BETTER AGING
HEALTH & WELLNESS, PAGES 14-19 GUT FEELING FOOD ISSUES
Atlanta’s biggest Jewish service agencies create a central site for seniors. Page 15
Probiotics, available in food and pills, provide balance to ease many ailments. Page 16
The Jewish Women’s Fund is helping the community confront eating disorders. Page 18
Atlanta VOL. XCII NO. 5
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
FEBRUARY 3, 2017 | 7 SHEVAT 5777
Trump Stifles Sinai’s Refugee Support By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com Temple Sinai was set to sponsor a refugee family at the end of February, but President Donald Trump’s executive order placing a four-month moratorium on the refugee resettlement program and indefinitely suspending admissions from Syria has put those plans on hold. “It’s all so tragic when you consider the real human beings on the other end of this vicious order,” said Kevin Abel, a Sinai member who is the vice chairman of the board of New American Pathways. That Atlanta nonprofit works with national resettlement agencies to support newly arrived refugees. New American Pathways in fiscal 2016 helped put 502 new refugees, primarily from Burma, Congo, Bhutan, Syria and Somalia, on the path to self-sufficiency. Temple Sinai is joining the organization’s co-sponsorship program, in which a faith group commits to provide supplementary services to one family for three to six months. Abel said the co-sponsorship involves such actions as meeting the new arrivals at the airport, stocking their pantry the first time, serving their first meal, providing transportation to medical and governmental appointments, and teaching them to use public transit.
Stuart Levenson stands by the Braille map at Temple Sinai’s entrance, part of the synagogue’s commitment to inclusiveness. Story, Page 19
The idea for Sinai to become the rare synagogue co-sponsor was raised at Yom Kippur amid a discussion of the lackluster response to the Syrian refugee crisis. Abel said he hoped seven or eight families would make the time commitment and contribute to the $2,500 Sinai needed to participate; he had about 25 and over $4,000 by the end of December. Sinai intended to help one Syrian family, likely in Clarkston, while working the kinks out of the program in the first half of 2017, then take on more. “We want to maintain the enthusiasm,” Abel said in December. “The capacity is certainly there.” Now, he said, Sinai will likely work with refugees who are already here in-
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stead of welcoming them at the airport. Sinai has collected more than one apartment’s worth of furniture, but none of it will be needed until after the refugee moratorium. Fortunately, two Sinai families donated a storage unit to hold the furniture and any future donations. “The community response has been overwhelming and helps validate that we live in a society with many good people who want to do the right thing,” Abel said. Sinai Senior Rabbi Ron Segal issued an angry response to the Trump order, but he also expressed pride in all the congregants supporting New American Pathways. “I am hopeful that their efforts toward Temple Sinai sponsoring a Syrian refugee family come to fruition soon.” ■
INSIDE Calendar ��������������������������������������� 4 Candle Lighting ���������������������������5 Israel News �����������������������������������6 Opinion ���������������������������������������10 Business ������������������������������������� 28 Arts ���������������������������������������������� 29 Obituaries �����������������������������������34 Marketplace �������������������������������36 Crossword �����������������������������������39
Two Super Friends at Super Bowl Shortly before the Atlanta Falcons punched their Super Bowl ticket with a 44-21 dismantling of the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 22, Falcons owner Arthur Blank got an email from an unlikely supporter: Patriots owner Robert Kraft. The two have been close since Blank bought the Falcons in February 2002, the month Kraft’s Patriots first won the title. Kraft said he was pulling for Atlanta in the NFC championship. After the Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship, Blank and Kraft are set to face each other in the big game Sunday, Feb. 5, at 6:30 p.m. on Fox 5. “It’s been a dream of ours to compete against each other in the Super Bowl,” Blank said at a press conference Thursday, Jan. 26. “I’ve had to remind Robert that we’re not actually going to be playing each other on the field, though; it’s our teams that will.” In 2002, Kraft told Blank that if he ran the team the same way he ran Home Depot, he would be successful. Blank took Kraft’s advice, and the Falcons have been in the playoffs seven times in 15 seasons after making the playoffs six times in the previous 36 seasons. “The success we had at Home Depot was a sustained success for a long period of time,” Blank said. He said the Falcons should have their own period of sustained success now. “With the exception of (kicker) Matt Bryant, who is close to my age or older,” he said, “this is a very young team. So we’re very well positioned to be competitive for a long time going forward.” ■ Prepare for the Super Bowl with our rundown of Jewish connections, doughnut predictions and beer selections, Pages 20-23.