Meet The Real-Life Rabbi in the Synagogue scene of ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’
JTA - Rabbi Michael Wolk was nervous when he stepped foot onto his synagogue’s bimah in May 2021 — but not because his congregation was returning to in-person prayer after a pandemic pause.
The jitters were because he was about to debut...Read more...
‘Shiva probably the hardest.’ Pandemic sparks change to age-old practices
CHARLOTTE, NC (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – In most synagogues, you’ll find yahrzeit boards or plaques honoring loved ones no longer with us. But since the pandemic started, the traditions associated with saying goodbye in the Jewish religion had to change. “Shiva was probably the hardest...Read more...
Temple Israel Welcomes New Rabbi From Long Island via Louisville, Rabbi Michael Wolk Will Come to Charlotte in July
Charlotte Jewish News - June/July 2020
Michael Wolk recognizes the uniqueness of Shalom Park. As the new senior pulpit rabbi at Temple Israel, he is looking forward to working in a community that is already accustomed to working together. “There’s a great deal of...Read more...
Women Cantors from Around The World Join Their Voices In Song and Prayer for Yom Yerushalayim
May 21, 2020
In honor of Yom Jerushalayim, this historical collaboration by 16 international outstanding female cantors was organized by JVocals' Motti Hasfari. Our own Cantor Shira Lissek is one of the participants! To listen, please click...Read more...
Holiday traditions can't be stopped, even with churches and synagogues closed
Charlotte, NC (WBTV) April 10, 2020
April is a busy month for many faith communities. And although churches and temples are closed to the public due to the coronavirus, it doesn’t mean traditions stop.
Many will be tuning into services and family dinners via their...Read more...
Jewish filmmaker Paula Kweskin Uses Storytelling To Give Voice to Oppressed Women
-Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), March 3, 2020
Beaten and abused by her husband, Robina was just 25 when she set herself on fire, preferring death by suicide to the “dishonor” of leaving her spouse. In Iran, a woman considered to be dressed immodestly is...Read more...
93-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Fulfills His Dream of Visiting Israeli Soldiers on an IDF Base
WBTV + Friends of the IDF - February 2020
A 93-year-old Charlotte resident and Holocaust survivor, Irving Bienstock, fulfilled his dream of visiting an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military base earlier today, February 11, 2020, when he got a tour of the Yarden Camp...Read more...
Searching For Meaning and More: Exploring Jewish Music with Cantor Shira Lissek
USCJ 
JOURNEYS - January 2019
For Cantor Shira Lissek of Temple Israel in Charlotte, North Carolina, music has always been the most powerful force in her life. It is her way of making a difference in the world. “Cantors are connectors,” she says. “Through our voices and...Read more...
Fuses were lit: Decades before Pittsburgh, 2 Charlotte-area synagogues escaped tragedyRead more here:
The Charlotte Observer
Forty members of the Temple Sisterhood had left the synagogue just minutes before janitor Eddie Edwards discovered a package outside, leaning against the rear wall of the building. Inside were six sticks of dynamite. The fuse, about 14 feet long, had been lit. But, according to a front page story in the Nov. 22, 1957 edition of The Charlotte Observer, “the flame traveled a few inches over the fuse...Read more...
Temple Israel Remembers Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass
The Charlotte Observer
People gathered Wednesday, November 7 at Temple Israel for a special commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, "The Night of Broken Glass." The evening included performances by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Choir, Eugene Kavadlo (retired Principal Clarinetist, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra), Susan Blumberg (Violin, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra) and the...Read more...
'We are Shocked, Shaken': Charlotte Rabbi Reflects on Pittsburgh Synagogue Attack
WFAE 90.7 - Charlotte
Leaders of Jewish congregations around the country, including Charlotte, are grappling with Saturday’s deadly attack in Pittsburgh. 11 people were killed when a gunman opened fire during Sabbath services at Tree of Life Synagogue. The Anti-Defamation League called it the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. In Charlotte, services were concluding Saturday morning at Temple Israel, when news of...Read more...
Temple Israel Spreads Loving Kindness
The Charlotte Observer
Nearly 300 people gathered at Shalom Park for Temple Israel’s annual Yom Gemilut Hasadim, or “day of performing acts of loving kindness,” to make sandwiches for the hungry, write letters of support to...Read more...
Harry Swimmer Named a Top 10 CNN Hero of 2016
Weddington, North Carolina (CNN)
An encounter in Harry Swimmer’s local grocery store parking lot changed his life more than 20 years ago. He met a girl in a wheelchair named Stacy. She was deaf and nonverbal. Swimmer learned she...Read more...
Jewish Rock Band Creates Home in Charlotte
The Charlotte Observer
As an aspiring singer and actress in Los Angeles, Nancy Nagler Good hoped to still be singing and performing decades later. “I have been in the music business my whole life,” Good said, noting that she grew...Read more...
Temple Israel’s Executive Director, Glenda Bernhardt, named to Charlotte’s “40 Under 40 Class of 2016”
Charlotte Business Journal
For the 23rd consecutive year, the Charlotte Business Journal is recognizing the Charlotte region’s Forty Under 40. These are 40 individuals under the age of 40 who are making major strides in...Read more...
Big Game Doesn't Halt Temple's Plan to Serve
The Charlotte Observer
When Temple Israel leaders planned its second annual Yom Gemilut Hasadim, a day for acts of loving kindness, they didn’t take into account that the Carolina Panthers might be taking the field for a...Read more...
Critically Acclaimed Singer-Songwriter Debuts Student Composition at JTS
NY, NY –
H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music of The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) presents Craig Taubman in Concert, at which singer-songwriter Craig Taubman will debut an original liturgical composition...Read more...
