Decade
- - Arrival of Rabbi Abraham Maimon
- - Establishment of Ladies Auxiliary
- - Religious Staff
- - Efforts Towards Amalgamation
- - Sephardic Theater
- - Sephardic Education
- - Building the New Sanctuary
- The Third Decade
- - The First American-Born Generation Grows Up
- - Creation of the Sephardic Brotherhood
- - Amalgamation Again 1938-1941
- - Religious Staff
- - Impact of World War II
- - SBH Members Who Served in the US Armed Forces
- The Fourth Decade
- - Rabbi Solomon Maimon Becomes the Rabbi of SBH
- - Founding of the Seattle Hebrew Day School
- - SBH Veterans Return, Attend the U. of Washington
- - New Arrivals from Salonika
- - Arrival of Rev. Samuel Benaroya as Hazzan
- The Fifth Decade
- - Rabbi Maimon Starts Sephardic Bikur Holim Camp
- - Community Growth
- - Another Opportunity for Amalgamation
- - Building the New Synagogue In Seward Park
- The Sixth Decade
- - The New Synagogue at 52nd Avenue South and
So. Morgan Street
- - The Syrian Connection
- - La Boz, Monthly Newsletter
- - Photographic Directory
- - Participation in American Sephardi Federation
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- The Seventh Decade
- - Transition in Synagogue Leadership
- - SBH Testimonials
- - Changes in Board Operation
- - Additions to the Synagogue Structure
- - Filming "Song of the Sephardi"
- - Modernization of the SBH Administration
- The Eighth Decade
- - Rabbi Simon Benzaquen Becomes the New Rabbi
- - New Hazzan and New Gabbai
- - Passages - Rabbi Solomon Maimon
- - Seattle Kollel and Va'ad HaRabanim
- - Establishment of the Endowment Fund
- - American Sephardi Federation Convention in Seattle
- - SBH Celebrates and Evolves
- - Re-establishment of the Sephardic Religious School
- The Ninth Decade
- - Program Innovations and Physical Changes Within SBH
- - SBH Publishes Its Own Religious Books
- - Eli Varon Helps Out - Everywhere
- - SBH Recognizes Its Leaders and Volunteers
- - SBH Role in Seattle Jewry's Special Year
- - SBH Members Assume Leadership Roles in Jewish Education
- - Outstanding SBH Athletes
- - Conclusion and To the Future
- Rabbi Benzaquen's Speech at the 90th Anniversary Dinner
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The 90th Anniversary video is available on VHS or DVD. If you are interested in ordering the wonderful video
that was viewed during the 90th Anniversary Dinner place your order with the SBH office. The cost is $18 for the VHS tape or,
$26 for the DVD. Shipping is $3.00.
Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2004. From 13th and Washington
in 1914 to 52nd and Morgan in 1965. SBH has grown and prospered to become one of the premier
orthodox Sephardic congregations in the country. The seeds sown in the early 1900s by Solomon Calvo,
Jacob Policar, and others, have flourished indeed. Whether one’s personal roots are Turkey,
Rhodes, Greece, Israel, Morocco, or anywhere
else, the walls of SBH bind us together with the customs, melodies, language and foods that our ancestors
enjoyed and brought with them from the “old country”.
To mark this milestone anniversary many programs and activities were prepared. A Gala 90th Anniversary Dinner,
was held on Sunday, November 21, at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel.
Below is the decade by decade, re-living of how SBH was affected by, and, in turn,
influenced, the early years, the Great Depression, World War II, and into modern times. Through the words
of Isaac Maimon, Albert Adatto, Eugene Normand, and
other community historians, we will relate the SBH story.
This 90th Anniversary milestone also affords us an opportunity to look ahead, to 100 years and beyond.
The past is our foundation, and serves as a springboard for the future.
How did our families and members establish and maintain this vibrant synagogue over the last 90 years?
By love of Judaism, our Sephardic heritage, and by their dedication and sacrifice. The sacrifice manifested
itself by time commitments of the lay and professional leadership and true sacrifice by way of financial
commitment.
The goal of this year’s dinner is to continue that tradition for the next 90 years. Our goal is to raise
$500,000, almost all of which will be for endowment purposes. This means that the monies raised will be
added to our current endowment fund balance which will then total nearly one million dollars. A contribution
will be permanent, and the principal will never be touched. The proceeds of it will be used to assist the
Synagogue into the future and to establish supplemental programs.
There are various fund opportunities that allow our members to contribute to those causes within the
Synagogue that most matter to them. These fall into five categories: Membership, Youth, Capital, Religious,
and Cultural.
Membership: For the first time, the Synagogue is considering lifetime memberships for individuals
or married couples. Details are being finalized, whereby a donation of a lump sum (yet to be determined) to the
Endowment Fund will relieve the couple from any further membership obligations during their lifetimes. The earnings
from this fund will be used for general fund purposes much in the same way that membership dues do today.
Youth: Donations to this fund will benefit Sephardic Camp, youth programs during the year and part
of the budget for a youth director.
Capital: The Endowment Building Fund will be utilized to maintain our beautiful premises, for repairs, and for improvements.
Religious: The earnings from donations to the Religious Endowment Fund will be utilized to maintain and finish development
of the Sephardic prayer books for the New Year and Holiday services, for repair and upkeep of our religious articles such as
the Torah scrolls, for development and printing of pamphlets for all occasions such as funerals and special events in our
calendar.
Cultural: Earnings from funds donated to the Cultural Endowment Fund will be utilized to maintain and upgrade
our library which has been sadly neglected of late, for our web site including installation of audio programs that will enable
anyone, anywhere, to access all of our rituals, including reading of Torah portions, learning of prayers, the Passover Seder,
and other instructional materials. It will also be used to fund the bringing in of top-flight speakers and scholars in residence
for adult educational purposes.
This 90th Anniversary dinner is a joint project of the Endowment Fund Committee, the Dinner Committee and the Board of Trustees
of the Synagogue. There is a sense of excitement and anticipation about this event and about our goals to establish the Synagogue’s
permanent financing to ensure our survival. We have a proud past. Together, let us make it a proud future.
In 1902 the first two Sephardic Jews, Solomon Calvo and Jacob Policar, arrived
in Seattle, having left their homes on the island of Marmara. Later they were joined by Nissim Alhadeff,
the first Jews from the Island of Rhodes, and within a few years by Sephardim from Tekirdag (Rodosto)
and Constantinople, in addition to others from Marmara and Rhodes. Almost all were young men, and after
a few years some went back to their homes in Turkey to marry and bring their new wives to Seattle. Shortly thereafter the first of
the American born Sephardim appeared.
By 1910 there were about 40 Sephardic families, more than 100 souls, and growing. For Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur up to 1908
religious services had been held by all of the Sephardim together, in a rented hall, with the Ashkenazic rabbi coming over to
blow the shofar. In the following years, because of differences in minhagim, the Turkish (Tekirdag and Marmara) and Rhodes groups
were determined to conduct their own separate religious services. In 1911, Samuel Morhaime,
head of the mutual aid society of the Tekirdag group, decided to purchase a Sefer Torah from Palestine, as the first step towards
a synagogue. Two years later, the Tekirdag group took action towards the establishment of a synagogue. The Ashkenazic synagogue,
Bikur Cholim, was completing the construction of a new building at 17th and Yesler, so their old synagogue, at 13th and Washington
was becoming available. The Tekirdag group called a meeting, and their leaders convinced them to take joint and dramatic action.
They raised $800 and agreed to buy the building, along with a section of cemetery, from Bikur Cholim.
The purchase was completed in 1914 with the assistance during the negotiations of an Ashkenazic lawyer, Aubrey
Levy, who was a great friend of the Sephardim. The synagogue was established as Bikur Holim, named after the synagogue in Tekirdag,
(later it was called Sephardic Bikur Holim, to distinguish it from the Ashkenazic synagogue) and Joseph Caston was
elected as its first President. Officially, it was known as the Spanish Hebrew Society and Congregation Bikur Holim. At this time, the
Marmara group decided to maintain their own identity.
Religious services at Sephardic Bikur Holim were conducted by Rabbi Shelomo Azose, who had arrived in Seattle 1910 and had
served as a haham in both Tekirdag and Marmara previously. He performed essentially all of the religious duties, as hazzan
(leading prayers and reading the Torah), rabbi (performing marriages), mohel (performing circumcisions) and shohet
(kosher slaughtering of animals). When he passed away in 1919 he was succeeded by his brother, Rabbi Isaac Azose, until 1924.
When the Sephardic Bikur Holim bought its building, it also included a room for a Hebrew school, and classes (primarily reading Hebrew)
were taught by the most knowledgeable members. In 1915, wanting to improve the education of their children,
all of the Sephardim in the city formed a Sephardic Talmud Torah and they brought out a Mr. Benezra from New York City.
He knew Hebrew and English very well, along with Ladino, so that the year that he served as the instructor in Seattle, the
education level within the Talmud Torah classes that he taught was at a higher level.
By 1916 the Sephardic community had grown to about 1500 people, which comprised three separate groups, Sephardic Bikur Holim,
the Rhodes group which established their own synagogue, Ezra Bessaroth and the Marmara group. In 1917 when America went to
war, a number of young men from Sephardic Bikur Holim were conscripted (Nissim Adatto, Jack Babani,
Victor Cordova, and Bension Jerusalmi).
All of them returned from World War I safely. After the war was over, a number of relatives of the Sephardim living in Seattle, who had suffered
through the war in Turkey, made their way to the US to be with their relatives. This influx lead to a sudden increase in the Sephardic population
in Seattle, but it was followed by a number of families leaving Seattle for Portland and Los Angeles.
In 1921, Henry Benezra, became the first Sephardic Jew to graduate from the University of Washington and six
years later he was elected President of Sephardic Bikur Holim. That same year some Sephardic Bikur Holim members left when the Marmara group
announced plans to build their own synagogue, the Ahavath Ahim, which was completed in 1922. In 1921 Rabbi Haim Nahum, former
Haham Bashi (Chief Rabbi of Turkey) visited Seattle on behalf of the Alliance Israelite Universalle to raise money. The entire Sephardic community
turned out to see and hear Rabbi Nahum who remained in Seattle for three weeks. He raised more money in Seattle than he did in Portland or Los Angeles.
Arrival of Rabbi Abraham Maimon
In 1924 two very significant events occurred within the
Sephardic Bikur Holim community: Rabbi Abraham Maimon
arrived as the new rabbi and the Ladies Auxiliary
was established. Since Rabbi Abraham Maimon had been the rabbi in
Tekirdag when many of the members had lived there prior
to immigrating to the US, they knew him and greatly respected and admired
him. When some of these leaders learned that he might be interested in
moving to Seattle, they began contacting him by mail in late 1923, and
by mid-1924 the papers and preparations for his appointment as rabbi and
his move to the US were completed. This took some time because beginning
in 1921 the American Congress passed several laws restricting immigration
to the US. Rabbi Maimon and his family (his wife Vida and 6 of his 8
children) arrived in September, 1924, in the evening, a day before the start
of Yom Kippur. Due to illness the family had to spend Rosh Hashanah on
Ellis Island before proceeding by train to Seattle, where they were warmly
greeted by more than 100 members of the community.
Establishment of Ladies Auxiliary
In 1924 the Ladies Auxiliary was founded,
becoming one of the three standing committees of the Synagogue Board at
that time, while at the same time having its own independent standing
with a president and officers. Mrs. Estraya Chiprut served
as the first President of the Ladies Auxiliary. The Ladies Auxiliary has
remained a vital part of the Synagogue to this day. It has conducted its
independent fund-raising events and has generously donated substantial
funds to the Synagogue to support specific projects over the years.
Religious Staff
With Rabbi Maimon as the spiritual leader of the Synagogue, by virtue
of his strong and engaging personality, he was able to exert a positive
influence on the SBH membership. Attendance at the Shabbat services increased
and a number of families returned to strict observance of Shabbat and
of kashrut due to the influence that he exerted on them on a personal
level. Also serving the Synagogue were Joseph Caston
as the unofficial Gabbay and Avram Barlia as the Shamash.
Joseph Caston called members to the Torah and sold the mitzvoth every
Shabbat and Yom Tov; when these duties were later taken over by Behor
Chiprut, Mr. Chiprut was officially designated as Gabbay The
role of the Shamash was a unique one which Mr. Barlia
filled for more than 50 years. He was the man who opened up the Synagogue
in the morning and locked it up at night. He knew where all the members
lived, so before the widespread availability of telephones, he was the
one who kept members informed. He would go house to house, extending invitations
for engagements, weddings, etc., to family members and friends.
Unfortunately Rabbi Maimon passed away in January 1931, having served
the Sephardic Bikur Holim community for only six years, but having had
a major impact on his members during this time. Afterwards the religious
duties were taken on mainly by Nessim Azose and Bension
Maimon, along with Rabbi Isaac Azose. An innovation
to the service was added in about 1931 with the introduction of a choir.
Samuel Goldfarb, who had arrived in Seattle in 1930 as
the music director at Temple de Hirsh, was responsible for training the
young men who were recruited for the choir. He arranged all of the music
and even wrote new melodies for the liturgical music sung by the choir.
Efforts Towards Amalgamation
In early 1925, Sephardic Bikur Holim invited representatives
of the other two Sephardic synagogues, Ezra Bessaroth
and Ahavath Ahim, to participate in a Fruticas celebration,
and they gladly attended. This apparently was the first time since the
three synagogues were established that a joint religious celebration was
held. This was followed by other efforts to combine the three Sephardic
synagogues. The Seattle Progressive Fraternity (SPF),
a social welfare group that began in 1921 and comprised members from all
three synagogues, held several meetings in 1926 devoted to the topic of
a united Sephardic community.
In 1927 Henry Benezra became president of SBH with the
central purpose of amalgamating the Sephardic synagogues. He and like-minded
members convinced the SBH board to approach Ezra Bessaroth on the issue
of amalgamation. For more than half a year discussions led by Mr. Benezra
and Jack Caston continued with members of Ezra Bessaroth,
but at the end the majority of members of Ezra Bessaroth weren't willing
to merge on an equal basis. Nevertheless, the idea of amalgamation within
the Sephardic community was a powerful one, and was championed by people
both inside and outside of the Sephardic community. It continued to be
discussed in meetings of the SPF for the next few years, and numerous
letters on this pivotal topic appeared in the pages of the Seattle Transcript,
the Jewish newspaper of Seattle. As late as 1932 an editorial in the Seattle
Transcript urged amalgamation.
Until 1929 Shabetai Israel had served as the spiritual
leader of Ahavath Ahim congregation; however, upon his departure, there
was a void in the religious leadership, and no part-time religious functionary
could be found. Over the next two years the members held critical meetings
to discuss their future. By the end of 1931 the majority
of the members of Ahavath Ahim voted to amalgamate with Bikur Holim, a
few joined Ezra Bessaroth and a number decided to maintain themselves
as an independent synagogue, hiring Rev. Morris Scharhon
as their religious leader. With this merger, the Synagogue became Bikur
Holim Ahavath Ahim Congregation. However, after a number of years,
the name was changed back to Sephardic Bikur Holim for the sake of brevity.
Sephardic Theater
During the 1920s one of the unique social past times
for the members of SBH was attending the amateur Sephardic theater, performances
of plays completely in Ladino. Leon Behar, who grew up
in Istanbul before coming to Seattle, was the most accomplished
producer of Ladino theatrical productions, but not the only one. In Istanbul
as a teenager he had participated as an actor, director and playwright
of several plays, and he put that talent to good use in Seattle. He produced
and directed a number of plays, beginning with Dreyfus in 1922, using
talented Sephardim from all three synagogues as his actors. His plays
were performed to raise money for the Sephardic synagogues and related
organizations. For example, in 1927, under the sponsorship of SBH, he
produced the play Love and Religion, and the following year the SBH Ladies
Auxiliary sponsored his production of The Massacre of the Jews of Russia.
Once the Depression started at the end of 1929, the era of Ladino dramatic
productions in Seattle came to an end.
Sephardic Education
During the 1920s formal Jewish education of Sephardic
children was undertaken primarily through the Sephardic Talmud
Torah which served the needs of Sephardic families from all three
synagogues. Educated laymen from the synagogues served as the teachers,
but they were not formally trained. As the Depression set in and it became
difficult to pay teachers, the situation worsened. When the Sephardic
Talmud Torah could no longer afford to pay Rev. Morris Scharhon
as a teacher, he opened up his own Talmud Torah
(Heder) in his home and attracted a number of students.
At the same time Seattle Sephardic leaders began searching for a Sephardic
educator and intellectual to lead and invigorate their Sephardic Talmud
Torah. Albert Levy was one of the potential candidates
that they turned to, since he was known to many as the editor of the Ladino
newspaper LaVara. He was well educated and had
taught in a Sephardic school in New York. In the summer
of 1931, Albert Levy, often known as the Professor, his
wife and three children moved from New York to Seattle to serve as Principal
of the Sephardic Talmud Torah.
Levy utilized his skills to improve the teaching within the Talmud Torah,
to promote the school, to bring education to the parents of the students,
and to work with the Jewish community at large in Seattle. Thus, within a
few months of his arrival in Seattle, he had inspired the ladies auxiliary
organizations of the three Sephardic synagogues to organize an Educational
Committee. The Committee sponsored a series of bi-weekly lectures on Jewish
history, held on Saturday afternoons in one of the synagogues, for the benefit
of all Sephardic women. He got to know the other Jewish leaders in the city of
Seattle, and impressed them with his intellect and his desire to improve the
education in the Sephardic Talmud Torah. The Transcript Took note, writing
an editorial entitled "Give Room for Sephardic Talmud Torah" which caused a
lot of controversy but also indicated that the school was being recognized.
Levy increased the enrollment in the Sephardic Talmud Torah, which reached close
to 90 students at its peak. Unfortunately, the financial situation of the school
deteriorated, and Levy was forced to leave the Sephardic Talmud Torah in 1934,
returning to New York.
Building the New Sanctuary
By 1928 it became obvious that the synagogue building
at 13th Avenue and Washington was not large enough for the expanding number
of people within the SBH families. The leaders at the time, including
Henry Benezra, Albert Benezra,
Joseph Caston, John Calderon, Joseph
Cordova (who served as the Synagogue's treasurer for close to
50 years) and Nessim Azose, recognized the importance
of this issue and authorized a strong Building Committee to handle all
aspects of buying a new building and selling the old one. Many members
had moved further east than 13th Avenue and so when they found property
at 20th Avenue and East Fir Street, it was ideally located and they bought
it. From the fall of 1928 until late into 1929 after
the sanctuary had been completed, the Building Committee met virtually
every week, usually on Monday nights, to handle all of the matters associated
with the new building. The main issue was money, and the Committee used
Sunday mornings to go around to the homes of the members to collect their
contributions, essentially all in small cash donations since the average
wage of the time was $15 per week. They were tireless in their efforts
and the success of the project really depended on the determination of
this Committee. At a few meetings Rabbi Maimon was present
and he expressed words of encouragement to the Committee.
Several different architects were consulted, each presenting sketches
to show the Committee members what the sanctuary might look like. In early
1929 Mr. Brast was finally chosen as the architect for
the job. On January 1, 1929 the Committee met in the vacant lot on the
site of the future sanctuary. Other synagogue members were invited too,
along with members of the Ladies Auxiliary who gave their endorsement
to the project and specifically asked to have a plate in their honor placed
at the top of the Hechal Hakodesh (ark).
The Committee was continually trying to find ways of keeping the costs
down and at the same time raising money from the members and others
who might be counted upon to contribute.
Mr. Brast assured them that the entire project would cost in the range
of $20,000 - 25,000, even though the Committee felt that they could only
raise $10,000. Nevertheless, changes had to be made to the design because
the Committee wanted the sanctuary to be a building that the entire membership
would be proud of.
The Committee persevered and the new building was finished in September
1929, in time to be used for Rosh Hashana services. The official inauguration
ceremony took place on Sunday, September 29, and many people outside of
the SBH membership were invited to attend. A number of reports on the
progress of the new sanctuary had been appearing in the newspapers, both
in the Seattle Jewish Transcript and the national Ladino newspaper
LaVara, since Sam Naon, a member of SBH,
was the LaVara correspondent in Seattle. The old building
was sold for about $3000, a small fraction of the cost of the new
sanctuary. This new sanctuary was to serve the synagogue well for
the next 35 years.
By Dr. Eugene Normand
Sources:
a) Albert Adatto, "Sephardim and the Seattle Sephardic Community", MS Thesis, U. of Washington, 1939
b) Isaac Maimon, "The History of Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation, 1914-1989", 1989
c) Joy Maimon, "Unity and Divisions Among the Early Seattle Sephardic Community" Senior Paper, U. of Washington
d) Marc Angel, "The Sephardic Theater of Seattle Jewry," Western States Jewish History, October, 1996, Vol. XXIX, No. 1, p. 553
e) Isaac Maimon, English Translation of the Minutes of the Bikur Holim Building Committee, 1928-1930
The First American-Born Generation Grows Up
The first American-born generation grew up in the 1920s and 1930s. Most
of the members of SBH, and Ezra Bessaroth too, lived within the small
area, bounded by Jackson Street on the south, Cherry Street on the north
and between 14th and 26th Avenues. These American born Sephardim attended
grade school (the Washington School, Rainier School, Leschi School or
Horace Mann) junior high school (Washington School) and high school (Garfield
HS), all within the same area. During the 1930s very
few SBH members went on to the University of Washington (UW). After World
War II the number attending the UW increased dramatically.
In 1935, the unique Sephardic culture possessed by some
of the older members of the SBH community received recognition by a UW
professor in the Anthropology Department, Dr. Mel Jacobs.
Emma Adatto, a member of SBH along with her parents Anna
and Nessim Adatto, was a student in the UW Anthropology
Dept. writing a MS thesis on Sephardic folklore. She sought to add an
extra dimension to her thesis by including with it recordings of some
of the old Sephardic songs, Ladino romanzas and Turkish
songs. Thus a group of about 10 Sephardic women, most from SBH, was driven
to the UW to record a series of Sephardic songs, and the best technology
available at that time for recording music was the old-style large metal
cylinders. In 1981, through the intervention of a latter-day
Jewish music expert, these recordings were transferred to audiocassettes.
In 1935, too, the Jewish world celebrated the 800th anniversary
of the birth of Rabbi Moses Maimonides, known as the
RAMBAM, the greatest Jewish thinker in the last 2000
years. Thus the Sephardic community received special attention from Ashkenazic
institutions. In addition, because the family of Rabbi Abraham
Maimon had the tradition of being descended from the RAMBAM,
one of the members of the family was featured in a Seattle Jewish Transcript
article about this local connection.
Creation of the Sephardic Brotherhood
By the early 1930s there were three separate Sephardic
social organizations, the Seattle Progressive Fraternity (SPF),
the Ahavath Shalom and the Shalom Alehem,
each serving a different need. The SPF was the Sephardic community's cultural
organization; it organized meetings and educational lectures on current
events (held at the Settlement House on 18th between Washington and Jackson),
and encouraged those from the "old country" to become naturalized American
citizens. The Ahavath Shalom was an Ezra Bessaroth organization that served
the community's burial needs. They were also called the "Havurah de
Huevos" (society of the eggs) because each member (membership was
10¢ per week) received a hard boiled egg every Shabbat. Ahavath Shalom
bought the old cemetery at Washelli Memorial Park from Bikur Cholim Congregation
in 1927 and later bought 2/3 of the cemetery from the
Machzikay Hadath Congregation, which now constitutes the new Sephardic
cemetery at 167th Street near Aurora Ave.
The Shalom Alehem organization originally started out as a society for
caring for the sick. Afterwards, they added the services of a doctor so
that Shalom Alehem served as the Sephardic community's health care plan.
Dr. Jerome Jacobs was the physician (he volunteered his
services as a way of increasing his practice), and for annual dues of
$12, medical services were provided to an entire family. Shalom Alehem
had an official monthly newsletter called the Progress,
edited by Jacob D. Almeleh, which was the only periodical
in Seattle to have been published for all of the Sephardim in the city.
It began publication in September, 1934, printing 400
copies that were distributed free of charge, and about a year later, it
issued its last, which was number 13.
In early 1935 the three social organizations merged into
the Seattle Sephardic Brotherhood, which became the largest Sephardic
organization in Seattle, and still plays an important role today. Unity
had been a theme of each of these organizations, especially in some of
Jacob Almeleh's editorials in the Progress.
The presidents of the merged groups, Jacob DeLeon of
the Ahavath Shalom, Gordon DeLeon of the Shalom Alehem
and John Calderon of the Shalom Alehem Society, each
were very active in the leadership of the Brotherhood, and it was Gordon
DeLeon who became the Brotherhood's first president. When the
last few issues of the newsletter Progress were printed, it was as the
organ of the Seattle Sephardic Brotherhood.
Amalgamation Again 1938-1941
John Calderon, who was a strong advocate for a united
Sephardic community, was serving as the President of the Brotherhood in
1937. The following year he called a meeting of representatives
of the three synagogues to discuss amalgamation once again. It is reported
that the only people who were fully enthusiastic in their support were
some of the representatives of SBH, Mr. Calderon, Jack
Caston and Sam Baruch. The representatives of
Ezra Bessaroth were lukewarm; they didn't speak against
it, but rather offered to consider it. One of the Ahavath Ahim
representatives took the position that if the two larger organizations,
SBH and Ezra Bessaroth join together, they would follow.
However, even though this initial second attempt did not get too far,
it laid the groundwork for intervention from outside a short time later.
In 1938 Rabbi David de Sola Pool, the leading Sephardic
rabbi in the United States and rabbi of Shearith Israel
in New York City, contacted the two Sephardic synagogues
about a rabbi who was available in Europe to lead a congregation. This
was Rabbi Isidore Kahan, who was the rabbi of a synagogue
in Rome, but previously had been a Rosh Yeshiva in the
yeshiva in Rhodes. Based on the encouragement of Rabbi
de Sola Pool, the two synagogues, SBH and Ezra Bessaroth agreed
to jointly sponsor Rabbi Kahan, bringing him to Seattle to serve as the
rabbi of both synagogues.
Rabbi Kahan arrived in Seattle in March 1939
with his wife and two daughters. The initial arrangement was for the rabbi
to speak one Shabbat in one synagogue, with the other one closed, and
alternate the next Shabbat in terms of which synagogue hosted the two
congregations and which was closed. On Yom Kippur, he spent part of the
day in one synagogue, and part in the other, so he could deliver his sermon
to both congregations.
After a number of months, this arrangement, which required a careful balancing,
began to be a source of discontent. There may have been a Shabbat when
one synagogue was opened which was supposed to have been closed. In addition,
when he first arrived, Rabbi Kahan was not fluent in either of the two
languages that were needed in the two synagogues, English and Ladino.
He spoke other languages, Italian, German, Hebrew and Hungarian, and with
time he learned English too. Because he had been a teacher at the yeshiva
in Rhodes it was assumed that he spoke Ladino, but after WWI, Rhodes had
been taken over by Italy, so Italian had become the official language
on the island. Based on all of these factors, by 1941,
the members of SBH felt that the arrangement wasn't working out, so they
paid off Rabbi Kahan's five-year contract, and he remained with Cong.
Ezra Bessaroth for many years thereafter.
Religious Staff
During the early part of this decade the religious staff consisted
primarily of Nessim Azose and Sam Bension Maimon
as Hazzanim, Behor Chiprut as Gabbai and Avram
Barlia as Shamash.
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SBH Talmud Torah Director Prof. Albert Levy
December 1937
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By 1940 the Ahavath Ahim synagogue closed
down, continuing to function only as a social club, and their Hazzan,
Rev. Morris Scharhon was hired to be the official SBH
Hazzan Prof. Albert Levy, who had led the Sephardic
Talmud Torah until 1934 when he left for New York, returned to
Seattle in 1937 to improve the health of his daughter. He was hired by
SBH as the director of the SBH Talmud Torah, and he brought his energy
and enthusiasm to this job. The number of students increased significantly,
reaching as many as 40 within a few months. In addition, he organized
classes and lectures for the parents of his students, and also assisted
with other functions of the synagogue.
Impact of World War II
With the declaration of war by President Roosevelt on December 7, 1941
the United States entered the Second World War, fighting against Japan
in the Pacific and Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in Europe. This required
an enormous mobilization of manpower, and men from 18 to their early 30s
were called up, drafted into the military. In addition, many enlisted
on their own. This affected every organization in the country and Sephardic
Bikur Holim was no exception. SBH men, and women too, in the right age
bracket were called up or signed up on their own. After a few months the
synagogue looked different. In the sanctuary older men could be seen,
and young boys too, but by and large the young men were gone. They were
in the Army, the Navy, the Marines and the Coast Guard; they were all
serving their country. By the end of the war more than 100 SBH members
had put on the uniform of their country (For more information).
![Four SBH members of the 167 Field Artillery Battalion, B Battery in Australia [Sol Altabet, Hank Mutal, Leon Halela and Irv Adatto (kneeling)]](Images/Photos/History/167_Field_Artillery_Battalion.jpg)
Four SBH members of the 167 Field Artillery Battalion, B Battery in Australia [Sol Altabet, Hank Mutal, Leon Halela and Irv Adatto (kneeling)] |
SBH members meet in Philippines, Tom M. Bensussen (2 Purple Hearts, Bronze Star) and Vic Scharhon |
Not to be outdone, the women participated too. Two of the younger
women enlisted and one became an officer. In addition, some of the older
women with families formed the Do Our Bit unit to help
the war effort. Since they had "bendichas manos"
(trained hands, in this case with respect to knitting), one of their tasks was
to knit socks and caps for the servicemen. In addition, they performed other
duties such as cutting gun wipes, sending cookies to the USO and donating gifts
for wounded service men. They produced so much material that the Red Cross in
Seattle recognized them as a separate unit for their significant contributions.
Regina Maimon was the Do Our Bit chairwoman.
Further, many of the older men of SBH served in other capacities as part of the
Civil Defense Administration. During World War II the city was divided into sectors
and each one had a warden-in-charge, assisted by deputy wardens (men and women) on
every block of each street. In addition there was another division of volunteers who
served as plane spotters, who were to locate, identify and report any and all aircraft
approaching the area. The duties of the wardens and their deputies were to clear the
streets of people and traffic, direct civilians to designated shelters, oversee the
darkening of all lights during night "raids" and be observant for saboteurs. The SBH
members who served as wardens and deputy wardens trained diligently for their
duties.
By Dr. Eugene Normand
Sources:
a) Albert Adatto, "Sephardim and the Seattle Sephardic Community", MS Thesis, U. of Washington, 1939
b) Isaac Maimon, "The History of Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation, 1914-1989", 1989
c) Joy Maimon, "Unity and Divisions Among the Early Seattle Sephardic Community" Senior Paper, U. of Washington
d) d) "The 1935 Recordings," in The Beauty of Sephardic Life, Sam Bension Maimon, Maimon Ideas Publications, 1992
e) "How the Brotherhood Started," G. DeLeon, Seattle Sephardic Brotherhood Progress Report, No. 2 March, 1988
Rabbi Solomon Maimon Becomes the Rabbi of SBH
Rabbi Solomon Maimon returned home to Seattle in 1944
after eight years of study at Yeshiva University (YU) in New York, having
earned his bachelor's degree and then his semiha, (rabbinic ordination).
He was invited to speak from the pulpit at SBH and dazzled the congregants.
A committee immediately agreed to offer him the job as rabbi and negotiated
a contract with him, and a general membership meeting fully endorsed his
hiring. He was the first full-time rabbi that the congregation had for
almost 15 years, since the untimely passing of his father, Rabbi
Abraham Maimon. Rabbi Solomon Maimon brought enthusiasm, an understanding
of his congregants and the knowledge of what was needed to make his synagogue
flourish based on his experience in New York City.
He was the first Sephardi to receive semiha at YU and in the country.
Rabbi Maimon spoke perfect English and was fluent in Ladino as well as
Hebrew and Yiddish, which he had to learn at YU in order to be able to
study Talmud. He remained the rabbi of SBH for 40 years. Early in his
career SBH issued its first newsletter, the Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation
Bulletin. It served many purposes, including a way for the SBH members
in the military, who were spread around the world, to keep up with the
happenings at home, since all servicemen were mailed a copy.
He was a trend setter and an innovator, introducing new ideas as necessary
to keep his kahal, his congregation, firmly rooted in their Sephardic
tradition and yet taking advantage of the opportunities that the modern,
post WWII American society had to offer. After him more than 30 SBH members
followed in his footsteps, going to New York to further their Jewish education
by attending YU, either its Yeshiva College (for men) or Stern College (for women).
Some furthered their Jewish education by leaving Seattle to attend more
traditional Jewish institutions of higher learning, yeshivot for boys
or girls' seminaries. Rabbi Maimon made sure that all religious ceremonies
in SBH that required official municipal sanction, such as marriage certificates,
were properly filed with the authorities. He assisted his congregants
with the federal government too. Those who wanted to register themselves
or their parents for Social Security needed a document attesting to their
date of birth; without it, a person couldn't be registered. For those
born in Turkey this wasn't so easy, the only official record often being
a notation in the family tefila book or chumash (Bible) of when each child
was born. Rabbi Maimon translated the notations in these books (Hebrew
dates) into American dates and then wrote official letters to the Social
Security office with the birth dates of his members.
Founding of the Seattle Hebrew Day School
A few years later Rabbi Maimon went back to New York to study to be a
mohel (one who performs the ritual circumcision). When he returned he
became the official mohel of the city, performing his first circumcision
in 1947 and hundreds more followed. That was the same
year that he joined with Rabbi S. P. Wohlgelernter and
a few Ashkenazic lay leaders to form the Seattle Hebrew Day School.
Jewish education for the children of SBH members was on the decline.
Rabbi Maimon first convinced the SBH parents to take their children out
of the Sephardic schools and attend the Seattle Talmud Torah
afternoon school, located at 25th and Columbia Street, because it had
trained teachers.
However, he knew that was not enough and the only real answer was to create
an all-day Jewish school, part of the national Day School movement. With
the help of Rabbi Wohlgelernter, a few lay leaders, the religious staff
of Rabbi and Mrs. Porush and the secular
teachers, it succeeded. However, it wasn't easy, there was strong opposition,
those in the wider community who called it a separationist movement, yet
after a few years these same people sent their own children to the school.
The school persevered and it succeeded; by the middle of the second year
half of the ten students were from SBH (Alan Benoliel, Al. S.
Maimon, Michael Azose, Janet Maimon and Esther Lee Scharhon).
Since that time, all of the young men who have participated in conducting
services in SBH at one time have been students of the Day School (now
called the Seattle Hebrew Academy).
SBH Veterans Return, Attend the U. of Washington
Last month we saw that during the third decade of SBH more than a hundred
SBH members had served in the US armed forces during
World War II.
From 1945-47 these veterans returned home
to resume their lives. Rabbi Maimon was kept busy performing weddings
and many veterans were traveling north to attend the University
of Washington (UW). One of the benefits that they received was
the GI Bill of Rights that President Roosevelt had signed
into law in June, 1944. The key benefit was for education
and training. All veterans with at least 90 days of service were entitled
to one year of full-time training plus a period equal to their time in
service. The Veterans Administration (VA) paid educational institutions
up to a maximum of $500 a year for tuition, books and other costs, and
also paid single veterans an allowance of $50 a month. In the peak year
of 1947, veterans accounted for half of the college enrollment
nationwide. This afforded the SBH veterans the opportunity to attend the
UW, something never envisioned by their parents.
New Arrivals from Salonika
In 1952 the synagogue celebrated the 50th anniversary
of the arrival of the two Sephardic pioneers to Seattle, Solomon
Calvo and Jacob Policar. At about that same
time, SBH warmly welcomed to Seattle the arrival of six new families with
a drastically different kind of history. They were Holocaust survivors,
having gone through horrific experiences in Europe, but who shared with
SBH members a common Turkish Sephardic background. They all came from
Salonika or towns nearby, and they survived the concentration
camps, although almost all of their families had been murdered by the
Nazis. They were looking to resume their lives and fit them into a normal
routine.
Seattle provided them a good opportunity for this, while SBH members
made the people feel welcome and wanted, and reminded them of their Sephardic
heritage. These families included: Mr. and Mrs.
Jack Almo and son, Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore
Altchech, Mr. Victor Ezraty, Mr. and
Mrs. Charlo Hanoch Mr. and Mrs.
Leon Matalon, and Mr. and Mrs. Izaak
Schaloum and son. The adults all spoke Greek as their everyday
language, since Salonika had been incorporated into Greece after World
War I, but they all spoke Ladino in the home, the daily language of the
Sephardim of Salonika. A few brought children who had been born in the
refugee camps of Europe, but over the next decade most would have other
children, American-born, who would grow up in Seattle far removed from
their ancestral home of Salonika. It worked out well for the families
and for SBH, the families gaining friends and renewing their lives, and
the synagogue gaining new members who actively participated in its programs.
In private the parents passed on a legacy of horror and survival to their
children, and in public, they will remember their murdered family members
on special occasions such as Yom Kippur, meldados and
Yom Hashoa.
SBH Members Called Up During Korean War In late June
of 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea and began the Korean
War. Within a few days American forces were involved, and within a few
weeks there was a call-up of young Americans into the armed forces.
More than a dozen men from SBH were called up and served in the military
in the Korean War.
Arrival of Rev. Samuel Benaroya as Hazzan
Rev. Morris Scharhon, the Hazzan, passed away in 1950, and
the synagogue began looking for a new Hazzan Rev. Samuel Benaroya,
originally from Edirne, Turkey was at the time the Hazzan of
the Sephardic kehilla in Geneva, Switzerland. He was interested
in leaving and used Rabbi de Sola Pool in New York and his
friend, Joseph Benbassat of Mexico City to connect him with
Sephardic congregations looking for a Hazzan He was told about the opening in
Seattle and sent the congregation a phonographic record with a sampling of
Sephardic tefilot (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) to demonstrate his
voice and knowledge of hazanut. An SBH committee listened to it and they were
very impressed. They voted to bring him to Seattle as the Hazzan
The Synagogue began the process of trying to bring Rev. Benaroya to
Seattle, but they encountered a major difficulty. The American consulate
in Geneva ruled that he had to wait for the quota of Turkish-born people
to enter the US; they would not allow him to enter on the special provision
around the quota open to rabbis, because he was a cantor, not a rabbi.
When SBH was informed of this in 1951, Leo Azose was
the president and he would not let the matter rest. Mr. Azose knew Senator
Warren Magnuson and decided to write him a letter, explaining
the situation and asking for his help. He explained that a Hazzan in a
Sephardic congregation fulfills the role of a reverend, a man of the pulpit,
like an assistant rabbi, who reads the Torah, takes care of memorial services,
and performs weddings and other religious ceremonies not done by the rabbi.
Within three days he received a response back from the Senator that he
would do everything in his power to assist.
It worked; the consulate reviewed the case and allowed Rev. Benaroya,
his wife and daughter to enter the United States without the quota. Rev.
Benaroya arrived in Seattle in 1952 and fittingly, his
first official act as Hazzan was officiating at the wedding of
Jack and Sally Varon, the parents of our current Hazzan,
Rabbi Frank Varon. Rev. Benaroya became an indispensable fixture
within SBH. He first served as the synagogue's bookkeeper, organizing
the office and the record keeping of the finances.
However, his major achievement was in teaching Sephardic musical traditions
to the youth of the synagogue, in the early years to a boys-girls chorus
for Jewish holidays, and later hazanut to the young men within SBH. For
more than 15 years he taught boys the ta'amim
(Torah notes), makamot (Oriental tunes) and other
specialized melodies for the various prayers chanted in the synagogue throughout
the year. He instilled in them a sense of high standards that had to be met
before receiving his approval, but once they were met, the boys were given
the opportunity to participate in leading various portions of the synagogue
service. In the 21st century, these disciples of the Reverend are teaching
the next generation of boys to lead services, part of the unending chain
from generation to generation needed to sustain the Sephardic religious
tradition.
By Dr. Eugene Normand
Sources:
a) Isaac Maimon, "The History of Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation, 1914-1989",
1989
b) Rev. Samuel Benaroya, transcript of interview, 1988, MSCUA/UWL (Manuscripts,
Special Collections, University Archives/University of Washington Libraries),
Acc. 3911
c) Rabbi Solomon Maimon, transcript of interview, 1978-79, MSCUA/UWL
Acc. 3024, 3024-2
d) Leo Azose, transcript of interview, 1982, MSCUA/UWL
Acc. 3282
Rabbi Maimon Starts Sephardic Bikur Holim Camp
In 1954 Rabbi Solomon Maimon added a
major new element to the activities of SBH, a sleep-away camp, and it
has been an important part of the synagogue ever since. Rabbi Maimon worked
with all parts of the SBH community to make Sephardic Bikur Holim Camp
a success and he achieved it. A nearby campsite was sought and found in
terms of the Baptist Assembly Camp at Burton, Washington
on Vashon Island. Counselors were to be the high school
students in the community. Comida, food, was to be prepared by a group
of SBH ladies who were specifically recruited to do all of the work in
the kitchen, including making it kosher for use, bringing the very large
size calderas (pots and pans) from the synagogue kitchen and washing the
dishes. These ladies were very dedicated, working many hours to ensure
that the children had the best food, and sleeping in the same kind of
cabins as the campers. Schedules were arranged for rotation of this kitchen
duty; women spent a day or two at camp and then returned home. Donations
of food were sought from various members who were involved in related
businesses.
Camp was an idea that the entire community got behind with great enthusiasm;
it didn't matter how many days a year a child attended synagogue, everyone
wanted to attend camp.
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SBH Camp on Vashon Island
during the mid 1950s
Double click the image for a full size
photo |
The first camp lasted for 3-4 days, but it was a rousing success and future
camps went for longer, 5 and then later, 10 days. In preparing for camp
the counselors had made a camp song to inspire the campers, based on a
synagogue tune, and it caught on immediately. In 1954
there was only one paid employee of the camp, the lifeguard, who was hired \Thumbnails
from a nearby town. All other workers were volunteers to keep costs low.
Every day members would make trips by car and the 20-minute ferry ride
every day except Shabbat, bringing rotating staff and needed supplies
as communicated by Rabbi Maimon at the campsite by phone to coordinators
in the city.
Camp was a great success, especially in the early years when it was a
novel idea; members were enthusiastic and children of the eligible age
wanted to go because it was the "in" thing to do. Many legends grew up
around camp. One of the meals that campers and counselors looked forward
to was the couscous and avicas of Auntie Beya Morhaime.
Every year Vic Condiotty, a photographer for the Seattle
Times, would come up and somehow get almost 100 children and adults to
crowd together for a camp photograph. Camp was fun, and not only for the
kids. One of the famous SBH jokesters (shakagis), Salti Eskenazi,
once submitted a camp registration form for his mother to attend as a
camper, arguing that seniors should have fun too.
As conditions changed, camp changed too. By the 1970s
and 80s, it had been combined with Ezra Bessaroth,
gone off independently, and then went back to combined operation for the
two Sephardic synagogues. Some years the campsites chosen were much further
away, from the Portland JCC Camp at Lincoln City, Oregon
to Sun Lakes State Park near Grand Coulee Dam, to the
Canadian Gabriola Island in the Strait of Georgia.
Today, SBH and Ezra Bessaroth jointly sponsor Sephardic Adventure
Camp, which was established as an independent organization to
run the camp, and they have chosen closer camp sites.
Community Growth
Even in the middle 1950s almost everyone lived in the
neighborhood, so socializing was easy. To provide even more opportunity
the community had been organizing the Seattle Sephardic Community Picnic
once a year. SBH, Ezra Bessaroth and
the Sephardic Brotherhood were the sponsors, and this
picnic was usually an all-day affair on a Sunday in June or July. Many
of the community picnics took place at Vasa Park on Lake Sammamish. There
was plenty of food, and games and contests galore for the children (tug-of-war,
hot dog eating and boxing for those under 10), as well as swimming and
dancing. However, at the end of the 1950s, some members began looking
elsewhere to live, away from the Central Area. Some looked to the east
side and Mercer Island, but more looked southward towards the Seward Park
area. Enough members of Ezra Bessaroth had moved to Seward Park that in
1957 construction began on a new Ezra Bessaroth building on Wilson Avenue.
SBH members were seeing their friends moving to a nicer section of the
city and some wanted to follow suit.
After all, life in the 1950s in Seattle was getting comfortable.
The opportunities that opened up after World War II were available to
all Americans. Many SBH members now expected their children to attend
college and many thought of going to the University of Washington. During
the 1950s the first SBH members graduated as a lawyer (Ed Bensussen
and Audrey Benezra) and as a doctor (Dr. Joseph
Mezistrano), but many more followed in their footsteps
SBH members'
professional careers
However, the children of SBH members were attending universities to pursue
a wide variety of professional careers, such as accountants, architects,
business admin people, dentists, engineers, nurses, psychologists, teachers
and university professors. Others were pursuing and succeeding in major
business ventures their parents could never have dreamed of a decade or
two earlier.
Another Opportunity for Amalgamation
As SBH members began moving to Seward Park, it became
difficult to meet the religious needs of these members. With the movement
of people to a new neighborhood, the question of amalgamation was raised
again, meaning combining with Congregation Ezra Bessaroth into a single
Sephardic synagogue. Since many of those who were moving to Seward Park
were having houses built, necessitating temporarily living at the Lakeshore
Apartments, this made the idea seem very appealing. Ezra Bessaroth already
had its own new building in the neighborhood.
Thus, by about 1960, the question of amalgamation was
again being discussed by members of both synagogues, just as it had been
in 1927 and then in 1938-39. Fact-finding committees were established
in both synagogues to explore the issue. The question was brought up formally
at a general membership meeting of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth in October,
1961, with the result that "the membership voted that they were not in
favor of an amalgamation with SBH at [that] time." Thus, the fact-finding
committees for the two synagogues were discontinued. However, two years
later, after SBH had begun its plans for moving to Seward Park, the same
subject was again brought up at the 1963 general membership meeting of
Congregation Ezra Bessaroth. The Ezra Bessaroth members were interested
in the attitude of SBH members with regard to the question of amalgamation,
and so sent a formal letter of inquiry to the SBH President in December,
1963. The new incoming SBH executive committee considered the question.
Their decision was that "before any serious negotiation is again started,
there should be a reversal on the part of your congregation in its last
decision whereby the majority of your members were against amalgamation."
The SBH leadership indicated they were ready to go back to their members
to reconfirm their willingness to negotiate further, once they received
a favorable expression from the Ezra Bessaroth membership. No further
discussions took place.
Building the New Synagogue In Seward Park
As families were growing and began moving away, the subject of whether
the synagogue should build a larger facility at a new location became
the most important topic amongst the members. In response, in 1959,
several membership meetings were held to discuss the issue. Some members
objected to the thought of moving the sanctuary, but with a number of
families already living in the Seward Park area, the
possibility of renovating the existing building on Fir was also rejected.
It took a bold move to break the deadlock and this was provided by Sam
Baruch who, during the Yom Kippur services of 1962,
donated the sum of $5000 towards the construction of a new synagogue.
That donation served as the spark that forced the members to make the
decision to move. After the High Holidays Mr. Baruch approached key members
to determine how much they could afford to donate to the building of a
new structure. Unfortunately, he passed away just prior to Passover in
1963 so others had to take up the job of launching the building campaign.
Mike Varon was appointed to find a buyer for the existing
building, assisted by John Calderon and initially Sam
Baruch. A Baptist church purchased the property for $85,000 on
contract and today they still use it, now called the Tolliver Temple.
The synagogue then bought two lots at 52nd Avenue South and South
Morgan Street in the Seward Park area on which to build the new
sanctuary. Tom M. Bensussen was appointed Chairman of
the Construction Committee and the committee worked diligently with Ben
Priteca, the selected architect, nationally known for designing
theaters. A fund raising committee was formed, headed by Sol Funes
and John Calderon, assisted by Leon Levy
and many others, in order to plan and carry out the campaign of raising
$200,000 over five years, beginning January, 1963.
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The '26 shovels' at the ground breaking
ceremony for the new SBH sanctuary
on June 7, 1964
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|
The original goal was to be ready to dedicate the new sanctuary at Rosh Hashanah
of 1963. It was too ambitious, and in addition, bad weather and other problems
intervened so that the opening of the new sanctuary was delayed for two years.
However, on June 7, 1964, the ground breaking ceremony was held
at the property. Twenty-four individuals/families each donated $1000 and
received a "golden" shovel. A total of 26 golden shovels were purchased,
one generous donor bought two and the SBH Ladies Auxiliary bought one
(a list of which is on the wall in the SBH sanctuary foyer), and in addition,
others purchased "silver" shovels for a lesser contribution. It wasn't going to be
very long now.
Sources:
a) Isaac Maimon, "The History of Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation, 1914-1989",
1989
b) Leo Azose, transcript of interview, 1982, MSCUA/UWL Acc. 3282
c) Interview with Isaac Morhaime, June 1, 2004
d) Interview with Judith Amiel, May 30, 2004
The New Synagogue at 52nd Avenue South and
So. Morgan Street
1964 had been a landmark year, ground had been broken for the building
of the new synagogue, and it marked the 50th anniversary of the synagogue.
 |
Haham, Rabbi Solomon Gaon
at the 50th Anniversary Dinner
Double click the image
for a full size photo
|
To help celebrate the 50 year jubilee event, the Haham, Rabbi Dr. Solomon Gaon,
Sephardic Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, was brought in as the featured
speaker at the dinner that marked the occasion, which was held at the Norway
Center.
1964 certainly was an eventful year, as the new sanctuary was being built
and funds were being collected by many very dedicated members through a variety of fundraising
methods. Included in these were the Reno Roundup evenings, held at the Ezra Bessaroth social
hall and at other locations near the Seward Park area, which were quite successful in bringing
in much-needed funds for the new sanctuary project.
In addition, the Ladies Auxiliary contributed significantly through
their own fundraising events. After the sanctuary building was completed,
the Ladies organization continued to raise money for the synagogue through
various events, including the annual Bazaar, which became an important
fundraiser and good time for the entire family. It was an all day affair
that was held at the Norway Center for many years, and included Sephardic
food delicacies available for purchase (bulemas, borecas, baklava, etc.),
household and clothing items, games for the children and a complete dinner
with a kid's menu.
Within a year, despite some delays, the new synagogue
in the Seward Park area, at 52nd Avenue South and Morgan Street, was finished
by Rosh Hashanah of 1965 and was ready for the official
dedication (Hanukat Habayit). The Building Committee, headed by Tom
M. Bensussen, worked diligently with the architect, the renowned
designer of theaters, Benjamin Priteca, and his assistant,
Ben Stertzer, to make sure all the details were correct.
 |
The first SBH Seward Park
"Branch" 1964
Double click the image for a
full size photo
|
Previously there had been a small house on the property, which served
as the first Seward Park "Branch" of SBH. Since this building was going to
be torn down, a larger house was purchased on S. Morgan Street, across
from the property where the synagogue was being built, and it functioned as
the second and final "Branch" building.
 |
Boys carrying Sifrei Torah 1964
Double click the image for a
full size photo
|
However, for that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur of 1964, the "Branch" building
was much too small and there was no functioning building to hold the High
Holiday services. Thus the Graham Hill School, near the site of the new sanctuary
that was being built, was rented for that year for High Holiday services.
Services at the "Branch" were generally led by SBH members living in
the Seward Park area who could lead the prayers and read the Sefer Torah,
but for some weeks they were assisted in conducting services by members
from the Central area who were more experienced in hazzanut. These guest
Hazzanim and their families were hosted by SBH members already living
in the neighborhood.
As the dedication of the new sanctuary approached, the
Haham, Rabbi Dr. Solomon Gaon was again brought in to
celebrate this notable event with our local community, adding to the importance
of the inauguration ceremony. The dedication took place in September,
1965. The young men, who during the previous year had become
Bar Mitzvah, carried the Sefer Torahs from the branch to the new sanctuary
in an outdoor procession that was filled with much fanfare, singing and
joy. The procession included all of the Orthodox rabbis in the city as
well as Haham Gaon. As the result of a major donation by the Funes family,
a "key to the synagogue" was presented to Jack and Julia
Funes. The honor of the first reading of a Sefer Torah in the
new sanctuary was purchased by Ben Mezistrano. The day's
celebrations ended with a full dinner at the Norway Center where Haham
Gaon gave his major address.
The Syrian Connection
While Seattle has a sizable Sephardic community, New York City has the
largest population of Sephardim in the country, and within it, the community
of Syrian Jews in Brooklyn is the biggest and most cohesive of all of
the Sephardim. The earliest interaction between the two Sephardic communities
dates back to the 1930s when Joe Maslaton,
a traveling salesman involved with textiles, came through Seattle and
was quickly befriended by Bension Sam Maimon, who operated
the 24th Avenue Market grocery, a hub within Seattle's Sephardic community.
There were quite a few similarities between these two men; both were born
in the "old country," had fathers who were Sephardic rabbis (Rabbi
Abraham Maimon and Rabbi Mordechai Maslaton)
in their communities, and had younger brothers who would later become
the community's rabbi (Rabbi Solomon Maimon and Rabbi
Sion Maslaton).
Based on that first Seattle-Syrian connection, as young people from
SBH went to New York to further their Jewish education, they would spend
Shabbats and Jewish holidays with the Syrian Jews in Brooklyn and later,
Deal, New Jersey. Eventually this led to the children of SBH members marrying
the children of families within the Syrian community. The first such marriage
was between Linda Scharhon (daughter of Victor
and Estraya Scharhon) of Seattle and Eddie Arking
of Brooklyn in 1969, and many more such marriages followed.
LaBoz, Monthly Newsletter
In March, 1971, the newly elected SBH President, David
S. Azose, decided that it was time for the congregation to have
a monthly newsletter. The synagogue's first newsletter came out for a
number of months in 1944-45 when more than a hundred members were serving
in the US armed forces all over the world. It was called the SBH Congregation
Bulletin and served as a way for the soldiers and sailors to keep up with
developments at home. In early 1970 a newsletter called
LaBoz was issued on a periodic basis, approximately quarterly. In 1971
the name LaBoz was kept, but the commitment was made
that the bulletin would be issued each and every month. Jerry
Adatto was asked to serve as the editor. He recruited Sam
(Bension) Maimon to write a column on
subjects of interest (Sephardic culture, Ladino expressions, Jewish religious
matters, etc.) every month which were later collected in a published book,
The Beauty of Sephardic Life. During the first
year Mr. Adatto also obtained articles from other sources, such as Prof.
Dave Romey who wrote on various Jewish communities in Spain.
The look and content of LaBoz has evolved over the more than 33 years
that it has been published. The size has increased from about 6-8 pages
to 16 pages, pictures have been incorporated, the monthly list of meldados
has been included, but the name has remained unchanged, as has the commitment
to be mailed to the members every single month.
Photographic Directory
In June, 1972, the synagogue arranged for photographs to be taken of each family in SBH which were included in a synagogue directory that was issued at Rosh Hashanah time. Families scheduled sitting times at SBH for the pictures to be taken, and each family was able to purchase color prints for their personal use.
Participation in American Sephardi Federation
In October, 1972, a meeting of about 40 Sephardic delegates
from throughout the US and Canada was held in conjunction with the 2nd
Annual American Zionist Convention in Chicago. Rev. Samuel
Benaroya was the SBH delegate. The meeting was presided over
by Prof. Daniel Elazar and also included Yitzhak
Navon (Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset). This group passed
a motion re-establishing the American Branch of the World Sephardi Federation.
Five months later, in February, 1973, a much larger follow-up
meeting was held at Shearith Congregation in New York City, attended by
more than 250 people representing Sephardic communities across the country.
SBH had four official delegates (Rabbi Solomon Maimon,
Sam Maimon, Lucy Maimon and Dr.
Rene Levy) out of the seven for Seattle, but a number of young
Seattle Sephardim studying in New York, like Rabbi Frank Varon,
also attended some of the sessions. This meeting led to the establishment
of the American Sephardi Federation.
SBH delegate Dr. Rene Levy returned highly motivated,
and he channeled his energy into working with Sephardic youth. He and
the SBH youth leaders (Larry Azose and Eli Almo)
helped to organize the American Sephardi Federation Youth Convention
which was held in Atlanta, Georgia, hosted by Congregation Or V'Shalom,
in November, 1973. Seattle sent a delegation of 120 young
people, more than half of them from SBH, the largest delegation. In preparation
for this Convention, Dr. Levy and the SBH youth leaders decided that they
wanted to make a useful contribution by means of a tune to the Birkat
Hamazon (grace after meals). The Ashkenazim have their traditional
Birkat Hamazon tune which helps those reciting the blessings to remember
them, so a uniquely Sephardic tune would be valuable for young people.
Rev. Benaroya was asked to assist and he came up with the Birkat Hamazon
tune that has been used ever since in Seattle and in almost all other
Sephardic synagogues across the country.
Sources:
By Dr. Eugene Normand
Transition in Synagogue Leadership
Reverend Samuel Benaroya had served the synagogue faithfully
for 26 years as Hazzan, since his arrival in 1952 from
Geneva, Switzerland. He was highly regarded in the community for his abilities
as Hazzan, his knowledge and interpretation of the Turkish traditional
melodies and for his friendliness and helpfulness in the community. By
the end of 1977 the Reverend informed the synagogue board of his intention
of retiring as Hazzan by the middle of 1978.
President Lazar Scharhon appointed a committee to recruit
a replacement Hazzan Two candidates were found in 1978,
and each was invited to lead services on Friday night and Shabbat morning,
including the reading of the Sefer. Michael ben Sheloush came first followed
a few months later by Yitzhak Bahar.
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Rev. Yitzhak Bahar, Hazzan
1979-1983
Double click the image for a
full size photo
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Hazzan Bahar, who was living in Kfar Saba, Israel, favorably
impressed the committee but negotiations continued a number of additional
months until February 1979 when Mr. Bahar was voted to be the new Hazzan
at a general membership meeting. However, it took until September 1979,
immediately before Yom Kippur, before all of the immigration laws were
worked through and approval was obtained for the arrival of Hazzan Bahar
and his family. He came with his wife Korin and his sons Hayim and David.
In collaboration with Hazzan Emeritus Benaroya, Hazzan Bahar introduced
a change in the High Holiday services for 1981.
He trained eight young men, six of them students at the Northwest Yeshiva
High School and Seattle Hebrew Academy, to participate in the services.
They learned to chant the piyutim for the High Holidays, and
to blow the shofar. They did an excellent job, and it was such an effective
method of broadening the participation in these most meaningful services,
that ever since SBH members have taken it for granted that young men will
be assisting by blowing the shofar and singing the piyutim. Unfortunately,
within less than two years Hazzan Bahar became seriously ill in 1983,
underwent cancer treatment, but finally succumbed to the illness in November,
1983. He left a warm legacy of friendship and devotion to the SBH members.
The Bahar family returned to Israel along with the Hazzan's body for burial,
accompanied by Rev. Benaroya. Rev. Benaroya took over again as Hazzan,
this time in an unpaid capacity; a new Hazzan would be chosen about two
years later.
Leo Azose had served as Gabbai of
the synagogue since the early 1960s. In 1981 he retired,
being given the title of Gabbai Emeritus, and was succeeded as Gabbai
by Victor Scharhon.
By early 1983 Rabbi Solomon Maimon was about to enter his 39th year
as Rabbi of the synagogue, and indicated his desire to retire after completing
40 years. The SBH President at the time, Jerry Adatto
appointed a search committee headed by co-chairs Vic Amira
and David Balint. This committee continued its work through
the new SBH administration, eventually identifying three potential candidates,
but that wasn't to happen until the following decade.
SBH Testimonials
During this decade the synagogue honored three of its stalwart members
at Testimonial dinners, men who had been part of the Tevah, leading services
for decades, Leo Azose, Sam Bension Maimon, and Rev. Samuel Benaroya.
SBH honored Leo Azose on January 18, 1976 for his more
than 50 years of active participation in the synagogue,
including more than 25 years as Gabbai. In addition,
Mr. Azose served as SBH President from 1944-46, when Rabbi Solomon Maimon
was first hired, and also in 1951. Sam Maimon had been
Assistant Hazzansince the 1930s, always
in an unpaid role, but always providing a clear singing voice and great
knowledge of hazzanut and the minhagim.
SBH honored him on March 13, 1977. As part of the dinner, Mr. Maimon was
presented with his official high school diploma, issued by the Seattle Public
Schools, since he had failed to graduate from Garfield High School in the 1920s
due to his not having completed one outstanding class.
Upon his retirement, Rev. Samuel Benaroya was honored
on August 8, 1982 for his more than 26 years of service
to the congregation (as Hazzan and book keeper).
His brother-in-law, Jean Benozillo, called him a "conqueror of the future,"
a man striven to perpetuate his people's religious traditions, and so
therefore a truly rare and invaluable person. In addition, the Ahavath
Ahim Congregation of Portland, OR, honored Mr. Jack Maimon
at a Testimonial in March 1975 for his more than 40 years of service
as their part-time Hazzan on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
His father, Rabbi Abraham Maimon, the SBH rabbi in 1930,
committed to assist the Portland Congregation for the High Holidays, and
his son Jack fulfilled this through five decades.
Changes in Board Operation
In 1975 the SBH constitution had been changed allowing
women members to serve as members of the Board of Directors. Thus, at
the December 1976 General Membership Meeting history was made when two
women, Becky Varon and Judy Balint,
were nominated and elected as Board members. Over the next decades many
more women would be elected to the Board, some also serving in officer
roles.BR>
Additions to the Synagogue Structure
Within five years of the building of the new synagogue some members
already began advocating for a second building, a social hall. Under President
David S. Azose, and in coordination with the Executive
Committee and the Ladies Auxiliary, a special general membership meeting
had been held in June, 1972, to discuss just this topic. The members were
presented with a general idea of the costs and the size of such a building,
but the decision made was to defer this project. Five years later, in
June 1977, a similar meeting was held, this time spearheaded by President
Lazar Scharhon, and aided by Tom M. Bensussen
whose exploratory committee had been working for several months
on initial sketches for a Social Hall and plans to finance it. This time
the membership approved the idea, authorizing a building committee to
oversee the design and construction of an activity center, along the lines
presented by Tom Bensussen, based on only voluntary donations, and with
expenditure not to exceed $300,000 (±10%).
An architectural firm had been selected which worked diligently with
the SBH Building Committee that included representatives of the Ladies
Auxiliary. By December, 1977 the plans for the building were sent out
for bids. The general contractor for the construction project was selected
and by July 12, 1978 ground was broken for the new social
hall.
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Dedication of the Sam H. Baruch
Social Hall on March 25, 1979
Double click the image for a full size photo
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With construction having begun, the Building Committee focused on
obtaining pledges from SBH members. A schedule of memorials had been established
early on, including the largest ones, for the banquet hall and the kitchen.
By January, 1979, when David J. Balint had been installed as President,
approximately $280,000 had been raised in cash and pledges.
On March 25, 1979, when the Social Hall was dedicated, $310,000 had been
donated and pledged, about 70% of the overall goal, by more than 120 people,
whose names were enshrined on the donors plaque in the Hall's entranceway.
Based on donations from the family, the building was named the Sam H.
Baruch Social Hall.
Filming "Song of the Sephardi"
Dr. David Raphael and his Israeli-born wife of Turkish
descent, Esther, came to Seattle in the late 1960s and quickly affiliated
with SBH. David would eventually receive his MD and PhD degrees from the
University of Washington, but he had other interests, very strong cultural
interests. By 1992 he had written three books, historical novels and chronicles
about the Sephardim of Spain following the Expulsion. However, his favorite
project was the making of the film "Song of the Sephardi".
For many years he had dreamed and planned this project of a movie that
would tell the story of Sephardic Jews. It was fulfilled in 1977.
He wrote the entire script himself, directed, produced and cast it using
many members from the Seattle Sephardic community, and even performed
several roles himself. David put out a casting call by means of an open
letter in the July 1977 issue of La Boz. The shooting of the film with
professional cinematographers took place during the week of August 23-31.
Members of SBH were invited to participate in the staging of various religious
ceremonies in the synagogue on Sunday, August 28, including a circumcision,
selling of the mitzvoth, singing of "Ein K'Eloheinu", etc.
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Miss Rivka Raz and Rabbi Maimon at
the Song of Sephardi - August 1977
Double click the image for a full size photo
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Finally, David arranged for a concert by the Israeli singer Rivka Raz at the University
of Washington since part of the concert was incorporated into his film, and Miss Raz
would be singing background songs for other portions of the movie. A year later the
film was completed. Its inaugural showing was on Sunday, September 10, 1978 at the
Seattle Center Playhouse, which was filled with many members of the Seattle Sephardic
community. Everyone wanted to see how many SBH friends and family members they could
recognize in the film. The film was a rousing success and has been shown at numerous
community functions and movie theaters, and is also available for purchase as a video.
Modernization of the SBH Administration
As the needs of the office and of the membership expanded, it became
necessary to hire professionals to carry out these roles. Two particular
jobs were created, the office secretary, which was broadened to encompass
more diverse responsibilities as the office manager, and the youth or
youth/program director. During this decade a number of different people
fulfilled these roles. Judy Amiel, daughter of Rev. Benaroya
served as secretary, followed by Mildred Peha and Marie
Scharhon, three women from the community, who worked in the office
on a part-time basis. Barbara Jolly who was hired as
the full-time office manager followed them.
Over the decade several different people served as youth director, Bob
Kaufman and Avi Rostov, being the two main directors,
each holding that position for several years. However, the focus of the
position often shifted between only youth work and youth combined with
adult programming. At times, lay members of the congregation fulfilled
part of this role, but this reliance also has shifted over the years as
the perceived needs of the membership have changed.
During this decade one of the main functions of the youth director was
to organize and run Sephardic Camp, however the relationship with camp
also changed. During some years a camp director was hired who handled
only matters related to camp, and so this position was active for only
a few months of the year. From the late 1960s Sephardic
Camp had been a joint venture, involving a partnership between SBH
and Congregation Ezra Bessaroth. However, this too changed,
so that for a year or two during this decade Camp was solely run by SBH,
but afterwards it reverted back to a joint SBH-Ezra Bessaroth operation.
By the next decade, Camp was being run as a separate activity, called
Sephardic Adventure Camp, supported by the two synagogues, but having
its own independent identity. In contrast, the two synagogues developed
a joint summer day camp years later, and it has remained as part of the
overall SBH youth program.
Sources:
a) Isaac Maimon, "The History of Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation, 1914-1989",
1989
b) Issues of LaBoz, 1974-1983
Rabbi Simon Benzaquen Becomes the New Rabbi
The eighth decade was a decade of transition in the leadership of the
synagogue. By the time the decade had ended, three younger men had all
assumed the responsibilities for the positions of Rabbi, Hazzan and Gabbai.
In 1984 the Rabbi search committee, composed of almost
a dozen dedicated members, contacted many potential candidates around
the world for their interest in taking over the rabbinic leadership of
SBH. Three rabbis were identified for personal interviews. One of these
declined to come to Seattle, but the other two, Rabbi Simon Benzaquen
of Maracaibo, Venezuela and Rabbi Hayim Kassorla of San
Francisco flew to Seattle and gave sermons and classes to demonstrate
their proficiency. Rabbi Simon Benzaquen was unanimously chosen to be
offered the job as the new rabbi of SBH.
Rabbi Simon Benzaquen was born in Mellila, a Spanish enclave in the
Spanish Morocco territory of North Africa.
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Rabbi Simon Benzaquen
Rabbi of SBH from 1984
Double click the image
for a full size photo
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At age fourteen he went to study at Yeshivat Netzah Israel in Sunderland
in northern England, which he attended for ten years. He then moved to London to continue
his studies at Etz Hayim Yeshiva. Upon the completion of his education,
including Hazanut training for both the Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions, he accepted
the position of assistant minister to the Southend and Westcliff Hebrew
Congregations in Essex, England where he served for ten years. During his tenure
in London he met and married his wife, Cecilia Margulies and they had their first three
children in London, Jonathan, Tanya and Anna-Aliza. Afterwards Rabbi Benzaquen moved to
Maracaibo, Venezuela, where he held the position of rabbi and spiritual leader of the
amalgamated Sephardic and Ashkenazi community for five years.
Rabbi Benzaquen and his family came to Seattle at the end of 1984, and shortly after their
arrival Rabbi and Mrs. Benzaquen welcomed the birth of their daughter Natasha and shortly
thereafter celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of their son Jonathan.
Rabbi Benzaquen has added to his religious skills to benefit the members of his synagogue
and the greater Seattle community, such as his receiving certification as a mohel
in Israel in 1987 in order to practice ritual circumcision. In late 2003
Rabbi Benzaquen took a year's sabbatical to study intensely in Israel where he became
certified by the Jerusalem rabbinate as a dayan (judge) for
arranging gittin (divorces). He is also a Sofer
(scribe) for Sifrai Torah, Tefilin
and Mezuzot and is a noted artist for his unique style of calligraphy
of painted and decorated Ketuboth (marriage contracts).
New Hazzan - Frank Varon
For about two years after the untimely passing of Hazzan Itzhak
Bahar, Rev. Benaroya had been serving as the
interim Hazzan, assisted by several others from within the synagogue who
could fulfill the duties of Hazzan
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Hazzan
Rabbi Frank Varon
Hazzan of SBH from 1985
Double click the image
for a full size photo
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In 1985, the synagogue hired Frank
Varon to serve as its official Hazzan Born to parents from the
SBH community, Jack and the late, Sally Varon,
of blessed memory, Frank is also the grandson of four departed SBH pioneers,
Bechor and Regina Varon and Morris
and Fortuna Funes. Although a native of the local community,
Frank's appointment as Hazzan at SBH was preceded by his appointment as
Hazzan at two other Sephardic congregations, both in the New York area.
He was immediately hired and served as Hazzan for the Sephardic Congregation
of Adath Yeshurun in Kew Gardens, as well as for the
Sephardic Jewish Center of Canarsie in Brooklyn, New York. At the age
21, Frank Varon was the youngest American born Hazzan to be retained by
a major congregation in the United States. Afterwards he returned home
to Seattle where he married his wife, Rena (Azose), and they raised their
children, Sally, Marie, Gina, and Jack.
As a youngster, Frank was taught by Rabbi Solomon Maimon
to read the Torah utilizing the traditional notes, the te'amim.
He studied makamim, the traditional leitmotifs of
Oriental music, under the tutelage of the late Rev. Samuel Benaroya.
Even during his youth his abilities were recognized and he was often invited to
the Tevah to officiate at services. Hazzan Varon later studied voice to perfect
the skillful execution of his high tenor range.
In 1997, Hazzan Varon produced a recording of popular Ladino music that
has been sold and distributed around the world. In October of 1999,
he took a brief leave of absence from SBH to complete his studies for
S'micha (Rabbinical ordination) which he received from
the Yeshiva Midrash Sepharadi in Jerusalem, and the late Chief Rabbi
of Jerusalem, Rabbi Shalom Messas. Rabbi Varon prepares students
in reading proficiently both the Torah and tefilot, the prayers,
thus perpetuating the melodious traditions of our Kahal. His dual knowledge of Hazzanut and
Rabbinics often finds him performing life cycle events both inside and
outside the Seattle Jewish community.
New Gabbai - Larry Adatto
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Gabbai Larry Almo
Gabbai of SBH from 1990
Double click the image
for a full size photo
|
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Victor Scharhon, who had served as Gabbai since 1981,
suddenly passed away in May 1990 and was succeeded in this important position within the
synagogue by Larry Almo. Victor had been training Larry for this position for some time, so the
transition was a very smooth one. |
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Gabbai Victor Scharhon
Gabbai of SBH from 1981-1990
Double click the image
for a full size photo |
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Passages - Rabbi Solomon Maimon
Rabbi Maimon went through numerous passages during this decade. He retired in 1984,
being replaced by Rabbi Simon Benzaquen and assuming the title of Rabbi Emeritus.
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Rabbi Solomon Maimon
at his testimonial dinner
honoring his 40 years of service
Double click the image
for a full size photo
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The synagogue honored his 40 years of service with a testimonial dinner
informally called "Thanks for the Memories" on August 17, 1986. The testimonial committee had
arranged for Mayor Royer to declare August 16, 1986 as Rabbi Solomon Maimon Day in Seattle.
Unfortunately, his Rubisa, Sarah Maimon, was not in good health and in June of 1988 she
passed away. In May of 1989 Rabbi Maimon and his children Cheryl and Mordechai left for Israel,
living in the Jerusalem neighborhood of French Hill. In 1990 Rabbi Maimon returned to Seattle
and married the widow Esther Kubie; they have lived in Seattle ever since.
Even in his retirement Rabbi Maimon has been very active, using Seattle as his base, and
supporting Sephardic communities across the country. He has been called to be interim
rabbi for the High Holidays and other Jewish holidays by the small Sephardic synagogues in
Houston and Detroit, and has also been an invited speaker in Chicago, Los Angeles and
Vancouver. He has been honored at dinners by JNF (over 600 people), Torah Umesorah, the
Seattle Hebrew Academy and the Seattle Kollel.
Seattle Kollel and Va'ad HaRabanim
A project that engaged Rabbi Maimon on his return to Seattle was the establishment
of a Kollel. It had been a dream of his for some time, and beginning in
1990 he gathered a number of volunteers and acquired initial funding from
outside of Seattle to make it into a reality. Albert S. Maimon became the
first President of the lay committee that founded the Seattle Kollel and Rabbi Jack
Maimon was selected to serve as the Rosh Kollel, the day-to-day, head of the Kollel.
It began operation in 1992, with Rabbi Jack Maimon bringing in three other
rabbis to form its nucleus. The main purpose of the Seattle Kollel was to strengthen Judaism
within the Seattle community by offering learning opportunities for every level. Outreach,
bringing Judaism to Jews who had never learned much about it or who had forgotten what they
learned, was an important component, but so too was the expansion of opportunities for Jewish
learning within the existing community. The Seattle Kollel has brought many new members into
the Orthodox synagogues of Seattle, including new members into SBH.
In 1993 the Va'ad HaRabanim (Committee of Rabbis) was organized
by the seven Orthodox rabbis in Seattle to replace the former Seattle
Kashrut Board. The Kashrut Board had been formed in the early
1900s to provide kosher meat for the community. The purpose of the
Va'ad was to oversee, through a formal structure, Kashrut in the city as well
as other religious functions requiring a Bet Din (Jewish
court) of three rabbis. Rabbi Simon Benzaquen and Rabbi Emeritus Solomon Maimon
of SBH were two of the seven founding members, and Albert S. Maimon of SBH has
been the main coordinator between the Va'ad and the lay community.
Seattle Kollel and Va'ad HaRabanim
Based on the suggestion of previous president of SBH, Albert S. Maimon,
a few synagogue leaders including David Balint and Isaac
Baruch, worked to establish an Endowment Fund for the synagogue. Beginning
in 1984, progress towards this goal began slowly, first with
the sale of donated property in Toldeo, WA ($7000). Over the next year the Balint
family donated $20,000, the Ladies Auxiliary $10,000 and Ike Baruch $5000 and
the synagogue included the proceeds ($17,000) from the sale of the house that
had been provided to Hazzan Yitzhak Bahar. Thus by 1987 the
Endowment Fund had approximately $70,000. The purpose of the
Fund was to provide donated untouchable funds as the principal, with the interest
that it earns serving as money that would be available to the synagogue to assist
in paying for future SBH projects such as the building projects and cultural
activities.
In conjunction with the testimonial dinner for Rabbi Maimon, significant funds had been collected
for purposes of furthering Jewish education, spurred on by the "challenge grant"
presented by Morris Polack. This money was used to set up the Rabbi
Solomon Maimon Scholarship and Education Fund. After the untimely passing of Sarah
Maimon, A"H, in 1988, the funds were transformed into the Sarah Maimon Memorial
Scholarship Fund, which was then incorporated into the Endowment Fund. The $42,000 of the
Scholarship Fund was added to the other funds within the Endowment Fund so that by 1989,
the proceeds of the Endowment Fund stood at about $115,000, about half of which
(the $42,000 and the $20,000 from the Balint family) was in the Sarah Maimon Memorial Fund.
The idea behind the Sarah Maimon Fund was to present young men and women, the sons and daughters
of paid up synagogue members, with a $2000 scholarship upon their becoming bar
or bat mitzvah. The scholarship could be used to pay towards their tuition, furthering
their Jewish education up through their graduation from high school. The first official recipient
of a Sarah Maimon Scholarship certificate was Brian Calvo, who received it in
February, 1989. Since that time the Sarah Maimon Scholarship Fund has grown to comprise a principal
of $240,000. Over that time the total amount of tuition paid by the Fund to such
recipients as the Seattle Hebrew Academy, the Seattle Jewish Day School,
the Northwest Yeshiva High School and the Alexander Muss High School
in Israel is approximately $90,000 by 2004. During this same period the corpus
of the entire endowment fund has grown to about $550,000 at the present time - 2004.
One of the purposes of the 90th Anniversary Dinner in November 20, 2004 is to increase
the Endowment Fund to the lofty goal of $1Million. A number of
involved SBH members are on the committee that oversees the Endowment Fund and Sol Halfon
is the Chair.
American Sephardi Federation Convention in Seattle
The American Sephardi Federation (ASF) had been established in 1973
to unite various Sephardic communities and synagogues around the country. It had grown over the years,
establishing chapters in American cities with large Sephardic communities and becoming the "umbrella
organization for Sephardim in the US". The Seattle chapter was established in the
1980s and was headed by Rae Behar. The Seattle chapter agreed to
host the national meeting in Seattle over the Memorial Day Weekend of 1989, harnessing the energies
of members from both SBH and Ezra Bessaroth. SBH member Janice Halfon served as the
Chair of the National Convention, with Albert Franco as the Honorary Chair. The
National Convention was held on May 28-30, 1989 at the Westin Hotel. About 600 Sephardim, one of
Seattle's largest gatherings of Sephardic Jews, attended. Israeli ambassador to Spain,
Shlomo Ben Ami, was the keynote speaker, while working sessions featured well-known
personalities such as correspondent Wolf Blitzer and authority on international legal
issues Carlos Rizowy.
SBH Celebrates and Evolves
During this decade (1984-93) the synagogue marked two memorable birthdays, the 70th and
75th anniversaries since its establishment. Each was marked by an impressive dinner
and featured slide presentations that encapsulated the history of the synagogue and highlighted the
many outstanding personalities who were part of the SBH family. At the 70th the dinner the synagogue
also ceremonially celebrated the "mortgage burning" for the Social Hall. The anniversaries were also
noteworthy for the written histories of the synagogue that were given out at those dinners that had
been composed by Isaac Maimon.
In 1987, Ralph Maimon, president of SBH, proposed a unique fund
raising activity that he modeled after the Pike Street Market. The brick tiles on the arcade of the
walkway between the sanctuary building and the Sam Baruch Social Hall were available to have names
etched in them. For $36, double chai, a name would be engraved on the brick tiles. Over a period
of about a year this project raised about $20,000 and raised the interest level regarding the synagogue.
As the synagogue grew, its needs within the office also grew. SBH was fortunate to have a number
of very capable office administrators, ably assisted by member volunteers. Barbara Jolley
had served as the administrator for some number of years until her untimely passing due to illness
in 1987. Penny Lockwood succeeded her from 1987-1990. In December 1990
Diana Black was hired as the office manager and she has been with us ever since.
Diana has become an indispensable element in the functioning of the synagogue and is essentially
the editor of La Boz. Many SBH members have donated their time to helping out in
the office, but the person with the longest continuous service in the office, close to 15 years,
is Beverly Mezistrano. Many other members served very key roles through their
donated activities in the office and competence in getting things done, such as Katherine
Scharhon, the late Jacky Varon, A"H, and the late Sarah
Benezra, A"H.
Re-establishment of the Sephardic Religious School
In 1982, Terry Azose, a member of SBH and Dana Behar,
a member of Ezra Bessaroth joined forces to re-establish the Sephardic Religious School.
The school had been created in 1963 as an after-school educational institution for the
children of members of both SBH and Ezra Bessaroth, a successor to the afternoon school that had
been run by Ezra Bessaroth in the late 1950s. Rabbi Maimon teamed up with Rabbi
William Greenberg, the new rabbi of Cong. Ezra Bessaroth, to lead the Sephardic Religious
School and teach some of the first classes. Rabbi Greenberg was enrolled in a graduate education
program at the UW so he took over as the principal of the school. The classes were held in Ezra
Bessaroth in classrooms on the lower level and they were held three times a week (Sunday morning
and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons). Some SBH members who were attending college served as some
of the first teachers, in addition to knowledgeable members of the synagogues. During the
1970s the enrollment in the religious school began to decline, which eventually
led to the school closing up in about 1977.
In re-establishing the Sephardic religious school, Terry and Dana made a number of changes. Classes
were held at the Stroum JCC on Mercer Island, and they met twice a week, Sunday
morning and Tuesday afternoon. In 1984 Terry Azose became the educational director of the school.
In addition, the school was set up as an independent organization, receiving direct support from
the two Sephardic synagogues, but also charging tuition, which was lower for members of the two
synagogues than for non-members. The education program was set up to cover grades pre-school up
to the 6th grade, with some grades combined. At its peak the school enrollment was 85 students,
which attests to the good job that Terry Azose had done in setting up the educational policy
and in recruiting qualified teachers.
Sources:
a) Interview with Esther Morhaime, September, 2004
b) Interview with Terry Azose, September, 2004
c) La Boz issues, 1984-1993
Program Innovations and Physical Changes Within SBH
During the last decade a number of communal religious programs were either introduced or expanded
upon to afford SBH members the opportunity to celebrate religious holidays or socialize together
with their friends. One such popular program that Rabbi and Mrs. Benzaquen helped
to initiate and which became successful through the work of such members as the late Sarah Benezra,
was the Second Night Seder. At its peak close to 100 members celebrated the second night of Passover
together, led by Rabbi Benzaquen. The Purim Seudah was a similar program that often brought more than
100 members to eat the special meal and make merry on Purim. In the same vein was the Fruticas holiday
(Tu B'Shvat, the new year of the trees), celebrating the fruits of Israel and all fruits in general.
In addition, a group of ladies led by Beloria Levy has been hosting a post-Yom Kippur
reception in the Social Hall for nearly a decade, providing members the chance to break the 25-hour fast
right away. On a smaller scale, Rabbi Yehoshua Pinkus of the Seattle Kollel, who has
been assigned as the Kollel's rabbi for serving the needs of SBH, organized several Shabbatons for SBH
members in a hotel in Bellevue, thus bringing authentic SBH Shabbat services to members who live on the
Eastside.
In the year 2002 a number of improvements were made to the synagogue. Beginning late in 2001, Ralph
Adatto and a small committee undertook a private and specifically focused fund-raising campaign
to replace and expand the carpeting throughout the synagogue, which was more than 30 years old. In this
way the synagogue's annual budget was not impacted. With generous support from Mordo Israel
and many others, the funds were raised and the new carpeting installed over a period of a few months in 2002.
That same year the synagogue experienced a fire in the Midrash, which fortunately spread no further. Thus,
the Midrash had to be completely replaced, using the money obtained from the insurance payment. This too
was accomplished in about a 6-month time frame.
Over this last decade the country began an ever increasing reliance upon the computer as a means of efficiently
communicating with large numbers of people through various electronic channels, and SBH followed in those
steps. Thus, an electronic version of LaBoz, eLaBoz, was begun by Jack Haleva
in March 2000. It is sent out via email to all SBH members. To subscribe
send an e-mail
 .
In mid 2003 SBH launched its web site. Evelyn Rubinstein-Benzikry and Jack Haleva
planned and designed the web site. The site provides information about the synagogue, its scheduled Services, Programs,
SBH history and visual history, biographies of the religious staff Biographies Youth information, Ladies Auxiliary,
Sephardic recipes, Social Club, Kashrut and more. The site is being maintained by Evelyn Rubinstein-Benzikry who
is the webmaster.
SBH Publishes Its Own Religious Books
During this ninth decade the computer age, and specifically the availability of word processing programs in both
Hebrew and English, allowed dedicated members to essentially print new religious books for use in the synagogue for
almost all Jewish holidays and occasions. The first such new book to appear was the Passover Haggadah
that was put together by Isaac Maimon and Hazzan Isaac Azose, under the sponsorship
of Morris and Marlene Piha. It was printed locally in a soft binding, containing
the order of the Passover Seder in Hebrew, Ladino and English. It became available in April, 1995 in
time for the Passover holiday. Later in 1995 the Selichot booklet appeared in its
initial edition to be used throughout the month of Elul (month before Rosh Hashanah) through the 9th day of Tishri
(day before Yom Kippur). The effort to produce this book was undertaken by Larry Adatto, and he had
begun work on it in 1988. This Selichot booklet, which resulted in two further editions, did not rely on computers
in Seattle but rather was printed in New York.
In 2002 two brand new books appeared that have greatly improved services at SBH because they contain
all of the prayers in the exact order as they are recited in the kahal. They thus replaced the traditional
Hebrew-English prayer books from Rabbi David de Sola Pool that had been used but never fully met the needs of SBH members.
First, the Siddur Zehut Yosef, the Seattle Sephardic Community Daily and Shabbat
Siddur, came out at the beginning of the year. It was a monumental work by
Hazzan Isaac Azose, that he had begun in 1994 and depended on his keying in tens of thousands of English
and Hebrew words into his computer, which required many thousands of hours. This Siddur project was undertaken by the Sephardic
Traditions Foundation, a new organization established through the generosity of Joel Benoliel, with active
guidance of Hazzan Azose. The Siddur incorporates the minhagim (customs) and the order of services
in both Congregation Ezra Bessaroth (designated as R for Rhodes) and SBH (designated as T for Turkish) in a seamless manner.
It contains the prayers in both Hebrew and English on facing pages, as well as some in Ladino, such
as for Meldados. Each of the two Sephardic synagogues bought 1000 copies. Bar and Bat Mitzvah boys
and girls now receive a copy of this Siddur as a gift from our synagogue to celebrate their reaching Jewish maturity. That
same year a very abridged form of the Siddur was abstracted for purposes of a thin, soft-covered Minha
and >Arvith Siddur designed for use at Meldados. It replaced the old Seattle-published Meldado booklet
that had been in use at SBH for many decades. In 2004, a much thinner all Hebrew version became available,
its smaller size making it easier for most members to handle, and other variations are being planned.
Later in 2002 the Mahzor Sha'are Beracha, containing all of the prayers for the
Yom Kippur service, appeared. It was sponsored by Isaac and Rae Baruch
and Selma Amira in loving memory of their parents, Sam H. and Donna Baruch.
It was based on an earlier Yom Kippur Mahzor that had been published by Rabbi Moshe
Benzaquen of Los Angeles, a brother of our Rabbi Simon Benzaquen. A committee of dedicated SBH
members, led by the main subcommittee of Larry Adatto, Dave S. Azose and Albert S.
Maimon, but assisted by many others, was responsible for customizing the Los Angeles Mahzor for use in SBH. This
project began in 1998 and required several thousand man-hours to bring it to completion.
Sam Mezistrano undertook the job of compiling a booklet with all of the prayers in direct order that are
recited on the four fasts (Ta'anit) days besides Tisha B'Av. He began this about 1998 with a
photo-copied, cut and paste version, which was superseded by an initial electronically produced version in 2003.
Complementing this effort, Hazzan Isaac Azose is in the process of compiling a new electronically produced
book of all of the Hebrew and Ladino prayers said on Tisha B'Av.
Two additional siddurim (prayer books) are nearing completion; when finished they will replace
the last two remaining de Sola Pool books in use at SBH. A Mahzor for the
Shalosh Regalim (three pilgrimage holidays of Passover, Shavuoth and Succoth) by Hazzan Isaac
Azose is in its last pre-production version and is expected to be available by about 2005.
A Rosh Hashanah Mahzor has been pursued by the Adatto-Azose-Maimon team for the last few years.
It is expected to be completed in another 2-4 years.
Eli Varon Helps Out - Everywhere
In the spring of 1998 Eli Varon, son of Isaac and Luci Varon, became Bar Mitzvah. That summer
he helped out with food preparation for the SBH Ladies Auxiliary Bazaar, and later that year he was responsible for preparing
the meals at the SBH-sponsored Shabbaton featuring Rabbi Hayim Tawil of Yeshiva University, which had close to 100 attendees.
Ever since then, Eli Varon, despite his youth, has been involved in food-making for all kinds of events sponsored by the synagogue.
His most recent event was the delicious meal served at the Simhat Torah celebration in October, 2004. He also does private
catering, via his EV Catering company, but most of his cooking and food preparation is associated with SBH events.
In addition, Eli helps out with all of the diverse activities that are on-going within the synagogue. During previous eras, it
had been retired men, like Isaac Adatto, who had fulfilled this role, assuring that all of the religious objects were available
and in place for each service and function. That role has now been taken over by Eli. In addition, he coordinates his other
types of assistance through office manager Diana Black and Gabbai Larry Almo. Thus, Eli Varon
helps out in almost all facets of SBH life.
Over the last two decades, food preparation for on-going events, particularly the Shabbat kiddush and
Seuda't Shlisheet (third Shabbat meal), have been handled by other members as well. The Rubbisa,
Cecilia Benzaquen, has been involved with the weekly kiddush preparation for many years. Over the years
different individuals have taken on the responsibility of preparing the weekly Seuda't Shlisheet meals, including Bob Berry,
Jack Eskenazi, Victor Ezraty, Mike Marshall, Eli Varon and,
most recently, Chaim Rosenbaum, and his crew of young fathers and their children.
SBH Recognizes Its Leaders and Volunteers
During this last decade SBH honored a number of its important members for their past dedication to the synagogue. This was done
through testimonial dinners which honored Rabbi and Mrs. Simon Benzaquen
(April 2000), Isaac Maimon (Oct. 2000), Past Presidents of SBH and of the Ladies
Auxiliary (Nov. 2002), and Morris and Marlene Piha (2003). In a similar vein, SBH
established the prestigious Sarah Maimon Humanitarian Award
in 1989 to honor those SBH members whose volunteerism exemplifies the life of dedication of the late Rubissa,
Sarah Maimon. Recipients are chosen by a committee on biannual basis. Magda Schaloum was the
most recent recipient (2003).
SBH Role in Seattle Jewry's Special Year
The year 1996 was significant for two unique events for the Seattle Jewish community, one large and one small,
and SBH and some of its members played important roles. All during the year, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle prepared
to host the General Assembly, the annual meeting of Jewish Federations from across the US and
Canada. It took place in November, and during that year, Albert S. Maimon of SBH was the loaned executive from
The Boeing Company who was assigned to assist the Seattle Federation in organizing this event. More than 3000
Jews from across the country and Israel came to Seattle for this meeting, which was held in the Washington State Convention
Center. About 40 members of SBH participated in various portions of this special 4-day event. For major events such as the in-person
talk by former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and the remarks via closed-circuit TV by the then Israeli
Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, close to 4000 Jews were assembled in one auditorium. That was the largest gathering
of Jews for one event in the history of the city, a record that will probably never be exceeded, since more than 80% of these
Jews were from outside of the state of Washington.
In February of 1996, Torah U'Mesorah, the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, held its
mid-year meeting in the Seward Park area of Seattle. It was the Mid-Winter Conference of the National Conference of Yeshiva
Principals of Torah U'Mesorah, and some of the Shabbat services were held in SBH. During these times of tefilah, there
were more than 50 rabbis in the SBH sanctuary, the largest gathering of rabbis ever in the kahal.
SBH Members Assume Leadership Roles in Jewish Education
SBH members have been involved with Jewish education from all different aspects. Some have been lay leaders of community-wide
schools, some have been teachers or other members of the professional staffs and all have been parents. The ninth decade was
unique for the tremendous dedication and great leadership shown by one SBH member, Rebecca Almo, in serving as
the president of two different educational institutions, first the Northwest Yeshiva High School (NYHS), and
then a few years later, the Seattle Hebrew Academy (SHA). Major rebuilding programs, in excess of $1Million
and $10 Million respectively, were required at the two schools. They were undertaken under her leadership and were completed
successfully due to her efforts and the efforts and dedication of many other members of the Seattle Jewish community, including
a number from within SBH. Other SBH members
have served as the president of one of these institutions, NYHS and SHA.
During Mrs. Almo's tenure, partnerships were fostered with many other Jewish organizations, which was so movingly typified by
the response of the entire Jewish community to the damage done to the Seattle Hebrew Academy building following the Nisqually
Earthquake on February 28, 2001. The main SHA building in the Capitol Hill neighborhood could not be re-occupied without full
seismic retrofitting and renovation, so temporary facilities had to be obtained. First Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative
Congregation on Mercer Island helped out by providing their classrooms for the remainder of the school year. Then
temporary trailer buildings were located in the parking lot of Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath synagogue for
the next three years to house about 60% of the school classrooms. When these facilities were still not adequate, SBH
contributed by making the Fellowship Room available as a classroom for two years.
In parallel, the SHA community voted to rebuild the old building, requiring a major fundraising campaign followed by the
long-term reconstruction program. The entire project would not have succeeded without the crucial support provided by the
Samis Foundation, which has several SBH members on its board. Samis made available a large grant and the
assistance of one of its key professionals, William Justen, to chair the renovation project's Design and Construction Committee.
The work was scheduled to be completed by the opening of school for September, 2004 and it met the date. Earlier in the process,
in order to obtain funds from the federal government, President Bush had to sign an executive order allowing religious groups
to qualify for federal disaster aid. Thus, based on a ruling by the general counsel of Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), FEMA was able to provide a disaster assistance grant to the Seattle Hebrew Academy.
After the arrival of Rabbi Shmuel Kay as SHA Head of School in 1999, the SHA curriculum was reorganized to allow prayers to
be taught to Sephardic students according to traditional Sephardic minhagim (customs). To accomplish
this, members of the SBH staff, Rabbi Simon Benzaquen, Rabbi Frank Varon, and Hazzan
Isaac Azose have been added to the SHA teaching staff on a part-time basis. They teach students tefila, Hebrew prayers
following the traditional Sephardic pronunciation and order, and as practiced in SBH and Cong. Ezra Bessaroth.
The Sephardic Religious School resumed its operation in 1982. It was located at the Stroum
JCC on Mercer Island and met twice a week, on Sunday morning and Tuesday afternoon. For about a decade it had been directed
by SBH member Terry Azose. In 1994 she handed over the role of educational director to master
teacher Esther Morhaime, another SBH member, who had been a teacher in the Religious School in the 1960s and
then later in the 1990s after she returned to Seattle. One of her important additions was to include an upper level class, for
7th-8th grade students, which occurred in 2001. This allowed graduates of the Sephardic Religious School, Bar Mitzvah boys and
Bat Mitzvah girls, to continue their Jewish education uninterrupted up through high school. Graduates are accepted directly
into the Community High School of Jewish Studies, which also meets at the JCC, but on Wednesday evenings. In addition, she
established the Seattle Association of Sephardic Youth (SASY), the Sephardic Religious School High School
Program, providing a structured social outlet for the Sephardic teenager, especially those who had completed the Sephardic
Religious School.
Outstanding SBH Athletes
In the early 1990s, the athletic program of the Northwest Yeshiva High School (NYHS) began participating
in regular high school sports leagues. This was an advantage to the many teenagers of SBH embers who were attending NYHS,
but they gained infinitely more when Dr. Jed Davis took over as the athletic director at NYHS. He established
the athletic program as a serious component of the overall high school program, which became apparent with the winning
seasons that the basketball teams began to enjoy. This was epitomized by the NYHS girls' varsity basketball team, which
went to the Hillel Invitational Girls' Basketball Tournament in 2000, the national tournament for the
best girls' basketball teams at Jewish high schools across the country. In 2000 the NYHS team came in second place and
in 2001 they won the Hillel championship with a team that included four high school girls from SBH,
Lillian and Janna Almo, Tamar Benzikry and Chana Adatto.
Seventy years earlier, three SBH members had also formed the nucleus of a very successful basketball team that also won a
championship. In that case it was Victor Calderon, Israel Halfon and Ezra Rose
who were part of the 1930-31 Garfield High School team that was crowned the Seattle champions. Between
the successes of these two basketball teams there were many other members of the SBH community who throughout the
decades exhibited great athletic prowess at the high school and college level. Beginning in the 1920s
when the first young SBH members began attending Garfield High School, giving those members with athletic ability an
opportunity to excel on the ball field, many went on to establish names for themselves as varsity athletes. In the
early decades, up through the 1970s, this was mainly for the boys, but as girls' athletics became an integral part
of the American school system, the young women of SBH also began to take advantage of these wider opportunities and
establish themselves as athletes. Click this link
for an initial list of the SBH members who played varsity athletics at the high school and college level.
Conclusion and To the Future
This installment concludes the series of nine chapters on the history of Sephardic Bikur Holim. I thank the many SBH
members who shared their knowledge and experiences, some of which have been included in these chapters. This series
will have value if its review of the SBH past helps to inspire and motivate members and their families to learn about
and practice our rich and unique traditions and customs, in our individual and communal lives, at home and in the
synagogue. Only with the active encouragement of the younger generations of SBH members to build on the roots where
their families grew up, and to continue in the traditions begun here in 1914 with the founding of SBH, can we project
many more decades of future SBH history.
Conclusion and To the Future
This installment concludes the series of nine chapters on the history of Sephardic Bikur Holim. Many SBH members
shared their knowledge and experiences, some of which have been included in these chapters.
This historic review of SBH will have value if its helps to inspire and motivate members and their families
to learn about and practice our rich and unique traditions and customs, in our individual and communal lives,
at home and in the synagogue. Only with the active encouragement of the younger generations of SBH members to
build on the roots where their families grew up, and to continue in the traditions begun here in 1914 with the
founding of SBH, can we project many more decades of future SBH history.
Sources:
a) Interviews with Larry Adatto, Albert Angel, Hazan Isaac Azose, Sol H. Halfon, Albert S. Maimon, Sam Mezistrano and
Eli Varon October 2004
b) La Boz issues, 1994-2004
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