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INSIDE: HOME & GARDEN, PAGES 15-20 GREEN GUIDE
ZIKA SEASON?
L.A. VIBE
Hadassah Ezoory is cultivating gardening as part of the curriculum at Torah Day School and Chaya Mushka. Page 15
Warmer weather will bring mosquitoes. Matt Brill tells whether that means the Zika virus as well. Page 19
Dentist Farid Toub and wife Hedi Abaei have brought the West Coast and Persia with them to Sandy Springs. Page 16
Atlanta GeorgiaAquarium.org
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Ma Tovu �����������������������������������3 Remember When �������������������5 Calendar ���������������������������������� 6 Candle Lighting ����������������������7 Opinion ����������������������������������� 9 Israel News ����������������������������13 Finance ����������������������������������� 15 Arts ����������������������������������������� 24 Obituaries ����������������������������� 27 Simchas ��������������������������������� 29 Crossword ����������������������������� 30 Cartoon �����������������������������������31
VOL. XCI NO. 14
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
APRIL 8, 2016 | 29 ADAR II 5776
State Stalls On Shoah Ed
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SYRIAN AID
The director of Safed’s hospital tells how and why he welcomes war wounded. Page 8
RIGHTS RALLY
rotests of the de-emphasis of the Holocaust in Georgia’s curriculum largely succeeded, only for the process to be postponed because of politics. The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust reacted positively to the final draft of the proposed Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies. The Education Department made changes that, “for the most part, will provide the content, context and rigor necessary for successful teaching and learning,” the commission said. It cited the restoration of Holocaust elements for fifth grade and the clarification of sixthgrade standards. The proposal also largely follows the commission’s recommendations for high school world history. The draft does not restore the Holocaust’s impact on Georgia to the eighthgrade curriculum. It becomes an option. The State Board of Education on Thursday, March 31, delayed action until at least May after teachers complained about last-minute changes in other standards under legislative pressure. ■
With this year’s religious liberty bill dead, LGBT activists begin the fight for a civil rights measure. Page 13
A few of the more than 400 people who ran or walked the Daffodil Dash 5K or mile Sunday, April 3, observe the post-race awards ceremony at Brook Run Park in Dunwoody. In addition to recognition for the teams that had the most participants (the Marist School) and raised the most money (the Epstein School), the ceremony featured speeches from Holocaust survivor Ben Walker and National Center for Civil and Human Rights head Derreck Kayongo. More, Page 14
STARRY NIGHT
AJA Makes Matzah Mission to Azerbaijan
Hillel celebrates the success of Campus Superstar and the service of Mike Leven. Page 22
BIG DOWNTOWN
Central Atlanta Progress honors the contributions of Bernie Marcus and Andrea Videlefsky. Page 25
Photo by Michael Jacobs
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our Atlanta Jewish Academy highschoolers are delivering matzah to Azerbaijan to help the heavily intermarried Jewish community do Passover. Juniors Brooke Ratner and Zoie Wittenberg and sophomores Jonathan Nooriel and Maayan Schoen left Atlanta for the Azeri capital, Baku, on Tuesday, April 5, after raising $10,748.50 to defray the cost of matzah. Joining them are AJA Judaics teacher Rabbi Reuven Travis and AJA parent George Birnbaum, a political
consultant who conceived of the mission after visiting Azerbaijan at Sukkot. The four students, known as the Baku Crew, were selected from the many trip applicants, who had to write essays about the importance of connecting with fellow Jews around the world. The trip will include a Passover program with Baku’s Jewish day school, which has nearly 200 students, and time with government officials. You can follow the crew’s exploits
at ajaazerbaijantrip.wordpress.com and contribute to the matzah gift at www. gofundme.com/matzahforamitzvah. “As Jews in the United States, we tend to think of the Jewish people as a presence only here in North America or in Israel,” Wittenberg said. “We must remember that Jewish communities in other places, even if they don’t need help, still need love and support. We’re trying to create a connection with our own people halfway across the world.” ■