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RABBI Emeritus ARNOLD S. TASK - "Arny" to most everyone - served 22 years as Rabbi of Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim, from 1989 to 2011. On retirement, he was named Rabbi Emeritus. He and his wife Judy elected to continue their residence in Alexandria, where they are actively involved in many aspects of our community.
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Rabbi Task is a Rotarian, and was awarded the Four Avenues of Service Award in 2007. He has served as President of the Central LA Minister's Association, the Family Counseling Agency, Angel Care, and the Louisiana Maneuvers & Military Museum. For almost 40 years, he has lectured and taught Judaism and Holocaust studies at the college level. In fact his life's work and his legacy includes the teaching of Holocaust studies to students and adults; he co-hosts the annual commemoration of the Holocaust, and has played a major role in the planning, funding and finally, the realization of a Holocaust Memorial in downtown Alexandria, LA.
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RABBI Emeritus MARTIN ISAIAH HINCHIN Z' l served our Congregation from 1958 to 1988, and our memories are fond ones. Hinchin is currently living in Memphis where he moved after his retirement. The child of Ukrainian immigrants, Rabbi Hinchin was born and raised in Philadelphia. After his ordination, Hinchin served Jewish congregations in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, where he served our Congregation as Rabbi for 31 years. “’I fell in love with the people of the South,’ said Hinchin. Along the way he met such historic and beloved Southern figures as a young Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Louisiana’s “singing governor” Jimmie Davis, and Huey Long’s “crazy” brother, former governor Earl K. Long, “He called me ‘Preacher."
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One of Hinchin's finest achievements was his book, "Fourscore and Eleven", History of the Jews of Rapides Parish from 1828 to 1919, which he completed in 1984 in time for the celebration of our Congregation’s 125th Birthday. It is a collection of historical records, legal deeds and documents, generous newspaper accounts of social and life cycle events, and a sign of the times of each of the years covered by the book. If you would like a copy; they are $15. each. Please contact the Temple office.
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