In few places is International Brotherhood Week celebrated as profoundly as it is in Waycross.
Hebrews, Christians and those of all creeds, faiths and cultures, gather each February to celebrate the kinship of man.
The Waycross Hebrew Congregation invites the public to the annual hour-long brotherhood program at 2 p.m., Sunday, February 9 at the Waycross Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, 610 Screven Avenue.
The highlight will be the bestowing of the 2025 Morris Jacobson Brotherhood Award to a local person whose selfless service to “the family of man” is noted.
The spirit of “brotherhood” was epitomized by the generosity of the late Morris Jacobson, a Latvian immigrant who established a family clothing store in Waycross and sowed the seeds of brotherhood as few people have.
Jacobson was known for putting the needs of others above his own his entire life.
He and his family gave away many thousands of dollars in new clothes and shoes to needy families and individuals over the years.
The Brotherhood Award was given by the Hebrew Congregation annually from 1954 through 2020.
The program was not observed in 2021 and 2022 because of COVID. The most recent honorees were Niki Spivey in 2023 and Cathy Sweat in 2024.
The program’s “musical interlude” will be performed by the Ware County High School chorus.
There will be a Hebrew and a Protestant speaker delivering brief remarks on the occasion. Brother Bill Young of Sweat Memorial Baptist Church will give the Brotherhood message.
The Brotherhood address will be made by Rabbi Rich Luskin.
The Sisterhood of the Hebrew congregation will serve refreshments in the synagogue anteroom following the program.
