5007 Providence Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226
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Non-Profit Organization
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Charlotte, NC
Pemnit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEWISH
Vol. 18 No. 6
Sivan/Tamuz 5756
June/July 1996
What Are Five
Jewish Boys Doing
in Local Cemeteries
as Confederate
Army Veterans?
Confederate honor guard salutes the grave of Phillip Schiff
at the Hebrew cemetery.
by Walter J. Klein
The Charlotte Jewish His
torical Society knows all
about our Civil War dead. It is part
of their mission to keep alive the
vital part Charlotte Jews played in
the 1861*1865 war that maimed the
South for a century.
Here on these pages of the
Charlotte Jewish News you can dis
cover the innermost thoughts of a
lowly Jewish soldier who kept a re
markable war diary, including;
“October—We have got the small
pox in prison, and from six to twelve
are taken out dead daily. We can
buy from prisoners rats, 25 cents
each, killed and dressed... ”
Here you can read the words
of one of our Society members to
more than 1,000 who gathered to
honor Confederate Christian and
Jewish dead at both Elmwood and
Hebrew cemeteries.
You can sense the respect
Charlotte still holds for Sam
Wittkowsky, the leading local Jew
ish citizen of the 19th century, and
for five Confederate Jewish veter
ans. You can feel the gratitude for
a Jewish grocer who sheltered Ms.
Jefferson Davis after the last meet
ing of the Confederate cabinet here.
And for a Jew who stood up to pre
serve the honor of Governor Zeb
Vance as he was led to prison.
Charlotte Jewry has a valid
Confederate heritage. It is not in
conflict with the Jewish spirit of
freedom from slavery that brought
other fearless Jews to march—and
die—in Alabama supporting the
civil rights cause. Both movements
testify to the Jew’s willingness to
lay his life on the line for social ac
tion causes nK)re important to him
than his own fate.
For the first time since the
Civil War, Charlotte Confederate
descendants honored their Jewish
dead in Confederate Memorial Day
ceremonies April 21.
A thousand people from
Charlotte and most Southern states
gathered to remember Jewish sol
diers along with Christian patriots
who died during and following the
Civil War.
One speaker was Walter J.
Klein, a member of the Charlotte
Jewish Historical Society headed by
Ben Jaffa, Jr., who addressed the
assembly at Elmwood cemetery fol
lowing a parade from uptown Char
lotte.
(Jontinued on page 6
Phil Turner drove from
Augusta to recite poems at
the Hebrew cemetery grave
of CpI. Louis Leon. Leon was
a store clerk in Charlotte
when he enlisted. He was
elected by the United
Confederate Veterans to
command a large reunion in
Charlotte May 20, 1898, to
unveil the Mec-Dec
monument.
Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte Annual Meeting
Welcomes New Executive
Director: Marvin Goldberg
The new Executive Direc
tor of the Jewish Federa
tion of Greater Charlotte, Marvin
Goldberg, was officially welcomed
to Charlotte at the Federation’s An
nual Meeting held on Sunday, April
28, in Gorelick Hall at Shalom Park
The event, which was chaired
by Donna Lerner and Judie Van
Glish, featured D’var Torahs by the
Presidents of the three institutions
at Shalom Park; Eric Sklut, Presi
dent of the Jewish Community Cen
ter, Mitch Rivkin, President of
Temple Beth El and David Miller,
President of Temple Israel. Each
spoke eloquently of the symbolism
of the occasion and graciously wel
comed Mr. Goldberg to the Jewish
community in Charlotte.
Bill Gorelick, 1996 Cam
paign Chair, reported on the status
of the Federation annual campaign
and stated that the community was
only $40,000 away from achieving
the campaign goal of $1.4 million.
(Jontinued on page 11
Marvin Goldberg
Family Entertainer Tom Chapin
In Concert For JCC Inaugural
“Celebrate The Children” Huge Success
r
t was the concert that al
most didn’t happen. After
a disappointing cancellation when
the “Blizzard of 96” hit Charlotte
in January, Tom Chapin returned
on April 14 for the inaugural “Cel
ebrate the Children’’ event pre
sented by the Jewish Community
Center and co-sponsored by Royal
Insurance.
A sold-out crowd sang and
swayed through Chapin’s infec
tiously amusing performance at
Spirit Square Center for Arts and
Education. A real crowd pleaser,
Chapin is best known for his folk
song style and music that appeals
to a broad range of children as well
as their parents and grandparents.
His songs always involve the audi
ence. Imagine an audience stand
ing with their hands in the air or
using sign-language to sing the
chorus of one of his most well-loved
tunes:
"We're a family, and we’re a tree.
Our roots go deep down in history.
From my great, great grand-daddy,
reaching up to me.
We 're a green and growing family
tree."
-From “A Family Tree” writ
ten by John Forster and Tom
Chapin
Adding to the festivities were
Chapin’s fellow performers,
Michael Mark and Jon Cobert.
These musicians helped make the
Celebrate the Children Chairperson Jane Weaver Sobel and
JCC President Eric Sklut greet Tom Chapin
concert a memorable one for hun
dreds of children.
Prior to the concert, a spon
sor reception honored all the event’s
major donors, including Royal In
surance, Blumenthal Foundation,
The Lance Foundation and Target
Stores. In addition, Patty & Bill
Gorelick, Sandra & Leon Levine
and Lori & Eric Sklut and all the
Family Tree Sponsors were feted.
“Celebrate the Children
1996’’ raised $25,000 for family
and children programs at the Jew
ish Community Center. A variety
of programs will benefit from these
funds including afterschool enrich
ment courses, infant-toddler day
care facilities, parenting workshops
and day camp scholarships.
“Celebrate the Children”
chairperson Jane Weaver Sobel sug
gests tfie Jewish Community Cen
ter is a place that focuses on chil
dren and the family. She says “we
wanted to do an event that would
bring quality children’s program
ming to all the families of Char
lotte and at the same time highlight
the JCC.” In addition to Sotel, an
executive committee of volunteers
including Vicki Derderian, Larry
Fart>er, Janni Fisht>ein-SIotkiss,
Robin Heiden, Lisa Platock, Mel
issa Raphael and Bruce Schwartz
speartieiKkd the event planning.