The Arab and the Brit: The Last of the Welcome Immigrants

17 St. Elias Church and the Other Rezaks

168 17 St. Elias Church and the Other Rezaks Radia and Habeeb had been in America for thirteen years before an opportunity to establish an Arabic Eastern Orthodox Christian church where they lived presented itself. For years, they had attended the occasional celebration of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy by circuit priests visiting from the New York City area. Once in a while they attended Russian liturgy. The rest of the time they attended First Methodist Church. This situation was far from satisfactory for a couple whose religion had always been a large part of their lives. Both longed for a more regular spiritual experience along the lines of their old-country tradition. The Ketaily family from Acre, Palestine, came to Syracuse early in the twentieth century and lived on Oswego Street, near the Rezaks. They assisted others from the Levant to make the transition to American life and had begun to form the nucleus of an Antiochian Eastern Orthodox church. Radia and Habeeb joined with the Ketailys and other Arabic nationals working toward establishment of such a church. Radia was instrumental in this endeavor, for which she was well suited because of her long family tradition. Habeeb, as the family patriarch, took the more visible leadership role. He and a small group of men formally chartered St. Elias Syrian Orthodox Church of Syracuse on November 10, 1929. Habeeb was elected the first president of the church council. A certificate of incorporation was filed with Onondaga County on March 15, 1930. The first order of business for the council was to find a permanent home for the new church, which was a challenge because the congregation had no funds. Habeeb researched local church properties that were for sale. One in particular drew his attention: the Lafayette Methodist Church at 241 West Lafayette Street. St. Elias Church and the Other Rezaks | 169 Financing became the next challenge. Habeeb and his colleagues were able to negotiate a contract with the current owner for one thousand dollars down (which they raised from the congregation) and an eightthousand -dollar mortgage. The congregation was amazed that the council had so skillfully purchased the property for a mere nine thousand dollars. Next came the task of finding a permanent pastor. Appropriately enough, the Reverend Father John Khoury was assigned. The early years of St. Elias were not easy. Organizational and financial problems plagued the congregation during the Depression years, and in 1936 a fire caused extensive damage. In the struggle to recover and flourish after the fire, the council initiated what would become an annual festival, the Mahrajan, in celebration of Christian Arab American heritage. The festival was hugely popular among the Arab Americans of central New York. Delicious Arabic food was plentiful, as was Arabic music, dancing, and, of course, the obligatory arak. This annual event turned out to be the church’s financial salvation. As funding stabilized for the church, a resident pastor was affordable . In 1939, the Very Reverend Father George Karim began his illustrious twenty-year tenure at St. Elias. He and his family were housed in rented space on Midland Avenue until a rectory was acquired on West Lafayette Street. • Dick, who was seventeen years younger than Dave and eleven years younger than Nick, continued to live with Radia and Habeeb after his older brothers married and started families. Mary became a second mother to him. Dick attended Seymour School and then Syracuse Central High School, where he graduated in 1938. He went right on to study geology at Syracuse University. He was halfway through his junior year when on December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Dick had become enamored with flying at an early age. While a freshman at Syracuse, he had taken flying lessons in the Civilian Pilots Training Program, a federally funded flight-training program initiated by President Franklin D. 170 | The Arab and the Brit Roosevelt in 1938 to begin to prepare for national defense. He soloed and became qualified in a Piper J-3 Cub. He also signed up for an acrobatic flying program and became proficient as a stunt flyer, training that served him well as the war unfolded. As a licensed pilot, Dick knew that he would stand a good chance of qualifying early as a military aviator. In February 1942, after the United States entered the war, he left college and joined the navy. He wanted to be part of...