By Jack Shanker

On Sunday November 3, from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M., teens in Memphis’s B'nai Tzedek Philanthropy program traveled around the city on their yearly bus tour. We went to visit Temple Israel and learned about the history of Jewish Memphis and the many synagogues there have been. We also went to the newly renovated Hillel of University of Memphis, that was partially funded by B'nai Tzedek, to learn about the importance of Jewish life on a college campus. Finally, we went to the Jewish Community Center to participate in the adult inclusion art class that was also partially funded by B'nai Tzedek. 

In Temple Israel, we learned about the history of the Jewish community of Memphis from Ms. Judy Ringel. We heard about the beginning of Jewish Memphis, the establishment of the first synagogue here, and their first rabbi. The name of the first temple was the Congregation B’nai Israel – Children of Israel, established in 1853 by German immigrants. This temple was led by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise who moved from Cincinnati to join the Memphis community. After he retired from being Rabbi of the temple, Rabbi Jacob Peres took his place. Rabbi Peres is also known for having the Memphis BBYO chapter Peres AZA #71 named after him. We also learned about the history of the Jewish people of Tennessee during the time of the Civil War. On December 17, 1862 Union General Ulysses S. Grant blamed the Jewish community for corruption in black market cotton trading. He issued that Jewish people should be expelled from all of his military districts which included parts of Tennessee along with Mississippi and Kentucky. The Jewish communities in these areas all came together and took action. They appealed Grant’s order directly to President Lincoln and the act was revoked. Many Jewish people in the area later pushed for Horatio Seymour, the Democratic representative who ran against Grant for President. Grant won and became the eighteenth President of the United States. Interestingly, he later condemned his own actions towards Jews. He appointed many Jewish people to hold positions in the government, and he attended the opening of a synagogue in Washington D.C. He also spoke out against antisemitism towards Jewish people. 

Next on our tour, we drove to the Hillel of the University of Memphis. Bnai Tzedek helped to fund some of Hillel’s programming last year, so it was exciting to see how college students have benefited from having access to a more modern building. We all enjoyed seeing how amazing the building looked, and took pride in the fact that the money we allocated to Memphis Hillel was used for meaningful events like the annual Interfaith Passover Seder. At the Hillel building, we learned how important it is to have a sense of home when you may not feel like you have one. When students are away at college, it is difficult to find a place to connect and be together with other students experiencing similar problems. The Hillels on college campuses are a way to have that sense of family, which is clearly very important for everyone, now more than ever. We learned how during October 6 of 2023, when all of the Jewish students came together to take down the Hillel Sukkah after the holiday Sukkot, they were upset to lose a central meeting place, and a spot for fun Jewish events. During the following days, they wished to still have that house that they all shared together, especially after the events of October 7. Since then, Hillels have been even more important to college students around all universities. It was very encouraging to see that the Hillel of the University of Memphis provides that home away from home. And I have to say, the new building is much nicer than a sukkah. 

After our time at the Hillel, we made our way back to the JCC. We went to another program that B’nai Tzedek helped to fund, the adult inclusion art program. This program was made for adults with special needs to get to know each other and bond with others by participating in fun art projects. The adults make friendships with others in this program and make each other feel better by doing fun activities together, or simply asking each other how their week has been. We got to participate in the same activity as they did this week and decorate wine glasses for shabbat services. This program was amazing for people to bond and have fun together by drawing what they wanted to.  

The B’nai Tzedek bus tour was a great opportunity for the participants of the philanthropy program to see first-hand how their time spent figuring out how to allocate funds is well worth the effort. Our money is used to fund incredibly impactful programs in Memphis, and we couldn’t be prouder to be an integral part of the Jewish community here.