Arizona Jewish Post 7.7.17

July 7, 2017 13 Tammuz 5777 Volume 73, Issue 14

S O U T H E R N A R I Z O N A ’ S A WA R D - W I N N I N G J E W I S H N E W S PA P E R

Back to School ............11-13 Senior Lifestyle ..........14-20 Restaurant Resource ... 21-23 Arts & Culture ................... 8, 18 Classifieds ...............................8 Commentary ..........................6 Community Calendar...........24 Israel .......................................5 Local ......3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 News Briefs ..........................22 Obituaries .............................26 Our Town ..............................27 Synagogue Directory.............4 World ......................................9

Send in your Rosh Hashanah greetings p.28

Temple Emanu-El celebrates b’nai mitzvah with a difference KAYE PATCHETT Special to the AJP

A

bar or bat mitzvah brings families together in a special way. In recent months, three Temple Emanu-El members with interfaith backgrounds created new family traditions as they demonstrated their commitment through this age-old rite of passage. A father and son celebrated a joint b’nai mitzvah, and the son of a Jewish mother raised in the former Soviet Union became the first bar mitzvah in his family for 75 years.

A father-son b’nai mitzvah Before Gary Schwartzberg and his son Grey shared their b’nai mitzvah on May 6, they underwent a conversion ceremony, together with Grey’s 8-year-old

brother, Max. The boys had a Jewish upbringing, says Schwartzberg, but the conversion was necessary “because my mother wasn’t Jewish.”

Schwartzberg was raised in Texas in the Jewish tradition by his Jewish father and non-Jewish mother. He didn’t attend Hebrew school, but recalls attending synagogue, lighting Hanukkah candles, and celebrating Passover with the family.

“I wasn’t converting from any other belief. To me it was more about confirming my identity as a Jew,” he says.

Schwartzberg, a metallurgical engineer, has lived in the Tucson area for 21 years with his non-Jewish wife, Gina. Before marrying, they agreed to raise their children as Jews. “It was about teaching

Photo courtesy Gary Schwartzberg

INSIDE

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Grey Schwartzberg (left) and his father, Gary, carry Torahs at their b’nai mitzvah ceremony on May 6 at Temple Emanu-El.

them responsibility; doing the right thing,” says Schwartzberg.

“That’s what Judaism is to me.”

After their sons were born, the

couple explored Judaism together, taking a “Taste of Judaism” class at Temple Emanu-El. “She liked it, See Difference, page 2

Grants from Foundation and Federation connect Tucson to Israel

AJP SUMMER SCHEDULE Photo courtesy Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona

August 11 • August 25

Members of the student-led ‘Puzzle’ youth program in Kiryat Malachi

Leah Avuno has spent the last year in Tucson as one of Tucson’s first pair of shinshinim, teen emissaries from Israel.

Three years ago, Avuno was a 15-year-old immigrant to Israel from Ethiopia living with

her mother, aunt and siblings in Kiryat Malachi, a city known for its diversity. Passionate about her family and friends, Leah found herself frustrated with how separately each of the immigrant communities lived.

Speaking with friends from Ethiopia, the former Soviet Union, Morocco, Iraq and other countries, she found they felt the same. Together they created an integrated, student-led youth program and called it “Puzzle” because of their vision — that all of the city’s youth would come together like pieces of a puzzle.

Children immigrating to Israel with their families can feel like strangers in a strange land, and existing national youth movements haven’t resonated with the immigrant children and youth of Kiryat Malachi. When Leah and her friends formed Puzzle, 10 people showed up for the first meeting. Today the program boasts more than 100 participants and the numbers are growing rapidly.

The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona provided a grant to the Kiryat Malachi Development Fund for Puzzle in 2016 as part of the aligned JCF/Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Community Grants Program. The grants committee recently approved a second year of funding.

Puzzle, now recognized by Kiryat Malachi as its official youth-based movement, has become a catalyst to increase residents’ identification with the local community and Israel. Participants learn about the history and culture of their new country, which Avuno and her co-founders believe is crucial to feeling a sense of belonging.

Puzzle counselors are high See Grants, page 3

CANDLELIGHTING TIMES: July 7 ... 7:16 p.m. • July 14 ... 7:14 p.m. • July 21 ... 7:11 p.m. • July 28 ... 7:06 p.m. • August 4 ... 7:01 p.m.

continued from page 1

and they kept inviting us to come back,” says Schwartzberg.

“I found Judaism to be very tolerant, welcoming and accepting,” says Gina Schwartzberg. “It seemed to me one of the most open religions. They make you feel like you belong right away.”

Interfaith families and conversions are part of modern Judaism, representing between 50 and 70 percent of today’s Jewish families, says Temple Emanu-El Senior Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon. “Both these bar mitzvahs illustrate the incredible opportunity to bring people into Judaism in a meaningful way with integrity and great learning.”

Five years ago, the Schwartzbergs became members of Temple Emanu-El. “When Grey started Hebrew school, my wife and I learned Hebrew at the same time,” says Schwartzberg.

As he became absorbed in Grey’s Judaic studies, the idea of having a father/ son bar mitzvah occurred to him. “I never had the opportunity,” he says. “I felt it was something I needed to do for myself. My son gave me the motivation.”

“I said, ‘It sounds like a great idea,’” says Grey. “We would sit down and study the prayers. It was very nice to sit together. I felt like it brought us even closer.”

A father-son bar mitzvah was a new experience for Cohon. “I’d never seen it in almost 40 years as a cantor and rabbi,” he says. “We had to figure out the best way to do this. There was no playbook.”

Preparation became intense in the six months before the bar mitzvah, says Schwartzberg. “If it wasn’t for my wife’s support, I don’t know if I’d have been able to finish it.” He had twice-weekly tutoring sessions with Cantor Marjorie Hochberg, weekly classes with Rabbi Batsheva Appel, head of Temple’s Kurn Religious School, and a two-hour class

with Cohon every Sunday to study the service, Torah portions and prayers, and Hebrew pronunciation. He also took a Hebrew Marathon class, to learn to read Hebrew. In addition, Schwartzberg and his wife took a “Practical Judaism” class with Appel.

When father and son stood together at the bimah, it was “amazing,” says Schwartzberg. “Nothing I’ve ever done in my life made me feel so awestruck. I started to get emotional when my son was reading from the Torah. When I looked at my wife, her eyes were welling up – there was so much pride.”

For Grey, reading the prayers in Hebrew with his father was most memorable. He says, “After all the preparation, I felt like it all came down to this moment, and it was worth it.”

After the service, Schwartzberg says, several fathers came to him and expressed interest in having an adult bar mitzvah or a father/son celebration.

“Just like my son gave me the motivation, I gave them the motivation.”

He and his wife strongly support their sons’ continuing involvement with Temple Emanu-El. She says, “It’s important that they continue their education, surrounded by people who have the same goals and aspirations and values.”

Reestablishing Jewish connections Brian Belakovsky’s Feb. 4 bar mitzvah signified a new beginning after threequarters of a century marked by Soviet persecution and family friction.

Brian’s mother, Anjelina Belakovskaia, was raised in a Jewish family in Odessa, Ukraine. A chess grandmaster and leader of the U.S. Olympic chess team in 1994, ’96 and ’98, she’d come to the United States in 1991 to play in the World Open Chess Tournament, a month before the Soviet Union collapsed, and decided to stay. She met her non-Jewish husband, Lawrence Bernstein, at New York’s Marshall Chess Club in 2000, while she was pursuing a master’s degree in financial mathematics at

New York University.

The couple married in 2003 and moved to Tucson, where Belakovskaia works at the University of Arizona and the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, lecturing on global financial engineering, risk management and derivatives, as well as teaching chess at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.

Bernstein, who owns a marketing and advertising company, is a Catholic with deep Jewish roots. His Jewish father, the grandson of a rabbi, married a Catholic woman, whom his mother rejected. When Bernstein married a Jewish woman, they agreed to raise their children as Jews. “My grandfather and father had ‘lost’ a child to Christianity,” he says. “We decided to ‘rebalance the books’ by raising our three children Jewish.”

For Belakovskaia, being Jewish in the United States meant being able to practice her faith openly for the first time.

“My family is Jewish, but my father didn’t have a bar mitzvah,” she explains.

“When I grew up, we were not really allowed to go to synagogue. You had to believe in the Communist party — no religion. My grandma tried to celebrate Passover; she sent me to the synagogue for matzah, and the police stopped me.”

Belakovskaia attended synagogues in New York, but never experienced a sense of belonging. “I tried to find a place where it would feel just right,” she says. “That happened with Temple [Emanu-El].”

The family joined Temple Emanu-El in 2014, when Brian began preparing for his bar mitzvah. “They are very welcoming,” says Belakovskaia. “The kids love it. In Tucson, I always say we have three homes: our home, Temple Emanu-El and the JCC.” Bernstein says he feels perfectly at home with both Judaism and Catholicism. “I’m still Catholic, but I love being a member of Temple Emanu-El. I’m Jewish culturally and by identity. That works.”

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, July 7, 2017

For his bar mitzvah project, Brian wrote a chess instruction book for beginning adult players, “Chess for Seniors.”

He taught chess to residents of Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, and donated a total of 15 chess sets and copies of his book to Handmaker, Devon Gables nursing home and Tucson Medical Center seniors. He will continue to teach chess at Handmaker through the next school year.

Bernstein says he was impressed by Brian’s discipline in preparing for his bar mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El’s religious school, learning Hebrew in just two and a half years. “He had great enthusiasm and dedication. I’m proud of him.” Speaking at his son’s bar mitzvah — the first in the family since Bernstein’s father’s celebration in 1943 — Bernstein described it as “a circle — the completion of a path reconnecting with Judaism.”

“The tradition was in my family, but it got lost,” says Brian. “There was this connection with Judaism that was renewed when I had my bar mitzvah.”

Kaye Patchett is a freelance writer and editor in Tucson.

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LOCAL Esther Becker plans women’s book brunch The Women’s Academy of Jewish Studies will hold its annual Women’s Summer Reading and Brunch event with Esther Becker on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 10:45 a.m. at Congregation Chofetz Chayim.

For nearly two decades, this event has been held during the High Holiday season.

“This event has become a Tucson tradition,” says Becker, “always high spirited with an eclectic group of women from the Tucson community coming together to embark upon the New Year with a refreshing start.”

This year’s discussion will focus on “Cracks in the Wall” by Uri Raskin. Set against the backdrop of the Old City of

Jerusalem in the shadow of the Western Wall, the novel explores how an unexpected relationship changes two lives.

“Every page is a gem. Every conversation a treasure. An easy read, it’s a book that can be read and re-read, bringing deeper meaning to our lives,” says Becker.

The cost is $36 for the book and brunch. To pick up a copy of the book, call the Chofetz Chayim office at 7477780 or Becker at 591-7680.

GRANTS

• Krembo Wings, which will open a branch of the organization in Kiryat Malachi to bring together children with disabilities and their ablebodied peers.

continued from page 1

school sophomores, juniors and seniors who meet twice a week for training.

Counselors create and lead weekly sessions for children in grades 4-9. The participants integrate values and ideology they learn from Puzzle in their daily lives. An added benefit is that the program develops and empowers young local leadership. The group’s first cadre of counselors renovated neighborhoods in need of repair and raised money to purchase food for needy families and to keep their program running.

Puzzle is one of several programs in Israel that received funding through the aligned JCF/JFSA Community Grants Program. More than $120,000 was recently allocated to programs that meet the needs of youth and young families in our Partnership region. Other programs that will receive funding this year include: • Aharai - Youth Leading Change, which will increase the preparedness of youth ages 16-18 in Hof Ashkelon for significant service in the Israeli Defense Force; • Hof Ashkelon Community Center for Garden Stories, high level cultural events that children can attend free of charge.

Esther Becker

• Nochah - Giving as a Way of Life, which empowers at-risk youth in Kiryat Malachi by engaging them in acts of “doing good” in their community.

The committee also granted funding to two Israeli programs outside of the Partnership that either provide secular education for haredi Orthodox youth or bring together Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs for organized activities where participants go beyond dialogue to work together toward a common goal.

• Society for the Advancement of Education enables haredi boys attending Hachmey Lev Yeshiva High School to combine Talmud study with high-level general studies to earn a quality Israeli matriculation certificate that will allow them to find gainful employment while maintaining an ultraOrthodox lifestyle.

• Community Council of Greater Baka for the Good Neighbors Project of Abu Tor that identifies and works toward solutions for the joint needs of Arabs and Jews living in six neighborhoods in south Jerusalem.

For more information, visit jcf tucson.org.

July 7, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

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Congregation anshei israel

5550 E. Fifth St., Tucson, AZ 85711 • (520) 745-5550 Rabbi Robert Eisen, Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny • www.caiaz.org Daily minyan: Mon.-Thurs., 7:30 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; Fri., 7:30 a.m.; Sun. & legal holidays, 8 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. / Mincha: Fri., 5:45 p.m. / Shabbat services: Sat., 9 a.m., followed by Kiddush; Tot Shabbat, 1st Fri., 5:45 p.m.; Family Service, 3rd Friday, 5:45 p.m.; Holiday services may differ, call or visit website. / Torah study: every Shabbat one hour before Mincha (call or visit website for times) / Talmud on Tuesday, 6 p.m. / Weekday Torah study group, Wed., 11 a.m. beverages and dessert provided.

Congregation Bet shalom 3881 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 • (520) 577-1171 Hazzan Avraham Alpert • www.cbsaz.org Services: Fri., 5:30 p.m. (followed by monthly dinners — call for info); Sat., 9:30 a.m.-noon, Shabbat Experience includes free break-out sessions for children and adults, followed by Kiddush lunch and discussion led

by Rabbi Dr. Howard Schwartz and Dr. David Graizbord 12:30-1:30 p.m. / Daily services: Mon.-Fri. 8:15 a.m.; Sundays and legal holidays, 9 a.m.; Hagim 9:30 a.m.

ORTHODOX

Congregation ChoFetz Chayim/southwest torah institute 5150 E. Fifth St., Tucson, AZ 85711 • (520) 747-7780 Rabbi Israel Becker • www.tucsontorah.org Shabbat services: Fri., Kabbalat Shabbat 15 minutes before sunset; Sat. 9 a.m. followed by Kiddush. / Mincha: Fri., 1 p.m.; Sat., 25 minutes before sunset, followed by Shalosh Seudas, Maariv and Havdallah. Services: Sun., 8 a.m.; Mon. & Thurs., 6:50 a.m.; Tues., Wed., Fri., 7 a.m.; daily, 15 minutes before sunset. / Weekday Rosh Chodesh services: 6:45 a.m.

Congregation young israel/ChaBad oF tuCson 2443 E. Fourth St., Tucson, AZ 85719 • (520) 881-7956 Rabbi Yossie Shemtov, Rabbi Yudi Ceitlin • www.chabadoftucson.com Daily minyan: Sun. & legal holidays, 8:30 a.m.; Mon. & Thurs., 6:30 p.m.; Tues., Wed., Fri., 6:45 a.m. / Mincha & Maariv, 5:15 p.m. / Shabbat services: Fri. at candlelighting; Sat. 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush.

Mincha, Maariv and Havdallah TBA.

ChaBad on river 3916 E. Ft. Lowell Road • (520) 661-9350 Rabbi Ram Bigelman • www.chabadonriver.com Shabbat services: Fri., Mincha at candlelighting time, followed by Maariv. / Sat., Shacharit service, 9:30 a.m. / Torah study: women, Tues., 10 a.m.; men, Thurs., 7 p.m.

ChaBad oro valley 1217 W. Faldo Drive, Oro Valley, AZ 85755 • (520) 477-8672 Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman • www.jewishorovalley.com Shabbat services: 3rd Fri., 5 p.m., Oct.-Feb., 6 p.m. March-Sept., all followed by dinner / Sat. Torah study followed by services, 10 a.m. Shabbat morning minyan, 1st Sat., 10 a.m., followed by Kiddush.

ChaBad sierra vista 401 Suffolk Drive, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 • (520) 820-6256 Rabbi Benzion Shemtov • www.jewishsierravista.com Shabbat services: Sat., 10:30 a.m., bimonthly, followed by class explaining prayers. Visit website or call for dates.

REFORM CONGREGATION CHAVERIM 5901 E. Second St., Tucson, AZ 85711 • (520) 320-1015 Rabbi Stephanie Aaron • www.chaverim.net Shabbat services: Fri., 7 p.m. (no service on 5th Fri.); Family Shabbat, 1st Fri., 6 p.m. / Torah study: 2nd Sat., 9 a.m., followed by contemplative service,10 a.m.

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, July 7, 2017

REFORM

Congregation Kol simChah

(Renewal) 4625 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 Mailing Address: 2732 S. Gwain Place, Tucson, AZ 85713 • (520) 296-0818 Shabbat services: 1st and 3rd Fri., 7:15 p.m.

Congregation m’Kor hayim 3888 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 (Tucson Hebrew Academy) Mailing Address: P.O. Box 31806, Tucson, AZ 85751 • (520) 904-1881 Rabbi Helen Cohn • www.mkorhayim.org Shabbat services: 2nd and 4th Fri., 7 p.m. / Torah study, 2nd and 4th Sat., 9:30 a.m.

Congregation or Chadash 3939 N. Alvernon, Tucson, AZ 85718 • (520) 512-8500 Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, Cantor Janece Cohen www.orchadash-tucson.org Shabbat services: Fri., 6:30 p.m.; 1st Fri., Friday Night LIVE (Oct.-May); 2nd Friday, Tot Shabbat (Oct.-June), 6 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. / Torah study: Sat.,8:30 a.m.

the institute For JudaiC serviCes and studies Mailing Address: 36789 S. Golf Course Drive, Saddlebrooke, AZ 85739 (520) 825-8175 • Rabbi Sanford Seltzer Shabbat services: Oct.-April, one Friday per month at 7 p.m. — call for details.

temple emanu-el 225 N. Country Club Road, Tucson, AZ 85716 • (520) 327-4501 Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, Rabbi Batsheva Appel • www.tetucson.org Shabbat services: Fri., 5:45 p.m., with 5 p.m. pre-oneg, through August; Sat., 10 a.m. / Torah study: Sat., 8:30 a.m. except when there is a Rabbi’s Tish.

temple Kol hamidBar 228 N. Canyon Drive, Sierra Vista • (520) 458-8637 http://kolhamidbar.tripod.com Mailing address: P.O. Box 908, Sierra Vista, AZ 85636 Shabbat services: Fri., 7:30 p.m.

OTHER

Beth shalom temple Center

1751 N. Rio Mayo (P.O. Box 884), Green Valley, AZ 85622 (520) 648-6690 • www.bstc.us Shabbat services: 1st and 3rd Fri., 7 p.m. / Torah study: Sat., 10 a.m.

Congregation etz Chaim (Modern Orthodox) 686 Harshaw Road, Patagonia, AZ 85624 • (520) 394-2520 www.etzchaimcongregation.org • Rabbi Gabriel Cousens Shabbat services: Fri., 18 minutes before sunset / Torah study: Sat., 9:30 a.m. handmaKer resident synagogue

2221 N. Rosemont Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85712 • (520) 881-2323 www.handmaker.com Shabbat services: Fri., 4:30 p.m., led by Lindsey O’Shea, followed by Shabbat dinner; Sat., 9:30 a.m., led by Mel Cohen and Dan Asia, followed by light Kiddush lunch.

seCular humanist Jewish CirCle www.secularhumanistjewishcircle.org Call Cathleen at 730-0401 for meeting or other information.

university oF arizona hillel Foundation 1245 E. 2nd St. Tucson, AZ 85719 • 624-6561 • www.arizona.hillel.org Shabbat services: Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and alternative services two Fridays each month when school is in session. Dinner follows (guests, $8; RSVP by preceding Thurs.). Call for dates/times.

Photo courtesy Souhwest Torah Institute

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Rabbinical student Harry Kleinerman, left, and Robert Nye of Green Valley study together at Congregation Chofetz Chayim in 2016.

“In the Driver’s Seat” is this year’s theme for the Southwest Torah Institute’s Dr. Paul W. Hoffert Spirit Program, which begins Wednesday, July 26 and runs through Tuesday, Aug. 8.

Begun in 2000, the program offers two weeks of free learning for Jewish men and boys ages eight and up, on any topic of Jewish interest, with five rabbinical students from the Rabbinical Seminary of America in Queens, N.Y., and Rabbi Israel Becker of STI and Congregation Chofetz Chayim. Individual and group sessions and are offered by appointment, from 9 a.m. to noon and 8-9:45 p.m., except for Shabbat. Study sessions run from 15 minutes to two hours and are held at Chofetz Chayim.

“This year’s program is participant-driven. Everyone has something they wish they could learn, and we want attendees to choose their course of study and feel a tangible sense of accomplishment after doing the Spirit Program,” says Becker. Past topics have run the gamut from basic reading to intricate issues of contemporary medical ethics.

“The program is open to all Jews, regardless of affiliation, and people have attended from all over Tucson, Phoenix and Green Valley,” says Becker.

For more information or to schedule study sessions, contact Becker at 747-7780 or yzbecker@me.com.

Beckers seek small group for Israel ‘soul’ trip in October Rabbi Israel and Esther Becker will hold an informational meeting about Southwest Torah Institute’s “Israel: Where the Past Shapes Your Soul” trip planned for October on Sunday, July 23 at 11 a.m. An Israeli-style brunch will be served.

“Even if you have been to Israel before, every trip presents its own new personal journey,” says Becker, who has led two previous Israel experience trips with his wife.

The 10-day, 10-night adventure is specifically intended for a small group and will include an intimate Shabbat in Jerusalem. Becker says he works in tandem with Meir Eisenman, a seventh generation Jerusalemite, “to explain how every site, big and small, can be seen through a 3-D lens, layering thousands of years of rich history through today.”

RSVP for the July 23 event to Becker at 591-5292 or yzbecker@me.com.

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Benjamin Netanyahu, center, arrives at the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, June 25, 2017.

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ AND BEN SALES JTA

P

rime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shelved a controversial bill that would have made the haredi Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate the only body authorized by the government to perform conversions in Israel.

Netanyahu’s office announced June 30 that the legislation will not be considered for six months while a “team” he will appoint comes up with recommendations for an “arrangement” on the issue. The decision comes after an outcry by the Reform and Conservative movements and American Jewish communal organizations, who felt that the bill would impugn the validity of non-Orthodox Judaism.

Netanyahu’s coalition partners agreed with his compromise, which keeps the status quo on conversions in place during the six-month delay. Netanyahu also asked Israel’s Supreme Court to put off ruling on the issue during that time. A suit pending before the court seeks government recognition for non-Orthodox conversions performed in Israel.

“In effect, the appellants and the Government of Israel agree together to freeze all proceedings, to freeze the appeal to the High Court of Justice on the conversion issue, to freeze Government and Knesset legislation on the conversion issue,” the prime minister’s statement said.

The bill, which had advanced June 25, would grant the Chief Rabbinate a monopoly on conversions performed in Israel. Individuals who convert under Reform, Conservative and private Orthodox auspices in Israel would not be eligible for citizenship under the Law of Return. The bill would not affect conversions performed outside of Israel.

Non-Orthodox movements have long protested the power of the Chief Rabbinate, which holds a monopoly over marriage and divorce in Israel. A rabbinate monopoly over Jewish conversion within Israel ended last year, when a court ruling forced the state to recognize Orthodox conversions performed outside

the rabbinate’s purview. The bill would have restored that monopoly, and is the latest front in a decades-long fight over conversion between the rabbinate and nonOrthodox Jews.

American Jewish leaders are also protesting the freezing of a compromise to expand a non-Orthodox prayer space at the Western Wall.

A source described by Haaretz as a “senior official” said that Netanyahu decided to call a cabinet meeting on the conversion bill after receiving harsh warnings from the heads of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on June 29.

The bill also outraged American Jewish officials, who have said they are weathering calls for a retaliation against Netanyahu’s government. Steve Nasatir, president of the Chicago federation, told The Times of Israel that any lawmaker who votes for the conversion bill is not welcome in his community.

On June 30, the bill’s critics welcomed Netanyahu’s decision to shelve it. The Jewish Agency for Israel, which acts as a liaison between the Israeli government and world Jewry, praised the decision, adding that it hopes the same “spirit of understanding” will extend to the Western Wall controversy. Jerry Silverman, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, thanked Netanyahu’s government for acceding to American Jewish concerns, and said he looked forward to reaching a compromise onconversion.

“I’m hopeful that the work that will be done will yield results,” Silverman told JTA. “I’m grateful to the prime minister for listening to our feedback from across the federations -- all of our community, frankly.”

Leaders of the Reform movement also praised the decision, calling it an “important rebuke to the aggressive behavior of the ultra-Orthodox toward diaspora Jewry and the non-Orthodox streams.”

“We will continue insisting that the Haredi establishment not have a monopoly over conversion and if necessary, we will not hesitate to go back to the courtroom,” Rabbi Gilad Kariv, CEO of the Israeli Reform movement, and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said in a statement.

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July 7, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

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COMMENTARY American Jews really care about pluralism. But it’s not just about pluralism. anger of U.S. Jewish groups last week. But there is reason to believe there are other factors at play: politics, psychology and strategy.

ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL JTA

Photo: Robert Swift/Flash90

T

he Great Jewish Revolt of 2017.

The Bar Kotel Rebellion. The Diaspora Strikes Back.

Whatever you call it, last week’s clash between American Jewish leaders and the Netanyahu government felt louder, angrier and more significant than previous clashes over pluralism in Israel.

That may be because it wasn’t only about pluralism.

That’s not to say that pluralism isn’t important in its own right. The nonOrthodox Jewish groups who fought hard for a space and a say at the Western Wall — only to see the agreement frozen — want their versions of Judaism to be treated with respect in Israel. They knew that granting more control over conversions to the haredi Orthodox Chief Rabbinate, as a controversial conversion bill would have done, would present another signal that Reform and Conservative leaders have no authority, or legitimacy, in Israel.

Reform and Conservative Jews will tell you how galling it is that Israel may

Conservative Jews pray at Robinson’s Arch in Jerusalem, July 30, 2014.

be the only place in the Western world where the freedom of Jews to marry and worship as they wish is restricted by law.

They find it baffling and hurtful that their religious identity — generations old and shared with a majority in the Diaspora — has at best only symbolic legal standing in the homeland of the Jewish people. (Consider what happened in May when boys and girls from Conservative day schools in New York and New Jersey tried to pray from a Torah scroll at a pair of kibbutzim far away from the fevered

Western Wall: Local Orthodox authorities threatened to take away the kibbutz kitchens’ kosher certification if the egalitarian service went on as planned. The service was scrapped.)

And they find it more than insulting when Orthodox politicians in Israel denigrate liberal Judaism as worse than no religion at all when their own religious leaders have so little to say to, and so little positive influence on, the near majority of Israelis who are secular.

All this is enough to understand the

Politics: This is the thanks we get?

Mainstream Jewish groups by and large are liberal when it comes to domestic issues: abortion, immigration, a solid social safety net. These liberal groups are seeing everywhere the consequences of their support for Israel. The exclusion of the Star of David flag from the Chicago Dyke March was a funhouse reflection of more mainstream erosion of support for Israel on the left. Israel may not be a pariah for most of the Democratic Party, but you are far more likely to find unquestioning support for Israel on the right. On a list of things Jewish groups share with other progressive groups, Israel stands out like a sore thumb — usually unfairly, but nevertheless.

As a result, leaders of the major groups feel they are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to supporting Israel — defending it not just to the Republicans and evangelicals whose support for Israel is unconditional, but fellow liberals who are either confused, indifferent or hostile.

See Pluralism, page 7

Here’s how we can preserve the dignity of aging Holocaust survivors TODD MORGAN AND MARK WILF JTA

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azi death marches crippled Mr. Cohen’s knees. The 94-year-old who survived Auschwitz now felt defeated trying to climb the stairs to his walk-up condo. He and his wife of 66 years used to be highly active in the Holocaust survivor community and fre-

quently spoke at schools, but the onset of her dementia, and his now frequent falls, have stopped him in his tracks.

But thanks to a grant from the Jewish Federations of North America’s Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care and the commitment of his local federation, Mr. Cohen’s Jewish family service agency hired a nurse to come to the couple’s home. While the nurse could help

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Mr. Cohen bathe and dress, she struggled to understand why putting on his special compression stockings and shoes made him so anxious.

With further help from the JFNA grant, the nurse received training in Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed (PCTI) care, which helped her to better understand the unique psychological and emotional sensitivities of Holocaust survivors and adapt her care accordingly. Through the training, she came to understand how important Mr. Cohen’s feet were to him — the feet that carried him miles and miles through snow and mud.

Now that his nurse knows to take special care with his feet, Mr. Cohen no longer struggles to leave his home. He can remain part of the community and avoid social isolation.

The Cohens’ story is one of over 8,000 success stories made possible by JFNA’s Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care and local federations. Powered by a federal grant and money raised by federations across the country, JFNA’s program is revolutionary both for its national reach and its use of PCTI techniques. PCTI care promotes the dignity, strength and empowerment of trauma victims and helps caregivers respond to Holocaust survivors in culturally appropriate ways. Since the program’s launch, it has trained 2,000 professional caregivers in PCTI techniques and supported 300

family caregivers.

Thanks to the PCTI model, more Holocaust survivors are receiving the care and support they need, like the 80-yearold man in California who is discovering the wonders of yoga for relaxing his mind and easing his back pain. Or the survivors in Kansas who are spirited away to happier times with concerts of old Yiddish songs. Or the man in Florida who, thanks to the therapy he received, was able to recognize that his anxiety attacks were being triggered by fears that his declining vision left him vulnerable to capture by wartime enemies. PCTI care can help survivors deal with the triggers associated with aging.

Innovative programs supported by the center, shared with a vast social service network, are also helping people beyond our community. Besides Holocaust survivors, PCTI techniques can help other aging traumatized peoples such as veterans, refugees and victims of abuse.

Though we celebrate the center’s tremendous impact over its first two years, we dare not rest. As co-chairs, we are deeply aware that for every survivor we help, there are dozens more who need these services. Of the 100,000 to 130,000 survivors in the U.S., many are in their upper 80s or older and one in four lives in poverty. As a group, survivors are at a significantly higher risk for depresSee Survivors, page 7

PLURALISM continued from page 6

That task was hard enough when Israel was seen as a democratic darling of the West; it’s only gotten harder as Israel’s nationalist government has proposed everything from trying to hobble left-wing NGOs to banning supporters of the BDS movement to attempting to enshrine Hebrew as the country’s only official language.

To then see Israeli officials ignore them or backtrack on an issue they care deeply about — pluralism — feels doubly ungrateful.

Psychology: Saying one thing, meaning another Many of the biggest Jewish groups, and a majority of their constituents, are well to the left of the current Israeli government on the Palestinian issue. Poll after poll suggests that American Jews support a two-state solution to the conflict and are growing more wary of what they see as undemocratic tendencies in Israel. The younger they are, the more this wariness — and disconnection — grows.

But Jewish groups generally will not challenge Israel on what both sides have agreed to call security matters.

American Jews do not vote in Israel and their children do not fight in its wars. Despite a diverse membership, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and AIPAC see their role as defending the sitting Israeli government.

Rabbis also tend to be more dovish than the current government, but often hesitate to say so from the pulpit.

Peace issues are considered too “divisive,” too “political.”

As a result, a third of American rabbis told a pollster in 2013 that they are “fearful” of expressing their views on Israel, and half said they had refrained from publicly voicing their views on Israel at least once in the previous three years.

Rabbis have fewer qualms expressing their views about pluralism, however. One can only guess how many sermons this past Shabbat were devoted to the Western Wall and conversion issues. Federations that would hesitate to invite a speaker from Peace Now or J Street often staff committees and fund projects devoted to fighting for the rights of Reform and Conservative Jews in Israel. And groups that are hesitant to wade into the Israeli-Palestinian debate let the rhetoric fly when it comes to pluralism.

Freud had a term for swapping unwanted impulses into socially approved expressions: sublimation. For the members of a largely liberal community, pluralism is not only a vital issue in its own right but a steam valve. It

allows them to voice their independence from and occasional displeasure with the Israeli government without second-guessing security decisions or — and this may be key — giving ammunition to Israel’s most hostile critics, who care about the Palestinian issue and not at all about the religious debate. Tired of holding their tongues, Jewish groups have in pluralism a meaningful, focused subject through which they can help shape the Jewish state.

Strategy: What about the kids?

For the past few years American Jews have been preoccupied with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, and attempts to delegitimize Israel in European capitals, in U.N. bodies and on college campuses. The antidote, say many Jewish organizations, is educating and empowering young, often indifferent Jews, and giving them the tools to counter negative perceptions about Israel. At the same time, there is a cottage industry of organizations worried that Diaspora Jews care less and less about Israel.

Now some are beginning to make the connection between the pluralism debate and the generational challenge. Benjamin Mann, the head of school of the Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan — one of the day schools denied the use of a Torah — put it this way: “If Schechter Manhattan students, and students like them throughout North America, are made to feel that their Jewish communities, their very religious identities are devalued and rejected in the Jewish state, they will not sustain positive connections with Israel.”

Or as Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency, said in his Western Wall statement: “Today’s decision signifies a retreat from that agreement and will make our work to bring Israel and the Jewish world closer together increasingly more difficult.”

I imagine AIPAC leaders said pretty much the same thing when they flew to Israel last week to warn Netanyahu about the consequences of the anger over the Kotel and conversion decisions. Even a number of U.S. lawmakers made it known that they disapproved of the freezing of the Kotel deal.

Mainstream defenders of Israel prefer that the pluralism debate and security issues stay on separate tracks.

Advocating for pluralism is a sincere, vital and “safe” way to fight for North American Jewish values in Israel without plowing into the Palestinian question. The steam valve is a good thing for the Jewish community, keeping the Jewish mainstream from tearing itself up over the West Bank.

But the June Uprising may be a moment when Jewish impatience with Israel jumped from one track to another.

Andrew Silow-Carroll is JTA's editor in chief.

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SURVIVORS continued from page 6

sion, social isolation, declining health and the negative outcomes associated with institutionalization where unfamiliar showers, uniforms, accents and regimented schedules can trigger traumatic experiences.

The center’s proven effectiveness in helping survivors is why Congress recently approved funding for a third round of grants guaranteed to keep this work going for another two years — but it isn’t enough. And thrilled as we are that federations have successfully met the preliminary $45 million fundraising goal, it must only be the beginning. Holocaust survivors in poverty need food, medical help, dental care, hearing aids and housing assistance, none of which the federal grant is authorized to provide. And as survivors grow older, their needs grow

greater with each passing day.

As Jews, we are charged with respecting the elderly and caring for the most vulnerable. Especially with Holocaust survivors, who have known unfathomable cruelty, it’s on us to let them know they will never be forgotten or abandoned. Each of us has something to contribute.

Contact your local Jewish family services or nursing home for volunteer opportunities to work with Holocaust survivors. We know that for many survivors, nothing makes their day like a visit or a phone call from a friend. Contact your local federation or family service agency to learn about your community’s Holocaust survivor fund, or consider donating to the Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care. The center is currently accepting applications from local service providers.

These heroes deserve to live with dignity. It’s up to us to act quickly.

Todd Morgan and Mark Wilf are the co-chairs of the Jewish Federations of North America National Holocaust Survivor Initiative.

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Hot reads: Nine Jewish books to enjoy this summer

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VICTOR WISHNA JTA

S

ure, winter might seem like the ideal time of year for curling up with a good book — but summer is when you might actually have time to read.

So here are some Jewish-themed titles for those leisure hours, from an international smattering of authors, in a wide range of genres.

“Al Franken, Giant of the Senate” (Twelve)

By Al Franken

Franken may be best known for his years on “Saturday Night Live” and his popular satirical books, but he needed to contain his comedic chops in preparation for his current gig: U.S. senator from his home state of Minnesota, which he earned by the narrowest of margins after a recount in 2008. Yet once he was comfortably re-elected in 2014, he said he could finally be funny again. It was worth the wait: This new memoir features plenty of Franken’s patented political and polemical comedy — including numerous takedowns of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (“an obnoxious wrench in the gears of government”) — along with some touching reflections on his childhood in “St. Jewish Park” (as the Minneapolis suburb St. Louis Park is known), his family life and, of course, his winding career path from 30 Rock to Capitol Hill.

“Heretics” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

By Leonardo Padura, translated by Anna Kushner

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, July 7, 2017

A celebrated Cuban journalist and author, Padura is best known in the English-speaking world for his series of mysteries set in Havana featuring Lt. Mario Conde. In this newest adventure, as interpreted by Kushner, Conde is hired by a descendant of the Kaminsky family, who were among the German Jews who made a voyage of the damned from Hamburg to Havana and back again aboard the refugee ship St. Louis in 1939. The Kaminskys had carried with them a rare Rembrandt painting. Both the family and the painting disappeared during the war, but the Rembrandt reappeared decades later at a London auction. In pursuit of the truth, Conde must navigate layers of anti-Semitism, the corruption of contemporary Cuba and the ghosts of history.

“Man of the Year” (Flatiron Books)

By Lou Cove

Do you remember 1978? Cove, a former journalist whose resume includes senior roles with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, Reboot and the National Yiddish Book Center, will never forget it. His quirky new memoir recalls his 13th year — traditionally a time of transition for any Jewish boy — when his family leaves New York City for Salem, Mass., and a seemingly humdrum small-town existence. This purgatory is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger from California, his father’s old friend Howie — he may be better known to readers of that month’s issue of Playgirl as Mr. November. But as Cove recounts in funny, touching prose, Howie isn’t

satisfied with a single month: He wants young Lou to lead his campaign to become the magazine’s, yes, Man of the Year.

“The Matrimonial Flirtations of Emma Kaulfield” (Arcade Publishing)

By Anna Fishbeyn

This debut novel by actress, comedian, writer and web producer Fishbeyn elevates the literary rom-com with inventive language and a distinctive immigrant identity twist. The title character has grown from a 10-yearold Soviet refusenik and new American into a beautiful, all-but-assimilated New York University grad student engaged to “one of her own people” — a handsome, Russian-born Jew. But when a random encounter with a stranger turns into a torrid affair, Emma finds herself torn between the wants and needs of love and career, which are intertwined with the bonds and burdens of her family and heritage. If that all sounds a little heavy, take note that it’s all pretty hilarious, too.

“Red Shoes for Rachel: Three Novellas” (Syracuse University Press)

By Boris Sandler, translated by Barnett Zumoff

Sandler, who retired last year from his post as editor-in-chief of the Yiddish Forverts, is among the most prolific of the small circle of contemporary authors and poets writing in Yiddish. This 2010 award-winning collection of three novellas, just now available to English readers thanks to the work of translator Zumoff, mixes magic realism, satire and even a bit of autobiography, reflecting the author’s experience of living in Soviet Moldova, Moscow, Jerusalem and New York. Sandler’s work often centers on the disrupted world of Eastern European Jews who have been scattered to foreign lands, and the title novella is a perfect example: a Coney Island encounter between a Brooklyn-born woman and a Moldovan Jewish immigrant, two children of Holocaust survivors raised in very different societies.

“Swell” (Lee Boudreaux Books)

By Jill Eisenstadt

In the wake of 9/11, a Jewish man and his non-Jewish wife move their family from Manhattan’s Tribeca to a house in Rockaway, Queens, that his father buys them on the condition that the father gets to live there — oh, and that the wife converts to Judaism. Also, the house is haunted. Sounds crazy, no? But this kooky setup for Eisenstadt’s third novel is only the backdrop for the cast of characters she unfurls, including the 90-year-old former homeowner who murdered her son on the premises, plus the ex-lifeguard and firefighter who witnessed it (and has a secret of his own).

“The Weight of Ink” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

By Rachel Kadish

At 576 pages, Kadish’s third novel may not exactly be light reading, but it will be deeply satisfying to anyone who enjoyed Geraldine Brooks’ “People of the Book.”

See Books, page 10

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ JTA

WESTERBORK, NETHERLANDS

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othing about the footage that Rudolf Breslauer filmed here on May 30, 1944, suggests that it was taken inside one of Europe’s largest Nazi concentration camps.

In the film by Breslauer, a GermanJewish inmate of the Westerbork camp in Holland’s northeast, prisoners are seen playing soccer enthusiastically in team uniforms, complete with a referee in a special outfit.

A middle-aged man wearing a suit and a boy who may have been his grandson stroll cheerfully in the sun past spectators. In other segments, inmates are seen putting on theater performances, working in modern factories and even going to church — an activity undertaken by many German Jews before the Holocaust, including some who had converted to Christianity just before or during the Holocaust in a vain effort to escape persecution by the Nazis.

The film is one of only two cinematic works known to have been produced inside a functioning concentration camp for Jews — the other was in Theresienstadt.

Commissioned by Westerbork’s commanders for propaganda purposes, Breslauer’s film is a rare documentation of the sophisticated facade employed by the Nazis at the camp, where 75 years ago they began carrying out the systematic murder of three quarters of Dutch Jewry — the highest death rate in Nazi-occupied Western Europe. Westerbork served as a so-called transit camp from which 100,000 Dutch Jews were shipped to Nazi death camps in Poland.

The subterfuge maintained the illusion that the camp’s inmates were sent to work camps, giving them hope and an incentive to comply with orders that helped ensure Westerbork’s deadly efficiency, according to Johannes Houwink ten Cate of the University of Amsterdam, who is among the world’s foremost experts on the Holocaust in the Netherlands.

According to ten Cate, the deceit extended far beyond the possibly staged scenes Breslauer captured with his camera (Breslauer was sent to Auschwitz with his wife and three children in 1944. Only their daughter Chanita survived the war).

“The size of Camp Westerbork’s hospital, which was one of the best and largest hospitals of its kind, symbolizes the Nazi lie that Jews were going to be put to work” further east, ten Cate told JTA in an interview last week ahead of the 75th anniversary of the first death transport out of the camp, which took place on July 15, 1942.

“It was one of a great many German efforts focused at making sure that Jews did not understand what the Nazis were up to,” he added.

These efforts paid off, according to Henny Dormits, 87, a Holocaust survivor who lived in the camp with her family for two years before they were sent to Theresienstadt.

While Jews in many other parts of Europe were subjected to violence, torture, abuse and murder in camps, in Westerbork, “people were not abused, they were treated correctly,” she said during an interview for Dutch television in 2011. She spoke at the former living quarters of Albert Gemmeker, the Nazi commander of Westerbork, which is the only part of the camp that still exists today.

The Germans “did everything possible

Photo: Cnaan Liphshiz

WORLD In Holland, Nazis built a luxury camp to lull Jews before murdering them

Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomon Jacobs’ parents survived the Holocaust in hiding, and he often speaks to schoolchildren about the genocide at Westerbork.

to keep people calm here so no one was afraid,” Dormits recalled. And so when people were shipped off in cattle cars, “everyone assumed we’d be going to another work camp.”

Westerbork included many amenities that Jewish concentration camp inmates elsewhere could only dream of, including permits to leave camp without supervision — given exclusively to people with family still inside the camp, so they would not escape — and cabaret productions with musical instruments.

But it was the quality of medical treatment in Westerbork that clinched the illusion, according to Dormits.

“People were operated on here by the best doctors, they would be hospitalized for entire weeks as they healed, and when they were all better they were put on a transport,” she recalled in the documentary. “This was the make-believe world in

which we lived.”

This form of deception was extremely effective, according to Dirk Mulder, the director of the Camp Westerbork Memorial Center, a nongovernmental organization with state funding that is responsible for commemoration and educational work in the former camp.

Still, not everyone was duped. Gemmeker, who had a friendly relationship with the Jewish filmmaker Breslauer, once told the cameraman something that made Breslauer realize the transports were a one-way ticket, according to Chanita Moses, Breslauer’s daughter. Her father did not say exactly what Gemmeker told him, she told the Dutch television film crew.

Philip Mechanicus, a Dutch Jewish Holocaust victim who secretly chronicled his stay in Westerbork before he was murdered, wrote about his “tremendous fear” of when he would be shipped out.

On Sept. 13, 1943, a 65-year-old woman in Mechanicus’ barracks committed suicide, he wrote. She was put on a list of deportees to Theresienstadt, prompting her daughter to volunteer to leave with her mother. The mother killed herself “to prevent her daughter from making the sacrifice,” wrote Mechanicus.

Camp Westerbork originally was set up in 1939 as a detainment facility by the Dutch government in a remote, rural area of the country for fewer than 2,000 Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany.

Two years after the Germans invaded in 1940, they took over the space and massively increased its capacity. They treated the first German inmates as a preferred prisoner population. And they set up an unarmed Jewish policing unit that was responsible for taking people to the trains to See Holland, page 10

July 7, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

9

Explore our website

BOOKS continued from page 8

azjewishpost.com News and views from the Jewish world from Tucson to Israel — Iceland to Tunisia.

The story traces the narratives of two women in London who are separated by more than 300 years, yet are tied together by the discovery of a cache of Jewish documents that were penned in the 17th century — but by whom? A heated race by modern-day academics to solve a mystery unfolds into a historical epic that transports readers back to the days of Shakespeare, Spinoza and the Great Plague, uncovering some rich details of Jewish life in the 1600s along the way.

“The Worlds We Think We Know” (Milkweed Editions)

By Dalia Rosenfeld

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After two decades of publishing fiction in journals and racking up a series of writing awards, Rosenfeld — who made aliyah two years ago — has debuted her first collection, winning praise from contemporary Jewish literati such as Cynthia Ozick and Gary Shteyngart. The 20

HOLLAND continued from page 9

be shipped off to death camps in the east.

Today, the former camp grounds border a large radio observatory. A memorial area contains informational plaques and several monuments, including a German cattle car of the sort used to transport Jews and a statue featuring railway tracks that curl up heavenwards.

Whereas elsewhere in Europe former Nazi camps were preserved and used as educational exhibits about the Holocaust, the original barracks and facilities of Westerbork were used for housing refugees from Indonesia in the 1970s until the facilities were stripped for wood.

The failure to preserve Westerbork was part of a greater reluctance in the Netherlands, where many non-Jews fell victim to the Nazi occupation, to acknowledge the uniqueness of the Jewish tragedy, according to ten Cate. He said the Dutch also were reluctant to look at the role of ordinary Dutchmen, including police of-

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, July 7, 2017

touching stories bounce between the U.S. and Israel, from the kosher co-op at an Iowa college, to the streets of New York, to a Jerusalem retirement home and beyond.

The collection explores the intersections of American, Israeli and Jewish identity, with a sometimes haunting sense of history and always a current of wry humor.

“Yitzhak Rabin: Soldier, Leader, Statesman” (Yale University Press)

By Itamar Rabinovich

More than 20 years after Rabin’s assassination, this new biography is by one of his closest aides — Rabinovich served as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. during Rabin’s final years as prime minister. The compelling tome adds new layers to the story of one of Israel’s most well-known and admired leaders, thanks to original research and unique personal recollections. Most interestingly, the author offers new insights into Rabin’s relationships with leaders such as Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger and King Hussein of Jordan, as well as a sophisticated analysis on the repercussions of his murder that echo to this day.

ficers who rounded up Jews.

This began to change in the 1990s, making way for a wave of renewed interest in the Holocaust in recent years. But the belated timing means that Amsterdam is one of Europe’s very last capital cities to receive a Holocaust museum: It opened last year and is still in its “infancy stages,” ten Cate noted.

Back in Westerbork, Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomon Jacobs, whose parents survived the Holocaust in hiding and who often speaks about the genocide at the former camp to schoolchildren, told JTA in April that the camp’s story is a constant reminder against giving in to wishful thinking.

“When disaster happens slowly, in installments, people have a tendency to accept each installment,” said Jacobs, who in 2014 shocked many Dutchmen when he said that anti-Semitism in the Netherlands means he would advise his congregants to live in Israel or the United States.

“This is what happened here. So I think we cannot afford to stay silent and just hope for the best.”

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BACK TO SCHOOL JFSA helping synagogues boost youth engagement PHYLLIS BRAUN

AJP Executive Editor

D

eclining youth engagement has been a problem facing synagogues across the country for a decade or more.

To help local synagogues reverse this trend, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is providing them with new allocations for religious schools and family education programs. Each synagogue will decide how to spend its portion of the funds, which this year total $101,000.

“It’s historic for this community,” says Phil Pepper, immediate past president of Congregation Anshei Israel, who is co-chair, with Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon of Temple Emanu-El, of the synagogue funding group, a division of the Federation’s planning and allocations committee.

The Federation previously has provided grants for some individual synagogue programs, but an allocation for a group of synagogues is a new approach.

“It’s actually groundbreaking for any Federation” in North America, says Cohon. “It’s innovative and creative, and it’s based on an obvious and deep need in our community. It’s an attempt to liberate synagogues to use their own creativity to improve youth engagement in the Jewish community.”

The eight synagogues that are members of the Federation-Synagogue Dialogue — Temple Emanu-El and Congregations Anshei Israel, Bet Shalom, Chofetz Chayim, Chaverim, M’kor Hayim, Or Chadash and Young Israel — will each receive a $1,000 allocation.

In addition, a more substantial allocation based on its roster of members ages 18 and younger will go to each synagogue except M’kor Hayim, which opted out of this allocation because it does not offer religious school or family education programming, explains Barry Weisband, vice president of planning and marketing for the Federation.

Plans for the funds vary. Temple Emanu-El will revamp and expand its religious school’s Hebrew@Home distance learning program. Chofetz Chayim will build a playground for its preschool. Chaverim will reinstate its previously successful chavurah (fellowship) program, which brings together small groups of members for various activities. Anshei Israel will use its funds to create or enhance several programs, with the lion’s share going to its madrichim (youth teachers’ aides) program for participants in seventh grade through high school.

“Nobody has a magic wand. We don’t know what’s going to work,” says Cohon, but the allocations give each synagogue the flexibility to play to its strengths. Cohon notes that youth engagement has been declining in Southern Arizona while the overall Jewish community population seems to be stable or growing.

“The future of the Jewish community is dependent on the continued development of young Jews,” he says.

It may take three or more years to judge success, says Cohon, and there are a number of ways to measure increases in youth engagement, including religious school enrollment, b’nai mitzvah, youth groups, tutoring programs, attendance at services, and participation in social action projects.

The youth engagement funding plan got its start two years ago, when Weisband met with Cohon and Phil Bregman, then the synagogue funding group co-chair, to brainstorm as part of the Federation’s new planning and allocations process. Bregman is now the chair of the Jewish Community Roundtable, which brings together Jewish agency and synagogue leaders with key Federation staff.

“This really solidifies the partnership” between Federation and the synagogues,” says Pepper, who stepped in as synagogue funding group co-chair three months ago.

Cohon notes that the allocations encompass diverse See Engagement, page 12

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Free Taste of Judaism celebrates 18th year This year marks the 18th anniversary — the chai year — of Temple Emanu-El’s outreach and education program, Taste of Judaism. The free course offers an introduction to Jewish spirituality, values and community in three two-hour sessions. Rabbis Samuel M. Cohon and Batsheva Appel lead interactive explorations of Jewish history, practice, rituals and culture, open to all regardless of religious background or affiliation. The classes also include homemade tastes of traditional Jewish foods. Daytime and evening sessions are available this year in Central and Northwest Tucson and Green Valley.

Nearly 6,000 participants have experienced the Taste of Judaism over the past 17 years. “Taste of Judaism not only informs, but also makes Judaism more vibrant, meaningful, accessible, and fun,” says Cohon.

Sessions this year include Sundays, Aug. 13, 20 and 27, 2-4 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center; Mondays, Aug. 14, 21 and 28, 6-8 p.m. at Nanini Library; Tuesdays, Aug. 22, 29 and Sept. 5, noon-2 p.m. in Green Valley; and Thursdays, Aug. 24, 31, and Sept. 7, 6-8 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El. Advance registration is required; call 327-4501 or email temple@tetucson.org.

ENGAGEMENT

past chair of the Federation board of directors. “These resources will help congregations develop new and innovative religious school programs and family education activities. It’s very gratifying to see the many components of our community come together so that our families may engage in robust Jewish educational programs that help to ensure a bright future for our Jewish community.”

continued from page 11

streams of Judaism, adding that if the program is successful, the level of funding will be more likely to increase than decrease.

“The Federation is proud of its allocations support to our Tucson synagogues,” says Tom Warne, immediate

BACK TO SCHOOL

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Darkaynu Tucson Jewish Montessori is making changes for the new school year, adding a new covered playground, new staff members and a toddler program. The preschool now accepts children ages 1-6.

Darkaynu will become the first preschool in the area with Imagination Playground Blue Blocks (as seen at the Tucson Children’s Museum), designed to inspire creativity for all ages.

The teachers joining Darkaynu are Helena “Waffles” Wafalowski, who comes to Tucson from Springfield, Ill., where

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she taught at Building Blocks Preschool for 12 years; Jessica Doner, also new to Tucson, who has spent several years working for Schools for the Deaf & Blind in Wisconsin and Utah; and Rhonda Ebert, who has been teaching in Montessori schools for almost 20 years, most recently in Boulder, Colo. In addition to studying early childhood education, Ebert holds a Montessori Education Certificate and has attended multiple Montessori conferences.

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RENEE CLAIRE

Special to the AJP

K

oreen Johannessen, 70, had some difficulty retiring. She first announced that she would step down from her clinical social worker position at the University of Arizona Campus Health Service in 2000. Johannessen had been working with U A students with mental health issues throughout the 1990s. “It became clear to me that many of the students’ health issues were often related to alcohol and other substance abuse. With some grant money we could establish a program to interview students, compile data and present the findings. We hoped to use the results to set up preventative programs, which of course needed more grant funding.”

To ensure that the preventative programs would continue to move forward after her retirement, Johannessen returned to Campus Health Service as a consultant for grant writing and admin-

istration. Through that work, the mental health programs expanded to include nutrition, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and sexual assault prevention as well as alcohol and substance abuse prevention programs.

Concurrent with her work at the UA in the 1990s and the early 2000s, Johannessen served as a volunteer in the Jewish community in several capacities. She was on the UA Hillel Foundation board, where she was president from 1991-1994 — a role that earned her a Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Woman of Valor award in 1995. She also served on the board of trustees of the Jewish Community Foundation up through 2003.

With the Campus Health Service programs in good shape, Johannessen declared her definitive retirement in 2007.

“It was then that I had the time to seriously fool around,” she says. “While I had been working on campus, I took a mariachi class offered at the U of A and I really enjoyed it. So I dusted off my vio-

lin and started a musical group.” Though that group doesn’t meet regularly to perform anymore, Johannessen says when opportunities arise, she still enjoys playing with the other musicians. She tries to practice at least an hour a day and takes weekly lessons from Tucson Symphony Orchestra violinist and teacher, David Rife. “Because I really like the local flavor, I continue to take a class on campus with Mariachi Arizona, the University of Arizona’s mariachi organization.”

When Johannessen plays in public with Mariachi Arizona, she says, people from the audience tend to approach her to talk about the music or ask for a particular song. “Because I’m clearly the oldest person in the group, the assumption is that I’m in charge. Folks come to me speaking in Spanish and, not being fluent in the language, I run quickly to find the leader and let him do the talking. Sometimes I think that the group doesn’t quite know what to do with me, but I’m happy just being able to play. I admit that it must

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is playing mariachi.”

But the reality, Johannessen explains, is that she does have some familiarity with Spanish as her maternal grandparents were Sephardim from Turkey and she grew up hearing Ladino spoken within their small Sephardic community in the Bronx. “So I can pick up some Spanish easily, but generally it’s household talk and especially kitchen talk that I remember from when I grew up listening to my mom and her parents.”

The kitchen is another place where Johannessen spends her time “seriously fooling around” in her retirement. Just not her own kitchen. “For some years I had my elderly mom living with me here in Tucson, and she just loved going over to Roma Imports to have a meal and visit with Lillian Spieth, who is the proprietor.”

Roma Imports is an Italian grocery and deli in Tucson’s Barrio San Antonio. Not only does Johannessen know Spieth from the restaurant, they live nearly next-door to each other, so they’ve become close.

“I started by just hanging out at Roma with my mom who just loved the place.

And now I’ve been helping out several days a week there for about seven years now,” explains Johannessen. “Twice a year, in March and October, Lillian has an event called ‘Feast’ where they serve a three-course, prix-fixe meal where cus-

tomers can choose from around 16 different dishes. Each feast features a different regional cuisine of Italy. Some years back Volker, who is Lillian’s husband, suggested that it would be good to have some entertainment between the courses.

So that’s how I’ve ended up playing music with a violin partner, Diane Ransdell, at the feast events.”

Not only has Johannessen been helping out behind the counter and on her violin at Roma Imports, she says that she’s become proficient at taking goodlooking pictures of food for the store’s website and she maintains Roma’s social media platforms as well.

In search of other opportunities to play music, Johannessen became a member of the Foothills Philharmonic Orchestra about two years ago. The Foothills Philharmonic is an all-volunteer, intergenerational orchestra that performs twice yearly in the Catalina Foothills High School concert hall. Johannessen appreciates the diversity of her musical experiences. While to be a successful mariachi, she explains, you have to have hundreds of songs in your head, playing in an orchestra provides the chance to sit down and have the music on a stand in front of you. Either way, this actively engaged lady seems to know the score.

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From “Painting the World Jewish” to “Senior Shimmy Belly Dancing” to kosher cooking, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Arts & Culture, Fitness & Wellness, and Jewish Life & Learning departments will offer a wide array of programs for seniors this fall.

The Tucson J will partner with Ballet Tucson to host two performances in the J ‘s Sculpture Garden: “Putting Your Best Foot Forward,” where participants and dancers alike will create their own “art that moves” on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m., and “Sole Impressions: New Works

by Ballet Tucson” on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. Ballet Tucson faculty also will teach “Senior Swans,” a new ballet class geared for seniors, Thursdays at 10 a.m. beginning Aug. 17.

Local musician Robin Bessier will perform “The Jewish-Jazz Connection and the Great American Songbook” on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 6:30pm. The Celebration of Heritage Concert Series will highlight the music of siblings Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., a celebration of America’s history through original compositions by Richard Fuchs on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m., and Italian operatic melodies on

Photo courtesy Tucson Jewish Community Center

Tucson J's program variety is boon for seniors

‘Chair Yoga’ is an ongoing class at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.

Sunday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m.

Along with “Painting the World Jewish: Basic Watercolor Techniques” (Sept.

11-Oct. 2), studio art classes will include “Anyone Can Draw & Paint” (Aug. 29- Dec. 29) and “Chinese Calligraphy” (Sept. 12-Oct. 17), part of an ongoing partnership with the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center.

The Chinese Cultural Center also will present “Introduction to Mandarin” (Sept. 12-Oct. 17) and the J will partner with the Alliance Française de Tucson to offer “Beginner French” (Oct. 17-Nov. 21). The J’s Spanish language program

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continues to grow and will include a literature class (Sept. 20- Oct. 25) focusing on Luis Lopez Nieves’s “The Silence of Galileo.” “Beginner Hebrew” (Oct. 19Nov. 30) will be offered in addition to “Intermediate Hebrew” (Oct. 18-Nov. 29) and “Advanced Hebrew” (Oct. 19-Nov. 30), and the Yiddish group will continue to meet on the second Wednesday of the month.

Adult classes focusing on culture, finance, and history will include “Geniuses of Russian Literature: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov” (Oct. 9-30); “Writing Family History” (Oct. 10-31); “Introduction to Food Writing” (Nov. 1-22); “The Communist Utopia and Its Jewish Victims” (Nov. 8-Nov. 29); “Tax Efficient Retirement” (Nov. 9); “Journey Through World Music” (Nov. 10-Dec. 8); and “Musical E-Motion” (Nov. 27-Dec. 18 ).

The J is partnering with Pima Community College to offer new courses this fall. Highlights include “Coiled Basket Weaving” (Sept. 18 and 27); “Poker Strategy” (Oct. 3-Nov. 7); “Makeup for Boomer Women” (Nov. 3); “Introduction to Floral Design Techniques” (Nov. 7-Nov. 14); and “Introduction to First Aid” (Nov. 12).

The Fitness & Wellness department is continuing several popular programs designed to get seniors up and moving and having fun.

“PWR!™” is a comprehensive neuroplasticity-principled program that integrates the latest research on Parkinson’s disease and rehabilitation, exercise, and wellness. Certified PWR! trainer Mary Byrnes will present free meet and greet sessions on Aug. 24 at 9 a.m. and Aug. 25 at 11 a.m.

The next session of the “BEST Protocol for Osteoporosis” begins Oct. 4 and runs through Dec. 20, with three sessions

a week.

“Elder Rehab” starts a new semester on Sept. 18. This program partners a senior, memory-impaired participant with a University of Arizona volunteer who supervises them, one-on-one, in physical fitness workouts and engages them in memory and language stimulation. Applicants must be screened prior to registering. For an application, call Sharon Arkin, Ph.D. at 603-2912.

New classes will include “Senior Shimmy Belly Dancing,” held on Mondays at 11:30 a.m. (Aug. 7-28, Sept. 11Oct. 2, Oct. 9-30 and Nov. 6-27); “Yoga for a Healthy and Happy Back” on Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m., Sept. 13-Oct. 18; and “Get the Most Out of Your Knee and Hip,” Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m., Oct. 25-Nov. 15 (if students have had a total knee or hip replacement, they must be at least four months post-surgery).

The J has partnered with Banner University Medical Center for a free, threepart “Senior Stand Tall” program, Oct. 10, 17 and 24 at 10 a.m. Registration is required; contact Susan Kinkade at 6944713.

A “Healthy Back” program with Colin Easom, certified orthopedic exercise specialist, will be held on Thursdays at 6 p.m.; and “Getting Ahead of Menopause,” which will include 30 minutes of weightbearing exercise and 30 minutes of interval training, will be held Tuesdsays and Thursdays at noon. These are continuous four-week classes; check tucsonjcc.org or call 299-3000 for start dates.

Jewish Life & Learning will present a family cooking class in the demonstration kitchen on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. The class will bring kids and grandparents together to celebrate International Grandparents’ Day and to prepare for Rosh See Tucson J, page 20

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SENIOR LIFESTYLE On the run from Nazis, three Italian Jewish brothers spent months during their childhood hiding in a cave in the Tuscan countryside. Nearly 70 years later, after immigrating to Israel, the three reunite in the country they were forced to abandon and rediscover their hiding place. “For years I’ve wanted to find that cave, the place to which we owe our lives,” says Bubi, the youngest of the trio.

Amid hearty Tuscan meals and sweeping landscapes, the octogenarians’ quest unexpectedly swells with humor and clashing memories in “Shalom Italia,” which will air on the PBS documentary series POV (Point of View) on Monday, July 24 at 10 p.m. The feature film will follow the Oscar®-nominated short “Joe’s Violin,” in which a donated musical instrument forges an improbable friendship between a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor and a 12-year-old Bronx school girl.

Retracing their steps, the brothers in "Shalom Italia" are as different as can be. Emmanuel, the oldest and a world-renowned anthropologist and archaeologist based in Israel, simply recalls misery and only agrees to the journey to make Bubi happy. “Why search for it? I don’t want to remember,” he says.

Meanwhile, Andrea, an athletic physicist just two years younger than Emmanuel, remembers an enchanted childhood: “Those were wonderful times. We lived in the woods, played Robin Hood and collected mushrooms. I had fun during the Holocaust.”

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A scene from 'Shalom Italia,' a documentary by Tamar Tal Anati

“I don’t know whether family stories and my memories overlapped. It’s all a bit vague.”

“It’s human for our memories — personal or shared — to become a source of our identity,” says filmmaker Tamar Tal Anati. “Whether that memory comes from one ‘truth’ is explored by Bubi, Emmanuel and Andrea.

Often it seems any particular moment can only be accurately constructed when everyone is involved, as each person’s particular recollection of an event helps piece together a larger mosaic of a shared experience. I hope ‘Shalom Italia’ will inspire American audiences to reexamine their own stories and history.”

Unalike as they are, Bubi, Andrea and Emmanuel are undoubtedly brothers. They bicker over driving directions, recipes and how exactly their time in the cave should be remembered. Probing the boundaries See Film, page 20

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TUCSON J continued from page 17

Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, by learning new dishes that are kosher and vegetarian.

Senior Shabbat Luncheons will be held on the third Friday of each month from 11 a.m. -1 p.m. (Sept.15, Oct. 20, Nov. 17, and Dec. 15.) The luncheons will begin with Shabbat music and blessings with children in the J’s Early Childhood Education Center. Participants will then enjoy lunch and a featured program with eighthgrade students from Tucson Hebrew Academy. On Oct.

FILM continued from page 18

between history and myth, the brothers soon learn their memories are not so easily unraveled. They can’t agree whether the family hid valuables with a village neighbor, or whether the bow and arrows they played with in the woods were bought at a store or fashioned by hand. “History is full of doubts,” Emmanuel, says, to which Bubi impatiently replies, “You keep doubting and contradicting everything and saying it’s not true over and over again.”

“More than 70 years after the Holocaust, the young-

20, Tucson writer Lynn Saul will lead a writing program focused on how to tell one’s story. On Nov. 17, the Senior Shabbat Luncheon will host Evan Schreiber, news anchor from Tucson News Now on KOLD Channel 13.

Advanced registration is required for the programs.

For more information or to suggest new programs, contact Barbara Fenig, director of Arts & Culture, at 299-3000, ext. 236 or bfenig@tucsonjcc.org; Amy Dowe, director of Fitness & Wellness at 299-3000, ext. 251 or adowe@tucsonjcc.org; or Jennifer Selco, director of Jewish Life & Learning, at 299-3000, ext. 106 or jselco@ tucsonjcc.org. To register for fitness classes, call the Sports and Wellness desk at 299-3000, ext. 118.

est survivors are advancing in age. Both ‘Joe’s Violin’ and ‘Shalom Italia’ raise compelling questions about how we will continue passing on that generation’s memories,” says POV executive producer Justine Nagan. “In ‘Joe’s Violin,’ those connections are made across cultural and economic lines, reminding us how often our lives are woven together across common divides. On the other hand, ‘Shalom Italia’ compels us to probe the limits of memory and recognize its inherent malleability.” Nagan continues, “Despite the gravity of the history, both films are immensely enjoyable and uplifting work that speak to the resiliency of humankind.”

‘Shalom Italia’ and ‘Joe’s Violin’ will stream online on pov.org concurrently with their broadcast.

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RESTAURANT RESOURCE

NEWS BRIEFS A new set of DNA has been identified among the 85 fatalities in the AMIA Jewish center attack in Buenos Aires, strengthening the hypothesis that the 1994 attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. The discovery was announced Monday by the AMIA Special Investigation Unit of the General Prosecution two weeks before the 23rd anniversary of the bombing, which also injured hundreds. The final report after two years of investigation by a forensics team reveals for the first time the existence of a genetic profile among the reserved remains in the laboratory of the Federal Police that “doesn’t belong to any known victims.” With this information the prosecutors in charge of the special unit are working on “the hypothesis of the suicide bomber” and have already taken steps “in the field of international cooperation to try to match the profile obtained with that of samples of relatives of the suspected individual.” The suspected individual is not mentioned in the report released to the public, but he was named in a previous report by the special unit: Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a Lebanese citizen and an alleged member of the terrorist group Hezbollah. The body of a possible suicide terrorist was never found or identified until now. Five Iranians are on the Interpol international police agency’s most wanted list in connection with the AMIA 1994 attack, however. Prosecutors Sabrina Namer, Roberto Salum and Leonardo Filippini have led the AMIA Special Investigatory Unit since their predecessor, Alberto Nisman, was discovered shot dead in his apartment in January 2015 hours before he had been scheduled to appear in Congress to present allegations that then-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner orchestrated a secret deal to cover up Iranian officials’ alleged role in the AMIA bombing. Fernandez denied the allegations and judges threw out the case. It was reopened one year ago, though no conclusions have yet been announced. The two years of DNA analysis was conducted by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, the Forensic Medical Body and the University of Buenos Aires. The same team one year ago identified the 85th victim of the AMIA attack.

The United Nations’ cultural agency voted to condemn Israel’s actions in Jerusalem. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Council on Tuesday at its meeting in Poland passed a resolution submitted by the council’s Arab states rejecting Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Ten countries voted for the resolution — a softened version of the original text submitted, reportedly due to pressure from Israel and the United States — with three opposed and eight abstaining. The opposition votes came from Jamaica, the Philippines and Burkina Faso.

The eight countries that abstained were Angola, Croatia, Finland, Peru, Poland, Portugal, South Korea and Tanzania. Calling Israel the “occupying power,” the measure said the U.N. body “regrets the failure of the Israeli occupying authorities to cease the persistent excavations, tunneling, works, projects and other illegal practices in East Jerusalem, particularly in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, which are illegal under international law,” The Times of Israel reported, citing the resolution. Unlike in previous years, the resolution stressed “the importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls for the three monotheistic religions,” and

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, July 7, 2017

does not refer to the Temple Mount compound solely by its Muslim names, “Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram AlSharif,” instead calling it “a Muslim holy site of worship,” according to The Times of Israel. A UNESCO resolution passed last October ignored Jewish ties to the Western Wall and Temple Mount sites. In May, UNESCO approved a resolution that called on Israel to rescind any “legislative and administrative measures and actions” it has taken to “alter the character and status” of Jerusalem and rejected the idea of a “basic law” in Jerusalem, based on a 1980 Knesset law, that implies the city is a single entity governed solely by Israel. The UNESCO World Heritage Council is expected to vote Friday on a resolution that would declare the Old City of Hebron — including the Tomb of the Patriarchs — a Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, sent a letter Friday to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova asking them to oppose the resolution on Hebron. The resolution, in which the Palestinians claim that the Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Old City of Hebron are endangered by the Israeli occupation, needs a two-thirds vote to pass.

RESTAURANT RESOURCE

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to Israel, calling his visit “historic.” Modi arrived in Israel on Tuesday afternoon, the first visit to Israel by an Indian head of government. The visit comes 25 years after the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Modi visited Israel in 2008 for the first time when he served as chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. “My visit celebrates the strength of centuriesold links between our societies,” Modi said during a welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport. He said he would work to build “a strong and resilient partnership with Israel.” Netanyahu said in his remarks: “Prime Minister, we’ve been waiting for you a long time. We’ve been waiting almost 70 years in fact because yours is truly a historic visit. It’s the first time an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We receive you with open arms. We love India. We admire your culture, we admire your history, your democracy, your commitment to progress. We view you as kindred spirits in our common quest to provide a better future for our peoples and for our world. The ties between our talented innovative peoples is natural. It’s so natural that we could ask what took so long for them to blossom? Well, it took a meeting of minds and hearts, it took a commitment of our governments. We have that today.” Netanyahu announced that the two leaders would sign an agreement for a $40 million innovation fund. The visit is expected to boost economic and defense ties between the two countries. Among Modi’s first stops on Tuesday was the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum. He was not scheduled to visit the Palestinian Authority or meet with Palestinian officials during his visit, despite his country having good relations with the Arab world. Netanyahu planned to accompany Modi for much of his three-day visit, an unusual step. During his visit, Modi planned to meet with members of the Indian community living in Israel, visit a Haifa cemetery where Indian soldiers are buries, and meet with Moshe Holtzberg, whose parents were murdered in an attack on the Mumbai Chabad House, as well as his Indian nanny who accompanied him to Israel.

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR The calendar deadline is Tuesday, 10 days before the issue date. Our next issue will be published August 11, 2017. Events may be emailed to localnews@azjewishpost.com, faxed to 319-1118, or mailed to the AJP at 3822 E. River Road, #300, Tucson, AZ 85718. For more information, call 319-1112. See Area Congregations on page 4 for additional synagogue events.

Men’s Mishnah club with Rabbi Israel Becker at Cong. Chofetz Chayim. Sundays, 7:15 a.m.; Monday-Friday, 6:15 a.m.; Saturdays, 8:15 a.m. 747-7780 or yzbecker@me.com.

Chabad of Sierra Vista men’s tefillin club with Rabbi Benzion Shemtov, first Sundays, 9 a.m., at 401 Suffolk Drive. 820-6256 or jewishsierravista.com.

“Too Jewish” radio show with Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon on KVOI 1030 AM (also KAPR and KJAA), Sundays at 9 a.m.

Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley bagel breakfast and Yiddish club, first Sundays, 9:30 a.m. Members, $7; nonmembers, $10. 648-6690 or 399-3474.

ONGOING Dec. 25. $7 per class or $25 for four. 505-4161 or northwestjewish@jfsa.org.

Cong. Anshei Israel mah jongg, Mondays, 10 a.m.-noon All levels, men and women. Contact Evelyn at 885-4102 or esigafus@aol.com.

Tucson J current events discussion, Mondays, noon-1:30 p.m. Members, $1; nonmembers, $2. Lunch, bring or buy, 11:30 a.m. 2993000, ext. 147.

Jewish sobriety support group meets Mondays, 6:30-8 p.m. at Cong. Bet Shalom. dcmack1952@gmail.com.

Southern Arizona Jewish Genealogy Society, second Sundays, 1-3 p.m. at the Tucson J. Contact Barbara Stern Mannlein at 731-0300 or the J at 299-3000.

“Along the Talmudic Trail” for men (18-40), with Rabbi Israel Becker of Cong. Chofetz Chayim. Includes free dinner. Mondays, 7 p.m. Call for address. 747-7780 or yzbecker@me.com.

Cong. Bet Shalom yoga. Mondays, 9 a.m. and 4:30-5:30 p.m. Also Wednesdays, 9 a.m. $5.

577-1171.

Spouse Bereavement Group, cosponsored

by Widowed to Widowed, Inc. at the Tucson J, Tuesdays, 10 a.m. Contact Marvin at 885-2005 or Tanya at 299-3000, ext. 147.

Temple Emanu-El mah jongg, Mondays at 10 a.m. 327-4501.

Jewish Federation-Northwest chair yoga with a Jewish flair taught by Bonnie Golden.

Mondays, 10-11 a.m., except for Sept. 4 and

Friday / July 7 5 PM: Temple Emanu-El Tot Kabbalat Red, White and Blue Shabbat dinner, service and craft. Adults, $10; ages 13 and under, free. RSVP at 327-4501.

5:45 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Shabbat service followed by traditional community Shabbat dinner at 7 p.m., with roast chicken, vegetables, potatoes, salad and dessert. Vegetarian option available upon request. Member adults (ages 13+), $23; children, $15. Nonmember adults, $27; children, $19. RSVP at caiaz.org or 745-5550.

Sunday / July 9 7 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel summer film series, "The Producers." Includes popcorn and lemonade. Casual discussion follows. Continues Sundays through August 6: July 16, "The Ten Commandments"; July 23, "Life Is Beautiful"; July 30, "An American Tail"; Aug. 6, "Goodbye, Columbus." Call Tamara at 745-5550, ext. 225, or visit caiaz.org.

Tuesday / July 11 7 PM: Temple Emanu-El adult education, Hot Topics in the Hot Sun: "Water, Water Everywhere," with Rabbi Batsheva Appel. Continues July 18 and 25. Members, $35; nonmembers, $45.

To register, call 327-4501.

Wednesday / July 12

7 PM: Temple Emanu-El adult education class, "The Jewish Americans." Viewing and discussion of three-part PBS series, with Richard Brodesky.

Continues July 19 and 26. Members, $25; nonmembers, $35. To register, call 327-4501.

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, July 7, 2017

days, noon-3 p.m., year round. Drop-ins welcome. Meets in library on second floor. 2993000.

Northwest Knitters create hand-stitched items for donation in the Jewish community.

Meets at Jewish Federation Northwest Tuesdays, 1-3 p.m. RSVP to judithgfeldman@gmail. com or 505-4161.

Jewish Federation-Northwest mah jongg, Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., except for Aug. 8, Sept.

12, Oct. 24 and Nov. 14, and Wednesdays, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., except for Sept. 6. 505-4161.

Cong. Anshei Israel Talmud on Tuesday with Rabbi Robert Eisen, Tuesdays, 6 p.m. 7455550.

Tucson J Israeli folk dance classes. Tuesdays. Beginners, 7:30 p.m.; intermediate, 8:15 p.m.; advanced, 9 p.m. Taught by Lisa Goldberg. Members, $5; nonmembers, $6. 2993000.

JFCS Holocaust Survivors group meets Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-noon. Contact Raisa Moroz at 795-0300.

Shalom Tucson business networking group, second Wednesday of month, 7:30-9 a.m., at the Tucson J. Contact Ori Parnaby at 299-3000, ext. 241, or concierge@jewishtucson.org.

Tucson J social bridge. Tuesdays and Thurs-

Cong. Anshei Israel gentle chair yoga with

Sunday / July 23

Sunday / July 30

3:30-5:30 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel adult education program, "The History of Israel/Palestine from 1900 to the Present," with Ken Miller. Continues Sundays through Aug. 27. Members, $36; nonmembers, $50. RSVP to Tamara at 745-5550, ext. 225, or caiaz.org.

Monday / July 24 5 PM: Jewish Federation-Northwest and Hadassah Southern Arizona book club discusses "Behind Enemy Lines" by Marthe Cohn and Wendy Holden; Aug. 28, "Love and Treasure" by Ayelet Waldman. Refreshments. 505-4161.

Tuesday / July 25 7 PM: Cong. Or Chadash "Jews in Boots" country dancing at the Maverick, 6622 E. Tanque Verde.

Lessons, $5, followed at 8 p.m. by live band. RSVP to Elaine Jones at ejones1952@comcast.net.

Wednesday / July 26 9 AM-NOON: Southwest Torah Institute Dr. Paul W. Hoffert Spirit Program, free learning for Jewish men and boys on any Jewish topic, with Rabbi Israel Becker and five students from the Rabbinical Seminary of America. Sessions from 15 minutes to two hours. Also 8-9:45 p.m. Daily except Shabbat, through Aug. 8. Contact Becker at 747-7780 or yzbecker@me.com.

Friday / July 28 7 PM: Interfaith Community Services free foodthemed concert with The Summer Chorus directed by Terrie Ashbaugh, at Ascension Lutheran Church, 1220 W. Magee Road. Bring food or monetary donations for ICS food bank. icstucson.org.

9 AM-2 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel blood donor drive with the American Red Cross. Ages 16+.

For eligibility information, call 1-800-REDCROSS. To reserve a time slot or volunteer, call Margo at 298-8831 or margocares@yahoo.com.

2 PM: Temple Emanu-El Sunday Salon: "My Career in Journalism In the United States and Israel and My Concerns for Journalism Today," with Tony Hatch. Free. RSVP to 327-4501.

Monday / July 31 6:30 PM: Cong. Chofetz Chayim Tisha B'Av Mincha service, followed by traditional pre-fast meal of bread and hard-boiled eggs dipped in ashes; followed at 7:30 p.m. by Maariv service. 747-7780.

6:30 PM: Cong. Or Chadash Tisha B'Av observance, sharing stories and studying Lamentations. Contact Sarah Bollt at 900-7027 or sarah@ octucson.org.

7:15 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Tisha B'Av Lamentations service. 745-5550.

8 PM: Temple Emanu-El Tisha B'Av service, including the chanting of Eicha, the Book of Lamentations. 327-4501.

Tuesday / August 1

7 AM: Cong. Chofetz Chayim Tisha B'Av Shacharit service. 747-7780.

12:30 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Tisha B'Av Mincha service. 745-5550.

4:30 PM: Cong. Chofetz Chayim Tisha B'Av video, "Faith for Life: How to Master Life's Challenges." Mincha service begins at

Lois Graham, Wednesdays, 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Members of Women’s League, $6 per class; nonmembers, $8 per class. Contact Evelyn at 885-4102 or esigafus@aol.com.

Chabad of Sierra Vista women’s class with Rabbi Benzion Shemtov, last Wednesdays, noon-2 p.m., 401 Suffolk Drive. 820-6256 or jewishsierravista.com.

Chabad Tucson lunch and learn with Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin, Wednesdays, 12:15 p.m. at Eli’s Deli. info@ChabadTucson.com.

Jewish mothers/grandmothers special needs support group for those with children/ grandchildren, young or adult, with special needs, third Wednesdays at 7-8:30 p.m. at Tucson J. Contact Joyce Stuehringer at 299-5920.

Tucson J canasta group. Players wanted.

Thursdays, noon. Instruction available and a beginners’ table every week. Call Debbie Wiener at 440-5515.

“Biblical Breakthroughs with Rabbi Becker” at the Southwest Torah Institute. Fridays, noon, for men and women. 747-7780 or yzbecker@ me.com.

Tucson J art show, "The Persuasion of Art Work by Contemporary Artists of Southern Arizona," through July 11. 299-3000.

6:30 p.m. 747-7780.

Wednesday / August 2 6 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Senior USY first day, for Jewish children grades 9-12. Continues Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Call Rabbi Ruven Barkan at 745-5550, ext. 227, or visit caiaz.org.

Friday / August 4 5 PM: Temple Emanu-El Tot Kabbalat Sefer Shabbat dinner, service and craft. Dinner includes kosher chicken and sides. Vegetarian option available on request. Adults, $10; children under 13, free. RSVP at 327-4501.

5 PM: Temple Emanu-El Chardonnay Shabbat pre-oneg with wine, cheese, fruit and crackers, followed by Shabbat service at 5:45 p.m. and "Monsoon Membership Madness" Shabbat cookout at 7:15 p.m. Cookout: $12 adults, children ages 4-12, $4; children under 4, free. Register for cookout at 327-4501.

5:45 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Tot Shabbat, followed by dinner at 6:15 p.m. Shabbat dinner: $25/family (2 adults and up to 4 children); adults, $10. RSVP by July 31 to Kim at 745-5550, ext. 224 or edasst@caiaz.org.

Saturday / August 5 8 AM: Temple Emanu-El Wandering Jews hike and morning service on Mt. Lemmon. Bring your own snacks. 327-4501.

Sunday / August 6 NOON-3 PM: Tucson J Somali cooking class, cosponsored by the International Rescue Committee, at the J. Somali refugee chef Samiro

presents an introduction to Somali dishes, and shares her story. JCC members, $65; nonmembers $70. Contact Barbara Fenig at 299-3000, ext. 236 or bfenig@tucsonjcc.org, or register at tucsonjcc. org.

MONDAY / AUGUST 7 9 AM: Cong. Anshei Israel Preschool/Kindergarten first day, for all children 14 months to 6 years old. Call Lynne Falkow-Strauss at 7455550, ext. 229 or visit caiaz.org.

TUESDAY / AUGUST 8 6 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Junior USY first day, for Jewish children grades 7 and 8. Continues Tuesdays, 6 p.m. Call Rabbi Ruven Barkan at 7455550, ext. 227, or visit caiaz.org.

THURSDAY / AUGUST 10 11:45 AM: Temple Emanu-El adult education class, "Welcome to the Zohar." Continues August 17. Members, $25; nonmembers, $35. To register, call 327-4501.

SUNDAY / AUGUST 13 9 AM: Cong. Anshei Israel Religious School first day, for Jewish children kindergarten through eighth grade. Call Rabbi Ruven Barkan at 7455550, ext. 227, or visit caiaz.org.

10:30 AM: Cong. Or Chadash Brotherhood baseball trip to Phoenix to see Diamondbacks vs. Cubs. Bus leaves from 3750 W. Orange Grove. $40; includes bus and ticket. RSVP to Scott Krasner at skrasner.kmc@gmail.com.

2-4 PM: Temple Emanu-El presents Taste of

Judaism, with Rabbis Samuel M. Cohon and Batsheva Appel, at the Tucson J. A three-part introduction to the basics of Jewish spirituality, values and community; continues Aug. 20 and 27.

Free; registration required at 327-4501 or temple@ tetucson.org.

11 AM: Temple Emanu-El Kurn Religious School pizza party and registration. 327-4501.

UPCOMING MONDAY/ AUGUST 14

9-11 am: Cong. Anshei Israel parent-tot class for children up to 24 months with facilitator Amanda Stark. Free; mandatory vaccination policy. Continues weekly. Call Lynne Falkowstrauss at 745-5550, ext. 229.

6-8 PM: Temple Emanu-El presents Taste of Judaism, with Rabbis Samuel M. Cohon and Batsheva Appel, at Nanini Library, 7300 N. Shannon Rd. (at Ina Road). A three-part introduction to the basics of Jewish spirituality, values and community; continues Aug. 21 and 28. Free; registration required at 327-4501 or temple@tetucson.org.

SUNDAY / SEPTEMBER 10

10:45 AM: Women’s Academy of Jewish Studies summer reading and brunch with Esther Becker, at Cong. Chofetz Chayim, $36 includes copy of “Cracks in the Wall,” a novel

by Uri Raskin. Call Becker at 747-7780 to arrange to pick up book.

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OBITUARIES Zellman Steinberg

David Caplan

Zellman Steinberg, 100, died June 16, 2017.

Mr. Steinberg held a degree in engineering and was an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1943 to 1946, building bridges and other structures. He owned Federal Planning Mill & Architectural Manufacturing Plant in Denver. Mr. Steinberg retired to Tucson in the late 1970s and continued to design plans for several local builders. He was active in the community and was a philanthropist for many humanitarian causes.

Mr. Steinberg was preceded in death by his wife of 70 years, Zoralee. Survivors include his children, Judith and Michael; two grandchildren and one greatgrandchild.

Graveside services were held at Evergreen Cemetery with Rabbi Sandra Wortzel officiating.

Frances Braslawsky, nee Harlow, 92, died June 28, 2017.

Mrs. Braslawsky was preceded in death by her husband, Louis, and brother, George.

Survivors include her children, Gary (Leslie), Fred, Leslie (Steven) Pansky, and Marlene (Larry) Harris of Tucson; eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Services were held at Westlawn Cemetery (Maple section) in Norridge, Ill. Arrangements were made by Chicago Jewish Funerals–Skokie Chapel.

David Caplan, 71, died June 17, 2017.

Mr. Caplan was born in Pittsburgh. He graduated from Penn State University and received his law degree from American University Law School in Washington, D.C. After law school, he spent the next 30 years in Malibu, Calif., until 2002 when he and his wife, Linda, moved to Tucson.

Mr. Caplan practiced law for several years, then got his real estate broker license and syndicated several properties in Malibu. In the early ’90s, he received his securities broker license and began trading commodity options. His brokerage company, Opportunities in Options, grew to nearly 100 employees in Oxnard, Calif.

Mr. Caplan also authored several landmark books on options trading and gave educational seminars around the world.

Mr. Caplan and his wife were original members of the Malibu Jewish Community Center and were instrumental in its formation. Mr. Caplan served on the selection committee of the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival for 10 years. He also took his certified service dogs to schools and assisted living facilities in Tucson. He played duplicate bridge at the Adobe Bridge Club and was active in the Latin American Art Patrons of the Tucson Museum of Art. Survivors include his wife, Linda; children, Carole (Dan) Webb of Malibu and Daniel Caplan of Salt Lake City; and two grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to CurePSP, 30 E. Padonia Rd., Suite 201, Timonium, MD 21093 or online at CurePSP.org.

Arrangements were made by Evergreen Mortuary.

Park & 22nd • Peter & Cyd Marcus

“Every person has a story that deserves to be shared, it’s their legacy that will be carried on into the next generation.”

Frances Braslawsky

Ask us about a complimentary online obituary.

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, July 7, 2017

www.Evergreen-Tucson.com

OUR TOWN

In focus

B’not mitzvah

Celebrating marriage equality

Tova Ellie Fink, daughter of Jennifer and Andrew Fink of Plano, Texas, celebrated her bat mitzvah on June 10 at Adat Chaverim.

She is the granddaughter of Wendy and William Fishkind of Tucson, Donna Fink of New York and the great-granddaughter of Yeta Weston of Tucson.

Tova attends Renner Middle School where she is an honor student and plays the flute in her school band.

She is active in soccer, volleyball and basketball.

For her mitzvah project, Tova volunteers at Operation Kindness and Heroes for Children.

Kimleigh Danielle Fredman, daughter of Daniel Fredman and Katheryn Fredman, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Thursday, July 20 on Masada in Israel.

She is the granddaughter of Frank and Kathy Chrzanowski of Tucson and the late Avery and Henrietta Fredman.

Kimleigh attends Emily Gray Junior High where she is on the honor roll. She enjoys soccer, softball, basketball and taking care of pets.

For her mitzvah project, Kimleigh is gathering and donating items to Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona.

About 30 people attended JPride’s Celebration of Love, Family and Community, held Sunday, June 25 at the Jewish History Museum. The gathering marked the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision, which extended marriage rights to gays throughout the United States.

JPride is a joint program of the Tucson Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.

(L-R): Arlan Colton, Nathan Bacal, Chris Schumacher, Emily Malin (JPride coordinator), Thomas Sayler-Brown, Leslie Kahn, Luis Modena, James Debake and Memo Marmion at the Jewish History Museum June 25.

Business briefs STEVEN MECKLER won a national Silver ADDY Award from the American Advertising Federation for color photography for his “School Lunch Trays” entry, published in Edible Baja Magazine. The competition included entries from 180 AAF clubs throughout the United States. The AAF announced the awards at its annual gala, held last month in New Orleans. Meckler’s entry also won Gold ADDY Awards in the local and district level competitions.

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PLAN FOR THE HOLY DAYS DEADLINE FOR GREETINGS IS TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017 The Arizona Jewish Post will again observe Rosh Hashanah with a beautiful special edition.

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YOU

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AME OUR N

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be u o y e y a M ed in th ib r ife c s L f in k o py o o B ap h r a a e r y o f y ge) h t l a e al messa h d an person our

(or y

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ME

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, July 7, 2017