I published this column in 2016, when I was the religion editor at the H-T. Hank didn’t mention a connected story I have heard many times — that the Rev. Ernie Butler, a civil-rights leader and long-time pastor of Second Baptist Church, showed up that week with a hat filled with money to help, a gift from his congregants.
*********
In the midst of tragedy, friendship and community prevailed
This guest column was written by Hank Berman of Bloomington.
I had moved to Bloomington in 1971. It was a warm and balmy mid-August 1983 evening as I drove home from my business in downtown Bloomington on East Third Street.
I drove past our temple, Beth Shalom, on Third Street. It is nestled between University Baptist Church to the west and St. Thomas Lutheran Church to the east. Great neighbors: During the Christian holidays of Easter and Christmas and the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the three institutions share their respective parking lots.
That night, my wife took the call.
The temple was on fire.
I rushed over to Beth Shalom, and by now, there were many firemen there, hoses hooked up, flames rising inside and smoke pouring from the windows.
Firemen inside were fighting the fire feverishly.
Everything was black except for the flames, smoke, flashing lights from the fire trucks and the shadows of the brave firemen fighting the fire.
It reminded me of the news films I had seen so often before during the war in Europe. Temples burning down were shown in black and white news films.
One of the firemen leaned out of one of the broken windows with smoke pouring out. There was a young boy on the outside — he couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9 years old, and the fireman yelled to him to come to the window. The fireman handed him one of the holy scrolls, a Torah he had retrieved from the Ark (the cabinet where Torah scrolls are stored).
The youngster could not hold the Torah as its handles were close to the kindling point and very hot.
I took the Torah from him and I laid it gently on a blanket.
The fireman then handed out the other Torahs and I placed them next to the first one.
A gentleman came up to me saying that he was the president of St. Thomas Lutheran Church next door, and he wanted to offer his church as a place of worship for members of Beth Shalom for as long as it would take to rebuild.
I pointed out our president and the gentleman approached him and they were deep in conversation.
The next Sabbath we had our Reform services on Friday evening, and Traditional services Saturday morning as usual — only now they were held at St. Thomas Lutheran Church. Covers were over the crosses.
A member of Beth Shalom, Max Rubin, now 94 and his wife Edna, 90 (they recently celebrated their 70th anniversary) built an ark on wheels which contained the Torahs, and we would roll it down to the front. Edna made beautiful curtains for the Torah ark and the appropriate cover for the church’s altar.
The services continued at St. Thomas every Sabbath and through the High Holy days until Beth Shalom was rebuilt, five times larger than before.
It was determined that the fire had been set by a Neo Nazi group that was hiding in Tennessee.
They were caught and brought to justice.
Congregation Beth Shalom now houses close to 200 families. It is flourishing. Besides weekly worship services, it has a fully operating Sunday school and preschool facility directed by Didi Kerler.
Rose and Irving Fell, Dr. George Lewis and his wife Sydelle were some of the founders of Beth Shalom who raised the money to build it and then rebuilt after the fire.
Alvin Rosenfeld and Joe Belth, also founders, have led the Traditional services on Saturday mornings for all this time.
Friday evening Reform services are led by Rabbi Brian Besser. We serve all sectors of the Jewish community with the main theme of inclusion of all, Jews and non-Jews, as led by Rabbi Besser.
Beth Shalom is flourishing under the direction of the board of directors, presided over currently by its president, Carolyn Geduld. Rabbi Brien is beloved by all, and his inspiring leadership is a virtual gift to the congregation as well as the city of Bloomington.
One persons’ take on extremism and survival at the same time, some time ago. The parallels to today are scary.
No comments:
Post a Comment