Temple Beth El Blog

Member Milestones is an initiative at Temple Beth El to spotlight our longtime members, who have provided a strong foundation for our community.

Check out other Member Milestones stories here.

Meet Longtime Members Freda and Jim Blair

Interviewed by Susan Ottmann
Written by Aleeza Hoffert

Before meeting her husband James (Jim) Blair in Madison, Wisconsin, Freda Vodovosoff witnessed history in the making.

She was born February 2, 1938, in Tel Aviv, during the British Mandate. Her grandmother, Fayga Levinson, was from Russia and had ten children, seven boys and three girls. Freda’s mother, Sylvia, was the second youngest of the girls. The youngest girl, Freda, died from tuberculosis. Freda Vodovosoff Blair is named for her.

When Fayga left Russia, she took her family to St. Louis, Missouri, always hopeful that there would be a Jewish state. Fayga heard Golda Meir speak in Milwaukee to recruit American support for the formation of a Jewish state in British Palestine. This reinforced her desire to go to Palestine and work for the establishment of a Jewish state. Fayga left her seven oldest children in Missouri with her husband, and took the three youngest, including Sylvia, to Palestine.

Freda’s father, Leon, had escaped from the Bolsheviks by fleeing across Russia to Vladivostok. From there he went to Paris and later to Tel Aviv, where he met and married Sylvia and they had Freda. The family lived in Palestine through World War II and the War of Independence in 1948. Despite being a child, Freda still remembers the War of Independence. Like her grandmother, she is a strong supporter and lover of Israel.

​​​​Photo: Freda Blair enjoying the sunset in Israel in 2009

Freda and Jim met at the July 4 Hoofers picnic in 1958. He offered her a watermelon, the prize of a contest that hadn’t taken place yet. Fortunately he won, and was able to keep his word. They married on January 21, 1961. After Jim received his PhD in chemistry and Freda received her MS in library science from UW, they moved to New Jersey, where Jim worked for DuPont. After two years, they moved back to Madison, where he taught chemistry at Milton College near Janesville. They bought the house they still live in today, and joined Temple Beth El in 1966 during Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky’s time.

Freda met three couples at Temple who quickly became her closest friends: Barbara and Chuck Gordon, Lowell and Julie Lakritz, and Lois and Norton Stoler. Together they formed a gourmet club and got together monthly to prepare and enjoy an extravagant meal, often with a cultural theme. Julie was a Holocaust survivor who had escaped to the Dominican Republic, where she learned Spanish, which enabled her to teach Spanish when she came to the United States. They had a lot of fun together and formed a close bond.

Over the years the Blairs enjoyed seders at Temple, where they got to know other members. They loved the singing and dancing programs in particular, especially Israeli folk dancing and Israeli music. The Blairs enjoyed Sisterhood programs and speakers on current events as well as the Jewish Social Services Lechayim Lunch programs before the pandemic. Freda remembers having a lovely conversation at one lunch with the woman seated next to her. Late in the conversation Freda realized she was the mother of Robert Fassnacht, who had been killed in the Sterling Hall bombing and whose funeral Rabbi Swarsensky officiated.

Freda and Jim had two children: Leon, named after Freda’s father, and Cynthia (Cindy), named after Freda’s grandmother. Both children were named at TBE by Rabbi Swarsensky, attended Religious School, and were confirmed at Temple. Their photos appear in the gallery of confirmation class pictures, four years apart. Leon had his bar mitzvah at Temple; bat mitzvah was not a common practice at that time.

June 23, 1983 is forever etched into the Blairs’ minds. Their world flipped upside down that day when their son accidentally shot himself at age 21. Leon had been playing basketball with a friend at a park near the lake. It was a hot day, and the water fountain at the park was broken, so they rode their bikes to the friend’s girlfriend’s apartment nearby. The friend went into the kitchen to get the drinks. Leon walked into the living room, where the girlfriend had been packing up to leave. Leon spotted a purple Crown Royal whiskey bag. He picked up the bag, but it contained the girlfriend’s gun, not alcohol. Lacking adequate safety training, she had thought it was unloaded. It turned out to have one bullet left, and Leon accidentally shot himself. He died in the hospital shortly after. “It was horrible, horrible.”

This awful time brought the Blairs closer to Temple. Freda’s gourmet club friends came to comfort her, and Rabbi Kenneth Roseman was an amazing source of support. In Freda’s words, “Rabbi Roseman was just outstanding. He was so good, he lifted me up spiritually, and even physically.” Rabbi Roseman continued to play a role in their lives.

The Blairs will never forget the first Rosh Hashanah after Leon’s death, when Rabbi Roseman devoted his sermon to Leon. There was an empty chair on the bimah. When it came time for the sermon, Rabbi Roseman walked over to the chair and said, “This is the chair that would have been occupied by Leon Vodovosoff Blair, son of Freda and James Blair, and I want to tell you what happened to him because he died in an accident that could have been prevented.” Rabbi Roseman was trying to warn students and parents to prevent future accidental deaths by guns. The tears flowed down Freda’s cheeks. This moment continues to mean so much to the Blairs and strengthened the connection they always felt they had with Temple. Freda cherishes the memorial plaques that hang on the Temple wall for her parents and her son.

Years later, when Freda was in the hospital recovering from surgery, Cantor Deborah Martin and others from the Jewish community visited her. Jim and Freda feel blessed to have such a community around them that they can call on when needed, especially because their family isn’t nearby.

The fact that Freda knew and spoke Hebrew and had a degree in library science came in handy when she was offered a job at the University of Wisconsin library. The library had bought a Hebrew typewriter, but no one knew how to use it. Freda said she could help out, as she could type and use the Hebrew alphabet. She loved her job in the catalog department on the third floor of the library and worked there for many years.

Jim taught at Milton College for 13 years, until it closed, then taught at Edgewood College for two years before working for a private company and finally for the State Laboratory of Hygiene until his retirement.

Freda and Jim feel we should all be proud Jews and raise our children to be proud Jews. They also feel that teaching our children about World War II and the 6 million Jews who died in the Shoah is very important. Antisemitism needs to be fought wherever it appears. Having a Jewish state and celebrating Jewish holidays is also important to them. They encourage everyone to visit Israel and experience the feeling of Judaism being all around you. “When stores are closed and flags fly on Jewish holidays and Shabbat, you know this is a Jewish state. It’s a special feeling.”

They encourage you to support Israel not just with your dollars, but by raising proud Jews who know Israel is there for them.

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