If you go
› What: Mizpah Congregation’s 150th anniversary concert.› When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16; preceded by reception at 3 p.m.› Where: Ochs Memorial Temple, 923 McCallie Ave.› Admission: $75 ($40 groups of 10+).› Phone: 423-226-1505 single tickets; 423-267-9771 groups.› Website: mizpahcongregation.org.
Chattanooga’s Mizpah Congregation, one of the country’s oldest Reform Jewish houses of worship, will celebrate a milestone anniversary this weekend: “its 150th – 150th! – anniversary,” says event chairman Karen Diamond.
To mark the occasion, the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera and three guest soloists will present a benefit concert that focuses on Jewish-themed music. The program will include selections from “Schindler’s List” and “Fiddler on the Roof” as well as traditional Jewish music.
Herb Cohn, a fourth-generation Mizpah member, describes it as “music that has been an integral part of our religious and secular lives.”
Music Director Emeritus Bob Bernhardt will conduct the CSO musicians in the sanctuary of the congregation’s Ochs Memorial Temple. Guest soloists are soprano Mela Dailey, cellist Michael Samis and violinist Holly Mulcahy.
Henry Schulson, president of the Mizpah Congregation’s board of directors, promises “a wonderful musical afternoon” to mark the milestone. A champagne reception will precede the performance.
Mizpah was founded in 1866. The McCallie Avenue building, its third and current temple, was given by Adolph S. Ochs, publisher of The Chattanooga Times and The New York Times, in memory of his parents, Julius and Bertha Ochs. It was dedicated in 1928 and designated a Tennessee Historical Preservation Site in 1979.
An online history of the congregation notes that Adolph Ochs’ wife, Iphigene, was the daughter of Isaac M. Wise, considered by many as “the father of Reform Judaism in America.” One of Wise’s sons, Jonah, was an early rabbi in Chattanooga, and another, Harry, lived here for two generations.
“Many Mizpah congregants, notably Ochs’ granddaughter Ruth S. Holmberg, have played significant roles in enriching and diversifying the life and culture of Chattanooga,” Diamond says in a news release.