Attendees at the Texas Jewish Historical Society Board Meeting. Courtesy: Joan Linares

By Tumbleweed Smith

The Texas Jewish Historical Society held its winter meeting in McAllen, Texas the weekend of January 26-28. Considering the distance some of the participants had to travel, it was one of the group’s better-attended meetings. Several members of the large Jewish community in the Rio Grande Valley joined the activities. The weather was comfortable and dry at the meeting headquarters at the Courtyard by Marriott in McAllen.

After gathering Friday night in the motel lobby, the group went to dinner, services and an Oneg at McAllen’s Temple Emanuel. After breakfast Saturday morning, members toured downtown McAllen. Sights along the way included stores and buildings owned by Jewish families, the impressive shopping mall and the old synagogue. The group then went to a Jewish cemetery and heard re-enactments of the lives of prominent Jewish people buried there. Actors were dressed in period costumes. 

After lunch at the Macaroni Grill, everyone returned to the Courtyard by Marriott for a panel of speakers who reviewed McAllen Jewry. Participants on the panel included Larry Fallek, Cecilia Shapiro and Harriett Kirsch Pozen. Larry Holtzman served as moderator.

Saturday evening the group visited Edinburg’s Museum of South Texas History for dinner and a tour of the museum. The speaker for the event was former McAllen City Planner and active member of Temple Emanuel, Michael Blum, who discussed the Valley’s growing Jewish population. His speech was augmented with projected photos of Jewish people who helped settle the valley and contributed to the community life.

Sunday morning’s board of trustees meeting included reports from committee chairs and others. There was some discussion of a grant request from Cody Sutterfield of Teague, Texas who would like to record the stories and histories of older Jewish people in rural areas of Eastern Central Texas. The board voted to award a startup figure to get the project underway.

Following the board meeting, Jonah Goldberg of Edinburg, Texas gave a moving speech with a video featuring his great uncle telling about being captured by the Nazis and placed in a death camp. He told of his daring escape. There was standing room only for this presentation.

The next meeting of TJHS open to all members will be the Annual Gathering in Richardson, Texas the weekend of April 12-14. Registration forms will be posted on txjhs.org.

For more information, contact TJHS President Joan Linares at president@txjhs.org.