Early Beginnings of Havasu's Jewish Community 

“Even though a Jew has renounced his birthright, his appetite stays the same and I had had the forethought to bring along some lox and bagels,” wrote Jack Hardie—Havasu pioneer and editor of the Lake Havasu Herald—in 1974. Hardie was speaking of Benjamin Disraeli, British prime minister from 1874-1880. In a column titled Writer Jack Hardie Talks to Spooks on the London Bridge—But They Are Nice Ones, Hardie fantasizes about the “ghostly compliment” that had arrived from London together with the bridge. 

A sleepless, late-night encounter with Disraeli led to Hardie petitioning the phantom leader to support the construction of Havasu’s first synagogue. “I explained to him that the Jewish population of Lake Havasu City was attempting to start a [synagogue] and even though he was long-gone, they could use his moral support; but he said that his family had been baptized into the Church of England. Never did say if he had been Bar Mitzvahed,” Hardie recalled his paranormal encounter. 

Hardie’s unlikely inclusion of a synagogue that wouldn’t be built for another two decades was because the Jewish community was on his mind—and in his paper. Addressing a recent letter to the editor weeks earlier in his Aug. 15 column Havasu Hangups, Hardie writes: “Got a letter from D. F. Weiss of New Hyde Park, N.Y. Mr. Weiss makes the point that we have news of most every denomination and belief in The HERALD with the exception of the Jewish. Mr. Weiss wants to know why. 

“The reason, Mr. Weiss, is that we have a very small Jewish population in Lake Havasu City. Efforts have been made in the past to start a temple or synagogue without much success. Perhaps you noticed in our last issue that another effort is being made.”

These efforts were the establishment of a steering commitee to form a congregation and synagogue. The Aug. 8 edition of the paper reported: “Temple Planned: Another effort is being made by the Jewish residents of Lake Havasu City to form a temple of worship. Mrs. Jeanette Ripp, Mrs. Morris Kauffman and Mrs. Robert Gordon may be contacted.”

It is unclear what the initial efforts were and why they—and the  second attempt—did not pan out. 

“I am sure that many of us gentiles would be delighted to see our Jewish friends establish a temple,” Hardie continued. “I for one am looking forward to again being invited to weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.

“As far as no news, Mr. Weiss, it would seem that the Lake Havasu City Jews are extremely law-abiding, very moral and altogether don't give a "goy" newspaperman anything to write about. L'chaim!”

Building or no building, Havasu’s early Jews began to gather in private homes and other venues beginning in 1974. On Sept. 4, 1974, the first meeting on the community that was beginning to form took place, at the home of Lou and Ida Simon. 

The outcome of that meeting seems to have been positive; not long after, regular gatherings began to occur. 

A major early event in Havasu’s Jewish history was the bar mitzvah of young Joel Schulte in Feb. 1975. Gerald Springberg (who passed away in 2023) led the ceremony and brief article made it into the paper—Hardie’s dream of celebrating local bar mitzvahs had finally come to fruition, and the community had come of age as well. The photo was taken by Arthur Tuberman, one of the first Jewish Havasu residents, who passed away in 2013. His wife Sue and son Barry are beloved members of our community. 

Another early Jewish resident, Donna Smith, recalls an active and vibrant community in the late 70s, filled with children and life. 

The community was mostly lay-led, unable to attract a full-time spiritual leader for any significant period of time. 

Sept. 1975 saw the first High Holidays services in Havasu, again arranged by Lou Simon. 

By 1978, Chabad, which had established its first branch in Arizona in 1977 began sending rabbinical students to visit Havasu in the summer, a yearly tradition which continued until 2022, when Chabad of Lake Havasu City was established under the guidance of Rabbi Zalman Levertov, regional director of Chabad of Arizona, who concerned himself with the state of Arizona Jewry in cities big and small since 1977, visiting Havasu and Kingman personally over the years as well. 

In 1984, Rabbi Levertov and his colleague Rabbi Yossie Shemtov, director of Chabad of Tucson, travelled across the state, visiting communities everywhere, including Kingman, Bullhead City and Lake Havasu City. 

Sue Tuberman recalls the visiting Chabad rabbis presiding over a bar mitzvah for her son Barry in 1978, and fondly recalls decades of their visits to her home. 

Do you have information or memories to contribute? Please comment!

Our next column will, G-d willing, cover the vision and construction of the synagogue building on Acoma Blvd.