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Page 20 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN September-October 2012
The Jews of Macon, Part II
BY
Stuart
Rockoff
While the late 19th- and early 20thcentury
wave of Eastern European Jewish
immigrants settled primarily in the cities of
the Northeast, a small number came to
Macon. They were tradesmen of all kinds,
including tinners, tailors, and trunk makers.
When a group of thirty Jewish immigrants
arrived in town in 1881, they were greeted
by members of Temple Beth Israel and were
permitted to stay temporarily in the vestry
room of the synagogue, until other accommodations
could be made.
Once settled, many of the recent emigrants
from Eastern Europe had their own
ideas about practicing Judaism. In 1898,
they established a burial society, The
Hebrew Aid Society, and purchased land in
Rose Hill. Soon, they decided to establish
their own, more traditional, synagogue.
On November 10, 1904, 54 men petitioned
the judge of Bibb Superior Court,
W.H. Feldon, Jr., and were granted a charter
incorporating Congregation Sherah Israel.
At first, services were held in rented halls
and then a larger two-story house, which
was also home to the rabbi’s family. Rabbi
Charles Glyck served the newly formed
congregation intermittently, until his death
in 1923. Most of its members were recent
immigrants. As late as 1940, the congregation
still held adult education classes in
Yiddish.
In addition to this new Orthodox congregation,
Beth Israel continued to thrive.
The women of Temple Beth Israel played a
large role in supporting and maintaining the
congregation. Around the time of the semicentennial
in 1909, the Temple Guild and
the Ladies’ Aid Society made contributions
Temple Beth Israel Hanukkah party, 1948
to the congregation. Beginning in 1917, the
Ladies’ Aid Society began calling themselves
the “sisterhood” and became the
strong right arm of the congregation. Since
then, they have assisted in funding a variety
of purchases and improvements, including
tables and cloths, electrical appliances, a
furnace, Sunday School equipment, carpeting
for the sanctuary, a new organ, and even
a Bible for the altar.
By 1909, the Macon Jewish community
was thriving. According to a survey taken
by the Industrial Removal Office, there
were approximately 470 Jews (110 families)
living in Macon at the time. Along
with the two congregations, there was also
a local chapter of B’nai B’rith and a
Progress Club. The IRO report declared that
it was a “fine city for Hebrew gentlemen,”
especially since kosher meat was available
there. In March of 1913, the Industrial
Removal Office officially set up a committee
in Macon to help new immigrants find
work.
The local IRO committee was led by
Gustav Bernd, one of the most prominent
Jews in Macon, who ran a harness-making
company started by his uncle in 1866. But
the invention of the automobile drastically
decreased the demand for saddles and harnesses,
and, by 1922, the company no
longer manufactured those goods, focusing
instead on the hide business. In 1981,
owner-president Gus Bernd Kaufman
retired and sold Macon’s oldest familyowned
company, ending a 115-year tradition.
When America entered World War I,
Macon Jews performed their civic duty.
Rabbi Harry Weiss, of Beth Israel, conducted
services at Camp Wheeler, the local
army base, while the congregation provided
religious services and home hospitality for
Jewish soldiers. Members of both Beth
Israel and Sherah Israel served in the armed
forces. Even before the United States was
officially involved in the war, Jews in
Macon raised money for Jewish War Relief,
an organization that helped victims of the
destruction. In 1917, Macon was made the
state headquarters for the Jewish National
Congress, and delegates from the state traveled
to Washington, D.C., to participate in
the debates concerning the refugees in
Europe and a
proposed
Jewish state in
Palestine.
After
the war, both of
Macon’s Jewish
congregations
expanded. In
1919, Sherah
Israel purchased
land for
a synagogue.
The building
was completed
in 1922. That
same year, the
L a d i e s
Auxiliary for Congregation Sherah Israel
was officially formed at the home of Fannie
Kaplan, with Annie Goldgar as the first
president. In 1920, Rabbi Marcuson
returned to Beth Israel. A new temple
annex, which had been postponed because
of the war, was built and dedicated in honor
of Gustav Bernd, the congregation’s president
who had recently passed away. Beth
Israel invited the members of Sherah Israel
to worship at their temple while the new
synagogue was being built.
Even though the war was over, the
Jewish War Relief organization continued
to raise money for those Jews starving in
Eastern Europe. Among the most generous
contributors was Walter Dannenberg. His
father, Joseph Dannenberg, emigrated from
Germany in the 1850s, but did not arrive in
Macon until after the Civil War. In 1867,
Joseph started a wholesale dry goods store
with Myer Nussbaum. In the 1880s, they
split up and went into business separately.
At age sixteen, Joseph’s son, Walter, joined
the company, and he eventually added a
retail business. The company was a leading
wholesale enterprise, while also becoming
one of the first firms in the country to
departmentalize its retail store.
Dannenberg’s Department Store was
one of the leading stores in Macon. During
the Civil Rights era,
Walter Dannenberg
served on the
Committee of
Businessmen and
Black Clergy and
helped bring about
the peaceful integration
of Macon
Dannenberg
Department Store
ad
s t o r e s .
Dannenberg’s quietly
took down the
segregation signs in
its stores without any official announcement
and proceeded to integrate its lunch
counter without incident. When
Dannenberg’s closed in 1965, it was the
largest department store in the area, but it
had been hurt by the opening of the local
mall. In
order to
compete,
the family
would have
had to renovate
the
s t o r e ;
instead, they
decided to
liquidate the
business.
T h e
start of
World War
II reactivated
Camp
Wheeler in Macon and brought an Air Force
base to Cochran Field, as well as an air
materiel depot to nearby Warner Robins.
Young men from both congregations fought
in the war. Beth Israel’s sisterhood helped
out by throwing temple receptions and hosting
camp social hours. Members of both
congregations threw themselves into work
with organizations such as the U.S.O., Red
Cross, and Bundles for Britain.
Thousands of servicemen and women
found a home away from home in the temple
annex. The Passover Seder held by the
sisterhood was met with such an over-
Shaʼarey Israel (photo: Julian Preisler)
whelming response that it eventually had to
be held in the Shrine Mosque. The Ladies
Auxiliary of Sherah Israel also held Seders
for servicemen.
In 1947, Rabbi Charles Rubel came to
Macon and served Sherah Israel for eleven
years. He helped lead the congregation
away from strict Orthodoxy. During his
tenure, the congregation instituted its first
confirmation ceremony, adopted a new
Conservative prayer book, and affiliated
with the United Synagogue of America, the
national organization of Conservative
Judaism. The congregation remained
strongly Zionist, and a celebration was held
in honor of the United Nations’ decision to
partition Palestine and create a Jewish state.
The following year, a campaign to expand
the building was launched under the guidance
of the congregational president,
Sidney Backer. Two houses next to the synagogue
were bought and torn down to allow
for an expansion. In 1953, Sherah Israel
dedicated its new annex, which featured a
large auditorium, five classrooms, a rabbi’s
study, a library, and a kitchen.
The 1950s was a decade of transition at
Beth Israel. On September 2, 1952, Rabbi
Isaac Marcuson, who had spent over 40
years leading Beth Israel, died at his desk.
Visiting rabbis, the president of the temple,
and other members conducted services until
Newton J. Friedman, of Cleveland, Ohio,
was installed as rabbi the following year. In
1955, the constitution and by-laws were
revised, granting wives the right to vote. In
1957, Rabbi Friedman resigned from Beth
Israel, and Harold L. Gelfman, originally
from Springfield, Massachusetts, was hired
to replace him. Rabbi Gelfman served Beth
Israel until 1976.
During the decades after World War II,
Sherah Israel experienced change as well,
especially in the role of women in the congregation.
In
1958, Mrs.
Henry Koplin
became the
first woman
elected to the
Board of
Governors. In
1960, much
like Beth
Israel five
years earlier,
Sherah Israel
adopted a new
constitution
and by-laws
that granted
wives the right to vote within the congregation.
In 1961, the congregation celebrated
its first bat mitzvah. Ten years later, Beverly
Kruger became the first woman to serve as
an officer of the congregation. By 1974,
they were counting women toward the minyan
and allowing them to receive Torah
honors on the bimah. In 1966, the religious
school began teaching the Sephardic pronunciation
of Hebrew, reflecting the congregation’s
movement away from its
Ashkenazic immigrant roots toward a
See JEWS OF MACON, page 21