No 52, December 28 The Atlanta Jewish Times

GUN CONTROL. NOW. PAGE 3

TEN ISSUES AFFECTING JEWS PAGE 4

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If You Ask Me

Gun Control is a Jewish Value ACTION IN THE AFTERMATH OF SANDY HOOK AJT Contributor

“T

hou shalt not murder.”

authority.

It’s one of the Ten Commandments. The law comes from a higher

In fact, it’s a requirement for all humanity, one of several commandments described in the Torah as not just for Jews, but meant for all mankind.

As human beings who are supposed to be in partnership with G-d to help perfect the world, we have not kept up our end of the partnership. Every time there’s a gun tragedy like the one that occurred last week in Newtown, Conn., our otherwise ordinary days are darkened by the senseless taking of lives.

The implication of the biblical injunction against murder is that every citizen must do their utmost to prevent it. Now is the time for people to come together and demand sensible gun control; it’s a move that could prevent countless unnecessary deaths.

Every state has laws against murder. These laws are meant to take the edge off the Second Amendment, which – if left unregulated – leads to the most horrific of acts.

But the Second Amendment was never written with the intention for everyone to own guns. It was never meant to allow guns in the hands of terrorists or the mentally disturbed; it was never meant to allow guns in the hands of those who would threaten good and decent members of the community.

It was never meant to allow someone to come into a school and kill 20 children and six teachers.

Where We Go Wrong This newest tragedy has brought to bear the question of why we can’t keep the damage from occurring in our communities. The National Rifle Association (NRA) leadership will surely give its full-throated cry to prevent any legislation or more earnest regulation and enforcement.

However, many NRA members support sensible gun control. For instance, 75 percent of all NRA members favor

background checks at guns shows and elsewhere. A large majority favors assault gun bans and other measures that would help protect the public at large.

Now is the time for advocacy and action, and for amends for what we have not yet done to prevent senseless deaths.

Editor’s note: Harold Kirtz is past president of The Weber School, Temple Emanu-El, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta.

Whose deaths will the NRA leadership truly bleed for? Would they change their stand if the next massacre took out college students or teens?

How about the faithful, the moviegoers, the subway riders or the people on the streets of our cities?

The President has called for meaningful action. It will take not only his leadership, but also the leadership and advocacy of many citizens from all parts of the community to push through any sort of meaningful legislation.

What We Must Do What kinds of measures are required? Background checks before each sale, whether at gun stores or gun shows. A ban on assault weapons. A ban on high-capacity bullet magazines.

Programs to buy back guns and ammunition in order to get more of them off of the streets and out of our homes.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a politician whose example should be followed. He’s called for immediate action and for a national response.

Each person who reads this article should Google the addresses of their U.S. senators and representatives, as well as those of Gov. Nathan Deal and local state senators and representatives, and write a letter or email expressing your desire for more sensible and effective gun control.

I’m not proposing we ban all weapons. However, there are people in our community who shouldn’t have a gun in their possession.

Would you want the next Newtown shooter to show up at your youngster’s school?

Certain conservative blogs are already questioning the President’s politicizing the most recent shootings in an effort to stop any action from being taken.

I say: Yes, it’s time to politicize all of these shootings. It’s time to stand up for the rights and in the memories of innocent victims.

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

By Harold Kirtz

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AJT

YEAR IN REVIEW

ADL Highlights Top 10 Issues that Affected Jews in 2012 INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS DOMINATE From the Anti-Defamation League

A

resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe, Iran’s subterfuge on the road toward nuclear weapons capability and the vote at the United Nations to upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation topped the Anti-Defamation League’s annual list of top issues affecting Jews in 2012.

“While it isn’t always true, this year was a year with particular emphasis on events overseas,” said Abraham Foxman, ADL National Director. “For us at ADL – and, indeed, for the entire Jewish community in America, which has long assumed responsibility for the well-being of Jews abroad, including in Israel – these are matters of great concern.”

Here’s a snapshot of the ADL’s Top 10 issues: 1. Anti-Semitism Resurgent in Europe Three countries witnessed the rise of anti-Semitic political parties in parliament, and the Jewish community in France witnessed another upsurge in violent attacks. A survey in 10 European countries revealed anti-Semitic attitudes at disturbingly high levels.

In April, one in six Hungarian voters cast ballots for an anti-Semitic party, Jobbik, in national elections. The following month, Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn won 21 seats in parliament. And, in November, the radical Svoboda party of Ukraine captured 12 percent of the popular vote.

But perhaps no country in Europe was more susceptible to violent antiSemitism than France, where a series of attacks left the Jewish community shaken.

On March 19 in Toulouse, four Jews were killed at the Ozar Hatorah School by a terrorist on a motorcycle (later identified as Mohammed Merah).

Before he was killed by authorities, Merah stated that he targeted the Jewish school to avenge “the killing of children” in Gaza.

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

2. Iran: Sanctions and Subterfuge

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As new sanctions against Iran’s banking, petrochemical and energy sectors took force, the economy floundered.

But the regime remained defiant in its open pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s February 2012 report noted that Iran’s stockpile of 20-percent-enriched uranium increased by almost

half, significantly shortening the time needed to further enrich the uranium to weapons-grade material, and that Iran had begun production of enriched uranium at a heavily defended installation deep underground.

The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran was underscored by the regime’s open embrace of the Hamas assault on Israel as well as its promise to supply the Gaza-based terrorist organization with more powerful rockets to target Israeli cities.

3. The United Nations Vote to Upgrade ‘Palestine’ The United Nations General Assembly, in a lopsided vote that revealed once again the world body’s determined bias against Israel, approved on Nov. 29 an upgrade of the Palestinian delegation from an observer entity to that of “non-member state observer” with a count of 138 nations in favor, 9 opposed and 41 abstentions.

Voting against the resolution were the United States, Israel, Czech Republic, Canada, Panama, Marshall Island, Micronesia, Palau and Nauru.

European nations were strongly criticized by Jewish organizations for capitulating to Arab intimidation and pressure for voting in favor of or abstaining to the upgrade and reverting back to the traditional anti-Israel sentiment and lack of objectivity.

4. Gaza Rockets Met with Israeli Airstrikes After an incessant barrage of rocket and missile attacks on Israeli towns and cities from Gaza, Israel launched “Operation Pillar of Defense” in an effort to defend its citizens and destroy the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.

During the Israeli military operation, which consisted mostly of airstrikes, more than 800 rockets fell on Israeli towns and cities. Meanwhile, Israel’s operation targeted senior Hamas terrorist leaders and managed to successfully destroy weapons factories and rocket-launching sites.

The U.S. and Egypt were able to serve as constructive mediators in an attempt to reach a ceasefire, which took effect Nov. 21.

5. Campaign 2012 and Efforts to Woo the Jewish Vote The 2012 U.S. presidential election made history, with an African-American incumbent, Democratic President Barack Obama, facing off against a Mormon challenger, Republican Govenor Mitt Romney.

Despite their minority statuses, neither candidate placed an emphasis on his religious and racial identity, and the electorate seemed more concerned about which of the two was most qualified to lead the country out of a crippling economic recession than about matters of ethnicity or faith.

Both campaigns made unprecedented efforts to woo Jewish voters.

Gov. Romney traveled to Israel in June, held fundraisers and meetings in Jerusalem and criticized the Obama Administration’s approach toward the Jewish State; President Obama argued that the security relationship between Israel and the U.S. had never been stronger.

In the end, an estimated 70 percent of American Jews voted to re-elect President Obama.

6. Rumor Jews Were Behind Anti-Muslim Film The story cooked up by a Los Angeles filmmaker sounded vaguely implausible – that 100 Jewish investors had been recruited to finance an amateurish yet highly incendiary anti-Muslim film called “Innocence of Muslims.”

But by the time the lie was deconstructed, it was too late. The trailer for the film, translated into Arabic and posted on YouTube, sparked violent protests around the world and led to attacks and demonstrations in front of Israeli and American embassies in some two-dozen Muslim and Arab countries.

While the film was eventually revealed as work of a Coptic Christian with a criminal record and hateful motives, the myth that Jews produced and financed the film in an effort to insult the Prophet Muhammad and Islam had gone viral.

7. Primary Presidential Candidates Mix Religion, Politics Repeated inappropriate references to religion and divisive faith-based voter appeals marked the 2012 presidential primary campaign.

Highlights ranged from Sen. Rick Santorum commenting that President Kennedy’s celebrated speech on separation of church and state made him “want to throw up” to Gov. Rick Perry running a television ad saying “there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”

8. Olympic Committee Refuses to Honor Munich 11 Continuing to show a stubborn insensitivity to the memory of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Games, the International Olympic Committee refused a request to hold a moment of silence at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Games in London.

While the IOC held several spontaneous commemorations, including a moment of silence in the Olympic Village, the 40th anniversary of the murder of Israeli athletes and coaches at the hands of Palestinian terrorists passed without so much as an official acknowledgement during the main Olympic ceremonies.

9. U.S. Jewish Community on Alert As Year Begins, Ends with Anti-Semitic Incidents The year began with the news in early January that five Molotov cocktails had been thrown at a Jewish congregation in Rutherford, N.J. The hostilities in Gaza raised new concerns about Jewish institutional security in this country and abroad, and as 2012 came to a close, several Jewish communities across the U.S. reported additional anti-Semitic acts, among them the vandalism of a menorah on the quad at Northeastern University (where anti-Semitic fliers were also discovered) and anti-Jewish graffiti on Chanukah displays in South Florida.

10. Deafening Silence in Face of Hamas Celebration to ‘Destroy’ Israel In the aftermath of the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the south, Hamas held a series of “victory rallies” in which prominent Hamas officials vowed never to recognize Israel.

As the year wound to a close, Hamas was scheduled to hold additional rallies in the West Bank to mark the 25th anniversary of the Islamic movement.

Meanwhile, and despite the maximalist rhetoric from Hamas leaders calling for the destruction of the Jewish state and the takeover of Jerusalem and Haifa and Jaffa, much of the world remained silent.

The ADL, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

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AJT

Community

Eternal Life Hemshech Has a Happy Chanukah HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS CELEBRATE HOLIDAY Staff Report

T

he last day of Chanukah turned out to be the perfect time for members of Eternal Life Hemshech to get together to celebrate the holiday.

The organization, formed in the 1960s, is made up of Holocaust survivors, their descendants and people dedicated to remembering and honoring the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II. “We do plenty of things around the community,” said Karen Edlin, Hemshech president. “But it’s nice to get together for social gatherings around this time of year.”

About 100 people ignored gray skies and a rainy start to the day to make their way to the Selig Center in Midtown Atlanta on Dec. 16. They stayed busy schmoozing with one another, having lunch and listening to the oh-so cool sounds offered up by Oy Klezmer, a local band specializing in the soulful and energetic music of Eastern Europe.

“Survivors don’t see one another that much,” Edlin said, “and this is a great opportunity for them to get together.”

The Ties that Bind KNITTING PROJECT OF THE BREMAN HOME FROM THE WILLIAM BREMAN JEWISH HOME For the Atlanta Jewish Times

S

uzy Scheinberg couldn’t imagine holding a pair of knitting needles a couple of months ago.

She certainly didn’t think she could create a scarf for The William Breman Jewish Home’s secondannual Knitting Project, a program spearheaded by Cherie Aviv and Leslie Levy, longtime supporters of The Breman.

But, after hearing about the project at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s “Knit and Nosh” event, Scheinberg was inspired to make a scarf for The Home’s staff members this holiday season.

“This project was a double blessing for me: I learned to knit and felt proud giving something back to those who are caregivers,” Scheinberg said. “I was frustrated with the knitting at first, but was so happy by the end. I have continued to knit gifts for others, and it seems to be helping with my arthritic fingers. By giving, I certainly have received.”

Fellow knitter Rhoda Margolis agrees.

“This project not only warms the hearts of the recipients,” she said. “It’s also very heartwarming to those of us doing the knitting.”

Aviv, who’s supported the Breman Home for years, is particularly happy that the knitting project brings people together.

“Individuals and local organizations promoted the project, and some formed knitting groups,” she said. “Friends, neighbors, sisters, mothers and daughters challenged themselves and each other to knit together in the spirit of giving, creating a community of volunteers who came together to parlay their yarn into more than 270 scarves.”

Participating groups included JFGA’s Knit and Nosh group, The Peach State Stitchers, Knitting Circle in Savannah, The Ahavath Achim Congregation knitters and even a team from Short Hills, N.J. Employees at all of The Home’s entities received a scarf.

“They were absolutely beautiful; I could not resist looking at them,” said Mary Fleming, the Home’s activities assistant. “I felt so good that people I did not even know were doing this for me and my co-workers.”

More on the Breman Home The William Breman Jewish Home is a nonprofit organization that began providing aging services in 1951. Since that time, numerous services have been added to meet the needs of the community.

The many options offered include long-term nursing care, the Aviv Rehabilitation Center, The Zaban Tower (independent living), The Cohen Home (assisted living), Weinstein Hospice, The One Group (private homecare and medical staffing) and – coming soon – Berman Commons (assisted living in Dunwoody).

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

Editor’s note: To learn more about The Home and the services provided by The Breman, visit wbjh.org.

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TOP LEFT: Liliane Kshensky Baxter, the director of the Lillian & AJ Weinberg Center at The Breman, her husband Tom, and their grandchildren Ila, Zane and Avram Tschirhart.

TOP RIGHT: Sara Ghitis, a longtime member and supporter of Hemshech.

ABOVE LEFT: Herbert Kohn, businessman, community activist and Hemshech member.

ABOVE RIGHT: One of the guests at Chanukah party sponsored by Eternal Life Hemshech makes his way through the buffet line. PHOTOS/Gary Feinberg

Volunteers helped knit more than 270 handmade scarves.

PHOTO/courtesy Shari Bayer

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Food for Thought

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Her success story as an immigrant who has “made good� resonates throughout the local Jewish community. Meanwhile, Bank’s food maintains a fine balance between traditional comforts and cutting-edge cuisine; she has adapted many of her mother’s recipes for use at high-end events.

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POLITICS

Think You Know the Jewish Vote?

THINK AGAIN

BY TOM BAXTER

For the Atlanta Jewish Times

F

ormer Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell remembers a time when you could predict Metro Atlanta’s Jewish vote by attending the right luncheon.

Businessman Abe Goldstein and a group of senior leaders would get together to decide who they would support and, due to the realities of the day, the favored candidates – both nationally and locally – were almost always Democrats.

“Back then, there were people who could deliver the Jewish vote, but you have to remember there weren’t but 12,000 [Jews] in Metro Atlanta,” Massell recalled.

But today, with the rise of a larger and more diverse Jewish community, as well as a Republican majority in state politics, it’s a lot harder to characterize Jewish voters. Think of it as the Home Depot divergence: Two prominent Jewish figures, one

on each side of the political fence; founder Arthur Blank, a loyal Democrat, and co-founder Republican Bernie Marcus, a staunch Republican.

There may not be hard numbers or statistics, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest Metro Atlanta’s Jewish voters in this year’s election were far from monolithic in their choices.

The deep ties which continue between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party are perhaps best underscored by the fact that the only Democrat on the statewide ballot this year – Public Service Commission candidate Steve Oppenheimer – was a Jew. Meanwhile, the growing Jewish involvement in the Georgia Republican Party is highlighted by Attorney General Sam Olens, who in 2010 became the first Jewish candidate of either party to win a statewide partisan election.

“Like the state has changed, the Jewish community has changed,”

said Eric Tanenblatt, who has chaired several Republican presidential campaigns in Georgia and served as chief of staff to Gov. Sonny Perdue, the state’s first Republican governor.

Tanenblatt, who was co-chair of Mitt Romney’s National Finance Committee and accompanied the Republican presidential candidate on his visit to Israel, is the senior managing director at McKenna, Long & Aldridge. He says the community has long had its Republican stalwarts, like Jarvis Levenson and Clyde Rodbell.

But now he sees a lot of younger Jewish Republicans as well. Along with a new generation have come new attitudes, ones more in-line with the fiscal conservatism of the Republicans.

“Jews have often not been thinking voters. They’ve been guilty voters,” said Mike Bodker, the Republican mayor of Johns Creek. “I think that you can be compassionate, that you can give to the less fortunate, and still be a Republican.”

Those issues that center on the concept of “repairing the world” have always been important to Jewish voters. Likewise, support for Israel has repeatedly taken center stage, and was an issue that burned particularly hot in the past election, with doubts cast about the Obama Administration’s loyalty to its key Middle Eastern ally.

According to exit polls and postelection surveys, about 69 percent of the nation’s Jewish voters cast their ballots for Obama. That’s down from 2008, when 76 percent of Jewish voters chose the Democratic candidate.

The figure is also less than the impressive margins Obama rolled up among Hispanics (71 percent) and Asians (73 percent), but it nevertheless amounts to a strong rejection of Romney’s overtures.

“The Republican Party tried to create a dynamic in which, if you are for Israel, then you have to be for the Republicans because the Democrats are against Israel,” said Linda Fisher, a Democrat who is an active volunteer in the Jewish community.

“I don’t buy that argument at all, and I think the events of recent days – with the administration’s support of Israel in the recent conflict with Hamas – have proven that it was not correct.”

If Romney had won the election, there might be a different set of questions about the career trajectory of the previously mentioned Attorney General Olens; the former Cobb County Commission chairman was the only statewide elected Republican to back Romney early on in the campaign, and the only Georgian to be given a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

But what Olens does next is still a big question in terms of the kind of inroads the GOP could continue to make among Jewish voters. Even a longtime Democrat such as attorney Steve Lebovitz, a colleague of Tanenblatt’s at McKenna, Long & Aldridge, acknowledges that Olens would be a powerful draw to Jewish voters.

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Ultimately, the larger factors are likely to be how effectively the Republicans hang on to power at the state level, along with the continuing growth of the Jewish community. In the future, being Jewish will still be a strong indicator of how you might vote – but so will your zip code.

Editor’s note: Tom Baxter has written about politics and the South for more than four decades. He was national editor and later chief political correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and currently writes a column for the Saporta Report, www.saportareport.com

AJT

Education At ORT schools in the United States, 80% of the Class of 2011 are employed in their field of study,

GHA Remembers Dr. Ephraim Frankel FORMER HEADMASTER WAS A ‘LIGHT’

and Rachel Cohen is one of them.

BY LEAH LEVY

AJT Contributor

Dr. Frankel was the Head of School at GHA for 23 years, from 1967 to 1990. He passed away in New Jersey in early November. In honor of his shloshim, when it is customary to learn Mishnah in honor of the deceased, GHA students were addressed by

alizing their grandfather. They noted how appropriate it was to honor him on Chanukah – a holiday focusing on maintaining Jewish identity.

Dr. Frankel, they said, ensured “that GHA was a place where all Jewish children could thrive, no matter their background and no matter what shul they went to.”

Dr. David Frankel also spoke movingly of the connection between his father’s life and the festival of Chanukah.

He said that the Jews were “a light unto nations.” The Greeks may have considered themselves an enlightened people, but the difference, he explained, was that the Greeks focused on external light and beauty, while the Jewish tradition emphasizes inner beauty and the light of the soul.

Dr. Ephraim Frankel, of blessed memory Rabbi Lee Buckman, GHA Head of School; Leah Summers, GHA principal; Dr. David Frankel, president of the board at GHA and Dr. Ephraim Frankel’s son; and Sammy and Micah Frankel, GHA students and grandsons of the late headmaster.

Beth Intro, a first grade teacher at GHA and a former student who attended GHA during Dr. Frankel’s tenure, recalled Dr. Frankel greeting her by name decades after she graduated.

“He never made us feel like we were just ‘some’ past students,” she said. “I was important to him, and he remembered me. He was important to me, and I will always remember him.”

Cousins Sammy and Micah Frankel delivered a d’var Torah memori-

“In metaphorical terms, my dad was a light,” Dr. Frankel said. “The legacy he leaves behind is not the glitz and glamour that we might see from the movie stars and sports figures who grab today’s headlines.

What stands out about my dad are the stories of him greeting students each day, and making sure that everyone at the school – students, teachers, parents, and staff – felt like a special person in the world.

“As we begin to celebrate the festival of Chanukah, I hope we can all take inspiration, not only from Maccabees, but from the people in our lives who have kindled a light that has made each of us a better person, and may we in time accept the challenge of becoming lights unto others.”

Leah Levy is a paraprofessional at GHA and the author of “The Waiting Wall,” a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for 2010.

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he legacy and “light” of Dr. Ephraim Frankel were fondly recalled at a recent memorial assembly held in honor of the longtime headmaster of Greenfield Hebrew Academy.

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don’t have a clue what I’ll be doing next week, but have a pretty good idea how I’ll be spending much of February. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF), one of the premiere flick fests in the country, has expanded once again and will soon be offering dozens of movies at venues across Metro Atlanta.

The 13th-annual edition of the fest, produced by the American Jewish Committee of Atlanta, runs from Jan. 30 through Feb. 20 and will include some 70 films screened at five locations. The event remains Atlanta’s largest film festival and the nation’s second-largest Jewish film festival.

AJFF booklets were mailed out late in December, and my wife and I have already made our initial selections. These days, I’m hunkered down in front of my computer, ready to purchase tickets when they go on sale next week (Thurs., Jan 3).

A word of warning: sales are brisk and sellouts are common.

Ready For a Marathon

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

Wendy and I managed to rip apart our calendars and rethink our daily schedules so that we could attend a dozen or so films this time around.

There are comedies and dramas, documentaries and shorts; they all explore the human condition and, in some fashion, there’s always a Jewish twist or connection.

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On one sure-to-be memorable Sunday in early February, Wendy and I will be spending the day at our local multiplex (fortunately, it was added as one of the festival venues two years ago). Our marathon effort will include the feature film “Tiger Eyes” and two documentaries, “Portrait of Wally” and “Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy.”

That’s close to a five-hour commitment; but hey, who’s counting!

The first documentary focuses on a scandalous lawsuit over a Naziplundered painting, while the second is a celebration of the unique role of Jewish composers and lyricists at the heart of the Great White Way.

The Jewish factor of the feature film is a bit harder to uncover. It’s the first of best-selling author Judy Blume’s classic books to be translated to the big screen and centers around a teenager grappling with the sudden, violent loss of her dad.

It turns out the protagonist’s father is Jewish – and that, it appears, is all the yiddishkeit necessary to land the film in this year’s program.

The bottom line, and one of the reasons the festival is a not-to-bemissed happening each winter, is that “Tiger Eyes” – and other such movies – is a piece of splendid, innovative filmmaking. The three-week schedule is always a refreshing and nice change from Hollywood spectaculars filled with special effects and little else.

Pulling Us Together At one end of the artistic spectrum, the festival is all about entertainment and education, offering movies focusing on Jewish life, culture and history.

At least that’s the party line, pulled from the festival’s official website. But slide along this philosophical plane, and I think there’s something of import resting at the other end of the spectrum.

There are 120,000 Jews in the metro area, and over the course of the festival, thousands will attend at least one show. Last year, the fest drew a whopping 30,000 moviegoers, and expectations are high that new records will be set this season.

No other Jewish event – religious, communal or cultural – comes close to attracting such large numbers in Atlanta. The films, of course, are the draw; the icing on the cake is bumping into friends and family – the ganze mispucha.

Most importantly, the wailing about our loss of Jewish identity and the real concerns of assimilation fade away quietly for at least a few weeks.

So we can all collectively sit back and relax in a darkened theater; laugh a little, cry a little, nosh on a bit of popcorn and lose ourselves in what’s being offered on the big screen.

And, for an hour or two, return home happily to our Jewish community.

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DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

AJT

ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

Let the Festivities Begin!

COBB ENERGY CENTRE IS HOME OF OPENING NIGHT

T

From the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival he Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) announces its Opening Night Gala will be hosted the evening of Jan. 30 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

“We are pleased to welcome the 2013 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival to the Cobb Energy Centre,” Michael S. Taormina, managing director of the Centre, said. “This prestigious Opening Night creates all the glamour of Hollywood while showcasing the important art of film and its ability to educate, entertain, transcend and celebrate our diverse cultures.”

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

The festival’s Opening Night has become one of Atlanta’s premier events, having attracted up to 2,500 film lovers in recent years. The gala event for VIP Red Carpet ticket buyers and festival sponsors will feature a marquee film, a silent auction and the culinary delights of some of Atlanta’s premier chefs.

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“We are excited to partner with the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, which complements our festival venues throughout the city,” said Kenny Blank, executive director of the AJFF. “Cobb Energy Centre offers a convenient location for audiences, and it’s a visually stunning, state-of-the-art facility which will offer a first-class experience to our patrons.”

In addition to the Opening Night festivities at Cobb Energy Centre, the 13th annual AJFF will include screenings during its 22-day run at five other locations around the metro area: Regal Cinemas Atlantic Station Stadium 16, Lefont Sandy Springs, Georgia Theatre Company Merchants Walk, United Artists Tara Cinema 4 and Regal Cinemas North Point Market 8.

The Festival attracts more than 30,000 attendees, making it Atlanta’s largest film festival and the nation’s second-largest Jewish film festival in the nation (after the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival). AJFF showcases inter-

national and independent works of cinema that are otherwise unavailable to local audiences and was recently voted best film festival in Atlanta for 2012 by the readers of “Creative Loafing.”

From left to right, Kenny Blank, Executive Director Atlanta Jewish Film Festival; Martha Jo Katz, Opening Night Gala Chair; Dov Wilker, Regional Director AJC. PHOTO/courtesy AJFF

Over the past 12 years, AJFF has featured films from 38 nations and territories, many of which highlight significant political and cultural issues. Films in the festival show unique aspects of Jewish life while retaining a broad appeal for nonJewish audiences.

Screenings are supplemented by guest appearances with filmmakers,

actors, authors, academics and other expert speakers. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is produced by American Jewish Committee Atlanta, whose mission is to build bridges of understanding between the Jewish and other communities.

For more information on dates, tickets and opening night, please visit ajff.org.

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DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

AJT

ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

Not Your Ordinary Jewish Films ON THE COVER: SEVEN OFFBEAT PICKS From the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival “My Awkward Sexual Adventure,” directed by Sean Garrity (2012; 98 min.s; English) “All In,” directed by Daniel Burman (2011; 113 min.s; Spanish with subtitles) After his marriage goes bust, a professional gambler bluffing his way through life gets an unexpected second chance at love in the latest romantic comedy from celebrated Argentine auteur Daniel Burman (“Lost Embrace”), a man often dubbed the Woody Allen of Latin America.

Mirroring the Jewish culture and frenetic urban lifestyle of Buenos Aires, “All In” has all the hallmarks of Burman’s signature style: a slightly offbeat mix of naturalistic performances, convoluted complications, poignant themes and biting humor.

Winner of the Tribeca Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Screenplay Award.

“Jews and Money,” directed by Lewis Cohen (2012; 92 min.s; English, French and Hebrew with subtitles)

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

The shocking 2006 torture and killing of a young Jewish man in the outskirts of Paris are investigated in “Jews & Money,” a damning documentary exposé of antiSemitism in contemporary France.

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In search of the social and historical context behind the murder of Ilan Halimi, Emmy-award winning filmmaker Lewis Cohen traces the age-old “rich Jew” stereotype from medieval moneylenders to Nazi propaganda to international capitalism. Also featured are powerful interviews with the victim’s mother, lawyers for both sides and the journalists who covered the notorious hate crime and its effects on France.

A nebbishy accountant seeks help from a stripper to win back his unsatisfied exgirlfriend in “My Awkward Sexual Adventure,” a raunchy and raucous sex comedy from Canada.

The hyper-repressed Jordan (Jonas Chernick) has inspired such bedroom exasperation in the bodacious-butbitchy Rachel (Sarah Manninen) that she finally gives him the heave-ho.

Heartbroken, he embarks on a nearcompulsive mission from Winnipeg to Toronto’s swamp of sin in search of sexual education, first from his best friend and notorious player Dandak (Vik Sahay) and later from a worldly but disorganized exotic dancer, the ever-luminous Emily Hampshire (Cosmopolis).

A novel deal is struck: Jordan will assist in managing Emily’s crushing financial debt if she teaches him how to become a better lover. Evoking the outlandishness of “There’s Something About Mary,” the film is turbocharged with squirm-inducing humor mixed with unexpected sweetness.

Winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Calgary International Film Festival.

“My First Wedding,” directed by Ariel Winograd (2011; 102 min.s; Spanish with subtitles) A perfect storm of matrimonial disharmony ensues in “My First Wedding,” a fast-paced screwball comedy from Argentine director Ariel Winograd which lampoons romantic illusions, religious differences and the politics of the proverbial “big day.”

A terrified Adrián (Daniel Hendler) and his uptight bride-to-be Leonora (Natalia Oreiro) – a secular Jew and lapsed Catholic, respectively – have finally reached their wedding ceremony.

Told in flashback, the trouble begins

when the groom clumsily loses the wedding rings, setting in motion a series of white lies and increasingly desperate delay tactics that bring out the worst in the betrothed couple.

Replete with a cast of eccentric and feuding family members, troublemaking ex-lovers and the theological musings of a priest and a rabbi who are diverted from the wedding venue, this comedy of errors leads down a path of misunderstanding and disaster.

Nominated for four Argentine Academy Awards.

“Off White Lies,” directed by Maya Kenig (2011, 86 min.s; English and Hebrew with subtitles) A deadbeat Israeli inventor and his estranged teenage daughter try to reconcile their differences in “Off White Lies,” a delicate blend of poignant coming-of-age drama and offbeat situation comedy.

After years living in California with her mother and stepfather, sharp-witted but introverted 13-year-old Libi (newcomer Elya Inbar) returns to Israel to spend time with her unemployed and homeless father Shaul (Gur Bentvich).

With the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, Shaul devises a scheme to put a roof over their heads by posing as war refugees until they are taken in by a well-off family in Jerusalem. As the masquerade wears thin, the bemusing circumstances give way to a bourgeoning father-daughter bond forged by a shared talent for telling “off-white lies.”

Nominated for seven Israeli Ophirs; Bentvich won Best Actor for his performance.

“The Rabbi’s Cat,” directed by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux (2009; 89 min.s; French with subtitles) France’s favorite kosher kitty leaps from the comic pages to the big screen in this gorgeously animated adaptation of the bestselling Joann Sfar

adult graphic novel about a talking cat and his philosophical musings on religion.

Set in the colorful seaside world of colonial Algiers in the 1930s – when Jews and Arabs of the region coexisted in relative peace – the story centers on a warmhearted widower rabbi, his sensuous daughter and their feisty feline who miraculously gains the ability to speak after swallowing the family parakeet. Curious and contrarian, the cat wonders aloud about his Jewish identity and soon insists on having a bar mitzvah.

Thus begins a chain of freewheeling adventures with a mélange of uniquely eccentric characters and a provocative exploration of Judaism and related sociopolitical issues.

Presented in both 2-D and 3-D formats.

Winner of the French César for Best Animated Film. Not recommended for young children due to adult themes, violence and subtitles.

“Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir Documentary,” directed by Laurent Bouzereau (2011; 94 min.s; English) The celebrated but scandalized Polish-French filmmaker shares emotionally raw recollections of the painful life episodes that continue to haunt his career in “Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir.”

The core of this enthralling biography is culled from some 20 hours of intimate conversations shot by longtime friend and producer Andrew Braunsberg, who was instrumental in securing Polanski’s participation in the film.

With an unguarded honesty and visible pain, Polanski sets the record straight regarding the 1968 murder of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate by followers of the Manson family cult and his 1977 sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl, which led to his exile and eventual arrest 30 years later. Perhaps most moving, however, are the harrowing accounts of his childhood in the Kraków Ghetto, where he narrowly escaped Nazi capture.

Brief clips from such Polanski masterworks as “The Pianist,” “Tess” and “Rosemary’s Baby” establish the close connection between the Oscar-winning director’s tragic circumstances and his artistic achievements.

Atlanta Synagogue Directory

Sponsored by:

CHABAD Chabad Intown 928 Ponce De Leon Avenue Atlanta, GA 30306 www.chabadintown.org 404.898.0434

Congregation Beth Shalom 5303 Winters Chapel Rd. Atlanta, GA 30360 www.bshalom.net 770.399.5300

Guardians of the Torah P.O. Box 767981 Roswell, GA 30076 www.guardiansofthetorah.org 770.286.3477

The Kehilla of Sandy Springs 5075 Roswell Rd. Sandy Springs, GA 30342 www.thekehilla.org 404.913.6131

Temple Beth Tikvah 9955 Coleman Rd. Roswell, GA 30075 www.bethtikvah.com 770.642.0434

Chabad Israel Center 5188 Roswell Rd. Sandy Springs, GA 30324 www.cicatlanta.com 404.252.9508

Congregation B’nai Torah 700 Mount Vernon Hwy. Atlanta, GA 30328 www.bnaitorah.org 404.257.0537

Young Israel of Toco Hills 2074 Lavista Rd. Atlanta, GA 30329 www.yith.org 404.315.1417

Temple Emanu-El 1580 Spalding Dr. Atlanta, GA 30350 www.templeemanuelatlanta.org 770.395.1340

Chabad Jewish Center 4255 Wade Green Rd. Suite 120 Kennesaw, GA 30144 www.jewishwestcobb.com 678.460.7702

Congregation Etz Chaim 1190 Indian Hills Pkwy Marietta, GA 30068 www.etzchaim.net 770.973.0137

Nediv Lev: the Free Synagogue of Atlanta 3791 Mill Creek Ct. Atlanta, GA 30341 My.att.net/p/PWP-NedivLev 770.335.2311 Shalom B’harim 150 Warwick Street Dahlonega, GA 30533 www.shalombharim.org 706.864.0801

Reconstructionist Congregation Bet Haverim 2676 Clairmont Rd. Atlanta, GA 30329 www.congregationbethaverim.org 404.315.6446

Temple Kehillat Chaim 1145 Green St. Roswell, GA 30075 www.kehillatchaim.org 770.641.8630

Orthodox

Reform

Anshi S’Fard Congregation 1324 North Highland Ave. Atlanta, GA 30306 www.anshisfard.com 404.874.4513

Congregation B’nai Israel 1633 Hwy 54 E Jonesboro, GA 30238 www.bnai-israel.net 678.817.7162

Congregation Ariel 5237 Tilly Mill Rd. Dunwoody, GA 30338 www.congariel.org 770.390.9071

Congregation Dor Tamid 11165 Parsons Rd. Johns Creek, GA 30097 www.dortamid.org 770.623.8860

Congregation Beth Jacob 1855 Lavista Rd. Atlanta, GA 30329 www.bethjacobatlanta.org 404.633.0551

Congregation Ner Tamid 176 West Sandtown Rd. Marietta, GA 30064 www.nertamidonline.com 678.264.8575

Congregation Beth Yitzhak 5054 Singleton Rd. Norcross, GA 30093 770.931.4567 Email: anatoliy@bjca.com

Congregation Rodeph Sholom 406 East 1st Street Rome, GA 30161 www.rodephsholomga.org (706) 291-6315

Congregation Ner Hamizrach 1858 Lavista Rd. Atlanta, GA 30329 www.nerhamizrach.org 404.315.9020

Temple Beth David 1885 Mcgee Rd. Snellville, GA 30078 www.gwinnetttemple.com 770.978.3916

Chabad of Gwinnett 3855 Holcomb Bridge Rd. Suite 770 Norcross, GA 30092 www.chabadofgwinnett.org 678.595.0196 Chabad of North Fulton 10180 Jones Bridge Rd. Alpharetta, GA 30022 www.chabadnf.org 770.410.9000 Congregation Beth Tefillah 5065 High Point Rd. Atlanta, GA 30342 www.chabadga.com 404.257.9306 Conservative Ahavath Achim Synagogue 600 Peachtree Battle Ave. Atlanta, GA 30327 www.aasynagogue.org 404.355.5222

Congregation Gesher L’Torah 4320 Kimball Bridge Rd. Alpharetta, GA 30022 www.gltorah.org 770.777.4009 Congregation Or Hadash 6751 Roswell Rd. Atlanta, GA 30328 www.or-hadash.org 404.250.3338 Congregation Shearith Israel 1180 University Dr. Atlanta, GA 30306 www.shearithisrael.com 404.873.1743 Non-denominational Atlanta Chevre Minyan Druid Forest Clubhouse North Crossing Dr. Atlanta, GA 30305 www.atlantachevreminya.org Congregation Kehillat HaShem 315 Cotton Court Johns Creek, GA 30022 rabbiatlanta.com 770.218.8094 Congregation Shema Yisrael 6065 Roswell Rd., #3018 Atlanta, GA 30328 www.shemaweb.org 404.943.1100

Temple Kol Emeth 1415 Old Canton Rd. Marietta, GA 30062 www.kolemeth.net 770.973.3533 Temple Sinai 5645 Dupree Dr. Sandy Springs, GA 30327 www.templesinatlanta.org 404.252.3073 The Temple 1589 Peachtree St. NE Atlanta, GA 30309 www.the-temple.org 404.873.1731 SEPHARDIC Congregation Or VeShalom 1681 North Druid Hills Rd. Atlanta, GA 30319 www.orveshalom.org 404.633.1737 Traditional Congregation Shaarei Shamayim 1810 Briarcliff Rd. Atlanta, GA 30329 www.shaareishamayeim.com 404.417.0472

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

Chabad of Cobb 4450 Lower Roswell Rd. Marietta, GA 30068 www.chabadofcobb.com 770.565.4412

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AJT

Let It Be Read

Q & A: Sam Genirberg AUTHOR OF “AMONG THE ENEMY” Interview by John McCurdy, Managing Editor Transcription by Elizabeth Friedly, Assistant Editor

“I

’m an old man,” Sam Genirberg laughs.

But the stories he can tell are timeless.

Born in Dubno – then a city of Poland, now of Ukraine – on May 15, 1924, he was on the cusp of adulthood when the Nazis invaded and began taking the lives of those around him. An exceptionally resourceful youth, he escaped that fate through wit and luck: By gaining entry to Germany via a transport of non-Jews and concealing his Jewish identity for several years, he lived to immigrate to the U.S. Genirberg describes this unimaginable time in his life in full detail in his new book, “Among the Enemy: Hiding in Plain Sight in Nazi Germany.” Here, he tells the AJT what it was like to remember and write about the greatest tragedy of the modern era.

Atlanta Jewish Times: Obviously, this was the most harrowing experience you’ve ever had. Still, how did you manage to recall it so vividly? Were you keeping a journal in those days?

Sam Genirberg: No, I didn’t keep a written journal in those days, [but] I worked on a manuscript about 50 years ago. My memory was so fresh about the events, and people who read the manuscript liked it a lot.

People encouraged me to publish it, and I tried very hard 50 years ago.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone that had the vision to publish the book because they didn’t see the [potential] in releasing it. I got these rejection letters: “It’s a great story, a unique story, but unfortunately at this point in time we’re not ready to deal with that.” So I gave up.

My family knew the story; I didn’t hide it, they read it. I said, my family knows the story, my friends know the story – to heck with the publishing companies! If they don’t want to publish it, it’s their problem.

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At least, that was how I felt until just about a year ago, my first daughter retired from her job and was looking for something, and she said, “Let’s try and publish it.” So she encouraged me to continue working with the companies, and we published it just a few months ago through a self-publishing company.

AJT: If I can take you back to one of those life-changing moments: What were your thoughts and feelings as your mother encouraged you to go with that transport of non-Jews?

SG: It was very difficult. Germany occupied Dubno in June 1941…[and] little by little, the local population – we were not rich people, and the standard of living was very low in Eastern Europe and Eastern Poland at the time, but we had something, clothes and furniture – they were taken over.

To this day, I can’t get over how people knew, at that point, they knew that one day they would come and get us to do the same thing. Still, we functioned. But the mothers they began to tell their children “Run away, run away, they’re going to kill us!”

So my mother did the same thing.

By that time my father was gone; he was killed on the way to the synagogue, from the house a five-minute walk; he was picked up along with other middleaged men and taken to the cemetery.

I walked away several times, saying goodbye to my mother, but I kept coming back because it was difficult. Every time I came back, she would scold me.

AJT: Was it difficult to put the full account into words?

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

SG: After the war, I eventually came to California, where there was a group of Holocaust survivors; they just called us “refugees.” We used to get together, and we would talk about the events that we experienced during the war. We sort of got used to talking about it, and so we sort of learned to talk about it without experiencing the pain that we had at the time that we were living it.

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supernatural; but I realized that I could fool the Gestapo, even with all their security and the police department. And

Then, when I began to write my manuscript, occasionally I would come to an episode, such as my mother or my father’s death, and those were painful, but most of the time, once I got confidence, I could continue. It became sort of a challenge.

The powerful Germany, when they came to occupy that town, they were so

when I was writing it, I became proud.

All in all, I was able to write the whole manuscript, I remembered all the names, my memory was fresh.

AJT: What does it feel like to finally have the book out?

SG: I’m very satisfied. My reason for publishing it and writing it was not monetary, though; it has nothing to do with that. I wanted the public to read it, to read a different version of the Holocaust.

All the literature that came out of the war with regards to the Jewish population, it was about the camps. I wanted the public to be aware that there was another way; that other people had the perseverance to travel to Germany, to survive.

So when we finally published it, I was very proud, and [we’ve found that] once people start reading it, they love it. And that’s basically my reasoning for writing the book; not to make any money, but because I wanted the public to be aware. It’s all true, no embellishments.

Editor’s note: Visit rp-author.com/genirberg for more info. Purchase “Among the Enemy” at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com or RobertsonPublishing.com.

AJT

Arts & Life

Kosher Movies: Equilibrium (2002) NO SEPARATING EMOTION FROM EXISTENCE

BY RABBI HERBERT COHEN AJT Contributor

and that the way to guarantee a peaceful future is to suppress all emotions.

Stymied, Preston asks: “What’s the point of your existence?”

hen I was in college in the 1960s, it was acceptable, even fashionable, to be a liberal arts major. I had friends who majored in philosophy, history, music, art and English.

The film is set after a third World War, as a totalitarian state emerges from the ashes with a philosophy that human feelings are the primary cause of conflict in society. Therefore, this regime asserts, the way to prevent war in the future is to ban all emotion – to make sensitivity a crime punishable by death.

To which she answers: “To feel… it’s as vital as breath. And without it – without love, without anger, without sorrow – breath is just a clock ticking.”

In this society, “sense offenders” are persecuted, and all emotionally stimulating material, most of which is under the rubric of the liberal arts, is forbidden. To control people, everyone is required to take daily doses of Prozium, which suppresses all emotion.

When I first started learning Talmud, I was impressed with the braininess of the sages who debated and analyzed the intricate text. It seemed to me that the Jewish people had created an aristocracy of intellect in which the wise man’s opinion was the one that counted.

Studying the liberal arts was “cool” because it meant you were a Renaissance man prepared for everything life had to offer. Liberal arts majors under-

stood the past and were better able to navigate the future because of their well-rounded education.

I remember hearing a lecture by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, a master of philosophy as well as Torah, in which he said that some of the most important decisions that one makes in life are not based on calculations, but on emotional leaps of faith. He cited the decision to get married to a particular person as one example.

All this ran through my mind as I watched “Equilibrium,” a violent science fiction thriller which posits that human emotion is the root cause of war

John Preston, a highranking officer and enforcer in this new government, notices that his partner has taken a book of poems from a sense offender rather than incinerate it. For the offense, Preston kills him. Before dying, his partner confesses that the feelings he experienced through reading the poetry were worth the cost of dying for it. Then, when Preston accidently breaks his daily vial of Prozium, he too begins to feel, and his first emotion is remorse over executing his partner.

As time goes on, he deliberately skips his daily dose and becomes a more sensitive and emotional man. But a crisis occurs when Preston arrests Mary O’Brien for sense offense. In a searing conversation, she asks him why is he alive, to which he responds: “to safeguard the continuity of this great society.”

She reminds him of the circular nature of his response: “You exist to continue your existence. What’s the point?”

Preston’s epiphany is now complete, and he allies himself with the Underground Resistance forces to overthrow the government. The man of cold intellect is now the man of feeling.

This is perhaps why one of my instructors told me that he would ask his teachers for advice not only because they were knowledgeable men, but because they understood him as a person as well. They understood his heart as well as his head, and that makes for true wisdom.

Rabbi Cohen, former principal of Yeshiva Atlanta, now resides in Beit Shemesh, Israel. Visit koshermovies.com for more of his Torah-themed film reviews.

As I matured in my studies, however, I realized that the sages were not ro-

A MEMOIR BY SAM GENIRBERG

18 year old Sasha flees from German occupied Dubno ghetto days before SS commandos massacre the remaining 5,000 Jewish men, women, and children. He poses as a gentile and lives in plain sight, in the very heart of Hitler's Germany, among his enemies for three years.

Sasha's quick wit and twists of fate, allow him to survive day by day.

Meeting no other Jews, after liberation, Sasha fears he may be the only Jewish person alive in Europe.

ORDER NOW

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

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bots who simply knew all the answers.

Rather, they were masters of human psychology who comprehended not only text but understood in a deep way the thoughts and emotions of man.

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AJT

MATZAH BALL SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Different and the Same THE DIVERSITY OF ONE

By Rachel LaVictoire

O

AJT Contributor

identity.

ne day at a small junior high school, a young boy – we’ll call him Benjamin – began to struggle with his

Now, Benjamin arrived at school on Monday morning just in time for homeroom. He walked in, sat down at his desk and folded his arms into what he would use as a makeshift pillow for a quick morning nap.

But before he could get his head in just the right position, the school coaches entered the room and announced that they’d be posting sign-ups for basketball try outs. Most of the boys in the room smiled; they were ready for the season to start.

Benjamin, however, had just gotten a guitar for his birthday. Truth to tell, he enjoyed learning to play the guitar much more than he liked playing basketball.

So Benjamin ignored the coaches and his classmates, then turned back to his folded arms and tried once again

to get comfortable. When the bell rang, he went to his first class, passing the sign-up sheet tacked to the wall in the hallway.

His mom, however, was eager to talk.

He passed the sheet again and again throughout the day, ignoring it as he made his way to class through the morning and afternoon. He walked passed it one last time after the final bell rang at 3 p.m.

Benjamin shook his head, a backand-forth motion that clearly signaled “no.”

Making a Decision Outside in the carpool line, the other boys couldn’t stop talking about basketball: the special camps they’d attended; how their dads and older brothers had helped them practice shooting; their plans for the upcoming season.

Benjamin told the boys he wouldn’t be playing. He remained friendly, however, and joked around with his friends about who would make the team.

Benjamin’s mom rolled up to the front of the school, and he jumped into the car, happy to be done with yet another Monday. He tossed his backpack on the floor of the car and reached for the radio.

Shabbat Candle Lighting Times shabbat blessings Blessing for the Candles Baruch Arah A-do-nai,El-o-hei-nu Melech Haolam Asher Kid-shanu b’mitzvotav V’zivanu l’hadlik ner shel Shabbat Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of time and space.

You hallow us with Your mitzvot and command us to kindle the lights of Shabbat.

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

Blessing for thw Wine Baruch Atah A-do-nai, El-o-hei-nu Meelech Haolam, Borei p’ri hagafen

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Praise to You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

Blessing for the Bread (Challah) Baruch Atah A-do-nai, El-o-hei-nu Melech haolam, Hamotzi Lechem min haaretz.

Our Praise to You Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.

Friday, December 28, 2012 Light Candles at: 5:18 pm Shabbat, December 29, 2012 Shabbat Ends: 6:18 pm Friday, January 4, 2013 Light Candles at: 5:23 pm Shabbat, January 5, 2012 Shabbat Ends: 6:22 pm Friday, January 11, 2013 Light Candles at: 5:29 pm Shabbat, January 12, 2012 Shabbat Ends: 6:28 pm Friday, January 18, 2013 Light Candles at: 5:35 pm Shabbat, January 19, 2012 Shabbat Ends: 6:34 pm

“I hear basketball try-outs are coming up,” she said. “Did you sign up?”

“Well, why not?” she asked.

Benjamin explained he wanted to continue with guitar lessons and that he “just didn’t feel like it,” and then added the oh-so familiar phrase that youngsters have been offering up for generations: “Everyone is doing it. I just want to do something else.”

His mom didn’t understand and kept asking him why he couldn’t play basketball with his friends on school days and practice guitar on the weekends.

In Search of Ourselves I’ve always been interested in this little dilemma. It’s what I consider to be the “paradox of individuality.”

We all have times when we just want to be our own person. Then again, no one wants to be alone all the time. It’s a conundrum, but I think this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, has something to say on the issue.

As Jacob is nearing his death, he calls together his sons to bless each of them individually:

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the student of the law from between his feet…Zebulun, he will be at the harbor of the ships…Dan will avenge his people, like one…From Asher will come rich food, and he will yield regal delicacies…”

Jacob continued on and on, assigning each son a role (Genesis 49: 8-19).

Judah will produce leaders, he said; priests will come from Levi, scholars from Issachar, seafarers from Zebulun, teachers from Simeon, soldiers from Gad, judges from Dan, and olive growers from Asher.

Jacob went further, too, giving certain brothers gifts of fierceness and others gifts of speed. Indeed, on that day, he created the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

It’s from these tribes that regional groups emerge: the Sephardim, Ash-

kenazi and more. It’s also from these tribes that we learn about the “paradox of individuality” that I detail above.

When Jacob finishes his blessing, the parshah reads, “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them; each man, according to his blessing, he blessed them” (Genesis 49:28).

Notice how it reads “each man, according to his blessing, he blessed them.” That implies that Jacob didn’t assign these roles to his sons, but rather that he recognized the originality within them and encouraged them that they raise a people with similar gifts and interests: Leaders will live together with Judah, soldiers with Gad, and so on.

Members of each tribe are unique individuals, all created differently; and each tribe is unique because of its distinction assigned by Jacob.

But regardless of all of the differences, all twelve tribes, and all their members are Jewish and, as such, are all connected in a great way.

The same goes for Benjamin, and for all of us still in the process of discovering who we are. It is in fact possible to be different and the same, to strive for individuality and community.

You can listen to different music than all of your peers, yet still go to sporting events with them. You can dress yourself head-to-toe in argyle and pastel colors, and still walk to class with your New York friends.

No matter how different you may feel at times, there will always be at least one thing in your life that creates community. If all else fails, you’re Jewish, and we all know what a strong community that can be.

Rachel LaVictoire (rlavictoire@wustl.edu) is a graduate of the Davis Academy and Westminster High School, recipient of the prestigious Nemerov Writing and Thomas H. Elliott Merit scholarships at Washington University of St. Louis and an active member of Temple Emanu-El and the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.

AJT

D’VAR TORAH

Parashat Vayechi THE BLESSING THAT IS GRANDPARENTS AND GRANDCHILDREN

A number of facets of this incident are worthy of comment. First of all, we see that the “generation gap” is not new. Children’s interests, fashions and language today may be as alien to

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Much has been said as well as written about the tragic events of the past few weeks. I would only note here that every parent I know is holding their children just a bit closer, appreciating their blessings a bit more. We realize that the grandparent/grandchild relation is part of that – another channel for love and blessing.

Joseph’s story is the source of the tradition that Jewish parents bless their children and hold them close each Friday night, invoking the names of Ephraim and Menashe. One of my favorite memories of my father, of blessed memory, is how he would bless me even as I blessed my own children.

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Several commentators suggest that Jacob was surprised to learn that these were his grandchildren. Having grown up among Egyptian royalty, they had the appearance, manner and accent of Egyptians, not Israelites. Still, ultimately Jacob blesses them both, crossing his hands to promote Ephraim, the younger, over the elder Menashe, despite Joseph’s attempts to correct him.

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As his days come to an end, he asks his son Joseph to bring grandsons Ephraim and Menasheh near. Jacob at first does not recognize them; he asks, “Who are these?” (Genesis 48:8).

We also recognize that not everyone who wishes to be a parent or grandparent is so blessed, and not every child is fortunate enough to know the generations that came before, but we can rejoice especially at the opportunity to create ties to “honorary” grandparents and grandchildren, bringing together young and old with loving relationships that transcend genetics.

January 4 – 6, 2013

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Our portion this week, Vayechi, shows a different model: Jacob, who endured such conflict and strife with his own children, is the only patriarch (and indeed one of the few figures in the entire Bible) who is described as having a positive relationship with his grandchildren.

Today, increased mobility around the country and the world means that children are less likely to grow up close to their grandparents, but we also have many ways of overcoming physical distance.

I TA L I A N

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Grandparents can be important transmitters of values and are a vital link to the sacred traditions of a family and of a people. They are a blessing to later generations, and the converse is true as well.

To paraphrase the Psalmist: When grandparents and grandchildren dwell together, there is indeed peace and hope for the people of Israel.

Editor’s note: Rabbi Joshua Heller is the senior rabbi of Congregation B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs and a member of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association.

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

Isaac could have had a chance to meet almost all of his grandchildren, and would still have been a sprightly 168 when Joseph was sold into slavery, but the Torah tells us nothing about these interactions. Even our oral and rabbinic traditions, which often expand greatly on details only hinted at in the text, are largely absent of comment on the role that these men might have played.

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The written Torah is silent about the impact the patriarchs had on their grandchildren. Abraham, having outlived Sarah, could have seen grandsons Jacob and Esau reach their teenage years, but he never is shown engaged in the stories of their lives.

Secondly, we see the challenges inherent in the grandparent/parent relationship. Grandparents and parents may disagree over priorities in how children are to be raised, just as Jacob and Joseph did.

IS

O

ne of the most beautiful blessings in the Psalms is “May you see your children’s children, peace upon Israel” (128:6). However, the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is rarely mentioned in the stories of the families of the Torah, and indeed the Bible as a whole.

U

Congregation B’nai Torah and the Atlanta Rabbinical Association

grandparents as the Egyptian ways of Ephraim and Menashe were to Jacob.

In fact, the two boys may have been raised in a faith tradition altogether different from that of their grandfather.

SE R V

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AJT

MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A BLESSING

Dr. Herman Julius Boaz

92, OF ATLANTA

DECEMBER 28 ▪ 2012

Dr. Herman Julius Boaz¸ 92, passed away on Dec. 20, 2012. He was predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Sophie Lischner Boaz. Herman was born in Atlanta on May 21, 1920, and was the youngest and only son of Gertrude and Dr. Daniel Boaz. He had five older sisters: Ruth Franklin, Isabell Sacks, Julia Jacobs, Frieda Boaz and Mimi Cristol, all of blessed memory. Herman attended Boys High – then Northern Illinois College of Optometry – in Chicago, where he met his beloved Sophie. He practiced optometry in Atlanta for 50 years. Herman was a sweet and gentle man with a quick wit, a passion for working with his hands and a love of photography. He and Sophie traveled the world together. Herman was a member of the Jewish War Veterans, Fulton Lodge and The Temple (lifelong). He is survived by his children, Daniel and Marcia Boaz, Marvin and Susan Boaz and Barbara and George Greenblat; grandchildren: David and Anna Boaz, Sheri and Phil Plonski, Allison Boaz, Jennifer Boaz, Michael Greenblat and his fiancée Sandy Verrilli, Brian Greenblat, Ryan Slakman and Rebecca Oakley, and Adam Slakman and Allison Barry; great-grandchildren: Nathan and Noah Boaz, Bonnie Plonski and Sunny Oakley; and many nieces and nephews. Herman will always be remembered for his generosity and love of family. To know him was to love him. An online guestbook is available at edressler.com. Please make donations to Hospice Atlanta, 5775 Glenridge Drive, NE, Suite E200, Atlanta, GA 30328, vnhs.org; Weinstein Hospice, 3150 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30327, weinsteinhospice.org; or The Temple, 1589 Peachtree Street,

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Atlanta, GA 30309, the-temple.org. Graveside services were held at 2:30 p.m. on Fri., Dec. 21, 2012 at Crest Lawn Memorial Park with Rabbi Loren Lapidus officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care.

Jacqueline Waxman Ross

79, OF BEACHWOOD, OHIO AND AVENTURA, FLA. Jacqueline Waxman Ross of Beachwood, Ohio and Aventura, Fla. passed away Dec. 11, 2012 at age 79. She was the beloved wife of Eugene Ross, M.D. for 58 years; devoted mother of daughters Sheri and Kenneth Lanza of Vienna, Va. and Susan and Kenneth Hammer of Atlanta and son Daniel Ross of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and sister of Marvin Waxman of Cleveland, Ohio. She was blessed with four grandchildren, Kelsey and Jessica Lanza and Jason and Eliot Zerden.

Jackie was an excellent homemaker who thoroughly embraced her role in life. She was a member of Fairmount Temple for more than 60 years, and was actively involved with ORT for 25 years. She was an avid reader and enjoyed travel, theater, and museums. Jackie was a generous supporter of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as a member of the Heritage and Legacy Societies. Jackie will be deeply missed by her immediate and extended family and close friends. Contributions are suggested to Temple Sinai or The Weber School.

Sol Spielberg 91, OF ATLANTA

Sol Spielberg, 91, died Tues., Dec. 18, 2012. Survivors include his beloved wife of 63 years, Gia Spielberg; four children and their spouses: David and Jacqueline Spielberg, Josh and Nita Spielberg, Anne Spielberg and Tom Armstrong, and Debbie Spielberg and Tom Block; his eight grandchildren, whom he adored: Lela, Benjamin, Hannah, Michael, Adela, Michelle, Dalya and Mollie; and his brothers, Jack and Nathan Spielberg. Born in Philadelphia, Penn., Sol spent his youth between Atlanta and the Bronx, completing high school in New York at the age of 16. After enlisting in the military immediately after Pearl Harbor and serving in the Air Force for four years – including in Italy and North Africa – he attended (thanks to the GI Bill) the University of Georgia, where he earned his degree in two years. In 1952, after a required two-year apprenticeship, he was licensed as a C.P.A.; then, at age 31, he founded his own accounting business and never looked back. In 1955, he also earned a law degree, having attended night law school while running his business and helping raise his family. He worked full-time until he was 82 with a series of accounting partners, for the longest period of time under the name Spielberg & Herman; he continued practicing tax law on a part-time basis until he was 86. His volunteer work included being a Little League coach, Briarcliff High PTA co-president and vice president of the American Association of Attorneys-CPAs; and service on the finance committee of the Ahavath Achim Synagogue. All who knew him will remember him as an avid reader – he was often hidden behind one of his many newspapers or immersed in the latest tax newsletter – and as the author of many letters to the editor. He will be missed, but he will be remembered for his love of family, country and the Jewish people; his dedication to his work; and his eagerness to engage in lively political debate with everyone who crossed his path. Sign online guestbook at edressler.com.

Donations in his memory may be made to the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum. Funeral services were held graveside Fri., Dec. 21, 2012 at noon at Crest Lawn Memorial Park with Rabbi Neil Sandler officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care.

what’s happening

Sun., Jan. 6 Bearing Witness Series, “Unforgettable Stories” with speaker Eva Friedlander, Holocaust survivor. Sun., Jan. 6, 2 p.m. Free for members. $12/adults, $8/seniors, $6/students. The Breman Museum. (678) 222-3700.

High Museum Trip, “Fast Forward: Modern Moments” exhibit. Docent-guided tour through exhibit followed by drinks at Shout. Sun., Jan. 6, 3 p.m. $30/MJCCA members, $35/non-members. High Museum. (678) 812-4079.

Thurs., Jan. 10 Preschool Place Pre-K open house, come meet excellent educators and experience CDT’s quality pre-K program.

Walk-ins welcome, RSVP preferred. Congregation Dor Tamid. (770) 623-8849.

Mon., Jan. 12 Mt. Scopus Musical Soiree, an evening featuring concert pianist Elena Boguslavsky; proceeds go towards genetic research at Hadassah Hospital. Mon., Jan. 12, 7:30 p.m. $25/person. Private residence. RSVP by Jan. 5. For info, (404) 325-0340 or embarr1@bellsouth.net.

Sun., Jan. 13 Yiddish Lovers Club Meeting, once a month meetings. Sun., Jan. 13, 11 a.m. Beth Jacob Synagogue. (404) 6330551.

From the SS to the IDF, with guest lecturer Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger. Sun., Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m. Congregation Beth Tefillah.

(404) 843-2464.

Wed., Jan. 16 Thinking Inside the Box, “Framing Women’s Lives” shadowboxing created

by Weber School students. Wed., Jan. 16, 7 p.m. The Weber School. RSVP brosenblit@weberschool.org “To Catch An Anti-Semite,” with guest speaker David Nesenoff, on the viral video of White House correspondent Helen Thomas. Wed., Jan. 16, 7:30 p.m. $12/ person for RSVP’s by Jan. 10. $15/person at door. RSVP, (770) 565-4412 or chabadofcobb.com.

Sat., Jan. 19 Cancer Transitions Workshop, sixweek workshop to aide in active to post treatment. Sat., Jan. 19, 10 a.m. Free.

Cancer Support Community. (404) 8431880.

Sun., Jan. 20 A Night at the Races, dinner in honor of Harold & Lora Schroeder and Dr. Jason and Leanne Kaplan, featuring games and music and more. Sun., Jan. 20. Congregation Ariel. (770) 390-9071.

Sat., Jan. 26 Family Concert, Mr. Greg’s Musical Madness. Sat., Jan. 26, 11 a.m. $10/

person. The Punchline Comedy Club.

Tickets at punchline.com.

Sun., Jan. 27 Mahjong Tournament, Benefitting Etz Chaim Preschool. Bring 2012 Mahjong card. Prizes awarded. Beginners seminar available. Sun., Jan. 27, 12:45 p.m. $25/person. Congregation Etz Chaim. etzchaim.net/preschool_events_registration.aspx.

Israel Trip Info Meeting, for upcoming MJCCA trip, June 12-25. Sun., Jan. 27, 12 p.m. Zaban Park. Information and application forms, (678) 812-4161 or brian. glusman@atlantajcc.org.

Sun., Feb. 3 Congregation Dor Tamid Adult Enrichment Program, features different speakers each week on varying social and Jewish topics. Begins Sun., Feb. 3, 9:30 a.m. (nine sessions). The Monarch School. lindadickson1@gmail.com or (678) 777-7099.

Wed., Feb. 6 Moving Atlanta to Higher Ground, how religion inspires positive change, interfaith panel event sponsored by Georgia State University Department of Religious Studies, with Rabbi Alvin Sugarman, Rev. Joanna Adams, Imam Plemon El-Amin and Rev. Joseph Roberts. Wed., Feb. 6, 5 p.m. Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University. (404) 949-3777.

MDE Open House, school for special needs students, individual attention.

Wed., Feb. 6, 7 p.m. The Motivation, Dedication, Excellence School in Marietta. RSVP by Feb. 1, (770) 977-9457 or (770) 971-4633.

Sat., Feb. 9 Gala Dinner & Auction, Chabad of Cobb with honorees: Nava & Ron Alkalay, Sherry Kornheiser, Cobb County Commissioner Bob Ott, and Hollee & Steven Parker. Chabad of Cobb. Sat., Feb. 9.

(770) 565-4412.

Ongoing Sober Shabbat, dinners held on the first Friday of every month, sponsored by the JF&CS HAMSA. JF&CS offices. For information: (770) 677-9318 or addiction@jfcs-atlanta.org.

Jewish Alcoholics Chemically Dependent Persons And Significant Others Meeting, calling all Jewish persons with a desire to get help with their own addiction or with a loved one’s addiction. First and third Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Congregation Etz Chaim. (770) 928-2523 or georgiatraveler@att.net.

Torah as a Means to a Sacred Experience, weekly lunch and learn hosted by Frederick Ravid and Phil Levetan. Reservations recommended. Thursdays, 12:30 p.m. $6/person. Selig Enterprises. yes@ reallyfree.org or (678) 753-5813.

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AJT

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JEWISH PUZZLER

by Kathi Handler (bookssss@aol.com)

Across 1. Jewish Telegraphic Agency 4. “American Buffalo” playwright 9. Ribicoff, initially 12. Put a used siddur to rest 13. Breathing 14. Robed 16. Magic Carpet base 17. Baseball’s “Flip” 18. Tekiah 19. “All in the Family” Meathead 21. Helena Rubenstein product 22. Mary Hartman actress 23. Tied the Torah 24. Jacob’s disguise 26. Jerusalem Gate 28. __ for Peace?

29. Koch and Beame 31. “Shalom Sesame” station 34. Sopher need 35. Nickname for Salk 36. Tet (Eng) 37. Rabbi Isaac Luria 38. Pod member 39. Fashion designer 41. Clubs or Hearts 42. Tu B’shevat need 43. Dead Sea plenty 44. European town 47. Hebrew letters 50. Sounds the shofar 51. Biblical enemy

54. Arkin or Funt 55. Breezy 56. Valley (Heb.) 57. 1,007 58. Kol__ 59. Sandal base 60. Lulav has two 61. Like Solomon 62. Radner’s comedy revue

30. Israeli city 31. “Sounds of Silence” singer 32. __ Mila, rite 33. __ shiva 35. Arrows 40. Ellis and Long

41. Shiva mood 42. Gottfried’s game 43. Exodus egress 44. Emulated Spitz 45. Solomon’s baby solution 46. Shvil Yisra’el

48. __ Previn 49. MGM mogul 51. 103 52. Relate 53. _ out a living 55. Degania to Haifa

Last week’s answers

Down 1. Yael Arad sport 2. Holocaust camp 3. “The Fountainhead” author 4. Via __, Sea Road 5. Moses on the mount 6. Like Shakespeare’s Shylock 7. Eer to Ha-Levi 8. Commandments 9. Apatow and Arkin 10. Amidah sometimes 11. Extent 12. __ Kochba revolt 15. Mitzvah, good __ 20. Eat (Yid) 21. Vidal product 23. Bridge maven 24. Gabbai catch 25. Batman creator 27. Bissel (Eng) 29. Bar Rafaeli

Chess Puzzle of the Week

by Jon Hochberg

Challenge: White to move: Checkmate in 2 moves

Last week’s puzzle solution.

1) Nc7 2) Ke7 3) B x Nc5#

Jon Hochberg is a chess instructor who has been teaching in the Atlanta area for the last 6 years. Currently, Jon runs after school chess programs at several Atlanta schools, including The Epstein school. He always welcomes new students, and enjoys working with children who have no prior chess knowledge. Jon can be reached at Jonhochberg@gmail.com to sched-

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