Atlanta Jewish Times, VOL. XCV NO. 16, July 31 2020

NEXT ISSUE: SYNAGOGUE GUIDE AND ARTS & CULTURE

VOL. XCV NO. 16

Health & Wellness

REP. JOHN LEWIS ATL REMEMBERS CONGRESSMAN WITH AFFECTION, RESPECT.

JEWISH HOMELIFE NEW VISIT RULES: LOOK, BUT DON’T TOUCH.

COVID-19 AJT COVERS TESTING, VACCINES, TRACING AND ONGOING HEALTH CONCERNS

JULY 31, 2020 | 10 AV 5780

Lauren Bricks is at Forefront of Global Virus Testing

PUBLISHER MICHAEL A. MORRIS michael@atljewishtimes.com

MANAGING PUBLISHER & EDITOR KAYLENE LADINSKY kaylene@atljewishtimes.com Executive Assistant

JODI DANIS jodi@atljewishtimes.com

EDITORIAL Associate Editor

RONI ROBBINS roni@atljewishtimes.com Staff Writer

PAULA BAROFF paula@atljewishtimes.com Contributor & Proofreader

LEAH R. HARRISON leah@atljewishtimes.com

Contributors This Week BOB BAHR CHANA SHAPIRO DAVE SCHECHTER FLORA ROSEFSKY JAN JABEN-EILON MARCIA CALLER JAFFE RABBI DAVID GEFFEN RABBI RUTH ABUSCH-MAGDER RACHEL STEIN ROBYN SPIZMAN GERSON TERRY SEGAL

Be Well When it comes to our health these days, there’s no shortage of material for the AJT to explore. This week we continue our coverage of the COVID-19 crisis with an issue dedicated to health and wellness news.

We bring you the latest in COVID testing, treatment and research. Meet the CEO of a Sandy Springs medical lab that is one of 12 approved for COVID testing. Then there’s Emory University’s involvement in the race for a vaccine.

Hear from those close to the study and a leading medical expert in Israel. The AJT learns about visitation practices at Berman Commons, which we’ve previously reported was in lockdown following rising COVID cases earlier in the pandemic.

We recap a virtual panel discussion on how COVID has been handled by medical advisors to the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. From an interview with a contract tracer to a company with a memorable name that conducts mobile COVID testing, we offer a broad spectrum of news on the subjects on everyone’s minds.

Speaking of our noggins, we bring you new brain cancer and mental illness research and offer suggestions for how

THIS WEEK to cope with such maladies. We also talk about alternative health care, including play therapy, and share how the 2-Day Breast Cancer Walk will be virtual this year.

In local news, we pay tribute to the great civil rights leader, John Lewis, a friend to the Jewish community and Israel. And we review the virtual send-offs for a few of our spiritual leaders who helped start their synagogues: Rabbi Steven Lebow, retiring from Temple Kol Emeth, and Rabbis Analia Bortz and Mario Karpuj of Congregation Or Hadash, who are making aliyah.

We also detail a suit against a Gainesville preacher that claims he reneged on an agreement to use collected funds to help Holocaust survivors in Israel.

Perhaps the subjects will be a little lighter in our next issue, including arts and culture, synagogue news and plans for the high holidays. Until then, be well! ì Corrections and Clarifications: Tarece Johnson is the newest Jewish Gwinnett School Board member and the first in about 40 years since Eve Hoffman served on the board in the early 1980s. The AJT reported Johnson was the first ever.

Cover image: Lauren Spanjer Bricks coowns a company at the forefront of global COVID-19 testing.

CONTENTS REMEMBRANCE ����������������������������� 6 NEWS ����������������������������������������������� 11 ISRAEL NEWS ������������������������������� 20 BUSINESS ��������������������������������������� 22 OPINION ����������������������������������������� 23 HEALTH & WELLNESS ��������������� 26 CHAI STYLE ����������������������������������� 37 CALENDAR ������������������������������������� 40 COMMUNITY ��������������������������������� 44 THE LOWDOWN ���������������������������� 47 OY VEY �������������������������������������������� 48 BRAIN FOOD ���������������������������������� 49 TISHA B'AV ������������������������������������ 50 OBITUARIES ���������������������������������� 52 NEW MOON MEDITATIONS ����� 55 CLOSING THOUGHTS ����������������� 56

ADVERTISING Senior Account Manager

BRENDA GELFAND brenda@atljewishtimes.com Senior Account Manager

MICHAL BONELL michal@atljewishtimes.com

CREATIVE & MEDIA Creative & Media Designer

LILLI JENNISON

lilli@atljewishtimes.com

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Community Events and PR Manager

AMY SEIDNER amy@atljewishtimes.com Intern

ELIANA WEISS

GENERAL OFFICE 404.883.2130 The Atlanta Jewish Times is printed in Georgia and is an equal opportunity employer. The opinions expressed in the Atlanta Jewish Times do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. Periodicals postage paid at Atlanta, Ga. POSTMASTER send address changes to Atlanta Jewish Times 270 Carpenter Drive Suite 320, Atlanta Ga 30328.

Established 1925 as The Southern Israelite www.atlantajewishtimes.com ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES (ISSN# 0892-33451) IS PUBLISHED BY SOUTHERN ISRAELITE, LLC © 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES Printed by Walton Press Inc. Please send all photos, stories and editorial content to: submissions@atljewishtimes.com

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 5

REMEMBRANCE Jewish Atlanta Remembers John Lewis With Affection, Respect

By Dave Schechter “Pour out our hearts like water.” (Lamentations 2:19) That sentiment, quoted by Rabbi Joshua Lesser of Congregation Bet Haverim, was a recurring theme as Jewish Atlanta reacted to the death of John Lewis.

The 80-year-old Alabama native, an icon of the civil rights movement and 17term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, died Friday of pancreatic cancer.

Sherry Frank had visited Lewis at his Atlanta home the previous Saturday “To tell him good-bye and how much I loved him.”

Their friendship dated back nearly four decades to when Frank was director of the Atlanta Jewish Committee’s regional office in Atlanta and Lewis served on the Atlanta City Council, and extended beyond their professional lives to include their families.

“I’m sad,” Frank told the AJT. “He was a hero to the world, but he was a champion

of causes central to the Jewish community: anti-Semitism, freedom for Soviet Jewry, security for Israel.”

“He was a bridge-builder extraordinaire and really the reason that the [AJC’s Atlanta] Black-Jewish Coalition was born and thrived,” Frank said. The pivotal moment was a 1982 meeting at which Lewis spoke to an audience of Blacks and Jews about the need to renew the federal Voting Rights Act. “The meeting was just electric, and everybody wanted to continue with Blacks and Jews at the table,” she said.

That meeting led to the formation in 1982 of the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition, co-founded by Frank, Lewis, and the late Cecil Alexander. Lewis co-chaired the group its first four years and “even when he was elected to Congress [in 1996], he stayed close to the coalition,” Frank said. As a postscript, in June 2019 the AJC announced formation of a Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations, with Lewis among the inaugural co-chairs.

Real estate developer Steve Selig, presi-

John Lewis talking with teens visiting Washington, D.C., as part of Billy Planer's Etgar 36 summer cross-country trip.

dent and chairman of Selig Enterprises, was active in the Atlanta coalition in the early years. “The very fact that John Lewis — John Lewis! — saw fit to lend his name, time, counsel and influence to the Black-Jewish Coalition gave the organization instant credibility. As he was throughout his life, he was a voice of reason and helped attract others who otherwise might have had no inter-

est,” Selig said. “Growing up, my late father of blessed memory always told me that no person is irreplaceable. Well, there is always an exception to every rule. John Lewis is irreplaceable.”

Such reverence for Lewis was another theme of the reactions to his death.

“If there was ever a man of faith, that man was John Lewis. His faith lived in him

Center for the Visually impaired CVI helps people of all ages, who have low vision or are blind, gain tools and new skills to continue living with independence and purpose.

Are you or a loved one having difficulty reading your mail, newspaper, or computer screen?

If you answered “yes,” then CVI can help.

Please call CVI at 404-875-9011 to learn more and schedule a visit with our low vision specialists.

You can also call or visit our VisAbility Store to learn more about tools and devices for enhancing vision that will make a difference for you.

CVI is located at 739 W. Peachtree St., NW Atlanta, GA 30308 404-875-9011 6 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

REMEMBRANCE

Rabbi Joshua Lesser called John Lewis “an incredible source of hope for the possible redemption of our country and of humanity.”

and he lived his faith,” said Rabbi Alvin Sugarman, rabbi emeritus of The Temple.

Billy Planer, who has led hundreds of Jewish congregations and other groups on civil rights history trips through the South, said that Lewis “truly believed and lived in the idea of ‘the beloved community" envisioned by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “He understood that we were all in this together. That is why he looked to completely blur the lines between the Black and Jewish communities.”

Through his Etgar 36 program, Planer annually guides a tour bus full of teens to historic sites across the country and meetings with people advocating on different sides of major issues. Most years that included a visit with Lewis. Planer posted on Facebook a video from July 2011, when the teens crowded into Lewis’ Capitol Hill office. “So I say to you as young people, you must never, ever give up, must never ever give in, or give out. You must keep the faith,” Lewis told them.

Abby Friedman Shiffman met with Lewis when lobbying with the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) for laws and funding to protect children. “He was always so kind.

He loved when you were passionate about something, fighting for the rights of those who may not be able to fight for themselves — in a peaceful way, of course. He will be missed, and I hope the peaceful way he created change will continue,” she said.

Lewis discussed that “peaceful way” in a June 5 video presentation for The Blank Family of Businesses, enterprises assembled

by Arthur Blank, an entrepreneur who cofounded The Home Depot. In his introduction, the 77-year-old Blank talked about the need for younger people eventually to pick up the baton that he, Lewis, and others have carried.

As protests following the killings of African Americans continued, Lewis acknowledged that recent days and weeks “have been tough, been hard. But we must keep the faith, must hang in there. Be brave and bold. And it’s going to work out.

“We must see that all of our young

John Lewis “walked with kings, but he also had the common touch,” said former Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves.

“He was a voice of reason and helped attract others who otherwise might have had no interest,” Steve Selig said of John Lewis.

people, all of our children, continue to re- “He was very consistent. Whether it was anceive the best possible education. And teach ti-Semitism or homophobia or racism or xeour children, our young people, the way of nophobia or any -ism in which people were peace, the way of love. Teach our young peo- marginalized or discriminated against, he ple the philosophy and discipline for non- was forceful. He was just a good man and violence. And never, ever, to hate,” Lewis a solid man, humble, but at the same recogsaid. “I’m very hopeful about the future. We nizing his iconic status,” Eaves said. When have all of these smart, gifted young people. approached by well-wishers, “He would stop They’re going to help us get there. As a na- and give them attention as if he knew them. tion, as members of the world community, He walked with kings, but he also had the we will get there. We will redeem the soul of common touch.”

Lesser said America and help he experienced “a create what Dr. devastated comKing called ‘the bepounded loss,” as loved community.’” earlier on Friday Bernie Maranother Atlanta cus, who was civil rights icon, Blank’s partner 95-year-old Rev. in co-founding C.T. Vivian, a The Home Depot, friend and lieupraised Lewis as tenant of King’s, “a great leader and died. statesman, . . . a Sherry Frank called her friend John Lewis “a Lesser said distinguished rephero to the world, but he was a champion of of Lewis: “He was resentative for his causes central to the Jewish community.” such an incredible district and the great state of Georgia for decades. His work source of hope for the possible redemption in Congress as well as for civil rights defines of our country and of humanity. He was fearless in the face of the bullies and the servant leadership.”

Marcus recalled his interaction with supremacists of the world. His kindness Lewis in support of the Centers for Disease would envelop all he would encounter. He Control and Prevention, whose Clifton Road saw a better world possible, free of racism headquarters in Atlanta is in Lewis’ 5th Dis- and bigotry, and he became affixed to that trict. Marcus, along with Kent (Oz) Nelson, vision like the north star.”

Rabbi Peter Berg, senior rabbi at The former chairman and CEO of United Parcel Service, and Phil Jacobs, a former AT&T Temple, likewise was “devastated by the loss executive, worked with Lewis to secure $1.5 of C.T. Vivian and John Lewis. Both, for me, billion from Congress to rebuild the CDC represent the moral compass of Atlanta and campus on Buford Highway. “I will always the best of our nation.”

Vivian “was one of the most humble remember his enthusiasm, leadership and ability to navigate the congressional maze,” human beings I have ever met. He was brilliant. Every word that flowed from his Marcus said.

Former Fulton County Commissioner mouth was, to me, in the form of poetry,” John Eaves said that Lewis’ death left him Berg said. “Whenever I saw him, I could tell with “a sense of sorrow and a degree of dis- that he felt such a strong connection to The belief that he’s no longer with us.” They met Temple and to Atlanta’s Jewish community.”

Berg said of Lewis: “He was a special often as the 5th District represented a secgift to the Jewish community. Representation of the county.

Eaves said that Lewis was unwavering. tive Lewis was the architect of the Black-

John Lewis once joked that he did not recognize Billy Planer back in Atlanta because Planer was without the teens he would bring to meet the congressman.

Jewish Coalition in Atlanta. He had deep relationships with the leadership of the Jewish community. He was a staunch supporter of Israel and spoke beautifully about his passion for Israel. He also condemned antiSemitism whenever it reared its ugly face.”

Lesser and Berg co-authored a July 2019 opinion article in the AJT that praised Lewis’ support of a House resolution opposing the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement and his co-sponsorship of another resolution that affirmed the right of Americans to participate “in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.”

The rabbis wrote: “This position is not contradictory; on the contrary, it is principled and effective. We’re disheartened that a handful of voices in our community have unhelpfully sought to use it as an excuse to launch partisan attacks on Congressman Lewis. These voices have deliberately ignored the Congressman’s clear condemnation of BDS and absurdly charged that his support for constitutional rights is somehow harmful to Israel.”

A third theme in the reactions to Lewis’ death were the lessons that members of the Jewish community learned from him.

“John Lewis taught us all that the world will not fix itself, that if we want to make a difference, we have to stand up and be counted,” Berg said. “That is why so many consider him the moral conscience of Congress. I would take it one step further and say that John Lewis was a prophet in our own day.”

Judy Marx, who came to know Lewis during her 12 years at the AJC’s Atlanta office, including six as director, asked and answered a question: “What can we learn from a mensch? This is just a bit of what I learned from John Lewis that we can all aspire to: Always have time for the person standing in front of you. Treat all people like they are long-lost friends, even if you’ve just met them. Work to make the world a better place; it is always worth it.” ì ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 7

REMEMBRANCE

Farewell to My Hero John Lewis

By Sherry Frank

and love his wife Lillian and their son John Miles. Lillian and I planned our sons’ birthMartin Luther King, Jr. spoke about the day parties together when we learned John beloved community. John Lewis’s life was an Miles and my son, Drew, were both born on embodiment of that dream. Congressman May 24, 1976. When John ran for Congress Lewis lived every day reaching out to any- and he and Lillian spent 24/7 campaigning, one who passed his way. “Black and white, John Miles spent most weekends all sumstraight and gay, Christian, Muslim or Jew, mer at my house. As John was sworn into we are one people, one family, one house,” Congress, Drew and John Miles were sithe repeatedly told us. ting in the chair with him, and Lillian and I I was fortunate to be among the mil- looked down from the gallery. lions whose lives were touched and enLillian and John became part of my riched by this amazing man of humility, in- family, dancing at my daughters’ weddings tegrity and purpose. I met John when he was and even attending my adult bat mitzvah an Atlanta City Councilman and he spoke at that I shared with Jeanney Kutner. I was a meeting I organized for the American Jew- honored to speak at Lillian’s funeral. ish Committee. We invited a group of Black Shortly after becoming a member of and Jewish community leaders to discuss Congress, John spoke to fourth graders at the renewal of the Voting Rights Act. Jewish The Epstein School. Drew introduced him. civil rights activist Cecil Alexander intro- Nearly 30 years later, as principal and assisduced John. tant head of school at The Davis Academy, right to be judged fairly among the commu- with me then, and today I am proud to take part in your march for freedom for your peoThis meeting ignited a passion among Drew once again introduced John Lewis to nity of nations. In 2019, he denounced BDS. John was co-chair of the Congressional ple who are oppressed in the Soviet Union.” the participants to work together, as Jews students, faculty and family before the conPrior to my 25 years as AJC’s Southeast Coalition for Soviet Jews’ freshman class. He and Blacks had done in the 1960s for voting gressman spoke and signed his books. was advised not to area director, I was a leader in the National rights. John and Cecil became the founding I valued the raise the issue of Council of Jewish Women. Back again as co-chairs of the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coali- professional role Soviet Jewry when president of our Atlanta Section, I am proud tion, a position John held for four years until we shared in workhe attended a hu- of the decades of connections we have had he was elected to Congress. ing for causes near man rights confer- with Congressman Lewis. In 2017, I introThrough the coalition, John Lewis and dear to both of ence in Moscow as duced John at our national convention in raised his voice in support of a hate crimes our communities. a freshman legis- Atlanta when he received NCJW’s Faith in bill, a posthumous pardon for Leo Frank, He stayed close to lator. This man of Humanity Award. With a standing ovation, and a Martin Luther King Jr. Day national AJC and the Blackgiant conscience he left the podium to the music of Pharholiday. He repudiated the vile, hate-filled Jewish Coalition, rose, as always, rell Williams’ “Happy” and danced into the statements of Minister Louis Farrakhan often participating to the occasion. crowd of activist women who enthusiastiand denounced anti-Semitism throughout in our young leadIn addressing the cally joined with him. his years in public life. ership retreats.

On my last trip to D.C. in 2019, attendmembers of the Lois Frank and I shared treasured He surprised parSupreme Soviet, ing NCJW’s Washington Institute, we met memories marching together alongside ticipants when he he said, “I will not in John’s office to thank him for his ongoing Congressman Lewis against “Fear and In- walked in to join Sherry Frank and John Lewis have been be satisfied, will support for reproductive freedom, voting timidation in Forsyth County” and com- them for dinner friends since 1982 and the creation of not be patient, as rights, gun safety and judicial nominees. We memorating the 25th and 30th anniversa- and remained late the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition. long as a Jew can- were pleased to see, among his numerous ries of the March on Washington. into the evening, My most memorable event was ob- negotiating honest and sometimes heated not be Jewish in his own country. I cannot awards on display, the bust of Hannah Solobe satisfied or patient as long as one person mon, NCJW’s founder, among them. serving the 20th anniversary of the march discussions.

As I visited with John just a few across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. We gathUnder the talented leadership of AJC’s of conscience is held in prison.” days before his death, I love the picture ered at The Temple to reRegional Director I said, “goodbye and I tell the story of the 1958 Dov Wilker, the co- Ronnie van Gelder love you. You will albombing and board the alition continues to hung in her office at ways be my cherished bus for Selma. Rabbi Albuild bridges and fos- The Temple marching friend, and ‘the boy vin Sugarman marched ter dialogue. As AJC’s with John on Decemfrom Troy.’” He smiled at the front of the line, as national director of ber 6, 1987 – Freedom and closed his eyes.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Black-Jewish relations, Sunday – on the eve of May his memory forHeschel had done in the Dov helped launch the the Reagan-Gorbachev ever be a blessing. ì 60s, and he kneeled to Congressional Caucus summit. Congressman pray before descending on Black-Jewish Rela- Lewis stirred the crowd Sherry Frank, a the crest of the bridge. In tions. Congressman of thousands when he longtime community tears, Rabbi Sugarman Lewis was a founding belted out, “Twenty-five Sherry Frank and John Lewis with activist, is president of described how it felt 20 his Chief of Staff Michael Collins member of this cau- years ago, I marched Sherry Frank spoke at Lillian Lewis’ at Lillian Lewis' grave site.

NCJW Atlanta Section, here in Washington to years after Bloody Suncus. funeral in 2012. They are pictured here day, the marchers looking down at the sea John visited Israel with several congres- focus the nation’s atten- in 1986 with their sons, Drew and John former AJC Southeast area director and a coof reporters replacing the dogs, billy clubs sional delegations and was a steadfast sup- tion on the injustices Miles, who were born the same day. founder of the Atlantaand police of years gone by. porter of Israel, continually voting in favor and the oppression of As I worked with John, I got to know of its security needs and acknowledging its segregation. Many of my Jewish friends were Black Jewish Coalition.

8 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Alluring

cosmetic & Family Dentistry

COSMETIC, IMPLANT & GENERAL DENTISTRY FOR THE FAMILY.

An international leader in cosmetic, implant and general dentistry for more than three decades, Dr. David Mastro’s patients travel world-wide for his Atlanta cosmetic dentistry and report that he is one of the country’s top cosmetic and general dentists.

NOT YOUR ORDINARY DENTIST, NOT YOUR ORDINARY DENTAL OFFICE.

DR. DAVID MASTRO 80 Mansell Road Roswell. Georgia 30076 770.642.9900 1.888.SeeMySmile alluringcosmeticdentistry.com

Dr. Mastro is a unique dentist with his artistic expression developed through years of hand crafting crowns, veneers and bridges. Today, with the aid of the most advanced technology available, Dr. Mastro can care for patients’ complete dental needs from oral surgery and implants to fillings and general cleanings. Dr. Mastro is legendary for quality dentistry and for transforming smiles for people from all walks of life.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 9

REMEMBRANCE

Remembrance Wall Joan Stuart

I met John Lewis in 1985. His remarkable spirit was palpable. We served on a YWCA of Greater Atlanta committee together, establishing programs to enhance the lives of women and children. His passion for nonviolent advocacy is unmatched.

His life was a true blessing. May he Rest In Peace.

Eric Jacobson

For years, I accompanied The Epstein School, Solomon Schechter School of Atlanta’s seventh grade trip to Washington, D.C. One of my jobs was to recruit John Lewis to meet with the students, as I have worked with Representative Lewis many times through my position at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. He never disappointed. As he sat among the middle schoolers, he told his own story of struggle and connected with the kids when they shared tales of their grandparents and other relatives who had marched with him during the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. He was a very busy man, but he never appeared rushed.

Representative Lewis maintained rapt attention as they listened with fascination. It was especially gratifying for me when I was able to introduce my own children to one of my heroes; he signed personal copies of his graphic novel “March” for them both.

I think that Congressman Lewis inspired many of these students to become more involved in trying to create a better world for all people.

Jerry Klinger

Two years ago, the nation’s first anti-lynching memorial, conceived and funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, with support from the ADL and Rabbi Steven Lebow of Marietta, was proposed. We requested permission from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to site the memorial at the Leo Frank Memorial in Marietta, where Atlanta Jewish businessman Frank was lynched.

Our request was denied.

I asked Congressman Lewis for his help.

Congressman John Lewis wrote to GDOT: “I respectfully write to urge the Georgia Department of Transportation to reconsider its decision to deny the placement of the Anti-Lynching Memorial at the Leo Frank Memorial site…

I hope that the Georgia Department of Transportation will allow this memorial to call the new Leo Frank Memorial home. It will represent Georgia Department of Transportation’s appreciation of the Leo Frank Memorial and its significance to our unified efforts to achieve a Beloved Community.”

After Congressman Lewis’ letter, GDOT reconsidered and approved our application. The memorial was appropriately sited.

The text of the powerful, simple black granite memorial reads: “In respectful memory of the thousands across America, denied justice by lynching, victims of hatred, prejudice and ignorance. Between 1880-1946, ~ 570 Georgians were lynched.”

Lili Baxter

I first met John Lewis in 1979 when he was setting up chairs for a meeting at the King Community Center. I had just started working at The King Center and John was with the Voter Education Project.

Our paths crossed over the years, either when he was a regular speaker at King Center classes and conferences, or later when I volunteered in his campaigns for City Council and then for Congress. I’ll never forget driving him to the public access TV station on Euclid Avenue, John hiding in the front seat so he could practice debating Julian Bond before the bright TV lights.

John was always there: at Kroger’s, in restaurants, at community meetings, at The Breman Museum where I later worked. He could always be counted on to be there -unhurried, amiable, attentive, solid. I’ve come to believe that the universal outpouring of love for John at his death is due to his unconditional appreciation of each one of us, whatever our religion, race, gender or ethnicity. He valued all people; no one was his enemy. May we all be more like John Lewis. In Yiddish: Tsu zayn lichtikn ondenk. ì

John Lewis and Lili Baxter, King Center, 1989.

10 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

NEWS Perdue Campaign Removes Ad Ossoff Called ‘Anti-Semitic’

By Dave Schechter The shape of a Jewish nose – or rather, one nose in particular – has become an issue in an already fractious campaign between incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff.

Perdue’s campaign July 27 withdrew a Facebook campaign ad in which Ossoff’s nose appeared to have been altered.

The ad had been placed three separate times in July, according to Facebook’s ad library.

The ad claimed that “Democrats are trying to buy Georgia,” and used blackand-white photos of Ossoff and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who also is Jewish.

During a July 28 news conference, Ossoff decried “the digital attack ad . . . that was manipulated to enlarge and extend my nose, in what is one of the most classic anti-Semitic tropes in history.”

Perdue’s campaign said July 28 the alteration was an “unfortunate and inadvertent error” by an outside vendor, who no longer will be employed, and reiterated an earlier statement that Perdue has a “strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate.”

According to Facebook’s ad library, the ad was placed July 9, July 13 and July 22. The states where the ad was viewed the most were Georgia, Texas and Florida. The age group that viewed the ad the most were those 65 and older.

The story was first reported July 27 by the Forward, which said that three graphic designers determined that a photo taken of Ossoff in 2017 by the Reuters news agency had been “changed by having his nose lengthened and widened, even as other parts of his face stayed the same size and proportions.”

The text of the ad read: “BREAKING: Chuck Schumer’s super PAC is spending $3 MILLION on false attack ads against me. I need YOU to help me set the record straight. We must not let Schumer and the radical left buy Georgia’s Senate for the Democrats.”

Separately, the ad read: “Chip in $20.20 to our RAPID RESPONSE FUND now.”

Perdue’s campaign manager, Ben Fry, said in a July 28 statement: “In light of an unfortunate and inadvertent error involving one of our Facebook advertisements produced and placed by an outside vendor, our campaign will be making a change to a new digital fundraising com-

Left: Jon Ossoff's image portrayed in a Perdue campaign Facebook ad. Right: Jon Ossoff photo published in 2017 by Reuters.

pany. Senator Perdue did not know about spent $300 to $399 and the ad registered nor see the ad before it ran, and he is some 3,000 to 4,000 impressions.

A Morning Consult poll conducted committed to ensuring future mistakes July 17 to 26 showed Perdue with a 3 perof this kind do not occur.”

During a July 28 online news confer- centage-point lead. Ossoff’s campaign has ence, Ossoff said that using the words touted internal polling showing the race to be a statistical “buy Georgia” dead heat. The accompanied by Cook Political Reimages of two port lists the race Jews was itself an as a toss-up, for a anti-Jewish trope. seat the Republi“For my oppocans can ill afford nent to stoop to to lose as they try this kind of into retain control credibly divisive, of the U.S. Senate. inappropriate, Also on the Nov. 3 offensive tactic is ballot will be Libreally disturbing ertarian candiand its unbecomdate Shane Hazel. ing of a sitting The Perdue U.S. senator,” ad was criticized Ossoff said. He in statements called on Perdue issued by the Atto donate any lanta regional funds raised by offices of the the ad “to groups American Jewish that promote Committee and community healthe Anti-Defamaing, and commution League. nity unity and “We were tolerance.” shocked to see According to Perdue campaign ad that ran on Facebook July 9, Facebook’s politi- 13 and 22, 2020, contains distorted facial features. Senator Perdue’s ad and to learn cal ad library, the ad had the potential to reach 1 million that Jon Ossoff’s nose had been altered,” people, but a small fraction in impres- said Dov Wilker, AJC regional director. sions, the number of times content is “This along with the reference to a Jewish displayed. The first time it was posted, on senator and references to ‘buying Georgia’ July 9, the campaign paid less than $100 evokes antisemitic imagery that is best and it registered fewer than 1,000 impres- confined to the dustbin of history. We call sions. On July 13, the campaign paid $100 upon the Senator to apologize and would to $199 and registered 8,000 to 9,000 im- be happy to meet with him and his staff pressions. On July 22, Perdue’s campaign to discuss antisemitism as it continues its

steady rise at home and abroad.”

Allison Padilla-Goodman, vice president of ADL’s Southern division, said, “During what has the potential to be a deeply contentious and divisive election cycle, using antisemitism for political gain, both between and within our political parties, risks undermining efforts to join together to combat antisemitic incidents, violence, and other forms of hate.

At a time when antisemitism is already at record high levels, we cannot allow this hatred to be fanned and for antisemitism to become a pawn in a political game.

“The use of antisemitic tropes to embarrass political opponents allows antisemites to hide behind politics and it causes something that must remain apolitical – the fight against hate – to become hyper-political. We cannot allow antisemitism to be used to drive a wedge between the Jewish community and others because the cost of unbridled hate in our society is violence. Please, leave antisemitic stereotypes and language out of our state’s efforts to elect our leaders and build a better Georgia.”

Images that distort the size and shape of noses, to depict Jews as being outsiders and evil, date to the late 13th century B.C.E., and have continued to be used more recently, from the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s to white supremacists and other anti-Jewish bigotry online today.

In 1911, anthropologist Maurice Fishberg measured, using calipers, the size and shape of 4,000 Jewish noses in New York City, and found no characteristics distinguishing them from any other group. Fishberg found that only 13 percent of the women and 14 percent of the men that he measured had the stereotyped hook nose, known as hoykedike in Yiddish, while nearly 60 percent of both men and women had noses that he described as straight.

Also critical of the ad was Sander Gilman, a distinguished professor of the liberal arts and sciences as well as professor of psychiatry at Emory University, whose dozens of published works include “The Jew’s Body,” published in 1991.

“I’m neither surprised nor shocked

by Perdue’s use of a clearly antisemitic trope. Trump used similar images in 2016 and they are in line with today’s standard right-wing imagery and ideology. Think of the extreme images of George Soros already employed in this year’s campaign season. Perdue knows his rural white voters well. Remember the only lynching of a Jew took place in Marietta,” Gilman told the AJT. ì ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 11

NEWS

Jewish HomeLife Visitation: Look, but Don’t Touch

By Dave Schechter

twice, each time bringing one of her children. For all of the hardships caused by Family members are again able to visit suspending visits, Frank appreciates the efrelatives at the Berman Commons assisted- forts of Berman Commons’ management. living residence – but no hugs or kisses, “They’re doing everything, in my opinion, to the best of their ability and the knowledge please.

In late June, Jewish HomeLife resumed that we have today,” she said.

“You can’t kiss. You can’t hug. You’re what it calls “in-person compassionate care visits” at Berman Commons, as well as The talking in a mask,” Frank said. “It’s annoyCohen Home and The William Breman ing for her, but I’m very appreciative of Jewish Home, more than three months af- their diligence. They’re allowing her this but ter they were suspended as a precaution they’re also very carefully monitoring the situation.” against the spread of COVID-19.

Chief among the rules is: “Maintain apVisitors were barred when Berman Commons was hit with a rash of posi- propriate social distancing (6 feet) during tive COVID-19 tests among residents of its the visit. For the protection of all, no hugmemory care unit and several staff mem- ging, kissing, holding hands, or other perbers. Communal activities, including meals, sonal contact is permitted.” Visits are held remain suspended. Gov. Brian Kemp has outdoors and must be scheduled at least a extended until Aug. 12 a shelter-in-place or- day in advance for 30-minute slots on Tuesder that covers residents of nursing homes, days, Thursdays and Sundays. No more than two people are allong-term care facilities, lowed per visit, includincluding assisted living ing children. Pets are communities, and inpanot permitted. All furnitient hospice. ture used is cleaned beThe rules for visitfore the next visitation ing are strict, which is time slot. fine with Elana BekerOn arrival, visitors man Frank, whose have their temperature 84-year-old grandchecked. They don’t go mother Rose Sowadsky into the building, but moved into Berman around to a side enCommons in January. trance, where a staffer Frank, founder of the “Now that visitation has opened up, checks the sticker Jewish Fertility Foundafamily members have been able to they’ve been given on tion, is busy with work see the changes that a four-month arrival. Resident and and two young children, absence has revealed, and they’re guest sit on separate but said Sowadsky pretrelieved, yet sad,” said Deborah benches, facing each Zisholtz, the director of Aviv Older ty much has been conAdult Services at Jewish Family other and socially disfined to her apartment. & Career Services of Atlanta. tanced. The staff keeps They talk on the phone often, and Frank could stand outside and watch to make sure that resident and visitor keep their masks in place. see her grandmother through a window.

Despite the restrictions, Ronni Beker Frank now has visited her “Nana”

12 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Photo provided by Elana Beckerman Frank // On Mother’s Day, Elana Bekerman

Frank and her 15-month-old son Matan were able to see Rose Sowadsky only by standing outside a window at Berman Commons. Now they can visit in person.

Photo provided by Ronni Beker // Ronni Beker was relieved to visit with her mother Dorothy Trotz for the first time since March. “Not that I like it, but I certainly understand why they have the rules,” she said.

was relieved to see her 86-year-old mother their loved ones that they know are strugDorothy Trotz in person for the first time gling with social distancing/isolation protosince March. “It was good to get there and cols,” Zisholtz said.

“Now that visitation has opened up, spend 30 minutes with her. I really feel like family members have they took every precaubeen able to see the tion they could take,” changes that a fourBeker said. month absence has “She looks good. revealed, and they’re She sounds good. She’s relieved, yet sad. Genera very upbeat person, ally, they’re very excited regardless. She’s very to be able to ‘lay eyes’ positive. She’s trying on their loved ones. Adto make the best of the ditionally, we serve a situation. I think she number of people who wishes it were different, have been unable to visbut she understands,” it and still choose not to Beker said.

Shari Bayer, spokeswoman for visit, because they’re in As for the rules, “I Jewish HomeLife, said that the agency an increased risk group understand why they’re appreciates the understanding or are protecting others like that. It just has to of families as they resume visits who have higher risk, be. Not that I like it, but while caring for residents. if they become ill, and I certainly understand they’re feeling a sense of disappointment why they have the rules,” Beker said.

The COVID-19 precautions at senior and sadness about that,” she said.

The visits at Berman Commons have residential facilities have prompted concerns about physical health. “From families continued, even though five staff memwe’re serving, they say over and over that bers recently tested positive for COVID-19, in their loved ones who have dementia, though all were asymptomatic. “All are the decline they’re witnessing — or not ex- isolating at home until they are cleared actly witnessing, because their interaction for work through retesting. Their absence has been from afar — is impressive. Even does not impact our staffing levels,” Cheryl in more robust elders, many families say Chambers, Berman Commons executive they’re seeing signs that physical distancing director, said in a July 16 email to residents is taking its toll,” said Deborah Zisholtz, the and families.

As of July 16, there were no positive casdirector of Aviv Older Adult Services at Jewes among residents. Berman Commons has ish Family & Career Services of Atlanta.

The separation has an emotional com- a 32-unit memory care unit and 58 assisted ponent, as well. “Family members are expe- living apartments.

JHL spokeswoman Shari Bayer said, riencing high levels of stress and anxiety due to not being able to be with their loved “It takes a tremendous effort for the staff to ones that live in community settings such as monitor and coordinate these visits while independent living communities, assisted still providing care to all the other residents. living/memory care communities, skilled Families are so eager to see their own loved nursing facilities, and various medical and ones, and coordinating with 80-plus famihospital settings. Family members have lies takes time. We appreciate our families expressed feeling guilt they cannot be with being so understanding.” ì

NEWS

Is a COVID Vaccine Coming This Fall?

By Bob Bahr It’s been over four months since a small group of volunteers rolled up their sleeves at Emory University to receive the nation’s first experimental vaccinations against the COVID-19 virus.

The results of these early tests at Emory, among the world’s first to include human subjects, were considered a success.

According to a research study published July 14 in The New England Journal of Medicine, the vaccine developed by Moderna, How the body’s T cells are stimulated in Inc. produced what are called neutralizing response to a vaccine against the COVID antibodies in the blood in quantities comvirus may be an important development, parable to levels of people who have suraccording to Dr. Allon Moses. vived a COVID-19 infection.

The results were described as “very for the company to expand human trials to encouraging” by Dr. Evan Anderson, who 30,000 volunteers beginning July 27. It is considered to be the world’s largest human led the study at Emory, “While there is still a lot of work to do study so far.

The phase one data shows that vacbefore we have a vaccine that is proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19, this cination with mRNA 1273 “elicits a robust immune response study provides critical across all dose levels,” information about the he said. safety of the vaccine.”

Zaks, an Israeli Based on recent doctor who received statistics from the his Ph.D. at the BenWorld Health OrganiGurion University of zation, there are 165 the Negev, was hopeful coronavirus vaccines about getting early apbeing developed and proval from the Food 27 of them are being and Drug Administratested on humans. tion, but said there The Emory test could still be many obresults were considstacles to success. ered a big step forward Other potential for researchers at the Dr. Allon Moses is optimistic that vaccine candidates National Institutes of science will prevail in the battle against the coronavirus. from Britain’s UniverHealth who helped develop the vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the sity of Oxford, Johnson & Johnson in the nation’s top infectious disease specialist at U.S. and several in China will soon begin or have already begun final phase three trials.

NIH, was enthusiastic.

Dr. Allon Moses is director of the Ha“No matter how you slice this,” he told dassah Medical Center’s Department of the Associated Press, “this is good news.”

On July 16, Fauci admitted in an inter- Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disview with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of eases in Jerusalem and one of Israel’s leadFacebook, that he was “cautiously optimis- ing medical authorities.

Despite all this clinical work, Dr. Allon tic” that vaccine testing could rapidly move maintains, important questions have yet to ahead.

“If everything works out the way we be answered.

“The more we do, the more questions hope and we don’t get any unpredictable potholes or bumps in the road, we should come up. Like do antibodies persist? Is know as we get into the mid-to-late fall there lasting immunity? These are ques— early winter, but probably late fall — tions we don’t know. There’s more and whether we have candidates that really are more data that shows there is a decline in the type of antibodies over time. Does this safe and effective.”

Scientists at the Moderna firm were mean that there is a decline in immunity?”

He believes that creating antibodies to equally optimistic of what they call their mRNA 1273 vaccine that was tested at Em- the virus may just be part of the answer to protecting individuals from the disease. ory.

“With the coronavirus, immunity In a prepared statement, Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tal Zaks indicat- is not only through antibodies, but also ed that the clinical results paved the way through cellular means. T cells, which are

Emory University is part of the world’s largest clinical trials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that begin July 27.

produced in the body, play an important role in immunity. So we’re not dependent only on antibody levels.”

The importance of T cells in the development of COVID-19 infections are continuing to be explored at Emory’s vaccine center, where the NIH recently renewed a seven-year, $20 million program to continue the research.

There are also other important voices in the U.S., which are urging a slower, more systematic approach.

The CEO of one of America's largest pharmaceutical companies, Ken Frazier, told an interviewer from the Harvard Business School July 13 that vaccines under development may not work. Frazier, head of Merck & Co., said that those who are predicting a vaccine before year’s end are doing “a grave disservice to the public.”

“If you’re going to use a vaccine on billions of people, you better know what that vaccine does.”

Merck, which is also exploring its own candidates for a potential vaccine for COVID-19, acquired a European vaccine manufacturer in May. Frazier pointed out in the Harvard in-

terview that “we have to be very careful.”

Some previous vaccines “not only didn’t confer protection, but actually helped the virus invade the cell, because it was incomplete in terms of its immunogenic properties.

“I think at the end of the day, we don’t want to rush the vaccine before we’ve done rigorous science. We’ve seen in the past, for example, with the swine flu, that that vaccine did more harm than good.”

Dr. Allon agreed that moving too quickly isn’t always the best strategy for developing a vaccine.

“You need to test for efficacy, not just for the short term, but also for long term.

And you may need to boost the dosage. You may need to have two doses, four doses, yearly doses. I mean, all of this takes time and you can make mistakes.”

Despite the cautions and the complexity of the problem, Allon remains optimistic about a COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough, though he is reluctant to make any predictions.

“My optimism is based on my knowledge. The ability of science to develop a vaccine is where my optimism come from. I think it’s doable.” ì

Diamonds!!!

1820 Independence Square # C, Dunwoody, GA 30338 (770) 396-3456 Max Haviv www.hajewelry.com Graduate Gemologist

Haim Haviv

Owner

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 13

NEWS

Health Experts Offer Reopening Advice

By Bob Bahr

erations.

On Jan. 31, the World Health OrganizaThe Jewish Federation of Greater At- tion declared an international public health lanta has sought the advice of two of the emergency related to the COVID-19 virus. At nation’s leading public health experts in the time, the CDC reported that the United developing their plans for States had four cases of the gradual reopening of the disease. By late July, the community activities. EarCDC reported that over 4 lier this month those two million people had been inexperts publicly discussed fected with the disease and their views in an online disover 148,000 people had cussion. died in the U.S. Joining the conversaThe two experts were tion were Dr. Harry Heiasked to describe the public man, associate professor in health situation at present Georgia State University’s and to make suggestions for School of Public Health moving forward. and Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky, Heiman: We, as a professor of of Infectious country, were wholly unGov. Brian Kemp was the Diseases at Emory Uniprepared for this pandemfirst governor in the nation versity School of Medicine ic. We basically failed to to reopen a state in late April and a consultant to the step up the public health after the pandemic shutdown.

Centers for Disease Control response that we needed and Prevention. to from the very beginning. It’s been a toEd Queen, who is the director of the tal failure of our political and public health Ethics and Servant Leadership Program at leadership. We reopened much too quickly.

Emory University’s Center for Ethics mod- So we’re actually in much worse shape now erated the discussion. Portions of their dis- than we were in March. I think everyone cussion have been edited for space consid- needs to keep in mind that to safely reopen

14 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

anything, we have to have much better con- dating masks in public.

I think that if we paid attention to trol of the pandemic.

Kozarsky: We have done rather poorly, wearing masks, social distancing and the I think, since Memorial Day. We’ve seen general preventive measures that we all these dreadful spikes here in Georgia. We have read about, I think we could do a really good job in forcing the case really need to take bold numbers down. If we were moves moving forward in able to do that, I think that order to get some control opening schools, as Harry of this outbreak. We have mentioned, with keeping to particularly pay attengroups small after a certion to those who are less tain age, having masks befortunate than we are and ing used, social distancing, what their needs are and other mitigation strategies, provide essential services I think it’s possible. to people who need them On April 24, Georgia and to be aware of food inbecame the first state in the security as well. nation to begin to restart the In mid-March, Georgia process of resuming public Gov. Brian Kemp ordered the closing of all public el- Dr. Harry Heiman is a professor life after being shut down and public health expert at for week to combat the ementary, secondary and Georgia State University. spread of the coronavirus. post secondary schools in the state. Most Georgia colleges began online The experts were asked how the reopening course work for the remainder of the semester. process has worked and what comes next.

Heiman: We’re in phase three and

By July 24 the state school board had made no decision when to reopen Georgia’s public we’ve never really met the criteria for phase schools. Drs. Heiman and Kozarsky were one. So indoor dining in restaurants, event spaces, bars, nightclubs, amusement parks, asked their thoughts about the reopening.

Heiman: I guess, the most striking I mean, those shouldn’t be part of the conand infuriating conversation going on right versation right now. And part of that mesnow is about school reopening. If you look sage is that every organization, I believe, at CDC criteria around or guidelines around needs to step back and say, based on where school reopening, it’s very much predicated we are right now, what is safe and approprion the state of the epidemic in communi- ate for my organization or institution.

Kozarsky: As we move into the fall, I ties. So in order to reopen schools safely, you need to have a low level of infection think there needs to be consideration about and community spreads in the surrounding the discussion of recommending strongly flu shots for those people communities. And based who do not have a medion that, it’s either safe or cal problem related to flu unsafe. Well, based on that, shots. So I think this will we’re very much in the red be an important preventive zone, particularly in the measure that we should try metro area, but in most of to enforce in any way we our state. And the answer is can it’s not safe to open schools Heiman: Two things to in-person instruction. which I think are really Kids really need to be critical for all organizain school. Public schools tions are, number one, provide a profound social the importance of regular, and economic service to clear, proactive communifamilies and allow parents Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky is a cation to whoever your orto get to work because they consultant to the CDC and a are taking care of most kids longtime professor of medicine ganization or institution’s immediate community in public schools. Kids also at Emory University. is. And the other is that, get some level of food support in school. So schools don’t just have in contingency planning, to keep in mind an educational function. They also have a that this is a very rapidly evolving situation. powerful social and economic function. But Hopefully it will evolve in a positive direcfrom a public health perspective, that is not tion with some improved policy guidance safe to do until we get things quieter, get the from our political leadership. But to keep in mind that you will need to be flexible and pandemic under control in communities Kozarsky: I think that we could start nimble, to think about what will allow you reversing some of the problems immediate- to safely reopen and what will require you ly if we started to be perfectly honest, man- to step back. ì

NEWS

Suit Over Holocaust Survivor Aid Filed in Georgia

By Dave Schechter

that donors of $1,000 or more would have their names displayed on a wall in JerusaA pair of high-profile evangelical Chris- lem and that those giving $10,000 or more tians who tout ties to President Donald would have a star by their name. In August, Trump and devotion to Israel are antago- Franklin delivered to Evans a list of 4,215 nists in a lawsuit filed in Georgia over more donors of at least $1,000 and 32 donors of than $3.33 million raised in the name of Ho- at least $10,000. Evans claims that the minimum donations totaled at least $4.53 millocaust survivors.

Churches United with Israel, Inc., and lion, but that Franklin turned over only $1.2 its founder, Michael Evans, of Tarrant Coun- million.

Franklin and Free Chapel are accused ty, Texas, allege that Jentezen Franklin and the Free Chapel Worship Center, Inc., based of two counts of fraud, civil conspiracy, in Hall County, Ga., reneged on an agree- breach of contract, violation of Georgia’s ment to share funds collected to aid survi- deceptive trade practices law, misappropriation of name and likeness, negligent vors in Israel.

The suit, first reported by The Wash- misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and ington Post, was filed July 7 in the Gaines- constructive trust/accounting. Evans contends that Frankville Division of lin “represented the U.S. District to the public that Court for the the Prime MinNorthern District ister of Israel, of Georgia.

Benjamin NetanThere are yahu, requested about 192,000 Franklin support Holocaust surthe Projects, and vivors in Israel, White House photo // Mike Evans stands behind on numerous one-quarter of President Donald Trump’s left shoulder, holding occasions reprewhom are esa “Friends of Zion” award presented Dec. 11, 2017 sented to the gentimated to be living in poverty. An estimated 67,000 to eral public that Defendants are the owners 70,000 Holocaust survivors live in the Unit- of the Property. These representations were ed States, one-third of whom are believed to not true.”

The suit states that: “Unless Defendants live at or below the federal poverty standard.

The Churches United projects in Jeru- are enjoined from their fraudulent, willsalem included: building a kitchen to pre- ful, unlawful, and intentional misconduct, pare meals for Holocaust survivors, imple- Defendants will likely cause continuing menting a program to feed and distribute harm to Evans’ reputation in the Christian meals from that kitchen, building a com- and Jewish communities, which harm is immunity center for survivors, and creating mediate and irreparable harm for which a a “dedicated center where Israeli Defense monetary judgment would be insufficient.”

Evans and Churches United asked the Forces and Holocaust survivors could meet court to assess damages of more than $3.33 and provide mutual support.”

Michelle Boorstein of The Washing- million against Franklin and Free Chapel ton Post reported that Evans’ attorney said Worship Center, as well as unspecified “exthe agreement was verbal, not written, and emplary” or punitive damages.

Tracy Page, a spokesperson for Free that “a letter from Franklin’s attorneys to Evans’ attorneys says there was no contract Chapel, told Charisma News, an evangelical between the men, and Franklin had only of- website, “We do not customarily comment fered to give a ‘gift’ — less his own ‘costs and on litigation, but these accusations are so absurdly false that they demand a response. expenses’ for doing the fundraising.”

AJT queries to Evans’ and Franklin’s We categorically deny them and we will defend our hard earned reputation to the fullministries were not returned.

According to the suit, Franklin pro- est extent of the law.”

Both men present themselves as allies posed that he would “solicit donations for the projects and promised that 100% of of the president. “Evans has been a conduit the funds [he] collected would be remitted for the Trump evangelical team to officials to Churches United.” In exchange, Evans in Israel and other Middle Eastern/Gulf would “introduce Franklin to dignitaries countries. Franklin has appeared at several and persons of influence in Israel and vouch White House events seated next to Trump, for Franklin’s credibility and integrity” and and his son, Drake, works for the 2020 “provide Franklin with contact informa- Evangelicals For Trump effort,” Boorstein tion for donors who contribute to Churches reported.

Evans refers to himself as a member of United.”

The suit says that Franklin advertised a “Founding Trump Faith Board.” He erected

White House photo //

Jentezen Franklin is the Senior Pastor of Free Chapel, a multi campus church.

billboards in Jerusalem declaring “Trump Is A Friend of Zion” and “Jerusalem Welcomes Trump” in advance of the president’s May 2017 visit to Israel, and has likened Trump to King Cyrus of Persia, said in the Bible to have aided the Jews in the sixth century B.C.E. The Jerusalem Prayer Team that Evans founded in 2002 claims to have organized 30 million evangelicals to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and maintains a Facebook page with 73 million “likes.” In 2015, Evans opened a Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem to tell the story of Christian Zionists in the founding of Israel.

Franklin is senior pastor of the multicampus Free Chapel, which includes facilities in Gainesville, Ga., and Irvine, Calif., as well as four other locations in Georgia and one in South Carolina. Franklin is reported to regularly deliver a sermon in Georgia and then board a private jet and fly 2,300 miles to California to deliver a sermon there.

Franklin has “laid hands” on Trump, literally, when evangelical leaders have

prayed for the president in the White House.

Trump declared March 15, 2020, to be “National Day of Prayer for all Americans Affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic and for our National Response Efforts.” He tweeted: “I am watching a great and beautiful service by Pastor Jentezen Franklin.

Thank you! @Jentezen” The publicity materials for Franklin’s programs in Israel include a photograph of Netanyahu’s son Yair carrying a box of Passover supplies.

Many evangelical Christians take an interest in the modern nation of Israel, based on a belief that an ingathering of the Jewish people is necessary to bring about events, including a battle between good and evil at Armageddon – known in Israel as Megiddo – that will bring the second coming of Christ.

In a promotional video for Franklin posted on YouTube earlier the month, Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen says, “This is a vital part of fulfilling biblical prophecy.” ì

Mike Evans, founder of Churches United with Israel.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 15

NEWS

Or Hadash Founding Rabbis Bid ‘Family’ Farewell

By Roni Robbins Listening to the multicultural messages of farewell to Congregation Or Hadash’s founding Rabbis Analia Bortz and Mario Karpuj at a virtual sendoff July 12, it’s clear the Argentinian rabbis became part of the synagogue’s extended family over the past 18 years.

Close to 200 people in attendance at the online Zoom “L’Chaim & L’Hitraot” tribute expressed in English, Hebrew and Spanish their appreciation, loss, memories and plans to visit the rabbis in Israel after they make aliyah shortly. During the 1 ½-hour program filled with music, shtick, video, photos and memes, the upbeat rabbinic couple watched a screen from the Or Hadash chapel. Bortz wore an ivory sleeveless lace dress and her signature heels, and Karpuj sported a tux.

Their two daughters, Adina Karpuj, and Tamar Oren, alternately recounted tongue-in-cheek their parents’ transition from rabbis of a congregation starting a synagogue in Sandy Springs to “extended family.”

Oren began the narrative, “Once

16 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

upon a time in a faraway land called Buckhead, two young rabbis with strong accents … were approached by a small, committed group of dreamers and asked to take a leap of faith to start a community of their own.

“They thought about it long and hard over many, many moons, calculating the pros and cons, doing risk analyses. Just kidding, they dove right in. With b’nai mitzvahs on the books and weddings to follow, the rabbis sprung into action. They moved to a new land called Sandy Springs and soon enough they had turned a house not only into a home, but into a shtibl, a community center, an office and a candy shop for all b’nai mitzvah students who definitely didn’t need Hershey’s Kisses and Mike and Ikes as incentives to learn their portions.”

Over the years, congregants were known to “drink lattes and learn with Rabbi Analia and they got the lowdown on what’s hot and what’s not from Rabbi Mario. …The community traveled far and wide. In Argentina, the rabbis taught them how to tango, and in Clayton, Ga., the community taught the rabbis what

included and cared about and valued.”

From Or Hadash, the rabbinic duo held hands, blew kisses, wiped away tears, laughed and toasted along with those recalling memories on the Zoom screen. At one point they opened a gift containing a “dancing aleph” sculpture, the synagogue’s logo, and then offered their final prayers and expressions of gratitude to the congregation as Karpuj softly strummed his guitar.

In typical Jewish style, he attempted to answer with more questions what the congregants have been asking since the couple announced their intention last year to make aliyah: “How can you do this to us?”

Rabbis Analia Bortz and and Mario Karpuj, “Did you have to be so supportive dressed in their cocktail attire, watched the and kind? … Do you have any idea how Zoom program from Or Hadash’s chapel. difficult it is to leave this?”

Bortz thanked her husband and chils’mores were. Rabbi Mario rode his bike dren for their support. “We grew together from Jerusalem to Eilat twice and all of to build this place together.” you had to hear his sermons about it for And in keeping with their usual muthe following three years.” sical collaboration, the couple ended the Through the 18-year adventure, the program with a personalized takeoff on rabbis “found that a spiritual home was the Bruce Springsteen song, “Follow that what you made it and that the meaning Dream.”

Tevyeh band members, who enof family was two-fold: it’s who you are tertained on piano and violin throughout related to, but it’s also who you chose,” Oren said. That extended family has been the event, followed by performing “Bashana Haba’ah” Or Hadash, Adi(Next Year) and na Karpuj con“ H a t i k v a h,” cluded. with photos of Event coIsrael in the chair Renee background, the Videlefsky inclosing shot of troduced the sunset behind rabbis and tried an Israeli flag. to capture their The online “essence.” While event of honor Bortz typically for the foundis known for ing rabbis was wearing heels originally set for from her extenNearly 200 people participated in the Zoom May 3 but was sive shoe collectribute to Or Hadash’s founding rabbis. delayed because tion, “you better of COVID-19 to July 12, thinking “surely put on your running shoes to keep up we would be in the synagogue by then,” with her” as she starts her day very early said Sherry Frank, a former president at the gym. “Teaching, tutoring, writing books and making tallit, one wonders if and honorary chair.

“About six weeks ago the decision she ever sleeps.” Karpuj, too, “is always on was made that we could not safely be the go, but his happy place is with a guiin the synagogue for this celebration,” tar on his knee and a scotch in his hand, Frank said of the in-person event that and of course, discussing Israel and socwas to include dinner, drinks and danccer, and let’s not get started on his hugs ing.

Of the online program, she said, “It’s and kisses because, as both of them say, still a giant tribute to them, … the first big ‘We can’t help it, we are Latino,’” Videlefcommunity event on Zoom.” sky said.

For the past two Shabbats, the rabbis “From their humorous pulpit sparhave conducted services with their sucring to their obvious deep love and recessor, Rabbi Lauren Henderson, Frank spect for each other, there aren’t enough said.

Or Hadash signed a three-year conwords and pictures to adequately emtract in April with the young rabbi from body the love and warmth they exude, nor their ability to make everyone feel South Carolina. ì

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 17

NEWS

Rabbi Lebow’s Celebratory Send-Off

Rabbi Steven Lebow expresses his thanks to his congregation electronically.

By Paula Baroff Rabbi Steven Lebow, now rabbi emeritus of Temple Kol Emeth after his retirement, was celebrated by his congregation at a festive “Opus” send-off.

About 400 congregant families participated in the rescheduled event virtually July 18.

Monsignor Patrick Bishop performed interfaith work with Lebow.

Signs outside the synagogue celebrated Rabbi Lebow.

The tribute was hosted by CNN news anchor Holly Firfer and featured Jewish bluegrass group Nefesh Mountain, along with a number of other speakers from the synagogue, Rabbi Lebow’s family and the larger community.

“For 34 years, you and I have stood side by side, one person supporting the other. And that standing, as I have stood

Specializing in Health, Life, Long Term Care, Medicare & Group Benefits!

Call me for your personalized quote or Zoom Presentation

Jessie Herman, Advisor Protecting your health, family, and business from cradle to grave.

Life Happens!

Get Protected Today!

CELL 404-518-6822 FAX 470-300-7737 hermanplans4life@gmail.com www.JessieHermanInsurance.com 18 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Rabbi Lebow signing copies of the tribute books.

Organizers distributed takeout meals to participants.

with you, is one of the reasons that people belong to a temple. If you belong to a synagogue, we all have to stand and hold each other up in times of joy and times of sadness,” Rabbi Lebow said at the virtual event.

“Nothing can kill us when we stand together. Nothing can ever keep us down as individuals or as a congregation. Not if G-d has a plan for us. Not if G-d works through us. I can guarantee you that G-d works through Kol Emeth when we open up our hearts.”

Participants were able to pick up food and a lengthy comic book-themed tribute book from the synagogue.

The tribute book included complimentary letters to Lebow by Jewish, community and political leaders, including the late Congressman John Lewis, who died the day before. “Rabbi Lebow, I commend you for your commitment to supporting people across our city and our wonderful state. Atlanta is truly a city that is striving to become the ‘Beloved Community.’ Your dedication to a better tomorrow is admirable,” Lewis wrote.

Former Sen. Johnny Isakson’s letter was also included. He said, “The members of Temple Kol Emeth have benefited greatly from your loyal and dedicated leadership over the past 33 years. Thank

you for the many years you have devoted to your community.”

Former Gov. Roy Barnes said at the opus, “I particularly want to stress the fact that you’re the one that brought Leo Frank and the miscarriage of justice to the forefront with me, and it’s become a passion with me as it is with you. You gave me one of the greatest statements that I’ve used, and that is ‘There is never a statute of limitations on doing what is right.’ I hate to see you leave the synagogue, but I know you will continue to be a strong member of our community, and you will always be my friend.”

Other speakers included Monsignor Patrick Bishop, also known as “Father Pat,” former pastor of Marietta’s Transfiguration Catholic Church. He shared a quote by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson that reminds him of Rabbi Lebow: “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of the intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the beauty in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that one life has breathed easier because you lived here.

This is to have succeeded.” ì

Mazel Tov to the 2020 Hadassah Chesed Student Award Winners Honoring excellence and menschlichkeit in Atlanta’s Jewish teens since 1992 Virtual Award Ceremony to be held Sunday, August 9th, at 2pm on Zoom Email info@jumpsparkatl.org to register today

Gavrielle Diamant The Epstein School

Camryn Rubin Congregation Gesher L’Torah

Sophie Kieffer Temple Sinai Atlanta

Sarah Stambler Congregation Or Hadash

Tali Feen Jewish Kids Groups

Abigail Ventimiglia American Jewish Committee (AJC)

Aidyn Levin Creating Connected Communities

Jacob Bedsole Diamond Family Religious School at Temple Emanu-El

Lola Bessoff Temple Beth Tikvah

Abigail “Abby” Edlein Breman Education Center at The Temple

Shayna Coffsky Congregation B’nai Torah

Seth Schulman Congregation Beth Shalom

Mollie Nadolne Congregation Etz Chaim

Danielle Faulhaber Temple Kehillat Chaim

Sydney Fialkow Ahavath Achim Synagogue

Ethan Schloss Temple Beth David

Sam PrausnitzWeinbaum Congregaton Shearith Israel

Frankie Silverman The Davis Academy

Darcy Denneen The Weber School

Sela Ratner Atlanta Jewish Academy

Ethan Cole Congregation Dor Tamid

Hadara Seeman Atlanta Jewish Academy

Sarah Davis Temple Kol Emeth

Anna Wynne NFTY-SAR

Yosef Varon Torah Day School of Atlanta

ISRAEL PRIDE

NEWS FROM OUR JEWISH HOME

Israeli startup Percepto’s Sparrow I drone system: the base station.

Israeli Drones to Help Florida Respond to Hurricanes

A drone-in-a-box system developed by the Modiin-based startup Percepto has passed level 5 hurricane testing at the Florida International University Wall of Wind, which performs hurricane mitigation research, The Times of Israel reported. The drone is the first to pass this level of testing, the startup said in a statement July 16, making it “the most rugged drone-in-a-box system on the market.”

Percepto’s customers include Florida Power and Light.

The Sparrow drone system will be stationed on-site in a “base unit” where

Today in Israeli History July 31, 1988: Jordan’s King Hussein announces that he is giving up political claims to the West Bank, although he seeks to retain influence over Jerusalem.

He leaves the PLO to represent Palestinian Arabs.

Aug. 1, 1955: The development town of Dimona welcomes its first residents, who are recent arrivals from Morocco, as Israel tries to settle immigrants housed in tent cities.

Photo by Tsvika Israeli, Israeli Government Press Office // U.S. President Bill Clinton

demonstrates a 3-D camera to Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres at the White House on Dec. 11, 1995.

Aug. 2, 1923: Shimon Peres, the only person to serve as Israeli prime minister and president, is born in what is now Belarus. Peres makes aliyah in 1934. He is first elected to the Knesset in 1959.

20 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

it lands, recharges, and transfers data it has acquired from its flights. The base also conducts maintenance checks on the functioning of the drone, verifying if repairs are needed.

The technology allows customers to react immediately after a hurricane to assess and fix damage without endangering staff, while the weather is still challenging and residents are experiencing electricity outages.

FPL posted $274 million of damages to its infrastructure last year from Hurricane Dorian, according to the statement.

“As soon as the storm passes, we can have this up … inspecting our plant and knowing immediately what sort of damage we have so we’re able to get our power back on that much sooner," Michael Dorr, a pilot for FPL’s drone system, said. “For a utility to be able to see our infrastructure in areas where we can’t get to safely; to quickly fly over it and understand what our conditions are, … the safety of our crews is paramount."

FPL currently has six drones installed in five locations. By the end of the year, they will have two further sites using Percepto’s solution on the Treasure Coast, one in St. Lucie County and

another in Vero Beach, with a plan to deploy more autonomous drones after that.

FPL’s goal is to eventually put a drone-in-a-box at every substation, transmission yard, plant and solar facility, according to Eric Schwartz, manager of FPL’s aerial intelligence response.

“We can fly every single day and use image recognition to be able to identify a potential issue and reduce the number of outages to our customers,” he said.

Aug. 3, 1945: Earl Harrison, sent to Europe by President Harry Truman to check on displaced-person camps, reports that the rumors of poor treatment are true in many cases.

Aug. 8, 1924: Lia Van Leer is born in Beltsy, Romania (now Moldova). She and husband Wim Van Leer create the Israel Film Archive in 1960, and she launches the Jerusalem Film Festival in 1984.

Aug. 4, 1920: Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary, publishes an article in the Menorah Journal that lays the groundwork for Reconstructionist Judaism, which includes Zionism as a key component.

Aug. 9, 1982: Two Palestinians from the Abu Nidal Organization attack a Jewish deli in Paris, Chez Jo Goldenberg, with grenades and machine guns. They kill six and wound 22 others.

Aug. 5, 1995: Composer Menachem Avidom dies at age 87. A cousin of Gustav Mahler and a native of Russia who made aliyah in 1925, Avidom was an innovator in fusing Middle Eastern and European music.

Aug. 6, 1923: Meeting in Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia, the 13th Zionist Congress opens to discuss the British Mandate for Palestine and the work of the Palestine Zionist Executive, the precursor to the Jewish Agency.

Aug. 7, 1970: A cease-fire is signed to end the War of Attrition, which featured Egyptian shelling of Israeli positions along the Suez Canal, Egyptian-Israeli aerial battles and commando raids by both sides.

Latin American Firms Get Help Tapping into Israeli Tech

Start-Up Nation Central is partnering with ConnectAmericas, an online business platform set up by the InterAmerican Development Bank that helps small and medium-sized enterprises from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) internationalize their business, according to The Times of Israel.

The partners will work together to connect Israeli startups to LAC firms.

About 5,000 Israeli companies have set up profiles on ConnectAmerica’s plat-

Aug. 10, 1920: World War I’s victorious nations and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Sevres to break up the empire. The treaty incorporates the Balfour Declaration’s call for a Jewish national home in Palestine.

Aug. 11, 1929: The 16th Zionist Congress ratifies the creation of a broadly representative Jewish Agency for Palestine, as called for in the League of Nations’ Articles of Mandate in 1922.

Aug. 12, 1944: Labor Zionist leader Berl Katznelson dies of a hemorrhage at age 57. He developed the concept of moshavs and created a program for labor unity that served as the basis for the Mapai party.

form.

ConnectAmericas is a social network backed by Google, DHL, Sealand, Facebook and Mastercard to help Latin American and Caribbean businesses internationalize.

Start-Up Nation Central is a nonprofit that connects Israeli startup firms to corporations, governments and organizations around the world.

Areas of interest for the LAC include health, cybersecurity, food security, critical infrastructure and social services.

“Our partnership with IDB plays a major role in connecting the ecosystems, allowing us to identify Israeli partners to jointly develop and adapt solutions to the challenges faced by Latin America and the Caribbean,” professor Eugene Kandel, CEO of Start-Up Nation Central, said in a statement.

“COVID-19 will accelerate the shift to digital, and reshape the business landscape,” Ana María Rodríguez-Ortiz, vice president of Sectors and Knowledge at IDB, said. “Latin America and the Caribbean must be part of the digital future.

The alignment of public and private strategies is, without doubt, a necessary condition for success.”

Photo by Amos Ben Gershom, Israeli Government Press Office // Supreme Court

President Aharon Barak welcomes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his office in Jerusalem in October 1997.

Aug. 13, 1995: Aharon Barak, a Supreme Court justice since 1978, is appointed the court’s president, a position he holds until 2006. He expands the court’s power to review government actions and protect civil liberties.

Aug. 14, 1944: U.S. Assistant War Secretary John J. McCloy notifies Leon Kubowitzki of the World Jewish Congress that the U.S. military will not bomb Nazi death camps despite being able to do so.

Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org), where you can find more details.

ISRAEL NEWS Witnesses in Netanyahu Cases to Be Called Next Year

By Jan Jaben-Eilon A three-judge panel in Jerusalem District Court ruled Sunday, July 19, that the evidentiary phase of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial will begin in January. The judges ruled that the court will meet three times a week and that Netanyahu must attend to face witnesses testifying in the cases.

He also must appear at the last preliminary hearing on Dec. 6, the court ruled.

Although this is the schedule for now, much can change. Israeli newspapers are reporting that Netanyahu may allow his current government to fall, leading to new elections in November.

Other possibilities include the pandemic shutting the courts as they did in March or the prime minister resigning as he faces growing protests around the country.

The latter is especially unlikely for the longest-serving prime minister.

However, late last year, he was indicted in three different cases, on an assortment of bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges. If he had held any other ministry title, according to Israeli law, he would have been forced to resign upon indictment. In Israel, however, prime ministers are not required to resign. And, after three elections in less than one year, Netanyahu was able to retain his position after cobbling together a coalition government with his main opponent’s party this past spring.

If Netanyahu takes the country to new elections, he would be betting that he could put together a solely right-wing government that would help him pass laws to stymie his corruption trial.

Netanyahu had been heading a caretaker government in the interim since late 2018.

If the government falls, he would again be the transition prime minister until after the elections and new government is formed.

Heading into an election campaign, however, could be tricky for the prime minister.

After initially seeming to control the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel by essentially closing the borders and shutting down the economy, Netanyahu then quickly reopened the schools and many businesses, and effectively lost control of the pandemic. The country’s unemployment rate skyrocketed to about 20 percent, with some 1 million workers

Demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the pandemic and resulting economic crisis grow as more Israelis call for his resignation.

out of jobs. The number of those infected with COVID-19 has also climbed sharply this month.

Israelis are now fighting back. According to Israeli newspapers, more than 1,000 social workers blocked roads near government offices in mid-July in several major Israeli cities. At the same time, talks between the National Association of Nurses and the Israel Ministry of Finance collapsed, leading to a strike on Monday by the country’s nurses over staff shortages, exacerbated by the rising number of COVID-19 patients. The strike ended the same day with the government agreeing to hire 2,000 more nurses and 400 more doctors.

Continuous protests calling for Netanyahu’s resignation outside his official residence in Jerusalem have been growing throughout July while demonstrations against his handling of the pandemic and the economy expanded to more than 200 locations in Israel, including major cities such as Tel Aviv.

The head of opposition party Yesh Atid, Yair Lapid, called on Netanyahu to resign. “He’s failed. He’s lost control.

The coronavirus crisis isn’t being managed.” Lapid’s message echoes the disillusionment expressed in a recent poll of Israelis.

Results of the special survey by the Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at The Israel Democracy Institute reflected the collapse of Netanyahu’s support in the country. Fewer than 30 percent of those interviewed earlier this month said they still had trust in the prime minister’s handling of the situation.

According to the IDI, 75 percent of Israelis surveyed chose negative words to describe how they feel the government is functioning during the pan-

demic. Nearly 50 percent said they were “disappointed,” 22.5 percent described themselves as “angry” and 7 percent said they feel “alienated.” Only 15 percent chose positive words such as “satisfaction,” “trust” and “pride.”

The IDI survey also revealed Israelis’ economic concerns. Nearly 70 percent of low-income earners, 61 percent of average income earners and 35 per-

cent of above average income earners expressed fear for their economic wellbeing in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, in the past few weeks, while anger over the health and economic crises was boiling over, Netanyahu convinced the legislative branch, the Knesset, to provide him with personal tax favors worth 1 million shekels (or about $293,000), adding to Israelis’ rage. ì

THE SONENSHINE TEAM

Atlanta’s Favorite Real Estate Team

DEBBIE SONENSHINE Top 1% of Coldwell Banker Internationally, Certified Negotiator, Luxury, New Homes and Corporate Relocation Specialist Voted Favorite Jewish Realtor in AJT, Best of Jewish Atlanta

Debbie Sells Houses!

#1 Coldwell Banker Team in State

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

COMING SOON – Brookhaven - Condo Location & Gated!!

• Newly Renovated 2 Bedroom End Unit • Open Concept with Hardwood Floors Throughout • White Kitchen with New Quartz Counters, New SS Sink & Appliances • Double French Doors Open to Covered Patio

direct 404.250.5311 | office 404.252.4908 Follow Us On Facebook

Debbie@SonenshineTeam.com | www.SonenshineTeam.com ©2018 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Coldwell Banker is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Operated By a Subsidiary of NRT LLC.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 21

BUSINESS

Marcus JCC Receives $50K CARES Act Grant Atlanta Dentist Receives Prestigious The Marcus JCC of Atlanta is one of Fellowship

19 Georgia arts organizations recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act from the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA received more than 3,100 eligible applications for the direct assistance.

A total of 855 organizations — from every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico — received a total of $44.5 million in nonmatching funds to support staff salaries, fees for artists or contractual personnel, and facilities costs.

“This funding will have a significant impact on the MJCCA and specifically, the Book Festival of the MJCCA,” said CEO Jared Powers. “Support from this grant will allow the Book Festival, one of the most highly regarded literary events in the South, to continue to serve the community in transformative ways – currently in a virtual format, and later, when it is safe, with the return of physical programming.

We are grateful to the NEA for not only recognizing our need during this incredibly challenging time but for also recognizing the contributions our agency has made,

and will continue to make, to the community on an annual basis.”

Established by Congress in 1965, NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America.

Crowdfunding Leader Adds Jamestown to its Platform StartEngine, one of the nation’s largest equity crowdfunding platforms, announced it was collaborating with Jamestown, a leading global real estate investment and management company, to introduce Jamestown Invest to its platform. Jamestown, which developed Ponce City Market, is led by CEO Matt Bronfman.

The new online real estate investment vehicle represents the first and only Regulation A+ real estate investment opportunity StartEngine has featured among its listings, typically dominated by technology startups, according to a press release. The new listing comes in response to increasing interest for real estate investments, which are seen as helpful in developing balanced portfolios, according to the release. Since its launch in 2015, StartEngine has raised more than $150 million for over 350 companies on its crowdfunding platform.

“We’re very excited to introduce Jamestown Invest to investors who have voiced a desire to invest in real estate,” said StartEngine co-founder and CEO Howard Marks. “With its focus on value-added real estate opportunities, Jamestown Invest offers our investors the ability to invest in real estate with a proven team.”

Michael Phillips, a principal and president of Jamestown, said, “Today’s generation of investors want to have a sense that 22 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

their investments are lifting communities and building their neighborhoods; they want to know that their investment managers share their values. We launched Jamestown Invest so individuals throughout the U.S. could have the opportunity to invest in commercial real estate through a platform where there is a multidimensional return.

StartEngine is an ideal partner for Jamestown Invest because they understand the importance of this type of relationship.”

Jamestown Invest is an online directto-consumer investment vehicle that offers the opportunity to invest in real estate for a minimum of $2,500. Backed by Jamestown’s more than 35-year track record of investing and managing real estate, the fund focuses on the acquisition of valueadd properties in urban locations with potential for repositioning or redevelopment, the release said.

Since its launch in December 2019, Jamestown Invest has acquired a majority stake in Southern Dairies, a historic fivebuilding, 79,000-plus-square-foot creative office campus in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood. Located just steps away from Ponce City Market and the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail, the former dairy distribution plant now houses a diversified tenant mix including architectural, advertising and real estate firms.

Dr. Marianna Kovitch recently received the prestigious Fellowship Award from the Academy of General Dentistry. The award recognizes an ACG member’s commitment to excellence in dental education.

Kovitch was recognized with 340 other “dentists looking to provide the highest quality of dental care by remaining current in their profession,” according to a press release.

To qualify, Kovitch completed 500 hours of continuing dental education, passed a comprehensive written exam and fulfilled three years of continuing membership with the AGD. She joins “an elite group of more than 17,105 members of the dental community who understand that great smiles and good oral health for their patients are the result of going above and beyond basic requirements. The Fellowship Award symbolizes excellence in the dental profession and a commitment to providing exceptional patient care.”

AGD president Connie White said, “Only 6 percent of all dentists have achieved this designation, and we are proud to honor Dr. Kovitch for her commitment and dedication to provide her patients with advanced and exceptional oral health care. She is exceeding indus-

try requirements and paving a path of success, distinguishing herself professionally amongst her peers and exemplifying her allegiance to the dental community.”

Kovitch is a member of Temple Sinai and her children attend Jewish schools in Cobb County. She is a Russian immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1989 “like so many others in order to have the chance of being a doctor and getting awards without having Jewish persecution at every step.”

She graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 2011, is board-certified in dental sleep medicine and holds a fellowship from the International Congress of Oral Implantologists.

Steinberg Receives Physician Hall of Fame Award Dr. Anna (Chanie) Steinberg has achieved the Physician Hall of Fame award from Emory Healthcare DeKalb operating unit. Steinberg’s practice is at Emory at Downtown Decatur. Out of a field of 30, she was one of six doctors chosen for the award.

Steinberg received this coveted award for her sensitivity to patient needs and follow-up with patients, in addition to her contributions as a long-time volunteer at Physicians’ Care Clinic. She was also recently named among Atlanta magazine’s Atlanta Top Doctors 2020. ì

Compiled by AJT staff

OPINION Looking Back While Looking Forward I now carry a card in my wallet that qualifies me to begin sentences with the phrase “I remember when.”

Yes, growing up, I did Dave Schechter tromp to school From Where I Sit through snow drifts, but that’s not where this is going.

The development of a COVID-19 vaccine brought back a childhood memory of standing in line at a local school and being given a small paper cup containing a sugar cube to suck on. Added to that sugar cube was the oral polio vaccine developed by Dr. Albert Sabin.

Polio frightened parents and scared boys and girls saw other children whose legs were strapped into bulky metal braces because of paralysis caused by the virus.

Sabin and Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine, administered by injection, were heroes. They were the embodiment of American ingenuity and the exceptionalism that we were inoculated with as a guard against other belief systems in post-World War II America.

Contrast that with the divisiveness over the response to COVID-19, and the besmirching of the reputation of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, whose calm demeanor may stem from his experience navigating the fractious public atmosphere during the HIV/ AIDS crisis three decades earlier.

From a young age I read newspapers, listened to news on radio, and watched news on television. In my pre-teen and early teenage years, the evening news frequently highlighted reports from the war in Vietnam and from the civil rights front across America.

The “long, hot summer” of 1967 sparked — choose your term: riot, uprising, revolt — in some 160 cities and towns, as the anger of African Americans over issues of jobs, housing and policing reached a boiling point. Even as the smoke billowed, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a commission, chaired by federal judge and former Illinois governor Otto Kerner, to investigate the causes of the riots. Two years earlier, another commission, impaneled by California’s governor, had blamed “riffraff” for the 1965 riots in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

So there was shock in some quarters in

February 1968 when the 11-member Kerner commission, including Atlanta Police Chief Herbert Turner Jenkins, issued its findings.

“Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans,” the commission said. “What white Americans have never fully understood — but what the Negro can never forget — is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”

One statement in that report stood out: “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.”

Fifty-two years later, there is nothing contradictory about believing that race relations have improved in segments of American life since the mid-1960s AND that work remains to dismantle structures that buttress racism.

The America of my youth was deeply divided, I think more so than today. A broad spectrum of Americans felt that the country was tearing itself apart at the seams, and not to the dismay of everyone.

Young people (many, though perhaps not most, contrary to a popular fiction) openly rebelled against the institutions in which they had been swaddled, their dissent ranging from choices of clothing and the length of hair to marches that numbered five- and sometimes six-digits, and protests that disrupted university campuses.

African Americans sought in practice the rights guaranteed on paper in the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Hispanics developed a political consciousness grounded in an awareness that their labor was undervalued. Women called for equality in reality, rather than in lip service, from wages in the workplace to control of their bodies. The gay rights movement raised its voice after a police raid on a New York bar.

I don’t want to abuse the privilege of saying “I remember when” and become one of those fuddy-duddies who dismisses or diminishes the challenges faced by young people today, some of which appear similar to the struggles a half century ago and others that would have been difficult to imagine in those years. Hopefully, I can avoid any inclination to view the present through the lens of the past, while still appreciating that the past can help map the direction and the distance to be traveled in the future.

Now, let me tell you about those snow drifts. ì

Eldercare Companions Serving Atlanta and Surrounding Areas Since 2005

• Hourly and Live In Caregivers • Driving to Errands/Appointments • Exercise/Social Activities/Mind Stimulation • Meal Planning/Preparation/Cleanup • Light Housekeeping/Laundry • Medication Reminders • Assistance Showering/Dressing • Hospice Support • Short Term and Long Term Caregivers • Condition Specific Caregivers Extensive Background Checks on All Caregivers Committed to Your Safety

We are strictly following CDC Guidelines for COVID-19 Ask About Our “Caring Companion Way” Personalized Cognitive Therapy Program

770-977-9111

www.EldercareCompanions.com Locally Owned

by Hillary Abrams Author of Award Winning “Aging Parents and Options in Care” A Simple Handbook

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 23

Living Your Best Life At

Active Adult Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care Why we are the healthiest place to live in Atlanta!

UV Lighting throughout all common areas Negative Ion Emission Full Building Water Filtration System Balconies and Porches for Fresh Air and Sunlight Fresh Farm to Table Food Full Service Spa, including Salt Water Pool HydroWorx pool used for rehab injuries and reduces inflammation Large campus to walk Indoors and Outdoor The Healthy Climate UV light emits ultraviolet energy that has been proven effective in reducing microbial life form (viruses, bacteria, yeasts and molds) in the air. The Negative Ion Emissions lifts mood and kills mold, bacteria and viruses as well as reducing allergens in the air. Some metropolitan water systems have been tested with up to 50+ micro drug residues in the water. That is why we install a full building water filtration system to deliver the best water possible.

Schedule Your Tour Now! 404-496-6794 1882 Clairmont Road Decatur, GA 30033 www.holbrooklife.com 24 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

OPINION

Publisher’s Note I do not portend doomsday scenarios, but the world in which we live is certainly getting more extreme and has been trending this way for at Michael A. Morris least a decade.

Publisher If we do not recognize the trend, we cannot begin to change.

I recall having very serious debates about the rising wave of Political Correctness 10 years ago. At the time, people were concerned just how far this concept could invade our freedom. Five years ago, we were discussing whether or not freedom of speech was defined as “only speech with which I agree.” These were very heated discussions and with almost no middle ground. Three years ago, President Trump’s election severely polarized our nation. You either liked the president or didn’t, and that translated to you being a good person or an evil person; and again, with no middle ground and no option for debate. Today, amidst riots and extreme racial tensions, there is a call from some to do away with one of our most important institutions: the police.

An institution that protects all of us and our rights and allows us to live in a civilized fashion. Our viewpoints, on the left and the right, are becoming narrower, with less room for discussion and less ability to compromise, leaving almost no ability to draw consensus. And if that is not enough, we have become contentious, angry and distrustful.

We are losing our basic guiding principles. We are missing the point that only in America (and a handful of other countries) can we even have this conversation. Only in America can we talk about how and why we disagree, and now, even hate. Only in America can we virulently discuss our leaders’ faults, or even elect officials in our democratic country that want to roll back our democracy, reduce our freedoms and move away from capitalism, which built this nation to be the strongest in the world. Only in America do we invite people into our country that want to radically change our country and how we live; and, only to America does the whole world still want to immigrate. Why do people still want to flock here? For two basic reasons: because of the freedoms, democracy and capitalism they do not have where they live; or, to undermine us and change us to their way

of thinking. Think about that. It is either because our system is great compared to theirs, or they have nefarious intent. In my opinion, that means for all of us here, we have forgotten how great we are, we take our freedom for granted, and, we are so free that we are blinded to others’ intent.

We must begin to learn to live together again. We must begin to learn to compromise again. We must relearn to love peace more than we hate difference.

Most important, we must agree again that freedom to live in harmony, without hurting or violating others, is consummate and is what made this nation different from all others and compelled others to join us. Our nation is not perfect. Each individual in our nation is not perfect.

There is no perfection out there, but people stream to our borders because it is the best option. We do have to agree on some basic principles to make this system work. We all have to want freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have to agree on a democratic government to perpetuate our freedoms.

We have to accept some sort of mechanism to protect us from ourselves, such as the concept of police. And, we have to accept all the faults that are inherently human. If we cannot agree on a few basic principles, our system will come crashing down. We have to agree to disagree, with integrity and respect, so that we can continually fix the faults that are embedded in our system and ourselves.

One of the hurdles that makes it harder for us to agree, even upon basic principles, is the size of our population. Let me give you an example. Under President Obama, about three-quarters of Americans agreed with him pulling out of Iraq. That means that 75 million people disagreed with that action. That is more than the population of the U.K., or Spain, or Italy. Spend a moment thinking about the difficulty in running a country when you obtain the support of the vast majority of the country, yet tens of millions still disagree.

I challenge all of us, and especially the Jewish community, to think about how to be part of the solution. I do not have the answers, but I can see the problems, I see the trends, and they do not look good right now. ì

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 25

HEALTH & WELLNESS Sandy Springs Exec at Forefront of Global Virus Testing

By Robyn Spizman Gerson Lauren Spanjer Bricks and the company she co-owns is at the fore-

front of COVID-19 testing. Bricks is chief operating officer of Ipsum Diagnostics in Sandy Springs, an independent medical laboratory that is one of only 12 with authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 molecular testing.

Ipsum’s lab is open around the clock and is testing thousands of COVID-19 samples per day with a 24-hour turnaround time. Bricks led her company of 100 employees to develop fast and accurate COVID-19 tests, helping to expand testing in Georgia. Founded in 2016, Ipsum specializes in clinical and anatomical testing services.

On April 1, the FDA granted emergency use authorization for the Ipsum Diagnostics COVID-19 test. Bricks and her team quickly recognized that Ipsum could adapt and share their test methodology to support other small, independent labs across the U.S. They worked with Mercer University Medical School, which is now operating Ipsum’s satellite laboratory, and helped bring testing to areas that had no COVID-19 testing.

The Atlanta native on the cutting edge of lifesaving testing is a 2005 University of Maryland graduate with a degree in biology and a Master of Business Administration. She has nearly a decade of experience in the realm of lab testing and lab diagnostics. “Atlanta is very important to me and my husband; we both grew up in Sandy Springs. My mother-in-law and her siblings were all born and raised here.

I went to Riverwood High School, met my husband here in Atlanta,” Bricks said.

“We live and work in Sandy Springs, both owning our own

Lauren Bricks, COO of Ipsum Diagnostics 26 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

businesses that are close to home and The Davis Academy, where our children attend school.”

Dr. Steven Marlowe, infectious disease doctor and chief medical officer of Ipsum Diagnostics, said, “Our COVID-19 test, like all PCR (polymerase chain reaction) reference laboratory tests, is a snapshot in time. It is the best way to know if you are carrying the COVID-19 virus. A negative test, in general, means you are not infected with the virus at that particular moment. It does not predict the future. You could get infected right after you have a negative test,” Marlow stressed.

“Ideally everyone should be tested to prevent the spread of the virus. Currently, using CDC estimates, 94 percent of those tests would be negative. Realistically, we cannot now test the entire population. We have to do what epidemiologists call ‘stratify the risk” and rank by importance of the risk of infection.”

He offered some tips for when to get tested: • If you have symptoms, talk with your primary care clinician. It is generally a good idea to get tested to confirm your diagnosis. He/she will make the decision with you based on your individual situation.

• You may need two negative tests at the end of your illness as a ‘proof of cure’ to go back to work.

• If you have a significant exposure and have no symptoms, self-quarantine and get tested in 14 days or later to make sure you’re not carrying the virus.

• Get tested periodically if you live or work in a high-risk area.

• When planning to visit a high-risk family member or friend, get tested 24 hours prior to make sure you don’t infect them.

Marlowe added, “There is a lot of confusion about the time-period of infection and when to get tested. The incubation period of COVID-19 is generally up to 14 days. That means if you are going to get sick (i.e. develop symptoms) you will know within 14 days after the exposure. Most people know in about five days. However, not everyone gets sick after getting infected.

“The CDC estimates 40 percent of people remain asymptomatic following infection. Those individuals carry the virus unknowingly and can infect others. That is presently the major reason why this pandemic is so difficult to con-

Plate samples that have been extracted being prepared for PCR testing.

tain. The best way to know if you are an asymptomatic carrier and unwittingly spreading the virus to others is to get a PCR test.”

The Sandy Springs lab is now expanding its testing. Bricks explained, “PCR testing is the most sensitive testing to detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus. It is based on finding minute amounts of a piece of the virus’ genetic code (RNA). What makes this testing method so unique is that it is designed for labs that are equipped to run a large volume of test samples in one session. Currently, our lab tests 7,000 samples per day. Furthermore, Ipsum can designate other laboratories to perform our test, and we are helping to expand testing in other communities around the country.”

Ipsum’s work is important, she said, beyond identifying those that need to be quarantined. Each patient has a different important reason for testing: reuniting a newborn with his mother who spiked a fever after delivery; employees able to go back to work; a cancer patient who can be cleared to have treatment, alleviating the nervousness and anxiety of not knowing, along with other critical challenges during the pandemic.

When asked about ramping up testing after the FDA granted authorization, Bricks said, “The hard part swiftly followed. The entire supply chain was disrupted. We had developed the paperless COVID portal where orders could be entered, created aggregate reports

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Loading plate with buffers for RNA extraction.

Preparing reagent being used for testing.

that would compile all positive reports did they develop the test, they came up with a userinto one file to friendly portal make reporting for patients and to different state providers, and health departshe was also the ments simple, first to cater to provided metthe Spanishrics on positivspeaking comity rates, turnmunity by ofaround time, and fering the test had many other report in Spanwell-thoughtish. out solutions to She said her make the entire goal is to help process seamsave as many less,” she said. lives as possible “What we Dr. Steven Marlowe, infectious disease doctor everyhadn’t prepared and chief medical officer of Ipsum Diagnostics. because one deserves to for was that there would be no swabs and all the basic have access to fast and accurate medilab consumables would be a challenge cal testing.

“Testing is a keystone to controlto procure. I never in my life thought I would be up all night stressed out ling and conquering the COVID-19 panover a swab. We had to come up with demic. Pending the discovery of more solutions. We found swabs, but there effective treatments and vaccines, it is were no transport tubes available. We the best way to stop the spread. Only found a solution. The lab added 24/7 by testing and identifying cases can kit production assembly. We had ‘clean we isolate and quarantine people and rooms’ and sterilization capabilities, break the transmission chain,” Bricks we could make our own kits and put said. “Given the extent of the worldquality measures into place. We were wide pandemic, most experts feel COable to provide the state with the col- VID-19 will be with us for quite a while. lection kits they needed, going up every More technology and innovation are single week: 12,000, 25,0000, 35,0000 being done in our industry and we are hopeful for future progress. then 65,000.”

Bricks added, “I am very proud that Bricks and her team were innovative in their approach to forging for- as a small lab we can accomplish signifward with their own FDA EUA. Not only icant feats.” ì ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 27

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Compromised Health and COVID

By Jan Jaben-Eilon

sized behind her right ear. Just before the diagnosis, her husband Flavio – a No one is having an easy time ad- gastroenterology specialist -- said she justing to the new normal of living with- looked strange, and she felt dizzy. “The day before the surin the constraints gery, I had a panic and fears of the attack. I thought, global coronavirus will I wake up? Will pandemic which, I have major personaccording to the ality changes?” latest figures from A dancer, Johns Hopkins UniManela had been versity of Medicine, an Atlanta Balhas taken the lives let teacher. Fortuof more than 3,000 nately, the surgery Georgians, 140,000 was successful, and Americans and she proceeded with 600,000 worldwide. chemotherapy and But for those who radiation – both of have compromised which compromise immune systems a person’s immune due to past diagnosystem. Anti-seizure ses, the challenges and vulnerabilities Zoom doesn’t replace the active social life medicine, which she that cancer survivor Dora Manela and will have to take for are even greater. her family had before the pandemic. the rest of her life, More than five years ago, Dora Manela was diagnosed put weight on her thin body. And she with a brain tumor. “Mine was pretty was impacted in other ways. She had to big,” she said, describing it as potato- relearn how to button buttons and type

Dr Barry Cohen has been a respected orthodontist since 1988 and is a Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. In mid-2017, Dr Matt Cohen joined the practice to make a strong father/son team. At Cohen Orthodontics, we provide interceptive treatment, comprehensive adolescent as well as adult orthodontic treatment with traditional appliances, metal and clear braces and Invisalign for all ages. Our goal is to work with you every step of the way to ensure your treatment is as relaxed, convenient and rewarding as possible.

Visit our website at www.bcohenortho.com Check out our Google reviews!

4721 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd Dunwoody, GA 30338 770-394-0002 28 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

500 Concord Rd SE Smyrna, GA 30082 770-432-5455

her for. “It’s weird because lupus sympon a computer.

“The drugs make me loopy. My face toms can present themselves as differgets more numb, but I’m very lucky. ent diseases in different people. If you I walk. I exercise,” she said, but she is, have four of the 11 blood work criteria, you can be diagnosed understandably, very with lupus.” self-protective during Even now, her this pandemic. “I buy doctor isn’t totally everything on Amasure she has lupus, zon,” she joked. which is a chronic Not yet 60, autoimmune system Manela said her didisease. That means agnosis changed her the immune system is sense of time and her dysfunctional and can husband’s. “We don’t attack healthy tissue. know how much time The immune system we will have. He had is thus less effective in had a massive heart fighting infections, inattack 10 years ago.” cluding bacteria and The couple, who viruses like COVID-19. grew up in Brazil, Moreover, the medicahave lived with an tions that people with appreciation of life lupus often take can even before the threat Dora Manela is a former ballerina also limit the body’s of COVID-19. Manela and Atlanta Ballet teacher. This photo was taken around 1985. ability to fight infecsaid the pandemic had a different impact on them. “My hus- tions.

But Minsk’s biggest difficulty durband and I were super social.” Friends, former students and her two children’s ing the pandemic is even getting the friends would visit all the time before drug she must take daily. Hydroxychlosocial distancing was required. “Zoom roquine had been heralded by some as doesn’t work well for me,” she said. “But preventative for COVID-19, resulting in the mind has to stay curious and we an increased demand for the drug on need to always keep learning from any which Minsk is dependent. Although research has shown no evidence that the situation.”

Cancer patients who underwent drug can prevent a person from getting COVID-19, Minsk has weeks or months of had to rely on undervarious treatments standing pharmacists may be accustomed who have made sure to taking one day at she has the drug she a time, living in the needs. present. In fact, that Referring to COmay help them adapt VID-19, Minsk – the better to the ongoing mother of two teenagtrauma of living durers – said emphatically, ing a pandemic. But, “I cannot get this disfor those with lupus, ease. Corona wouldn’t living in today’s realbe good for me. I’ve ity is very different. always tried hard not In the nearly 30 to get sick. My body is years since she was not strong.” A couple diagnosed with lupus, of times when she has Julie Kaminsky Minsk gotten sick, she said said she’s “never had Although Julie Kaminsky Minsk she knew she’d get betthe fear of dying, and has been fighting lupus for decades, she said she had never before feared ter. “If I got dehydratnow I am afraid of dydeath. “And now I’m afraid of dying.” ed, I could go to the ing.”

Minsk was serving in the Peace emergency room for fluids. It was a quick Corps in Africa when, as a 23-year-old, fix. Even with the flu, there are things you she started experiencing achy joints, can do.”

Nowadays, she feels “there’s not so fevers and rashes. “The first thing we thought was malaria,” she recalled. much to do to protect yourself.” ì Bounced back and forth between docJan Jaben-Eilon is a nearly 14-year tors, Minsk explained that she was tested for everything they could test survivor of late-stage ovarian cancer.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

‘PAZitive’ Living With a Brain Cancer Diagnosis

By Flora Rosefsky

chologist, works with those impacted by cancer and other medical challenges. A When Karen Botnick Paz had an key tenet of her approach is that there is MRI, she never imagined the scan would no one right way to face life’s challenges. reveal a cancerous brain tumor. Follow- Instead, it is about finding an authentic ing a brain biopsy, the pathology showed way to cope. She often recommends that there was a good chance the tumor her patients develop a coping “toolkit,” coming up with a vawould respond favorriety of strategies they ably to chemotherapy, can use when they are due to certain genetic feeling anxious or demarkers. “Although the pressed. For example, doctor said my tumor a patient might use a was well behaved and combination of social had a good personality, support, relaxation receiving the news of strategies, exercise and having a brain tumor enjoyable activities to on Dec. 31, 2015, was cope during difficult nowhere on my radar times. She also works screen,” she said. with patients on proFrom that day cessing feelings such forward, despite learnas sadness, anger and ing that her particular Emma Stein helps cancer fear, and accepting tumor had no cure patients find coping tools that these are normal and was too risky to that work best for them. parts of the cancer exremove, Paz dug deep into her own positive outlook on life. perience. Stein runs a private practice in After completing a year of three types Buckhead and facilitates support groups of chemotherapy, she was determined to for those impacted by cancer at Piedmont find more resources in Atlanta, across the Hospital's cancer wellness program.

Today, about 700,000 people in the country and the world to explore how to United States are living with a primary live a productive and healthy life.

Paz admitted that it wasn’t about brain tumor, according to the National the cancer controlling her life; instead, Brain Tumor Society. About 80 percent she felt empowered. She discovered that of all cancers have the ability to spread she could create endorphins by laughing, to the brain. These include melanoma, lung, breast, renal and loving and living with colorectal cancer. Degratitude. Using exerspite the number of cise, meditation, ritual brain tumors and their mikvah immersion devastating prognoses, and yoga, Paz learned there are only five FDA how to gain mental, approved drugs – and emotional and physione device – to treat cal strength. Using her brain tumors, the NBTS last name (pronounced reports. For many tu‘PahZ’) as inspiration, mor types, surgery and she developed the manradiation remain the tra “be PAZitive” to emstandard of care. brace each day with a The goal of NBTS positive attitude.

Photo courtesy of Karen Paz // is to “defeat, connect The PAZitive phiKaren Paz and Roy Cranman and change,” accordlosophy took off after at the Southeastern Brain ing to its website. she met Roy Cranman Tumor Foundation’s annual One way to connect on JDate in early Dewalk in September 2016 to raise is through its Patient cember 2015. Three awareness and research funds.

Navigator program, weeks later, Cranman met her entire family for the first time which includes support programs such at Northside Hospital. A week after that, as educational materials and organized Paz had brain biopsy surgery at Pied- patient/family conferences.

“Having a brain tumor is overwhelmmont Hospital. “Roy lovingly stayed by my side and has supported me every step ing,” according to the American Brain Tumor Association. “Having the support of of my journey.”

Last month, on June 14, the couple others is life-affirming.” The nonprofit’s website goes on to say that from diagnoexchanged wedding vows in Atlanta.

Emma Stein, a clinical health psy- sis, surgery and treatment side effects,

A few days before her brain biopsy in 2016, friends gave support to Karen Paz at a yoga session near the Chattahoochee River in Roswell.

to recovery and for some — recurrence — many patients and caregivers feel anxious and isolated. Support groups can improve emotional well-being and quality of life by providing information, emotional support and resources.

Atlanta-based Sharecare, founded by digital health pioneer Jeff Arnold and TV personality Dr. Oz, offers a video on YouTube with cancer patients and survivors.

It recreates the inspirational speech of former North Carolina Basketball Coach

Jimmy Valvano with positive viewpoints, an example of how sharing stories can be part of a supportive network, www.youtube.com/watch?v=FycwD7p2-o4 Such networks and a positive attitude such as Paz promotes can pave the medical road map for patients struggling with cancer to lead a more hopeful life. ì For more information about brain cancer, visit www.braintumor.org/ or www.abta.org/.

Move-In Specials

FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED “BEST VALUE SENIOR LIVING & MEMORY CARE” IN THE HEART OF SANDY SPRINGS ALL - INCLUSIVE RATES Community Is Almost Finished with New Updates, Call Now for your Discounted Renovation Special

CALL TODAY 404-843-8857

690 MOUNT VERNON HWY, SANDY SPRINGS, GA 30328 VERNONSPRINGS.COM

CURT@VERNONSPRINGS.COM ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 29

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Grady Doctor Talks Brain Issues With COVID

By Bob Bahr Earlier this month the British medical journal Brain published a report that warned that doctors may be missing signs of serious and sometime fatal brain illnesses that were showing up in patients that had only mild symptoms of a COVID-19 virus infection.

We asked Dr. Michael Frankel, professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine, about the new findings.

The journal reported that among 40 patients that were studied, 12 had inflammation of the central nervous system, 10 suffered from delirium or psychosis, eight had strokes and another eight had serious nerve disease.

The main author of the July 8 study, Dr. Michael Zandi at the University College London’s Institute of Neurology, was particularly concerned that these conditions developed even though patients had, in his opinion, “only trivial lung disease.”

“We’re seeing things in the way COVID-19 affects the brain that we haven’t seen with other viruses.”

The cases reported in Britain have added to what some doctors believe are the

What’s behind your mask?

COVID-19, even if it is slight, may cause brain disease, according to some researchers.

Bernie Marcus established the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady Hospital with Dr. Michael Frankel, chief of neurology and director, and Dr. Raul Nogueira, director of neuroendovascular division.

Researchers are concerned that brain damage related to COVI-19 may not be apparent for a considerable time.

longer-term effects of COVID-19, which include numbness in the body, weakness and memory problems even when other symptoms of the disease have disappeared.

Frankel, an international authority on brain health, has been chief of neurology and director of the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady Hospital since its founding.

Frankel: There are two pieces to the puzzle. Does the virus cause direct neurological or neurovascular or other types of neurologically-related pathology or is it indirect, meaning does it cause something to happen somewhere else in the body that triggers the neurological illness? Most commonly you would think of inflammation that the virus might trigger or a tendency for forming blood clots that may create more neurological illness. So we are, I think, still at that early stage of recognizing that it is possible that it causes both direct and indirect neurological illness.

lot like Parkinson’s disease.

There are people who get the flu and then a week or six weeks later, they develop encephalomyelitis [brain and spinal chord inflammation]. So we know that these organisms can trigger these responses. The question is, is it happening at a greater rate than we would expect? And is there a particular pattern this virus is creating? And we don’t know that yet. We are still very concerned about it. And we were very aggressive with trying to understand it at the patient level.

AJT: How do you see this study?

AJT: How concerned are you that COVID-19 can increase the incidence of stroke?

Frankel: We’re very concerned about stroke. We understand that there is a tendency for clotting that I think is very apparent now. This virus does create a tendency towards forming blood clots, which could lead to more strokes or more deadly forms of strokes, which are in larger blood clots blocking larger arteries.

There was a report from Mount Sinai Health System in New York in May about young patients developing large artery blockages or occlusions in the brain, and that was they were seeing more of that than they felt that they would ordinarily. But it’s another numerators study, like the one in Brain, meaning, here’s what we’re seeing, now we have to put it in context. Is it just a random issue or is it really happening in significant numbers?

AJT: Is there some historic precedent for the neurological effects of the COVID-19 virus?

Frankel: It’s been known for over 100 years that the influenza virus can trigger neurologic disease. I mean, the most famous one was back in 1917 and 1918. There were, at that time, patients who developed serious central nervous system disease. It looked a

30 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

AJT: How concerned are you about how the fear of COVID-19 infection is affecting how and when people seek treatment for stroke?

Frankel: We have this collateral damage phenomenon because of the fear factor that people have that if they go to the hospital they could be exposed to COVID-19 illness. We are seeing patients coming to the hospital later than they should with stroke symptoms. That means that they may not benefit from the treatment as much as if they had called 911 immediately.

AJT: How important is time when you’ve had a stroke?

Frankel: Every second counts when the brain is in trouble. We want to get the word out that treatments are time-dependent and that when you develop weakness on one side of your body or difficulty speaking, you need to call 911 immediately.

AJT: So how important is the work of the Marcus Stroke Center?

Frankel: This is a truly valuable resource, and now more so than ever, because, we’re in a war zone. And, you know, the enemy is this virus. And having this jewel of the Marcus Stroke Center at Grady for Atlanta and surrounding communities is a true blessing. ì

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Contact Tracing COVID-19

Smiles are our business!

By Chana Shapiro Leanna Ehrlich came to Emory University to get a Master of Public Health degree in the global health department.

Her focus was on chronic disease related to diet and physical activity, and she planned to complete summer requirements for the degree in her field. Ehrlich had worked in other public health venues, which included a year in Nicaragua for Global Brigades, a nonprofit health and sustainable development organization, followed by four years at a Boston public health research and consulting company, all focusing on chronic disease.

“I had very little interest or experience in infectious disease,” she noted.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, it was almost impossible to leave to work in global health, yet opportunities opened in the fight against the pandemic here. “That’s how I got involved in contact tracing,” Ehrlich explained, “and I’m glad I did!”

Contact tracing is the process of reaching people who tested positive for COVID-19 and asking them to identify others with whom they have had close contact. COVID-19 is categorized as a “notifiable disease,” meaning that the results of all COVID-19 tests in each state are reported to the state’s Department of Public Health. From there, the results are filtered to separate counties, and contact tracers follow up by reaching those who tested positive for the virus and locating people who have been in contact with them.

Those who have tested positive don’t always receive notification in a timely manner. A tracer can speed up the process by being the first person to tell someone their coronavirus test was positive. If they have no symptoms, they may be surprised. Ideally, they agree to self-isolate for the required period of time during which they might infect others.

Ehrlich works two or three shifts of three to five hours weekly. There are two different online portals in which she enters information. The first, case interviews, is for people who have tested positive. The second is contacts, for people who have been in close contact with those who tested positive. Each interview is over the phone, and all information is entered in secure and HIPAA-compliant (health information privacy) portals. The tracer’s task is to get information and a list of symptoms that both groups of people are experiencing.

The job is not always easy. “I’ve received a whole range of responses,” Eh-

COVID-19 contact tracer Leanna Ehrlich makes calls and records data from home, accompanied by her cat Ashie.

rlich said. “First, it can be hard to get folks on the phone. I often play phone tag and might never make contact. Once on the phone, people react in a wide range of ways, depending on their personality.

When we get in touch with a contact, people are understandably worried, especially when we are the first to deliver this news. Fortunately, because COVID-19 has been in the media for so long, most people know the drill. Most important, we always give cases and contacts an opportunity to ask us any questions they have, make sure they have the ability to safely isolate or quarantine themselves, and clarify which symptoms warrant going to a hospital versus recovering at home.” All interviewees are sent helpful follow-up information, she said.

Tracers collect as much data as possible, helping epidemiologists discover why some demographics may have worse symptoms than others. Tracers ask a long list of personal questions, including living and work conditions, age, gender, ethnicity, underlying medical conditions and travel. There is no requirement that they answer.

Responsibilities include correctly entering all information in the secure online portals. Other tracers work at the local, state and national levels to aggregate data about who is affected and where they are located. For example, knowing where someone who tested positive goes to school can help epidemiologists look for an outbreak there.

Summing up her experience, Ehrlich said, “This summer has been a completely unexpected, rewarding learning experience, definitely not what I thought one of my summer jobs would be in grad school, or ever. I have learned a lot, hopefully helped contain the coronavirus pandemic in Fulton County, and had a memorable professional public health experience I will never forget.” ì

Harris B. Siegel, DMD, FAGO Arthur H. "Skip" Dolt, Ill, DDS, FAGO Marc “Chas” Plaisance, Jr., DMD

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

Siegel & Dolt Comprehensive Dental Care

Druid Pointe Building • 2751 Buford Highway • Suite 302 Atlanta GA 30324 Telephone: (404) 634-1277 www.siegelanddolt.com

Note: Ehrlich’s observations are personal and do not reflect the official position of the Fulton County Department of Health.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 31

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Qualified Quacks

By Robyn Spizman Gerson Adrienne Clark runs a company with a memorable name. If you’ve heard about it, it was most likely in reference to getting tested for COVID-19.

Since 2018, her company Qualified Quacks has served as a to-your-door service that provides primary and urgent health care services for individuals and businesses. Most of her time now is focused on testing for the virus as her company arranges for the test to be read and reported back. Growing at a rapid speed, Qualified Quacks started as a small, Direct Primary Care concierge practice that brought back an old-school model of healthcare by only making house calls.

As founder and clinical director, Clark shared, “I’m a tomboy-farm-gal that transformed into an observant Jewish woman and mother of three children. I’m quirky, love the little miracles in life that are everywhere, and jumping in where I feel I can help make a difference.

“After I graduated from Johns Hopkins Nursing School, I moved to Atlanta with my family – to be nearer to my now ex-husband’s family – and started my job as a labor and delivery nurse at Northside Hospital,” she said.

“I decided to become a nurse after I had a less-thanpleasant experience when I was delivering my first born (daughter). I decided I could be at least one person helping women to have a positive experience during, what I believe, is the most vulnerable and intimate time of a woman’s life. This seems to have become a theme over

32 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

my 13 years as a nurse; I identify a need and set out to try and make a positive difference.”

The story of Qualified Quacks is two-fold. “First, I was frustrated with what I was witnessing and experiencing as a nurse: healthcare becoming businessfocused and losing sight of patient care. I reached out to some physicians I knew who shared a similar vision, close friends, and asked them to take a leap of faith with me.”

So how did she pick the company name? “I have a quirky sense of humor and my mother is an English teacher. I wanted a name that embodied both my quirkiness and attention to small details. Qualified Quacks is paradoxical, and an oxymoron. It’s memorable. People either love or hate the name, yet they remember it.”

She added, “My logo is the ‘real story.’ Years ago, I lived in Birmingham, Ala., where I met an artist named Don Stewart. As I was speaking to him, he shared that he had gone to med school, then residency, and when he finished, he decided he had no desire to be a doctor and wanted to pursue his art instead. I’ve always followed my intuition or marched to my own beat. Here was someone who had done so and was completely grounded. One of his pieces of artwork, which he describes as his ‘self-portrait’ is titled ‘Quack!’ As soon as I decided on the name, I knew there could only be one logo for me.

I emailed Don, told him what I was doing, and asked if I could pay for the rights to use his artwork. He told me to use it (free of charge) and I was blown away.”

Clark continued, “When COVID hit, I recognized

Adrienne Clark is founder and clinical director of Qualified Quacks.

the faultiness in the logic about only testing people who were horribly sick to the point of needing hospitalization. I wanted to get people tested before they hit that point. So, I investigated what the barriers were to testing, networked and hit the ground running with testing.

“We offer direct primary care memberships, which provide patients with all their primary healthcare needs and sick calls. We also provide urgent care services such as stitches, IV hydration, physicals, blood work, X-rays and ultrasound – all in the comfort of patients’ homes.

Most importantly, we aren’t on a time clock. We get to take our time, educate and address patients’ concerns.

“We use a molecular PCR COVID-19 test and use a nasopharyngeal (NP) [nose swab] sample, which is considered the ‘gold standard.’ Our labs are run by Ipsum Diagnostics, one of only 12 FDA-approved COVID-19 molecular labs in the U.S.” When it comes to educating the public, she added, “Every time someone calls to book a test there are always questions, or they request a rapid test, or a blood spot test. We educate them right then about the difference between the reliability and accuracy of the variety of tests, and the rationale behind why we test the way we do. That education continues on-site at the patients’ homes, and we stay until we have answered their questions,” she said.

“Typically, results are available within 48 to 72 hours and if their results are positive, we notify patients when their tests are positive. We send them a handout with warning signs or symptoms they should seek emergency help for if they occur, and teach them how to contact trace and notify individuals who may be affected. We also explain about quarantining and when to retest to ensure they are negative prior to coming out of quarantine.” ì

HEALTH & WELLNESS

‘Deaths of Despair’ Are Growing During COVID-19

By Bob Bahr

of the Year Award last year from the National Council for Behavioral Health, deSpiritually based mental health pro- scribed Southern states as among those grams have an important role to play in a that are likely to suffer the most.

“In the wake of the coronavirus pannation facing a serious substance abuse crisis, according to Gabrielle Spatt, exec- demic, communities already affected by utive director of The Blue Dove Founda- rising deaths of despair — the Midwest, South, and Northeast — will probably be tion in Atlanta.

Spatt shared that message at a na- further razed by the economic and psytional meeting of health care profession- chological consequences of COVID.” According to a report released by als earlier this month via Zoom. She was speaking July 13 to the National Alliance the American Medical Association July on Mental Illness about “Engaging Faith 21, there has been a massive increase over the past four years in deaths from Leaders in Addressing Mental Illness.”

“We believe a compassionate and illegally manufactured addictive drugs. knowledgeable approach to mental ill- From 2015 to 2019, deaths from synthetic ness can strengthen any community. fentanyl increased from just over 5,700 The way we really see ourselves is as an to more then 36,000, the AMA reported.

Spatt knows firsthand organization that is a comthe consequences of menmunity quarterback, that tal illness and drug abuse. we are bringing the Jewish Her younger sister, who community together for suffered from severe dethese conversations.” pression and bipolar disorSpatt was joined at der, died of an opioid overthe mental health convendose containing fentanyl tion by Shannon Royce, when she was 30. director of the Center for The story is part of a Faith and Opportunity book called “Quieting The Initiatives at the U.S. DeSilence” The Blue Dove partment of Health and Foundation published in Human Services. Royce deGabrielle Spatt believes April. It tells how 19 peoscribed the desperate need that the Jewish process ple, many of them in their for mental health care serof psychological healing is a lifelong effort. own words, overcame a vavices and how that need is, riety of mental disorders and substance increasingly, not being met.

“In a small congregation of 100 peo- abuse issues.

The book joins an education video ple, which is the average size of congregations around the United States, 20 people presentation the foundation produced in that congregation will be dealing with that describes the mental health issues some kind of mental illness. Only eight that Jewish community leaders in Atlanof those, in a typical congregation, will ta have encountered. The video, which premiered at the San Diego Jewish Film be getting any care at all.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has only Festival last year, features the personal made matters worse. Because of the pan- mental health experiences of Rabbi Alvin demic, it is estimated that an additional Sugarman of The Temple and Cantorial 75,000 Americans could die by suicide, Soloist Beth Schafer of Temple Sinai.

“Who we are is rooted in the idea of drugs and alcohol.

A report released in May by the Well storytelling,” Spatt said. “It’s our cornerBeing Trust and American Academy of stone; it’s what we’re all about. We want Family Physicians projected that so-called to create a space where people can share “deaths of despair” could be even higher their stories and show others they are not if the country fails to act decisively to ad- alone.”

Raising awareness of the consedress the mental health issues caused by the isolation and social and economic un- quences of mental illness and substance abuse is sometimes difficult because certainty the health crisis has created.

Dr. Lloyd Sederer, an eminent public many don’t believe these are Jewish comhealth care authority, wrote in the online munity problems, Spatt pointed out. publication Medscape, “We may be in for Since there is this denial of how addica perfect storm of factors driving sub- tion affects Jews, there is sometimes a stance abuse rates higher than we have lack of understanding and support for seen before – the ‘triple trouble’ of a pan- those confronting drug and alcohol probdemic, unemployment and diminished lems, she said.

“I think shame and stigma is somepersonal and community supports.”

Sederer, who received the Doctor thing that exists in every community;

Death due to fentanyl overdoses has increased seven-fold over the past four years.

maybe it’s a little more prevalent in the Jewish community. A lot of times people are struggling internally by themselves.

It’s the reason I share my story every single time I get a chance to. Because as we begin to normalize these topics in society, in the Jewish community it makes others feel like they’re not alone.”

Spatt, who has just joined NAMI’s FaithNet Advisory Group, told the na-

tional convention that the repair of psychological trauma never ends.

“Judaism has a long tradition of recognizing that healing is not just physical. It has a holistic meaning. It includes physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual components that are all interconnected. And even when mental illness is under control, healing and our return to wholeness is ongoing. It’s a lifelong journey for us.” ì

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 33

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Curtain Up! Anxiety Down!

By Paula Baroff Play can be a powerful therapeutic tool – for adults as well as for children.

According to Murray Dabby, a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist, relationship coach and director of The Atlanta Center for Social Therapy, “play can be a really transformative activity” for adults and adolescents.

When it comes to children, play therapy is a common type of therapy that is “a medium that can help kids have a way of expressing themselves through play, through symbolism, and when they can’t fully express what’s going on for them, play can be a useful medium for communication.” Though Dabby does some work with young children, most of his play therapy is done with teenagers and adults.

He uses improv, in particular, as a method to encourage play among adults, especially those with social anxiety. Dabby says it can be greatly therapeutic. “Improv is a wonderful vehicle for change,” he said. “Its value is that it helps to free oneself from the critical voices we can have in our heads.”

34 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

According to Dabby, the mechanisms and effects of improv have a lot of benefits for adults who have trouble socializing. Doing improv with a group of people who have anxiety in common pushes them into fun situations where they can make mistakes and let go of internal judgmentalism and criticism that “can rob especially adolescents, as well as adults, of spontaneity,” he said. Improv also frees people from the idea of potential failure; when somebody in the group makes a mistake, it is celebrated by the group. Dabby says this helps people overcome the fear of being shamed.

“A lot of times young people are worried about saying the right thing in groups, not looking silly, worried about being made fun of,” he said. Improv allows both teens and adults with social anxiety to let go of this and discover their inner creativity and enhance the way they relate to themselves. “People with social anxiety will suddenly discover, ‘oh I have a voice, I can say things spontaneously and people enjoy it, people applaud, build on what I’m saying.’”

He said that with the rise of social media, people can more easily look at

Murray Dabby uses improv as a vehicle for building confidence and social skills in teenagers and adults.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the improv programs are being run on Zoom.

others’ lives and compare themselves to apy groups called Curtain UP! Anxiety what they’re seeing online. “People will DOWN! in the last few years, including often present their best selves, their fun- with creativity coach and manager of niest selves, the sides of themselves that Theatre on the Prowl Lesly Fredman.

“Everything plays. I just read an arare successes. And people get a distorted sense of what people’s lives are like,” he ticle about how animals play. It seems said. “There’s a lot of feeling badly, feeling that’s just a natural instinct. It’s a way ashamed, comparing oneself to what you that we become social. It’s a way that our see in the media. Indeed, I think it can be brains can develop. Play is just essential a very painful thing for a lot of people to growth and development.”

She said that she’s found play to be to live their lives through that, as many vital, especially considering the stress of people do.”

Along with teen and adult groups, the pandemic.

In improv classes, close bonds form Dabby does one-on-one counseling and couples’ therapy. “I think playing to- between people that allow them to begether is important; being able to play gin to understand they’re not alone in with conversation and move out of criti- their experiences and take more risks, cism into listening and learning. I try to Fredman said. “In classes, what I have noticed is there’s a generosity use those principles in doing that happens; accepting what couples work,” he said. “One your partner gives you as a of the rules of improv is it gift. When you’re out in the helps people to listen better to world and dealing with other your partner. A rule of improv people and situations, it’s reis you have to make your partally helpful to remember that. ner look good, and you have to It’s really helpful to see other listen to what they’re saying.” people you’re in conversation For adults, there are with as a partner.”

12-week-long improv therapy Lesly Fredman She said one reason some classes. He described one of manages Theatre on people may fear improv is the his clients who was very inthe Prowl and the idea that you have to be funny, troverted, socially anxious Cold Soup Dinner which isn’t the case – scenes and self-conscious because of Theatre, and works his body. He came to the class with Dabby to provide can be serious, and humor improv for adults will organically happen. “Peobecause he wanted to be able with social anxiety. ple don’t have to force funny. to dance at his brother’s wedding. “He was able to not only dance [at It really is about being really present in the wedding] but started dancing in a that moment. That’s another life lesson: regular way and going to dances,” Dabby being present with each other.”

Currently, Fredman and Dabby are said. “In the 12 weeks there isn’t a person who hasn’t been shifted, changed or to- continuing to run their improv therapy tally transformed by that experience. I’m groups for adults over Zoom. Dabby is kind of amazed by it; I didn’t expect it to also involved with an organization called Global Play Brigade, which started in be as powerful a medium as it has been.”

Dabby also runs a nonprofit pro- Wuhan, China, in response to the pangram called Atlanta All Stars Talent Show demic and offers sessions in every time Network, which uses performance to zone around the world. “We think of it help young people in underserved com- as a world transformative activity, bringmunities work on developing confidence ing play into people’s homes and people’s lives,” he said. ì and leadership skills.

For more information about play Dabby began doing improv himself in the mid-90s and recognized how it therapy, visit www.atlantasocialtherapy. strengthened his public speaking skills. com/ and www.curtainupanxietydown.

He began to run explicitly improv ther- com.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Keys to Mindfulness and Altered Perceptions

By Terry Segal

You’re not required to sit in pretzel position and prac- fulness for one week.

Altered Perceptions flip the way you view things from tice mindfulness in combination with meditation. You can As we move forward on this unpaved road, it’s impera- simply turn your attention inward to focus on what’s pres- your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in style, work, relationtive that we make self-care an important necessity and stop ent for you in your mind, body or spirit. As you observe ships and what matters to you. It requires being open-mindyourself, you can decide if you’d like to act ed as you consider energy that “is,” without putting it in the viewing it as a luxury for which there’s never on something that would serve you and oth- categories of “good” and “bad.” any time. My work focuses on the reduction Things are not always as they seem. “Bad” things may ers or keep it unexpressed. of stress and anxiety through the practice Mindfulness can be used with regard bring you insight, teach you by contrast, and allow you to of 10 techniques, or keys, that are enjoyable, to eating, by slowing down and tasting the create change. “Good” things may have been good at one contributing to the success in using them. food, experiencing it with all of the senses. point but no longer serve you. You get to review them with For the original statistical research on Maybe you’d like to have a mindful meal fresh eyes and decide which thoughts and actions continue the use of the keys, 350 preschool teachin which you do nothing but eat, without and which get discarded or transformed. ers became my subjects for more than six How to practice altered perceptions: conversation or technology. See, smell, hear, months. The efficacy of the keys, if even one Combining your mindfulness practice with altered taste and appreciate the textures of your of the keys is used, was shown to be statisperceptions, imagine a world in which everyone communifood. tically significant in the reduction of stress Observe your breath. Do you breathe cated mindfully, aware of feelings and the impact of words and anxiety in the short and long term. evenly on the in and out breaths? Do you before speaking them. Instead of words that are hateful, deThe 10 keys are: mindfulness, altered breathe shallowly or hold your breath? No- structive, punitive and agitating, choose words that are lovperceptions, journaling, sensory experiencWhen stressed, sad or tice when your emotions are triggered, put ing, healing, compassionate and comforting. es, reduced clutter, humor, movement, art, grateful, place both hands Take a stance of open curiosity to understand the reayour hand to heart, send compassion to nature, and meditation. over your heart and feel its rhythmic beating. son someone feels the way they do or believes what they yourself, and breathe rhythmically.

For decades, I’ve offered workshops to Take a mindful walk, not focusing as much on the do, whether it involves politics or mask wearing, without it professionals and the general public, and taught clients how to use the keys. I don’t go anywhere without my own imagi- destination as the details along the way. Is the pavement threatening your beliefs.

Pick an issue or behavior to consider and alter. See smooth or gravelly? Do you notice a dandelion or a penny nary keyring. where you’ve become stagnant and try on an altered perThe premise is that life is intended to be an enchanted on the path?

In the wake of COVID-19, mindfully assess your stress ception. ì journey but there are Dragons of Stress teeming just beneath the bridge that we must cross each day. We need to and energy levels, quality of nutrition and sleep. Check in Dr. Terry Segal is a licensed marriage and family therapist keep the keyring handy so we don’t get pulled down into with yourself a few times each day and stay present to sigwith a doctorate in energy medicine. She is the author of “The the Pit of Negativity or the Dungeon of Doom. We don’t slay nals of imbalance so they’re not overlooked.

Select one area in your life in which to practice mind- Enchanted Journey: Finding the Key that Unlocks You.” the dragons because then there would just be dead dragons everywhere. We need to chart our course, redirect the dragons, harness their energy and use their power to pull our chariots in the direction of our dreams. The Land of Enchantment becomes the attainment of a healthy, happy perspective on life in spite of its challenges.

"Limited Time RATE LOCK" Practicing use of the keys becomes self-nourishing and even fun. I’ll share the basic information about how to use the keys in these trying times in a few separate articles on the topic to give you a chance to experiment with them.

Mindfulness is awareness in the present moment, being where you are right now, noticing your breath, tension, physical sensations, thoughts and emotions. Observe them with neutrality or love, but without judgment.

Jon Kabat-Zinn and Thich Nhat Hanh are two of the Investing in Your Care and Lifestyle Pays Off pioneering teachers of mindfulness. Kabat-Zinn is an American professor emeritus of medicine who found that mindAt Inspired Living the welfare of our residents, employees and families is our top priority. During these times, fulness can be applied to a wide range of areas that cause we are here for you as you consider whether assisted living or memory care services is the solution for you, or people significant stress, including medical symptoms, a loved one. Our Inspired Living amenities include: physical and emotional pain, anxiety, panic, time pressures, Resort Style Living relationships, work, food and events in the outside world.

In-House Gourmet Meals We can check the box on each of these issues in our current 24/7 On-Sight Nursing Care times.

Resident Engagement Activities Nhat Hanh, the 93-year old peace-seeking Vietnamese Professional Maintenance Team Buddhist monk, often called “Thay,” meaning teacher, is a Weekly Laundry and Housekeeping Zen master. The “Father of Mindfulness” suffered a stroke Sliding Scale Diabetic Care, Full Incontinence Care in 2014 and lost the ability to speak the seven languages he Assistance with Medication Management and Activities of Daily Living did prior to the stroke, yet he still is a spiritual teacher, curForever Plan Lock-In Rates are available, in addition to current Specials offered this month. rently on the state of mindfulness during the transition out To book a virtual tour with one of our Sales Directors, please contact us at Inspired Living! of earthly life.

He teaches that, “We could all find happiness in the Inspired Living at Alpharetta simple things — in mindfully peeling an orange or sipping 11450 Morris Rd, Alpharetta, GA 30005 tea.” His definition of mindfulness is “the practice of being 470-297-6866 fully present and alive, body and mind united.”

Visit us at inspiredliving.care How to practice mindfulness?

FOREVER PLAN

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 35

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Georgia Walk for Breast Cancer to Proceed Online

By Paula Baroff This year, Georgia 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer Experience is going virtual.

“Instead of walking 30 miles in 2 days, participants can join us for a virtual journey” Sept. 21-Oct. 4 for $35, the walk announced in a press release. This payment includes access to the event platform, credentials, a button and T-shirt.

Knowing that planning a large-scale walk was “wishful thinking … we pulled the trigger on a virtual event back in May,” said Whitney Pack Jones, It’s the Journey communications and marketing manager.

“Once the decision was made by Atlanta not to hold large outdoor events, we knew we needed to pivot,” she said.

The fundraiser is partnering with a platform called MoveSpring, an app that is made for large events to be organized virtually. Each person can log in individually, which allows people to participate in the walk from anywhere in the world. Participants can use a tracking device like Fitbit or Apple Watch, or they can use the health app on their smart phones, the press release said. “Along the way, they’ll receive special messages from our traditional 2-Day Walk volunteers and sponsors, unlock ‘Milestones’ revealing Atlanta landmarks, and compete on our leaderboard for bragging rights,” the press release said.

At the moment, there are about 800 people registered for the walk, with hopes to increase that to over 1,000 participants.

Pack Jones said the 2-Day Walk has received great feedback from people about the decision to hold it virtually. “Right now it’s hard for people to make decisions and make plans. What we have felt and heard is people are appreciating others taking proactive action.”

36 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Photo of participants from last year’s Walk for Breast Cancer.

This year, the walk will be open to people globally to sign up virtually.

She said the goal is still to hold a great event that raises money for organizations that help breast cancer patients. “Whatever decisions we have in order to try to facilitate that and do the best we can by those organizations is what we’re going to do,” she said. “Our participants recognize that and respect it.”

Pack Jones said that with the coronavirus pandemic, many cancer patients have lost their employer-provided healthcare along with their jobs, leading them to turn to other programs to get the diagnostics and treatment they need. “They need these assistance programs more than ever. We need the community’s support,” she said.

If people are unable to register, they can make a donation or provide a sponsorship at whatever level they’re capable. There are no fundraising minimum, but organizers request people fundraise to the extent they can “to help us fund our 2021 breast health and breast cancer grants for programs all throughout the state.” ì For more information about the walk, visit www.itsthejourney.org/get-involved/.

The dining room painting (left) by Laura Park was commissioned for Lindsay’s 40th birthday.

The dining room set is from Roche Bobois and sideboard from Restoration Hardware.

The light fixture is by Hinkley from Colonial Lighting. The accent wall was custombuilt, paint Le Luxe by Behr. The hamsa collection peeks through on back left.

Chai Style Home

Photos by Duane Stork // The Levins enjoy the porch of their replica of

an 18th century Pennsylvania stone farmhouse with Greek revival columns. Front and center is newly adopted mini Aussie Allie.

Family Entertainment Hub Replicates Farmhouse Lindsay and Ron Levin’s home was custom-built Ron: I am part of family-owned commercial real estate

by Deane Johnson, a fourth-generation Atlanta builder. company Levin Properties. Lindsay and I have very similar A replica of an 18th century Pennsylvania stone farm- design aesthetics with clean lines and bold artwork. My house with Greek revival columns, it’s ideal for enter- goal was comfortable elegance. My favorite room is the taining with a walkout backyard awaiting swimming kitchen because of the view to the walkout backyard, the pool construction. heart of the home where we have hosted many gatherings.

“I wanted the home to feel livable and the furnishings to not resemble other homes,” Marcia: How does entertaining flow?

Lindsay said. The art was handpicked from Lindsay: We host an annual Chanukah local artists, and almost every piece of furparty for 150, held a bris for 100, countless niture is from a different store.” Ron added, birthday parties, and neighborhood events.

“We bought here in 2012 prior to Mountaire We call the party “Chanukah Glitz,” as it’s becoming one of the most desirable neighadults only in cocktail attire and sophisticatborhoods in Sandy Springs. We are both ed décor. All types of people attend, and we Sandy Springs natives and high school sweetlight the chanukiyah and explain the Chanuhearts (North Springs). We were looking for a kah story. Our kitchen is open to an expandneighborhood with a large tree canopy, wide Marcia ed breakfast area where we remove the table streets for family walks, neighborhood swim Caller Jaffe for space like a restaurant event room. club and proximity to stores and parks.”

Lindsay, a Berkshire Hathaway residential agent Marcia: Your style is “happy art?” and former attorney, was recently named by Newsweek Lindsay: The colorful piece in the foyer is by a local magazine as the 18th best realtor in Georgia. “I’m proud artist MarianneB van der Haar. We had an art show, and to be Chai!” it was hung in that place. I loved the bold, powerful colTake a tour of the Levin home, which was featured ors and bought it. Der Haar is known for layering ink, in a Property Brothers commercial. sand, copper and marble powder with firewood ashes.

In the vaulted ceiling master bedroom, we commisMarcia: What’s your role in the design? sioned Deeann Rieves to create an ethereal vibe. Rieves

is known for organic shape-driven pieces inspired by nature that are both bright and soothing.

The dining room painting by Laura Park was commissioned for my 40th birthday. She also designed the wallpaper in the mudroom cubbies. Park’s work is about “eye dancing” with brush strokes and sophisticated palettes that she extracted from her grandmother’s patchwork quilting.

“Troubles Gone” above the fireplace is by Lynn Sanders (Gregg Irby Gallery in Midtown). Sander’s work is known for its impatience and impulsivity working with negative space with synthetic polymer on canvas.

Ron: We had a carpenter create the accent wall in the dining room, the basement shiplap bookcase, and the accent above the pool table. Next are barn doors into the home gym. The office cast stone fireplace was built

by Phil Saylor (Tuscan Stone Mantels). We designed the piece, and he created it.

The dining room table and chairs are from Roche Bobois and sideboard from Restoration Hardware. The fixture is by Hinkley from Colonial Lighting. The accent wall is Le Luxe by Behr.

Marcia: What are your sentimental furnishings?

Lindsay: The antique spool chest in my office is from my family’s trade fixture that displayed thread for retail sale. The upright piano is my grandmother Whitney’s (1940). My mother, sister and I all learned to play ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 37

CHAI STYLE Lindsay’s family collected the minerals from all over the world in this antique curio.

The expansive Levin kitchen is used for entertaining upwards of 150 for their Chanukah Glitz party. Lindsay states that islands are high priority in family homes.

The study fireplace painting (center) “Troubles Gone” is by Lynn Sanders. Lindsay’s family’s antique spool chest is on the left. Painting (right) Ford Smith, known for his representation of trees. Chandelier by Schonbek with Swarovski crystals

on it. It has ivory keys! I wanted to display it since they don’t make pianos like this anymore. It was originally an ugly brown, so a Roswell specialty painter revitalized it as my favorite vignette in the home. My grandmother would be proud that it has this prominent place.

My mineral collection curio dates back to the 1930s.

My grandfather and his brother found many of the minerals during their travels. It includes quartz, amethyst, fossils, garnet, tigereye and calcite.

rael. We brought it home and stretched it. It is one of my favorites. This technique was developed in Israel by local artists. Synthetic acrylic fibers are used to substitute for watercolor and oils in traditional paintings. They are essentially “painting” with burlap, felt and colorful acrylic strings. They can be found in synagogues, private yachts and aircraft.

The hamsas in the family office were collected during trips to Israel.

Marcia: Share your Judaic pieces?

Ron: The soft art in the family office near the mudroom was purchased from ArtNova Gallery in Jaffa, Is-

Marcia: Your children’s space has been featured in national publications.

Lindsay: “Home schooling” has given many families

The vaulted ceiling in the master bedroom displays a Deeann Rieves ethereal vibe painting above the bed.

The soft art in the family office was purchased from ArtNova Gallery in Jaffa, Israel. ArtNova installations are seen in synagogues, private aircraft and yachts.

38 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

CHAI STYLE Shaina’s cheerful room has a Pottery Barn rug and beaded chandelier from Ro Sham Beaux.

Elijah’s room has a spunky Buzz Lightyear theme. The children’s rooms have been featured on Cartoon Network and Cox Communications channels.

a unique perspective on kid’s areas. Our teen lounge is a “virtual space” where they have their own work stations for virtual camp and homework. Their bedrooms have been featured in commercials for Cartoon Network, Cox Communications and more. Elijah and Shaina’s rooms were designed when they were toddlers as I wanted them to have fun, sophisticated rooms that they would not outgrow quickly. Our mudroom has a drop off zone with eight cubbies for backpacks, shoes and pet accessories.

Marcia: What’s next?

Ron: The pool under construction will be concrete decking with turf, very sleek, resort-like, with a gas

firepit, spa, and long enough for laps.

Marcia: Last word with your realtor “hat.”

Lindsay: The experience of sheltering in place will forever be imprinted in our collective memories. Homebuyers will remember how much they enjoyed or would have enjoyed an outdoor living space and home office.

Buying is more a process of elimination and prioritizing wish lists on which to compromise. “Must haves” for families are: mudroom, open floor plan, useable backyard (preferably walkout), kitchen island, move-inready updates with neutral color palette, friendly neighborhood, and good schools. ì

Elijah and Shaina have enjoyed their teen lounge for online classes.

The upright piano is Lindsay’s grandmother Whitney’s (1940) with ivory keys. Lindsay had it repainted by a specialist in Roswell.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 39

AUGUST 1-14

CALENDAR Virtual Classes and Events:

sight into the novel’s captivating tale. Breman director Leslie Gordon will be moderating the talk with Sandy. To register, www.bit. ly/38YkXEt.

and other career services, we can adjust the standard and invent a new norm. Presented by The Tzedakah Project. For more information and to apply, www.bit.ly/3feYZjc.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 Kabbalah & Coffee – From 9:30 to 11 a.m. Discuss, explore and journey with Intown Jewish Academy.

Learn about the world of Jewish mystical teaching and how to apply these profound teachings to your daily life. No prior Kabbalistic experience required. To register, www.bit.ly/2XYKXul.

Coffee Talk with Yael Zamir – From 9 to 10 a.m. Hear from the first Haredi woman doctor in Israel and founder/CEO of Embryonics.

Yael Gold Zamir is a mother of four, medical doctor and CEO of Embryonics, where she and her team develop AI algorithms to improve the process of IVF (In vitro fertilization). Presented by Jewish Fertility Foundation and supported by Jewish Women's Fund of Atlanta. To register, www.bit.ly/38UuQDl. Brain Health Boot Camp – From 1 to 2 pm – Join JF&CS to combat memory loss. This program is designed to provide memory enhancement techniques through cognitive stimulation, physical exercise, education and socialization. To register, contact Georgia Gunter at ggunter@jfcsatl.org.

most transformative Jewish spiritual text written in the last three centuries with master Tanya teacher Rabbi Ari Sollish. To register, www.bit.ly/3eNGmCi.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 Torah Studies, Live – From 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Join Intown Jewish Academy for an in-depth analysis of the Torah portion.This program brings you the tradition of classical Jewish learning in a series of inspiring and engaging weekly classes. The lessons probe the depths of contemporary Torah thought with a special focus on issues surrounding spirituality, the human psyche, love and relationships. Every experience offers meaningful and timely lessons, from the most timeless of texts. You will walk away surprised, inspired, and knowing more about who you are—and who you can be. To join with Zoom, www.bit.ly/2VkBLjZ.

Family Caregiver Support Group – From 1 to 2 p.m. This JF&CS weekly group will provide a safe space to share your thoughts and feelings and help you to develop a network of support related to being a family caregiver. For more information, call Debbie at 770-677-9338.

Pregnant in Uncertain Times Support Group – From 1 to 2 p.m. A JF&CS free, weekly group for expectant mothers dealing with fears and concerns during this unprecedented time. Gain support and learn from others in a therapist-facilitated environment. To register, email tgersonmiller@jfcsatl.org.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 FIDF: 18 Years of Impact! – From 2 to 3:30 p.m. A virtual soiree from Israel proudly celebrating FIDF’s flagship educational initiative, the IMPACT! Scholarship Program.

The four-year IMPACT! Scholarships donors gifts to former IDF combat soldiers from low socioeconomic backgrounds enable them to achieve their dreams of higher education. This one-of-a-kind program also helps fund soldiers’ living expenses while they study, and facilitates a personal relationship with their U.S. sponsors.To register, www.bit.ly/2BwMss6.

Book Talk with Sandy Berman: Whitewashed – From 2 to 3 p.m.

The Breman’s founding archivist Sandy Berman will be introducing “Whitewashed” at The Breman, and giving our guests special in40 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Uncoupling: a Divorced and Separated Support Group – From 5 to 6 p.m.

Join JF&CS for a weekly group providing support, resources and a safe place to process and share experiences related to divorce and separation. Open to men and women of mixed ages. Issues explored are trust, rejection, custody, holidays, in-laws, infidelity, finances, communication, letting go, and what is brought up. To register, contact Helen at 404-210-9571.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 The Paradigm Collective | Career Development Resources– From 8 to 9 p.m. The goal of The Paradigm Collective is to help jump-start change in order to move forward and improve our day-to-day functions and inspire future aspirations. Through providing exclusive online education, resume review, mentoring,

Significant Others of Addicts Support Group – From 1 to 2 p.m. Free weekly support group from JF&CS. This group is for spouses, partners and/or significant others of those struggling with addiction. To register and for more information, sanderson@jfcsatl.org.

Think Different – From 8 to 9 p.m.

Join Intown Jewish Academy for a weekly group to study the single

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 Hadassah Chesed Student Awards

Find more events and submit items for our online and print calendars at:

www.atlantajewishconnector.com

Calendar sponsored by the Atlanta Jewish Connector, an initiative of the AJT. In order to be considered for the print edition, please submit events three to four weeks in advance. Contact community relations director, Jen Evans, for more information at amy@atljewishtimes.com.

classes at www.atlantajcc.org/reopen.

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES Va'etchanan Friday, July 31, 2020, light candles at 8:20 p.m.

Saturday, August 1, 2020, Shabbat ends at 9:18 p.m.

Eikev Friday, August 7, 2020, light candles at 8:14 p.m.

Saturday, August 8, 2020, Shabbat ends at 9:11 p.m.

– From 2 to 5 p.m. For the last 28 years, The Hadassah Chesed Student Awards program has honored one outstanding Jewish teen from every area Jewish day school, supplemental religious school, or educational group for his or her acts of chesed — loving-kindness and menschlichkeit. Now, for the second year, we are partnering with JumpSpark to further expand the Chesed Awards. To register, www. bit.ly/3eQ53gK.

MJCCA Book Festival – In Your Living Room Live. Visit the MJCCA Book Festival Facebook page for upcoming virtual events, www.bit. ly/3bk1mi7.

BBYO – Tune in to BBYO on Demand, a virtual experience for teens worldwide. Enjoy amazing programming and global events. Some of the sessions will even be led by our very own Greater Atlanta Region BBYO members. For more information, www.bit.ly/2QFlCD2.

MJCCA Blonder Department for Special Needs – Please stay tuned to the Blonder Family Department for Special Needs Facebook group for daily activities, chats, workouts and more. For more information, www.bit.ly/2Jmpl4x.

with her daughters Ayelet and Galit. To join, www.bit.ly/3eJWyUt.

Chabad.org Presents Jewish Kids Activities Online – Jewish art projects, videos, games, activities and more. For information, www.bit. ly/2UgUFId.

MONDAY, AUGUST 10 Monday Night Parsha – From 7 to 8 p.m. Join Chabad of NorthFulton for this virtual class by Rabbi Hertz on the weekly parsha.To join, www. bit.ly/2zpsgIl.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13 Parents of Donor-Conceived Children – From 8 to 9 p.m. Join JFF for a live discussion and Q&A for parents of donor-conceived children. To register for the Zoom link, www.bit. ly/3eymfHJ.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 Zoom into Shabbat Tot Shabbat with the OVS Rebbetzin – From 5 to 6 p.m.

Join Rebbetzin Carrie Hearshen for a tot Shabbat program for young families.They will read stories and celebrate Shabbat together along

MJCCA Fitness – MJCCA is open.

Continue to work out virtually or in person! See the group exercise

Please send Virtual Classes & Events to amy@atljewishtimes.com.

Community Services: Anti Defamation League – The Coronavirus Surfaces Fear, Stereotypes and Scapegoating: A blog post from ADL to help provide accurate information, explore emotions, and, most importantly, play a role in reducing stereotyping and scapegoating. To read more, www.bit. ly/3dp5a3t.

PJ Library – PJ Library offers fun, crafts, stories, Q&As, scavenger hunts, food demos and so much more.To join in and for more information, www.bit.ly/2WzFFqh.

Ongoing:

In the City Camps Presents - Virtual Camp – This summer might not be what we expected, but we are making it great with Virtual Summer Camp! While you may not be together physically, the goal remains the same: to connect our community through Jewish values and choice-based activities, strengthening decisionmaking skills and building self-confidence! For more information, www.inthecitycamps.org/itc-at-home.

formation: www.bit.ly/3af7wjA.

Repair the World – Repair the World welcomes you to sign up for its programming. Join them from the comfort of your home for a discussion on compassionate care for ourselves and our community.

For more information, www.bit. ly/2xhUsv5.

Virtual Hillel Connections – If you’re looking for community, connection and meaningful learning opportunities, or if you’re just bored and need a distraction during coronavirus cancellations, then you’ve come to the right place. Hillel has virtual meetups and online gatherings that bring you together with Jewish and Jew-ish students from around the world in real time! For more in-

Atlanta Community Food Bank Text for Help SMS Function –The – ACFB’s mission to provide nutritious food to the people who need it has reached a major milestone toward access to food for all. The Text for Help is ‘findfood’ (no space). An automated response will be activated.

When a person texts 888-976-2232 (ACFB), they’ll be prompted for their zip code or address to enable location services for food pantries closest to them. Responses will include a list of three nearby pantries and their contact information. For more information, www.acfb.org.

Atlanta Jewish Music Festival Updates – Music is a powerful force. It heals. It can bring people together.

In the wake of recent events, the AJMF has reached out to its community seeking “healing music,” To listen, www.spoti.fi/2Uuq7BB. For information about the AJMF, www.atlantajmf.org.

Israel American Council – IAC @ Home brings you the most innovaATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 41

tive content online while helping build a national community with Israel at heart. With activities for kids, teens, young professionals and adults, you can stay connected to Hebrew, Israeli and Jewish heritage, online activism and to one another. IAC @Home lets you enjoy a coast-to-coast community right from your own home. For more information, www.israeliamerican. org/home.

tling, fast-moving and unpredictable world of life with COVID-19 is upon us. As we’re all discovering, a worldwide pandemic disrupts everyone on an unprecedented scale.

For updates and more information, www.bit.ly/3ahrNVM. Marcus JCC Updates – Please visit www.atlantajcc.org/reopen to learn about all the details and procedures – including hours of operation – for engaging with the JCC during our reopening. For more information, www.bit.ly/2QEAuRX.

urdays at 10:30 a.m Zoom minyan Sunday at 9:30 a.m. For more information, www.bit.ly/3gY0mUK. Congregation Etz Chaim – Erev Shabbat Musical Fridays at 6:30 p.m. Shabbat morning services at 9:30 a.m. To join in, www.bit. ly/3gWL02s.

Temple Sinai has live Shabbat services on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m.. For more information and to view services, www.bit.ly/2BXRfTF. The Temple Livestreaming Services – Find livestreaming services here, www.the-temple.org.

Please send Synagogue and Temple Streaming Services to amy@ atljewishtimes.com.

Please send Community Service Opportunities to amy@atljewishtimes.com.

Congregation Shearith Israel – Daily and Shabbat services will continue at regular times through Zoom.

They are counting participants in these Zoom services as part of a minyan, allowing members to recite full prayer services including Mourner’s Kaddish. To participate via phone, dial 929-205-6099 and then enter the meeting code 404 873 1743. To be a part of services, visit the Zoom link: www.bit. ly/2wnFWlD.

JF&CS - Emergency Financial Assistance – JF&CS is here to provide emergency aid for individuals and families. Please call 770-677-9389 to get assistance. For more information, www.bit.ly/2wo5qzj.

JF&CS - Telehealth Counseling Services – Now offering telehealth options via phone or videoconference for current and new clients to help our community during this crisis.

For more information about our therapy services or to make a telehealth appointment, email us at therapy@jfcsatl.org or call 770-6779474.

JF&CS - Telehealth Older Adult Services – Aviv older adult staff are there to help provide resources, care plans, and support for you and your family. Call AgeWell at 1-866-AGE-WELL (1-866-243-9355) to find out how they can help.

For more information, www.bit. ly/2wo5qzj.

Jewish Federation of Greater Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Resources – The unset42 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Synagogue Livestreaming Services:

Temple Emanu-El Livestreaming Services – Erev Shabbat, Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Shabbat service, Saturdays at 10 a.m. Join in on Facebook at www. facebook.com/TEAtlanta/.

Creating Connected Communities: www.bit.ly/3bekKNI. Ways to Help Through CCC: www.bit. ly/2vAXqdN. Provide a Meal to Homeless Women: www.rebeccastent.org.

Package and Deliver Meals Through Open Hand Atlanta: www.openhandatlanta.org/volunteer.

JFCS Kosher Food Pantry: www.jfcsatl.org.

Repair The World Resource – A onepage resource for caring for the sick in the time of crisis. For more information, www.bit.ly/2JamMlQ.

Ahavath Achim Synagogue – Shabbat Evening Services at 6:30 p.m. Shabbat morning services at 9:30 a.m. To watch and for more information, www.bit.ly/38dS4Ed.

Congregation Beth Shalom’s Virtual Services – Erev Shabbat, Fridays at 6:30 p.m., Shabbat service, Sat-

Volunteer Opportunities:

Cards & Care Packages for Jewish HomeLife Staff: www. bit.ly/2WDncsY & www.bit. ly/2WDncsY. Temple Beth Tikvah Livestreaming Services – Fridays at 6:30 p.m.

Saturdays at 10 a.m. To join on Facebook, www.facebook.com/ TempleBethTikvah/ or www.bit. ly/2ZlCvrr.

Second Helpings Volunteer Opportunities: www.bit.ly/2UpkxQE.

Temple Kol Emeth Services – Shabbat Services on Fridays at 8 p.m. View our services on www.kolemeth.net or www.facebook.com/Temple Kol Emeth-Marietta, GA.

Please send Community Service Opportunities to amy@atljewishtimes.com.

Temple Sinai Livestream Services –

Help with COVID-19 – A list of additional volunteer opportunities: www.helpwithcovid.com.

Check the Atlanta Jewish Connector for updates: www.atlantajewishconnector.com.

Connector Chatter Directory Spotlight

www.atlantajewishconnector.com

Conexx In conversation with Barry Swartz How long has your organization been in Atlanta?

Conexx was first established in 1991 as the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast region, a private, not-for-profit (and non-governmental) business organization. With 175 member units and over 650 active assignees, Conexx serves companies in the Southeast and Israel. We also work closely with local and state governments and economic development agencies, Chambers of Commerce, trade associations and companies in our region. We were rebranded to Conexx: America Israel Business Connector in 2014 and are headquartered in Atlanta.

How do you cater to younger members of the community?

With an active Young Professionals group underway for years, Conexx is particularly well suited to attract entrepreneurs and young professionals who understand their future success often depends on being associated with Israel through their vocational expertise and interests. By being an “agent” connecting Israel and its internationally acclaimed reputation for innovation and technology in all its varieties, Conexx is where the next generation knows it is their grasp of technology that often will be the difference in maintaining a competitive advantage.

Where do you see your organization in 10 years?

Conexx’s remarkable past has proven our present is built on the future. Our role is demonstrating the important innovations of Israel and the role Israel plays in finding solutions to the world’s most challenging problems in healthcare, technology, mobility, logistics, and agritech to feed the hungry, and providing water to areas of the world that need this vital resource.

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces

The Tzedakah Project In conversation with Katie Lewis

In conversation with Seth Baron How long has your organization been in Atlanta?

Since 2007 in Atlanta. The national organization was formed in 1981.

How do you cater to young members?

The Young Leadership Atlanta Chapter was founded in 2012 and is comprised of supporters who live in the metro Atlanta area and come from a wide range of professions. The Young Leadership Atlanta Chapter has contributed to the IDF’s Combat Intelligence Corps, responsible for intelligence reconnaissance on the ground through FIDF’s Adopt a Brigade program. We provide crucial well-being funds and stand with them through brigade milestones, holidays and more. Our Young Leadership annual celebration attracts over 250 people and raises significant funds to support Israel’s soldiers. Additionally, we host fitness events, speaker dinners and donor appreciation events.

Where do you see your organization in 10 years?

In 10 years, FIDF will continue to build and increase its momentum as the leading organization creating a better everyday life and brighter future for the soldiers of the IDF and their families.

How long has your organization been in Atlanta?

Just about three months ago in April, we were created amid the COVID-19 pandemic and have aimed to provide immediate aid for the crisis. We plan to continue beyond this virus to help the community for years to come. While the organization is new, both Randy Adler and myself have been in Atlanta for years and consider it home.

How do you cater to younger people?

During the coronavirus pandemic, we have targeted immediate needs for all of our community members, including food and job search assistance.

We are finding that some of the younger members need some additional guidance on where to find help so we are trying to make it as easy as possible through social media campaigns and convenient/trendy pickup locations. As we move forward, we have plans to develop projects specifically targeted to youth, whether by providing them assistance or through recruiting them to help others.

Where do you see your organization in 10 years?

After 10 years, we hope to have maintained our legacy funds, including The Tiger Lily Memorial, created in honor of founder Randy D. Adler’s mother, as well as creating countless other projects under our umbrella of services.

Additionally, our main goal is to help communicate two pillars of tzedakah: giving willingly and anonymously as well as giving back to someone else once the help we provided has gotten you to good point.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 43

COMMUNITY Zoning Approved for KSU ‘Jewish Home’

By Marcia Caller Jaffe

the surrounding community.

“The new center will have so much A special land use permit was issued to offer to everyone who comes through last month for a planned Center for Jew- the door,” Rabbi Charytan said. He hails from Winnipeg, Canada, ish Life at Kennesaw State where his father was one University three years after of the Chabad rabbis. For 13 the property was purchased years the Charytans served and two years after the zonKSU’s Jewish students from ing process began. their home.

Now Chabad of Ken“At Chabad of Kennesaw is one step closer to nesaw, we pride ourselves breaking ground on its new on ensuring everyone feels home. welcome,” Nechami Chary“This is a very exciting Rabbi Charytan worked tan said. time for our community,” through many hurdles Alums agree with said Rabbi Zalman Charyand delays to get the permits to move forward. that sentiment. “Chabad tan, who heads the Chabad with his wife Nechami. “The larger space has provided a welcoming, warm enviwill foster the continued growth of our ronment for Jewish students,” said Sasha Avchukov, who graduated KSU last Jewish student community.”

Charytan recalled that the zoning year. “Throughout the past few years, I approval had many challenges including have seen the Jewish community grow COVID-19 postponing the final approval exponentially. I think it’s important for for four months. The donors who have Jewish students to have a community in helped purchase the property wish to college where they feel like they belong remain anonymous as the building con- when they’re away from home. Having a Chabad center will create many more struction gets underway. opportunities for new proThe building will be grams and enhance the Jewtwo levels with flex space ish experience for students that will allow for bigger by providing a larger and events instead of having more comfortable space to use tents for Shabbat for Shabbat dinners, holiand other events attracting days, and all the wonderful more than 100 participants. events Chabad sponsors.”

The property is two Erick Mulicandov, acres, with additional foota KSU alumnus, credits age next door, and a fourAlumnus Erick Mulicandov minute walk to additional was ecstatic when he heard much of his Jewish spiritual growth to the Charytans. parking. of the zoning approval. “I The Chabad house will walked in as a student and “When I heard the news, came out with a deeper I couldn’t have been more be located adjacent to the feeling about my Judaism.” excited. We’ve been waitKSU campus and will serve as a home away from home for KSU’s ing for this for years, and when I heard Jewish students, as well as a resource for the news that the zoning was in place, I

www.vanda.life Holistic Event Space & Metaphysical BoutiQ Services: House Protection, Energy Clearings Chakra Balancing & Private Readings Classes & WorQshops Light FreQuency & V-Pod Meditation

Organic | Healthy, Good Food | No-GMO, No preservatives | Best Coffee | Tastiest Paninis | GF & Veg Options www.thecafeiam.com 44 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

The approved KSU Chabad Center is on two acres.

was ecstatic,” he said. “There’s already so Jew and I grew as a person, and for that much going on at the Kennesaw Chabad I am deeply grateful to Rabbi and NeJewish Center, and this will enable that to chami.”

Intown Chabad Rabbi Eliyahu continue to grow.”

Mulicandov and Avchukov said that Schusterman said of his colleague, “RabChabad was an integral part of their bi Charytan is an Atlanta hero, perseverexperience as Jewish students at KSU. ing in the face of tremendous challenges “I walked in as a student and came out and doing tremendous work at KSU.” The new Chabad house is the latest with a deeper feeling about my Judaism,” Mulicandov said. “Being involved in the example. Those instrumental in securprograms and helping to share the inspi- ing zoning were Attorney J. Kevin Moore ration with other students was so mean- of Moore, Ingram, Johnson & Steele; Dr. Carol Holtz, KSU parent ingful to me.”

Chip Koplin, Mark Haldane Avchukov added, of the University System of “Chabad completely Georgia Board of Regents changed my college expeand Cobb County Commisrience for the better. Every sioner JoAnn Birrell. week I was excited to atThe architect and contend Shabbat dinners and sultants for the land plansee all my friends. Particining and building design pating in Sinai Scholars were Clarence Vincent of [a program that Charytan Alumna Sasha Avchukov helped found] inspired me remembers KSU Chabad as PFVS, Pete Bilson of Bilson to learn more about Juda- her home away from home. & Associates, and Gaskins Engineering. ism and continue learning To learn more about the new center after school. Becoming Chabad president gave me invaluable leadership skills, and and for dedication opportunities, contact I found a passion for building relation- Rabbi Charytan at rabbi@chabadkenships and Jewish community. I grew as a nesaw.org or 770-870-4447. ì

Breast Cancer Basics: Second in a Four Part Series When You Need More than a Mammogram

By Dr. Barry Roseman

ADVERTISEMENT - Paid for by Surgical Oncology of North Georgia, Inc.

Who Needs Additional Imaging?

that of the average risk – you should undergo additional imaging.

Other Breast Imaging Methods Last month I outlined the benefits Besides Mammograms and importance of Screening Mammography, which has been demon- Since mammograms are not perfect strated as a safe, harmless and inex- at finding all cancers, instead of simpensive way to find early tumors in ply doing more frequent mammowomen age 40 and older. Screening grams, it makes sense to use other Mammography clearly save lives. breast imaging methods, especially But when is a mammogram not those that can find breast cancers enough? Who needs more than a that mammograms cannot see.

Screening Mammogram to stay out of trouble? And what other tests can be done?

Simply put, there are two categories of women who need additional breast imaging to be sure that a tumor is detected early: 1. Women with dense breasts 2. Women at increased risk of developing breast cancer Breast Density and Increased Risk

Women with category C or D density on mammograms (heterogeneously dense or extremely dense breasts) are considered “dense,” and are candidates for additional imaging. The mammograms are less reliable, as subtle changes can be overlooked, and density in itself is a risk Breast MRI factor for developing cancer. Women with dense breasts are more likely to develop “missed” or “interval” breast The most common secondary screencancers, those that pop up between ing technique used today is Magnetic Resonance Imaging. MRI penetrates annual mammograms. dense breast tissue without difficulty Additional Risk Factors for Breast and is very effective at finding cancers not seen on mammograms Cancer However, there are several drawBesides increasing age, other factors backs to MRI. It requires insurance that increase your risk of developing authorization and is expensive – escancer are: Hereditary Breast Cancer pecially when this cost is applied to Syndrome (BRCA1 or BRCA2 mu- your deductible! It is invasive, and tation), mother, sister, or daughter the intravenous contrast medium with breast cancer, or atypical cells Gadolinium that is used during the on a breast biopsy. There are various exam may accumulate in the nervous tools and programs for determining system. This is especially relevant if breast cancer risk, but if any deter- the MRI is repeated every year over mine you have a greater than 20% the course of your life. In my expelifelong risk for developing breast rience, many women just don’t like cancer – which is about 2-3 time MRI.

3-Dimensional Breast Ultrasound

Ultrasound uses high frequency sound waves to visualize breast tissue. It is non-invasive, painless and inexpensive, and is also effective as a supplemental screening tool. However hand-held ultrasound is not easily reproducible, and the pictures taken depend on the skill of the technologist. Breast screening with hand-held ultrasound is not offered in most breast imaging centers in Atlanta.

There is a newer type of ultrasound device that overcomes these limitations. Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound (ABUS or ABVS) is a noninvasive and relatively inexpensive exam that captures all the breast tissue and creates a 3-dimensional display of the breast by ultrasound images. It is nearly as accurate as MRI at finding additional breast cancers, and is entirely reproducible, allowing for precise comparisons of the breast on serial exams. It is inexpensive, does not require IV contrast and there is no radiation.

At my center we have performed over 3,000 ABVS Exams, and I have found several breast cancers that were missed by mammography. We use this supplemental imaging technology instead of MRI for many women with dense breasts and those with increased risk factors. ABUS and ABVS are only offered at a few centers in Atlanta.

Other new imaging technologies including Molecular Breast Imaging, Positron Emission Mammography, and Contrast Enhanced Spectral

Dr. Roseman

Mammography, all of which are still investigational at this point.

When to Get an MRI or Ultrasound – Timing of Additional Screening Exams In my practice I recommend “staggering” the additional imaging at six months or in between mammograms. In addition to looking at the breast with a different type of technology, getting an imaging exam every six months helps identify “interval” cancers and fast-growing tumors that otherwise might not be noticed until months later.

Remember that all the benefits of supplemental screening come from a reduction in stage at diagnosis, and all imaging technologies that detect cancers not seen on mammogram will improve this. Earlier stage at diagnosis correlates with less treatment, decreased cost, and reduction in suffering, pain and death.

------------------------------In the next article I will discuss what happens if your mammogram is abnormal, and how we use these various technologies in diagnosing breast cancer.

If you have questions or wish to contact me, please call or email me, and I will be happy to respond.

Barry Roseman, MD Advanced Breast Care / Surgical Oncology of North Georgia, Inc www.advanced-breastcare.com 404-841-6262 barry.roseman@gmail.com

Paid Content by Surgical Oncology of North Georgia, Inc. ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 45

Wheelchair Ramps

COMMUNITY

Weber Joins New Global Program on Israel Education

YES!

YOU CAN RENT YOUR WHEELCHAIR RAMP! • Low Cost • Rent or Buy • Free Home Evaluations • Installed in Hours/Days • Home Modification • Construction Ramps: Amramp PRO

Now Offering Acorn Stairlifts & Portable Showers!

Georgia’s #1 Leading Ramp Company for 10 Years!

Owners Mark and Joanne Bradley

470-808-9411 404-617-6483 www.amramp.com 46 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Weber Hebrew students prepare an Israeli breakfast after watching Unpacked videos about Israeli food and culture. The students gathered at the professional kitchen owned by Weber mom Cindy Stern, Yes, Chef! and prepared shakshuka, Israeli salad, hummus and other dips.

The Weber School is among 50 schools from seven countries that are part of a new international, inter-denominational and virtual Israel education program that helps educators share ideas.

“Currently, there isn’t one unified, shared language or media in how to approach nuanced, Israel education,” according to a press release. “Many educators are essentially in their own silo, left up to their own devices and technological prowess to develop Israel education curricula and coursework to engage and connect with their students. This leads educators to constantly ‘reinvent the wheel’ as they work out the right approach and materials for each and every issue.”

To help solve the problem, Unpacked for Educators has launched the PartnerSchool Program to strengthen Israel education in Jewish schools around the world, the release states. Participating countries include: the U.S., U.K., Canada, South Africa, Israel, Hungary and Australia.

“This international community will be at the forefront of digital education, working together to create a shared language for

how to teach about Israel,” according to the release.

Michal Ilai, director of Weber’s Israel Programs, said, “As a Hebrew and Judaic studies teacher at a pluralistic school, I am in constant search for authentic, historically accurate, easy to understand materials. I found all that and much more in the concise and super relevant teaching materials Unpacked for Educators provides me. And the icing on the cake is that my students absolutely love the videos.”

Unpacked for Educators is a division of OpenDor Media, a leader in digital education and innovation for Israel and Jewish content. The educators in the program will receive complete access to the company’s video content in addition to professional development, networking and expert support.

“Through this partnership program, we are also promoting collaboration, connection, and community – three things that are more important than ever in the current climate,” said Dr. Noam Weissman, senior vice president of OpenDor Media. ì Compiled by AJT staff

SIMCHA SPOTLIGHT

Have something to celebrate?

Share your simchas with the

Births, B’nai Mitzvah, Engagements, Weddings, Anniversaries, Special Birthdays and more ...

Share your news with the community with free AJT simcha announcements.

Send info to submissions@atljewishtimes.com submissions@atljewishtimes.com..

The Lowdown I Bet You Didn’t Know …

Ted Blum

Atlanta is chock full of interesting movers and shakers, some bent on creativity, empire building, activism, some on just plain having fun and living the good life. Lean in to hear some off the cuff remarks about what makes Ted Blum tick.

Blum serves as managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Atlanta office and chair of the firm’s Atlanta Corporate and Securities practice. As managing shareholder, he is responsible for the growth and strategic direction of the Atlanta office, which has 100-plus attorneys. He leads and advises a team with the strategic business, legal and market experience needed to manage and close complex business transactions and to provide counsel on day-to-day operations.

He has been widely recognized for his legal work, and last year received the Ivan Allen Club Service Award from the Rotary Club of Atlanta.

Blum is committed to helping the community through his active involvement with several organizations. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta and serves as chair of the club’s task force to fight human trafficking and slavery. The task force works to collaborate with major companies to continue conversations on programs already in place and create an open forum for sharing ideas to fight human trafficking.

A native of Champaign, Ill., Blum graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy. He earned a law degree from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 1992 before moving to his wife Leah’s hometown of Atlanta. Ted and Leah have three children.

Find out what Blum learned while bussing tables, and why he calls himself a nerdy reader.

My most exotic vacay …

Not necessarily exotic, but a few years back I took my family on trips to Budapest and Lisbon to walk in the footsteps of my mom’s escape from the Holocaust in 1941.

Most unusual job ...

Working for my family’s restaurant, I learned the importance of customer service while washing dishes, cleaning tables, tossing salads and slicing pizzas. The experience there with my dad taught me the value of hard work. My work ethic today comes from that environment.

I was star stuck meeting …

I didn’t meet them, but I saw Queen in concert at Live Aid in London when I was backpacking through Europe during college.

My children would say …

That I can be stubborn about some things, but that I am the best person to go to a steakhouse with because I order everything on the menu.

I’m reading …

You can usually find a good mix of classics, World War II books, spy novels, and philosophy on my nightstand. I’m rereading Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” You could say I’m a “nerdy” reader.

You ballroom danced for charity?

There are great rewards by pushing yourself into positions that are outside your comfort zone. Trust me, being on stage dancing in front of hundreds of people is definitely outside of mine! I did a foxtrot and got enough confidence to toss my hat. It was a great time for a great cause.

Advice to a 21-year-old Ted …

I was fairly hard-driving and impatient. My advice would be to relax a little and take a long view.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

A little High West whiskey from my home away from home, Park City, Utah! ì

Reported by Marcia Caller Jaffe

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 47

OY VEY

JEWISH JOKE

OY VEY! HAVE I GOT A PROBLEM... house Dear Rachel, ry Wednesday night. My same group of guys eve the h wit t to be t me Bu I’ve er. rs, For yea roll, please – pok our gathering is – drum of se rpo ay pu esd the dn d We an , g, is the settin good game. To me gs is not to indulge in a etin me r ou for n of l ow goa kn l rea honest, the ie with friends I’ve t. They equal camarader tha n tha d re an mo up w ch gro mu s nights are so ed each other’s familie oze, we play. We’ve watch 39…) ever. We laugh, we schmo (Who, me? But, I’m only grandparents together. d an -law way. s-in jor ent ma par a e have becom up has shifted in s, the dynamic in our gro nth mo h eac few h t las wit ns the g Durin c in their interactio rry, have become acerbi Ha d an ng n uti Do s, sho o nd int frie Two of my sometimes even escalate t each other down and er other. They regularly pu t boy, do they rub each oth sed this conflagration, bu cau has at wh ow kn ’t don matches. I the the wrong way! on our fun. The rest of arguments cast a shadow ir the t w tha Ho ne t? agi ou p im shi You can to shape up or at a loss. Do we tell them are – us of r fou are re group – the ldren? n who are acting like chi do we handle grown me ut.

I look forward to your inp Sincerely, Charles Hi, Charles, What a shame! How unfortunate to have something you enjoy and look forward to morph into a boxing tournament where you and the others have become unwilling spectators!

I suggest approaching Don and Harry individually and just telling it like it is. Share how much these weekly meetings mean to you. Explain the shadow that is being cast over the whole atmosphere because of the sparring.

Perhaps one or both men have personal issues they are struggling with, and the arguing is a disguise for what is really churning beneath the surface. As a close friend, you can open that door, too.

“Don, Harry… I’ve noticed a big change during the last few months. Is everything okay?”

If either one or both answers that he is dealing with a difficult issue, be a friend and ask how you can help.

If the issue doesn’t resolve, here is my recommendation. Put your foot down. It is your right to unequivocally state what you allow and don’t allow in your house. Tell them how much you love ‘em. But if their cantankerous behavior doesn’t stop, they cannot come anymore. It’s not fair to you or the rest of the group to have something warm and fuzzy become cold and dreary.

I hope Don and Harry can restore the easygoing ambiance you have always treasured during your weekly meetings. And I really hope you can continue to enjoy each other as a group because there’s nothing like old friends! The moment you see each other, the masks (pun intended) come off, and you can just relax and sip the restorative energy from your longstanding relationships.

Wishing you much success in winning this match, Rachel Atlanta Jewish Times Advice Column Got a problem? Email Rachel Stein at oyvey@atljewishtimes.com, describing your problem in 250 words or less. We want to hear from you and get helpful suggestions for your situation at the same time!

Medical Emergency Rifka is out shopping one very hot and humid Sunday afternoon when suddenly a man faints. Seeing the man collapse, Rifka rushes over to help him. But as she kneels down to loosen his collar, a man emerges from the crowd, pushes her aside and says, “It’s all right, darling, I’ve taken a course in first aid.”

Rifka stands up and watches as he takes the man’s pulse and prepares to give artificial respiration. At this point Rifka taps him on the shoulder and says, “When you get to the part about calling a doctor, I’m already here.”

Joke provided by David Minkoff www.awordinyoureye.com

YIDDISH WORD OF THE MONTH zei gezunt

‫ַזײ געזונט‬ Be healthy. It's a traditional way of wishing someone well.

48 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

BRAIN FOOD

Great Movie Quotes

ACROSS

By: Yoni Glatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com Difficulty Level: Medium 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

9

10

11

15

14 17

22

25 28

30

32

47

27

31

33 35

41

23

26

29

36

42

34

37

38

43 48

39

44

49

50

52

45

57

46

51

53 56

13

19

21

24

12

16

18

20

40

8

54

58

55

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

1. 5K entrants 7. Words after call or hail 11. Org. for some authors 14. Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood", for one 15. Home of a Tempio Maggiore 16. Rage 17. Famous movie quote for one who does not like giving tzedakah?

19. ___ Tamid 20. Important times 21. Something people uncover this time of year 22. Lucas who had trouble throwing home for the Mets in the 2015 World Series 24. Jogged 25. Aviv of note 26. One of a daily 1,440 28. Famous movie quote from the Witch of Endor?

32. Michael of computer fame 33. Mike Trout's team on scoreboards 34. Six Day War loser, for short 35. Famous movie quote from one who believes in tchiyat hamaytim?

40. Fire residue 43. "Israfel" author's monogram 44. Bring aboard 47. Famous movie quote from

Aaron before building the Golden Calf?

52. Battle cry 53. Reason for braces, maybe 54. Israeli mouth 56. Like rocker Billy just chilling out?

57. Fish market emanation 59. Highland dialect 60. Wartime entertainment grp.

61. Famous movie quote for one shining the Menorah?

64. Computer capacity, slangily 65. Declare formally, in law 66. Hadassim partners 67. Rosen and Michaels 68. One of a Columbian trio 69. New parents, at a bris

11. They start pitches 12. In a big way 13. ___ Lingus 18. Flounder relative 23. Simple card game 25. Expose a secret 26. Assigner of G's and R's 27. Ending for "puppet" or "profit" 29. Samuel's mentor 30. Avraham's first?

31. Light pat 36. Onion's relative 37. Something to swing 38. Take a swing 39. Mishpacha 40. Simile's part 41. Eponymous Israeli hit 42. Ballgame fare 45. Censure 46. "I only have ___ you" 48. Mart start 49. Ian who wrote "Atonement" 50. Ghostbuster Spengler 51. Israeli spy Ashraf 55. Shleps 57. Bovine animals 58. Associate of Map 59. Midterm for one 60. Costar of Ethan in "Gattaca" 62. Notable Rabbi Weiss 63. Legendary Notre Dame coach Parseghian

DOWN

1. Waters who isn't exactly a zionist 2. 52-Across from above 3. Detox, e.g.

4. It's the Torah truth?

5. Nifty 6. Shot from cover 7. Affleck's Best Picture 8. Nifty 9. "I love," in 15-Across 10. Antagonist, informally

LAST ISSUE’S SOLUTION 1

S

14

E

17

T

2

T

U

30

L

33

T

A

4

K

A

X W R

N

I

E

T

R

Y

U

31

41

42

R

54

C

A

I

E

R 57

P

60

H

67

A

70

T

Remember When 15 Years Ago //July 29, 2005 ì Rob and Debbie Levin announced the birth of their son Jacen Parker May 25, 2005. A brit milah was performed by Dr. Artie Gumer at the Levins’ home June 1. Jacen was given the Hebrew name Pesach Menasha in memory of his maternal grandfather Peter Michalow and paternal greatgrandfather, Richard Fulton. ì College students Lora Jacobs and Melissa Miron planned a benefit musical cabaret held in August for ChemoChic, an affiliate program of the Georgia Cancer Foundation that helps women learn techniques to feel better about themselves while undergoing cancer treatment. Both women have family friends who were diagnosed with breast cancer. “When Bonnie and Wendy were diagnosed, we felt so helpless. Then it all came together.

We thought, why not do a benefit for them?” Jacobs said.

25 Years Ago// July 28, 1995

61

B

O

I

R

O

T

O

F

F

M

L

I

N

E T

H

L

38

T

R

O

S

N M A

N

T

I

I

H

S E

71

R

F 64

O O

M

G

16

E

19

L

23

13

G

U

R

S

U

I

A

N

T

L

A

N

S

I

N G

A

R

N

S

Y

I

35 39

C

T

R

B

L

E

I

R

A

K

A

P

A

F

R

E

M

A

I

N

S

E

29

D A

N G

45 53

28

40

U

A

A

A

27

A

55

12

H

C

52

58 63

22 26 32

34

51

T

N

11

E

E

O O

68

10

T

37

62

R

I

18

44 50

9

L

T

43

D

E

I

A M A

49

8

I

N O

T

A R

S

36

7

U

21 25

C

15

E

I

E

6

E

N

I

I

5

R 20

24

3

46

R

A

48

S

S

S

D

U

E

B

U

S

Y

C

U

R

E

A

R

O D

D

L

Y

56 59

65

A

69

D

72

E

47

66

T

ì Arye Tawil, 25, taught kung fu at Congregation Beth Jacob and Torah Day School, saying “If you sit and study all day and you are not limber and dexterous, you are neglecting a central part of Judaim – a healthy body and healthy soul in order to do G-d’s work.” Tawil said he was hopeful the lessons are producing more alert Torah scholars. ì A ceremony marking the 80th yahrzeit of Atlantan Leo Frank was held by the Atlanta Jewish community. The service was conducted by Rabbis Steven Lebow of Temple Kol Emeth, Shalom Lewis of Congregation Etz Chaim, and Ruvi New of Congregation Bais Chayeinu. The ADL was a co-sponsor of the event.

50 Years Ago // July 31, 1970 ì Mr. and Mrs. Tom Schaffer announced the marriage of their daughThe Atlanta Jewish community ter Lynda Sue Schaffer to Larry Wolfe, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Wolfe, July came together for a ceremony 20 at Ahavath Achim Synagogue. Rabbi Harry Epstein officiated. The bride marking the 80th yahrzeit of Atlantan Leo Frank. was employed by United Airlines while the groom was a student at the University of Georgia, where he was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi. ì Mr. and Mrs. Cary Merlin announced the birth of daughter Mia Leslie July 18.

Grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Dave Merlin of Atlanta and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Langer of Birmingham, Ala. ì ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 49

TISHA B'AV Tisha B’Av in the Modern Age

By Rabbi David Geffen In the book, “Jewish Passages,” by professor Harvey Goldberg of the Hebrew University, he describes how the Torah itself has the ability to mourn. “In a synagogue in Istanbul, when the sefer is taken from the ‘heichal’ [sanctuary] on the fast of Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple, it is placed on a chair and read, rather than being put on its normal raised table.” Then Goldberg points out a very interesting parallel. “Like the other members of the congregation who sit on the floor that sad day, the scroll ‘lowers itself’ in an act of mourning.” Professor Goldberg’s beautiful description personalizing the Torah itself on Tisha B’Av became very much alive for my wife and me in late June.

We are blessed that our new granddaughter-in-law is Sephardi, family of Moroccan origin. At the Shabbat hatan [for groom], her father read the Torah beautifully. He was trained by his late father, who was a hazzan. I am in lockdown again, so I cannot hear him read the Torah at Schacharit and Mincha on Tisha B’Av. The scroll, used

50 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

in his synagogue, will come alive.

I was fortunate that at my Boy Scout camp in Georgia, where most in attendance were Christian, we had a minyan of my fellow Jewish scouts. That was an era in the 50s of boy scouting’s heyday. Born in Atlanta, Ga., our Scoutmaster, now 97, was Sephardi, a World War II veteran and knowledgeable Jew. He brought the Sephardic Tisha B’Av booklets with him to camp. The night of the fast day we sat on the ground away from the tents in which we slept. Our leader, Mr. Josiah Benator, chanted several chapters of “Eycha.” When a Boy Scout is at camp, each must carry his own weight. Several of us fasted part of Tisha B’Av but we were required to participate fully in the daily scouting programs.

At Camp Blue Star in North Carolina, Jewish and kosher, me, a counselor, and over 200 Jewish boy and girl campers, had our own Tisha B’Av experience. We were fortunate that at the camp one of the waiters from Jacksonville, Fla., had been in the synagogue choir. He possessed a beautiful voice.

An hour before nightfall, we all donned our white clothing. While the sun was set-

Scoutmaster Josiah Benator, now 97, chanted several chapters of “Eycha” for Tisha B’Av at Camp Blue Star in North Carolina.

ting, we walked together singing until we reached the lakefront.

Our waiter-cantor was on the small island in the middle of the lake. We could barely make out a large construction there.

We heard him singing through a microphone, “Ani Ma’amin,” “Al Naharot Bavel,” and other mournful kinot [poems].

Various counselors spoke to us, briefly —many were budding Reform and Conservative rabbis. Then complete silence, and from that little island came the words of “Eycha,” probably only one chapter. Next, flashlights were directed at a replica of the Temple built by our woodworking specialist. Torches were lit and put to full use. The

TISHA B'AV Temple began to burn. The song “Am Yisrael Chai” arose from us and we concluded with “Hatikvah.”

The anguish of Tisha B’Av has meaning for us year in and year out because we have never stopped mourning. Let me remind you of the famous story about Napoleon’s experience on our fast day. Leading his troops through a small town in Europe, he passed by a synagogue where everyone was sitting on the floor crying and reading little books by the light of small candles. He asked his aide, “What is this?” He was told that the Jewish people is mourning the destruction of the Temple. “How long ago was that?”

“Two thousand years” was the answer. Napoleon is quoted as saying, “A nation that cries and fasts for over 2,000 years for their land and the Temple will surely be rewarded with both land and the Temple.”

At its birth in the 19th century, the Reform movement felt they could eliminate Tisha B’Av because it did not speak to the Jews of the present. An early symbolic change occurred here [Israel] in the 1950s. As an archaeologist of biblical lands, professor Nelson Glueck, president-elect of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, was a spy for the USA in the Middle East during World War II. David Ben Gurion became friendly with Glueck. In the 1950s, Ben Gurion offered him a vacant property on King David Street, the back of which was on the Jordanian border. Glueck took it; first a school and library were built and a kindergarten. Following the Six Day war, an entire campus was constructed in which a balcony on the top floor looks out at the walls of Jerusalem. For over half a century, rabbinical students are required to spend their first year of training here at the Jerusalem school.

Clearly there is an impact on the entire movement. In the 1980s, the CCAR [Central Conference of American Rabbis] published a complete Chamesh Megillot in Hebrew and English with illustrations by Leonard Baskin, with “Eycha,” of course. In the current Reform prayerbook in English, there is an entire Tisha B’Av service. In the movement’s siddur in Hebrew, the fast is given a major focus. A Reform rabbi wrote the following to be read at the beginning of the fast day. “Today we chant ‘Eycha,’ listen to the destruction of ancient Jerusalem, hear the city weep for the children, Bachu tivkeh ba’layla she weeps literally in the night, her tears are upon her cheeks. We wail and bemoan the world as it is.”

For many years in the diaspora countries, Tisha B’Av was only observed by Orthodox Jews. Surprisingly, The New York Times describes a Tisha B’Av observance at the Spanish-Portuguese synagogue in New York City in 1874. “The candles are lit – all those present are sitting on the floor. Lamentations is chanted by the rabbi.”

In the 1940s this all changed. In the United States and other countries, a whole range of Jewish summer camps began to operate, adding to the camps that had been started in the 1920s. No one has studied the impact of summer camps on campers then in regard to Tisha B’Av, but personally I witnessed the fast day being observed in a variety of camps I attended.

For people around the world, they can just take a look at the Holidays Today website to see a description of the observance of Tisha B’Av. “Jews go hungry, do not bathe, do not fight, do not wear leather shoes, refuse to have sex. The many other traditions include refraining from laughing and smiling.” Now a most unusual comment. “Some universities (in the USA) or training centers provide those who comply with Tisha B’Av the opportunity to take exams on other days.”

Here are a few halachot and minhagim [laws and customs] in English on the Ohr Somayach website. “The custom is to eat a final meal after Mincha and before sunset consisting of bread, cold hard-boiled eggs and water.” Ohr Somayach indicates an act of the fast day has already begun. “The meal is eaten while seated on the ground. A portion of the bread should be dipped in ashes and eaten.”

A most interesting insight is offered in regard to a very visible act. “Even shoes made partially of leather are prohibited.

Shoes made of cloth, rubber or plastic are permitted. Then a fascinating point is made which I had never heard of: You can wear leather shoes if you might incur the anger of non-Jews, but put sand in your shoes to cut down on your comfort.

There are over a hundred directives in the Or Somayach list on how to observe Tisha B’Av in a ritually correct manner. On Google there are many other Orthodox listings making it clear how to fill one’s 25 hours in complete compliance of the halacha.

In the Conservative-Masorti movement there is little written about Tisha B’Av until the founding of Camp Ramah by the Teachers Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in the late 1940s.

Two key features of that camping movement were speaking Hebrew all the time and studying Hebrew and English texts every day, even Shabbat. Since I never attended Camp Ramah, I heard from my friends who did how Tisha B’Av was observed. The destruction of the two Temples, all the traumatic events on that same date and the Holocaust were emphasized. Additionally, realizing the significance of the birth of the state of Israel became a key element in the observance of Tisha B’Av in all the Ramah camps.

For the first time in the history of the Conservative movement, Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal is now the CEO of the Rabbinical

Leading his troops through a small town in Europe, Napolean passed by a synagogue observing Tisha B’Av and said, “A nation that cries and fasts for over 2,000 years for their land and the Temple will surely be rewarded with both land and the Temple.”

Assembly and the CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

He sent his comments about Tisha B’Av this year: “Tisha B’Av is always about loss and hope. Fasting, hearing the book of Eycha and the somber liturgical poetry mourning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple are always powerful. The destructions in our past, the massive genocide of our people and the coronavirus calamity, which sadly appears to be ongoing, all invoke within each of us personal grief as we mourn deeply.” He continues, “like all of you, I never expected in my lifetime to experience, every moment of the day, the infectionof millions, the deaths of hundreds of thousands, the economic dislocation and distress, and of course loneliness like most of us have never

felt before.

“As the leader of the Conservative rabbis around the world and the members of all Conservative congregations, I encourage them to infuse Tisha B’Av with a poignant sadness, perhaps greater than any time in our history.” This year there is emotion never felt before. “As tears fill our eyes and as we take deep breaths reciting “Eycha,” this may be our chance to help all peoples of the world recognize that death and destruction can be overcome. Our deep mourning on Tisha B’Av in the soil of suffering is the prelude to our hopes for a better world, and, this year, a healthier world.” ì

David Geffen is an Atlanta native and Conservative rabbi living in Jerusalem.

Got old issues?

If you discover old issues of the Atlanta Jewish Times laying around, we want them.

To boost our archives, we will come pick up any AJT issues from 2014 or earlier.

Please call 404-883-2130 or write kaylene@ atljewishtimes.com to setup retrieval.

Subscribe, Support, Sustain.

As always, thank you for reading your Atlanta Jewish times.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 51

OBITUARIES

Marc Abrams

Marilyn Stein Cohen

Marc Abrams, 68, suddenly left us July 21, 2020, due to COVID-19. Marc recently retired from his long-term sales career of 30 years at Atlanta Fixture.

He leaves behind his loving wife Renee of almost 48 years; children Brian (Christy), Leslie (Dave), and Lauren; grandchildren Eban, Asher and Ella; brother Rob (Nancy); and several nephews, nieces and cousins.

Marc’s beautiful smile, laughter, talent and compassion will be severely missed.

His gift of music and song was such a joy for him to share with family and friends along with his great sense of humor.

His spirit will live on in our hearts forever. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Marilyn Stein Cohen, 94, passed away July 10, 2020, in Atlanta.

She was born and grew up in Joliet, Ill., and had her own piano concert through a conservatory of music as a teen. She moved to Nashville when her sister asked her to live with her while her sister’s husband was away serving in World War II. Marilyn then attended and graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville in the mid-1940s with a degree in mathematics, magna cum laude. During that time, she volunteered to make and serve meals to the troops through the USO. She participated in many other activities, including singing in an a capella group and her sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi. She settled with her husband Mort in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and was a devoted and involved mother to her five children. Her undertakings included PTA president, Girl Scout leader, Cub Scout leader, investment club founder, and many other volunteer activities.

Marilyn and her husband Mort were active members of West End Synagogue in Nashville for 60 years.

In the early 1960s, Marilyn and Mort established their business, Cohen’s Interiors, in Murfreesboro, specializing in carpet, draperies, and other interior decorating services. Marilyn taught herself interior decorating skills, taking some courses, and managed the financial side of the business for 30 years. Marilyn and Mort were friendly and knew many in the community through their business and community involvement.

After retiring, Marilyn and Mort were able to enjoy traveling to several international destinations, primarily with Elderhostels. A travel highlight was a cruise to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, which included their children and grandchildren. Marilyn also volunteered with Meals on Wheels, was involved in Lioness Club, and along with Mort was a frequent participant at the senior center in Murfreesboro, including pingpong competitions.

Marilyn moved to Atlanta in 2009 to be near her children and continued to be as busy as ever in her retirement community with social activities, and she enjoyed time with family and friends. She was known for her love and enjoyment of people – interacting with family and friends.

She is survived by four children Adele (Larry Pett) of Atlanta, Mike (Carolyn) of Jupiter, Fla., Rich (Robin) of Atlanta, and Diane (Andy Green) of Columbia, Md.; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren in addition to many other close nieces, nephews and cousins.

Marilyn was predeceased by her loving husband of 62 years Mortimer (Mort); daughter Mitzi Echt of Modi’in, Israel; and her close sister Eileen Berry of Nashville.

Family contacts: Adele (adelebc@gmail.com); Mike (mcoheneeg@gmail.com); Rich (rcohenga@yahoo.com); and Diane (diandyg@gmail.com ).

68, Atlanta

Peyton Alexander 75, Atlanta

Peyton Alexander, 75, of Atlanta, passed away peacefully at his home July 27, 2020, after a heroic two-year battle with prostate cancer. Peyton was born in Charleston, S.C., to Norwood and Thelma Alexander. He graduated from the University of Georgia and had a successful career at a plus, inc., the company he founded 35 years ago.

Peyton loved learning with his cherished rabbis at the Atlanta Scholars Kollel and Congregation Beth Jacob. He loved nature and wildlife and traveling to the American Southwest and Israel.

Peyton is survived by his beloved wife of 55 years Elaine Auerbach Alexander; daughters Dorie Alexander (Michael) Mufson of Newton, Mass., and Stacy Alexander Morris of Dunwoody; adored grandsons Alexander (fiancée Ally) and Wyatt Mufson and Paul Alexander Morris; sister Charlene Alexander; and special friends Rabbi Michoel and Rivka Lipschutz and family, and Rabbi Yacov and Tova Zehnwirth and family. He was predeceased by his brother Ronald Alexander.

Donations in Peyton’s memory may be made to Congregation Beth Jacob, the Atlanta Scholars Kollel or One Good Deed. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Jeffrey Alan Baumrind 69, Atlanta

Jeffrey Alan Baumrind passed away July 18, 2020. He was born Feb. 22, 1951 in Atlanta. He was an athletic boy who played tennis, softball and basketball on two of the skinniest legs you’ve ever seen. When his father Seymour needed help making ends meet, Jeff joined his brother Emil cutting rags in their basement.

He graduated from Grady High School in 1969, excelled in college and dental school at Emory University, and went on to become a successful dentist, serving patients in downtown Atlanta for over 40 years.

Perhaps the word “serving” isn’t quite right — maybe “entertaining.” If you were lucky to have Dr. Baumrind as your dentist, you may have been on the receiving end of a song about you that he made up on the fly. His joy for life was contagious. Jeff was also a devoted father who spent hours doing math at the kitchen table and coached every sport his three kids wanted to play. This devotion didn’t end when his kids became adults, either. He continued through his life to be the rock his children needed on so many occasions.

Jeff also had an active social life with his golf buddies, who, like so many others, loved him for his kindness and sense of humor. He will be sorely missed.

Jeff is preceded in death by his father Seymour. He is survived by his mother Grace; brother and sister-in-law Emil and Marcia; sister and brother-in-law Cathy and Rick; three children and their spouses Sarabess, Brad, Michael, Henry, Ben, and Parul; four grandchildren Ari, Grace, Isha, and Asher; many nephews, nieces, grand-nephews, grand-nieces; and so many countless others. A virtual celebration of his life was held July 21. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Emory University Brain and Behavioral Health, https://bit.ly/2CYX4kP, or the Ben Massell Dental Clinic, https://bit. ly/3f8r0bc

52 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

94, Atlanta

Daniel E. Gavrin, Esq. 74, Marietta

Daniel E. Gavrin, Esq. of Marietta, Ga., died July 18, 2020, after a short illness.

Mr. Gavrin was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended Brooklyn College, where he received a bachelor’s degree in education. He earned a master’s degree in physical education from New York University. Mr. Gavrin taught in the New York City school system for 15 years before attending law school at Emory University in Atlanta. As a prominent attorney in the metropolitan Atlanta area, Mr. Gavrin specialized in criminal defense and domestic relations. He started his law practice in 1985.

Mr. Gavrin was a member in good standing of the Georgia Bar Association, Atlanta Bar Association and Cobb County Bar Associations. He was also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Daniel was a loving and devoted husband to his wife of 23 years Judy Crawford Gavrin, as well as a well-loved father, stepfather, granddad, brother and uncle. He was known as “Dad,” “Grandpa Dan,” “Pop Pop,” “Uncle Danny” and the (self-appointed!)

“King of Gavrinia” to those who loved him.

Daniel is preceded in death by his father Irving Gavrin; mother, Pauline Krowitz; stepfather Oscar Krowitz; and sister, Helen Gavrin Savits. Daniel is survived by wife Judy Crawford Gavrin; step-mother Judith Gavrin; daughter Jessica Gavrin Renard; step-

OBITUARIES children Eric J. Joiner, Jr., Harry C. Joiner, and Susanna Joiner Boyd; twin brother David B. Gavrin; siblings Jamie Gavrin, Martin Fischman and Henry Fischman; nephews and nieces Andrew Gavrin, Jennifer Gavrin Klein, Reuben Savits, Natalie Savits, Juliet Savits and Gabriel Savits; 13 grandchildren Gunner, Clint, Claire, Carleigh, Bonnie, Jack, Camille, William, Charlotte, Vivian, Miles, Eric and Jacob; three great-grandchildren, Gavin, Liam and Violet; and five grandnieces Maya, Rachel, Dahlia, Emma and Sadie.

Mr. Gavrin is interred at North Atlanta Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Georgia Justice Project (gjp.org) are greatly appreciated. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Dr. Frank Robert Ginsberg 90, Atlanta

Dr. Frank Robert (Bob) Ginsberg died on July 14, 2020, at age 90. Bob was born in Atlanta to Perry and Rose Swerdlin Ginsberg.

He was a proud member of the last graduating class of Boys High School in 1947. During his high school years, Bob was an active member in the band, orchestra and the military. Bob was also captain of the chess team and photographer for the school newspaper and yearbook.

Bob co-founded the Alumni Association of Boys High, which is engaged in philanthropic endeavors.

The association provides funds for teachers and awards scholarships for deserving students. Bob earned a degree, graduating magna cum laude as a Doctor of Optometry and a Doctor of Ocular Science, scientific section, from the University of Chicago. Bob was a founding member of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development and rose to serve as president from 1981 to 1982.

Doctor Bob, as his friends referred to him, was especially noted for his pioneering work in visual training. Bob and his loving wife Thelma of 47 years together built a very successful Developmental Optometry practice, eventually located in Buckhead. In addition to his optometric practice, Dr. Bob conducted study groups for area optometrists and lectured on practice management as well as vision development and enhancement.

Doctor Bob retired from practice officially in 1992, but he continued with his tireless work ethic in numerous educational and civic organizations.

Bob earned the honor of Eagle Scout. At one time, he was believed the highestranking scout in the Atlanta Area Council. He was first commander of the Knights of Dunamis, an honorary eagle scout society and a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow. He enjoyed working as a counselor at Camp Bert Adams and ended up as scoutmaster of Troop 53, sponsored by Ahavath Achim Synagogue.

Bob was especially proud of his long association with the Masonic Fulton Lodge 216, F&AM, starting in 1952. He gave of himself unselfishly to many, many hours of Masonic deeds and the betterment of Masonry. He attained the title of Worshipful Master in 1970. He continued his tireless work as past Master until his recent death. He received the 60-year award from the Grand Lodge of Georgia in 2012.

Bob’s love of the water led him to spend his well-earned leisure time as captain of his many boats including his last boat, “My Fault.” His love of boating led Bob to be an invaluable member of 32 years of United States Power Squadrons. Bob was past district 17 commander and then held the position of National Staff Commander/SN of the USPS, and also taught water safety and navigation for many years.

Bob is survived by his children Penny (Steven) Rosenberg and Samuel Perry Ginsberg; grandchild Benjamin (Jennifer); and great grandchildren Talia and Reece Rosenberg; and devoted, loving friend Renee Feldman. Bob is preceded in death by his loving and beloved wife Thelma; father Perry; mother Rose; and sister Elinor Wasser.

Due to the COVID virus, a private family funeral was held July 16 at Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice.

‫זיכרונה לברכה‬ ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 53

OBITUARIES

Betty Notrica Israel

Barbara Long Schneiderman

Betty Notrica Israel, 98, of Atlanta, died peacefully July 16, 2020. Born in New York May 4, 1922, Betty arrived in Atlanta as an infant. There she met the love of her life Morris, whom she married Jan. 1, 1949. Betty and Morris then moved to New Jersey to open a business and raise their family. A true matriarch, Betty was a devoted wife, mother, sister, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

Upon their return to Atlanta in 1980, she became highly involved in her synagogue Congregation Or VeShalom, baking weekly with the OVS sisterhood until just a few months before her death. Referred to by those who loved her as the “Bureka Queen,” Betty was known for her cooking and was featured in a New York Times article about traditional Sephardic cooking.

Her legendary sense of humor and sharp wit led Betty’s grandchildren to create a list of “Bettyisms” to memorialize their grandmother’s favorite jokes. Betty was also an avid canasta player and she created impressive handiwork, including knitted afghans and elaborate needlepointing. She was known for her generosity, vivacity, selflessness and dedication to her family.

She is survived by her son Robert; daughter-in-law Dale; daughter Sarah; three grandchildren Michael, Scott, and Jamie; and two great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Sarah Duwell and sister-in-law Rochelle Notrica.

Those wishing to make a donation in memory of Betty, please send contributions to Congregation Or VeShalom. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770451-4999.

Barbara Long Schneiderman, 76, of Atlanta, passed away July 19, 2020.

Barbara grew up in Atlanta and attended Northside High School. She graduated from the University of Missouri.

Her greatest joy was her family and friends, and she was known for treating everyone like family. Barbara was the glue that held her friends and family together, always eating, laughing and planning the next get-together. Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday. Friends and strangers were invited to her warm, delightful and overcrowded feast each year.

She was a dedicated and loving mother to her children, Lisa and Ken, who meant the world to her. She was a caring and doting “Nana” to her granddaughter Seanna.

Barbara was a generous soul, full of personality and life. She loved to dance and was always the first to shake her tail feather on a dance floor. In her younger days, she loved playing ALTA tennis at The Standard Club. Jonquils and dogwood trees were two of her favorite things, and she loved gardening. She could bake a delicious blueberry pie.

She became a fixture in Sandy Springs, where her social charms, Jewish roots and love for Atlanta benefited old friends and business clients alike when she worked as a personal banker at several banks.

Barbara was fond of creating her own words of wisdom, such as “There is no black and white, only shades of gray” and “You grow up to be a ‘big’ whatever ‘little’ you were.”

Most of all, she loved being a mom and cultivated a creative and adventurous spirit in her children.

Her life was rich with lifelong friends and new buddies made everywhere she went. If you were one of her nearest and dearest, you would know it and you would have a friend for life.

She was predeceased by her parents Selma and Arthur Long. Survivors include her daughter Lisa and her fiancé, Brandon; son Kenneth and his wife Mai; and granddaughter Seanna. Barbara is also survived by her sister Lanette.

Lisa and Ken were by her side and sang “You Are My Sunshine” to Barbara, just as she used to do when she tucked them in bed as children, minutes before she passed away peacefully.

A devoted contributor to many charities, Barbara’s life would be meaningfully memorialized through donations to Northside Hospital Foundation, give.northside.com, or Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, fidf.org, or a charity of your choice. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999 ì

98, Atlanta

Dr. June Schneider 81, New York

Dr. June Schneider, much-loved wife, mother, grandmother, friend and family bedrock, died in New York July 22, 2020, three days after her 61st wedding anniversary.

A composer, champion of music and dance, esteemed professor, critic and musicologist, she was the youngest Ph.D. to graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand and went on to teach in the music faculty there, as well as at Emory University and Mercer University in Atlanta.

She developed the award-winning exhibition “Sensation” at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and was a co-founder of the Children’s Museum of Atlanta.

In New York, June continued to build upon her passion for childhood education and she revamped the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, where she curated many exhibitions including the life and work of artist Maira Kalman. She was the dance critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and wrote frequently about dance, music and opera.

June loved ballet, having studied it in her youth. She went on to serve on the board of the American Ballet Theatre and was a founding board member of Complexions Dance Company. She was often seen backstage at the Metropolitan Opera House, where she was a friend, supporter and advocate for the dancers who adored her.

She met the love of her life David at an engagement party in Johannesburg. They were married before the couple for whom the engagement party was held, and they danced the night away at their wedding and on their honeymoon, and never stopped dancing together. They loved to travel and entertain; loved collecting art and supporting aspiring artists.

June is survived by her beloved husband David; sons John (Hope Cohn) and Anthony (Caroline Levy); and grandchildren Jack, Sophie, Harry and Max; as well as her “big” brother Colin Benjamin, and about a million devoted friends. She was a collector of music, art, friends, and quotations. June was fond of quoting The Rolling Stones on any occasion, and, quoting William Blake, exhorting everyone she loved to “kiss the joy as it flies.”

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to American Ballet Theater, https:// support.abt.org/donate-now?select=70 A private funeral was held July 26 at Arlington Memorial Park. An online shiva was also held. A memorial service will be held when it is safe to do so. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

54 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

76, Atlanta

Obituaries in the AJT are written and paid for by the families; contact Managing Publisher Kaylene Ladinsky at kaylene@atljewishtimes.com or 404-883-2130, ext. 100, for details.

Balancing Grief and Hope Rosh Chodesh Av on July 22 begins the month just nine days from Tisha B’Av, the culmination of the three-week period of mourning the historic destruction of the Dr. Terry Segal First and SecNew Moon Meditations ond Temples.

We move from our lowest point to the highest, during Tu B’Av, which takes place on the 15th day of the Hebrew month. Traditionally, this marks the beginning of the grape harvest that ends on Yom Kippur.

During the time of the Second Temple, the day was spent matchmaking unmarried women. In modern Israel, this day of love likened to Valentine’s Day, is considered to be a glorious day for a wedding.

The first mention of the holiday is in the Mishnah, where Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel is quoted as saying: “There are no happier days than Tu B’Av and Yom Kip-

pur, since on these days the daughters of Jerusalem go out in white and dance in the vineyards.”

This year Tu B’Av begins at sundown on Tuesday, Aug. 4. August’s full moon appears on the night of Sunday, Aug. 2, but reaches its peak on Aug. 3. Always at the same time on the lunar calendar, the full moon adds a touch of romance to the day that sweethearts meet.

August’s full moon is also called the Sturgeon Moon because of the large number of fish in the lakes where the Algonquin tribes fished. Other names for this full moon include Green Corn Moon, Barley Moon, Fruit Moon and Grain Moon from Old English/Anglo-Saxon.

According to the Farmers’ Almanac, the word “sturgeon” means “the stirrer,” which is what this giant fish does when it is looking for food; it stirs up the mud and silt on river and lake bottoms.

During Av, not only hearts may be stirred, but angry emotions as well, since this is when the yearly peak of the sun’s masculine energy converges with the monthly peak of the moon’s feminine energy.

NEW MOON MEDITATIONS Our task this month is to review the strengths that Hashem has blessed us with and also examine our weaknesses in order to develop them. This first half of the year has brought many challenges and the rest of the year is likely to follow suit. It can serve us well to do this inner work for what’s ahead as we struggle to balance grief and hope.

The zodiac sign for Av is Leo. Aryeh, Leo in Hebrew, means “lion of G-d.” This fire sign in balance is dignified, loyal, self-assured and displays natural leadership. Out of balance, there’s bossiness, my-way-or-thehighway autocratic rule and responding from the wounded self. Even if you’re not born under this sign, the month charges you with balancing your own energies.

The Hebrew letter tet, likened to the womb with a circle containing an extension, houses the hidden good within. As politics, the continued spread of the coronavirus, heightened emotions around racial injustice and economic challenges stress us, we must look deep inside for that goodness and allow it expression.

Av’s tribe is Shimon, the only one that Moses didn’t bless at the end of the Torah

due to the sins of Pe’or, such as engaging with foreign women who were prostitutes and practicing idolatry. Currently, we’re aware of stirred emotions, inappropriate and misplaced, as more details of Jeffrey Epstein’s life surface.

The sense this month is hearing, which in Hebrew means to understand. We’re urged to block out the noise in order to hear G-d.

With the controlling organ of the left kidney, we seek balance between the masculine (yang) and feminine (yin) aspects of the soul. The bodily fluids arise from the left kidney and balance must be maintained between metabolic heat and fluids so we don’t get dehydrated and depleted.

When there are dual organs, each must perform its functions in order to maintain equilibrium in the body. So it is with G-d at the helm and each of us creating stability in the system through our thoughts and actions.

Meditation Focus: What is currently stirred inside of you? Listen to and understand its specific origin within you and invite Hashem to filter out what’s waste and what can be used as purified energy. ì

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 55

CLOSING THOUGHTS The Potential of Spiritual Practice As the COVID-19 quarantine began, I found myself in conversation with a colleague. He asked how I was coping, and I truthfully answered, RABBI RUTH pretty well. “It helps,” I said, “that I am an introvert.”

“It helps,” he said, “that you have a strong spiritual practice.”

For much of my life, I associated the term spiritual practice with an image of monks chanting prayers. Lovely as it is, it did not resonate with my sense of self or my sense of spirituality.

I suspect that my association with the term comes from the fact that through my 13 years of Jewish day school, additional yeshiva study, and even rabbinical school, I never heard the term associated with anything I did or learned.

We prayed daily in my elementary school. Rarely a day went by, through my many years, when I did not study Torah.

Sometimes I enjoyed it, but often it was simply the fulfillment of an obligation, religious or curricular. No one ever called it a spiritual practice.

Far too often the term spiritual practice is deeply loaded or limited.

A few years back I participated in a spiritual program for rabbis. I learned to chant, meditate and do yoga. I found meaning in each of them. But the bigger takeaway and the one that transformed my life was the understanding that I developed about term spiritual practice.

Spirituality is one of those things that manifests differently for each one of us; connection, flow, belonging, escape, meaning, joy, transcendence, being, presence, stillness, grounding – any one element on its own or any in combination with others. A spiritual practice, then, is any regular or repeated activity that helps induce spirituality.

Armed with this understanding, I began to see the religious routines of prayer and ritual as potentially falling into that broad category of spiritual practice, whether or not there are monks involved. More than that, I learned that, done with intention and attention, many things can be

transformed into a spiritual practice.

To prove the point to myself and out of curiosity, I posed the question on social media, do you have a spiritual practice, and if so what it is? Many people said prayer. Others wrote about yoga, gratitude and meditation.

Additionally, there was an array of answers: making the bed, painting, morning coffee, marksmanship, reading, gardening, walking, sitting in the backyard, and even laughter.

Many of these are things most of us do already, all it takes to make them into a spiritual practice is intention.

Chanting, yoga and meditation work as spiritual practices because they center our focus, body and soul. The activities themselves demand our full attention. But we can actively choose to give our attention body and soul to any other activity. That intentionality and focus is where possibilities emerge.

When I make challah, I don’t use a mixer, even though that makes a better dough.

Kneading with my hands demands standing with feet firmly planted on the ground and allows me to feel the miracle of the ingredients transforming into something wonderous. I connect with generations of

Jewish women and take time to pray. I know that there are many for whom making challah is a challenge or even a chore, but for me, it is a spiritual practice.

What differentiates a spiritual practice from a spiritual moment is the repetition. The repetition solidifies our ability to connect spiritually with regularity. With time, that capacity extends out beyond the practice itself. When my spiritual practice is strong, I see the impact in so many aspects of my life. I am more grounded, patient, aware and deliberate. I am able to exist despite the chaos that is the human condition.

The next months will be hard. I have no idea how I will react or respond, what the impact on my mind and body will be. Like many, I am concerned for myself, my loved ones and my communities. And at times fear and grief are overwhelming.

And so I will continue to strengthen my spiritual practice in its many forms. Making challah, active listening, morning prayers, my gratitude practice, Shabbat observance.

It will not cure COVID or heal the political divisions in our country, but it will give me moments of peace, clarity and strength that I need now more than ever. ì

ConneCtor Chatter ast 2020 readers’ ChoiCe awards Best of Jewish atlanta

Podc

listen here: WWW.BIT.LY WWW.BIT.LY/ /30UR04D listen to 4 of our 2020 1st plaCe Best of Jewish atlanta winners. find out how they survived during the CovidCovid-19 pandemiC and what it means to them to Be a highly regarded Business in Jewish atlanta.

ConneCtor Chatter guest pannel

56 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

first plaCe insuranCe Company

andy n. siegel

gastroenterologist

first plaCe loCal tourist attraCtion

first plaCe attorney and legal serviCes

dr. marC sonenshine

dr. Brian l. davis

eileen J. shuman

first plaCe

YOUR BEST FACE FORWARD

MARKETPLACE COMPUTER

ADVERTISE WITH THE

VISIT OUR WEBSITE

w w w. At l a n ta J e w i s hTi m e s.c o m F O R M O R E O F W H AT YO U N E E D

CARETAKER

COLLECTIBLES

THE DUSTY COIN, LLC

“Shekels For Your Collectibles”

• Coins • Bullion • Jewelry • Sterling •

404-263-2967 Strict Confidentiality • References Upon Request Member: ANA, NGC, PCGS & PMG

WEDDING

The Wedding Napkin

404-883-2130

Caretaker for the elderly with 30 years’ experience and Medtech/CNA Certified. Day and nights availability. References upon request.

Call Denise – 770-374-4148

TUTOR

PHOTOGRAPHY

Stella Tarica Gordon Tarica Tutoring Stellagordon835@gmail.com 678-592-3155 call or text • Writing and reading comprehension • Certified in 5-12 grade English curriculum • ACT and SAT prep • College bound and grad school essays • Georgia Milestone preparation 5-8

Quality Professional Photography, Weddings, Events, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs.

Right Image Company 404-452-2333

Serving students since 1986 BEVERAGES

CARS Everyone Knows Someone Who Loves Their SUBARU

A beautiful keepsake for the Bride and Groom

Janet Galanti Designer

Winner of Salesman of the Year Award for 3 consecutive years

Ralph Kurland Sales Representative 905 Ernest Barrett Pkwy, NW Kennesaw, GA 30144

cell: 678-665-1024 dealership: 770-419-9800 ext. 312 rkurland@subaruofkennesaw.com www.subaruofkennesaw.com

404-580-9276 janetgalanti27@gmail.com 58 | JULY 31, 2020 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Call me to test drive any of our new or used cars!

MARKETPLACE COMPUTER

HOME

COMPUER HOUSE CALLS

Voted #1 by Atlanta Jewish Community

770-527-3533 www.HealthyComputer.com

As Seen On

Closets, pantries, garages, offices and more!

404-255-0589

Atlanta Custom Closets Rick Moore www.closetpro.net

COMPUTER

FAKAKTA COMPUTER BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

DESKTOP & LAPTOP REPAIR HOME/BUSINESS NETWORKING

10% OF PROFITS THR

PERFORMANCE UPGRADES2019 WILL BE DONATE APPLE DEVICE SUPPORT

JEWISH CHARITIES.

VIRUS/SPYWARE REMOVAL

404.954.1004

Same DayDAMON.CARP@GMAIL.COM Appointments • Reasonable Rates • All Services Guara

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

10% OF PROFITS THROUGH 2020 WILL BE DONATED TO JEWISH CHARITIES.

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

It’s Time to Call for Help!

HOME

SENIOR CARE

STANLEY PAVING

Asphalt Paving, Patching & Seal Coating

• Same Day Appointments • Reasonable Rates • All Services Guaranteed

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

HOME

ALL TECH APPLIANCE SERVICE We Service All Major Appliances Office Call or Text 678-906-1881

Specializing in driveways & small parking lots Family Owned & Operated since 1969

CALL NOW FOR 10% OFF SPECIAL 770.962.7125 770.480.1698 cell HOME

INSURANCE

Representing the major insurers: Medicare Advantage, MedSupps, Prescription Drug Coverage Hospital Indemnity, Critical Illness, Dental & Vision Final Expense Life Insurance

MEDICAR

& YOU

E

Text BOBCARES to 22452 for help Contact Bob Smith at

404-593-9663

Bob@BobCaresForYou.com

NO FEE or obligation to review your Health & Life Insurance options

From Obamacare to Trumpcare to BobcaresSM

B J A

KETER SOLUTIONS HOME SERVICES

470-429-1868

Keter Solutions is more than just a home improvement company.

Our services include all aspects of design, planning, renovating to interior finish.

We are there every step of the way to make sure the end results meet your exact specifications, budget and are delivered on time.

Our Services: Paint | Deck Repair | Backsplash | Tile Repair & Installation | Kitchen & Bathroom Improvements | Renovations | Home Repair Services

Over 30 Years of Experience 1 Year Warranty On All Repairs Development Corp. for Israel | 404-817-3500 Eleventh Series Jubilee Bonds 2.15% Eleventh Series Maccabee Bonds 2.00% Eighth Series Mazel Tov Bonds 1.74% Eighth Series eMitzvah Bonds 1.74%

CONDO FOR SALE Delray Beach FL, rare opportunity and price, great location, senior living furnished 1BR, social activities daily, fabulous meal plan, many amenities. $58,500 Call for details 215-740-1165.

PLOTS FOR SALE 2 side by side plots available at the highly desirable Arlington Memorial Park, in Sandy Springs, Georgia. The plots are located in a beautiful setting of the Ahavath Achium Synagogue Section (very limited availability), Menorah- Lot 13 D, Spaces 1-2. ($14,000). Sold by owners, please contact (770)630-8676.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 31, 2020 | 59