MEMOIRISTS:                    CONNIE EMBER

INTERVIEWER:                 SANDRA BERMAN

DATE:                                  JANUARY 24, 2012

LOCATION:                        SELMA, ALABAMA

Transcript (PDF)

Biography

Connie Nimrod Ember was born in Oklahoma in 1935.  She moved to Selma, Alabama, where her parents and sister had been living.  She and Ed Ember met in Selma and were married by Rabbi David Baylinson.  She studied with Rabbi Baylinson at Temple Beth Or in Montgomery, Alabama, for her conversion to Judaism.   She and Ed Ember belonged to Temple Mishkan Israel, a Reform congregation in Selma.  She was president of the local Council of Jewish Women.  She and Ed have six grandchildren.

Scope

Connie talks, with amusement, about arriving in Selma, Alabama, from Miami, Florida.  She talks about meeting her husband, Ed Ember, in Selma.  She recounts that she studied with Rabbi Baylinson at Temple Beth Or in Montgomery, Alabama, for her conversion to Judaism.  She discusses how she was first received by the community at Temple Miskhan Israel in Selma.  Connie talks about her closest friends and relationships there.  She recalls Passover as one of her fondest memories of the synagogue.     

Connie mentions that she was president of the local Council of Jewish Women in Selma.  She discusses how she and her husband lead services at the synagogue in absence of a full-time rabbi.   She talks her love of the Temple Miskhan Israel historic building.  She talks about how she designed and installed the etched windows in the building.   Connie mentions that she and Ed have six grandchildren.