Ulman Celebrates 100th Birthday, Historic Bar Mitzvah

At 100, Bernard “Bubba” Ulman crossed a significant milestone turning a century old. Born in Savannah, Ga., his older brother couldn’t pronounce Bernard, and his name became, “Bubba,” and stayed that way forever.

The time was during the Depression era, and Bubba and his family settled in Rockmart, Ga., where they were only one of two Jewish families. When it came time for the High Holidays, Bubba’s family went from Rockmart to Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Rome, and when he turned 13, his father asked the gentlemen there to help him plan a bar mitzvah for his son. Since Bubba didn’t know Hebrew, his father asked if they could do it as a transliteration. Rodeph Sholom generously agreed, and he was the first bar mitzvah in, what was at the time, a new building for the congregation. His mother baked cookies and they celebrated on a Thursday, ensuring that Bubba had his bar mitzvah and that it was a special celebration.

According to his family, 100-year-old Bubba is a storyteller, incorporating his family history in a way his family will always remember. They call him a gentleman and a gentle man, his faith is strong, as is his unconditional love for his children and theirs for him, which includes Linda and Bill Frank, Robyn and Mike Geller, Alan, plus eight grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. For his birthday, his kids created a tribute collage from family and friends. His great-granddaughter, Lily wrote, “Your stories never fail to make me smile. Somehow you always have the right words to say for each situation. You encourage my dreams as if they were your own. In your 100 years of life, you have impacted countless people.”

Bubba’s lessons are many as he taught his family honesty, loyalty, Judaism, hard work, and advises don’t ever ask if someone needs something, just be there. They knew they could always count on him and added, “He always makes the person he is talking to feel like the most important person in the world. Even to this day, he is a walking human Google. You can ask him anything about everything. And never let your gas tank get below half full.”

Fast forward to the present, a magnificent celebration of his 100th birthday coincidentally coincided with the 150th anniversary of the Rodeph Sholom Congregation. Bubba started their celebration on the weekend before his birthday with Shabbat services at the synagogue. His oldest grandson, Adam Frank, attended services to help light Shabbat candles in his honor. In his youth, the synagogue in Rome gave Bubba a connection with his Judaism that living in an even smaller town didn’t have.

According to Shelly Peller, a fifth-generation member of Rodeph Sholom, a congregational leader, volunteer, and one of the co-chairs of the synagogue’s 150th anniversary celebration, she had heard of the Ulmans from her mother, Louise Stock Stein.

Peller said, “Rodeph Sholom was founded in 1875 with a religious school founded in its earliest years. While we do not have a record of the young men who became a bar mitzvah in those first years, we do know that the dedication of our current building was held on March 27, 1938, with Rabbi Harry Epstein and Rabbi David Marx, both of Atlanta, officiating. That year would correspond with the year that Bubba Ulman became a bar mitzvah. Although services and religious school were held at the masonic lodge and previously in other locations during Rodeph Sholom’s first 60 years, Bubba shared that he was the first young man to become a bar mitzvah in the ‘new’ building. The synagogue was built in 1937 and remains the current location of the congregation in downtown Rome. We were honored and pleasantly surprised to have the connection made with Bubba’s children and thrilled to have one of his grandchildren participate in our Shabbat service celebrating our 150th anniversary.”

Peller added, “We have been lucky to have the involvement and support of numerous rabbis from Atlanta, including Rabbi Jonathon Adler, Rabbi Donald Tam, Rabbi Scott Saulson, Rabbi Victoria Amour-Hileman, to name a few. We owe our deepest gratitude and thanks to our current rabbis, Rabbi Judith Beiner and Rabbi Steve Lebow, with each being a significant part of our congregation and of our 150th anniversary celebration.”

The brick used in building the synagogue was locally made in the Berry School’s brick kilns. An unusual and beautiful chandelier, used in a Belgium cathedral years ago, was converted from candlelight to electric and was presented to the congregation by I. D. Weitz of Atlanta, a great-uncle of Bubba Ulman. It still hangs from the ceiling of the sanctuary along with four small matching chandeliers in the original building, but each was lost when the ceiling collapsed in the 1960s. Luckily, no one was in the building, and the large chandelier was saved from destruction.”

As part of a small congregation, Peller explained they are aware that their very existence in a small Southern town is tenuous. Rodeph Sholom has survived for many years due to the tenacity and involvement of its members and friends. The generations before them ensured survival, and they want that tradition to continue for generations to come. Bubba’s birthday amidst Rodeph Sholom’s 150th anniversary celebration was a time to celebrate their past, present and future Jewish community in Rome.

To Bubba Ulman, we say, “happy birthday,” and to Rodeph Sholom, we wish decades ahead serving the Jewish needs of communities near and far. May each of their legacies live on. L’chaim!