10 Friday, July 29, 1983

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Are There Really Jews in the South? Sho'Nuff

the question. This is as-
rabbi emeritus of Cong. subsequently became my publisher. Printed on
tonishing, but it happens.
Beth Israel in Meridian, wife.
heavy, near-glossy paper,
Years ago, the question
and his wife, this picto-
"Jews in Early Missis- this book is delightful to
used to be a wide-eyed "Du
rial history, a quarto in sippi" is a treasurer- touch as well as to look at,
bist a Yid?" Today, the
soft-card covers, is hand- trove. It is easy to im- but the weight of the paper
query is less direct: "Are
some and appealing.
agine the scenarios for is not supported by the
there really Jews in the
Mah goodness! Who can the endless conversa- stitched binding which it
South?"
resist lookin' at old-timey tions it will generate, but needs. Instead, it is flimsily
The phrasing of the ques-
pictures in the family al- it nonetheless points up glued. Consequently, the
tion may be changed; the
bum!
the very real need for a book self-destructs in your
curiosity behind it is still
There are more than 400 professional, in depth, hands.
the same. Under this sort of photographs of immigrants, thoroughly researched,
Its been hard enough for
scrutiny, I begin to wonder
settlers, patriarchs, mat- more universal history us Southern Jews to hold
Custom laminated Furniture.
if without knowing it my
riarchs, whole families, coming forward to the the past together, or even to
Residential & Commercial
nose has suddenly become
store-fronts, family homes, present, a history fleshed convince Northern Jews
Graphic Wall Design
semi-detached.
- businesses and synagogues. out to include the stories that we have one. The Uni-
KEITH SCHARE
Well, there are Jews in
The cover is particularly in- of the Jewish Snopeses versity Press of Mississippi
Designer
the South and they've
triguing. It is a plate of the as well as the Jewish ought not to make it more
been here for a long time.
non-abandoned Port Gibson Compsons and Sar- difficult. Sho'nuff; you-all.
569-2462 543-0203
Some people from out-
Temple Gemiluth Chassed, torises.
side the South did know
complete with its moorish
If I have any quibble with
about them years ago.
steeple.
the good rabbi's book it is
When I was a little kid in a
A steeple! and moorish? that there is neither a pic-
Diamonds Cost Less Here Period!
country town in middle
Land-sakes alive!
ture not a reference to any of
Tennessee, I used to be
REMEMBER, THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A
The portraits of the im- those Jews who were not
amazed at the number of
NEW DIAMOND AND A USED DIAMOND IS THE PRICE.
migrants, on their way to paragons of virtue. That
bearded, frocked
becoming solid citizens and there were some of them
schnorrers from both
benefactors of their com- around, we know well
CALL H.M.H.F.
MK F11(,AN
INE 'NI DI AN.5( )N() PA11 NfiR(
R ■ ;"Nt I 1'114
real and imaginary
munities, are equally fas- enough.
LOWEST FARES
yeshivas all over the
cinating. For the period of
As a child in the rural
EVERYWHERE
world who, while passing
history covered, principally South, I was urged from
through, somehow knew
1830 to the turn of the cen- time to time not to provoke
TY, INC.
557-4422
to knock on our door.
tury, the faces are almost the goyim. I sense some-
Washington Bkd at Michtgan A‘e
Perhaps one of the rea-
entirely those of German thing of that caution here
sons for the unintentional
Jews and those from where there seems to be a
961-4361 Mon -Fri (4-5 Sat 10-4
JUNKETS! JUNKETS!
anonymity of Southern
Alsace-Lorraine. They need by the rabbi to justify
FOR QUALIFIED PLAYERS
Jews is that until recently
came to Mississippi not Jewish settlement in the
VEGAS, TAHOE, ATI. CITY, ETC.
there has been little sys-
overland from New York Christian South. That's
investigation of but through the port of New strange at a time when the
RYKE TRAVEL tematic
Southern Jewish life and
Orleans, going on to Nitta Southern Christian fun-
356-8400
culture. The Southern
Yuma, Pontotoc, Yazoo - damentalists are openly
Jewish Historical Society is
City, Vicksburg, Natchez, embracing Israel on every
still a few years away from
Meridian, Jackson and television screen in the
41 e
4. &
,
ENtrHE
its Bar Mitzva. The countless other villages and country.
cool
ALL BRAND NEW INVENTORY!
TRADEWINDS
preservation of Southern
towns.
My quibble aside, I have a
• CHAIRS • TABLES • CHINA • STEMWARE
bi
Jewish culture, which
Accompanying
the more serious quarrel, not
SCHECHTER'S
• SILVERPLATE • LINENS IN DECORATOR COLORS
would increase the likeli- photographs is a text that with the rabbi but with his
hood of pliblished studies, is
• UMBRELLA TABLES • CANOPIES • PAPER GOODS
belies the amount of sorting
only now beginning in ear-
Courage is the best gift of
out that obviously went into
BECAUSE OF YOUR MANY. REQUESTS
KOSHER.HOTEL
nest partly because of an in-
getting all the family names all; courage stands before
WE NOW CARRY
OLATT
creased sense of historical
straight and keeping up everything. It is what
"'YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME'
G
No nearby buildings shade our
urgency and partly because with the inter-marrying preserves our liberty,
fresh water pool, patio and
the rural and small-town
and linking of families safety, life, and our homes
private Sandy beach
• THERAPEUTIC WHIRLPOOL
facets
of
that
culture
are
across
the state and into ad- and parents, our country
• AIR CONDITIONED • COLOR TV
29212 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD
rapidly disappearing.
RADIO IN ALL ROOMS • DELICIOUS
and children. Courage com-
jacent ones.
KOSHER FOOD • TENNIS AVAIL ABLE
South of 13 Mile Rd. • Farmington Hills
prises all things; a man with
Apart from several city-
• WE CATER TO ALL DIETS
What we are given is bas- courage has every blessing.
We Accept Visa & MasterCharge
CALL FREE to MIAMI BEACH
based histories (and not
ically
name,
rank
and
serial
—Plautus
800 - 327-8165
counting South Florida,
number — indeed, too much
which is as everyone knows,
Entire Oceanfront Block
is made of the patriotism of
37th to 38th Sts MIAMI BEACH
a
suburb
of
New
York)
—
Phone 1305) 531 0061
young Jewish men who "re-
SAM SCHECHTER Owner Mgmt
particularly those of Char-
sponded as gallantly as did
lotte, N.C., Charlestown,
their neighbors to the call
S.C. and New Orleans —the
for enlistment in 1861" —
important books about and we get far too little de-
Southern Jewish life can be
tail about the resourceful
numbered on the fingers of and imaginative Jews like
one hand. These heard
Caroline Rosenbaum of
melodies are sweet enough,
Marion who, upon learning
but the unheard ones tan-
ID. & VISA
that Union soldiers were
talize in their prospects.
PHOTOS
confiscating all food and
It is thus an occasion for
PROFESSIONAL
valuables put "some of her
rejoicing when amid the
PORTRAIT LIGHTING
children in one bed and lit
magnolia blossoms and the the wood-burning fireplace
honeysuckle one of the un-
to get the room and the chil-
heard melodies, like the dren warm.
voice of the turtle, is heard
"She quickly shoved all
throughout the land. And food supplies and valuables
we should rejoice over the under the bed. Shortly be-
recent appearance of "Jews fore the knock came at the
in Early Mississippi" by Leo
she artfully put a few
PHOTOGRAPHY E. and Evelyn Turitz (Uni- door,
red blotches on the chil-
versity Press of Missis- dren's warm faces." When
26511 W. 12 Mile Rd.
sippi).
the soldiers arrived and
Comer WorDiwesterN Hwy.
Co-authored by the where ushered "into the
room, they took on horrified
look at the flushed and spot-
ted faces and left abruptly!"
The pictures, of course,
make up for what the text
off
lacks. I was pleasantly sur-
• Traverse City •Charlevoix •Harbor Springs •Mackinac Island
prised to come across a
photograph of Clarksdale's
FAA Certified Air Carrier
first rabbi, A. H. Freyman,
28585 Telegraph Rd. Across From Tel-Twelve Mall
in whose boarding house my
Southfield, Mich.
mother as a young woman
PRECISION AIR INC.
was once a guest, having
(313) 360-1882, 642-9473
come from Tenessee for a
LARRY SIMS
OAKLAND PONTIAC AIRPORT
dance. And it was this rab-
AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT
PONTIAC, MICHIGAN
bi's granddaughter who

By JOSEPH COHEN

NEW ORLEANS — De-
spite the incredible ad-
vances in the technology of
communication and the
mobility of the population,
to say nothing of the special
sophistication of nation-
wide Jewish networking, it
is still commonplace for
many Northern Jews to ex-
press surprise upon
encountering Southern
Jews. "Are there really
Jews in the South"? they
ask, adding a second layer of
curiosity to their first one by
following up with a skepti-
cal, "Real Jews?" I am usu-
ally tempted to reply
"Sho'nuff, honeychile," and
throw in a couple of "you-
alls" for good measure.
Traveling outside Dixie, I
almost regularly encounter

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