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Epstein Finds New Leader By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
Davis Academy kindergartners (from left) Allie Rainbow, Remy Rosenberg and Alyssa Rosenkoff participate in the Lower School’s Friday-morning service Jan. 16.
Shabbat Wonder CLEANING UP
A son of Russian refugees tries to make Hux the Uber of home services. Page 14
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he Epstein School has found its new head of school, a former research physicist who switched to Jewish education less than a decade ago. David Abusch-Magder, the assistant head of campus and head of middle school at the Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco, won a board of trustees vote after he visited the Conservative-affiliated school in Sandy Springs the week of Jan. 12. Marc Stern, the president of Epstein’s board, announced contract talks in an email to school families Jan. 15. “We are very excited about the enthusiasm and intellect he will share with our school,” Stern wrote. Abusch-Magder will replace longtime Head of School Stan Beiner, whose contract expires in June. Epstein’s board decided last summer not to keep Beiner. A graduate of Brown with a doctorate from MIT, Abusch-Magder spent eight years researching fields such as wireless networks and nanotechnology for Bell Labs, according to his LinkedIn profile, which cites three patents in wireless networks and semiconductors. But he left the laboratory in 2006 for a yearlong course at Hebrew University and was certified as a senior Jewish educator. He then was hired as the principal of a Jewish elementary school, Solomon Schechter of Chicago, where he stayed two years before his current job. Brandeis Hillel is nearing the end of its own search for a head of school while preparing to split into two schools. Abusch-Magder is a native of the Boston area, lived in Israel for five years and is fluent in Hebrew. His wife, Ruth, is a Reform rabbi with the outreach group Be’chol Lashon. They have two children, both graduates of day schools. ■
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LOCAL NEWS
Toco Hills Still Split on Cityhood
3 community meetings fail to bring clarity on incorporation other options on the table: • Being annexed into the city of Atlanta with other unincorporated areas of DeKalb County, presented at a meeting Jan. 7. The initial proposal from the group Together in Atlanta would run the new city border down LaVista Road, slicing Toco Hills in two. • Being annexed into the still-new city of Brookhaven. Toco Hills neighborhood groups invited Brookhaven officials to make a presentation about that option, but they declined. This option would require support from 60 percent of residents, and with no push from Brookhaven for this expansion, Toco Hills leaders say this choice is highly unlikely. • Remaining unincorporated, an option discussed Jan. 15 at Young Israel. Because Toco Hills is surrounded by the proposed maps for the Atlanta annexation area and LaVista Hills, it will be difficult for the community to remain unincorporated unless those two proposals are stopped. Georgia law prohibits the creation of an unincorporated island through
By David Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com
T
he Jewish community in Toco Hills remains split on multiple annexation proposals after hearing three presentations at Young Israel on the possibilities, according to the area’s state representative. “I’ve heard a lot of different voices from Merry Hills and the Beth Jacob community,” said Democratic Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, whose District 82 includes Toco Hills. “There’s not one voice. There’s a variety of voices that come to me with different views. There are folks that have been involved in the issue for the past three years, but now a lot of people are coming to the debate newly. They’re just realizing that there’s a lot of movement and activity on this issue.” Although 277 Jewish Toco Hills residents have signed a petition for the community to be included in the proposed city of LaVista Hills, discussed at a meeting Jan. 11, the community of nearly 3,000 has several
annexation. With a decision on cityhood affecting government services, zoning laws and school systems, the community conducted a survey this week to vote on its options, including backing legislation to create LaVista Hills. Any cityhood proposal would have to pass the Georgia General Assembly. Proposed Cities of LaVista Hills and Tucker Legislative success would lead to a people want nothing,” Oliver said. referendum as early as May or June, “The neighborhood has a very unique with an approved new city starting as dynamic, and it’s very popular for lots early as 2016. of reasons. One of the reasons that it’s “Some people in the Beth Jacob so popular is for the Orthodox commucommunity want LaVista Hills; some nity.” ■ Let your state legislators know how you feel about cityhood: • Rep. Mary Margret Oliver, 404-377-0485, mmo@mmolaw.com. • Rep. Howard Mosby, 404-656-0287, howard.mosby@house.ga.gov. • Sen. Elena Parent, 404-490-3762, info@elenaparent.com.
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Jewish Music Festival Goes International
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By David Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com Music Festival he Atlanta Jewish onal music to is bringing internati event. town for the sixth annual will feature IsThe Spring Festival um and Diwan Saz raeli Yael Deckelba Jump Babylon. and Montreal-based g young, With an eye on attractin10 events on put will intown Jews, AJMF The festival will in 12 days in March. band Red Heifers include Macon-based (Hannah) Zale, and Atlanta-area artists and Tony Levitas. um Rosenba Sammy about this “We are really excited ” said Russell Gottyear’s Spring Festival, founder and direcschalk, the festival’s onal performtor. “We’ve had internati our opening never at ers in the past but entirely focused never night, and we’ve specifically peron international artists, main event. at our formers from Israel, r Yael DeckMain event headline a ed since age 16 as elbaum has perform an album this solo artist and is releasing of the Israeli member spring. She is also a a. folk trio Habanot Necham seven Jews, of Diwan Saz consists perform who s Muslims and Christian Central Asia, Turkey ancient music from g peace and underand Israel, promotin music. standing through their y, March AJMF6 kicks off Thursda with Jump Baby12, at Steve’s Live Music inspired ska/roots/ lon and its klezmervenue will also Springs Sandy rock. The party March 14. host Zale’s album release a stage at The festival will produce ity Food 22 Commun 31st annual Atlanta 25 the Hunger Walk/Run on March 15. Bank be March 21 at 26 The main event will se. 27 the Variety Playhou Festival inAdditions to the Spring 31 showcase at Temple clude a cantorial a closing Ho31 Emanu-El on March 22 and March 23. concert locaust remembrance Photo credit: Jon Gargis
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LOCAL NEWS
Bill Treats Modern Sex Slaves as Victims
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kind of late to the table, Shearith Israel and but they have now made Temple Kol Emeth, a commitment,” Unteramong others. man said. Unterman said she The Temple is parhas had huge turnouts ticipating in a special for panel discussions at lobbying day Feb. 12 at The Temple and AA and the state Capitol and has spoken almost evwas scheduled to hold a ery year at Federation. training session Jan. 22. “The rabbis have said been fabulous,” she Rabbi David Spinrad has battled Unterman human trafficking since his days about 50 people attendsaid. “They grasp it and in San Francisco. ed the anti-sex-traffickare ready to take the ing lobbying day in 2010, ball and take it through the goal line, which is passing legisla- but the turnout was 800 last year. She expects 1,000 people this year. tion like this.” “There wouldn’t seem to be opposi The Unterman legislation fits a national drive by Hadassah and the tion” to the legislation, Rabbi Spinrad National Council of Jewish Women to said, but “we don’t take it for granted. get Jews to speak out against human We need to make sure everybody sees trafficking. The two organizations how important this is.” held a day of action against human Unterman said such support is important because too many legistrafficking Jan. 13. “We look forward to our work lators think her bill would increase ahead in the states to pass legislation teenage prostitution by offering prorecognizing trafficked children as vic- tection from prosecution. tims, not criminals,” NCJW President Rabbi Spinrad said lawmakers need to realize that the bill deals with Nancy Kaufman said. “The Jewish community has been the facts on the ground now. ■ PERSONAL CARE • RESPITE CARE • COMPANION CARE • MEDICAL CARE • HOME MANAGEMENT • DEMENTIA CARE
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care through asset forfeitures that could not be diverted. Unterman has worked to overhaul our years after Georgia Georgia’s laws on sex trafficking since greatly increased the pen- 2009 when leaders of North Avenue alties for adults who traffic Presbyterian Church showed her that in children for sex, Sen. Re- children were being sold on the streets nee Unterman is leading a drive with right outside the church. She went beJewish support to protect the children fore the Senate’s Republican caucus, all men other than her, and said: “I’m forced into the sex trade. “No child wakes up at 6 or 7 years going to investigate this. I’m going to old and says, ‘I want to be a prosti- talk about 50-year-old men having sex tute,’ ” said Unterman, a Buford Re- with 12- to 15-year-old girls.” When Unpublican. But terman decided prosecutors to promote her too often treat legislation with underage sex a candlelight workers as vigil in mid-Decriminals and cember, North send them into Avenue Presbythe juvenile terian was the justice system, natural choice. which she said An easy does more harm pick for one than good. of the night’s Her S.B. 8, speakers was filed before the Rabbi David month’s start of Spinrad, the the General Asnewest rabbi sembly session, at The Temple. would correct Not only was that situation and ensure that Sen. Renne Unterman holds a candlelight vigil in his predecessor, Rabbi Rachael child sex slaves December to announce her legislation. Bregman, the Photo by Rabbi David Spinrad are treated as first Jewish leadvictims and given the psychiatric and other services er to contact Unterman about human trafficking, but Rabbi Spinrad also they need. The bill also would create the had taken up the fight against modSafe Harbor for Sexually Exploited ern versions of slavery before moving Children Fund and an associated to Atlanta in June 2013. “I think it’s a big issue of our time,” commission to pay for those services, extend the statute of limitations for said Rabbi Spinrad, who uses biblical sexual abusers until their victims texts on his Chocolate Moses website reach age 23 or 25 (depending on the (chocolatemoses.org) to explain seven abuse), ensure that the victims have reasons Jews have a responsibility to time as adults to sue their abusers, fight modern slavery. and incorporate guidelines from the The Temple started an initiative new federal Preventing Sex Traffick- against sex trafficking after its senior rabbi, Peter Berg, spoke about the ing and Strengthening Families Act. The General Assembly enacted problem in Atlanta at the High Holilegislation in 2011 to overhaul the days in 2012, Rabbi Spinrad said. laws on sex crimes, increasing prison That initiative has included hostsentences and fines for the pimps and ing an anti-sex-trafficking seder, an providing the option of an affirma- event The Temple will repeat this tive defense for the child sex workers, year; packing up nonperishable food who Unterman said are brainwashed, for schoolchildren to make them less abused and coerced and don’t know vulnerable to predators; and creating a coalition of synagogues to attack the why they’re in the sex trade. This year’s legislation would set problem. up a comprehensive system of care Rabbi Spinrad said Ahavath for those abused children. A com- Achim Synagogue has been a strong panion measure, S.R. 7, would give partner in part because it’s so close in the a chance to pass a constitutional Buckhead. He also cited the involveamendment to fund that system of ment of Temple Sinai, Congregation By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
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LOCAL NEWS
A Jewish Kidney Saves a Jewish Life
Atlanta woman’s living donation creates forever bond with former stranger By Fran Memberg fmemberg@atljewishtimes.com
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escuing a single life earns as much merit as rescuing the entire world, according to the Talmud. By that reckoning, Yifat Levin of Atlanta is a world-saver. On Jan. 6, the 36-year-old wife and mother of three donated one of her kidneys to Lauren Gitelson, 42, of Stony Brook, N.Y. Organ donation and transplantation, with the removal of a body part from a living or dead donor and the inherent risks of any surgery, initially raised many ethical and legal questions in the Jewish community. But, advances in medical technology have led to widespread agreement about many organ transplant questions. Among the intricacies of halacha (Jewish law) that relate to defiling or endangering oneself or mutilating a body before burial is the overriding concept of pikuah nefesh: The preser-
vation of human life takes precedence over all the other commandments. Levin thus was a registered organ donor before learning about Gitelson. “Once I’m no longer living, I won’t need those organs anymore. If someone needs them, it’s the right thing to do,” Levin said, acknowledging, “For many people, it’s difficult.” Levin read about Gitelson’s need early in the fall on the Frum Atlanta Yahoo! Group, which serves Atlanta’s Orthodox Jewish community. “Medical issues don’t intimidate me,” said Levin, a nurse on a professional break. “I can live with one kidney. Lauren can’t live without one. I hope if I was in a similar situation, someone out there would do the same thing.” Her husband, Hillel, supported her decision and Levin had a simple blood test locally to determine whether her blood type matched Gitelson’s. Further testing at New YorkPresbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, the site of the trans-
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plant, determined that Levin met the criteria to donate to Gitelson, a wife and mother of two young boys. Health and psychological testing are required for potential donors. A living donor has to be in excellent health and have blood and tissue types that are compatible with the recipient. The recipient must be negative for antibodies that would reject the donor kidney. The donor must be able to accept the possibility that the transplant won’t succeed. Gitelson was unaware of Levin’s efforts throughout the testing process, preferring to be notified only if a match was found. On dialysis since September 2012, Gitelson had explored every avenue to locate a living donor. In New York, the wait for a kidney from a dead donor is eight to 10 years, according to Gitelson, whose low-functioning kidneys resulted from scarring, possibly from an infection, her doctors told her. The happy task of informing Gitelson about the match fell to Chaya Lipschutz, who posted the notice on Frum Atlanta on behalf of KidneyMitzvah. Lipschutz, an Orthodox woman from New York and a kidney donor herself, has made it her mission to promote living kidney donations and help find donors, no matter what race or religion. Through Lipschutz, Levin and Gitelson received each other’s email address and corresponded. Their families met in New York in December on the Levins’ way home from Israel. “I felt like I was having dinner with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time,” Gitelson said. “She’s so easygoing and relaxed, warm and friendly.” That her donor was Jewish didn’t surprise Gitelson. “We felt the Jewish community would play a role in this. I felt in my heart that this is where it would come from.” Levin’s laparoscopic surgery to remove one healthy kidney took about 1½ hours under general anesthesia. She was hospitalized for two nights, stayed in New York for several more days and returned Jan. 13. Levin, who lives in Toco Hills and is a member of Young Israel, said any discomfort she felt was the result of surgery, not losing a kidney. After recovery from surgery, donors may resume their pre-op routine and require no medication. Gitelson’s hospital stay was sever-
Kidney donor Yifat Levin of Atlanta (right) shares a post-operative hug with recipient Lauren Gitelson.
al days longer than Levin’s, and she is recovering at home after a three-hour laparoscopic surgery. Her new kidney is working, and Gitelson said her doctors are happy with her progress. “The whole thing is a miracle, that someone can give you a piece of them in your body,” she said. Levin and Gitelson sat side by side awaiting their surgeries. Levin visited Gitelson in her hospital room the day after, and they saw each other at a follow-up checkup six days after surgery. They plan to remain in touch. “Our lives are entwined now. We’re like family,” Levin said. “I’ve made a friend for life, a forever bond,” Gitelson said. ■ A 60-year-old Jewish man in Atlanta who has received dialysis for 3½ years needs a kidney. For information email Chaya Lipschutz at KidneyMitzvah@aol.com. For general information about becoming a living kidney donor, visit the National Kidney Foundation website, www.kidney.org. For information about KidneyMitzvah, visit www.kidneymitzvah.com. For information about the Jewish perspective on organ donation, visit the Halachic Organ Donor Society website, www.HODS.org.
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LOCAL NEWS
4,404 Georgians Await Kidneys
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s of Jan. 9, 109,520 people in the United States are awaiting lifesaving kidney transplants, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. In Georgia, 4,404 are on the waiting list; the typical wait lasts four to eight years. When a match is made between a living donor and a recipient, the transplant can proceed right away, said Dr. Joshua Wolf, a transplant nephrologist at Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital Transplant Institute who was not associated with Yifat Levin’s
donation to Lauren Gitelson. At Piedmont, some 165 kidney transplants are performed annually, including 70 to 80 from living donors. Wolf, a lifelong member of the Atlanta Jewish community, said kidney transplants from living donors last an average of 15 years vs. an average of seven years from a deceased donor. “We have more time to evaluate” a living donor’s health, he said. Wolf said race, religion, ethnicity, age and sex are not factors. “With living donors, the threeyear kidney graft survival is 90 percent,” he said, adding that failures occur in recipients who don’t take their
medications properly. Regarding donors, he said: “We will not let someone donate a kidney unless we feel they will live the rest of their life with one kidney and do OK.” In the seven years Wolf has been part of the Piedmont kidney transplant team, all living-donor transplants have succeeded. For more about organ donation, visit the United Network for Organ Sharing, www.unos.org. For more about the Piedmont Hospital Transplant Institute, go to www.piedmont. org. To register as an organ donor, visit LifeLink of Georgia, www.lifelinkfound.org/donatelife/index.cfm. ■
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LOCAL NEWS
Ovarian Cancer Tied To Ashkenazi Genes By Cady Schulman cschulman@atljewishtimes.com What: Ovarian cancer discussion ewish women of Ashkenazi de- over light breakfast scent have a greater chance of getting ovarian cancer and need Where: The Temple, 1589 Peachtree to be proactive with their health. That’s St., Midtown Atlanta the message Dr. Benedict Benigno is When: 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 29 trying to get across to the Atlanta JewCost: Free; RSVP to 404-300-2997 or ish community. ovariancancerinstitute.org “It’s been my experience that many Jewish women do not know they’re at an increased risk for breast and ovarian cancer,” said Benigno, the founder and CEO of the Ovarian Cancer Institute in Sandy Springs. Benigno will address “Ovarian Cancer: The Ashkenazi Factor” during a breakfast event Thursday, Jan. 29, at The Temple. Ashkenazi women who develop breast cancer and test positive for the BRCA gene have a 70 percent chance of developing ovarian cancer. “I don’t think the message gets out the way it should,” Benigno said. “They (do) not know that if they had breast cancer, they should take particular attention to being screened for ovarian cancer.” Approximately 70 percent of ovarian cancer cases are at Stage 3 or 4 when they’re caught, and Benigno said that’s likely because ovarian cancer symptoms mirror those of problems with the intestines. Patients have cramping and abdominal pain and usually are prescribed anti-gas medications. Patients and physicians tend to ignore that most common of symptoms, Benigno said. “It gets worse, and finally someone decides to do a pelvic exam and blood test.” Ashkenazi women should begin having mammograms and pelvic ultrasounds earlier than age 50. “Should that age be lowered? I think the answer is yes,” Benigno said. “However, the problem is it’s impossible to screen for ovarian cancer.” ■
J
Corrections and Clarifications
• Christina Gillardo, quoted in the article “Charlie and Me” in the Jan. 16 issue, is married to a Catholic from France but is not herself from France. • The name of the Muslim-Jewish Dialogue, which held a program at Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam on Jan. 6, was incorrect in the article “Open Eyes on Eve of Terror” in the Jan. 16 issue.
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
BY JOSHUA HARMON DIRECTED BY FREDDIE ASHLEY
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BADJEWS JANUARY 24 – FEBRUARY 22, 2015
A C TO R S - E X P R E S S. C O M | 4 0 4 . 6 0 7 . 7 4 6 9
Local Briefs Dunwoody Murder Case Goes to State Supreme Court Hemy Neuman had a hearing Jan. 20 before the Georgia Supreme Court in his quest for a new murder trial. Neuman in 2012 was sentenced to life in prison without parole after being found guilty but insane in the shooting death of fellow Jewish community member Rusty Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody preschool in November 2010. Among other claims in his appeal, Neuman contends his conviction was tainted by the perjured testimony of Sneiderman’s widow, Andrea, who was convicted in August 2013 of obstructing the murder investigation and lying during Neuman’s trial. Sneiderman denied having a sexual relationship with Neuman, who argued that their affair sent him into a spiral of insanity that culminated in the murder of her husband. Neuman admitted shooting Rusty Sneiderman. “A conviction obtained by the knowing use of perjured testimony is fundamentally unfair and must be set aside if there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury,” Neuman attorney J. Scott Key wrote in his appeal to the Supreme Court. The state denies that Sneiderman’s testimony was a significant factor in Neuman’s conviction. Sneiderman, sentenced to five years in prison but given credit for time served, was released from prison in June. Federation Fund Supports French Jews The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta has responded to the terrorist attacks in Paris by establishing an emergency fund to support the French Jewish community, including the cost of increased security at more than 600 Jewish institutions in France. Federation is covering all administrative costs of the fund. “We stand in support of the People of France, the French Jewish community, and against terrorism and anti-Semitism worldwide,” Federation Chairman Howard Feinsand and President and CEO Michael Horowitz wrote in an email message that announced the fund Jan. 13. You can donate to the France Support Fund at atlanta.secure-fedweb.jewishfederations.org/page/contribute/france-emergency-fund. Amy’s Party Founder Honored by WSB-TV Amy Zeide, the founder and executive director of Creating Connected Communities, recently was named WSB-TV’s Community Champion of the Month. The award recognized the 20th anniversary of Amy’s Holiday Party, which provides a holiday celebration for 800 underprivileged children with the help of more than 300 teen volunteers from metro Atlanta. Zeide started the annual party when she was a teenager. Representatives from the award sponsor, the Law Offices of Neil Flit, presented Zeide and others from CCC a $500 gift card, and WSB produced a public service announcement about Zeide’s work for airing on Channel 2. The mission of CCC (www.cccprojects.org) is to provide opportunities for poor children to celebrate and be celebrated by teen volunteers. Bachelorette Dorfman Splits With TV Fiancé The first Jewish star of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” Atlanta-area native Andi Dorfman, has split with fiancé Josh Murray less than six months after accepting Murray’s proposal during the July 28 finale of the reality TV show. In the process of becoming a reality star, Dorfman quit her job as an assistant district attorney in Fulton County. Camp Kudzu Elects Kirschner to Board Atlanta’s Sidney Kirschner, former head of school of Davis Academy, was elected to the board of directors for Camp Kudzu in December. Kirschner is executive vice president of Piedmont Healthcare and CEO for Piedmont Physicians. Camp Kudzu provides summer camp and weekend programming to youths with diabetes. Send local news announcements and tips to submissions@atljewishtimes.com.
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LOCAL NEWS
Windows on Hadassah
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reater Atlanta Hadassah and its chapters were busy during the Atlanta Jewish Times’ recent hiatus. Greater Atlanta Hadassah held its installation of officers Dec. 4 at Temple Sinai, where outgoing Southeastern Region President Ruthanne Warnick installed Paula Zucker as president, replacing Sue Rothstein. Lee Tanenbaum received the 2014 Leadership Award for her work on the chapter website and her implementation of the Touch a Truck 2014 Family Festival to Benefit Heart Health. The Ketura Group, which held a Chanukah party organized by Ellen Frank and Bernice Mellman at Huntcliff Summit for residents Dec. 21, installed its officers and board Jan. 6 at La Madeleine at Perimeter. Using the Chagall Windows at Hadassah Medical Center at Ein Kerem as inspiration, Arlene Glass, a past president of the Greater Atlanta Chapter and Ketura, installed Amy Jampol as president, replacing Annie Kohut. Sheila Dalmat received the 2014 Leadership Award. The Southeastern Region installed Toby Parker as 2015 president at the Hilton Garden Inn, Atlanta Perimeter Center, in mid-November at a ceremony led by former Greater Atlanta President Phyllis Cohen. Among other events coming up, the Etz Aviv Group is holding a Tu B’Shevat seder Sunday afternoon, Feb. 1 (call 770-587-9340 for more information), and Greater Atlanta Hadassah is holding its Breast Strokes, Hadassah Bares All for A.R.T. (Awareness, Research & Treatment) gala and auction for breast cancer research Feb. 28 at the Westside Cultural Arts Center in Midtown (visit www.hadassah.org/ atlanta for information and tickets).
The 2015 Greater Atlanta Hadassah board consists of (from left) Eileen Cohn, Cheryl Gordon, Wendy Kalman, Diane Fisher, Paula Zucker, Marsha Conner, Sheila Dalmat, Susan Berkowitz, Annie Kohut, Judy Bart and Susan Shewmaker, plus Edie Barr and Marni Hoffman.
Above left: Annie Kohut (left) presents Ketura’s 2014 Hadassah Leadership Award to Sheila Dalmat. Above center: Arlene Glass (left) congratulates new Ketura President Amy Jampol. Above right: Ruthanne Warnick (left) installs Paula Zucker as the 2015 Greater Atlanta Hadassah president. Bottom right: Ketura President Annie Kohut lights the menorah at Huntcliff Summit as (from left) Bernice Mellman, Harriet Trackman and Edie Friedman watch. Photo by Peter Klokow
The Atlanta Jewish Times wants to highlight great photos from the community in the newspaper, on our website (www.atlantajewishtimes.com) and through social media. Tag us on Twitter (@atljewishtimes) and Facebook (facebook.com/atljewishtimes), and we’ll share your photos. And you might just end up on display in newsprint as well. This week, in keeping with our education theme, we offer some fine young musicians from the Epstein School (@EpsteinATL) playing before Shabbat at the Marcus JCC and some devoted Weber School (facebook.com/weberschool) students doing Martin Luther King Day service at the Dunwoody Nature Center.
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
Seen on Social Media
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ISRAEL
Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home ‘Aya’ gets Oscar nomination. The 40-minute Israeli film “Aya” has been nominated for an Oscar in the category of best live-action short. “Aya” follows the encounter between an Israeli female driver and a Scandinavian musician who gets into the wrong car at the airport. The nomination is the first for filmmakers Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis. English soccer club appoints Israeli coach. English soccer team Charlton Athletic has appointed Israeli Guy Luzon as its head coach. Luzon previously coached top Belgian soccer club Standard Liege. Charlton plays in the Championship, the second-highest level of English soccer. Approval for 360-degree colonoscope. GI View in Ramat Gan recently received FDA approval for its Aer-OScope colonoscope for advanced detection of polyps that could develop into colon cancer. GI View is expected to start U.S. sales in early 2016. Trial of cancer antibody. Misgav-based cCAM Biotherapeutics has received
U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for trials of its CM-24 monoclonal antibody for the treatment of various types of cancers. CM-24 targets CEACAM1, a novel immune checkpoint protein expressed on many cancer cells. Spine surgery system wins two awards. Kfar Saba-based NLT Spine has won a 2014 Spine Technology Award from U.S. magazine Orthopedics This Week for the ARC Pedicle Screw System. The company also made the list of Red Herring Global 100 winners. Med school at 16. Maya Fishman is on course to become the youngest doctor in the history of the state of Israel. Only 16 years old, she is in medical school at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Jerusalem opens center to empower new mothers. Jerusalem is opening a community center to address the needs of women during and after pregnancy. It will offer career counseling to assist mothers on maternity leave to re-enter the workforce. Arabs proud to be Israeli. In a survey
late in 2014, 65 percent of Arab citizens said they were “quite” or “very” proud to be Israelis, up from 50 percent the previous year. The majority had faith in the Supreme Court, Israeli police and the Israel Defense Forces. Chicago, Ben-Gurion work on water. The University of Chicago has sought out Israel’s Ben-Gurion University to help tackle water scarcity. In laboratories in Chicago and the Israeli desert, scientists are crafting radical approaches that may one day rejuvenate water-starved regions. Faster flash storage. Massachusettsbased Kaminario’s research-and-development site in Yokneam has set performance records for flash storage. Kaminario also boasts reliability, scalability, cost and performance figures that top competitors. The company raised $53 million to fuel global expansion. Scottish Water applies Israeli recycling technology. Jerusalem’s Applied CleanTech has completed the first British pilot project of its recycling technol-
Would a solar panel work for you? It can cost $4,000 for a survey to check whether a solar panel on your roof would generate sufficient solar energy to justify installation. Israel’s SolView is using Google Earth and its automated rooftop scanning technology to do the same task instantly. Another “doggy” app. Following on the heels of Dogiz, Oggii, Pawly, Swifto, KelevLand and DogTV, we now have Wooof, a made-in-Israel app providing a platform for dog owners to get together online, trade photos, record dogwalking routes and even send alerts when a dog catcher is in the area.
Kodak wants to buy Israeli startups. Jeff Clarke, the new CEO of photography company Kodak, is looking to acquire Israeli tech startups to help rebuild his company as a leader in digital printing.
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JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
A shirt that monitors your heart. Kfar Saba startup HealthWatch Technologies has developed a washable T-shirt that can read the wearer’s heartrate, blood pressure, cardiac irregularities and other vital signs to help prevent heart attacks. All data can be transmitted instantly to a cardiologist.
Turning viewers into customers. Israel’s Viewbix turns a company’s YouTube or Vimeo videos into marketing applications. It integrates such interactive features as action buttons and email forms into the video, enabling customers to communicate directly. Viewbix recently raised $3 million.
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ogy for waste water at Scottish Water. The system produces a useful material called Recyllose from sewage while reducing maintenance and power costs.
Hebrew Bibles reunited after 350 years. When filmmaker Micha Shagrir donated a 1667 Hebrew Bible to Haifa University, the staff discovered a Bible written by the same person on the library’s shelves. An Egyptian-Armenian gave Shagrir his Bible in gratitude for his film about the Armenian genocide. 100 great-grandchildren. Israelis Michael (age 92) and Marion (90) Mittwoch have celebrated the birth of their 100th great-grandchild. After escaping Nazi Germany, the Mittwochs immigrated to Israel, where they were the first couple married at Kibbutz Lavi. All of their children and grandchildren live in Israel. Courtesy of verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot. com
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ISRAEL
Cast a Vote for Your Voice in Israel How to Vote
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oting is open in the most important election few people are talking about. Through April 30, anyone who lives in the United States, will be at least 18 years old by June 30, identifies as Jewish and accepts Zionism’s sixpoint Jerusalem Program may vote in the American Zionist Movement’s elections for the U.S. delegation to the 37th World Zionist Congress this fall. “This is your only opportunity to express your vision of Israel,” the AZM says at myvoteourisrael.com. The election, in which you vote for a slate of candidates, will select 145 of the 500 delegates to the congress. Israel has 190 delegates, allocated based on Knesset representation. The rest of the world splits 165 seats. While the World Zionist Congress might conjure black-and-white images of Theodor Herzl arguing for a new Jewish homeland, this election has real effects on money and power. The congress establishes policies and leadership for the World Zionist Organization, the Israeli government agency that, among other things, oversees the West Bank settlement program, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Jewish National Fund. “I think the chairman of JNF in Israel is the most important, most powerful position in Israel, including the prime minister,” Rabbi Josh Weinberg, the president of the Association of Reform Zionists of America, said during a get-out-the-vote conference call. But when the American Zionist Movement held voting for the 2006 congress, fewer than 86,000 of the roughly 6 million eligible Jewish voters in the United States registered to vote, and fewer than 76,000 cast ballots. The AZM didn’t bother with an election to choose delegates in 2010. Eleven slates are contesting this year’s election: • Zionist Spring. This slate combines the venerable Baltimore Zionist District, Bnai Zion, Young Judaea and World Confederation of United Zionists behind a vision for a more democratic congress and better diaspora-Israel relations. • Mercaz USA. The Conservative slate promotes a pluralistic Israel, aliyah support, a negotiated two-state solution and sound environmental policies. Margo Gold from Ahavath
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Achim Synagogue and Congregation Etz Chaim Rabbi Shalom Lewis are among the candidates. Alliance for New Zionist Vision. The limited slate of 23 “young adult and student activists most passionately engaged in the national struggles of the Jewish people” wants the WZO to engage in the battles for Jewish identity and Zionism on college campuses. American Forum for Israel. This organization seeks to fully integrate Russian Jews into American Jewish society, to maintain an undivided Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, to keep Israel and the diaspora strong, and to boost the Israel Defense Forces’ ability to defend all Jews. World Sephardic Zionist Organization. A first-time contender for the congress, Ohavei Zion wants traditional Sephardic Jews to take their rightful place in charting the future of the Jewish people. ARZA. The top vote-getter in 2006, the Reform movement’s slate emphasizes gender and religious equality and a two-state peace solution. The slate includes Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple, Rabbi Bradley Levenberg of Temple Sinai and Blair Marks of Temple Kol Emeth. Herut North America — the Jabotinsky Movement. Herut supports aliyah and rescue of high-risk Jewish communities, educational trips and internships in Israel, and Jewish unity, and it emphasizes that its members are unpaid volunteers. Hatikvah. “The Progressive Zionist Voice” wants to freeze the settlements while seeking a two-state peace solution, women’s rights, recognition for all religious streams and an end to the “oligopoly/plutocracy.” Actor/singer Theodore Bikel heads a slate featuring representatives of such groups as J Street, the New Israel Fund, Americans for Peace Now and Open Hillel. Green Israel: Aytzim/Green Zionist Alliance/Jewcology. The focus is on environmental issues, from air quality and animal rights to water conservation, and includes the use of environmental education to improve Israel-diaspora relations. Religious Zionists. Backed by organizations such as the Orthodox Union and the National Council of Young Israel, this slate emphasizes Torah values in Israel and worldwide and a united Jerusalem.
• Zionist Organization of America. Founded in 1897, this group vows to rescue Jews threatened by Muslim attacks like what happened in Paris, fight campus anti-Semitism, keep an undivided Jerusalem and the settlements, resist a Palestinian state and the BDS movement, and free Jonathan Pollard. ■
PR WORLD
Voting is a two-step process. First, you register at myvoteourisrael.com, including paying a fee of $10 ($5 if you’re 30 or younger) by personal credit card, e-check or PayPal. The registration fee covers the expenses of the election, administered by Election-America. You then may cast your ballot right away or at any time until April 30.
If you could live forever, would you?
EMIERE
M u s ic a l
Book By
Music By
Lyrics By
Claudia Shear
ChriS Miller
NathaN tySeN
Based on the noveL Tuck EvErlasTing By Natalie BaBBitt directed and choreographed By CaSey
NiCholaw
on Stage Now–February 22 WO R L D
PREMIER
When Lyons can no longer hide his sexuality or illness, his fledgling dance company is threatened, and the women who love him must come together decide and the best way to carry on his legacy. intense music, Dance, to
drama collide on stage!
By Tsehaye Geralyn Hébert | Directed by Kent Gash
February 13–March 8
E
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
Tickets @ 404.733.5000
alliancetheatre.org/tuckeverlasting alliancetheatre.org/calyons
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OPINION
Our View
Give Credit Where Tax Credit Is Due
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JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
f popularity is a measure of success, Georgia has a Super Bowl winner in its tuition tax credit for private school scholarships. The program lets you give money to a nonprofit student scholarship organization, which spreads the money among the private schools it works with or, more often, gives it all to the school you designate. You get a dollar-for-dollar credit on your state income taxes. So many people want to participate that the program slammed into this year’s $58 million statewide cap on the tax credit Jan. 1, the first day for applications. The appeal is clear: You can pay a certain amount to the state government to spend as it sees fit or pay the same amount and help children attend the schools of their choice. The ALEF Fund, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s student scholarship organization, submitted $4.9 million in tax credit applications from more than 1,500 taxpayers on Day 1, up from nearly $4.2 million by the time the state hit last year’s cap Jan. 22, fund manager Allison Feldman said. State Department of Revenue figures show less than $2.4 million in approved tax credits for about 1,100 donors a year earlier. Feldman credited the growth to the promotional efforts of the 10 Jewish preschools and five day schools the fund works with. (Some Jewish schools, including Torah Day School and Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael, participate in the program through the larger Apogee Scholarship Fund.) “This program is a huge benefit to our schools,” Feldman said. “It really helps them to help our families.” The impact varies. At Davis Academy, about 100 of the nearly 600 students receive tuition aid through the ALEF Fund, Head of School Amy Shafron said. Fifty students are benefiting this year at the Weber School, which says 40 students since 2009 would not have been able to attend the school at all without the ALEF Fund. At the Congregation Dor Tamid preschool, only one of 14 pupils receives ALEF money, but director Rabbi Lauren Cohn hopes the fund will help the preschool grow. Growth, however, is the big prob10 lem. Because all qualified tax credit
applications from Jan. 1 will be approved, the state will have to prorate them — reduce each tax credit — to keep the total at $58 million. So individuals who wanted to give the maximum of $1,000 and married couples who tried to give the maximum of $2,500 won’t be able to. They may, of course, donate all they want directly to the schools of their choice, but they won’t get the tax credits that drive the program and might not be able or willing to absorb the financial hit. Some donors, after suffering proration this year, might skip the program next year. More important than the impact on the donors is the impact on the schools and students. Every dollar a donor can’t give is a dollar Jewish schools and families must find elsewhere to cover tuition bills that can top $24,000. H.B. 35 from Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) would solve the problem by raising the cap to $250 million. Critics say the entire program is wrongheaded because education money should go through the state. They claim that the program benefits the well-off because, for example, Department of Revenue figures show that 201 of the 226 families who received ALEF Fund scholarships two years ago had incomes in the top half of Georgia families. Never mind that the larger size of beneficiary families and the higher incomes and cost of living in the Atlanta area distort such statistics. Gov. Nathan Deal, meanwhile, is launching school-choice initiatives to improve education, and we can’t imagine any Department of Education effort that could do better than the scholarship tax credit. It’s time for the General Assembly to make its school choice: Either abolish a program that works so the money can be wasted on bureaucracy and untried alternatives, or give the program the cap space to grow as Georgians want and need it to. Nearly $5 million in ALEF Fund pledges this year, more than $11 million in donations since 2008, and the additional money sent to schools outside the ALEF Fund show that the Jewish community has made its choice: Raise the cap. ■
JNF Photo of the Week
A future farmer gets a taste of harvest season in the greenhouses of the central Arava. The Jewish National Fund’s shaliach (emissary) to the Southeast, Ezra Ravins, farmed in the Arava for 35 years.
Open Ears, Wine Bottles
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establishing connections with promstrange thing happened Jan. ising secular and interfaith leaders 14: American Jewish Comand maintaining those relationships mittee Atlanta held a townover the years to enable quiet diplohall meeting after business hours at macy. Thus, someone like Atlanta its Buckhead office. Mayor Kasim Reed, who seems It was strange for two readestined for higher office, has parsons. First, because AJC Regional ticipated in the AJC’s Black-Jewish Director Dov Wilker and President Coalition and its Project Interchange Lauren Grien truly wanted to hear trips to Israel since his days as a what AJC members and potential state legismembers lator. had to say AJC about what Atlanta is the advocaEDITOR’S NOTEBOOK particularly cy group is By Michael Jacobs valuable and should mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com because of be doing. the presSecond, beence of so cause only many diplomats on the rise at the a dozen people fought rush-hour consulates around town. The consul traffic to attend the free event. general of today could be the foreign Imagine asking thousands of minister or prime minister of tomorJews for their opinions and getting row. only 12 people to answer — even The biggest frustration exthough there was good food and pressed at the meeting was the diffiwine to set the mood. It’s a shame more people weren’t culty of reaching the general public, but perhaps the attendance spoke to there. Wilker and Grien had a lot to the difficulty of reaching the Jewish say about the AJC’s three national public as well. priorities — combatting global anti That issue falls at least in part Semitism, securing Israel’s place in on my shoulders. The Atlanta Jewthe world and preventing a nuclear ish Times should be the way for Iran — and how the organization organizations to inform a wider Jewworks the grass roots in the Southish audience about their work. But east to achieve those goals. The key is creating relationships when this newspaper isn’t a compel(including those between single Jew- ling read, people tune out. If we at the AJT are doing our ish Atlantans through the youngjobs right, people will overwhelm adult Access group, based on the any group daring enough to invite requests of some of the parents at Jewish Atlanta in to share a nosh the town hall). and an opinion. ■ The AJC plays a long game,
OPINION
If We Speak Up, Obama Might Hear
WICKED IS FLYING BACK TO ATLANTA
T
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hank you for your patronage. do not want anything from us except We received dozens of notes our death? Are you waiting for more within the first few days of attacks and deaths to make a formal printing our inaugural issue — thus declaration? Is it just too difficult to far, all in support and congratulafight a group of people not defined by tory. Keep up the communication, geographical borders? even if you disagree with an article Our president has yet to define or opinion. our enemies, And a galvanize hearty his people, PUBLISHER’S LETTER thank-you or persuade to those who other counBy Michael A. Morris have retries, people michael@atljewishtimes.com subscribed or world or called, leaders to unsolicited, join him to place an advertisement; you are in combating what he calls a mere our lifeblood. threat. President François Hollande has taken a global leadership stance, We will continue to keep you abreast of programs and events and our country was noticeably within our community. Many of you absent. He is to be commended for have commented on our presence at securing worldwide support against our common enemies. important gatherings. Please keep us posted on events near and dear to The first thing our president your heart. It is our plan to mainneeds to do is define our enemy. tain a robust calendar looking out Every time our enemies attack, they two weeks, cover as many events as tell us who they are — finding their possible with pictures and summaidentities is not difficult. The people ries, offer interviews or sneak peaks who are killing Americans, Europebefore programs if there is new inans and Jews are radical, extremist, formation to share with the commufanatical and almost always Muslim. nity, and offer discounted advertis Notice the absence of the word ing rates that make it economically moderate. Moderately inclined peoviable for nonprofit organizations to ple, of any race, faith or nationality, advertise programs and events. do not want to murder others. The I also pledge to run lifecycle free world is not combating terrorism from moderate Muslims, moderate events on a timely basis, so keep Jews or moderate Frenchmen. your paper in the loop. The Jewish community does The free world is fighting a war not often speak with one voice. Last against radical Muslims, and the week I read many articles, posts fact that our president is unwilling and blogs that offered a consistent to utter those words does not make message. As I write this opinion on this war any less bona fide or the the eve of President Obama’s State threat to our lives any less probable. of the Union address, I too want to In fact, I believe it is an indication add our voice because, if we speak as that our president is not acting in one, we might be heard. the best interest and safety of the Americans he is pledged to protect. The United States is at war with people who want to kill us, who have After this issue goes to press, killed us and who continue to seek we will listen to President Obama ways to kill us. As if that weren’t address Congress. I hope to hear enough, our adversaries want to credible understanding of the issues abolish our way of governance as that face our nation and tangible well. Their goals are clearly stated leadership initiatives that demonand fully supported by their actions. strate a clear goal of winning. Our America’s response has been some president is the leader of one of the combination of avoidance, lacklustop three free Jewish communities in ter, late, insincere, and, above all, the world, and his leadership, goals, confusing or convoluted. strategies and initiatives have a profound effect on my family’s Jewish The most basic question I ask life and Jewish life worldwide. our president is “What are you waiting for?” Do you not believe we are Let me know your thoughts and at war, specifically with people who opinions. ■
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OPINION
No Fear of G-d in Terrorist Attackers
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JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
o you fear G-d? Are there wives feared G-d and did not do as times when you do the right the king of Egypt commanded them.” thing just because G-d may The midwives acted compassionately be watching? It’s easy to understand because they feared G-d. This is what and respect those who love G-d it means to fear G-d — to act with because of all the blessings life has compassion and kindness. showered on them. But it’s hard, A few chapters before the story with our modern sensibilities of libof the midwives, Joseph, in resisting eralism and pluralism, to understand the seduction of his master Potiphar’s those who wife, tells fear G-d. her: “Behold Commy master GUEST COLUMN pounding … has put Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis this difficulall that he ty are those has into who do termy hand … rible things neither has because he kept back they say they fear their G-d. The anything from me but you, because massacre of 12 in Paris at the offices you are his wife. How can I then do of Charlie Hebdo is a case in point. this great evil?” Had he ended his Why were they killed? Because the plea with this, it would have been perpetrators say they feared Allah, sufficient. But Joseph adds a telling who taught them to forbid any picphrase: “How can I do this great evil tures of their prophet Muhammad, and sin against G-d.” Joseph dewhich Charlie Hebdo had published. scribes himself first and foremost as The killers were killed in a shootout “one who fears G-d.” while a compatriot killed four and But what is fear of took hostages at a kosher supermarG-d? Is it just doing the ket. Can you imagine the fear of the right thing because you Jewish community in Paris as only a fear G-d will punish you few hours before Shabbos Jews were if you don’t? Few people taken hostage and killed? live their lives today The problem was that these with concern for punishkillers thought they feared their G-d, ment in an afterlife, and but in reality their actions were moti- even fewer fear being vated by hatred. No G-d would look struck down by lightkindly on the taking of lives because ning upon committing a of a cartoon, no matter how offensive. transgression. So what Perhaps what is needed in the world constitutes fear of G-d? is a genuine fear of G-d — a fear that I’d like to point out we will face severe consequences if a unique aspect of fear. we don’t act kindly, compassionately The human nervous and lovingly to our fellow man. system apparently There’s a fascinating parallel chooses what to fear between the end of the Book of Genat any moment. The esis and the beginning of the Book of Midrash demonstrates Exodus. Genesis deals with creation this with the example of — the creation of the universe and a person known to fear the creation of a family. It seems dogs running smack into that it was far more difficult for the a pack of dogs. His friend patriarchs and matriarchs to forge confronts him, “I don’t a family than it was for G-d to forge understand; aren’t you the world. Exodus takes the next afraid of dogs?” step. It deals with the creation of a “Yes,” he answers, “but look nation formed from that family — behind me.” the family of Abraham. Sure enough, looming closer and Fear of G-d is a theme in both closer, is a pack of hungry lions. The books. Pharaoh is anxious to destroy fear of the lions trumped the fear of the Jewish nation, so he introduces dogs. The larger fear dissipated the his version of the “final solution”: lesser one. All Jewish males are to be killed at I once heard Rabbi Joseph Solevbirth, cast into the Nile. He enlists eitchik say with his finger twisting in the Jewish midwives Shifra and Pua his unique way: “I am not a psychia12 to do his dirty work. But “the midtrist nor the son of a psychiatrist, but
I know one thing, everyone fears: fear of sickness, of aging, fear of dying, the fear of rejection, of loneliness, loss of position, loss of money, loss of someone close. Who doesn’t fear? But there is one fear that has the power to remove all of the lesser fears that lurk on the horizon that threaten to wreak havoc in our lives, and that’s the fear of G-d.” When the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:13) commands us, “Hashem your G-d you shall fear,” the intention is not to fill us with anxiety and dread but to give us a mechanism to remove our lesser fears. Strange as it is to say, G-d’s command to fear Him is an expression of His love, a precious gift. If we understand that the purpose of life is to grow a soul, then we can look on all the challenges that life confronts us with not fearfully, but as opportunities for growth. If we live our lives in fear of G-d, we always know He is with us, and we can say as it says at the end of Adon Olam, “G-d is with me, so I will not fear!”
King David in Psalm 23 states, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear evil for Thou art with me.” Notice he does not deny death, but his fear of G-d abates the fear of death. So what truly constitutes the fear of G-d? First of all, the word for fear, yira, also means “awe.” To fear G-d means to be in awe of Him and the world He created — to see G-d in everything and everywhere. Second, to fear G-d means consequences — possibly severe consequences — if we don’t behave in a G-dly manner, if we are not compassionate toward our fellow man, if we don’t use the bounty G-d has showered us with to help others, if we ignore the Torah and commandments given to us for our own benefit, if we are hateful and bear a grudge, if we are spiteful, if we act with prejudice and, most important, if we don’t treat other human beings like the image of G-d they are. To fear G-d is to act with compassion
Anatoly Sharansky — now Natan Sharansky — was tortured physically and mentally by the KGB. They moved him from security prisons to insane asylums, but they could not break his spirit. In one of his letters from prison, he wrote, “How can I beat the KGB? The answer is in the Book of Proverbs: Reyshit chochma yirat Hashem, ‘The beginning of wisdom is the fear of G-d,’ ” because fear of a higher power removes lesser fears.
and not with hate or ego. No, the terrorists in Paris did not fear their G-d or any other. They acted out of hate and failed to see the image of G-d in others. I pray for G-d to help us always act with the fear of G-d, and may G-d protect us from those who do not. ■ Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis is the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Shamayim.
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OPINION
Observing the Glory of Shabbat
Candle-Lighting Times Parsha Bo Friday, January 23, light candles at 5:41 p.m. Saturday, January 24,Shabbat ends at 6:50 p.m. Parsha Beshalach Friday, January 30, light candles at 5:48 p.m. Saturday, January 31, Shabbat ends at 6:46 p.m.
that threaten its true meaning. Shabbat has another important function: the maintenance of Jewish identity. Because of this function, we must invent contemporary forms of Shabbat observance, which must be joyful for its own sake, not for fear of punishment. I now realize the importance of the two hours my siblings and I spent in our parents’ bed each Shabbat morning. My father (olov hashalom) began this Shabbat custom. All week long we were in a constant hurry. We all rose early, ran to shul for morning services, hurried home for a light breakfast, then hurried again — my father to open the store and we children to school, which began at 8. But not on Shabbat. Even though we woke up at the same time, my brother, my sister and I ran to our parents’ bed and spent free, unhampered time with them. As I grew older, Shabbat morning in bed was when my father introduced me to his philosophy of life. I learned what he considered important in human life, his political
philosophy and his ideas of Judaism. He helped me form perspectives of life that influence me even today. He revealed the social ideals of Anatole France, the pacifism of Stephan Zweig, the scholarly perspectives of Maimonides and Spinoza — ideals that he considered holy because they reflected the quest for intellectual liberty. Never mind if we came late to shul. Shabbat was my time to be with my father, who transmitted his life experiences and his dreams. Shabbat was for my enrichment, my emotional and intellectual life, and my understanding of how to be a Jew by reflecting Jewish ideals. My father observed the Shabbat laws not because G-d ordained them, but because that was how he fulfilled the Fifth Commandment of honoring his parents and how he indicated membership in the Jewish community. He taught me the foundation of Shabbat: the glory of psychological freedom and the degradation of human life through coercive labor. ■
Celebrate Lag B’Omer with us! Sunday, May 18th from 10:00 – 3:00
we’ll have a sidewalk sale. Used books; new books. Story time. Kosher refreshments will be available.
AndThouShaltRead.com | Oytoys.com www.raeandesigns.com
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
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experiential view that compulsive hen I was a mere boy of 9 and constraining labor destroys body in Munkacs in 1934, the and spirit. Munkacher rebbe had The Ten Commandments instruct occasion to declare: “As long as Jews us to “remember Shabbat to make it adhere to the observance of Shabbat, holy.” Shabbat is not holy until we the Shabbat will keep us alive as make it so by obedience to an ideal. Jews.” Shabbat is holy because we im The rebbe was right. Statistics bue it with the ideals of freedom from attest that as Shabbat observance constraining declines, so and enslavdoes Jewish ing labor. identity. ONE MAN’S OPINION Shabbat is a But what Eugen Schoenfeld reminder of is Shabbat the inhuobservance? manity of How shall enslavement we, Jews and the psyin the 21st chological torment associated with century, observe Shabbat? The puncmenial and unrewarding labor. tilious observance of the laws and But in defining the activities that rituals as we are instructed in the make Shabbat holy and liberating Mishnah in the book of Moed and in us from the inhumanity of coercion, the Shulchan Aruch? The observance the rabbis have subjected us to the from the shtetl with the laws, cusconstraints of the minutiae of ritualtoms, traditions and superstitions? No social institution can continue ism. On the one hand, we were freed from harsh labor, but on the other we unless it accepts the inevitability of became enslaved by excessive restricchange. It is merely wishful thinktions on activities. ing to maintain that Torah MiSinai, Talmudic rabbis’ definition of because it was given by an eternal and unchanging G-d, will not change. labor was apropos for their time and reflected the idea to make Shabbat The laws and customs associated an oneg, a joyful and pleasurable day, with Shabbat from the first century B.C.E. are becoming anachronisms in but the definitions of labor and pleasure have changed in 2,000 years. the 21st century. The rabbis began by defining la Much of what has governed bor as the activities required to build Shabbat practice does not reflect the the Tabernacle, then made inferences real meaning of Shabbat. Routines and deductions through the idea of and rituals have become attached to shemoh (perhaps, maybe) to forbid a punitive religious philosophy that any activity that in itself is permisemphasizes fear of G-d and punishsible on Shabbat but could lead to ment for violating His law rather forbidden activities. than the joy of life. An example is the ban on mov We should not observe Shabbat ing a bench on Shabbat if it is on for fear of violating G-d’s law and enduring punishment. Shabbat is not a grassy field. Moving the bench is permissible, but in the process we a law instituted by G-d. Shabbat is an ideal, a symbolic representation, a might tear the grass and gouge the human construct that reflects Jewish land, which is similar to impermissible plowing. insight into a humanitarian moral For the sake of maintaining and value: All human beings have a right enhancing Shabbat, we must sepato physical rest and psychological rerate the chaff from the kernel — the freshment. This is one of Jews’ many true meaning of Shabbat from the gifts to the world, a gift of a moral insignificant, anachronistic elements ideal for a better way of life. It is our
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BUSINESS
Russian Refugees’ Son Cleans Up Online
Hux.com connects small-time service providers with customers By Aimee Millwood
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nformal services make up 5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, Hux founder Stanley Vergilis says. “That’s in the trillions. When I saw that statistic, I knew there was an enormous opportunity.” The informal service sector comprises house cleaners, dog walkers, tutors and related jobs. These service providers work alone or on small teams, serve a small number of customers, and depend on word of mouth. These workers have a sense of ownership for their small businesses but struggle to find new customers and manage existing ones. Vergilis saw a need to simplify the way these service providers work. “I put myself through Georgia Tech by tutoring high school students. I found it really hard to manage my micro-business and find new customers,” said the Midtown Atlanta resident, the son of Russian Jewish refugees.
Seeking a solution but coming up empty, Vergilis decided to make his own. At 19 years old, he found a programmer online to make the first iteration of Hux (www.hux.com): a website where you could find, schedule and pay for a service provider. His experiment brought outstanding results. His customers shared his link, bringing him new customers, and he saved time selling his services and organizing his schedule because it was so easy to manage them online. “I got more business than I could handle,” Vergilis said. Vergilis met James Loper while they were working at Georgia Tech. Loper primarily developed software but also fixed phones and computers as a local service provider. “It was a natural fit,” Vergilis said. “We shared a similar vision for Hux. We could replace storefronts, receptionists, marketing and all of the other overhead that cut into a service provider’s bottom line.” With vision and ambition, the two
Stanley Vergilis has big dreams for Hux. Photo by Aimee Millwood
began working before, after and even during class. After a few months of development, they dropped out of college and launched Hux in March 2014. In 10 months they have grown to reach thousands of customers and are expanding to Charlotte. They also narrowed their focus to one service: house cleaning. With Hux, Vergilis
said, you can book in a few clicks at half the price of a cleaning company. But he doesn’t plan for house cleaning to be Hux’s only business. “Our ambition is to make booking a service as easy as buying a product online. Amazon started with books; now they sell every product imaginable.” ■
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JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
Febuary 3, 2015
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Congregation B’nai Torah
700 Mt. Venron Hwy, NE Sandy Springs GA 30328 From 5:00PM - 8:00PM
Admission: $5.00
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he Carlton, owned and operated by the Cruz family of Insignia Senior Living, has been a premier senior living and memory care community in Sandy Springs for more than 20 years. Insignia Senior Living is dedicated to “senior communities centered around family” and is committed to making the Carlton its flagship community in Atlanta. The Cruz family oversees the daily management of three communities in the Atlanta area. The Carlton has undergone extensive renovations. The apartments now have hardwood floors, granite countertops, new cabinetry and upgraded bathrooms fixtures. The Carlton, open to all faiths, is focused on providing a wonderful and warm feeling of community for our Jewish residents. Our days are filled with Jewish learning and Jewish holiday celebrations. Kosher catered meals are available, and kosher-style gourmet meals are prepared daily by our new executive chef, Ty Talley. The Carlton’s convenient location next to Congregation B’nai Torah gives our residents and families easy access to participate in all services and activities at the synagogue. In addition, daily afternoon minyan services are hosted at The Carlton. According to Rabbi Joshua Heller, “The success of The Carlton as an institution that serves the Atlanta Jewish community is of great importance to B’nai Torah.” We are also delighted to introduce our new regional director, Tony Grieco, who is proud to say, “After more than 30 years in the senior living profession, I’m still spending every day with older adults — and cherishing every minute of it. Our residents truly are the Greatest Generation, and serving them is not only our profession, it’s our privilege.” We invite you to our grand reopening event on Thursday, Jan. 29, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. to show off our newly remodeled community. ■
CALENDAR
Plantation South Dunwoody | Assisted Living & Memory Care
or 770-396-3080. An exhibition of art by Hirut Yosef called “Chalom Yashan — A Journey Back Home” opens at the Marcus JCC’s Katz Family Mainstreet Gallery on Friday, Jan. 23. Yosef emigrated to Israel with fellow Ethiopian Jews as part of Operation Moses in 1984, and she said American culture, such as hip-hop and street art, attracted her while she was growing up in Israel. But a trip back to Ethiopia sharpened her Hirut Yosef memories of Africa, which now inspires her art through vibrant colors and traditional design. “Color is my native tongue,” she said. “I seek to build a visual bridge between my native origins and contemporary art and culture. In doing so, I created a language of my own.” She will speak at a reception Sunday, Feb. 8, at 4 p.m. at the JCC’s Zaban Park campus, 5324 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Admission to the gallery is free; it’s open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Call 678-812-4071 to get more information or RSVP for the reception.
FRIDAY, JAN. 23
Singer in residence. Congregation Or VeShalom welcomes musical artist in residence Gerard Edery for a weekend celebration of Sephardic culture at the Brookhaven synagogue, 1681 N. Druid Hills Road, including services Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 8:37 a.m. and Havdalah services and a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday ($30 members, $35 nonmembers at the door); 404-633-1737 or office@orveshalom.org.
SATURDAY, JAN. 24
Fiddle-dee-dee. See a Catholic take on Tevye as St. Joseph Catholic School presents “Fiddler on the Roof Jr.” at 7 p.m. in Marist Hall at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 87 Lacy St., Marietta. Tickets are $6 at the door. Bet on camp. Temple Kol Emeth, 1415 Old Canton Road, East Cobb, is holding a casino night open to all eighth- to 12th-graders at 7 p.m. to raise money for Camp Jenny. Admission, including play money, is $20, with a $15 fee to enter the option Texas hold’em tournament to try to win an iPad Mini; www.kolemeth.net or jblake@kolemeth.net. Music to students’ ears. The Jewish Educational Loan Fund holds its “Taking Notes” benefit concert, featuring music from jazz pianist Joe Alterman and JELF loan recipients, at 7:30 p.m. at the Defoor Centre, 1710 Defoor Ave. NW, West Midtown Atlanta. Tickets start at $36 for those age 35 and under and $118 for those older; www.jelf.org/takingnotes
Jewish humor. The comedy “Bad Jews” opens at Actor’s Express, 887 W. Marietta St., Suite J-107, Atlanta. The play runs Wednesday to Sunday through Feb. 22. Tickets are $26 to $45; actorsexpress.com or 404-6077469.
SUNDAY, JAN. 25
Where the wild things will be. The Breman Museum’s Sunday Funday workshop for youths ages 10 to 16 will explore the art of Maurice Sendak from 2 to 4 p.m. at 1440 Spring St., Midtown. Advance registration is required at thebreman.org/Events/ Family-Sundays-at-TheBreman. The fee is $18 for museum members, $25 for nonmembers; info@ thebreman.org or 678-2223700.
Cook Moroccan cuisine. Learn about traditional Moroccan cuisine from Israeli chef Guy Gamzo at 5 p.m. at Hal’s Kitchen, 2710 Apple Valley Road, Brookhaven. The cost is $45; www.halskitchen.com or 404-580-3971. Nuremberg prosecutor speaks. Benjamin Ferencz will deliver the keynote address at Am Yisrael Chai’s free Holocaust remembrance event at 6:30 p.m. at Atlanta Jewish Academy, 5200 Northland Drive, Sandy Springs; visit www. amyisraelchaiatlanta.org.
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Free Day Care for your loved one during the tour. Appetizers and beverages will be served.
To schedule your tour time, call 770-441-4836 by February 8 Assisted Living and Memory Care 4594 Barclay Drive, Dunwoody, GA 30338 www.PlantationSouth-Dunwoody.com
PEDIATRIC DENTAL SPECIALISTS OF ATLANTA
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 28
Red-carpet rollout. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens 23 days of films by and about Jews with a gala showing of “Above and Beyond” at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, in the Cumberland area. Tickets for the gala, starting at 5 p.m., are $150 if you’re under age 40 and $300 if you’re not. Tickets for the film only are $18; www.ajff.org or 866-214-2072.
THURSDAY, JAN. 29
Ovarian cancer. Dr. Benedict Benigno, founder and CEO of the Ovarian Cancer Institute in Sandy Springs, examines the disease’s connections to Ashkenazi Jews at 10 a.m. at The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St., Midtown Atlanta. Admission is free and includes a light breakfast; 404-3002997 or ovariancancerinstitute.org. Send all your items for the What’s Happening calendar to submissions@ atljewishtimes.com. Good photos will increase the chance for your item to be highlighted.
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JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
JAN. 23 TO MARCH 31
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ARTS
Katz, Von Grey and KSU Save the Symphony
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JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
t’s no secret symphonies across performing to a crowd of hundreds. the country are in big trouble. You could tell something special was The past several years, major being born. city orchestras like San Francisco’s Today von Grey is a proficient have canceled tours. Strikes and and seasoned ensemble with strong lockouts have occurred in Atlanta, songwriting, emotionally charged Chicago, Detroit and Indianapolis. lyrics, hauntingly beautiful harmonies, and Philly went bankrupt. a drive to Miami, Hocreate and IN IT FOR THE MOMENT perform topnolulu and Albuquernotch music. By Bram Besoff Composed que have Twitter: @bram_rocks folded their of dual lead programs. singerFacing a songwriters weak economy and dwindling audiAnnika and Fiona, superbly talented ences, the classical music world is sister musicians Petra and Kathryn in a dire crisis because of the high von Grey is doing something right. overhead of these endeavors. Conan’s website has dubbed the group “Mumford & Daughters”; in So how does classical music make itself relevant again? Perhaps fact, von Grey’s 2012 single “Comthe answer lies at our own doorstep, ing for You” was most added at AAA thanks to the collaboration incuradio behind Mumford & Sons. bated by hometown music industry The Atlanta Journal-Constituhero Joel Katz and his Music & tion says the group is “nothing short Entertainment Business Program at of stunning,” while Billboard praises Kennesaw State University, directed the “crystalline harmonies, stirring lyrics and inventive melodies.” by Keith Perissi, with the help of nationally acclaimed Atlanta-based So what has von Grey been doartist von Grey. ing the past year? They have been diligently scoring their music with Von Grey started in the midEric Alexander while working with 2000s when I caught them in Centennial Park. Four young sisters, Perissi and students of the Joel some not even in high school, were A. Katz Music & Entertainment backed by an adult rhythm section Business Program to produce and
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promote a live concert experience backed by the KSU 30-piece orchestra on Jan. 8 at the Bailey Performance Center. The event was nothing less than amazing, accompanied by a full light show, media consisting of conceptual video clips and live concert footage, all to a capacity crowd. The four sisters took the audience on an audible journey of their earlier music in the first set and revealed their new, more rocked-up electronica sound in the second act. “The Girls,” as they are lovingly referred to by fans and family alike, donated their time over three semesters to make the night happen. The process started one year ago when the idea for von Grey to perform with the KSU Symphony was generated out of the Katz Music & Entertainment Business Program. Faculty member Tanner Smith suggested the idea, and plans soon began to turn the dream into reality. Smith is now the talent buyer for the Atlanta-based company Sixthman. Soon after, Smith and Perissi met with the director of the School of Music, Michael Alexander, to launch the project. The students enrolled in the Katz program took their education to the streets to gain real-world experience by heading up the branding, booking, video production, research, PR, social media and street team promotions for the event. Perissi explains how important such experiences are: “Having our students be able to work directly with talented emerging artists such von Grey as well as the KSU Symphony is about as real as it gets. Our students worked directly with both entities as entertainment industry professionals get to do every day. We look forward to many more col-
laborations such as these, as they prepare our students to enter a competitive industry.” The mission of the Katz program is to ensure that the future of the music and entertainment industry is in talented and skilled hands. The drive is to foster growth within Atlanta, one of the top rising cities for entertainment (film and television), by procuring the next generation of talent in an industry rife with change but bustling with innovation. As Katz says, the mission of the program is “to educate students to become professionals in an environment that motivates and enriches their intellectual curiosity.” Proceeds of the project and performance are being donated to the KSU School of Music Proctor Scholarship, awarded to music students who demonstrate excellence as instrumental performers with great potential to contribute to the field of music after graduation. The scholarship was first awarded in 2012. Plans for the future include merchandising and franchising this event and promoting von Grey’s new album. Students of the Katz Music & Entertainment Business Program will work on turning the content of the event into a marketable product, and von Grey plans to tour the country working with colleges and universities that have symphonies and music programs like KSU’s. Programs like this will ensure Atlanta remains a leader in arts and entertainment for years to come. Get in on the action. Go to a show, see a movie (preferably at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival), buy a record or support a local musician — the more we get involved, the more Atlanta will thrive. ■
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ARTS
Tough to Fly Higher Than ‘Above and Beyond’
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he Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens Jan. 28. Below is some of what you’ll see opening week. Visit ajff.org for tickets and www.atlantajewishtimes.com for more reviews. Down-to-Earth Heroes “Above and Beyond” deserves its spot as the opening film of the festival; it’s hard to imagine a more uplifting or higher-quality documentary (you’ll notice a Spielberg — Nancy — as a producer, which probably helped bring George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic onboard to recreate dogfights from nearly 70 years ago). The film tells the story of the birth of the Israeli air force. Veterans of World War II, most of them Americans, risked their lives and their citizenship to sneak a crazy mix of decommissioned and reconstructed Allied and German aircraft into newborn Israel to fight off Arab air power. These men were true heroes, many of whom didn’t discover their inner Zionists until they had the Jewish state’s fate in their sights. But what makes the movie work, given that we know the outcome of the war and the
survival of the elderly men on screen, is that “Above and Beyond” doesn’t paint the fliers as angels. They’re real people who enjoyed the ladies and the liquor when not in the sky, and that accessibility makes their accomplishments rise so much higher. Chuck Norris Says Go If you, like me, are part of Generation X, you likely can thank Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus for some great memories of your youth.
you knew what you were getting with a Golan-Globus movie: a lot of action, a bit of violence (though usually not gore), a truly evil villain and a triumphant hero. Even though their reallife script didn’t follow their on-screen story lines, enough of the joy they brought to entertaining the masses carries over to “The Go-Go Boys” to make it a fun trip down memory lane. Sadly, Golan died between the time the film wrapped and its release, but it’s still a fun way to spend a couple of hours at the movies. Beauty Is Truth The sold-out “Chagall-Malevich” probably isn’t the best narrative movie in this year’s film festival, but it’s hard to imagine a more delightfully surprising entry. Russian movies, especially those set in the early days of the revolution, are supposed to be dark, dreary and depressing. But Alexander Mitta’s creation is colorful, creative and uplifting. If you aren’t smiling at the end of “Chagall-Malevich,” you should see
Golan and Globus, the Israeli filmmakers behind Cannon Films and the title of “The Go-Go Boys,” gave Chuck Norris (“Invasion USA,” “Delta Force,” “MIA”), Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Bloodsport”) and Charles Bronson (the “Death Wish” franchise) some of their most memorable roles. They worked with some Jewish directors and inspired others. They brought the Israeli film industry to the world’s attention, and for a brief period they dominated Cannes. When they were at their peak,
Win Tickets to the Festival The Atlanta Jewish Times wants to give you the chance to enjoy the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, so we’re giving away two tickets to the Jan. 30 screening of “The Physician” at 1:50 p.m. at Atlantic Station. Starting Monday, Jan. 26, you’ll be able to enter the contest through our website, www.atlantajewishtimes. com. Just look for the festival giveaway article and add a comment about what you would like to see in the AJT as we work to improve the newspaper and website. We’ll randomly select one of the commenters and announce the winner Jan. 29. Don’t worry if you don’t win the tickets this time; we’ll have two more giveaways before the festival ends.
a cardiologist because your heart is surely two sizes too small. Mitta’s magic is that he lets us see the world through the eyes of Marc Chagall and Kazimir Malevich, whose incompatible views of artistic innovation turn their students into bitter rivals but rarely disturb the artists themselves. We see their art come to life around them, and we can appreciate a world that’s big enough for both of them. The conflict and sadness in the film come from the inability or unwillingness of the Communist authorities to join us in seeing the world as the artists do. They are petty, smallminded and destructive, although a brief appearance by Leon Trotzky provides a glimpse at a non-Stalinist alternative path for the Soviet Union. The movie itself is a lesson in the inevitable triumph of beauty and artistic truth over totalitarian sameness, but save any such deep thoughts for later. When you’re in the theater, just let the wonder and joy take you away. ■
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SPORTS
Diversity Chief: Hawks’ Nest Fits All
Nzinga Shaw sees team, fans soaring past embarrassing email By Kevin Madigan kmadigan@atljewishtimes.com he sale of the Atlanta Hawks is “swiftly progressing,” says Nzinga Shaw, the basketball team’s new chief diversity and inclusion officer. The discovery of an embarrassing email from the Hawks’ controlling
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owner, Jewish businessman Bruce Levenson, to his co-owners led to the team being put on the market and Shaw’s being hired in December. Levenson’s email, in which he questioned the value of the team’s black fan base, was found during an investigation into General Manager
Final Weeks! Chabad and the Hawks celebrate Chanukah at halftime Dec. 23.
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Now Showing in IMAX® JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
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Danny Ferry after he made an offen- with schools, politicians, clergy, acasive remark about the Miami Heat’s demics, “and people that come from lower socio-economic backgrounds Luol Deng. The Hawks the entire team, not that may be fans of the game but may just the majority controlled by Leven- not have financial access to be on site at our games.” son, up for sale. Shaw, 35, formerly with the NFL An inclusion event since her arand the New York Yankees, sees her rival was a halftime celebration of job with the Hawks as a “catalyst for Chanukah during the Dec. 23 game healthy change within the organiza- against the L.A. Clippers, a team that tion through bringing people togeth- former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, er from a variety of different back- who is Jewish, bought for $2 billion from longtime Jewish owner Donald grounds.” She said the team is overcoming Sterling after Sterling’s much-publicized racial comments. the racial controversy among fans. “From what I can tell, fans are “Our CEO (Steve Koonin) happens to be Jewish, and still very loyal to our he’s one of the main brand,” Shaw said reasons we did the during an interview at halftime show,” Shaw her new office. “People said. were not happy with Koonin, who issued the incidents that a public apology on transpired, but they’re behalf of the Hawks’ very encouraged by leadership in the fall, the way the leadership said the organization team has recovered will continue to build and has really posiconnections with the tioned the organizaJewish community “as tion.” Nzinga Shaw we’re doing with all The position of communities.” diversity and inclusion officer is a rarity in sports, and He said team representatives Shaw’s challenge is to help people un- speak regularly to youth groups and appear at synagogues. The Hawks derstand what it means. “There are a variety of percep- also have hosted the Jewish Federations about the work that I’m doing tion of Greater Atlanta and the Maror supposed to be accomplishing,” she cus Institute, among others. said. “I am charged to create a more “There’s a place for every cominclusive and holistic environment in munity at the Atlanta Hawks. That’s which people can bring their differ- what we’re going to be focused on,” ences to the table and each of their Shaw said. “Not just the Jewish comunique attributes can be not only em- munity, but Asian, Hispanics, LGBT, braced, but leveraged for the strength the black community — bring all these groups together so we can progof the business.” Shaw wants to restore credibility ress towards building an inclusive to the team. She plans engagement culture.” ■
www.atlantajewishtimes.com
SPORTS
Weber Losses Don’t Reflect Basketball Effort By David Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com
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inter sports season is underway at the Weber School, and that means basketball is back. The three Weber squads — junior varsity boys, varsity girls and varsity boys — are nearly halfway through their region schedules.
“In terms of wins and losses, we aren’t exactly where we want to be,” Weber Athletic Director David Moore said. “Our kids work really hard, and they want to be paid off with victories and success on the court. For the most part, we’re in every game, and the kids are playing as hard as they can. I know that at the end of the year we’ll be happy with whatever our record is.”
The varsity boys have a 5-8 record with 10 games left in region play, and the JV boys are 7-6. The young girls squad under firstyear coach Lamont Watkins has a 3-11 record and features juniors Karin Videlesky, Ilana Gorod and Abby Blum and lone senior Emma Popowski. The girls lost at home Thursday night, Jan. 15, to Bethlehem Christian 37-27 despite Videlesky’s 21 points and seven rebounds. “The season has been going well,” Watkins said. “It’s been a little inconsistent as a first-year coach and having this many young faces on the
team, but the girls play hard. They like playing for each other, and it’s all a learning experience.” Around 75 percent of Weber School students play at least one sport, a high participation rate that Moore attributes to the togetherness of the student body. “It’s not just basketball, but we want to have a strong athletic program,” Moore said. “Our motto is ‘Head, Heart and Hand,’ and I think our sports program is the ultimate embodiment of that.” All three teams play at home Jan. 29 vs. Dominion Christian. ■
Rams Dive Into Swimming
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he Weber School has added girls swimming to its winter sports lineup. Math teacher Riley Clark, who swam competitively in high school, is coaching the team of Izzi Ariail, Lindsey Bradford, Samantha Bradford, Dylan Oakes, Quinn Rabinowitz, Hannah Saban and Sophia Videlefsky. “Swimming is a sport that is accessible to anyone at varying skill levels,” Athletic Direct David Moore said. “It’s a great addition to our program, and under Ms. Clark’s leadership, I’m confident the team will have a great experience in its inaugural year.”
Emory Shoots for National Hillel Title
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mory University Hillel is taking another shot at the National Hillel Basketball Tournament this spring. Billed as “March Madness Meets the Maccabi Games,” the fifth annual tournament is the largest intercollegiate basketball tournament for Jewish students. This year’s event is expected to attract more than 1,200 people and 300 athletes from 30 universities. “It was such a great experience last year,” Emory team captain Jonathan Schonwetter said. “On top of the basketball tournament and playing in the playoff bracket, it was a weekend packed with events.” Emory was the only team from the Southeast last year. This year’s festivities at the University of Maryland will begin on Friday night, April 17, with Shabbat services and dinner for more than 500 students. The tournament will start Saturday evening and continue into Sunday morning at Maryland’s Reckord Armory and Ritchie Coliseum. Each team will play three games be-
while covering transportation costs. fore moving into a single-elimination are interested. “Any support from the Atlanta Last year we didn’t let the financial bracket. Team registration for the compe- community can help a tremendous burden stop us from representing tition opened Jan. 1 at hilleltourna- amount,” he said. “As students, we Emory and the entire Southeastern usually have to limit our expenses region.” ■ ment.com. “This event greatly impacted me as a Inspiring students from young Jewish adult,” Schon1 8 months to 8th grade wetter said. “There aren’t many things comparable to 300-plus Jewish people bringing in Shabbat and playing basketball for an entire weekend.” The Emory team is seeking An extraordinary, curious, open mind. A sense of wonder more players nurtured and inspired. Lessons experienced, not just taught. and will hold a Collective engagement and personal success. tryout to finalize the roster. Join us for an Open House! The team also January 29th is searching for sponsors; conWelcome to Springmont. tact Schonwetspringmont.com • (404) 252-3910 ter at jschonw@ 19 emory.edu if you
wonder what I’ll master today?
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
By David Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com
www.atlantajewishtimes.com
EDUCATION
Epstein Alum Alterman Heads JELF Benefit Concert By April Basler abasler@atljewishtimes.com
J
azz pianist and composer Joe Alterman is headlining Taking Notes: A Benefit Concert for the Jewish Educational Loan Fund on Saturday night, Jan. 24, at the Defoor Centre in Midtown Atlanta. Alterman performs regularly at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York and has played at such famous venues as Preservation Hall in New Orleans and Scullers in Boston. Also performing will be four alumni of JELF’s interest-free loan program for Jewish students from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. JELF provides the final money students need for post-secondary education. Alterman is an alumnus of the Epstein School in Sandy Springs and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music at New York University. He began playing piano at a young age and credits his dad for his passion and love for music. He chose jazz over other genres
because it allows for improvisation. man said. “I never dreamed I’d get the He spends his days teaching piano opportunity to befriend, work closely and practicing his music and reserves with and receive mentorship from him — his tireless work with me on his nights for performances. this album cannot be over “Every perforstated.” mance is memorable There is a story behind in some way, but every the title track of “Georgia once in a while there’s Sunset,” which is being an experience where I released Jan. 26 through get to play in front of a iTunes, Amazon and other hero of mine, which has online retailers. always been extremely “It kind of just came to memorable,” Alterme one night while I was man said. “I’ve opened sitting at the piano,” Altermany times for two of Jazz pianist Joe Alterman my favorite piano play- is a member of the Epstein man said. “I remember I School Hall of Fame. was playing around with ers, Les McCann and the song ‘Soft Summer Ramsey Lewis, and it’s always fun. It was a good learning Breeze’ by the great, underrated piaexperience to play in front of both of nist Eddie Heywood, and it sort of led me into this new song, which took me them for the first time.” Tenor saxophonist Houston Per- nearly a year to title.” He finally found the title while he son produced Alterman’s upcoming album, “Georgia Sunset,” which fea- was flying home to Atlanta. Looking tures several songs by Person, one of out the window, he saw a beautiful sunset over Lake Lanier. Alterman’s mentors. “Ever since I first heard his music Alterman is looking forward to when I was just a youngster, Houston playing city at the JELF benefit. “It’s Person has been a hero to me,” Alter- always fun to perform in Atlanta.”
aha a JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
CREATING EARLY LEARNING MOMENTS
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What: Benefit concert for JELF When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24 Where: Defoor Centre, 1710 Defoor Ave., West Midtown Tickets: $36 to $118; www.jelf.org/ takingnotes or 770-396-3080 He normally has a band when he plays in Atlanta, but he’ll play solo at the benefit. “I’m playing a blend of some nice jazz tunes, a couple Motown tunes and a couple Jewish songs that I’ve rearranged in a fun style.” Preceding Alterman onstage at the benefit will be clarinetist Michael Shane, singer George Slotin, pianist Benjamin Warsaw and Duo de Vista (guitarist Marina Alexandra and flautist Teri Forscher-Milter). “Taking Notes is the first time that JELF has had the opportunity to showcase the talents of four of our JELF alumni who would not be where they are today without JELF’s assistance,” JELF Executive Director Jenna Shulman said. ■
Ahava Early Learning Center Now Registering for Fall 2015
Reggio Emilia-Inspired Learning Environment
ENROLL TODAY For information, visit our website at www.ahavalearning.org or call 404-603-5759. Ahavath Achim Synagogue | 600 Peachtree Battle Avenue NW | Atlanta, Georgia 30327
EDUCATION
Weber Takes Stage For Monologue Contest tors discussed the playwright’s language and characters, taught acting techniques, and gave the students feedback on their performances. “Learning from someone who has already gone through the competition gave me great insight,” Weber sophomore Izzi Ariail said. “I learned important things about how to think like my character. I didn’t realize that even walking onstage can be meaningful in how you change from being you to being the character you play.” The national finals are the first week of May at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway in New York. Each national finalist will get a bound copy of the “Century Cycle,” also known as “The Pittsburgh Cycle,” and the top three finishers will get scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,500. Wilson won two Pulitzer Prizes for the “Century Cycle,” whose final play premiered the year he died, 2005. “We are offering students a unique pre-professional theater experience,” said Amber Singleton, Weber’s director of fine and performing arts. “The August Wilson Monologue Competition is one of many opportunities our students have to participate in contests, showcase their talent, and earn awards and recognition.” ■
Weber Teacher Wins STEM Scholarship
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eber science teacher Nicki Brite is one of 50 teachers nationwide awarded a full scholarship from the American Association of Chemistry Teachers for an eight-week professional development series on scientific engineering practices. The webinar training, running through March 8, is meant to help teachers develop skills and techniques to incorporate engineering practices into their classrooms. The program is part of 100Kin10, an effort to train and retain 100,000 top-quality science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers by 2021.
“When engineering skills are incorporated in the science classroom, students learn to solve complex problems with real-world applications,” Brite said. “Finding new ways to motivate students in STEM subjects is intriguing. I’m excited to implement what I learn and share new ideas with my department.” AACT program manager Adam Boyd said science teachers with Brite’s dedication are vital. “This professional development initiative is new, and Ms. Brite’s enthusiasm and interest confirms that she is the kind of teacher we need developing the next generation of students interested in STEM subjects.” ■
Critical Minds
Dual curriculum • M’silot • Etgar • Science Fair Cause Fair • Chumash • Torah • Siddur • Tanach Mishnah • Advanced Placement Reggio-Emilia inspired • Habits of Mind
Compassionate Hearts
Tzedakah • Mitzvot • Character Building • Kavod Kesher • Love of Israel • Mitzvah Day • Tefillah Oneg Shabbat • Holocaust Education • Buddy Oneg
Committed Leaders
National Honor Society • Global Awareness Chagiga • College Prep • Self - Confidence National Merit Scholars • Peer Leadership Student Council • No Place for Hate • STAR students
For more information, contact: Bonnie Cook, Admissions, 678.298.5377 Elizabeth Schoen, Admissions, Upper School 770.451.5299
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
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eber School 10th-graders are participating in the August Wilson Monologue Competition for the first time this year, making the Sandy Springs school the only Jewish high school involved. Weber performing arts director in residence Hilda Willis, English department chair Michele Brown and English teacher Sam Bradford have launched the program, in which students perform two-to-three-minute monologues from any of Wilson’s 10 “Century Cycle” plays. The eighth-annual competition involves students from eight cities and, under the sponsorship of Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, kicks off in the Atlanta area with preliminaries the last week of January. The Atlanta semifinals are Feb. 9, and the Atlanta finals are Feb. 23 at Georgia Public Broadcasting. The top three will win scholarships and advance to the national finals. GPB and True Colors are producing a show of the competition for broadcast, and a GPB crew shot footage during a workshop Weber hosted to prepare for the contest. True Colors performers and past August Wilson Monologue competi-
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Embracing Tradition Advancing Innovation
PROSPECTIVE PARENT VISIT DAY JANUARY 28, 2015 ≤ 8:00 - 10:00 am Register online: www.weberschool.org/parentvisit
ATTEND CLASSES IN SESSION LEARN ABOUT OUR NEW PROGRAMS ≤ Science Symposium promoting advanced scientific research ≤ Fine and performing arts program featuring artists in residence and a professional theatrical partnership ≤ Interdisciplinary Capstone Project in General and Jewish studies with honors diploma Questions? Contact Rise Arkin, Director of Admissions, 404-917-2500 x101
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT TDSA’S K for Kids Transitional Kindergarten?
GROW & BLOSSOM IN AN ENRICHED ENVIRONMENT Torah Day School of Atlanta has created a unique transitional kindergarten program, K for Kids, for students who are not yet ready for kindergarten or whose birthday falls between September 2nd and December 31st. It’s the gift of a year to grow and blossom.
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
TDSA’s K
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for Kids premiers 2015-2016.
For more information or to schedule a tour, please contact Mrs. Leslee Morris, Admissions Director at 404.982.0800 ext. 100 or lmorris@torahday.org
Learning for Life
Enriching minds. Inspiring souls.
1985 LaVista Road Atlanta GA 30329 www.torahday.org
Rabbi Micah Lapidus shows Davis’ new CD, “A Palace in Time.” Photo by Michael Jacobs
Davis CD Takes Shabbat For a Psychedelic Ride By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
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t was just mid-2013, amid its 20th anniversary celebration, when Davis Academy released its first CD of original music composed by Rabbi Micah Lapidus, but the time was right late last year to do it again. “A Palace in Time,” consisting of 18 songs inspired by the Fridaynight Shabbat service, was finished in time for Chanukah distribution to Davis families. While most of the 2,000 CDs have been handed out, the album is available for free download by anyone who might find pleasure or inspiration in folksy, rocking, slightly psychedelic, occasionally iconoclastic takes on Kabbalat Shabbat. You can download a free copy at www.cdbaby.com/cd/thealfredadeledavisacade, although other sites, such as iTunes and Amazon, don’t allow free downloads. “It’s not just ‘A Palace in Time’; it’s also a moment in time” because performances change and even some of the student singers’ voices have changed since they were in the studio, said Rabbi Lapidus, Davis’ director of Jewish and Hebrew studies, whose time to shine with the Davis community comes during the Shabbat service each Friday morning. The title of the album is a reference to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s book “The Sabbath” and reflects Rabbi Lapidus’ dream of producing
music that will find a home in the weekly liturgy. Nothing would make him happier than one day to walk into a congregation with which he has no connection and hear his music. Even though he views the album as a miniature rock opera, the rabbi doesn’t expect ever to hear it performed in one sitting in a synagogue setting because, at nearly 50 minutes, the album is as long as many Friday-night services. And the music is meant to represent only the opening, welcoming portion of service, culminating with the call to prayer. The names of the tracks are familiar, from “Y’hei Sh’meh Raba” (the only track on which Rabbi Lapidus shares the writing credit, with album producer Will Robertson) to “L’cha Dodi” to “Bar’chu,” but the melodies are different. The music often comes to him as a revelation, as happened when a walk through the narrow streets of Tzfat during a trip to Israel inspired his version of “L’cha Dodi,” Rabbi Lapidus said. After his first CD with Davis, “Be a Blessing,” came out, he wasn’t planning to do a second one so soon, but he had to let the music out. He started with about 50 songs and winnowed them down to 18, “a good Jewish number” even if he didn’t intend to keep so many. The creative enterprise then became a Davis community effort. “Thank G-d for my lack of capac-
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Come experience the AJA way!
Critical Minds Compassionate Hearts Committed Leaders
Rabbi Micah Lapidus leads the Friday-morning service at the Davis Lower School, which includes a comparison of Moses and Martin Luther King Jr. (below) on Jan. 16.
worked with 18 seventhand eighth-graders, by chance matching the number of songs on the album, to produce the paintings in the CD liner notes. “It was a great project,” said Ganz, who designed the cover. “We’ve done other music-related projects, but it’s very special when the music is from the school and the art is from the school.” Ganz said she and the students talked about how music and art can influence each other and about the similarities between the psychedelic rock album covers of the 1960s and
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1970s and ancient illuminated Hebrew manuscripts. After hearing rough cuts of the music and learning from Rabbi Lapidus about his inspirations and the sometimes-hidden meanings of tracks, the students picked songs out of a hat and went to work. The artists had to incorporate the song title or lyrics in Hebrew, English or both but otherwise had freedom to express their creativity. The result worked individually and as an overall expression of “A Palace in Time,” Ganz said. “Each piece was so unique but related to each other.” That artistic connection reflects the synergy Rabbi Lapidus feels at Davis, which embraces his “irrepressible need to create Jewish music.” “I always leave here with more energy than when I arrived,” he said.
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Head of School Amy Shafron said the academy wants to encourage the creative development of its professional staff, and the CD is the school’s contribution to Jewish culture and community. Rabbi Lapidus had a simpler way to sum up the school’s commitment to the arts: “We rock.” ■
A school not just for your children, but for your Warm and welcoming community Learning opportunities as a family whole family
4 Melton classes currently at AJA! Awesome field trips like sleepovers at Zoo Atlanta! High-spirited Whole School Oneg Shabbats and Holiday Celebrations AJA has Championship Athletic Teams State-of–the-Art Performing Arts Center/Beit Midrash – 600+ seat auditorium Bʼnot Sherut ~ Young Israeli women spend the school year with us bringing Israel to us! Reggio-Emilia inspired Preschool Program promotes capable and curious learning Etgar Enrichment Program– Challenging EVERY student, Every Day! Aims to meet students where they are in their learning and drive their learning forward. Mʼsilot Program– Every child is headed in the same direction; some just take a different path! Knowledge of Jewish Traditions and Torah AJA App! Arts4learning performances through Woodruff Arts Center Programming Elementary school has four computer labs Over 140 laptops, chromebooks, and tablets
5200 Northland Drive, Atlanta GA 30342 404.843.9900 www.atljewishacademy.org
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
ity to do it on my own,” the rabbi said. He put out an open call for performers and wound up with the magic number of 18 Davis students and alumni on the CD. Four Davis faculty and staff members joined him in performing, including receptionist Janice Durden, who leads her church choir. Robertson and three others are credited as special guest performers. Four members of the chorus from the Marist School, a Catholic school in Brookhaven that has an interfaith partnership with Davis, give an expanded meaning to the album’s second track, “Hineih Mah Tov.” The music had to involve adults and professionals as well as students to avoid sounding like just another school project, Rabbi Lapidus said, but the art side of the project was all about student creativity. Davis art teacher Rebecca Ganz
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EDUCATION
Education Briefs Miraculous Ceremony Places Epstein Mezuzot The Epstein School marked the approach of Chanukah last month by simultaneously affixing more than 40 mezuzot to doorposts outside rooms renovated through the school’s Building Our Future Capital Campaign. More than 600 students, family members, staff and community members joined in reciting the blessing and placing the mezuzot at the same time through coordination over the public-address system. Student Holocaust Contest Focuses on Liberation The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust’s Creative Arts Student Contest is accepting entries from middle and high school students until March 4 on the theme “Liberation: What Have We Learned 70 Years Later?” Winners will be honored at the Georgia Capitol in the categories of digital art, visual art, performance art, music and writing. Visit holocaust.georgia.gov/2015-student-contest for more information. KSU to Teach Teachers on Holocaust Education Kennesaw State University’s Museum of History and Holocaust Education and the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust will offer a free, two-day professional development workshop for educators on how to teach about the Holocaust. The workshop runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. the next day at the museum, 3333 Busbee Drive. In addition to free books and resources, the workshop includes dinner Thursday and breakfast and lunch Friday. Register at historymuseum.kennesaw.edu/educators/ushmm_teacher_registration.php. For more information, email Richard Harker at rharker@kennesaw.edu.
Connecting learning to life at every level. We THINK BIG.
JCC Upgrading Weinstein School The Marcus JCC is renovating the Weinstein School, the preschool on its Zaban Park campus in Dunwoody, in time for the next school year. The preschool is adding a wing for infants and toddlers to meet their specific needs. Other additions include an art studio, a music room and a sensory room. Registration for Weinstein for next year is open at www.atlantajcc.org.
Apply by February 1, 2015 www.paceacademy.org/admissions
SAINT FRANCIS SCHOOL Providing an exceptional college preparatory program SCHEDULE YOUR TOUR TODAY! ROSWELL CAMPUS Grades K-8 Ellen Brown ebrown@sfschools.net (770) 641-8257 x51 MILTON CAMPUS Grades 9-12 Brandon Bryan bbryan@sfschools.net (678) 339-9989 x33
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
FEATURES:
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▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
S.A.I.S. / S.A.C.S. Accredited
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Small Class Size Small Student/Teacher Ratio
SB 10 Eligible No Religious Affiliation College Preparatory Curriculum AP / Honors, Traditional and Academic Enhancement Classes Study and Organization Skills Program Cornell Note-taking System Electronic Textbooks and Laptops
▪ After School Homework Hour ▪ GHSA Sports Program, Including Equestrian (Gr. 9-12) ▪ Full Sports Program, Including Football and Equestrian (Gr. 6-8)
▪ Wilson Reading System ▪ Computer Based Reading and Writing Programs Transportation offered From Buckhead, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Duluth, Johns Creek, Milton, and South Forsyth
Saint Francis Elementary and Middle School | 9375 Willeo Road | Roswell, GA 30075 Saint Francis High School | 13440 Cogburn Road | Milton, GA 30004 www.saintfrancisschools.com
JCC to Show Off East Cobb Preschool The Marcus JCC’s Sunshine School in East Cobb will hold a “morning of fun” open house Friday, Jan. 23, from 10:15 to 11:15. “We are opening our doors to the community so that parents can experience the warm and inclusive experience,” Director Raye Lynn Banks said. The preschool is housed at Temple Kol Emeth, 1415 Old Canton Road. Registration for new children opens Feb. 4 at www.atlantajcc.org. Helping Teachers With Jewish Books The Yiddish Book Center is accepting applications through April 14 for secondary and supplementary school teachers to take part in its first Great Jewish Books Teach Workshop this summer. The goal of the workshop July 26 to 31 at the center in Amherst, Mass., is to help teachers incorporate modern Jewish literature into their curricula. The workshop will accept 20 teachers, all of whom will receive free tuition, room and board, plus a $750 stipend. Visit yiddishbookcenter.org/greatjewish-books/teacher-workshop to apply.
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EDUCATION
AJA to Teach Judaics Along Two Tracks
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tlanta Jewish Academy will offer a dual track for the Judaic studies curriculum at AJA Upper School, starting with the incoming freshmen in the fall. “The goal of these programs is to offer more variety and appeal to a broader cross section of our Middle School students and families,” Ian Ratner, the president of the AJA board, wrote to school supporters. Rabbi Pinchos Hecht, the head of school, is excited about the dual-track program, which he says will enable AJA Upper School to better serve the diverse student body. “At AJA, we know that everyone learns differently, and we believe in teaching every student in the way he or she learns best, as we are charged to do in Proverbs — chanoch l’na’ar al pi darko, ‘teach each child according to his or her own way,’ ” Rabbi Hecht said. “Therefore, in order to serve the needs of all our students, the Judaic studies curriculum will be divided into two tracks for the 2015-2016 school year. We’re calling the two programs Moreshet Torani (Torah Heritage) and Moreshet Yisrael (Jewish Heritage).” Rabbi Reuven Travis, the longtime Judaics faculty member at AJA Upper School, has used his skills as an educator and scholar to design a curriculum that is rigorous and comprehensive but approaches the study of Torah from different perspectives. The Moreshet Torani track will look like the traditional Jewish day school Torah curriculum in place at AJA Upper School, but with room for a richer Torah and Talmud study experience. The school plans to add more time for intensive Gemara study and cover more material in the Tanach (Chumash, Nevi’im and Ketuvim) in greater depth. These classes will be available to male and female students in separate classrooms, as is the current practice at AJA Upper School. “We feel that this will allow us to raise the bar in our Judaics program, preparing AJA Upper School students to shine in even the most academically challenging post–high-school yeshivot and Judaics programs in Israel and the rest of the world,” Rabbi Travis said. “Our job is to ensure that our students are as fully prepared for high-level yeshiva study as they are
to enter the world of college academics. However, we are aware that not all of our students find the traditional day school model the best fit.” For students who view Torah learning through a different lens or connect to Judaism in less traditional ways, AJA will provide the Moreshet Yisrael option. “Moreshet Yisrael classes will be more progressive, less text-intensive,” Rabbi Travis said. For these students, AJA plans Judaics courses that are thematically based rather than a linear study of text and that add nontraditional sources. The Moreshet Yisrael track will be fully co-ed. “For example, if we offer a course called ‘The Ethics of War,’ we will still teach our students how to unpack and decode traditional text, with a great deal of focus on Devarim, where the Jewish laws on warfare are found,” Rabbi Travis said. “However, we might add study of the Geneva Conventions, or the rules for martial behavior that have been developed by other societies, to broad-
en our understanding of how the Torah presents rules to control the chaos of war. Our sources for such a class would not be limited to text study, either. AJA supports cocurricular and cross-curricular learning, Ian Ratner (left) and Rabbi Pinchos Hecht Photo by Reporter Newspapers and therefore art projects, challenging, and both will teach the secular literature and even segments indispensable text-decoding and lanfrom a movie like ‘Saving Private guage skills,” Rabbi Hecht said. “Both Ryan’ could be incorporated into our tracks will provide a thorough groundunderstanding of the big picture of the ing in our Jewish knowledge, history ethics of war.” and traditions. Both will teach the Classes in the new track will fall critical thinking skills that will allow into the three disciplines of rabbinic our graduates to not merely succeed, literature (study of Mishnah and but to triumph in institutions of higher Talmud), biblical literature (study of learning. And both will teach our chilTanach) and Jewish history. dren to love Torah study and Judaism, “Both tracks will be academically each in his or her own way.” ■
experience EPSTEIN.
We’re way more than you imagined. We look forward to seeing you on our newly-renovated THE EPSTEIN SCHOOL Solomon Schechter School of Atlanta campus. Schedule a tour at EpsteinAtlanta.org/tour. THE EPSTEIN SCHOOL Solomon Schechter School of Atlanta
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
By Leah Braunstein Levy Atlanta Jewish Academy
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Your Child’s Evaluation By Emily Garai, Ph.D. www.AtlantaPsychological.com
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JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
school or pediatrician has said your child needs a psychoeducational or neuropsychological evaluation. Now what? What is the difference? A psychoeducational evaluation determines whether your child has a learning disability or other issues that negatively impact his/her ability to learn. Using a specialized battery of tests, it assesses the child’s intellectual abilities, academic achievement, information processing abilities, and general emotional and behavioral functioning. A thorough evaluation will include interviews with the child, parents and other relevant people and a review of relevant records. A neuropsychological evaluation is requested when there are concerns that something more complicated than learning disabilities is negatively impacting a child. Possible brain injury and dysfunction are considered and evaluated. A neuropsychological evaluation will include many of the same components as a psychoeducational evaluation, as well as specialized tests that measure neuropsychological functioning, such as language, sensory-motor, and visual-spatial functioning. Who does these evaluations? A psychoeducational evaluation should be performed by a licensed psychologist (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) who has specialized training and experience. Will the report provide specific recommendations?
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Different psychologists have different styles. Some make in-depth recommendations, while others are more general. If you let the doctor know before testing what your needs are and what questions you need answered, he/she can tailor the report to your needs. Can the school demand the report? Who owns it? If the school is paying, it is usually with the expectation that the parent will sign a form allowing the psychologist to send the school a copy. A parent owns privilege to a child’s evaluation report except for forensic purposes (if it is related to litigation). State and federal laws clearly indicate that “protected health information” belongs to the client (or parent/guardian). Only the client can release it or allow the doctor to do so. Should you give a copy of the report to the school? Every circumstance is different. If you feel that the school is working collaboratively with you and your child, there usually is no harm in giving it to them. Many psychologists will provide parents with an abridged copy of the report relevant to the child’s learning. However, before releasing a report, a lot of variables need to be considered, and an experienced psychologist should be able to help you decide. Emily Garai, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and an associate at Atlanta Psychological Services in North Atlanta.
EDUCATION
Special STEM Programs Engage Epstein Minds By Coleen Lou The Epstein School
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concerns both globally and locally. Recently, middle school students enjoyed a day filled with a variety of STEM activities. From the intensity of the student engagement, the experiences were exciting, memorable and valuable. “I thought the STEM activities were great because you could se-
hat do constructing and programming robotic vehicles, designing a miniature golf course hole, building a tissue-paper hot-air balloon, creating a Rube Goldberg machine, competing in the Metric Olympics, and performing an egg drop experiment have in common? They are all highquality, interactive, STEMbased learning experiences that middle school students participated in Epstein School seventh-grader Eitan Ventura programs a robotic recently at the vehicle he built during STEM activities. Epstein School.
What Is STEM? STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math education. These fields are deeply intertwined Epstein School students Lila Ross (left) and Sophie Carmel join the rest when applied of the school in participating in the international Hour of Code during in the real Computer Science Education Week last month. world to solve problems. The skills and knowledge lect what you wanted to do based on in each discipline are essential for your own personal interest,” seventhstudent success in the 21st century grader Eitan Ventura said. “I chose robotics. The hands-on activities are and beyond. so much better, and I liked working on real-world problems, not just theoWhy STEM? STEM skills have become in- retical.” creasingly important to produce stu- Epstein pupils from kindergarten dents who can compete globally and through eighth grade also participatsucceed. A great deal of evidence sug- ed in the international Hour of Code gests that the fastest-growing and during Computer Science Education highest-paying jobs will be in STEM Week in December. The program profield positions. Currently, STEM vided a taste of computer coding, a fields have more job openings than STEM skill with great possibilities. “You can tell how STEM impacts qualified job seekers. students and their learning,” Principal of Digital Learning and TechnolSTEM at Epstein At Epstein, we understand that ogy Aaron Griffin said. “The students the best education experiences come are still talking about these activifrom engaging, hands-on activities. ties days after we are done. Students Additionally, a STEM-literate stu- are still coming up to me and asking dent is a better critical thinker, prob- questions, proposing their theories lem solver and innovator who is bet- and wanting to talk about why someter equipped to address issues and thing happened.” ■
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CAMPING
Camp Jenny a Sure Bet
Kol Emeth youth group goes all in to raise $15,000 By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
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ore than 150 teens are expected to travel back to the Roaring Twenties for one night to help poor elementary school children travel out of Atlanta for a great camp weekend in the future. KEFTY, Temple Kol Emeth’s youth group for eighth- to 12th-graders, is holding its 11th annual KEFTY Kasino on Saturday night, Jan. 24, to raise money for Camp Jenny, a Memorial Day weekend camp experience organized and run by Jewish teens across the Southeast. “We support Camp Jenny because it gives these kids in Atlanta an opportunity and an experience they will never forget. It really does change their lives,” said Caroline Weinstein, 15, a Walton High School sophomore who is co-chairing KEFTY Kasino. Caroline, who succeeded older sister Katie as social action VP, cited an incident when a group wearing Camp Jenny T-shirts stopped at the Varsity in Midtown for lunch, and one of the cashiers, a camp alum, jumped over the counter and sang the camp song. Camp Jenny, held at the Reform movement’s Camp Coleman, is a project of the North American Federation of Temple Youth’s Southern Area Region and Southern Tropical Region. Teens from Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida staff the camp under the leadership of the social action vice presidents from each region. The NFTY-SAR social action VP is Kol Emeth’s Zoe Light, 16, a Walton junior. She helped pick the camp staff out of 177 applicants. Zoe said part of the camp’s value
is its influence on potential campers. They have to meet the C-A-M-P requirements: come to school with an awesome attitude, make an effort, and have parental involvement. Be Your Own Superhero is the camp’s theme this year, Zoe said. “They have powers within themselves to create an incredible community.” The camp has a capacity of 150 campers, and the youth groups must raise $500 per camper to keep the weekend free. KEFTY Kasino raised $10,000 each of the past two years to send 20 campers to Jenny. This year’s goal is $15,000, or 30 campers. Those numbers became possible after Justin Blake became Kol Emeth’s youth director and pushed the kids to seek community donations. David Ostrow, 17, a North Paulding High senior who is this year’s KEFTY president, came up with the idea of selling glow-in-the-dark “I Love Camp Jenny” bracelets for $5 last year. Casino attendees bought more than 300 of them, and each camper got one as well. KEFTY is offering $15 Camp Jenny T-shirts this year. “I’m just really proud that my youth group is able to do this with the support of our temple,” David said. Paige Firester, 17, a Walton junior and event co-chair as the KEFTY fundraising VP, said inclusiveness is a key. Jewish and non-Jewish teens attend, some from out of state. Caroline came up with this year’s “Great Gatsby” theme, for which Kol Emeth teens will transform the synagogue social hall into a speakeasy. “It’s really cool that we get to have this kind of casino for a night,” she said. ■
What: Casino night for teens Where: Temple Kol Emeth, 1415 Old Canton Road, East Cobb When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24 Cost: $20 for admission, $15 for the poker tournament; all proceeds go to Camp Jenny Info: www.kolemeth.net/A-KEFTYKasino-547.aspx or justinblake@ kolemeth.net
Serving the Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Greater North Fulton, South Forsyth, and Gwinnett area
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CAMPING
In the City Camp Reaches Out in Year 4 By Logan C. Ritchie lritchie@atljewishtimes.com
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s summer camps in Atlanta open for registration, bombarding parents with options, Lauren Chekanow is confident in her choice of camp for her kindergartenage daughter. “I like an all-around camp experience,” she said. “Kids can go to art camp or sports camp, but In the City Camp has it all: swimming, crafts, field trips. It’s like Jewish sleep-away camp for the day.” Located in the Emory area, In the City Camp serves children ages 5 to 14. Campers are split into two groups: kid camp for rising kindergartners to fifth-graders and tween camp for sixth- to ninth-graders. Counselors hail from Atlanta and Israel. When campers arrive each morning, the whole camp meets for songs and bunk meetings. Kids choose three activities from a list that may include martial arts, basketball, baseball, soccer, yoga, photography, science, drama and cooking. Because of all the
options, campers can have a different experience every day. Campers don In the City Camp shirts for weekly field trips to the Tellus Science Museum, a Braves game, Six Flags or the Chattahoochee River. Kids come home sweaty and exhausted. Seems like your basic outdoorsy, old-school summer camp, except that In the City Camp is home to the full range of Judaism. This big family of Jewish campers and counselors develops a love of Israel and of Jewish heritage rather than religion. “We reflect independence, community and Jewish values,” Director Eileen Price said. “I want to teach religion at home.” Price, a mother of four, created In the City Camp because her fondest summer memories stem from Jewish overnight camp. “I have four different types of children. I envisioned a place small in size that would allow my children to express different interests but not have to fit into a big camp.” In the City Camp offers a discount
SOAK UP SUMMER
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
YMCA CAMP THUNDERBIRD
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Camp Thunderbird’s 1.7-mile shoreline provides the ideal backdrop for life-changing experiences. We encourage campers to find their wings and soar to new heights both on and off the water.
Register before JAN 31 and save $25 per week. Find out more about dates, rates and online registration at campthunderbird.org
board of directors and was granted funding to provide scholarships. Registration at www.inthecitycamp.com opens Jan. 27. In the City attracted 137 campers in 2013 and 345 in 2014. This summer the camp is adding bus service from Brookhaven and two sites in Sandy Springs and after-camp care at Congregation B’nai Torah and Druid Hills High. “People said I would never be able to re-create a Jewish overnight experience. I learned that if you have an excellent product, people will come,” said Price, one of the Atlanta Jewish Times’ 40 Under 40 in 2014. “Last summer we had kids coming from Dunwoody, and now I’m getting calls from East Cobb. Next summer we’re aiming for a second campus.” ■
for campers who enroll for at least four of the eight weeks so they can experience the camp’s true community and ruach (spirit). Assistant Director Allison Boaz said: “Just when you get in the groove of camp, Other Intown Options you want to stay an- In the City Camp is not the only day-camp choice for other week. We aim intown Jewish families: to get that overnight • Camp Gan Israel serves children ages 6 to 11, camp feel. This is alongside its Kiddie Camp for those 2 to 5, from all your place. You feel Jewish backgrounds at the site of Chabad Intown’s comfortable; you conKaufman Youth Center near Piedmont Park. The nect with counselors, camp offers six one-week sessions, with rising make friends. It’s discounts for enrollment in two, four or six weeks amazing to see in acand options for care before and after camp and a tion.” planned bus service. Registration is open at www. “Tweens get left cgiintown.org, with early-bird discounts through at home a lot in the Feb. 15. summer,” Price said. • The Marcus JCC is expanding its performing arts “This is a prime opcamp to provide two two-week and two one-week portunity to teach sessions at Emory University for rising first- to them about who they eighth-graders. The two-week camps will culminate are. They understand in performances of “Peter Pan” and “The Wizard their ownership of the of Oz.” In addition, two of the JCC’s nine free bus world.” routes connect intown residents to Zaban Park in The camp is beDunwoody, the home of the rest of its variety of coming a 501(c)(3) summer day camps spread over 11 weeks. Registranonprofit organization is open at atlantajcc.org/camps. tion and forming a
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CAMPING
Selecting Summer Camp Can Create Quandary
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requires professional intervention to t hits parents just about midresolve, and summer is an ideal time January that school will be ending — soon. Yup, in just a few to address those concerns. Once that is all sorted out, scan the Internet short months your children will be sleeping in, hanging out, complaining and local parenting resources that can address both columns on the list. of boredom, glued to their gaming Whether it is sports, arts, music, devices, and you will be wishing for academic enrichment or handwritschool to start again. ing, who is running the camp is as It doesn’t have to be that way, important as and careful what your planning child will do. now can THE THERAPIST The cremake for Susan N. Schriber Orloff dentials of an exciting, susanorloff@childrens-services.com the person engaging, running rewarding the camp and peaceful and those summer. who are assisting are important. You So what to do first? Organize, want to know whether the camp uses organize, organize. Sit down and college or high school students. You think about each of your children. It should ask if all the staff is properly may help to make separate lists for trained and certified. How much exeach of them. One idea is to make perience have staffers had with chiltwo columns: one listing interests dren, and what is their background? and the other listing needs. The In the long run that may not matter stuff — handwriting, homework to you, but you should ask. struggles, social skills, timeliness — If the camp you choose is run by that bothered them in school often
psychologists, occupational therapists, etc., you should ask whether they will give you a bill that you can submit to your insurance company for out-of-network benefits. You may want to ask whether the camp has a website and look it up before signing on. You can glean a lot of information from a few minutes on the computer. If you are a working parent, consider camps that have after-camp care. If the camp you want does not have after-camp care, several programs use their own vans and buses to pick up children and take them to settings such as the YMCA and county recreational centers. Then there is the all-important issue of carpooling. You have to decide whether carpooling is right for you. Yes, you drive less during any given week, but when it is your turn, you might feel like a taxi driver. Also consider the personalities in your car. The tiger mom in you can come out rather quickly when you hear unpleasant remarks directed at
your child. Know yourself; doing your own drop-off and pickup may be more your style, cutting out drama. If your child has special needs, you need to look at the goals of the camp session and whether they fit with the goals of your child’s ongoing therapies or educational plans. Setting expectations for what you want and what the camp can deliver means asking the right questions: Who are you? How long have you been doing this? Do you have references? Can you meet first? Whatever your motivation, goal or need, remember that the right summer camp experience should be fun and rewarding. Think of it as play with a purpose. ■ Susan N. Schriber Orloff, OTR/L, is the author of “Learning RE-Enabled,” as well as the CEO and executive director of Children’s Special Services, LLC (www.childrens-services. com). She can be reached on Twitter at OTRLovesKids and on Facebook at Children’s Special Services.
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and connect to the information that osh Chodesh Shevat begins we receive. Wednesday, Jan. 21. My In Shevat we must learn how to intention with the New bring holiness into everyday life or Moon Meditations is to empower translate the divine into the munus by fanning the divine sparks of dane so G-d’s presence is felt in all our faith so that Judaism bonds us we do. together as Shevat’s a people and Hebrew that we, as NEW MOON letter is individuals, MEDITATIONS feel a sense tzadik, Dr. Terry Segal of connectmeaning edness and “righteous purpose that one.” The is greater zodiac sign than our single selves. for Shevat is Aquarius, the water I will call upon kabbalistic carrier. The Age of Aquarius itself, teachings, psychology, and my own as well as the Aquarians born during book, “The Enchanted Journey: this month, is powerful and ushers Finding the Key That Unlocks You,” in the qualities of abundance, bliss to create a meditation focus for each and knowledge. month. This takes us to the very first According to Sefer Yetzirah (the day of Shevat, when Moses brought Book of Formation), each month the translation of the Torah to us. of the Hebrew calendar is associThe imagery might be of Moses fillated with a letter of the Hebrew ing his rod, or walking stick, with alphabet, a zodiac sign, one of the G-d’s wisdom and then tilting it 12 tribes of Israel, a sense, and a downward as it poured out to all of controlling limb or organ of the body us. that links to it. Or it might be of a mighty tree Our task is to unravel the teachings whose branches reach upward
to receive the sun, air and water that nourish it. The energy moves through the trunk down to the roots in the soil that extend below the surface. We are those roots. Our task is to receive this holy divinity, maintain the integrity of the source and discover how we can apply it to ourselves in our mundane world. The tribe of Asher is associated with Shevat and the qualities of pleasure and happiness. The sense of taste is highlighted, and the controlling limb or organ is the stomach. By the full moon, Tu B’Shevat, on the 15th of the month, we celebrate the New Year of the Trees. This is like Arbor Day, when trees are planted and their ages are calculated for tithing. We are not allowed to eat their fruit for the first three years. The fourth year’s fruit is for G-d, and then we may eat from them. Modern custom is to try a new fruit on this day or eat from the Seven Species, abundant in Israel during biblical times. These foods are wheat, barley, grapes, figs,
pomegranates, olives and dates (honey). If during the rest of the year we have devoured our foods without awareness or mindfulness, at this time we purposefully and prayerfully ingest the fruit, after first tasting it fully, chewing it bit by bit, and then swallowing and digesting it. As we eat from the Tree of Knowledge, we are reminded to follow suit. We are not to pick, grab and gorge but to develop a practice of mindfulness with kavenah (intention). Meditation Focus Imagine that we are the water carriers of divine wisdom. As we bring holiness to everyday practices, such as eating, relationships, work, environment and self-image, what changes do we have to make to become the living examples of those who wish to eradicate negativity and exude purity of spirit? ■ Dr. Terry Segal, who holds a doctorate in energy medicine, is a licensed marriage and family therapist, hypnotherapist, and author of “The Enchanted Journey: Finding the Key That Unlocks You.”
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
Shevat Brings Dawn of Annual Age of Aquarius
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OBITUARIES – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A BLESSING
Bernard ‘Bernie’ Bickwit 93, Sandy Springs Bernard “Bernie” Bickwit of Sandy Springs passed away Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, at the age of 93. The son of the late Meyer Bickwit and Sarah Bickwit (nee Fagin), Bernie was born May 6, 1921, in Brooklyn, N.Y. A graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, Bernie attended St. John’s University in Queens before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942 during World War II. After attending the Air Corps’ photography school in Estes Park, Colo., Bernie was dispatched to the European theater of operations, where he served as a photographer accompanying the 9th Army Air Corps from the beaches of Normandy through Northern Europe into Germany, achieving the rank of corporal in the process. After his discharge from the service in September 1945, Bernie met the love of his life, Bernice Resnick, at his niece’s engagement party in December 1945. After a whirlwind courtship and engagement, the couple wed June 22, 1946. Bernie attended Columbia University on the G.I. Bill after the war and was a pharmacist in Brooklyn through 1982, when he and Bernice left New York and headed south to be close to their children, all of whom had settled or would settle in Atlanta. Retiring from pharmacy, Bernie worked part time for a number of years with a financial planning company in Sandy Springs. Bernie was also active in the Kiwanis Club, the Jewish War Veterans, and Temple Beth Tikvah in Roswell, where he and Bernice were the original bagel purveyors at the religious school on Sunday mornings. Bernie was preceded in death by his parents and his siblings, Irene Kaltbaum, Bertha Friedman and Theodore Bickwit. He is survived by his beloved wife of 68 years, Bernice; his three children and their spouses, daughter and son-in-law Ellen and David Herold of Dunwoody, daughter and son-in-law Susie and Tom Williams of Chamblee, and son and daughter-in-law Andy and Carrie Bickwit of Johns Creek; grandchildren Seth Herold and wife Meigan of Roswell, Devi Knapp and husband Daniel of Dunwoody, Jarred Williams and wife Olivia of Athens, Ga., Trevor Williams of Brooklyn, Grant Bickwit of At-
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lanta, and Kyle Bickwit of Athens; and great-grandchildren Taylor and Kady Herold of Roswell and Sophie and Lily Knapp of Dunwoody. He is also survived by sister-in-law Rae Bickwit of Brooklyn; brother-in-law Ernest Resnick of Sandy Springs; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Irma and Arthur Klein of Delray Beach, Fla.; and numerous nieces and nephews. Bernie’s family will be forever grateful for the loving care and support provided in his last few months by his caregivers, Lucy Ombimah, Ruth Dosmas and Tabitha Brown. Graveside services were conducted at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs with Rabbi Donald Tam officiating. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to either Weinstein Hospice in Atlanta, 3150 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30327, www. weinsteinhospice.org, or Temple Beth Tikvah, 9955 Coleman Road, Roswell, GA 30075, www.bethtikvah.com. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
Leonard Edlin 93, Atlanta Leonard Edlin, 93, of Atlanta died Jan. 18, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Rita Harkavy Edlin; sons and daughters-in-law Shiel and Margo Edlin, Todd and Lori Edlin, and Andy and Karen Edlin of Atlanta; brother and sisterin-law Dr. Philip and Rita Edlin of Cincinnati; grandchildren Adrienne and Jeff Harari, Ari, Jay and Carly Edlin, Samantha, Allison, Will and Jake Movsovitz, and Felicia, Adam, Lonnie and Reanna Edlin. He is also survived by great-granddaughter Mia Harari. Leonard was born Jan. 25, 1921, in Cincinnati. He graduated cum laude from both Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati and served during World War II in the U.S. Army Air Corps, achieving the rank of first lieutenant. He worked as a buyer for Federated Department Stores (Davidson’s in Atlanta) and later owned and operated Cracker State Oil Co., Newnan. He was a Silver Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League, was a volunteer tutor in the Atlanta public school system, served on the board of directors of the Georgia Oilmen’s Association and was appointed to the board of directors of the Coweta County Chamber of Commerce. Leonard was a life member of the Standard Club. Funeral services were held Jan. 19 at Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, followed by a private burial. Rabbi Analia Bortz and Rabbi Mario Karpuj officiated. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
Adele Levine
JANUARY 23 ▪ 2015
Atlanta
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Adele Levine passed away on January 14, 2015. She was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa., along with her four sisters and one brother. She was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Robert Levine. She is survived by her son, Dr. Marshall Levine, and his wife, Dr. Nancy Levine, of Atlanta; granddaughter Julie and her husband, Eli Hammerman, of Arlington, Va.; grandson Matthew Levine of Atlanta; greatgrandchildren Noah and Molly Hammerman of Arlington, Va., and Tyler Levine of Atlanta; and sister Shirley LeBron of Philadelphia. Adele Levine was a fiercely protective and loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was known for her optimism in the face of adversity and her keen sense of style, which she exhibited both in her dress and interior design. An online guestbook is available at www.edressler.com. Graveside services were held Friday, Jan. 16, at Crest Lawn Memorial Park with Rabbi Neil Sandler officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Adele Levine may be made to Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave. NW, Atlanta, GA 30327, www.aasynagogue.org. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
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SIMCHAS
Birth Mason Roy Ziglin
Engagement Lindeman-Jaffe
enny and Eric Ziglin of Georgetown, Texas, announce the birth of their son, Mason Roy Ziglin, Nov. 17, 2014. Mason weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. Mason is the grandson of Rochelle and Alan Ziglin of Dunwoody and Patricia and Leroy Fairburn of Folsom, La. He is the great-grandson of the late Bessie Sharp of Abita Springs, La.; the late Lucy and Newton Fairburn; the late Esther and Ernst Huth of Savannah; and the late Mildred and Max Ziglin of Atlanta. Dr. Daniel Goodman performed the bris with Rabbi Joshua Heller officiating.
llie Lindeman, daughter of John Lindeman, and Adam Jaffe, son of Sherry and Ike Habif of Sandy Springs and Charlie and Alan Jaffe of Birmingham, Ala., announce their engagement. Miss Lindeman is designer and partner at LOYL — Love of Your Life brand apparel, and Mr. Jaffe is the senior partner at Atlanta Trial Lawyers Group. The couple will marry in May at the St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta and will honeymoon in Europe immediately after their wedding weekend.
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