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December 27, 2002/Tevet 22 5763, Vol. 55, No. 18
Déjà vu
Synagogue visit brings back memories for two couples
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
Jo and Harry Liebhaber of Paradise Valley attend this year's Nov. 10 Jewish Heritage Day in the building where they originally met in 1941.
Photo by Flo Eckstein
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Life often takes people back in time - provoked by driving through former neighborhoods or visiting once-familiar buildings. For at least two Valley couples, the recent acquisition of Phoenix's first synagogue by the Arizona Jewish Historical Society rekindled memories of when they first met their spouse.
Hanna Furst remembers when she first met her husband David: At the urging of her father, she attended a social event at the synagogue in 1948. She noticed David Furst - who was new in town - walk in with another girl.
"At that time there were a handful of Jewish people (in the Valley)," says Hanna (Glina) Furst. "Even if you weren't friendly with them, you knew them by sight who they were. ... And when a new Jewish fellow came to town, my goodness. ... Everyone knew everything about him."
Although they were introduced that day, he didn't ask her out until a few days later. She accepted. "It was love at second sight," she says. "From that point on, we saw each other every day."
The couple married on June 19, 1949. They've been members of Temple Beth Israel, now in Scottsdale, ever since.
In July 1941, Jo Barer attended a dance at the synagogue, when she met a young Harry Liebhaber. They were married four months later.
Although Liebhaber has been a member of Beth El Congregation for 63 years, she spent a lot of time at the Culver Street building - which housed Temple Beth Israel from 1920-1949.
"Phoenix was a very small place at the time and (in) the Jewish community, most everyone knew each other," she says. For instance, each year at the end of Yom Kippur, members from the Jewish community-at-large gathered at the synagogue for a social event after breaking the fast at home. "Everyone got to see everybody," she says.
Both couples attended the dedication of the Culver Street Synagogue on Nov. 10, the first time in decades they had set foot into the building, acquired by the AJHS in June. After Temple Beth Israel moved, the building housed two churches.
"(Being back in the building) brought back a lot of memories, says Jo Liebhaber. "It was a wonderful place to socialize."
One of the things that surprised the Liebhabers upon their return was that the building was much smaller than they remembered. But, "besides seeing the temple (at the dedication), it was wonderful to see the turnout and meeting so many people who knew the temple even longer than I had," she says.
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