During the weekend of May 15-17, Congregation Am David in Warwick will look back and celebrate 60 years in the Rhode Island community.

The congregation will remember its synagogue building, as well as honor our member Alice Goldstein, who has been living in the United States for 75 years following her narrow escape from Nazi Germany. The congregation will recognize her many contributions to the Rhode Island Jewish community.

It was just this past Jan. 27 that the world observed the 70-year anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, where an estimated 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, were murdered between 1941 and 1945.

Alice, a speaker for the Holocaust Education and Resource Center of Rhode Island, was a young girl living in Germany, during the dark years of Nazi tyranny. Her family had deep roots in Germany, going back over two hundred years. As their life eroded at the hands of the Nazis, Alice’s family fortuitously managed to escape Germany, and sailed to the United States on one of the last boats to arrive from Europe, in August of 1939. One week later, World War II was to begin.

Alice, who was to become a successful research associate at Brown University, eventually settled in Warwick, along with her husband Sid, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Brown University. As Alice and Sid were joined by other Jews migrating from Providence, the need for a local congregation became apparent. Worshiping at first in private homes and then in a hangar at TF Green Airport, the founding members of the Warwick Jewish Community Association, in 1957, commenced the construction of the present Temple Am David building.

Alice has gone on to become a pillar in the Rhode Island Jewish community, and has been involved in all aspects of Jewish communal life. A passionate educator and first hand witness to the holocaust, she has turned around the difficult days of her girlhood, and with a strong voice, has become a forceful advocate for many causes. Her book, “Ordinary People, Turbulent Times,” published in 2008, chronicles her life story in Nazi Germany and the United States, and is available on Amazon.com.

The gala weekend to honor Alice on her remarkable life kicks off on Friday night, May 15, with Shabbat services that will begin at 7:30 p.m., followed by installation of officers for the 2015-16 year. Immediately after services, an Oneg Shabbat will be enjoyed by all.

On Saturday, May 16, Shabbat morning services will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by a joyous Kiddush luncheon.

The weekend’s festivities continue Saturday night at 6:30 p.m., with a cocktail hour, followed by a catered dinner at 7:30 p.m., for only $36. Rhode Island dignitaries, along with many friends and family, will be on hand to celebrate this memorable occasion. RSVP deadline for cocktail hour and dinner is May 1.

We will conclude the weekend on Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m. with the Cantor Ivan Perlman Memorial Concert, which features Rabbi Richard Perlman and his three brothers, performing together as “The Cantors Perlman Brothers,” along with Cranston’s Temple Sinai’s choral ensemble, Shireinu. Admission is only $18.

Rabbi Perlman, who is also a Cantor (Hazzan), has been a soloist and a member of duets, quartets, and quintets. He’s also appeared with “The Cantors Perlman Brothers” in several cantorial concerts and worship services throughout the United States and Israel.

Shireinu is Temple Sinai’s own Jewish choral ensemble. They explore a wide variety of Jewish music in Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino,  including settings taken from Bible and liturgy, folklore, and modern Jewish life.

Performing in concert together for the first time, these two renowned musical groups are sure to deliver a memorable afternoon of enjoyable music and song.

Please make every effort to join congregants of Am David and friends throughout Rhode Island for this festive gala weekend celebration, as we reminisce on the past, honor our beloved friend Alice Goldstein, and look forward with anticipation to the future.

For more information, contact Paula Olivieri at 401 378-0719.