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was an eventful year for the greater Houston Jewish community. The following local news stories, covered by the JH-V over the past 12 months, and listed chronologically, were among the most significant;
Houston's Marty Appelbaum won a gold medal in basketball at the Pan American Maccabi Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Appelbaum was lead scorer for Team USA during the January tournament.
Jewish Family Service of Houston celebrated its 95th anniversary in February.
In March, the Orthodox Union chose Houston as a top American city in which to live and raise a family. Also in March, the local community mobilized to help defeat an antiIsrael resolution proposed at several Democratic state Senate district conventions.
The JH-V marked its 100th year of continuous publication in April. Thousands of Houstonians celebrated the 60th anniversary of modern Israeli statehood at an Israel@60 parade and carnival at the Jewish Community Center. Also in April, Israel supporters in Houston turned out en masse to challenge anti-Israel propaganda at Rice University and on the Mandell Street bridge, overlooking U.S. Hwy 59 N. United Orthodox Synagogues opened a Sugar Land branch the same month, and Beth Israel Rabbi David Lyon was named by Newsweek magazine as one of the "Top 25 Pulpit Rabbis in the Nation."
In May, the Chabad Lubavitch Center-Texas Regional Headquarters began demolition of purchased, neighboring apartment buildings as part of its ongoing expansion and remodeling project. Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services marked its 65th anniversary in June. The JCC's newly expanded and renovated fitness center reopened. The Women Cantor's Network and Conference met in Austin. July saw the launch of "The Jewish Show of Houston" radio program, and Chai Broadcasting System, the nation's first closed-circuit TV network for hospital patients and seniorcare residents. The Chabad Lubavitch Center-Texas Regional Headquarters dedicated its new west wing. The Texas Board of Education approved a measure allowing local districts to offer Bible as an elective course in public high schools.
Three Houston families made aliyah in August through Nefesh B'Nefesh. Houston's first all-girls Jewish day school, the Torah Girls Academy of Texas, opened. The Emery/Weiner School's newly expanded high school wing opened. The inaugural Joan and Stanford Alexander Visiting Israeli Professor, Dr. Ranan Kuperman, arrived at Rice. Dr. Kuperman is part of the newly established Rice-Israel Initiative for Scholarly Exchange and Cooperation, Also in August, Minute Maid Park hosted its first-ever "Israel Day" at a Houston Astros game.
September saw Hurricane Ike, which caused widespread destruction throughout southeast Texas. Galveston's Jewish community and institutions suffered heavy damage and property losses. Many Houston congregations, without electricity for weeks, held services outdoors or at alternative venues. JFS, the Jewish Federation and community partners found temporary housing for frail seniors who were displaced after Ike tore off the roof of the Goldberg B'nai B'rith Towers. Seven Acres, running on generator power, became temporary headquarters for several Jewish organizations, including the JH-V. Brith Shalom and Chabad organized and distributed kosher Shabbat meals. At the end of the month, Galveston's Temple B'nai Israel held outdoor High Holy Day services, and played a central role in the greater Island's recovery efforts.
Myles Mueller, son of Gage and Amy Yambra Mueller, won the JH-V's First Jewish Baby of the Jewish New Year Contest in October. Houston volunteers traveled to Galveston to help repair hurricane-damaged gravestones at the Beth Jacob Cemetery. As part of its rebuilding efforts, Congregation Beth Jacob hired a new spiritual leader, Houston Rabbi Todd Doctor. Also in October, San Antonio Pastor John Hagee's "A Night to Honor Israel" donated $9.5 million to Israeli and Jewish organizations.
In November, Seven Acres dedicated its new Alexander Greenberg Building for Alzheimer's residents. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the greater Houston Jewish community mourned the deaths of 170 people murdered in terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Among those killed were Chabad emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg.
Westbury Little League's fall season ended in December for the first-ever all-Jewish baseball team of 7- and 8-year-old boys. Wall Street investor Bernard Madoff was arrested for allegedly running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Jewish organizations, including some with Houston offices/chapters, were among those hardest hit by the scandal.
The JH-V continued to chronicle the life-cycle events of greater Houston's Jewish community. Prominent local Holocaust survivors who died this past year included Lea Weems, Dr. Emil Steinberger, Marcus Leuchter and Vera Hollo. As we begin the new secular year, 2009, the JH-V reminds readers that it is a community newspaper, both in print and online.
As such, the paper relies on the community's support though advertising, subscriptions and, of course, by story leads and ideas.
Stay informed and connected to the greater Houston Jewish community through the JH-V - your source for local and international Jewish community news for the past 100 years! ?
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