De Waal’s ancestors are the Viennese branch of the wealthy and prominent Ephrussi family. Nazi invasion of Austria scattered his family around the globe. His kin and their stories may be more illustrious than most, but he believes that passing on stories about family and identity are universally important.  Each story is specific, de Waal  emphasizes.

He might applaud the Legacy Plan of Temple Beth El in Jefferson City, Missouri, which reflects the stalwart nature of this congregation in the American Heartland and includes provisions for storytelling. Temple Beth El was organized in the mid-19th century at the same time but a continent away from the rise of the Ephrussis in Europe.

Capturing oral histories of current members, a key element of the plan, was accomplished early on and submitted to the American Jewish Archives and the State Historical Society of Missouri.

Text on the congregation’s numerous yahrzeit memorial plaques was submitted to JewishGen, which maintains a worldwide database of such information.

Months during early days of the pandemic gave Legacy committee members time to search for relatives of those named on plaques for whom there might not be a current connection. The Yahrzeit Notification Project, as this aspect of the plan was called, involved identifying relatives and then sending out letters as a way to reconnect them with their Beth El forebears and rebuild connections with the temple. In addition to notifying people of yahrzeit dates, every letter recipient was also invited to attend a Zoom Shabbat service.

Legacy committee member Ann Tettlebaum, who is also a member of the JCLP board of directors, was especially delighted to receive a telephone call from a man in Colorado who received one of the letters.

He was curious how his grandmother, whom he thought had lived her entire life in Wisconsin, got to Jefferson City.  Ann was able to read him a paragraph from one of the oral history interviews.  The interviewee remembered that the Coloradan’s grandmother had moved to Jefferson City to be with her daughter and was one of the kindest and most wonderful people she had ever met.

Edmund de Waal believes that, while in the moment children may show little interest, down the line family history will matter.

Temple Beth El’s Legacy Plan provided the framework for a small, but powerful connection between generations and preservation of warm memories.

March 1, 2022