Bylined opinion and news columns published by United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute.
Shalom, all!
My name is Remy Liverman and I am delighted a to be joining United Hebrew Congregation as your student rabbi for the coming year.
A little about my personal background: I was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto, Canada. My family and I were active members of Temple Sinai in the greater Toronto area, and I spent my summers at Camp Northland B’nai B’rith in northern Ontario.
I am going to start out by bragging about our religious school.
About 11:30 a.m. one Sunday, I went down to the Temple to get a few things done, and listened and watched the students during their class.
I was so impressed with the parents, teachers and older children who were helping. As the class came to an end, everyone gathered in a circle and sang a song together and it was beautiful.
There are larger congregations with more children in religious school but you would not find a school run as well as ours.
If you ever question the future of our religious school, please visit and watch the students in action.
We presently find ourselves in a period where we are literally counting the days until our next holiday.
Jews are always looking ahead, planning for the next occasion where the pulse of our calendar year brings us together in joyous or somber moments.
During these intervening days between Passover and Shavuot, we are commanded to count the omer of 49 days.
I’ve counted my year in monthly visits, trips to the “Enterprise” in Cincinnati and drives across the beautiful Indiana countryside.
On April 7, United Hebrew Congregation welcomed the Terre Haute South Vigo High School STAND club, whose members commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide with a program entitled, Together We Remember.
Rwandan genocide survivor Emmanuel Habimana served as the event’s main speaker. He recounted how as a 9-year-old, after witnessing his father’s murder, he escaped through the jungle with another child of similar age.
The local students who planned this moving program under the direction of THS teacher Peggy Grabowski understand their generation must work toward peace and reconciliation amongst all peoples.