Atlanta Jewish Times, Vol. XCI No. 24, June 17, 2016

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ON A MISSION

Mitzi Schepps started as a traditional vet, but she discovered the painkilling power of acupuncture. Page 14

Being honored for her service to animals, Debra Berger is optimistic about more humane practices. Page 15

EGG-CITED

For two locals with backyard chickens, all the fresh eggs they can eat are just the start of the benefits. Page 16

Atlanta

www.LeeBrant.com INSIDE Calendar �����������������������������������4 Candle Lighting ����������������������4 Israel News ������������������������������6 Business �����������������������������������9 Opinion ���������������������������������� 10 Education �������������������������������23 Sports ������������������������������������� 24 Travel �������������������������������������26 Arts ������������������������������������������27 Simchas ����������������������������������28 Obituaries ������������������������������28 Crossword ������������������������������30

TRUE LOVE

A Hillel Birthright trip rekindles the spark between a UGA student and Israel. Page 6

CALL FOR CHANGE

Eric Robbins says Federation will remove the barriers to participation in the Jewish community. Page 8

KOSHER BREW

Monday Night Brewing is the first local craft brewery to get kosher certification. Page 9

WANTED MEN

Georgia Tech pitchers Brandon Gold and Matthew Gorst are drafted in the 12th round of the baseball draft. Page 25

VOL. XCI NO. 24

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JUNE 17, 2016 | 11 SIVAN 5776

Tel Aviv Victim Taught at Emory

By Ken Stein

A

round 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8, at the trendy Sarona Market in central Tel Aviv, two Palestinian Arab cousins shot a dozen Israelis.

Four died immediately, including Michael Feige, a professor at Ben-Gurion University.

Feige had taught at Brandeis University and at Emory University as a visiting Israeli scholar in the 2006-07 academic year.

Five months ago I had dinner at the Sarona Market, located just in the shadow of Israel’s Defense Ministry headquarters. Then, also on a weeknight, it was serene, packed with diners, shoppers and people-watchers; this could easily be described as a crowded Lenox or Perimeter Mall on a weekend, but with large outside walking spaces between boutique stores and chic restaurants.

Though Israelis had endured a spate of sporadic killings from Palestinians in different parts of the country since October, I gave no particular thought when the taxi dropped me off that night that this lively, music-filled area would be the scene of future carnage and senseless death.

After 40 years of teaching about Israel and the conflict and more than 50 trips to Israel, this was the first time someone I had met was one of the thousands of Israelis and others who died in any of the hundreds of Palestinian terrorist attacks that have plagued Israeli lives over the years.

For those of us who believe so deeply in the values of freedom, liberty and selfdetermination, it remains so difficult to

Michael Feige is remembered as a sophisticated scholar and a caring educator.

comprehend that an otherwise routine evening or day can be jarred with senseless death as all too frequently has occurred to innocents: Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Paris, Brussels, Istanbul, San Bernardino, Orlando and so many other places in recent years.

So much maliciously calculated tragedy endured by so many because of the hatred of a few.

As director of the Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel, I invited Michael Feige to be one of our annual visiting Israeli scholars. He had a reputation as a good teacher who looked at Israeli society in sophisticated ways.

As expected, he gave students a chance to learn about his own fine work on Israeli identity and memory formation; he showed students how to listen and successfully navigate the often divergent and contentious views held about the peace process and the territories.

As a sociologist, he gave students an opportunity to learn about Israel through the eyes of a discipline different from that of a historian or a political scientist. At Emory he taught general sociology courses and courses on Israeli society and culture.

Born in Jerusalem in 1957, Feige studied at the Hebrew University and the University of Pennsylvania. For the last two decades he taught at Ben-Gurion University, and he recently directed the Israel studies program there. At the annual Association of Israel Studies conference June 20 to 22, he was to have given a presentation on rebranding Jerusalem through popular music.

Michael is survived by his wife, Nurit, and three daughters.

For 80 students at Emory, he left a positive impact as a fair and caring teacher. According to our Emory colleague Eli Sperling, who is currently studying at Ben-Gurion University, M.A. students spoke of him at the quickly assembled ceremony the day after his death. The students recalled his kindnesses in providing advice.

Raja Aziz from East Jerusalem said he “presented historical and political issues with an open mind. As a Palestinian Arab, I always felt welcomed and at ease in his class. I’m so sorry that we lost him.”

Lukas Weinbeer from Germany remembered him as “extremely insightful and approachable.”

Michael’s BGU colleague Nahum Karlinsky recalled: “You always wanted to hear what Michael had to say because it was always smart, well-presented, fresh and surprising. And it always came with humor and with a tint of cynicism — a type of defense mechanism that one needs to cultivate when one lives in this region.” ■ Professor Ken Stein teaches Middle Eastern history and politics at Emory University.

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JUNE 17 â–ª 2016

MA TOVU

Resolving the Dilemma Of Holiday Togetherness

Dear Debby and Rick, Your feelings make so much sense in this situation! For years you have stayed under the same roof together with your children and grandchildren, making the most of holiday time to enjoy a special bonding experience.

Suddenly, without warning, your newlywed expectant grandchildren’s needs are prioritized before yours.

Bristling, you are left feeling cast aside and secondary to the new generation.

Often a situation is so much more palatable when couched in the proper phraseology. If your son had approached you in the following loving way, I am sure you would have felt more cared about.

Imagine this: “Mom, we always love when you and Daddy join us for Passover. Everyone is already counting down until we see you; it’s the highlight of our holiday. But I have a dilemma that I wanted to run by you. Since Rachel is expecting soon, it’s hard for her to do much walking. As much as we love having you in the house with us, would you mind if they stay in the basement this time? I want you to be comfortable, so I thought I would ask for your preference of using a neighbor’s guest room or a hotel. Would either of those options work for you?”

Perhaps you still would have felt somewhat uncomfortable. But I imagine you would have understood the situation and gently told David: “I understand. The last trimester can be difficult; it’s no problem. Let me talk to Daddy and get back to you.”

Your feelings of displacement and not being cared about would not be your dominant reaction. Surely, you, a loving grandmother, would want the best for your married grandchildren.

Remaining at home for Pass-

over would cause so much pain and distress. Spending time together during this holiday has been a family tradition; your absence would cause great angst and probably create a rift dividing you, your children and your grandchildren. Nothing is worth that.

Shared Spirit Moderated By Rachel Stein rachels83@gmail.com

If I were you, I would take a step back and realize that no one is trying to displace, dishonor or hurt you. Your children are simply trying to navigate the needs of their expanding family while best accommodating everyone.

I hope you enjoyed a healthy, happy Passover with your family!

Sincerely, Julie R. Dear Readers, Would you like to know the conclusion of our story? I’m Debby, the one who wrote in with the dilemma.

As I lift the curtain on the final scene in this scenario, you will see that G-d really does have a sense of humor.

Rick and I opted to stay at the neighbor’s house around the block, and they gave us a lovely little room with its own private entrance. Our children’s home was rowdy and bustling, “really happening,” as they say in today’s modern lingo. Many of our grandchildren had friends coming and going, and the noise level was high.

To my surprise, I enjoyed having a little getaway where I could open a book alone, share some one-on-one time with Rick, and have some private time away from all the commotion.

Funny how the tables turned, isn’t it? So here’s my advice to any of you facing a similar predicament: Next time a situation seems dark and onesided, take a step back and examine it carefully from all angles. There may just be a secret gift waiting to be opened and savored.

Looking back, this Passover was probably my best one, chock-full of nachas and meaningful memories. After all, what could be better than having the whole family together?

Wishing all of you the best, Debby ■

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n our last dilemma, Rick and Debby were preparing to spend Passover with their children as they have done for many years. In the midst of packing, their son, David, called to say there had been a change in their usual accommodations.

“You can either stay in a hotel or in a neighbor’s guest room,” David explained in a matter-of-fact way. “The newlyweds need the basement suite.”

Debby no longer felt welcome and wondered whether they shouldn’t go.

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THE ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES (ISSN# 0892-33451) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SOUTHERN ISRAELITE, LLC 270 Carpenter Drive, Suite 320, Atlanta, GA 30328 © 2016 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES Printed by Walton Press Inc. MEMBER Conexx: America Israel Business Connector American Jewish Press Association Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce Please send all photos, stories and editorial content to: submissions@atljewishtimes.com

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES

LGBTQ webinar. SOJOURN’s Robbie Medwed joins representatives of Kesh­ et and the ACLU for an online discussion about LGBTQ civil rights at 1 p.m.

Free; register at www.surveymonkey. com/r/PDPCBVR for the sign-in details.

Mikvah and addiction. The Metro Atlanta Community Mikvah, 700A Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs, in partnership with Jewish Family & Career Services, welcomes MACoM Vice President Caryn Hanrahan for a program at 7 p.m. for families and others supporting people recovering from addiction on the use of mikvah as a ritual tool in recovery. Free; www.atlantamikvah.org.

Graduation. Temima High School graduates its Class of 2016 and honors Jonathan and Ilene Miller at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Beth Jacob, Heritage Hall, 1855 LaVista Road, Toco Hills. Free; www.temima.org or 404-315-0507.

MONDAY, JUNE 20

Graduation. Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael graduates its Class of 2016 at 7 p.m. at Congregation Beth Jacob, Heritage Hall, 1855 LaVista Road, Toco Hills. Free; www.ohryisrael.org or 404-320-1444.

TUESDAY, JUNE 21

Babyccino. The mom-and-tot classes at Chabad of North Fulton, 10180 Jones Bridge Road, Alpharetta, focus on creation each Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. through June 21. This week’s topic is Shabbat. The cost is $12; j1sinasohn@ aol.com or www.chabadnf.org.

THURSDAY, JUNE 23

Bargainata preview party. The National Council of Jewish Women, Atlanta Section, offers light refreshments and advance access to its June inventory reduction sale at the Bargainata Thrift

Naso Friday, June 17, light candles at 8:33 p.m.

Saturday, June 18, Shabbat ends at 9:35 p.m.

Behalotecha Friday, June 24, light candles at 8:34 p.m.

Saturday, June 25, Shabbat ends at 9:36 p.m.

Corrections & Clarifications

An article June 3 about Jewish National Fund’s local scholarship program for the Alexander Muss High School in Israel improperly used a shortened form of the formal name. It is the Shirlye Kaufman Birnbrey Alexander Muss High School in Israel Impact Fellowship Program, funded in Shirlye Kaufman Birnbrey’s memory by her children: Jeff and Alison Kaufman, the late Richard and Barbara Kaufman, Mark and Nancy Kaufman, and Karen and Craig Senft.

Boutique, 6600 Roswell Road, Suite D, Sandy Springs. Tickets are $25, with reservations required; 404-843-9600.

Being grateful. Rabbi Ari Sollish leads “Waking Up to Life: A Gratitude Seminar,” examining Torah and positive psychology, at 7:30 p.m. at the Intown Jewish Academy, 928 Ponce de Leon Ave., Atlanta. The cost is $18; intownjewishacademy.org or 404-898-0434.

FRIDAY, JUNE 24 Bargainata sale. The National Council of Jewish Women, Atlanta Section, holds the June inventory reduction sale at the Bargainata Thrift Boutique, 6600 Roswell Road, Suite D, Sandy Springs, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. Information at 404-843-9600.

Farewell service. Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, honors Rabbi Elana Perry for her nine years at the congregation with a special Shabbat service and oneg at 6:30 p.m. Free; templesinaiatlanta.org.

Pride Seder. Congregation Bet Haverim, 2074 LaVista Road, Toco Hills, with

SOJOURN and InterfaithFamily/Atlanta, hosts the annual Atlanta Pride Seder to support and discuss the LGBTQ community. Bring a drink to share. Dinner is $10; congregationbethaverim.org/ pride or 404-315-6446.

TUESDAY, JUNE 28

MACoM meeting. The Metro Atlanta Community Mikvah holds its annual meeting, including a light dinner, at 7 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Torah, 700 Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs. Free; RSVP to rsvp@atlantamikvah.org.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6

Cultural history course. Bob Bahr teaches “Movies, Music and Spirit,” a six-session, weekly interfaith examination of the influences in the 1940s and 1950s that set the United States on the path to the civil rights movement and other societal changes. Classes meet at 10 a.m. at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church, 805 Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs, on July 6, 13 and 20 and at Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, on July 27 and Aug. 3 and 10. The fee is $49; templesinai.wufoo.com/forms/z281eq21h7206f.

Send items for the calendar to submissions@atljewishtimes.com.

Find more events at atlantajewishtimes.com/events-calendar.

Remember When

10 years ago June 16, 2006 ■ Congregation Shaarei Shamayim Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis was celebrated Sunday evening, June 11, for 17 years as a pulpit rabbi in Atlanta. About 150 people gathered at the Sheraton at Colony Square to celebrate his Jewish spiritual leadership. The night included a speech by Rabbi Benjamin Blech, and author Melissa Fay Greene wrote a two-page biography of the congregation’s founding rabbi.

■ The bar mitzvah ceremony of Blake Martin Lefkoff of Atlanta, son of Larry and Bundi Lefkoff, was held Saturday, March 18, 2006, at Temple Sinai.

25 Years Ago June 21, 1991 ■ The Alfred and Adele Davis Academy is slated to open in

September 1992. A $1 million donation has put the planned Reform Jewish day school on solid footing. Officials hope there will be 18 students in the kindergarten and first grade class. They hope to add an additional grade each year.

■ Diane and Morris Benatar announce the birth of a son, Steven Eli, on May 5.

50 Years Ago June 17, 1966 ■ The Ahavath Achim Congregation held its 79th annual meeting of membership on June 1. Harry Lane Siegel, the newly elected president, reported that the membership of the synagogue is 1,701 families, with 1,376 children taking part in weekly education programs. The Sisterhood has dedicated a shelf in Koplin Library in memory of the late past president of the congregation, Michael Kraft.

■ Mr. and Mrs. Allen Jones of Atlanta, formerly of Trenton, N.J., announce the engagement of their daughter, Phyllis Arlene Jones, to Robert Nathan Kahn, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Kahn of Memphis.

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ISRAEL NEWS

Birthright Rekindles Love for Israel

I

have always loved Israel. Growing up in a Jewish community, attending Greenfield Hebrew Academy (now Atlanta Jewish Academy), and going to synagogue on High Holidays all had an impact in forming my Jewish identity.

In eighth grade I went on a school trip to Israel and explored the history and culture I had studied for 10 years. I left that experience loving Israel and all it had to offer, and I knew I would be back in the Holy Land soon.

Fast-forward a few years. I attended a public high school and am attending a public university. My exposure to Judaism and to Israel itself has been limited. However, my love for Israel is still strong, and my desire to return was even stronger.

One day a friend mentioned that she was going on Birthright Israel this summer. I had heard countless stories of the wonderful experiences of my friends on Birthright trips and suddenly knew that I had to use the amazing gift of going on a trip myself.

I was hesitant to commit to a

particular trip, as the program offers many types. However, I decided to go through the University of Georgia’s Hillel chapter. I went on the trip knowing about half the participants. And,

UGA students gather near the Western Wall during their recent Birthright Israel trip.

Guest Column

By Sophia Wilder UGA Class of 2018

honestly, I am very glad that I did.

I not only strengthened some friendships with people who attend UGA, but also had the opportunity to befriend all of the other participants from various parts of the country.

Everyone on my trip was amazing.

Yoav, our tour guide, was so informative, friendly and funny. Our group leaders, Hillel at UGA staff members Mara Price and Moran Shabo, were extremely fun and engaging. Our medic and security guard, Tal, was always prepared with a joke and a smile, and I can speak for all of the participants when I say we felt safe at all times.

I can’t forget to mention the six amazing soldiers who joined us for our trip: Lior, Nicol, Oshrit, Tal, Ohad and Dany. It was so cool to experience different aspects of Israel with the soldiers. They were able to offer interesting perspectives on many things regarding Israel’s culture and the political climate of the Middle East.

It was also nice getting to know them as typical 19- to 21-year-olds and learn we aren’t that different as people — we’re just in different situations.

Lastly, all of the participants got along so well. By the end of the trip everyone was able to freely share opinions and not feel judged.

We shared tears as we witnessed our friends becoming b’nai mitzvah.

We shared laughter at our “Birthright wedding” and on bus rides. We shared stories as we discussed experiences we have had as Jews living in America.

We shared copious amounts of hummus at seemingly every meal. And we shared so many wonderful memories that I would never trade for anything.

Going on the Birthright trip was an incredible experience. I participated in so many fun activities and excursions, and I learned a lot about Israel and about myself.

Everyone says Birthright is the best trip of your life. Now I know this to be true. Birthright is a once-in-alifetime opportunity and will undoubtedly be one of the most meaningful experiences of your life. ■

17 Trees for Israel

By Lisa Mallis

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

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ach year synagogues and Jewish schools around the country, including Temple Kol Emeth, send home forms at Tu B’Shevat for families to purchase a tree or two in Israel for $18 each in honor or in memory of someone, thus generating donations to Jewish National Fund.

As the years go by, fewer families partake in this mitzvah. So when I opened the Molina envelope in March to check the information (all forms are mailed out together, so as the JNF fundraiser coordinator at TKE, I review them all to ensure they are complete), I was speechless while counting over $300 and a list of donors for 17 trees.

A note indicated that fifth-grader Cohen Molina, the oldest of Carissa and Maike Molina’s four children, decided to reach out to others in his family’s circle of friends and family and invite them to donate. His Facebook solicitation cited trees’ value as “a way to grow new plants, foods and restore water to an area that often suffers from great droughts.”

LM: Why did you decide to sell

trees?

CM: I know Israel is mostly desert, and I want to help and plant some trees.

LM: How did you get so many tree orders?

Cohen Molina CM: So when I got home, I told my mom about the paper (from the TKE religious school about the JNF fundraiser). I wondered how I could reach out to others. I asked if I could post it on Facebook (my parents’ page). My mom said yes, so I wrote a note to post and picked people. People responded!

LM: Your teachers and family are very proud of your accomplishment.

How do you feel about what you did?

CM: I feel great!

LM: Do you think it is possible to motivate other students to sell more trees and help our homeland, Israel, even more? And if so, how?

CM: Yes, I think it’s possible. I’ll think about how. ■

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ISRAEL NEWS

Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home

Druze deputy speaker. The Knesset House Committee has appointed Hamad Amar the deputy Knesset speaker.

Amar, a member of Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party, is part of Israel’s Druze community.

Ramadan in the Holy Land. Before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israeli authorities installed festive lights and water stations in eastern Jerusalem and the Old City. They thoroughly cleaned Arab neighborhoods and collected waste, resurfaced roads, and organized cultural events and a market.

Israelis donated hundreds of holiday meals for needy Arab families via Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross.

Heathrow’s Ben Gurion security model. London’s Heathrow Airport is considering adopting the security system used at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport as a pre-emptive measure against Islamic State attacks. With at least 12 security layers, Ben Gurion is one of the most secure airports in the world.

Protecting military vehicles. The U.S. Army will protect its armored personnel carriers with the Iron Fist Light configuration, an active protection system produced by Israel Military Industries. The system uses radar and an electro-optical sensor to detect and intercept a range of missiles and rocketpropelled grenades.

Accessing science through Einstein.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Smithsonian Institution are marking the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity by launching the Einstein Project, an initiative to make science more accessible to young people. Einstein was a founder of the Hebrew University.

It even folds your laundry. An Israeliled, Silicon Valley-bred robotics startup has invented FoldiMate, the first appliance to automate the task of folding laundry. It can also steam out wrinkles, perfume, soften and sanitize clothes.

Some 58,000 people have registered in-

terest in the appliance, which is targeting 2018 for its first shipments. Nearly 4 million people have watched the YouTube video (youtu.be/swNgjX0xHC8).

Navigating Rio. Tel Aviv-based app Moovit will guide 2 million locals and visitors to the fastest and safest routes among competitions at the Rio Olympics and Paralympics. Moovit will provide real-time information in 35 languages on buses, trains, subway, light rail, ferries and cable cars. Moovit also just won the Atlas Award in Tel Aviv for entrepreneurship and creativity.

Foreign investment tripled. Foreign

capital flow to Israeli assets hit a record $285.12 billion last year, nearly triple the total in 2005 when the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign began. In 2015, Ford, IBM, GE, Tyco, General Motors, Singtel, PayPal, Yahoo, ProSieben and Kimberly-Clark bought or invested in Israeli startups.

Brazil’s Israeli-born central banker.

Israeli-born economist Ilan Goldfajn may help resolve Brazil’s economic crisis. The 50-year-old, originally from Haifa, has been confirmed as president of Brazil’s Central Bank. Fluent in Hebrew, English, Portuguese and Spanish, Goldfajn has a doctorate from MIT.

French Open title. One of the winners of the boys doubles at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris this month was Israeli Yshai Oliel. The 16-yearold left-hander and his Czech partner, Patrik Rikl, won 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

Hasmonean-era treasure. Archaeologists in Modi’in have unearthed 16 silver coins from the Hasmonean period, roughly 126 B.C.E. The shekels and halfshekels were minted in the city of Tyre and bear the images of King Antiochus VII and his brother, Demetrius II. Compiled courtesy of verygoodnewsisrael. blogspot.com and other news sources.

DISTRICT 3 SPECIAL ELECTION RUNOFF

RUN-OFF ELECTION DAY IS JUNE 21!

7 a.m.- 7 p.m.

Hammond Park, Round Program Building 6005 Glenridge Drive

The following families Support Joe Houseman and Endorse his campaign Mr. Chuck and Bonnie Berk Dr. Bruce and Carol Greene Mr. Jeff and Elizabeth Langfelder Dr. Ron and Maxine Rosen

Mr. Dale and Susan Schwartz Mr. Eric and Lisa Vayle Mr. Andrew and Shawn Tavani Mr. Roger and Vicky Frysh

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

Microsoft R&D center in Nazareth.

Microsoft has inaugurated a research and development center in Nazareth, a city comprising mostly Christian and Muslim Arabs. It is Microsoft’s third R&D center in Israel, joining Herzliya and Haifa, where more than 1,000 people are employed.

www.joehouseman.com | joe@joehouseman.com

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LOCAL NEWS

Federation Enters Era of Transformation

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com

T

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

he Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta will be an inclusive organization leading a Jewish community without barriers to entry once its transformation is complete, incoming CEO Eric Robbins promised during what served as his job acceptance speech at Federation’s annual Eric Robbins meeting Tuesday, June 7.

The transformation he plans after he starts at Federation in August will “make this the best Jewish community, the most inspirational, the most inspiredly engaged community,” Robbins told the hundreds of people packed into the auditorium at the Selig Center.

“Everybody who wants to be a part of that needs to be a part of that.”

Robbins, whose hiring from Camp Twin Lakes to replace Michael Horowitz was announced a month earlier, thanked the community leaders who built Federation the past 110 years and who had the confidence in him to take over at a critical time.

“This world is changing fast, and the Jewish community is changing maybe even faster,” Robbins said, citing the removal of social barriers to Jews in America, the extent of interfaith marriage and the Internet-driven shift to designated philanthropic giving.

“Institutional Judaism is on significant decline, but people still want community,” said Robbins, who has cited community building, not fundraising, as Federation’s primary mission.

“They want to be connected. They want to connect to their faith. They want to connect to their peoplehood. They want to connect to our heritage. And they want to connect to each other, more so than ever.”

The twin values of kehilla (community) and tikkun olam (making the world better) are essential to build that connection and transform Federation, he said.

“This Jewish Federation needs to be more than just your grandparents’ Jewish Federation. Transformation — I can’t tell you what the outcome will look like, but I can tell you what the process will look like, and the process will include you. It will include determining what’s sacred here: What must we hold on to, and what is it OK to let 8 go of?” Robbins said. That effort will

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Photo by Michael Jacobs

(From left) Sasha, Ana and Eric Robbins and Drew Cohen lead the Federation annual meeting in a closing rendition of the Shehecheyanu.

involve looking at organizations that are similar to Federation and those that are different for models of how a broad-based community organization should operate in the 21st century.

Robbins said a full vision for Federation must come after the transformation, and “it won’t be my vision; it will be our vision.”

But he offered “guiding points of my life” to provide a glimpse at what he wants that vision to include: • Compassion. “Those in our community or in Israel or around the world who need help are the absolute priority, and that will be forever.”

• Inclusiveness. “Regardless of your gift, whether you even give a gift, the size of your gift, whether you’ve been involved here before, whether your parents were involved, whatever it is — if you want to be here, you will be welcome.”

• Innovation. “As the institutionalized Jewish community is declining, there’s a place for innovators. They’re disrupting the system, and they’re showing that the people who are not involved and engaged now will come out and will engage. We have to see the innovators, and we have to nurture the innovators.” (One of the community’s innovators is his wife, Ana, the founder of Jewish Kids Groups, who joined him onstage with his daughter, Sasha, and the Weber School’s music director, Drew Cohen, for a rendition of Debbie Friedman’s version of the Shehecheyanu to close the annual meeting.)

• Communal spaces. “We need new spaces to live out our Judaism,” whether that means a Jewish farm or an Israel center.

• Non-Jewish involvement. “We need to be a face to the non-Jewish community. We need to show Atlanta that as a Jewish community, we care.”

He cited a conversation the previous

Photo by Michael Jacobs

Incoming Federation Chairman Joel Marks (right) presents a thank-you gift to his predecessor, Howard Feinsand.

Friday with his barber, who said he didn’t have enough money to get a bad tooth treated. Robbins said he took out his phone and introduced the man to the Ben Massell Dental Clinic. “That made my Shabbat, that I could say the Jewish community has a place for him to go, and we should be proud of that.”

• Promotion of Judaism. “We need to turn people on to Judaism. It’s a phenomenal thing. We know. And if they live it and breathe it, they’ll love it, and it will make them better people.”

Robbins said one key to engaging more of Jewish Atlanta is to remove all barriers to gateway events and gateway organizations, such as preschools, day schools, camps, teen programming, Hillel and Birthright Israel.

While Robbins’ speech was the main attraction of Federation’s 110th annual meeting, the event also marked the July 1 transition from Howard Feinsand to Joel Marks as the organization’s top lay leader.

“It’s like being at your own funeral,” Feinsand said after hearing Temple Sinai Rabbi Ron Segal heap praise on him for his two years as chairman.

Feinsand said Federation, with its tightened community campaign schedule, its new Atlanta Jewish Foundation working on planned giving and its “remarkable resource” of 1,300 volunteers, is in a strong position to expand its impact under the leadership of Marks and Robbins.

But he urged patience with the changes to come: “Good things never happen as fast as we’d like.”

Marks, who presented a crystal flame to Feinsand as a thank-you gift, asked the audience for its trust and its help in setting the community tone through a period of change guided by a board he called “the most diverse and representative collection of leadership our community has ever assembled.”

Photo by Patti Covert, Scenesations Photography

The Davis Academy’s Stacy Brown (center) celebrates her Marilyn Shubin Professional Staff Development Award with the award’s namesake and outgoing Federation Chairman Howard Feinsand.

He said he hopes Federation involvement grows to reflect the community makeup that will be revealed by the ongoing survey at IamJewishATL. com.

“Our mission — to engage, care for and strengthen our greater Atlanta Jewish community for the benefit of the Jewish people — is as important today as it was more than 100 years ago.

That’s our why, and it’s uniquely ours,” Marks said.

While he was not as expansive as Robbins with the how, Marks did offer the community a lot of E’s to build on: “We will be an empathetic, engaging and exciting organization. We will educate, enable and empower our stakeholders. And we will earnestly serve our community.”

Federation also presented its annual awards: • The Mary and Max London People Power Award to Creating Connected Communities founder Amy Zeide.

• The Marilyn Shubin Professional Staff Development Award to Stacy Brown, the director of 21st century learning at the Davis Academy.

• The Gerald H. Cohen Community Development Award to Amy Knopf, whose husband, Gary, accepted because she was home with a new baby.

• The Abe Schwartz Young Leadership Award to Avery Kastin. ■

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

BUSINESS

Monday Night Brewing Goes Kosher Monday Night’s Fu Manbrew, a Belgian-style wit, is one of six beers certified as kosher by the AKC.

By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com

K

Monday Night Brewing is the only microbrewery in Atlanta under AKC supervision.

of a small Atlanta Bible study group.

The group, which included Baker, Iverson and Heck, brewed beer together on Monday nights for five years before bringing the brews to market in 2011.

The microbrewery offers tours and beer tastings on Monday, Tuesday,

Thursday and Saturday.

Rabbi Muroff is still reaching out to other microbreweries about kosher certification.

“Every other product, you go to the store, and you have a kosher symbol right on the product,” Rabbi Muroff

said. “For some reason, it’s become accepted with beer that people just know it’s kosher without the symbol. It becomes a bit of a problem when you get into some of these microbreweries that use special ingredients, and it creates a bit of confusion.” ■

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

osher-conscious beer enthusiasts now have another option: The Atlanta Kashruth Commission has certified Atlanta’s Monday Night Brewing.

As of May 31, the brewery’s six core beers — Blind Pirate, Drafty Kilt, Eye Patch Ale, Fu Manbrew, Nerd Alert and Slap Fight — are kosher in a bottle, in a can or on draft.

Regular, unflavored beers do not require a kosher certification, but beers that have flavor added do. Monday Night’s Drafty Kilt ale, for example, counts cherrywood-smoked malt and chocolate malt among its ingredients.

“A lot of the beers that come from these smaller microbreweries require certification,” said the AKC’s director of development, Rabbi Noach Muroff.

“A lot more of the breweries are now starting to become certified.”

The past few months, Rabbi Muroff has reached out to a number of microbrewers in the hope of certifying them as kosher. So far, Monday Night is the only one that has gone through the process.

To certify the company’s six core beers, Rabbi Muroff and a few other members of the AKC researched all the ingredients, then went to the brewery in West Midtown to observe the brewing process from start to finish.

Monday Night’s various seasonal and limited-run beers are not certified by the AKC. “The decision to go kosher was really about respecting the brewing process and the ingredients, which is something we take very seriously,” Monday Night co-founder and head of marketing Jonathan Baker said. “I know there’s a large group of the population that looks to the kosher label for that assurance as well.”

After an initial conversation with Rabbi Muroff about being certified, Baker conferred with the other two founders of the company, CEO Jeff Heck and head of operations Joel Iverson, before going ahead with the certification process.

No changes to the beer recipes or brewing process were necessary. Baker said new labels with kosher markings are in the works.

“We usually have about 30 to 60 days’ worth of labels on hand,” he said.

“You should start to see some new labels in about six to eight weeks.”

Monday Night Brewing grew out

AJT 9

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

OPINION

Our View

Academic Angst

T

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

he American Anthropological Association has rejected a bid to launch an academic boycott against Israel, but the news is bittersweet.

The vote on the resolution was alarmingly close.

The association announced Tuesday, June 7, that 51 percent of its more than 9,400 members participated in the online election. The boycott lost by only 39 votes: 2,423 (50.4 percent) to 2,384 (49.6 percent).

The result is a dramatic change from the 1,040136 vote in favor of the proposal at the association’s November convention, and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt praised the rejection as “an important milestone” in the struggle against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

But it was possible to dismiss the November vote as an aberration. Only those who attended the convention voted, and the resolution was presented without debate. The 1,040 votes could have represented a mix of people who knew little about the modern Middle East and those who just believed that such an important decision should go to the full membership, all driven by a handful of pro-Palestinian activists.

The run-up to the voting by the general membership, however, featured aggressive anti-BDS campaigning by two groups, Anthropologists for Dialogue on Israel & Palestine and Against Anthro Boycott.

And the resolution still almost passed.

Frustratingly, the leadership of the association is viewing the vote not as a rejection of anti-Israel positions, but as an acceptance of the Palestinian narrative and an endorsement of every step except a boycott to isolate and pressure Israel.

The association’s announcement presented a picture of oppressed, silenced and disenfranchised Palestinians and promised a statement censuring the Israeli government and a letter educating the U.S. government about its support for Israeli suppression of academic freedom. It made no mention of Palestinian violence or, more to the point for an organization of academics who study human history and development, Palestinian denial of the history of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem and the land of Israel.

The association revealed its shamelessness after two Palestinian gunmen shot up a Tel Aviv restaurant the next day, killing four Israelis. One of the dead was Michael Feige, an anthropology professor at Ben-Gurion University who would have been a victim of, and petitioned against, the proposed academic boycott.

Faced with the violent reality behind its binary fantasy of oppressor Israelis and oppressed Palestinians, the American Anthropological Association did not apologize or promise to reconsider its approach.

The association did express deep sadness at Feige’s death, but it did not say who shot him: Palestinian Muslim terrorists. It did not say that he was one of four slain, nor that the only reason the death toll wasn’t much higher was that the terrorists used poorly made knockoffs of Swedish submachine guns.

The five-sentence statement did have room for politics: “His and all loss of life make it all the more urgent that peace with justice be achieved in IsraelPalestine. Violence must come to an immediate end.”

But the association’s rhetoric and actions en10 courage violence and push peace further away. ■

AJT

Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Star

Fairness and the Federation

P

eople often speak to me at events, usually that Federation must change to remain the core prefacing praise for the improvements to the organization of Jewish Atlanta.

AJT with comments about how long they have While Robbins has not provided a full vision subscribed to the newspaper. So when a familiar for Federation, explaining that the vision must be a face approached me after the Jewish Federation of product of the whole organization, not one person, Greater Atlanta annual meeting and started by menhe has offered promising hints. Most important at tioning that she’s a 30-year subscriber, I expected her the annual meeting Tuesday, June 6, he said Federato offer a few words of appreciation. tion must eliminate the barriers at the gateways to She burst my immodest community involvebubble. ment. (See more on She has not been pleased the annual meeting Editor’s Notebook with our coverage of Federation on Page 8.)

By Michael Jacobs — more because of the tone and That’s a concept mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com perceived attitude than because of a communityof the actual content, if I followed building Federation her criticism through the fog of I’ll happily endorse. disappointment at the reminder Still, it’s fair to that the AJT is not universally beloved. say I’m not a Federation cheerleader. I’m not proHer final words, however, stuck with me: “We’re Federation, but I’m not anti-Federation either. I’m not bad people.” pro-Jewish Atlanta, a bias I believe I share with just Of course, she’s right. Federation is an organizaabout everyone active at Federation. tion of more than 1,300 professionals and laypeople As an independent media outlet covering Fedwhose No. 1 motivation is to do good for the Jewish eration — Jewish Atlanta’s largest nonprofit in terms community. Bad people — or, to be less judgmental, of money raised and spent and the closest thing we people driven primarily by self-interest — don’t com- have to a unified communal leadership — the AJT mit the time, money and energy Federation requires. must remain neutral on Federation’s actions while If I have left a different impression in my always supporting what it is trying to achieve. articles or those written by others, I apologize. I have As an organization, Federation carries the friends and acquaintances who are active in Federacontinual burden of justifying its existence — as, of tion, and their involvement alone is a testament to course, does the AJT. While Federation, like the AJT, the value and importance of the organization’s work. deserves the assumption of good intentions toward The organization, however, is not the same as the Atlanta Jewish community, we can’t help but the individuals it comprises. While Federation’s misquestion certain actions and decisions and even prosion is good, it is fair and necessary to question how vide a bit of constructive criticism from time to time.

I hope people within Federation accept those it operates, how it serves the community and other questions and criticisms as being in the best internonprofit organizations, and how it adapts to the ests of the community and Federation’s mission, just changing realities and demands it faces.

Federation itself will be going through an exten- as I try to take critical comments from Federation leaders and others as being motivated by a desire to sive but well-meaning evaluation once Eric Robbins keep this newspaper vital to a vibrant community. ■ takes over as CEO in August. He has rightly declared

OPINION

J

ewish organizations were quick to express shock and anger after 29-year-old Omar Mateen slaughtered at least 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., during a Latino-themed party Sunday, June 12.

The attack occurred during LGBT Pride Month and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Mateen, an American-born Muslim, called 911 during the worst mass shooting in U.S. history to pledge allegiance to Islamic State. He was killed in a shootout with police.

“Georgia Muslims join their fellow Americans in denouncing Sunday’s mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando,” Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the executive director of the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement endorsed by more than a dozen Georgia Muslim organizations. “Heroes like Muhammad Ali embody the world’s Muslim community, not this mass murderer.”

An interfaith group of 33 Atlanta organizations, including SOJOURN, Congregation Bet Haverim and the Anti-Defamation League’s Southeastern office, united to hold a vigil and antiviolence rally Tuesday night, after the AJT went to press, at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. They issued the following statement Monday: “We are devastated to learn of the terrorist attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. As organizations and leaders in Atlanta, we keep the victims of this tragedy along with their loved ones and their community in our hearts and in our prayers.

“This tragedy marks the largest mass shooting to date in U.S. history.

Pulse, a gay dance club, was hosting Latin Night, which means that the overwhelming number of victims were people of color and members of the LGBT community. This tragedy is a sobering reminder that although large legal advancements have been made for people in the LGBT community, the hatred and desire to cause harm to our community is alive, well and empowered.

“There is much work ahead to wage peace through relationship building, dialogue and acts of solidarity in order to prevent this terrible harm from happening again. This attack is part of a much larger pattern of violence in our country toward people who are perceived as different.

“The ability of citizens to procure high-powered assault rifles, like the AR15, increases the magnitude of violence

that can be perpetrated by a single person. It is also fueled in part by the heated and hateful political rhetoric we continue to hear in public discourse.

We condemn this rhetoric and the violence that follows it and call for a new, respectful dialogue in our country that honors the diversity among us and fosters peaceful interactions.

“These attacks continue to happen to people of color, religious, racial, sexual and gender minorities, and many others. They happen in our schools, houses of worship, places of recreation, places where we receive services and now in our nightlife.

“We do not live in silos. We are all deeply connected through the various intersections of race, gender, ability, sexuality, religion and background, and we call for unity against violence and solidarity in love.

“We must take care of each other in our pain, with a commitment not to return violence with violence either in word or deed. Instead, we must advance ideas of inclusion, affirmation and understanding.

“This massacre occurred at a time in our country where Islamophobia is an increasing threat. We urge people to refrain from using this tragedy to further bigotry or hatred toward the Muslim community; let it ignite in us the commitment to work against hatred and violence directed at LGBTQ people and all people.”

Among the other official Jewish responses issued Sunday: • American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris — “We mourn the loss of innocent lives, who appear to have been targeted by the killer solely because of their sexual preference. …

We again ask how can weapons be so easily found and used to such tragic ends in our beloved country.”

• Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism Director Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner — “There is much to be done to address ongoing homophobia that was for too long acceptable in this nation. The attack is also further proof, as if any were needed, of the imperative to end the culture of gun violence that grips the nation.”

• World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder — “No minority should live under a state of fear simply because of who they are, and we must work together to root out hate in all its forms. My prayers are with the families and friends of those who were lost.” ■

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Condemning Terrorism, Questioning Gun Laws

AJT 11

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OPINION

To Proclaim Liberty for All

I

t was perhaps about 50 years ago when my wife and I visited Philadelphia when I was attending the annual meeting of the Society for the Sociological Study of Religion.

To be in Philadelphia and not become acquainted with my new American heritage would have been a sin of omission. Thus, with my wife I visited the historic places where this nation was conceived and reflected on the events associated with the birth of this nation.

Among other sites, we visited the Liberty Bell, crack and all. I stood there and read the inscription emblazoned on the bottom of the bell, and immediately I felt great pride — a pride of being Jewish. I was proud that this new country seeking to declare its identity, its philosophy, in a sense its moral consciousness, found it in my people’s philosophy detailed more than three millennia ago.

The bell reinforced my pride that so long ago my ancestors were one of the first peoples to declare not a Jewish

principle, but a universal principle that emphasized the ideal of liberty — in Hebrew, a state of deror.

I remember the time at about the age of 10 when I became conscious of the importance of liberty and made it my personal dream and my hope that it would become humanity’s dream for

One Man’s Opinion

By Eugen Schoenfeld

a time when all people would be free in their own lands.

In a way, my pride as a Jew and as a survivor of the greatest conflagration of history — the Holocaust — must have been similar to the pride felt by Benjamin Disraeli.

Disraeli, although having converted to Christianity, as so many Jews did in Europe during the 19th century to gain economic and political status, maintained his inner identity as a Jew. This former Sephardi Jew with a

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AJT 12

Jubilee, when the poor could reverse swarthy complexion could not hide some of the consequences of poverty his origins. and repossess sold familial land or be Even as the prime minister of freed from slavery compelled by debt.

Britain, he had to withstand the slings So the Torah portion in which we directed at him by Christian members encounter the idea of liberty is not of Parliament, many of whom behind what the Founding Fathers sought his back called him “the Jew.” At one — namely, individual rights as we such occasion, he retorted to his tormentors: “When your ancestors ran know them today, such as freedom of thought and freedom from religion. through forests, clad in animal skins, The idea of freedom, as reflected in my ancestors wrote the book.” the Torah, is freedom from economic I stood in front of the Liberty Bell, want, from the and I took delight that when the “When your ancestors economic powerlessness imposed Founding Fathers ran through forests, clad by poverty. of this nation view sought an approin animal skins, my an- holdsRabbinic that freedom priate slogan that and poverty are anwould reflect this cestors wrote the book.” tithetical. Poverty country’s idealism, — Benjamin Disraeli not only makes us they went to the slaves to others, book and selected, but also generates conditions that albeit out of context, an appropriate are horrendous, leading the rabbis to passage from the Torah that my ancesproclaim that the greatest blight on tors had declared to be their ideal humanity is not freedom of thought, many millennia ago. but poverty. Hence, they declared The text on the bell reads, “Prothat the poor could be considered as claim liberty throughout all the land though they were dead. unto all the inhabitants thereof.” It is No wonder therefore that the part of a larger sentence that describes chapter on the Jubilee also raises the the process of proclaiming the coming question: If your brother becomes of the Jubilee year. impoverished and his hand falters, The Torah chapter that describes what is my (or, better yet, what is our the coming of the Jubilee year does collective) responsibility to the poor? not deal with the issues important to The Torah tells us that given such the Founding Fathers — ostensibly conditions, when the poor person “exthe crown’s and the associated state tends his hand toward your direction, religion’s legitimate right to deprive personal rights to self-governance. The you should extend your hand to him, you should hold on to him and keep British government, just like the thehim in your grasp.” That guidance ocracy in ancient Israel, maintained applies regardless of the poor person’s its legitimacy by declaring that it was status: one born into Judaism, a prosgranted by G-d. elyte, or even a “resident stranger,” a Of course, individual and pernon-Jew who rejected idol worship. sonal freedom from government and Hence the rabbis taught us: All religion cannot exist in a theocracy, Jews individually and collectively — the form of charisma-based power the Jewish society, the Jewish kehillah in ancient Israel. Judaism, unlike the — are responsible for the welfare of British crown, diverted the issue of the poor. We are taught in this chapter personal liberty and proclaimed that of the Torah not to take advantage of the Torah’s intent was to guard the those who have failed economically. people, especially the poor, from the Today in our highly free but indipower of the wealthy and powerful. So vidual-centered society and economy, the proclamation of deror consisted of the contrary holds true. Unlike in guarding the poor, the economically ancient Israel, in which Judaic idealweaker segment of society, from the ism refused to put blame on the poor, clutches of those who had the power today we blame the poor for their povto force them into slavery and or to erty, and we place on them not only take away land that was considered a the economic burden of their poverty, familial heritage. but also the burden of shame. ■ Thus we developed the idea of the

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PETS

Court Sets Standard For Pet Value

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

T

he sentimental value of a pet to its owner is literally and legally priceless, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday, June 6.

In a unanimous decision, the court said if someone causes a pet’s injury or death through negligence, the owner may not seek damages for the animal’s sentimental value. But the owner may recover the fair market value of the pet plus interest and any reasonable expenses incurred to treat the injuries.

The precedent-setting ruling came in Barking Hound Village vs. Monyak.

Robert and Elizabeth Monyak boarded their 8½-year-old dachshund mix, Lola, and 13-year-old Labrador mix, Callie, with William Furman’s Barking Hound Village in Atlanta for 10 days in spring 2012. The Monyaks left kennel personnel an arthritis antiinflammatory drug for Callie.

Lola, a rescue dog, was diagnosed with acute renal failure three days after the Monyaks picked up the dogs, and she died in March 2013 after nine months of veterinary care, including kidney dialysis, totaling more than $67,000.

The Monyaks contend that the kennel gave Callie’s medicine to Lola and that the doses were toxic because Lola was so much smaller than Callie.

The kennel denies the accusation.

But the Supreme Court grappled not with the question of whether the kennel caused Lola’s death, but with the issue of how to determine damages.

The Court of Appeals said the proper measure was the actual value to the owner without considering the pet’s sentimental value. It said the reasonable amount an owner spent to treat a pet could be considered in deciding the pet’s value to the owner.

That’s where the Supreme Court disagreed, instead choosing something between the standards of fair market value and actual value to the owner.

The high court decided that the owners of a pet killed or injured through negligence should be awarded the pet’s fair market value with interest plus the reasonable amount spent on the pet’s care.

It’s up to a jury to determine fair market value, based on witness testimony about the breed, age, abilities and uses of the animal. ■

AJT 13

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

PETS

Acupuncture Helps Vet Relieve Pet Pain

By Paula Baroff

W

hen Mitzi Schepps decided to become a veterinarian, she never imagined she would specialize in pet acupuncture.

After a decade of practicing traditional Western medicine, the Temple Kol Emeth member decided to take some time off to raise her children.

When it was time to go back into veterinary medicine, a lot had changed in the field. She had a choice between relearning what she had known and learning something completely different.

“The holistic alternative approaches were intriguing to me,” she said. “I went back to school and got certified in rehab medicine. There was a waiting list to get into the acupuncture institute, and I got trained in that and never looked back.”

Acupuncture is not the typical field of choice for a Western vet, but she had experience with its success.

Her own dog was old and in pain and had been receiving acupuncture.

“I have a very scientific background and question and judge everything, so when it was first suggested to

Veterinarian Mitzi Schepps gets a hug from her mensch of a dog, Mordechai.

me to try something alternative, I was skeptical,” she said. But after three or four treatments — the number Schepps estimates most animals need to start showing results — her dog made an astounding recovery. “She lived until she was 17 years old, and I know it was the acupuncture that helped.”

Now she enjoys making the same

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AJT 14

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Mitzi Schepps and her assistant, Aleah, administer acupuncture to Tucker. Such geriatric pets can benefit from acupuncture with improved energy and reduced pain.

difference for other dogs and cats by making house calls with her business, Wellness Waggin’ Acupuncture.

Acupuncture can help a variety of conditions, but Schepps primarily uses it for pain management. Many of her pet patients have chronic conditions such as arthritis and hip dysplasia, and others have acute injuries like a sprain or strained muscle. “I see a lot of geriatric animals that are just slowing down.

You may not know the cause,” she said.

“Throughout the exam I can pinpoint where the problem is just based on where the tenderness is.”

In acupuncture, the acupoints correspond to different organs in the body, Schepps said. “It gets very intricate.”

Going to school for pet acupuncture was no easier task than Western veterinary medicine, Schepps said. She went through six months of coursework, then two internships and three case studies. “You can’t just do a twohour online class for acupuncture.”

The traditional Eastern treatment is gaining steam as an alternative treatment in the United States, especially in places like California.

“I would say most of my patients — it’s usually an end-of-the-road treatment. I’m the last resort. They do it not really expecting much and get really surprising results,” Schepps said.

The needles don’t hurt the animals, she said. Dogs usually fall asleep.

“It’s very relaxing, kind of like when you get a massage.”

She by no means counts Western medicine out, as that was her initial training, and she thinks it is excellent.

Instead, she supports Western and alternative medicines being used in tandem for better effectiveness.

Still, while she does work with her prior training and recommends different vets for treatments like rehab, she now primarily focuses on acupuncture.

“I just had a case: a little Boston terrier that ran behind a couch and got paralyzed from the neck down. The vet said to put it down, that it would never walk again,” Schepps said. “I actually have a video of it walking after a few treatments. Those are the kinds of cases that get the juices flowing. If I can give an animal back its quality of life, that means the world to me.” ■

Zika Not a Pet Problem

M

uch remains to be learned about the Zika virus, but there is no evidence that pets are in any danger from or can help spread the mosquito-borne virus.

Ontario veterinarian Scott Weese wrote at the Worms & Germs Blog that Zika in pets hasn’t been subject to much research, but there haven’t been cases reported of dogs or cats becoming ill. He also noted no evidence that the virus can use pets as a reservoir

— infecting through a mosquito bite, replicating without making the pet sick, then being passed on to a human through another biting mosquito.

That’s not to say Zika exclusively affects humans. Primates can be infected, and some research suggests rodents can harbor the virus, veterinarian Ernie Ward Jr. wrote on Petplan’s Fetch! blog. But he also said that the mosquitoes that carry Zika prefer to feed on people rather than most animals. ■

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

PETS

Berger Sees Public Embrace Animal Advocacy

“I

t’s a tough world, and there are a lot of issues.”

That’s according to Debra Berger, the Georgia state director for the Humane Society of the United States, who is being honored for her efforts on behalf of animals at the annual gala of the Georgia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Saturday night, June 25.

“Because of my position, I get recognition for the work I do, but there are so many people in Georgia working quietly behind the scenes. … There are many unsung heroes in animal protection,” she said. “I’m not going to pretend that I don’t work hard, because I work really hard, but so do a lot of others who don’t get recognized.”

That hard work is part of a long list of accomplishments, but Berger said she knew little when she started.

“In my 20s I volunteered at the Atlanta Humane Society, and that raised awareness for me of the plight of homeless animals, which frankly was not something I’d ever thought

Debra Berger, with her dog, Sadie, says what is good for animals often is good for people as well.

much about before,” she said. “Seeing the dogs and cats made me realize that most of the pets surrendered were there due to human circumstances and not an issue with the pet.”

Berger rose through the ranks of the Atlanta Humane Society, supervising other volunteers and advocating changes in the system while becoming animal welfare chairwoman.

“It was my job to train volunteers about issues beyond the shelter, and that opened my eyes. I learned so many ways that animals suffer at the hands of humans. So I learned while I was teaching, at the same time, ” she said.

“It’s been several decades, and I’ve been so thrilled to see how many people — particularly in my adult daughter’s generation — now take it for granted that rescuing a pet is the norm. It doesn’t mean we don’t still have problems; it’s just we’ve had a culture shift. That’s a very positive thing.”

One of the problems addressed was dogfighting. “About 10 years ago the HSUS identified Georgia as a state with a very serious dogfighting problem and with weak dogfighting laws,” Berger said. “They sent grassroots organizers here and helped us lobby lawmakers to pass stronger laws.”

Another concern involves changes in the food supply chain to eliminate the extreme confinement of animals.

McDonald’s, Walmart and Costco are already participating in this endeavor.

“That’s a big point I want to make.

So many things that are good for animals are also good for people because they’re so intrinsically connected.

We’ve been on the forefront of this issue by educating consumers and corporations, and we’re seeing a big change as we’ve learned more about the egregious suffering that farm ani-

mals have to endure for our dinner,” she said. “There is a lot more demand for ethically sourced food.”

Berger said Judaism guides her outlook. “A lot of my animal advocacy is highly connected to my Judaism. My belief has strongly influenced my efforts towards animal protection,” she said, mentioning the concept of tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, which she described as “a group of Jewish laws that tell us we cannot cause the suffering of living beings.”

She also wants the public to foster more pets to help save lives, and she recommends “simple, individual actions” such as buying cosmetics from companies that don’t test on animals, avoiding circuses and other entertainment that exploits animals, and eating more plant-based foods. ■ Who: Debra Berger What: Georgia SPCA’s Decades — Party of the Century Where: Atlanta Classic Cars, 2586 Satellite Blvd., Duluth When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25 Tickets: $75; www. georgiaspcaspecialevents.com

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

By Kevin Madigan kmadigan@atljewishtimes.com

AJT 15

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

PETS

Some Are Right at Home With Chickens

By Benjamin Kweskin Two active members of the Atlanta Jewish community — Amy Price, who just moved to Chamblee from Reynoldstown, and Leslie Mallard, who lives in Norcross — talked to the Atlanta Jewish Times about their thoughts on keeping and raising chickens.

AJT: What possessed you to raise chickens in your yard?

Mallard: I did not grow up with chickens, but I grew up working on my family’s farm, where we had pigs and cows. I always wanted chickens as a kid and finally got my chance to have them after moving to Georgia.

Price: When I lived in a Rwandan village a few years ago, I started a chicken business and helped raise 1,500 chickens, which were used to provide protein to 500 students in the village, and when I returned to Atlanta, it was something I wanted to continue.

It’s also part of my values to eat locally and sustainably, plus I eat at least two eggs a day.

AJT: Why would someone go

One of Amy Price’s chickens, Wanaka, is almost 4 years old and is like a family pet.

through all the trouble and challenges of raising chickens vs. simply buying eggs at a grocery store?

Mallard: Partly it’s that organic is important to us, but really it’s more about being cognizant of where our food comes from in general and know-

The five Mallard chickens produce more than enough eggs to meet the family’s needs.

ing that the animals providing us with food are well treated, healthy, happy.

We get to see this process from start to finish. Watching chicks grow into hens has been much more exciting and rewarding than I ever expected. They forage in our yard, help keep pests under control, provide us with fertilizer, keep our compost heap turned — it’s a pretty great symbiotic relationship, actually.

Price: Raising chickens is not difficult once you have the infrastructure.

Comparing eggs, you will visually see the difference: My yolks are a deeper yellow because of what my chickens eat. They are supposed to eat bugs, grass and chicken feed. So it’s a much richer taste — and healthier.

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

AJT: When did you decide to raise chickens, and how long have you been doing so?

Mallard: When I moved to Atlanta in 2014 raising chickens became possible. My husband and I live in a house with a wonderful yard and in a neighborhood where many of our neighbors also keep animals. It was just a small matter of building a coop and learning a bit about chickens.

Price: It will be four years in October (backyard chickens), and I love it.

AJT 16

AJT: How many do you have? Do you plan on getting more?

Mallard: We have five. I think for our purposes somewhere between five and 10 is the most we’re interested in keeping. However, our current coop can easily handle 20 to 30 chickens, but that’s too many eggs for us. We nev-

er have to buy eggs, and we even give away plenty.

Price: I currently have seven chickens, and I replenish them as needed.

AJT: What are some of the main challenges in raising chickens?

Mallard: The biggest challenge for me is knowing that at some point, probably soon, we’ll have to cull our flock (get rid of hens that no longer lay). There’s something about having to do those difficult things that heightens our awareness of what being an omnivore is all about. The only other challenge has been dealing with sick or hurt chickens. Thankfully, our chickens seem to be healthy.

Price: It’s easy. You don’t walk them like dogs. If you go out of town, you just make sure they have what they need. They know when they don’t have enough grass or food. I don’t worry about predators because I invested in an automatic door that works great: They automatically go in the coop when it gets dark, and in the morning they know when to leave. The door is solar panel, so I don’t have to maintain it at all.

AJT: How did you decide on the kind of coop to use?

Mallard: We repurposed what we already had and didn’t want to let it go to waste: We took the doors off a threebay-door garage. I also had a couple of pallets and some random sheets of plywood, which we ended up using as well. We started sketching out one afternoon, and the next thing I knew we were dismantling the doors and sawing away. I think the only materials

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PETS

Eggs are the main reason Amy Price keeps chickens, but she’s not opposed to using them for meat when the time comes.

Leslie Mallard says her family views the chickens as more than just farm animals.

Taking care of chickens is easy, Amy Price says. They know when to go in and out of their coop and when they don’t have enough grass or food.

AJT: Do you keep chickens only for eggs, or do you ultimately kill them and use them for meat?

Mallard: We have no plans to raise them specifically for meat, but I’m not opposed to learning how to butcher them when necessary. I can’t say I’m exactly looking forward to it, but it’s also part of the deal.

Price: I have no problem using them for meat, but my main priority has been eggs. If I get a rooster by accident, I will use it for meat since I know how to kill it in a painless way. I don’t consider them pets except for Wanaka.

AJT: What has been the most enjoyable and rewarding aspect about raising chickens?

Mallard: Seeing how our kids love helping out with them and just watching their antics. They coo and warble and really have sweet personalities.

They play all the time and entertain us endlessly. It’s quite pleasant to sit in the back yard with them and is very Zen and meditative even.

Price: Two things: Making awesome omelets; when kids come to my house, they are very excited to see them and are able to learn about raising chickens.

AJT: What advice would you give to those who are thinking about keeping chickens? What would you advise against?

Mallard: I would say don’t buy

chickens until you have a coop. I don’t recommend it: We did that, and they lived in the bathroom until we got the coop up! Also, research breeds based on where you live and what is important to you. Example: Do you want eggs a certain color, a certain size? Do you want them for meat also? There are so many kinds to choose from, and some are quite expensive. Our best layer was adopted from an abandoned lot of Easter chicks left at the post office. I wouldn’t trade her for anything.

She only cost me $3. As far as what I would advise against: It is overthinking the process. I raise chickens like I raise children — by benign neglect. We let our chickens just run around and be chickens. We feed them good food, make sure they have everything they need and don’t worry too much about the rest. It seems to somehow take care of itself. So do a little research, take the advice that makes sense to you and enjoy them. They really are a lot of fun.

Price: Get the automatic door for the coop. Make sure they have a nice space for bugs and grass. It’s easier than you think. I am also happy to help.

Just be aware that this is an animal that needs your support in many ways, and be confident you can provide for them.

Chickens forage in the yard, help keep pests under control and provide fertilizer.

AJT: Do you consider them pets or no?

Price: Wanaka is the only one that is a pet for me. The other ones are not: They provide food for me, and one day I will likely eat them. But I’ve had her the longest. She’ll be 4 this October. She is always excited to see me and wants me to pet her and is very interactive with me.

Mallard: We do consider them pets. In a slightly different way than we do our cats, but they’re more than just farm animals to us. ■

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

we purchased specifically for the coop were the sheet metal for the roof and one sheet of plywood for the floor. We spent maybe $40 altogether.

Price: Mine takes up less space in my yard so the chickens can move around. It’s very low hassle. It’s very easy and also inexpensive to maintain.

AJT 17

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PETS

Judaism Requires Us to Protect Planet, Its Creatures

W

ith our planet facing an ecological crisis of unprecedented proportions, resulting in massive destruction of wildlife and cruelty to animals, the teachings of Judaism may hold the solution to solving the environmental problems that threaten our future.

The Bible and Jewish law are full of admonitions and commandments to protect animals, nature and the environment. Indeed, such teachings are fundamental to Judaism and its traditions.

Kindness to animals is even required in the Ten Commandments, wherein G-d forbids us to make our farm animals work on the Sabbath; we must give them, too, a day of rest (Exodus 20:10, 23:12).

G-d’s very first commandment (Genesis 1:22) is to the birds, whales, fish and other creatures to “be fruitful and multiply” and to fill the seas and the skies. His first commandment to humans (Genesis 1:28) is to “replenish the earth … and have dominion” over other creatures.

These initial commandments concern the welfare and survival of animals and human responsibilities toward them. So the Almighty must have considered this a very important thing.

Clearly, G-d was well pleased with the works of His creation. After He

made each of the creatures, He blessed them, “saw” that each “was good,” and pronounced the entire creation, when it was completed, “very good.”

Guest Column

By Lewis Regenstein regenstein@mindspring.com

Later, when G-d made his promise to Noah and generations to come never again to destroy the earth with a flood, He included in the covenant “every living creature … the fowl, the cattle and every beast of the earth” (Genesis 9:12-17).

Psalm 36 states, “Man and beast thou savest, O Lord. How precious is Thy steadfast love.” And Proverbs 12:10 suggests there are two types of people: “A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”

Truly, in the words of Psalm 145:9, “His compassion is over all His creatures.”

Indeed, the Jews invented the concept of kindness to animals some 4,000 years ago.

There is an entire code of laws (tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, the requirement “to prevent the suffering of living creatures”) mandating that animals be treated with compassion. Jews are not allowed to pass by an animal in

distress or animals being mistreated, even on Shabbat.

As the Jewish Encyclopedia observes, “In rabbinic literature … great prominence is given to demonstrating G-d’s mercy to animals and to the importance of not causing them pain”: “Moral and legal rules concerning the treatment of animals are based on the principle that animals are part of G-d’s creation toward which man bears responsibility. … The Bible … makes it clear not only that cruelty to animals is forbidden, but also that compassion and mercy to them are demanded of man by G-d.”

The obligation of humans to respect and protect the natural environment is another theme that appears throughout the Bible. In the books of Jeremiah (9:9-11) and Habakkuk (2:17), the Lord warns against destroying nature and wildlife.

Trees and forests are accorded a special reverence in the Bible, and one of the first things the Israelites were commanded to do when they came into the Promised Land was to plant trees and allow them to mature before eating the fruits thereof (Leviticus 19:23).

One of the world’s first and strongest nature-protection regulations is found in the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 20:19), which forbids the destruction of fruit-bearing trees even when waging war against a city.

In Leviticus (25:2-7), the Lord commands that every seventh year

“the land shall keep a sabbath unto the Lord.” The fields and vineyards shall be allowed to rest, and what grows naturally will be shared with the wildlife, “the beasts that are in thy land.”

The Jewish people are charged with the mission of being “a light unto the nations” (Isaiah 42:6, 60:3), which has inspired the Jews through the ages to provide the world with moral and spiritual leadership.

It is hard to imagine that abuse of animals would be pleasing to a merciful G-d, whose first commandments concern animals, who calls each animal He creates “good” and the creation itself “very good,” who instructs us in the Bible to allow our animals an entire day of rest on Shabbat, to leave some crops in the fields for the wildlife and to allow oxen to eat while working, and who repeatedly prohibits cruelty to animals.

As the Lord instructed humans on their stewardship duties, “Every beast of the earth and every fowl of the air, … all that moveth upon the earth, and all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered” (Genesis 9:2). ■ Lewis Regenstein is the president of the Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature and author of “Replenish the Earth” and a booklet in English and Hebrew, “Commandments of Compassion.” Additional information on Judaism and animals can be found at www.jewishveg.com/schwartz and at www.hsus.org.

Dog-Gone Good Game

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

J

AJT 18

ewish Atlanta philanthropist Billi Marcus’ foursome won the first Dog Bone Golf Tournament at East Lake Golf Club on Thursday, June 2.

The tournament benefited Fix Georgia Pets (www.fixgeorgiapets. org), which supports low-cost spay and neuter services throughout Georgia to reduce pet overpopulation. Proceeds from the event will go toward vehicles to bring pet owners to clinics.

“Many pet owners are not able to drive to the clinic,” said Guy Millner, the tournament chairman.

The money raised at the tournament will be combined with a gift from Janet and Samuel Kellett to provide the first vehicle to the South Georgia Low Cost Spay Neuter Clinic in Thomasville. The clinic will help increase the number of spay and neuter operations at the Thomasville clinic to 40 to 45 per day, or more than 12,000 per year.

(From left) Fix Georgia Pets cofounder Rubye Reid, fellow player Kathy Scott and co-founder Ginny Millner join Billi Marcus during the luncheon at the benefit tournament.

Marcus said she was surprised her foursome beat out 10 others until she realized that the scoring system counted everyone’s scores instead of just one ball per group. That scoring approach benefited her foursome, which kept its shots in bounds and produced steady if unspectacular results. Marcus said other groups were posting double bogeys and worse as they sprayed their shots around the course, trying to hit everything as far as possible. ■

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PETS

For Some, A Pet Is Worth a $1,000 Picture

By Zach Itzkovitz

T

hose of us with pets likely keep pictures of them so we can absorb their cuteness and overall good vibes remotely until we can see their sweet faces in person again.

MyPoochFace. com is an online platform that pro- David Lefkovits duces hand-painted pet portraits, or “pawtraits,” based on photos submitted by pet owners.

With a background in software, technology and financial services, MyPoochFace founder David Lefkovits knew that steps were necessary to ensure the website’s success before it was launched last year.

After only 11 months, MyPoochFace has shipped more than 1,000 pawtraits across the United States. The website has received a MAX (Marketing Award for Excellence) presented by the marketing department at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business and by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

To put that in perspective, CocaCola also received the award for its “Share a Coke” campaign.

“Growth hacker” marketing and

Photos courtesy of MyPoochFace.com

Both Lucy, a Jack Russell terrier, and Winston, a bulldog, have pawtraits in the Hippy Puppy style.

bootstrapping expenses helped Lefkovits gain a thorough understanding of his target market before he invested in the official website.

“You don’t want to invest in a large solution without really understanding the market, the product,” he said.

Interested pet owners can choose the size of the canvas, the number of pets on the canvas and the artistic style in which the pet is expressed.

Choices includes “Granola Doggie,” which conforms to the tones and colors of the pet as shown in the given photo; “Happy Puppy,” which blends the natural tones from the photo with subtle added colors; and “Hippy Puppy,” which incorporates vibrant streaks

of color into the pawtrait.

“Portraits are a way to really celebrate the life of pets, to memorialize those that have passed, and are a great gift for dog lovers in people’s lives,” Lefkovits said.

MyPoochFace can be traced to a portrait of a dog, Lucy, by proud owner and artist Aziz Kadmiri. Now, while the business focuses on dogs, users can get paintings of any kind of pet animal. It’s even done a zebra.

The regular price for an acrylic painting on canvas starts at $495 for one dog, although at press time the site was offering a $250 discount. The largest canvases with multiple pets can run well over $1,000.

The platform has a uniform style guide for artists to follow in creating their pawtraits, but those standards don’t impede creativity or unique representations of individual pets.

“A lot of this is operational and intensive in terms of making sure there’s consistency in the product and still having this in-depth, artistic and creative interpretation,” Lefkovits said.

“That’s a big part of the business.”

MyPoochFace recently launched a digital portrait line. Portraits are handrendered using software, then printed on museum-quality canvases. This summer MyPoochFace will begin to offer digital portraits printed on apparel, mugs and other products. ■

3 Picks for Dog-Friendly Summer Travel

A

s a relatively new dog owner who rescued a black lab a few months back, I’m taking a different approach to my summer travel plans this year: Wherever I go, I’m taking my pup with me.

Here are a few of my ideas for dogfriendly summer trips.

Get Your Paws Sandy Coast to coast, there are scores of dog-friendly beaches in the United States. A great resource for finding one where your furry friend can run, swim and play is Bringfido.com. The site offers a complete listing of dog-friendly beaches, hikes, attractions and accommodations.

My Pick Cape San Blas on the Gulf Coast of Florida is a six-hour drive from Atlanta, and the entire stretch of beach is petfriendly (dogs must remain on a leash

When Bear’s ready to get away from the office, he has options from the beach to the mountains.

at all times). Get yourself a dog-friendly vacation rental on the beach and hang with your best friend and the rest of the family for a relaxing weekend getaway.

Cape San Blas is about an hour south of Panama City by car.

Take a Hike Go exploring with your dog by taking a drive through the Appalachian Mountains and experiencing everything the region has to offer. Breathe

in the fresh mountain air and take the short drive up to North Georgia, Asheville, N.C., or the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. All three destinations are less than a four-hour drive from Atlanta and offer hiking, camping, rafting, wineries, and many more family-friendly and dog-friendly activities.

My Pick Rent a dog-friendly cabin in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and enjoy everything that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park region has to offer. Although dogs are not allowed on many of the trails, they are allowed in the campgrounds and picnic areas and along roads.

Try hiking on the dog-friendly Gatlinburg trail and Oconaluftee River trail. The Gatlinburg sky lift in the middle of town allows dogs to ride with their owners to the top of the mountain and hike down.

Hit the Open Road Take a dog-friendly road trip this

summer to parts unknown. Take advantage of Bringfido.com’s extensive listing of pet-friendly hotels, motels and other accommodations across the country.

Certain nationwide hotel chains, including La Quinta Inn & Suites and Best Western, are pet-friendly but recommend calling ahead to check on individual locations.

My Pick Give your dog a taste of the city life with a pilgrimage to Woofstock in Toronto. The two-day event held every May is the largest outdoor festival for dogs in North America. This year’s Woofstock on May 28 and 29 saw 200,000 attendees and 150,000 dogs converge at Toronto’s Woodbine Park on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Toronto offers a wide variety of pet-friendly accommodations and dining options.

Looking to stay in town? Atlanta hosts a similar Woofstock event in 19 Smyrna each fall. ■ JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com

AJT

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LOCAL NEWS

A Well-Lived Century

Elizabeth Sherman has few regrets at age 100

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Jaffe: Share your early memories of Columbus in the 1920s.

Sherman: Our first car was a black Model T Ford — or maybe it was

ecently on the national news I saw two 100-year-old women setting track records. Why is the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population centenarians?

Much is being studied about centenarian health habits. Is it positive attitude, socialization, exercise, the ability to deal with loss, or the capacity to exist on yogurt and berries in Siberia that supplies the fountain of youth? No one I know has ever taken that jellyfish supplement advertised nonstop on TV. Meet razor-sharp and accomplished centenarian Elizabeth Satloff Sherman, a native of Columbus who is now a resident of Berman Commons, where she was feted by relatives and friends Sunday, May 29.

She shares her philosophy for a healthy, productive 10 decades.

Jaffe’s Jewish Jive

By Marcia Caller Jaffe mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com

a Nash. Peddlers sold vegetables on the street, and we had shochets kill chickens. I remember a lot of chickens running around. We had a family of seven.

On Sundays we churned our own ice cream for a treat. Of course, there was no freezer; we bought 50-cent blocks of ice. On the downside, there was no access to penicillin. We take that for granted today. During the Depression, we were very frugal. No one had any money. We did gamble and play casino games among ourselves.

Jaffe: So what’s it like being 100?

Sherman: I don’t know. I’ve never been 100 before (laughing).

Jaffe: What was the Jewish com-

munity like?

Sherman: The community was so small that everyone knew everybody’s business.

There was lots of love and warmth. We looked out for each other. We baked for each other. Jews from small towns came into Columbus on Sunday for Hebrew school.

Jaffe: What factors do you think contributed to your longevity?

Sherman: I never smoked and drank very little. I worked until 92.

It helped keep my memory sharp. I walked every morning for 30 minutes.

Jaffe: Do you have any regrets?

Sherman: I was widowed at 37 and stayed in Columbus. Perhaps I should have moved to Atlanta earlier.

I do regret not having the means to go to college and become a nurse. I have a lot of patience and would have liked

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Photo by Judy Landey

Elizabeth Sherman remains a motorcycle mama after a century of keeping active.

that. For that era, I was an independent woman rearing two children alone and overcame a lot of obstacles.

Jaffe: What advice would you give to young people today?

Sherman: Get educated. Take pride in your work. Don’t expect a handout. Be courteous to others. Play hard, but take school seriously.

Daughter Barbara Sherman Mendel: Believe me, Mother lived by her words. You will not find her sitting and moping. She doesn’t complain and aims to help others. Before Beyoncé’s new album, Mother was making lemonade out of lemons.

Jaffe: I recall you visited my late mother and brought her an artfully arranged tin of mandel bread. Maybe one day soon you’ll share the recipe. ■

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SPECIAL ABILITY

won’t Nonverbal autism from stop Dalia Cheskes h becoming a bat mitzva at Beth Shalom.

Page 4

DIGGING IN

POWER OF ONE

Trees Atlanta gets a lot of help to at celebrate Tu B’Shev in Poncey-Highland.

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the Federation honors many individuals who make the community more inclusive.

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ISHTIMES.COM

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to Atlanta to g Jewish teens come Nearly 3,500 leadin d. communal paths forwar chart personal and Page 18-25

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BEST POLICY

GoldHonest Tea CEO Seth e of man brings a messag corporations as change ss agents to Emory busine students.

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SCARY WORLD

simAnti-Semitism isn’t ple, which means there ns to are no simple solutio Eurofacing ms the proble pean Jews.

7 Page

By Suzi Brozman om sbrozman@atljewishtimes.c known as the nita Diamant, best Tent,” is comauthor of “The Red two public ing to Atlanta to make appearances this month.

Boston Girl,” Her latest book, “The her visit Feb. 23 to the will be the focus of Center. But ity Commun Marcus Jewish will help local orgathe night before she a new project, an allnizers plunge into at Congregation denominations mikvah Springs.

B’nai Torah in Sandy n of reimaginDiamant’s discussio age will be free ing ritual for the modern at The Temple in and open to the public the Metro Atlanta Midtown to launch (MACoM) into the Community Mikvah Atlanta. consciousness of Jewish ent nonprofit MACoM is an independ construction of the that plans to start in May and finish community mikvah . The project will before the High Holidays of the existing faciliinvolve a renovation has the support of ties at B’nai Torah and synagogues and other more than a dozen organizations. diverse supMACoM’s board reflects rabbis and reprethree g port, includin Conservative and sentatives of Reform, Judaism.

Orthodox streams of the model Diamant helped establish al community for a nondenomination 10 years at Boston’s Education 27 mikvah the past Waters).

Mayyim Hayyim (Living Obituaries 28 idea of a the to “People responded ng and beautiful, Simchas 29 place that was welcomi to s and sad, a way for happy occasion Sports 29 ” Diamant said. mark life’s changes, thoughts on the Crossword 30 See more about her Page 6. ■ modern mikvah on Marketplace 31

Israel 10 Opinion 12 Arts 15 Calendar 16 Travel 26

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LOCAL NEWS 2 Special Book Awards

The 52nd annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards didn’t have much of a Jewish character except in one of the 14 categories: specialty book.

The winner of that category was “Memories of the Mansion: The Story of Georgia’s Governor’s Mansion.”

Catherine Lewis, who heads the Museum of History and Holocaust Education at Kennesaw State University, worked with Georgia first lady Sandra Deal and KSU assistant history professor Jennifer Dickey on the book, which previously won a Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council award for excellence in documenting history.

The other finalist in the category was Andrew Feiler’s “Without Regard to Sex, Race, or Color: The Past, Present, and Future of One Historically Black College.” The book of photos tells the story of Atlanta’s Morris Brown College and was part of the Book Festival of Marcus Jewish Community Center.

More than 230 people attended the Author of the Year ceremony Saturday night, June 4, at Kennesaw State. A full list of winners is at bit.ly/28qqNbO.

Graphic Haggadah Planned

Cartoonist Jordan Gorfinkel, whose work includes the “Everything’s Relative” comic strip in the AJT, is running a crowdfunding campaign through Thursday, June 23, to help publish “The Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel” in time for Pesach next April.

Gorfinkel, who managed the “Batman” franchise for DC Comics, plans to combine the unabridged traditional haggadah text with a graphic comic book depiction of the Passover story.

“The ultimate Jewish superhero story is getting a contemporary adaptation,” Gorfinkel said.

To learn more and contribute, visit www.JewishCartoon.com/Haggadah.

The National Council of Jewish Women, Atlanta Section, is holding an inventory reduction sale at its Bargainata Thrift Boutique from Friday through Sunday, June 24 to 26.

The women’s boutique, which raises money for NCJW’s work improving the lives of women, children and families, opened in November at 6600 Roswell Road, Suite D, in Sandy Springs.

The sale will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

June 24, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 25, and noon to 3 p.m. June 26.

A preview party, requiring reservations and costing $25, will be held at the store Thursday, June 23, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Call 404-843-9600.

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

Bargainata Clearance Set

AJT 21

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NATIONAL NEWS

Ten AJC Atlanta representatives prepare to visit Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue of Georgia, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, as well as Reps. Tom Price of Roswell and Mark Meadows of Jackson County, N.C.

Photos courtesy of AJC Atlanta

Matt Weiss (left) and Russell Gottschalk have a reason to be happy at the meeting of the ACCESS Global steering committee: Weiss was just elected co-chair of the global organization for young professionals.

Three generations of the Kremer family attend the AJC Global Forum: AJC Atlanta board member Ray Ann Kremer, Berman Leadership Institute member Rob Kremer (center) and University of Georgia student Jacob Kremer.

Participating in the Berman Leadership Institute are (from left) Ula Zusman, Dawn Tresh, Elissa Fladell and Rob Kremer.

AJC Atlanta Sends 75 to Global Forum

T

he American Jewish Committee Global Forum drew 75 delegates from the Southeast among the more than 2,700 people who gathered in Washing-

ton from June 5 to 7 to hear from speakers such as National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi, to learn about topics such as media cover-

AJC Atlanta President Greg Averbuch (right) speaks with Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

age of Israel and the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement on college campuses, and to lobby members of Congress.

Matt Weiss, who served as co-chair of ACCESS Atlanta from 2013 to 2015, was elected co-chair of ACCESS Global during the forum. ■

AJC’s Great Debate: Republicans or Democrats?

By Paula Baroff

T

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

he American Jewish Committee Global Forum took advantage of the presidential election year to hold a debate Tuesday, June 7, on whether the Republican Party or the Democratic Party is better for the Jews.

Dan Senor, co-author of “Start-Up Nation,” argued for the Republicans; Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) made the case for his fellow Democrats.

Senor said his case was easy when he accepted the invitation because Donald Trump was not his party’s presumptive nominee: “Never in a million years did I think I would have to be defending him. This Republican is not voting for Donald Trump.”

He argued that Trump aside, the Republican Party in general is more in line with Jewish interests. “One issue where the Jewish community has historically stood shoulder to shoulder with one another has been supporting Israel,” Senor said, “and on that issue 22 the long-term trends for the Republi-

AJT

can Party have been extremely strong.”

Looking at polling numbers, he said, the majorities of both parties support Israel, but among Republicans it is overwhelming support, and among Democrats it is downward-trending.

Senor said the substantive trends are more important for figuring Jewish interests than are the policy choices of current elected officials like Steve Israel. And the Democratic Party has dangerously anti-Israel trends. “The future of the Democratic Party is not being shaped by the people who voted against the Iran deal,” he said, arguing that the progressive faction of the party and is increasingly anti-Israel.

But Israel said, “Jews do best when both parties are best for the Jews.”

He disagreed that the Democratic Party is becoming anti-Israel, but he also rejected the idea that Israel should be the only determination of what is good for Jews. “I support a party that is pro-Israel but that reflects the fundamental value of the Jewish people, and that is tikkun olam.”

He mentioned the Democratic platform on domestic issues such as women’s health care, LGBT rights, education, immigration and gun safety.

The congressman said America in general is pro-Israel, and voters’ political choices should be based on other variables. He added that saying an American party is weakening in support of Israel is dangerous because it could embolden Israel’s real enemies.

“To the things that matter to Israel’s survival as a Jewish state, there is no weakening,” he said, citing support for Israel’s anti-missile program.

Senor, however, said the committee drafting the national Democratic platform is the most “anti-Semitic committee put forward by a political party in the history of this country.”

Israel said it is silly to focus on a single committee when there are so many issues. “There is a fundamental difference between platform and policy,” he said. “The Democrats in Congress have stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel, unequivocally stating

Israel’s responsibility to defend itself.”

Israel said the views of a single person do not reflect the whole party.

He then pointed to remarks made by Trump supporters and the endorsement of Trump by Republican leaders.

Senor conceded that it was “unfortunate” to see the number of Republican leaders endorsing Trump and said he has received “some extremely toxic anti-Semitic rhetoric” after criticizing Trump. Still, he said such sentiments are not representative of the broad base of the Republican Party, and he said many Republican leaders have spoken out against this bigotry.

By contrast, he said, “what I’m struck by today is the toxicity of rhetoric coming from the Democratic Party — the fact that it’s become a major grass-roots issue for the left.”

Being anti-Israel has become a litmus test for the progressive left, especially among millennials, Senor said.

“If your litmus test is broader than Israel, then our values are more reflective of Jewish values,” Israel said. ■

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

EDUCATION

Holocaust Institute Teaches 20 Teachers

Twenty educators from Georgia and Alabama participated in the 25th annual Summer Institute on Teaching the Holocaust from June 6 to 10 at the Breman Museum’s Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education.

The week of in-depth seminars gives teachers the tools and experience to understand and teach the Holocaust.

The program includes daily meetings with Holocaust survivors and instruction by educators from such top institutions as the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies.

The Class of 2016 consists of Pam Axley, Riverside Elementary School, Suwanee; Nicole Barth, South Forsyth High School, Cumming; Erin Beacham, Anti-Defamation League’s Southeast Region, Buckhead; Shannon Cruttenden, Woodstock High School; Vonda Davenport, Meadowcreek Elementary, Norcross; Lynn Day, Glenn C. Jones Middle School, Buford; Tiffany Fannin, South Cobb High School, Austell; Trish Friederichsen, East Cobb Christian School, Marietta; Ida Jackson, Greensboro Elementary School; Jessie Karr, Artios Academy of South Atlanta; Michelle Kellum, Waresboro Elementary School, Waycross; Ernie Lee, Windsor Forest High School, Savannah; Linda Legros, Independence High School, Alpharetta; Monica Little, Arabia Mountain High School, Lithonia; Carina Nieto, Georgia State University, Atlanta; Jennifer Rossuck, Randolph School, Huntsville, Ala.; Rachel Smith, Mount de Sales Academy, Macon; Angie Thompson, Alma Bryant High School, Irvington, Ala.; Carla Wilson, Artios Academies of South Atlanta; and Linda Wyatt, Woodward Academy, College Park.

Doman Wins Physics Silver

Westminster School’s salutatorian Joshua Doman has earned his second consecutive silver medal in the compe-

Hadassah Celebrates Students, History

Greater Atlanta Hadassah’s 25th annual Marian F. Perling Hadassah Chesed Student Awards honored 20 Atlanta-area Jewish teens Sunday, May 15, at Congregation Or VeShalom.

The awards recognize students for their love for Israel, concern for fellow Jews, respect for Jewish culture and fellow humans, and academic standing.

The students contributed to the secular and Jewish communities through such organizations as Trees Atlanta, the Zaban Couples Shelter, Rebecca’s Tent, Project Linus, the William Breman Jewish Home, Berman Commons, the Girl Scouts and Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

As a tribute to Hadassah’s centennial in Atlanta, the program celebrated the more than 450 Chesed Award alumni. Phyllis Cohen, who originated the awards program, said, “In reaching out to track what the previous recipients might be doing, we found that most had stayed committed to causes and fields that allowed them to continue helping others and make a difference.”

Greater Atlanta Hadassah’s president, Paula Zucker, quoted Henrietta Szold, Hadassah’s founder, who, asked how she would like to be portrayed, said, “Make my eyes look to the future.”

“It is exactly what we see in the young people being honored by the Chesed Awards — that we can have hope for a wonderful future,” Zucker said.

sha Winokur, Temple Kehillat Chaim; Hailey Kessler, Temple Sinai; Mya Artzi, Davis Academy; Elaine Berger, Epstein School; Carolyn Capelouto, The Temple; David Medof, Weber School; and Leah Lipskier, Torah Day School.

The 2016 Hadassah Chesed honorees are (back row from left) Leah Lipskier, Liana Slomka, Morasha Winokur, David Medof, Hailey Kessler, Jessica Hankin, Ruthie Feldman, Oryah Bunder and Chase Flagel and (front row from left) Judah Means, Felix Fisch, Aidyn Levin, Noa Benveniste, Carolyn Capalouto, Alyssa Bruck, Joel Pozin, Sloan Salinas and Mira Mutnick. Not pictured are Mya Artzi and Elaine Berger.

The 2016 winners are Judah Means, Ahavath Achim Synagogue; Aidyn Levin, Atlanta Jewish Academy Middle School; Oryah Bunder, AJA Upper School; Mira Mutnick, Congregation Beth Shalom; Alyssa Bruck, Congregation Dor Tamid; Chase Flagel, Congregation Etz Chaim; Joel Pozin, Congregation Gesher L’Torah; Noa Benveniste, Congregation Or Hadash; Felix Fisch, Congregation Or VeShalom; Lianna Slomka, Congregation Shearith Israel; Ruthie Feldman, Temima High School; Sloan Salinas, Temple Beth Tikvah; Jessica Hankin, Temple Emanu-El; Mora-

Israeli Artists Coming To Emory, Kennesaw

The Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artists Program plans to bring in 14 Israeli artists next school year for residencies at U.S. universities, including Kennesaw State and Emory.

The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, which has a major office at Atlantic Station, founded the program in 2008.

Kennesaw State’s resident artist is choreographer Ella Ben-Aharon, who is scheduled to be here Aug. 10 to Dec. 10.

She has a particular interest in multidisciplinary collaboration with such fields as architecture and video.

She is on the faculty of the Jerusalem Academy of Dance and Music.

Emory’s resident artist, filmmaker Nitzan Gilady, will be in Atlanta for the spring semester from Jan. 4 to May 5.

Gilady’s first feature, “The Wedding Doll,” was a hit at this year’s Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.

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JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

Joining the Summer Institute on Teaching the Holocaust Class of 2016 are Hershel Greenblat, a Holocaust survivor and speaker; Liliane Baxter, the director of the Weinberg Center; Sheryl Ochayon of the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem; and Renee Kaplan, a museum educator for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

tition among more than 4,000 top U.S. high school students to win places on the U.S. Physics Team for the International Physics Olympiad.

The competition from the American AsJosh Doman sociation of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics uses one test to winnow the students to fewer than 250 semifinalists nationwide, then a second test to pick medalists and ultimately the national team.

By earning a silver medal, Doman placed among the nation’s top 105.

Now that he has graduated from Westminster, Doman will attend the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in the fall. He is also enrolled in the Jerome Fisher Management and Technology Program, through which he will link a Wharton business degree with an engineering degree in computer science from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

AJT 23

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

SPORTS

How I Got Pickled

B

eing one to stay fit and well read on topics of senior fitness, I wondered what all the fuss was about pickleball. I read that The Villages community in central Florida has 162 pickleball courts and a line to play starting in the early morning.

A combination of tennis, badminton and pingpong, pickleball started in Seattle in 1965. It’s a game for all ages; thus, it’s not so senior-oriented. You have to have quick reflexes and be able to move about the court.

Linda Cahn, an ex-tennis jock, said: “It’s a misnomer that pickleball is for older people. I get a good workout, and it’s quick, quick, quick — and more fun than yoga.”

The serving is easy. The court is smaller than a tennis court, and you have to wait for a bounce before charging the net.

Learning about five basic rules is a priority and is not difficult. I was told about “the kitchen area,” a sometimes forbidden, lined-off rectangle close to the net (I wonder if that term originated from men who want to stay out of the kitchen and not do dirty dishes).

You also have to transition to the weight and trajectory of the plastic wiffle ball, which moves slowly.

The Marcus Jewish Community Center has three pickleball courts six days a week; the schedule varies based on the season. Organizer Ed Feldstein, a volunteer, puts out an email to 150 players with updates.

“Pickleball runs itself,” Feldstein said. “It’s a sport that is easy to transition, engenders nonhostile competition and is a good support system.

There are no guarantees that a champion tennis player will quickly master this; it’s a humbling game.”

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

We now carry Simon Sebbag jewelry; handmade in Israel

AJT 24

I chose to go on a Monday at 4 p.m. when beginners are encouraged.

Part of the fun of the game is the guidance and camaraderie of people who start as strangers and end as teammates or friendly opponents.

One of the volunteer organizers,

Jaffe’s Jewish Jive

By Marcia Caller Jaffe mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com

Ken Lester, plays three or four days a week. Lester said: “When I started around 2006, there were 68,000 U.S. players. Now there are over a million.

I come out for the friendships and exercise.”

Retired lawyer Alan Simon has played three days a week the past few years. He likes the sharpening of his reflexes and the bonding with the other players.

My gracious partner, Dr. Allan Bleich, a phenomenally young 80, had taken a few months off for knee surgery and returned to his workout routine, which includes biking, swimming and pickleball. “It’s more fun than working out in the gym and is great cardio.”

Bleich was a true Southern gentleman and immediately loaned me his fancy, souped-up graphite paddle that mimics a 15-year-old’s skateboard design.

I figured I’d saddle up to the doctor in case I passed out while galloping midcourt.

Although we lost, we were not an embarrassment. No one was showed mercy as the balls kept flying to me, the weak link.

I also was glad that Bleich is well

Photos by Marcia Caller Jaffe “It’s more fun than working out in the gym and is great cardio,” Allan Bleich says of pickleball.

Volunteer Ed Feldstein is the core organizer of pickleball at the Marcus JCC.

Leonard Sherman awaits a return shot during warmups.

Preparing for some pickup pickleball are (from left) Alan Simon, Marty Walter, Ed Feldstein, Ken Lester, Carolyn Miller and Allan Bleich.

educated because keeping pickleball score would give pause to an actuary.

It has three-ish components, unlike the two in ping-pong, tennis or racquetball, and goes something like “6-3-2-S.” Now all I have to decide is whether I want to be cool and invest $70 in a fancy paddle. The Marcus JCC provides

regular wooden paddles and balls.

Nonmembers can call the Marcus JCC at 678-812-4000 and arrange for up to three passes for $5 each to get a taste of the game and peruse the open pickleball schedule. To play Saturday, come in on Friday and prearrange a guest pass because money is not accepted on Shabbat. ■

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SPORTS

Brandon Gold and Matthew Gorst were pitching teammates for four years at Johns Creek High School, then both spent the past three years playing for Georgia Tech. Now they have the option to leave college after being drafted in the 12th round of the Major League Baseball draft Saturday, June 11.

Both of the Jewish pitchers were named second-team All-ACC during their just-completed junior season at Tech.

Gold, 21, was the team’s top starting pitcher this season, finishing with a 9-3 record and 2.48 ERA. His career college pitching record is 16-6 with a 2.83 ERA in two seasons. He didn’t pitch for the Yellow Jackets in his freshman year, when he started 50 games at third base.

Baseball America had the righthander rated as the 341st best player in the draft and 16th best in Georgia.

The scouting report on him at MLB. com raised a concern that he struck out only 81 batters in 105 1/3 innings, indicating “the lack of late life on his fastball and just an OK breaking ball.”

He was the 350th player picked when the Colorado Rockies drafted him fourth in the 12th round. One pick before, the Atlanta Braves also drafted a right-handed pitcher named Brandon who just completed his junior year in college: Brandon White from Lander University.

Gorst, 21, didn’t have to wait long before he got the call: The Boston Red Sox drafted him with the 12th pick of the 12th round, 358th overall.

The right-hander was the 462ndrated player by Baseball America and No. 23 in Georgia after a remarkable season as Tech’s closer. He allowed only three earned runs while striking out 55 in 28 appearances and 49 innings out of the bullpen, good for a school-record ERA of 0.55. He finished with a 2-1 record and 12 saves.

For his Tech career, he has a 6-3 record with 13 saves. Although he was the ace starting pitcher at Johns Creek, he has exclusively been a relief pitcher

with the Yellow Jackets.

Now Gold and Gorst will have to decide whether to start their pro careers or return for their senior year.

Because they have a choice, they have some negotiating leverage and could get signing bonuses worth around $100,000.

Returning to college gives a player a chance to impress the scouts and improve his draft stock for next year. But he also could get injured or have a poor season, and he would no longer have any leverage after his senior season.

JCC Golf Tournament Honors Coles

The Marcus Jewish Community Center’s annual BB&T Harry Maziar Classic golf tournament raised $350,000 Monday, June 6, at the Atlanta Country Club in East Cobb while honoring Hillels of Georgia President Michael Coles for his philanthropic leadership.

“Through his long-standing dedication, Michael and his family have helped enable the MJCCA to foster and ensure a vibrant greater Atlanta Jewish community and impact the lives of over 55,000 people each year,” said Joel Arogeti, who chairs the Marcus JCC’s board of directors.

The tournament’s proceeds help provide scholarships to JCC programs and services.

The winners on the course June 6: • Putting contest — Jeff Levy.

• Longest drive (male) — Ben Wilson.

• Longest drive (female) — Emily White.

• First-place team, net score — Brian Smith, Mike McGarvey, Brad Sullivan and Justin Hong.

• Second-place team, net score — Jack Halpern, Benjamin Halpern, Cary Halpern and Rick Lenner.

• Third-place team, net score — David Kusiel, David Eastman, Richard Jacobson and Jonathan Byrd.

• Fourth-place team, net score — Donta Wilson, Cameron Hooper, Ron Hunter and Adam Cohen.

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JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

Tech’s Gold, Gorst Drafted In Baseball’s 12th Round

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

TRAVEL

Sunrise, Sunset and Everything in Between

You’ll find all you need to unwind at the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee

By Robyn Spizman Gerson

R

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

elax! You’ve just arrived at the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee, which is a mere 75 miles east of Atlanta on the shores of Georgia’s second-largest lake. With over 300 miles of shoreline, Lake Oconee is an outdoor lover’s dream, and anyone looking for some rest and relaxation will feel right at home.

This charming Southern retreat (www.RitzCarlton.com/Reynolds) is part of a 17,000-acre golf and lakefront community with two full-service marinas and sits a hop, skip and jump from Atlanta.

Luxury greets you as you pull up to this 251-room resort overlooking the 19,000-acre lake. Blooming crepe myrtles and colorful caladiums highlight the well-manicured grounds by a handsome, five-story main building alongside the lake.

The resort is surrounded by water on three sides, offering commanding views, plus hammocks for lounging, sweeping grounds and walking trails.

Golfers can choose among 99 holes and five signature courses designed by architects Rees Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio and Bob Cupp. Guests can hone their skills at the Reynolds Golf Academy under the guidance of academy director Charlie King, who is ranked as one of Golf Magazine’s top 100 teachers and has written two golf instruction books.

For tennis lovers, eight courts are nearby at Reynolds, and lessons and ball machines are available if you want some practice between matches.

Whether you want to kick off your shoes or explore, you’ll find swimming in a lakeside infinity pool, picnicking, canoeing, kayaking, waterskiing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding, paddleboarding, pontoon rentals, motorized personal watercraft rentals, nature hikes, bike riding, Segway tours, horseback riding and more.

After an active or relaxing day, the famous evening s’mores await you around a staff-attended, Ritz-style campfire.

It’s no wonder that U.S. News & World Report named the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds one of the best hotels in Georgia. It received five diamonds from AAA from 2007 to 2015 and four stars from Forbes Travel Guide (accommodations and spa) from 2010 to 2015, as well as readers choice awards from Condé 26 Nast Traveler and others throughout

AJT

Photo by Courtney Hayden, Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee

The resort has Lake Oconee on three sides.

Photo by Courtney Hayden, RitzCarlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee

Photo by Courtney Hayden, RitzCarlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee

The options on Lake Oconee include a boat ride at sunset.

This is a standard room at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee.

Photo by JoAnne Kim, Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee

The upscale fire pit is the scene for evening s’mores.

the years.

The resort’s guestrooms are beautifully appointed, and it has become a wedding destination. You also have the option of cottages, ranging from 1,800 to 2,400 square feet, with stone verandas and wraparound porches, as well as the 5,400-square-foot Lake House.

One of the favorites is the RitzCarlton Spa, which is adjacent to the hotel. It has been named one of America’s top resort spas by Condé Nast Traveler. This state-of-the-art sanctuary offers more than 90 health and wellness treatments, many of them using ingredients indigenous to the area.

The resort’s design character

echoes the turn-of-the-century Craftsman and Adirondack movements, and the attention to detail radiates through the classic American style incorporated throughout the property. The exterior features a combination of stacked fieldstone walls and chimneys, stainedwood cedar shingle siding, and painted wood trim and windows, creating a rustic, lodgelike feel.

For the kids, Ritz Kids Camp is a fun, supervised program offered for ages 5 to 12. Youngsters spend the day with camp counselors, enjoying indoor and outdoor activities such as nature hikes, scavenger hunts, canoeing and crafts. The themed Kids Night Out pro-

Photo by Courtney Hayden, RitzCarlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee

Reynolds Landing is one of five worldclass golf courses at the resort.

Photo by Courtney Hayden, RitzCarlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee

The Reynolds Plantation Lodge features an infinity pool right on the lake.

gram gives young visitors something to look forward to on Friday and Saturday evenings.

The Protect Our Little Ones Program is a special service in which guests traveling with children under age 5 are escorted to their room by a specially trained bellman who explains and installs safety features such as nightlights and electrical outlet plugs.

The resort will customize teens’ itineraries with golf, tennis, movies, makeovers or trendy shopping options.

Last but not least, the sure-fire favorite part of the Ritz Carlton experience is the dining. Georgia’s Bistro specializes in uncomplicated contemporary cuisine with a distinctive Southern twist, or try the Linger Longer Steakhouse or the casual Gaby’s by the Lake.

The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee is just around the corner with its laid-back luxury. You’ll want to go back time and time again. ■ Robyn Spizman Gerson (www. robynspizman.com) is a New York Times best-selling author, a communications expert and a well-known media personality, having appeared often on NBC’s “Today” and WXIA-TV 11Alive’s “Atlanta and Company.”

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ARTS

Poetic Love Blooms in Frozen ‘Fever’

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com

H

olocaust stories with happy endings aren’t common, and those that try to find some ray of hope usually fail in the effort. “Fever at Dawn” is the rare exception.

It’s a lightly fictionalized version of how Hungarian first-time novelist Péter Gárdos’ Holocaust survivor parents met and fell love — inspired by his discovery after his father’s death half a century later that they had kept their love letters all those years.

Miklós and Lili grew up in the same part of Hungary and — in parallel, without ever meeting — were rounded up as young adults and sent to the Nazi camps in 1944. Both managed to hang on and were liberated in 1945 at the hospital at Bergen-Belsen, then sent to recover after the war in different parts of Sweden, where Gárdos tells his tale.

Miklós has tuberculosis, and his Swedish doctor, who speaks broken Hungarian because he has a Hungarian wife, tells him has no more than seven months to live. Miklós, however,

is an optimist and knows the diagnosis must be wrong.

He procures the names of 117 young refugee women from the area of his native Debrecen and writes a letter to each of them, happy to find some friends and hoping to find a wife.

One of the 18 women who reply is Lili, who is suffering her own postwar ills, though nothing expected to be permanent. She doesn’t plan to answer Miklós, but during a period confined to a hospital bed, she has nothing better to do.

Gárdos weaves a half-year of their correspondence through the story of how they each deal with the bureaucracy of Sweden, the Red Cross, and the distant, newly socialist homeland they plan to return to.

Obstacles naturally arise, from Miklós’ terminal illness to the bitter Swedish winter and from a jealous friend of Lili’s to her flirtation with Catholicism, all while they support each other from a distance amid the emotions of the search for surviving relatives in Hungary.

Gárdos, a filmmaker who released a movie version of the story in Decem-

ber, four months before the book arrived in the United States, has a wonderful, straightforward prose style.

Translator Elizabeth Szász deserves credit for capturing his subtleties in English, particularly the struggles the characters have communicating in Swedish, Hungarian and German.

Portraying two simple people who have lost everything, Gárdos keeps their actions, descriptions and motivations simple, allowing the important details — a ragged piece of tweed for a coat, the metal dentures replacing Miklós’ smashed-out teeth, his careful handwriting, her love of the piano and embarrassment at the small silver crucifix given to her by a Swedish family — to bring them to life.

For example, in a real-life touch, Miklós is an avid socialist and is determined to educate his new love on the movement he is sure will make the world a better place for all. It is his devotion to socialism that enables him to go along with Lili’s plan to convert to Catholicism and, encouraged by a Swedish rabbi, to get married under a chuppah instead: He simply doesn’t care about religion.

But Gárdos doesn’t let a sweet love story devolve into a political screed. Instead, the touch of socialism lets us see that Miklós is an idealist and that Lili, even though younger and less educated, has her feet strongly enough rooted to the ground not to buy any of the political nonsense. We also understand the attraction Lili, who has rejected her faith, feels toward Miklós’ ability to maintain such a strong belief in anything after all they’ve been through.

It’s the same attraction their story holds for readers lucky enough to get a glimpse into their lives. ■

Fever at Dawn

By Péter Gárdos Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 232 pages, $24

Giffin Book Launch Set For June 30 at Marcus JCC

A

Emily Giffin’s previous books include “Something Borrowed,” “Something Blue” and “The One & Only.”

the patron kickoff for this year’s festival, and people who sign up as patrons will get two free tickets to Giffin’s appearance and a copy of “First Comes Love.”

Otherwise, tickets are $29 for JCC members and $34 for others, and the price includes a copy of the book. Giffin will sign books after the program.

For more information and tickets, visit www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival, or call 678-812-4002. ■

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

tlanta author Emily Giffin is launching her eighth novel with a party and discussion at the Marcus Jewish Community Center at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 30.

Giffin, whose first seven novels were New York Times best sellers, is releasing “First Comes Love” two days before the event through publisher Ballantine Books.

The novel is about a pair of thirtysomething sisters, Josie and Meredith, facing the approaching 15th anniversary of a family tragedy that creates conflict between them. Painful secrets from the past begin to surface, and the sisters must confront the issues that divide them and come to terms with their own life choices.

Giffin, a native of the Midwest who began her writing career in London when she abandoned a New York law career after the Sept. 11 attacks, will talk about the book with media personality Mara Davis. The party will include wine, door prizes, gift bags and a photo booth.

The Page From the Book Festival of the Marcus JCC event also will serve as

AJT 27

SIMCHAS

OBITUARIES

Wedding Grien-Littmann

Muriel Lodinger 91, Atlanta

Mr. and Mrs. James Stephen Grien of Atlanta announce the marriage of their daughter, Katherine Amanda, to Mark Joseph Littmann, son of Lynn Aidala and Mickey J. Littmann of New York City. The ceremony and reception were held Oct. 17, 2015, at the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta. Rabbi Peter S. Berg of The Temple officiated.

The bride, 28, graduated from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in public policy and certificates in markets and management studies and in policy journalism and media studies. She is a product manager at CBS Sports Digital. She is the granddaughter of Burton and Barbara Gold of Atlanta, the late Lenore E. Gold of Atlanta, Anita Grien Medwin and Julius Medwin of New York City, and the late Alfred N. Grien of Tamarac, Fla. The groom, 31, is a corporate counsel at Danone North America. He graduated cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and received a law degree from the University of Virginia. He is the grandson of the late Joseph and Betty Aidala of New York City and the late Lewis and Hilda Litt­ mann of New York City.

After a honeymoon in Thailand and Japan, the couple lives in New York City.

Engagement Reisman-Saidman

Vickie and Bruce Reisman of Atlanta announce the engagement of their daughter, Nicole Erin Reisman, to Benjamin Aaron Saidman, son of Suzan and Gary Saidman of Sandy Springs.

Nicole is the granddaughter of Shirley and Donald Reisman and the late Lillian and Noah Ginsberg. Ben is the grandson of Mildred and the late Milton Kinbar and the late Rose and Harry Saidman.

Nicole graduated from the University of Texas with a B.B.A. in accounting and a master’s in professional accounting. She is a tax accountant at PwC in Washington, D.C. Ben graduated from Rice University with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and earned a J.D. at Emory University. He is an attorney at Finnegan in Washington, D.C.

Muriel Wasserman Lodinger, age 91, of Atlanta died Thursday, June 9, 2016, surrounded by her family.

Muriel was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 2, 1925.

She spent her childhood in Brooklyn with her parents, William and Lena Wasserman, and her brother, Morris. But life for Muriel truly began when she met her future husband, Seymour. Although they knew each other for only two weeks, it was love at first sight. They married in Jacksonville, Fla., in November 1946. They spent most of their married life in Jacksonville, where Muriel devoted her life to her husband and three children.

In 2012 they moved to Atlanta to be near their daughters and grandchildren.

Muriel was a talented artist who began drawing at a very young age. She was an excellent cook and enjoyed playing mah-jongg and pinochle at Huntcliff Summit, where they lived. But most of all, she especially enjoyed spending time with her family. She was a proud mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 69 years, Seymour Lodinger, of blessed memory. Survivors include daughter and son-in-law Nora and Steve Floersheim, Atlanta; daughter and son-in-law Robin and David Blass, Atlanta; son and daughter-in-law Mark and Jill Lodinger, Jacksonville; seven grandchildren, Amy Rubin (Philip), Jodi Rosenberg (Jeffrey), Morgan Roci (Leo), David Lodinger (Sasha), Lauren Solomon (Josh), Jennifer Birnbrey (Mike) and Matthew Blass; and five great-grandchildren, Jake Rubin, Hailey Rubin, Zach Rubin, Tyler Rosenberg and Maya Rosenberg.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Temple Emanu-El, 1580 Spalding Drive, Atlanta, GA 30350 (templeemanuelatlanta.org/donations). A graveside service was held Monday, June 13, at Arlington Memorial Park with Rabbi Scott Colbert officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Elayne Antler Rapping 77, Atlanta

Elayne Antler Rapping, 77, a pioneer in the study of popular culture and its social impact, died Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in Atlanta, surrounded by family.

Her work helped transform the way television and movies are understood as a reflection of the most pressing social concerns of the time and a harbinger of the nation’s consciousness of those issues.

Rapping was born in Chicago. She married Leonard A. Rapping, whom she met while studying at the University of Chicago, before moving to Los Angeles, where she earned her bachelor’s degree from UCLA.

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OBITUARIES

Death Notices

Carole Binswanger of Sandy Springs, Temple Sinai member, wife of Robert Binswanger, and mother of David Binswanger and Kevin Binswanger, on June 6.

Ember Elliott Cohen, 4 months, of Atlanta, daughter of Kate and Jordan Cohen, on June 5.

Mamie Joel of Israel, mother of Kehilla member Malcolm Joel, on June 6.

Herman Najmeister of Clarkston on June 6.

Mitylene Scharff of Atlanta on June 12.

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

Rapping later moved to Pittsburgh, where she earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pittsburgh. Rapping began her academic career as a professor of English and director of women’s studies at Robert Morris University from 1970 to 1990. She later became a professor of communications at Adelphi University from 1991 to 1998 and a professor of American studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo until 2009, when she retired.

Rapping’s experience navigating the male-dominated academic world in the late 1960s, while raising two young children, served to raise her consciousness about gender discrimination. Her activism increased as she became more involved with the anti-war and civil rights movements, and she came to understand how the role of women was often marginalized even in these social movements.

She became a women’s rights activist and leading feminist voice. She divorced while her children were young, and as a single mother with a daughter and a son she became acutely sensitive to the cultural forces that reinforced societal gender roles. Her first book, “The Looking Glass World of Non-Fiction Television,” examined how television programming is derived from, and reinforces, our cultural and economic values. She was among the first academics to take seriously programming that targeted women, and she frequently wrote about the importance of soap operas and made-for-TV movies. Her second book, “Movie of the Week: Private Stories, Public Events,” further shined a light on the role of television in raising awareness of oft-ignored issues that affect women. Rapping taught and wrote in accessible language that enabled her to easily relate complex theory to her students and readers. Her rejection of a narrow view of feminism that shunned all gender roles helped make feminist theory attractive to younger audiences.

In the last of her five published books, “Law and Justice as Seen on TV,” she began to apply her work more broadly, examining how law-related television programming shed light on some of the most important legal and social issues of our time. Renowned political science professor Austin Sarat stated that Rapping’s work “shows how valuable the analysis of popular culture can be in illuminating some of the most important legal and social issues of our time.”

Rapping’s influence carries on in the ongoing work of her children, both of whom inherited her passion for social justice. Rapping’s daughter, Alison, who has spent the past 25 years in the nonprofit sector, has become a leader in the effort to mobilize not-for-profit organizations to address some of the community’s most pressing social concerns. Her most recent venture, spearheading Take the Lead’s “50 Women Can Change the World,” an intensive leadership training program for women who work in the nonprofit sector, builds on her mother’s legacy to mobilize a generation of young women to address the most important challenges of the day.

Rapping’s son, Jonathan, who earned a MacArthur genius grant for his work in the criminal justice arena, is equally influenced by his mother’s work. His organization, Gideon’s Promise, seeks to transform the cultural influences shaping our “tough-on-crime mind-set” that his mother wrote about so insightfully. As a professor of law at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, he also follows in her footsteps as he teaches future lawyers to lead purposeful careers. Jonathan regularly credits his mother’s influence in his writing about criminal justice reform.

In addition to her two children, Rapping is survived by her daughter-in-law, Ilham Askia, an educator and criminal justice reformer, and her two grandchildren, Aaliyah and Lucas. Rapping died after a heroic battle with breast cancer. In her final days she expressed immense satisfaction with all she has accomplished and in knowing her life’s work is being carried on through those she has loved and influenced.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Elayne Antler Rapping Scholarship Fund to support female public defenders at www.gideonspromise.org/donate. Please write in the comment section “For the Elayne Antler Rapping Scholarship Fund.” A memorial service was held Monday, June 13, in the chapel at Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS OBITUARIES – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A BLESSING

Father Knows Best

I

JUNE 17 ▪ 2016

stood on a stool behind the counter, working a huge cash register, the kind that didn’t tell you how much change to give. I was 11 years old, and I’d helped in our family store since I was 8.

We sold women’s clothing in a small town in southern Illinois. Many townspeople toiled on nearby farms or oil rigs. Men worked hard, women were resourceful, and kids were scrappy.

Our store carried moderately priced women’s clothing; however, few customers paid for a purchase in full. The back room had racks of layaway items, for which their future owners brought in $2 or $3 a week. We carried everything a mid-20th-century, smalltown female wore; however, the store’s most popular item was the $5 cotton “house dress.”

We were surprised one Friday afternoon when a man entered our store. It may have been common for a man to buy a gift of clothing for a female in a city like St. Louis or Chicago, but not in our town in the 1950s.

My father greeted him, “Hello, Henry!”

Henry’s hair was smooth and thick, but his face and hands were red and rough. There were dozens of men like him in town, and my parents knew all of them and their families.

“Hey, Benny!” Henry answered, momentarily distracted by the lingerie section. My mother appeared, giving Henry something else to look at.

“Hey, Miz Mim!” (No one in town ever called my parents Ben or Miriam.

It was always Benny and Mim.) “I bet you came to pay off Bertha’s dress? Is it her birthday? She only owes $1.”

“If it’s Bertha’s birthday,” my father offered, “take the dress now, and pay me next week.”

“I want something special,” Henry announced. “The well came in.” He patted his pocket.

My father had once invested in oil drilling near town, and every night my little brother and I prayed his well would come in. Other merchants invested, too, but the well didn’t produce.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” my father said. But once was enough.

Here was Henry, a peripatetic rigger, and his boss’s well had come in.

“We’re moving to a new rig,” he said, “and we got a bonus. I’m gonna sur30 prise Bertha with some nice clothes.”

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My mother helped Henry shop.

She knew Bertha’s size, and she also protected Henry from wandering through a women’s clothing store alone. The sales ticket totaled nearly $40, more than the cost of a coat.

Henry pulled a wad of money from his pocket, paid me and checked as I gave him change. He was happy.

The next day Bertha marched

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in. She had found the clothes and the sales receipt. “Hey, Mr. Benny. Hey, Miz Mim!” she called out. “Who let Henry waste his money?”

“He wanted to surprise you!” my mother began. “Did you try on the clothes?”

“Sure, but they’re even too fancy for church!”

“You can exchange everything,” my father said. “Or we’ll refund the money. But why hurt Henry’s feelings?”

“I need regular clothes, like my layaway dress.”

“Let’s think about it,” my mother suggested. Bertha took a seat in the fitting room to do some thinking. When she came out, my father took charge.

“Leave the clothes here, and come back tomorrow. Trust me.”

Everybody in town trusted my father, so this wasn’t a stretch for Bertha. Sure enough, she complied.

My father had his camera. My mother helped Bertha pose in each item from Henry, and my father took pictures. Then he insisted that Bertha bring Henry back in a week, allowing time to have the film developed.

Henry came back. When my father spread out the black-and-white portraits, Henry understood: The clothes just weren’t Bertha-ish.

“Keep the photos for your future grandchildren,” my father said as he refunded Henry’s money.

Henry was determined to provide the gift. “I’ll buy ’em! How much?”

“Five dollars.” I knew my father had spent more.

“It’s a deal!” Henry announced, proudly, like a millionaire purchasing a pink Cadillac for his wife.

True, our store was most identified by the quotidian house dress, but it was the “Bertha Story” that made us part of the town lore. ■

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By Chana Shapiro cshapiro@atljewishtimes.com

“Father’s Day”

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

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ACROSS 1. David 6. Dina 11. Hophni 14. Noted editor of the Jewish Daily Forward Abraham 15. “___ HaShalom” 16. Start of Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” setting 17. With 67-Down, Skokie’s Jewish Academy 18. Henrik who influenced Arthur Miller 19. Observe shiva 20. Actress Fisher 22. Noah 24. Rehoboam 27. Ancient Jews spent a lot of time there 28. LaBeouf who played Indiana Jones’ son 29. “Fear of Flying” author Jong 32. Hai and Aviv 33. Like many rooms Shabbat day 35. Israel to the U.S. 37. Samuel 39. Phinehas 44. What you might take in this publication 46. Where 6-Across fell when he met Rachel 47. What Elisha was teased for being 51. Shalom, to Jose 53. Random tzedakah giver: Abbr.

54. A Haim sister 56. Many a person in this puzzle, e.g.

58. Abraham 60. Lois created by Jerry Siegel 61. Schönberg’s “Les ___,” familiarly 62. Religious law 64. Kind of ner 69. 1492 in Spain, e.g.

70. Sam who directed “SpiderMan” 71. Line to the crowd in “The Merchant of Venice”

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(Moses) 36. 1 shekel was worth 28 as of June 1 38. Once owned, like Gush Katif 40. Went up in Israel?

41. Defense Casspi might be a part of 42. Avraham and Yitzchak, e.g.

43. Kylo in an Abrams movie 45. Goal for a Stern girl 47. Iconic character created by Bob Kane 48. Prayer at the end of services 49. “Rent” composer Jonathan or artist Gary 50. Letters linking many Jewish priests 52. Academic college in Kiryat Tiv’on 55. Ghana city with a Chabad house 57. Israel’s Tikvah 59. “___ im HaGolan!”

63. ___ Yisrael (southern moshav) 65. Al Jolson’s real first name 66. “Shalom” to Putin 67. See 17-Across 68. Notable Daniel setting

DOWN 1. Gym often closed for RH and YK 2. Adam Levine has a good one 3. Airer of Kohan’s “Weeds,” for short 4. Observed (like every Jew when the Torah was given) 5. Morricone who was Mamet’s musical counterpart for “The Untouchables” 6. One who kept Joseph imprisoned 7. Country whose Muslims protected the Jews during World War II 8. These, to Léon Blum 9. Kever of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, with “The” 10. “Munich” actor Eric (and others) 11. Ancient Semite 12. Not rabbinical 13. “We’re All ___ Together” song Zac Efron sings in “High School Musical” 21. Composer Bedrich whose “Vltava” has a similar melody to “Hatikvah” 23. School Bibi went to in MA 24. One might have a social hall 25. Tref sound 1 2 3 4 B L U E 26. Refrain 14 Y O N A syllables in “The 17 E L K S Boxer” 20 21 E Y E 28. Rehovot to 24 25 R O M A N Hebron dir.

31 32 A P P E 30. Dan 36 37 M A T T Gilbert’s 41 42 S A Cavaliers, on 44 45 46 the scoreboard 52S C R A P T H E R O 31. Sheedy’s 57 58 S E C E role in “The 62 63 Breakfast Club” 67 D E B T 34. “I have been 73A D I R N A V I a stranger ___ 76 T R E E strange land”

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