Community programs at United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute
Bagels are everywhere in the U.S. now, but finding a bialy is still a challenge in many places — including Terre Haute.
Some of you may be asking, what is a bialy? It turns out bialys did in fact get their name from the Polish city of Bialystock, where they originated.
Bialys are sometimes described as a combination between a bagel and an English muffin. They notably feature a partial hole (often filled with onions) rather than a hole that goes all the way through like a bagel.
As communities observed the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht on Nov. 9-10, the attack on Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue and rising incidences of hate crimes across the western world added urgency to the declaration, “Never again.”
In Terre Haute, UHC member and Kristallnacht survivor Walter Sommers spoke at CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center, where he serves as a docent, and participated in a candle-lighting the honor the victims of the Holocaust.
A day later, UHC and Theater presented a staged reading of This Side of Eternity: The Story of Kristallnacht, by former Terre Haute resident Christopher Bibby.
Student Rabbi Jonathan Falco stood at the sanctuary bimah and read the names of the 11 Pittsburgh dead, then invited the congregation to rise for El Ma’alei Racham’im, the prayer for the souls of the departed.
“The victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue were robbed of their opportunity to fulfill the commandment to keep and remember and celebrate the Sabbath. Tonight, we move forward with doing just that — continuing our Shabbat service and celebrating in their memory,” Jonathan said.
Some 100 people attended Shabbat services Friday, Nov. 2, at United Hebrew Congregation’s historic Temple Israel, six days after the fatal attack on Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
The massacre on October 27 at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh has struck much fear into the entire American Jewish community, including ours in Terre Haute.
In the face of such tragedy, many communities around the nation have expressed support for their Jewish friends and neighbors.
Last Friday night, our own United Hebrew Congregation in Terre Haute experienced an outpouring of love from members of the Wabash Valley Christian and Muslim communities, when some 100 people joined us for our weekly Shabbat service.