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If once you have slept on an island
You’ll never be quite the same
You may look as you looked the day before
And go by the same old name
• * *
And you won’t know why and you can’t say how
Such a change upon you came
But once you have slept on an island
You’ll never be quite the same.
Portion of a poem from “Taxis and Toadstools”
by Rachel Field.
And this is true of most of us who attended and witnessed
the tremendous success of this the First Annual Institute of
Judaism sponsored by the Georgia State Association of B’nai
B’rith.
We came by car, plane, train and bus, laden with vacation
implementiae, and looking forward eagerly to this unique vaca
tion experience of five days crammed full of inspiring associa
tions with dedicated men and women and luxurious resort ac
commodations.
Fabulous Jekyll Island, the gem of Georgia’s Golden Isles,
smallest of the six great islands lying off the coast of Georgia,
about 7 miles south of Brunswick has a most unusual history.
In 18Hfi a group of tycoons including the Rockerfellers and Mor
gans, after a long search all over the world, found and pur
chased this little gourd-shaped island as their own exclusive,
secluded winter resort. The island includes about 11 miles
of the most beautiful beach on the Atlantic Coast for surf swim
ming or a large fresh-w’ater pool directly in front of the hotel
patio. For golfers there is a nine hole course of fascinating pro
portions. Fishermen have their choice of surf-casting or fresh
water angling. The entire island is a wild life sanctuary with
lovely walking trails. There is even a Museum housed in the
cottage formerly occupied by Wm. Rockerfeller. Small wonder
then, that it was decided that the first Georgia Institute would
be held on this lovely island.
It was just about the time that the State of Georgia pur
chased this island that the idea of the B’nai B’rith Institutes of
Judaism was being born. About 10 years ago I. D. Blumenthal.
a prominent southern community leader with strong convictions
about Judaism had just acquired a hotel on a picturesque moun
tain called Wildacres in North Carolina to which he invited the
B’nai B’rith group for an educational venture. So great was the
enthusiasm generated by this experience of learning and living
together, that it was decided to repeat the Institute pattern. It
soon came to pass that B’nai B’rith leaders in other parts of the
country, hearing of these Institutes came to see how they were
conducted. Catching fire from what they saw, they too went
back to organize similar programs in their own localities. So
it was with our own leaders.
About three years ago Mr. and Mrs. Art Levin, Dr. and Mrs.
Alfred Weinstein, Mr. and Mrs. Johnnie Glustrom, and Mr. and
Mrs. E. Krick driving home from Wildacres conceived of the
Georgia Institute. The pregnancy was a difficult one; labor, long
and arduous. Throughout the fathers fretted and paced, first
fearing about abortion, then later possible miscarriage, and to
wards the end, that their baby would not be born alive, but their
doctor was a good one, and alw’ays stayed close by. He promis
ed that together they would deliver a healthy baby, and so it
was. On August 4, 1957, at 2 o’clock, under the moss-draped oaks,
by the side of the surf-capped sea, on Jekyll Island Georgia’s
First Annual Institute was born. And a truly happy, hardy baby
it is.
Our good Dr. Weinstein is well-known as a highly respected
surgeon, and teacher at Emory University, clever author of
“Barbed Wire Surgeon,’’ “Medicine In The Talmud,” and “Jews
In Sculpture.” He is director of The Hebrew Orphans Home,
B’nai B’rith, and the Atlanta Zionist Organization, and owner of
the Holme’s Apartments which welcomes children, animals and
musical instruments. For every child who is born in the apart
ments Dr. Weinstein sets up a bank account.
This man, about 15 years ago, was released from the in
famous Japanese prison camp, Omori, where he had done coolie
labor for three and one-half years, because of the demands he
had made for more food and medicine for his patients in a P.
O.W. camp in Tokyo. When the war ended and Dr. Weinstein
was flowm back to the States he weighed 105 pounds, and needed
to be treated for a year and a half in army hospitals, before he
could attempt to return to his Atlanta practice.
Dr. Weinstein was the chairman and underwriter of our
Institute. He and his wonderful wife, Hannah, seemed to set
our tone. Hannah could be heard, often sharing some of her
By RACHAEL FIELDS
Jekyll Island
Institute
of
Judaism
by DOROTHY TAND
This spontaneous report of the background
and events of the first Georgia Institute of
Judaism, sponsored by the Association of
Georgia B’nai B’rith Lodges in 1957, was
so refreshing, we thought it would interest our
readers. Another Institute is scheduled at Jekyll
this summer—July 27-31
—and the reservation list may still have openings
for a few more fortunate men and women who'll
drink from the wellsprings of learning under
quite pleasant conditions. Dr. Rivkin, described
so glowingly by Mrs. Tand, will return. Others
on the faculty will be Dr. Lou H. Silberman,
Hillel professor of Jewish Literature and Thought
at Vanderbilt University, and Mrs. Joseph
Albert, talented Atlanta artist and lecturer on
Art History. Mrs. Bernard Facher, 1665 Noble
Dr., Atlanta, is in charge of reservations—and
of course attendance is not restricted
to Georgians.
The Southern Israelite
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