We can not wait to serve you!
EXPERIENCE A TASTE OF THE CARIBBEAN
Mon-Thu: 10am-3pm Fri: 10am-3pm; 5pm-8pm BYOB Sat: 11am-3pm Sun: Closed We Cater • Event Hosting Mon-Thu and Sat Evenings for up to 225 people 2015 5th Avenue North, Birmingham (205) 730-9003 | miamifusioncafe.com
agenda mont, which congregants later discovered was also a meeting-place for the local Ku Klux Klan. The Ladies Relief Society was founded in 1920, then the Ladies Auxiliary was added in 1928. They merged in 1941. A Young Judea youth group was established. As increased immigration from Eastern Europe brought additional traditional Jews to the area, plans were made to establish a building. In 1923, a house at 400 North Barcelona was purchased. The first floor was the sanctuary, with a mechitzah, and the second floor was the rabbi’s residence. With additional growth in the early 1940s, plans began to replace the building with something that looked like a synagogue. The Silberman family left a large bequest to the congregation for a new building, and ground was broken at the current site on Dec. 2, 1953. The dedication was held in September 1954, with Rabbi J.L. Holzman as spiritual leader and Abe Levin, for whom the social hall is named, as president. A year after the move, the congregation followed a trend among many Southern Orthodox congregations and joined the Conservative movement. Synagogue member Joe Rosenbaum digitally converted 16mm films he made in the 1950s during the construction of current B’nai Israel in 1953 and the 1954 dedication of the new building. These videos and a display of the original Ark and other historical items are on exhibit at the University of West Florida’s Voices of Pensacola facility in downtown Pensacola. The current Ark was completed in 1961, and the artistic gates were designed by Harry Ordon. A series of 12 hurricane-proof art glass windows in the sanctuary, depicting Torah and Jewish festivals, was dedicated in 2001. In 2014 the congregation wrote a new Torah scroll, and current Rabbi Samuel Waidenbaum arrived in May 2017.
Louisiana Legislature passes anti-boycott bill
DINE AT AN “AMERICAN CLASSIC” AS RECOGNIZED BY
The Bright Star Restaurant
304 19th St. N Bessemer, Al 35020 205.424.9444 www.thebrightstar.com
Our Family Serving Your Family for 110 Years 6
June 2019 • Southern Jewish Life
A year after Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards issued an executive order forbidding state agencies from doing business with companies that participate in boycotts of Israel, the Louisiana Legislature has unanimously followed suit with its own anti-BDS bill. On June 5, the House approved a revised bill that had been passed by the Senate, vastly expanding the original House bill introduced by Rep. Valarie Hodges of Denham Springs. Her original bill would authorize public entities to reject the lowest bid “for supplies or services” from a company that engages in a boycott, divestment or sanctions campaign against Israel, and award the contract to the next lowest bidder. The Committee on Appropriations passed it unanimously on April 29, and it passed the House, 96-0, on May 8. Coincidentally, on May 8, Concerned Women for America’s Louisiana chapter presented Hodges with a Support for Israel Ambassador award. In the Senate, the bill was referred from the Committee on Finance and amended by Sen. Gerald Long of Winnfield. The amended bill included language discussing the relationship between Israel and Louisiana, and that Louisiana “does not support boycott-related tactics that are used to threaten the sovereignty and security of allies,” including the BDS campaign that seeks to economically isolate Israel. “The state of Louisiana unequivocally rejects the BDS campaign and stands firmly with Israel,” the bill reads. The revised bill states Louisiana “may not execute a procurement contract with a vendor if that vendor is engaging in a boycott of Israel,” and this is “consistent with existing Louisiana non-discrimination provisions and regulations.” The law does not apply to contracts of less than $100,000 or with ven-