Atlanta Jewish Times, VOL. XCVIII NO. 2, January 31, 2022

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Education & Camp

Camp Billi Marcus Provides Fun for Families in Need

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THIS WEEK Education for All As we all know, education is a cornerstone of Jewish life. Schools, yeshivas, university campuses and sleepaway summer camps are some of the vital spaces in which Jewish learning takes place. In this issue, we bring you the latest developments in the world of Jewish education and camping and look at how the pandemic has altered not only plans but also priorities.

As Chana Shapiro reports, camps are taking steps to address mental health with a new initiative, Yedid Nefesh, geared for counselors and other staff, with funding from The Marcus Foundation for Mental Health. Shapiro also spoke to Bobby Harris, a long-time camp director who oversees the new Southeast Regional Center office at the Atlanta Jewish Federation. The new center, Harris says, will bring together professionals in Jewish camping to share resources and ideas on how to improve the experience for future generations.

According to the ADL, anti-Semitic incidents have only grown during the pandemic.

College campuses are no exception. Now, as Flora Rosefsky reports, Hillel International has launched its Campus Climate Initiative to educate administrators and student leaders about how to create and foster a climate of tolerance, where Jewish students feel safe and heard. She also interviews students who

managed to land their dream internship and shares their advice on how you can put your best foot forward.

Finally, camp shouldn’t be a luxury, thought it often is. “I feel camp should be available for all children,” says Billi Marcus, our cover subject, who founded Camp Billi Marcus to pay forward the kindness she was shown early in her career as a working mother. Marcus’s generosity, says MJCCA CEO Jared Powers, has not only brought joy to kids, but also allows single parents to stay in the workforce, especially during the pandemic. “Camp Billi Marcus has a resoundingly positive impact on its campers,” says camp director Nancy Parker. “Every year, nearly 100 children participate in our impressive creative and nurturing programming. I’ve witnessed families in our community who are essential workers who are only able to return to work because we are providing this critical in-person childcare. I am proud to be associated with a camp bearing the name of Billi Marcus.”

We hope you enjoy these stories and the many others in this issue, from the latest on the hostage situation in Colleyville to celebrations of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and more. Stay tuned for our next issue, with a focus on Atlanta’s Jewish real estate, business and professionals. ì

“I feel camp should be available for all children,” says philanthropist Billi Marcus.

Her summer camp, Camp Billi Marcus, helps to ease the burden of childcare for mothers of pre-school children.

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NEWS Texas Hostage Incident Touches Atlanta Lives

By Dave Schechter Rabbi Brad Levenberg of Temple Sinai learned that a friend and colleague was being held hostage in his Texas synagogue from texts sent by fellow members of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion class of 2006.

Levenberg has known Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel, in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville, since their first year of rabbinical school in Israel, and then at HUC’s Cincinnati campus, where they were ordained.

Cytron-Walker and three congregants were held hostage Saturday, Jan. 15 by an armed man who claimed to also have explosives. The incident ended with the hostages unharmed and the hostage-taker dead.

Levenberg followed the news from Los Angeles, where he was chaperoning a trip of 20 11th-graders from Temple Sinai.

He said that the feeling among the HUC ’06 alumni was that “if there’s anyone who’s going to be able to defuse this crisis, it would be Charlie.”

The incident began about 10:40 a.m.

Central, during Shabbat morning services. The service was livestreamed and, as word of the incident spread, upwards of 8,000 people tuned in. They were able to see the pulpit, but no other activity.

Before the live feed dropped at about 2 p.m., the hostage-taker could be heard demanding to speak with his “sister,” Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted in 2010 of trying to murder American military officers in Afghanistan. Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence at FMC (Federal Medical Center) Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.

One hostage, said to be an elderly man, was released about 5 p.m. Rabbi Cytron-Walker and the other two remaining hostages were freed shortly before 9:30 p.m., after an FBI hostage rescue team entered the synagogue. Video from Dallas television station WFAA showed three people fleeing through a door. A man holding a gun briefly appeared, then returned inside. About 20 seconds later, the sounds of gunfire and a flash bang grenade were heard.

Word of the hostages’ freedom first came in a tweet from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: “Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe.”

CNN reported Sunday that the suspect — identified as Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen — was killed

by FBI agents. An attorney for Siddiqui 6 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker recalls final moments of incident, when he realized the hostages had to act to escape: "He wasn’t getting what he wanted. It didn’t look good," he told CBS on Jan. 17.

said that Akram was not her brother.

The FBI late Sunday issued a statement that said: “This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.” That reversed a statement made late Saturday

by Matt DeSarno, the head of the FBI’s Dallas field office, who told reporters that the hostage taker “was singularly focused on one issue and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community.”

Levenberg, who learned that the incident had ended when texted by a writer for the AJT, had only praise for CytronWalker.

“From the minute I met him, and he still presents the same way today, he is among the most thoughtful, humble, kind and considerate people I know,” Levenberg said late Saturday. “He is always the first to laugh at a joke. He’s always the first to lean in when someone is talking about something controversial.

He’ll literally lean in to be more attentive and present. He’s never the person who is doodling during important conversations or checking email. He’s someone who can be fully present. When you’re with him, he makes you think you are the center of his world.”

Levenberg added, “If anyone uses a phrase other than ‘Charlie is quite a mensch,’ then they don’t know Charlie.

He is that warm and haimish guy, the typical person you’d want as your rabbi.”

The hostage situation in Texas

SWAT officers are on the scene of a hostage situation in Colleyville. // Photo Credit Aimee Lane

prompted Jews across America to recall the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre of 11 Shabbat morning worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and the shootings six months to the day later, on April 27, 2019, at the Chabad of Poway, Calif., in which one woman died.

When it was all over, Levenberg said, “Tonight we celebrate and tomorrow we reflect.”

Levenberg acknowledged that “This — and moments like this — of course bring to light our greatest fears and cause us all to rethink what policies and procedures we have in place.”

Those policies and procedures are a fulltime concern for Neil Rabinovitz, the community security director, who works for the Secure Community Network in conjunction with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

Rabinovitz was on conference calls with SCN officials Saturday and stayed in touch with metro Atlanta police and sheriff’s departments. He said that DeKalb County police Saturday increased their patrols in the Toco Hills area, which is home to numerous synagogues and a significant portion of the Orthodox community.

The challenge for the Jewish community remains “how to be welcoming and open and at the same time be secure,” Rabinovitz said. “It can be done.”

Rabinovitz has ongoing discussions with local Jewish organizations, including synagogues and schools, about se-

curity. The keys, he said, are controlling access to buildings housing Jewish institutions and “situational awareness,” people being vigilant and calling law enforcement if they see something suspicious. He also recommends that synagogues hire armed, off-duty law enforcement personnel to be present outside as a visible deterrent.

Recognizing that expense can be an issue, Rabinovitz and SCN work with Jewish nonprofits to apply for funds through the NonProfit Security Grant Program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In fiscal year 2021, the program made available $180 million.

In a statement issued Sunday, Sen. Jon Ossoff said, “Today I spoke with rabbis and Jewish leaders across Georgia and the leadership at the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.

My staff and I are standing by to connect Georgia’s Jewish organizations and congregations — and all faith communities threatened by violence — with federal, state, or local law enforcement resources.”

In the aftermath of the Texas incident, Interfaith Atlanta (formerly known as Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta) scheduled an online “Gathering for Strength and Healing” session Sunday night with representatives from the Jewish and other faith communities. In addition to Interfaith Atlanta president Rabbi Ellen Nemhauser, who is the coordinator of the Union of Reform Judaism’s intro to Judaism program, speakers included Rabbi Ron Segal of Temple Sinai, Rabbi

NEWS

Neil Rabinovitz said that Jewish institutions can balance being welcoming and open with maintaining security.

Sen. Jon Ossoff said that his staff has spoken with Jewish leaders and the FBI’s Atlanta field office.

Israeli Consul General Amb. Anat Sultan-Dodon tweeted: “We should all ask ourselves what we are *actively* doing to combat #antisemitism.”

Rabbi Brad Levenberg called his classmate, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel, “that warm and haimish guy, the typical person you’d want as your rabbi.”

Lauren Henderson of Congregation Or Hadash and Rabbi Emeritus Joshua Lesser of Congregation Beit Haverim.

In a statement issued Sunday, the Atlanta regional office of the American Jewish Committee said: “We are breathing a deep sigh of relief that all of the hostages were safely rescued at Congregation Beth Israel. This is yet another reminder that the Jewish community is on edge because of the rise of anti-Semitism. Just

last week, AJC Atlanta had been reaching out to local elected officials, to inform them of the challenges we are facing as a Jewish community. This experience over Shabbat is just another example of synagogues being targets.”

In a Twitter post, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta wrote, “We are grateful that those who endured this returned to their families unharmed. We understand that yesterday’s events were traumatic to

those throughout the Jewish community.

Synagogues are a place of worship and none should worship in fear.”

Israel’s Consul General to the Southeast, Amb. Anat Sultan-Dodon, tweeted on Sunday: “So relieved #ColleyvilleSynagogue hostages are safe thanks to authorities & law enforcement. But still so concerned. Many expressed thoughts, prayers & support yesterday. So important but not enough. We should all ask

ourselves what we are *actively* doing to combat #antisemitism.”

During the hostage incident, Democratic state Rep. Mike Wilensky, the only Jewish member of the General Assembly, said on Twitter: “I am truly scared, saddened & angry. When will hate against Jews stop? As the only Jewish person in the whole GA legislature, it would mean a lot if you stand with me against antiSemitism & violence against all.” ì

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NEWS

Jews and Christians Honor Legacy of MLK Together

By Dave Schechter The degree to which the message preached by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. remains relevant was emphasized by the religious leaders of The Temple and Ebenezer Baptist Church during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Shabbat Worship service on Jan. 14.

This was the 37th year that The Temple has commemorated the life of the slain civil rights leader, who was co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist (with his father, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.) from 1960 until his assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis.

It also was the 14th year that the service has been held in conjunction with Ebenezer Baptist — and the second consecutive year that the service became a virtual event, because of the continuing public health threat posed by the COVID-19 virus.

In his welcoming remarks, Rabbi Peter Berg, senior rabbi of The Temple, said: “It’s difficult to remember a time when we have missed Dr. King more than we do today, more than we do this year. As a people of faith, we must continually work to renew our commitment to repair

The Temple’s relationship with Ebenezer dates to the 1950s and the friendship between Rabbi Jacob Rothschild and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., pictured here in Atlanta in 1965. // Photo Credit: Stuart A. Rose MARBL

the torn social fabric of our society.”

Barely a week after the hostage incident at a Texas synagogue, Berg said: “This has been a difficult year for the Jewish community, with anti-Semitic acts increasing exponentially, we live in

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On Jan. 14, the Temple’s Rabbi Peter Berg joined Rev. Raphael Warnock virtually for the 37th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Shabbat Worship service.

a world that is filled with Jew-hatred. But our friends at Ebenezer have been there with us every step. Your pastor, my pastor, has called out anti-Semitism and you have called out anti-Semitism. And it is a reminder to us that we are in this together, that we have but one God.” Speaking from the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist, where he has been senior pastor since 2005, Rev. Raphael Warnock called Berg “My brother, my rabbi.”

“Isn’t it wonderful that The Temple and the Ebenezer Baptist Church continue in our deep relationship, our bonds of friendship and kinship, our commitment to work as co-conspirators in the project of getting in good trouble,” Warnock said.

“Get in good trouble” was a favorite phrase of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who for many years was a member of Ebenezer Baptist. The Temple’s relationship with the church dates to the 1950s and the friendship between Rabbi Jacob Rothschild and King, and the former’s support for the latter’s civil rights efforts.

Drawing his sermon from 2 Kings in the Hebrew Bible, Warnock spoke of the prophet Elisha and placed Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the tradition of prophets “who comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

Turning to temporal affairs, Rev. — and U.S. Sen. — Warnock said, “We witnessed not long ago something we thought perhaps we would never witness in our country, when our Capitol was invaded, not by outsiders, but by insiders.

There was a violent insurrection on the Capitol. The nation became weak.”

Warnock contrasted Jan. 5, 2021, when he and fellow Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff won runoffs to become Georgia’s first Afri-

can American and Jewish senators, respectively, with the next day’s violent attack on the Capitol by a mob that sought to prevent Congress from counting the Electoral College votes that certified Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.

“Here’s where we are as a nation: We are somewhere between the fears and the bigotry and the division of January 6 and the hope and possibility of January 5,” Warnock said, then asking “Which direction will we go?”

Warnock said that he frequently is asked what King would say today, what King would do today. He decried what he sees as the misuse of King’s legacy. “You cannot remember Dr. King and dismember his legacy at the same time. If you would lift up his name, you must lift up the issues that he cared about and died for,” he said. “I’m sick and tired of politicians lining up, offering platitudes to his name while supporting voter suppression, voter subversion, mean-spirited policies against the poor and vulnerable, frustrating efforts to provide health care to working people.”

At the close of the service, Berg’s predecessor as senior rabbi, Rabbi Emeritus Alvin Sugarman, echoed the opening words of his successor. “Never in my lifetime can I remember a greater need for the message, for the courage, for the deeds of Dr. King, not only to inspire us but to serve as a beacon to save this American democracy of ours. May the life that Dr. King lived and may the life that we go forward from this moment not only continue his legacy and deeds but make real that legacy, make real his deeds, make real our lives in helping the American promise become the American reality,” Sugarman said. ì

NEWS

Jewish Teen Speaks at MLK Memorial Service

By Dave Schechter The photograph brought together what Miriam Raggs calls her “intersecting identities,” as an African American and Jewish woman.

On the left of the photograph is Bernice King, who was 5 years old when her father, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968. On the right is Susannah Heschel, daughter of the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched with Dr. King from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 and spoke at his funeral three years later.

Standing between the two women, wearing her kippah and tallis, is Raggs, a 16-year-old 11th grade student at The Weber School.

The women posed in front of the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta, following their participation in the Martin Luther King Jr. Beloved Community Commemorative Service on Jan. 17.

Raggs — believed to be the first Jew of color to participate in the annual service — was one of six high school students who delivered sections of King’s speeches, in a dedication to his vision of a “world house.”

Seated on the pulpit behind her was Bernice King. In the front row was Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist and a U.S. senator from Georgia. Whatever nerves she felt, Raggs spoke confidently.

“It was so cool and such an amazing opportunity,” Raggs said, finding it “so surreal” to be inside the sanctuary at Ebenezer Baptist rather than watching the event on television.

“It was amazing, getting to be in the same room with so many important people who are fighting for change.”

Bernice King’s speech was “so powerful, more powerful in person than what I see on TV,” she said.

Raggs also received an unexpected invitation from Heschel. “I was so honored that she asked me to visit Dartmouth [College],” where Heschel is the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies.

Raggs’s participation stemmed from a call made by the MLK program’s organizers to The Weber School, seeking a student who would be interested in participating in the event.

“After she was picked, they called me to make sure she was Jewish,” said Victoria Raggs, who assured them that, yes, her daughter is Jewish. Derric and Victoria Raggs and their four children have been members of Congregation B’nai Torah for 15 years.

The issue of Jews of color “is awkward in the dominant Jewish community and African Americans are not exposed to the fact that Jews are diverse as well. It does show that we need to educate other communities,” said Raggs, who is the co-founder and executive director at Atlanta Jews of Color Council, Inc. For her part, Miriam Raggs said, “I don’t really see it as two separate identities. I’m one person with intersecting identities. … Jews are multicultural. It’s a false notion that here in America Jews are from Eastern Europe.”

She has learned to take in stride when people ask if she is really Jewish. “My family has raised me to be equally proud of all my backgrounds,” Raggs said.

The passage that Raggs memorized was drawn from King’s famous “Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence” speech, delivered April 4, 1967 (one year to the day before he was assassinated), at the Riverside Church in New York City.

Its theme also appeared in King’s last book, “Where Do We Go

from Here: Chaos or Community?,” published in June 1967.

Raggs recited the following: “A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the justice and fairness of many of our past and present policies. We are called upon to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that is only an initial act.

One day the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women are not beaten and robbed as they Miriam Raggs was one of six high school students who make their journey through recited sections of MLK’s famous 1967 speech. life. True compassion is more Though it had been a long service (more than three and than flinging a coin to a beggar. It understands an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of a half hours), Bernice King and Susannah Heschel happily acvalues will soon cause us to look on the glaring contrast be- cepted Raggs’s request to be photographed together, said her tween poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation it will mother, who took the photo.

Miriam, who has a 4.0 grade point average and is in the look at the thousands of working people displaced from their jobs, with reduced incomes, the result of automation while National Honor Society, said she has thought about studying the profits of their employers remain intact and say, this is not the sciences, perhaps focusing on chemistry in college.

“It was a pivotal moment in a young girl’s life,” Victoria just. The western arrogance, a feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them, is not just. A Raggs said of Miriam’s participation in the service and Hesnation that spends more money year after year on military chel’s encouragement that she consider Dartmouth in her defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching college plans. “There are special moments that can change the trajectory of your perspective of the rest of your life.” ì spiritual death.”

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NEWS

Blinken’s Eizenstat Lecture Comes at Crucial Time

By Bob Bahr When former ambassador Stuart Eizenstat first asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to join him at this year’s annual Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture Series at AA Synagogue, he had no idea that it would come at such a critical moment in recent history.

Blinken, who has just completed his first year in the Biden Administration has already had to manage the diplomatic fallout of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan last June, the resumption of ballistic missile tests by North Korea and recent “aggressive actions” by Beijing in the South China Sea. In recent weeks, he has also been at the center of two developing diplomatic situations with Russia and Iran.

In a recent conversation with the Atlanta Jewish Times, however, Eizenstat was optimistic about the chances that an agreement would be reached with Iran regarding its development of nuclear weapons, but he was less sure about the outcome of negotiations with Russia over its ambitions in Ukraine.

“I think that there is going to be an

Former Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat advises Secretary of State Blinken on issues related to the Holocaust.

Eizenstat has served in five presidential administrations, including Jimmy Carter’s.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was chosen to speak at the annual Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture at AA Synagogue.

agreement with Iran. The key issue remains how to phase out the sanctions as part of the agreement. How do you reach compliance with the agreement and so forth? But clearly, they’re inching toward an agreement. And I knew when I asked Tony, which was months and months and months ago, that this was going to be an issue. What I didn’t know was that … it was going to be such a remarkably topical issue, because I think we’ll know by then if we’re going to have an agreement or not and what its dimensions will

be. And I think [we] may know where we are on Ukraine. So, this couldn’t come at a more interesting and opportune time.”

Blinken’s appearance was to have been in-person, like almost all the Eizenstat lectures over the past 33 years. He was scheduled to visit the CDC to discuss the present international implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and to make an afternoon appearance at Emory University prior to the nighttime lecture, but that event was canceled due to the ongoing threat of the Omicron variant.

Still, Eizenstat sees the lecture as a way to discuss the issues raised by the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol building and the ongoing political ramifications.

“Among the important questions to consider is whether or not the recent polarization of American politics that we’ve seen over the last five, six, seven years is an impediment to the conduct of foreign policy,” he said. “How has the challenge of democratic norms in the United States been an impediment when you are promoting democracy in the world? People say, ‘Well, wait a minute, you’ve got your own challenges, your voter restriction policies, your challenge of the President’s own election and the Jan. 6 riot in the Capitol. Are these just domestic issues or do they have an effect on your conduct of foreign policy?’”

The lecture series, which has grown into one of the most prestigious public events offered by an American synagogue, has thus far hosted two U.S. presidents, two vice-presidents, two Supreme Court justices, two Israeli prime ministers, and two Pulitzer Prize-winners, as well as numerous prominent politicians, diplomats and journalists. Blinken, who is Jewish, is the third Jewish secretary of state who has been invited to appear, joining Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright at the AA forum.

Eizenstat has been a Washington insider since the 1970s, when he was President Carter’s chief domestic advisor. His study of President Carter’s administration, published in 2018, is considered a major historical work. In just the last month, Blinken has appointed him a special advisor on issues related to the Holocaust.

“One of the crucial things we just got, a breakthrough in our negotiations over the last year or two with Germany, is remarkable,” Eizenstat said. “They’ve agreed to provide $25 million in 2023 for worldwide Holocaust education through the Jewish Material Claims Conference Against Germany. Worldwide, not just in Germany. I am inspired by the fact that I am negotiating with people who weren’t born during the war. And yet they still feel a moral and ethical obligation.”

In reference to Blinken’s conversations with European leaders, he said that the Holocaust and sensitivity to historical issues have been something the secretary of state has made a part of his diplomacy.

“We’ve targeted five or six countries, four for financial restitution for Holocaust survivors,” Eizenstat points out.

“Those are Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Hungary. Some of those, like Poland, for example, is a key NATO ally. One of the key countries we are dealing with, as we speak, is Ukraine. So it’s a very delicate balance, and I realize that. Tony Blinken has made [the Holocaust] one of his talking points at every major meeting he has had with the president and prime minister of Poland and Hungary. That’s new. That hasn’t been done before, and it’s because of his own background as the stepson of a Holocaust survivor. So he’s pushing on an open door.”

The Jan. 24 program is virtual, free and open to the public. Register at www. aasynagogue.org. ì

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10 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Pfizer CEO Wins Genesis Prize

Dr. Rochelle Walensky was among the Jewish medical leaders honored in the Genesis announcement.

By Bob Bahr This year’s Genesis Prize, sometimes called the “Jewish Nobel,” was awarded to Albert Bourla, the chairman and CEO of Pfizer. The award, which comes with a cash prize of $1 million, was awarded to Bourla for successfully leading the development of Pfizer’s now widely distributed COVID-19 vaccine.

Bourla, who is the son of Holocaust survivors from the Jewish community of Salonika in Greece, plans to donate the prize money to causes that perpetuate the memory of Holocaust survivors, particularly in his birthplace. His parents, uncle and sister were among only 2,000 Jews — out of a population of some 50,000 — to survive the Nazi occupation.

“I was brought up in a family who believed that each of us is only as strong as the bonds of our community,” Bourla said in accepting the award, “and that we are all called upon by God to repair the world. I look forward to being in Jerusalem to accept this honor in person, which symbolizes the triumph of science and a great hope for our future.”

Earlier, Bourla had recounted how his father had showed him an American visa that might have allowed him to immigrate to America. But his father stayed in Salonika, met and married Bourla’s mother, Sara, and raised the family there.

If Bourla’s father had come to America, there is a good chance that he might have ended up in Atlanta. Before the Holocaust, many members of the Greek Jewish community immigrated to Atlanta and founded Congregation Or VeShalom, which continues today off North Druid Hills Road, near I-85.

Rabbi Josh Hearshen, the congregation’s spiritual leader, greeted news of Bourla’s selection enthusiastically.

Bourla said that he would donate the prize money to causes that perpetuate the memory of Greek Jews from Salonica rounded up by the Nazis in 1942.

“The Genesis Prize is the greatest honor in the Jewish world. We are thrilled to see a visible Sephardic Jew be the honorary. In popular culture we associate cities like Warsaw, Kiev, Odessa, New York City and Jerusalem with Jewish culture and history. But Salonika, where Dr. Bourla grew up and was educated, was one of the greatest Jewish communities in every way. Its academia was unrivaled. Its commitments to Judaism and the Jewish people were tremendous.”

Hearshen also welcomed the announcement that Bourla would be donating his prize money to help perpetuate the memory of Greek Jews, a community, as Hearshen pointed out, that is often forgotten when we recall those that were decimated by the Nazis.

“I think that Dr. Bourla using his prize money to preserve the memories of the victims of the Holocaust and focusing on the Greek community will help in teaching the world about the sometimes-forgotten victims of the Shoah. It is notable that Dr. Bourla is being recognized for his commitment to the future in his overseeing the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines and is using his winnings to show his commitment to the past.”

Among those recognized alongside Bourla in the Genesis Foundation announcement was Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who heads the CDC in Atlanta, as well as Jewish scientists who played key roles in the development of the COVID vaccine programs at Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and the Russian microbiology center where the Sputnik

COVID-19 vaccine was created.

Pfizer, which developed its vaccine with the help of the German firm BioNTech and the financial assistance of the German government, declined to accept aid from the American government. The company developed the vaccine in about eight months, a process that ordinarily would have taken years. In announcing its latest financial results, Pfizer said that it has produced 3 billion doses of the vaccine in 2021 and anticipates that production will top 4 billion shots this year.

Stan Polovets, the co-founder and chairman of The Genesis Prize Fo u n d a t i o n , founded the award in 2013 with $100 million in contri-

NEWS butions from wealthy Russian Jews. He called this year’s award a proud moment for the world’s Jewish community.

“A people so small in number are having such an outsized impact on the global effort to save lives,” Polovets said.

“Dr. Bourla is a bright star in the constellation of outstanding Jewish scientists and doctors in the forefront of fighting the pandemic.”

To select the winner of its annual prize, the Foundation solicits nominations from ordinary citizens around the world. In recent years over 200,000 people, over half of them from the U.S., have sent in their recommendations from various fields, including science, the arts, business and diplomacy. ì

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is the winner of this year’s Genesis Prize, sometimes called the “Jewish Nobel.”

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 11

NEWS

Atlanta Rabbis Join Colleagues for Florida Rabbi Run

By Chana Shapiro Rabbi Ilan D. Feldman and Rabbi Menachem Deutsch proved recently that they really are rabbis who can run. The two Orthodox rabbis made the commitment to include regular exercise in their already full weekly schedules in order to join RabbisCanRun, a group of 30 rabbis from around the world who gathered on Jan. 11 in Sunrise, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale, to promote the benefits of exercise and inspire members of their families, congregations, organizations and communities.

RabbisCanRun raised funds for Olami, a global program for university students and young professional to strengthen their Judaism through classes, discussions, trips, networking and social events. Olami also organizes world-wide career-building internships and informative trips.

Feldman, the second-oldest runner in the group, went on a two-week pre-run diet of fruit and vegetables and lost seven pounds. “The idea is to beat yourself, not somebody else. It was a run, not a competitive race,” he explained.

True to the event’s spirit, medals

12 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

The 2022 RabbisCanRun participants.

were given out before the race. “We all won awards for doing what it took to exceed our own perceived limitations,” he said. But that doesn’t mean that a friendly challenge was off the table. Here’s an excerpt from a letter Feldman sent to his congregants:

“I will slowly be building my endurance in order to reach my training goal.

It will require time, commitment and consistent running. However, I am ready for the challenge and believe that Jewish outreach and good health are worth the effort. Rabbi Menachem Deutsch, currently a major leader in Olami, will be the only other Atlantan running in the race, and I intend to outpace him.”

Deutsch notes, “Actually, it was Rabbi Feldman’s idea for us to participate in the run. I heard him speak after Shabbos services one day, and I was inspired. I don’t consider myself to be very competitive,” Deutsch laughs, “but, just to be honest about the results, my friend completed a 5K run and I finished a 10K!” Above all, Feldman stressed the run’s spiritual component: “I like to run by myself in a natural outdoor setting. I am immersed in G-d’s creations and I am always enlivened and awed by the experience. In both a physical and a spiritual sense, the world is my training ground. “ Preceding the run, all participants followed a personal running guide for three months of exercise. A commitment was made to run at least twice a week to build strength and endurance, starting from one’s “base line.”

“The objective was to learn how, through discipline and planning, we could accomplish goals we otherwise would not have achieved,” Feldman explained. “I injured my knee when I participated in the Jerusalem marathon in 2017, and it was painful to run. I saw the 2022 RabbisCanRun as an opportunity to commit to a restorative program, and I sought advice from the run organizer, who himself is a serious runner. He, in

Rabbi Menachem Deutsch finishes the RabbisCanRun race.

turn, consulted with an orthopedist and an Olympic running coach. The coach claims that he loves to work with Nigerians and rabbis! I sent the coach x-rays of my knee and was given a special protocol to follow. Finally, I was advised to train, then run as long as I had no pain. If I had pain, I was instructed to stop.”

Deutsch notes that, unlike Feldman, he had never been an adult runner, yet he successfully completed the 10K. He was buoyed by the spirit and camaraderie of the group, wryly noting that “Even though some of the runners wore blue Tshirts among the majority of us in gray [alluding to the colors of Civil War uniforms], we were united because we had a common goal. We were all there to challenge ourselves and improve our health.

At the same time, we raised money for a great cause. Many of us in the race were outside of our spiritual as well as physical comfort zones,” Deutsch continued.

“Our differences in religious practice and in athletic ability and endurance were completely irrelevant.”

When Olami sought a warm-weather location for a January run, Top Run Race, a professional management firm that organizes races around the country, arranged the event in Fort Lauderdale.

“They were very accommodating and worked within our budget,” Feldman said. “The Fort Lauderdale Runners Club was very supportive with water and directing runners on the track, and all RabbisCanRun participants successfully completed their run.”

Feldman and Deutsch both managed to exceed their individual fundraising goals, and Olami surpassed its goal of raising $150,000. ì

NEWS

100-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Recounts Her Life

“I decided not to let the past get in the way of my future,” said 100-year-old Ella Blumenthal, a Holocaust survivor.

By Jan Jaben-Eilon In an inspiring talk about her deathdefying past as a Holocaust survivor, centenarian Ella Blumenthal spoke about the future during the annual Holocaust Remembrance event sponsored by Am Yisrael Chai, virtually this year.

“People should never lose hope,” said the Cape Town, South African woman who has also been the subject of a documentary entitled, “I Am Here.” Blumenthal encouraged her audience to “focus on what unites us rather than what divides us.…Prejudice and bigotry only fuels hatred.” And, she warned, what happened to her in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s can happen again.

More than 800 people signed up for the virtual event which was held Jan. 23, just a week before International Holocaust Remembrance Day which was established on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, one of three concentration camps in which Blumenthal was held prisoner in the 1940s by the German Nazis. The other two were Majdanek near the city of Lublin, and Bergen Belsen, which is where Anne Frank died before the liberation of that camp in May 1945.

“Faith and Fortitude” was the title of the 15th annual Holocaust Remembrance event in Atlanta. A candle-lighting ceremony that highlighted Atlanta survivors opened the event. The ceremony also “remembers those who are no longer with us,” said Andrea Videlefsky, president and founder of Am Yisrael Chai in Atlanta.

South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein provided a d’var Torah, emphasizing that the “greatest response” to the Holocaust is the “continuity of the Jewish people…Holocaust remembrance isn’t about the past, but the future.”

Blumenthal, who had been hospital-

ized the week before the event, detailed her harrowing life starting with her birth in August 1921 in Warsaw. She was born into a religious family. Her father was a successful textile merchant. The youngest of seven children, Blumenthal talked about her “existence,” not “life” in the Warsaw Ghetto, often making difficult decisions that kept her and a few others – including niece Roma – alive.

After the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the Jews who were left in the ghetto were rounded up and taken to either the death camp of Treblinka or to Majdanek, where Blumenthal was herded in a cattle car.

That’s where her father died.

Several times, she said, she thought she would die in Majdanek, including once when she and Roma were actually steered into a gas chamber. But because the Germans wanted a group of 500 women, and Blumenthal was in a group of 700 women, an exchange was made between the two groups and instead, Blumenthal and Roma were sent to Auschwitz.

There she worked building roads. At several points, Roma was ready to give up and commit suicide on the electrified fences, but Blumenthal kept insisting they should try to live another day, then another day.

The young women were in Bergen Belsen when the camp was liberated by British soldiers. Blumenthal subsequently went to Paris and then Israel where she met a South African man who married her and took her to South Africa where she raised her family. “I decided not to let the past get in the way of my future,” she told her audience.

Am Yisrael Chai has partnered with the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust to take the Faith and Fortitude event to schools, starting Jan. 24.

As part of the Sunday event, Am Yis-

rael Chai provided an online exhibit room that traces Blumenthal’s footsteps from the Warsaw Ghetto to Majdanek, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, according to Videlefsky.

Although the film “I Am Here” will be released in U.S. theaters soon, sponsors and donors of the Faith and Fortitude event can receive a link to the film which will be followed on Feb. 6 by a live

The candle-lighting ceremony “remembers those who are no longer with us,” said Andrea Videlefsky, president and founder of Am Yisrael Chai in Atlanta.

Q&A panel discussion with Blumenthal as well as with Jordy Sank, the film producer from South Africa. Other members of Blumenthal’s family, including her niece, Roma, will also be on the Zoom panel.

Videlefsky said “we couldn’t be happier with the response” to the program which was also available via an international link.

“Ella’s message will be carried for a long time. She’s a true inspiration.” ì

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NEWS

Security Takes Priority After Texas Incident

By Dave Schechter As it was after Pittsburgh and Poway, the synagogue hostage-taking in Colleyville, Texas, has again made security topic number one for the Jewish community.

In the aftermath of the Jan. 15 drama at Congregation Beth Israel, a common theme was repeated by its rabbi, by the FBI director, and by Atlanta’s Jewish community security director: Planning, training, and relationships are key.

“There’s a saying that the best time to patch the roof is when the sun is shining, before the storm, and we don’t want to be meeting for the first time in the wake of a tragedy,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Jan. 20 national webinar hosted by the Anti-Defamation League.

On that call, Rabbi Charlie CytronWalker credited the security training he received from the ADL and the Secure Community Network (a program of the Jewish Federations of North America) for his surviving the 11-hour ordeal. “All of it was helpful, yet one of the things that we are aware of is that no matter how good

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told the ADL webinar “No matter how good the security is, these kinds of things can still happen.”

SWAT team members deploy near the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, Jan. 15, 2022. (Andy Jacobsohn /AFP via Getty Images)

the planning is, no matter how good the security is, these kinds of things can still happen,” he said.

That is why Neil Rabinovitz, director of community security for the Jewish

Federation of Greater Atlanta, took ad- we were put through that terrible ordeal.”

One hostage was released late Satvantage of another video conference Jan. 20, this one hosted by JFGA and the ADL’s urday afternoon. Shortly before 9.30 Southeast region, to urge local Jewish or- p.m. Central, Cytron-Walker, who had ganizations to take advantage of security grown concerned about Akram’s behavassessments and training his office pro- ior threw a chair at him and yelled for the other two hostages to run for an exit vides.

Cytron-Walker told the national ADL door. The trio escaped and soon after, webinar that when a stranger — later Akram was shot and killed by the FBI. “Let me be clear and blunt, the FBI is identified as 44-year-old British national named Malik Faisal Akram — appeared and has been treating Saturday’s events at his synagogue’s door, “I did an initial as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community,” Wray look at him. . . There were said. “This was not some no initial red flags.” The random occurrence. It rabbi opened a locked was intentional. It was door and invited him in, symbolic and we’re not even serving him tea. going to tolerate antiAfter the service besemitism in this country. gan, Akram — who was We recognize that the armed with a handgun Jewish community, in and said that he also carparticular, has suffered ried explosives — took violence and faces very Cytron-Walker and three real threats from, recongregants hostage. Sevally, across the hate speceral thousand people who turned into Beth Israel’s Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, center, trum.” surrounded by his congregants Wray assured those livestream heard Akram on Sunday outside the Chabad on the call: “You can be demand freedom for Aafof Poway. Rabbi Goldstein confident that we in the ia Siddiqui, a Pakistani was shot in an attack at the neuroscientist serving an synagogue on Saturday. // Photo FBI stand with you.”

Credit: Sandy Huffaker/Agence The FBI director 86-year sentence in a fedFrance-Presse — Getty Images said that the threat faceral prison in Texas for attempting to kill U.S. military personnel in ing America today is “more and more these lone actors, plotting essentially Afghanistan in 2008.

Cytron-Walker described Akram’s fairly simple and unsophisticated, but mindset: “It was basically the notion that just as deadly, attacks, which means Jews were more important in his mind there are a lot fewer dots, if you will, to than everyone else and that America connect, and a lot less time in which to would do more to save Jews than it would connect them.”

Wray outlined three ways the Jewfor anyone else, and that’s why he specifically targeted a synagogue, … that’s why ish community can aid that effort: Be

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NEWS

No charitable gift has a greater impact on the lives of Israelis.

Flowers are left on a sidewalk after a shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 27, 2018. Dustin Franz/AFP/Getty Images

vigilant and contact authorities if some- earmarked to seven in metro Atlanta. thing is amiss, develop relationships with Among them were Atlanta Jewish Academy, Chabad Lubavitch all levels of law enforceof Cobb County, Chabad ment before help is needof North Fulton, and ed, and take advantage of the Jewish Federation training and planning, of Greater Atlanta. Rewhich are “hugely imcipients elsewhere in the portant to making sure state included Chabad we don’t have a tragedy.”

Lubavitch of Augusta; Rabinovitz told the Congregation Mickve AJT that the challenge Israel in Savannah; Confacing the Jewish comgregation Sha’arey Israel munity remains “how to in Macon; and the Rabe welcoming and open mah Darom and Camp and at the same time be Coleman summer camps FBI Director Christopher secure. It can be done.”

Wray assured an ADL webinar: in north Georgia.

Atlanta was among the “You can be confident that we Individual grant first Jewish federations in the FBI stand with you. amounts were not made to employ a director of community security, a post it established available, but as an example of how funds are spent, the JFGA upgraded its in 2001.

Rabinovitz, who works for SCN in perimeter fence and building access conconjunction with the Federation, works trol system and installed a panic alarm with Jewish institutions to apply for system and window security film.

On the local video conference, Rabifunds through the NonProfit Security Grant Program administered by the Fed- novitz said that building doors should be locked, and visitors eral Emergency Managescreened before entry, ment Agency. In fiscal that security plans be year 2021, that program reviewed and tested, made available $180 that alarm systems be million, with individual checked regularly, and grants at a maximum of that floor plans be ac$100,000-$150,000. Comcessible remotely and petition for the funds shared with law enhas increased in recent forcement. He also recyears. Jewish Insider ommended that synareported that for fiscal gogues hire off-duty, 2021, 45 percent of apuniformed and armed plicants were awarded Neil Rabinovitz said that the police officers, whose grants. The incident at challenge facing the Jewish vehicles, are a visible deColleyville reinvigorated community remains “how to terrent. efforts by Jewish groups be welcoming and open and And he advised Jewto persuade Congress at the same time be secure.” ish institutions to take to double the nonprofit care with what information they present grant fund to $360 million.

In fiscal 2021, FEMA allocated near- on their websites and social media acly $1.04 million to 15 nonprofit appli- counts, which can be scoured by anyone cants in Georgia, of which $950,000 was looking to threaten. ì

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SPORTS Jewish Players No Longer Exception on NHL Rosters Historically speaking, the NHL hasn’t exactly been regarded as the most diverse league in the sports world. Players from dozens of David Ostrowsky countries have been represented in its century-long existence, but unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of participants have been white Christian men.

Recently, however, there have been some encouraging developments, albeit on a fairly limited scale, suggesting that change may be forthcoming. Many NHL teams now have players who come from ethnic and racial minority communities and, as has been well documented, there is a record number of Jewish players this season.

In what has been a milestone year for the Jewish community in rinks across North America, the Pittsburgh Penguins,

for the second straight year, are one of the precious few teams in NHL history to feature not one but two Jewish players on their active roster: veteran left-winger Jason Zucker and defenseman Mark Friedman. The unique pairing came to fruition last February when Pittsburgh, which had already acquired Zucker as a free agent in 2019, claimed Friedman after he was put on waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers.

While neither player has figured prominently in Pittsburgh’s emergence as a Stanley Cup contender — Zucker was a rock-steady presence for the Minnesota Wild last decade but appears to be past his prime, while Friedman has seen limited action as a fourth line blueliner since coming over from Philly — the fact that the Pens have been rolling out lineups featuring multiple Jewish players is noteworthy in and of itself.

“It’s a rare occurrence in hockey, there’s no question about that,” says Mathieu Schneider, arguably the most famous Jewish hockey player of all time, who now serves as a special assistant

After playing intermittently for the Philadelphia Flyers for a couple seasons, Mark Friedman joined Jason Zucker in Pittsburgh last February and now hopes to become a consistent contributor for a team eyeing a Stanley Cup championship.

to NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr. “I played with Michael Cammalleri briefly [during the 2002-03 season], who’s Jewish as well. Although he didn’t really practice. His mom was Jewish. His dad was Italian.”

Zucker and Friedman, both of whom

declined to be interviewed for this article, are practicing Jews: the former has grown accustomed to doing virtual menorah lightings with his Las Vegas-based family when he is on road trips, while the latter grew up in Toronto and attended Hebrew school until grade five.

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SPORTS

Ultimately, it’s your experience that matters.

After winning a gold medal for Team USA during the 2010 World Juniors, Jason Zucker played briefly at the University of Denver before transitioning to the NHL in spring 2012.

Zucker’s upbringing in Las Vegas is world’s largest menorah. “It’s certainly relevant to the discussion here. Since the inspirational for a lot of kids who are NHL began gaining a prominent foothold playing the game. It’s an interesting time. in the Sun Belt in the early 1990s, there We’re going to have to form some kind of have been quite a few players born and club or something.”

While any such club would be headraised in warm weather regions breaking into the NHL. Naturally, with the league lined by Jack and Quinn Hughes, Adam becoming more geographically diverse, Fox and Zach Hyman, a quick Google the pool of participants, and their respec- search indicates that Zucker is, by far, the longest-tenured Jewish NHL player tive backgrounds, has widened.

“There are more kids playing our currently in the league. Since his debut game so you’re going to get more minori- in 2011, Zucker, who recently celebrated ties and cast a larger net,” adds Schnei- his 30th birthday, has tallied 286 points, der, who played for 10 NHL teams, in- including 153 goals.

“I’m sure he [Zucker] is very proud of cluding the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2008-09 season, and represented the his career and he should be,” says SchneiUnited States in two Olympics (the Na- der. “From what I know about him, he is gano Games in ’98 and the Torino Games a great teammate.”

Schneider should know. He was coneight years later). “The goal has always been that we want to make the game sidered the consummate teammate during his NHL career, which began when more accessible to more people.”

But for young Jews who observe the Ronald Reagan was in office and ended th mitzvot, the time demands intrinsic to the when Barack Obama was president.

As such, the fact that he was one of the hockey will alwaysofbeValentine’s daunting. Day. n us for agame lovelyofluncheon in honor Whether it’s getting at 4:00 a.m. onprepared a game’s musical entertainment and aup delicious lunch by few Jewish players was hardly a Saturday to rush over to the rink or catch- topic of conversation in NHL dressing ry team. Afterwards, take a tour of our beautifully appointed ing a Friday night plane for a weekend rooms — something he believes should community. To RSVP, please call 404.369.7523. tournament in Michigan, the sport does be the case for Zucker, Friedman and othnot readily lend itself to free time for He- ers who identify with Judaism.

“In all honesty, over my 20 years, brew school or bar mitzvah preparation, there were a couple different instances let alone regular school academics.

For this reason alone, the inclusion [of anti-Semitism],” Schneider admits. of more and more Jews on NHL rosters “But the one thing I always felt in the and multiple Jewish skaters representing dressing room was that if you were a the same team are developments worthy good teammate, it didn’t matter what religion you were, what your background of celebration.

“We’re probably looking at a record was. There are always exceptions, there’s number of Jewish players in the league no question about it. [But] if you were right now,” acknowledges Schneider, contributing and you were a good teamwho, while playing for the New York mate you were welcome in an NHL dressIslanders in the mid-'90s, once lit the ing room.” ì

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ISRAEL PRIDE

NEWS FROM OUR JEWISH HOME New US Fundraising Record for Israel’s Frontline Covid Hospital On Jan. 10, American Friends of Sheba Medical Center, the U.S. fundraising arm of Israel’s largest hospital, announced its final fundraising figures for 2021. The total came to a record $11.6M — a 63 percent increase over the amount raised in 2020. These funds will be used to continue Sheba’s mission of working to improve human existence, removing social barriers to create hope and provide quality care without boundaries.

Over the past year, the medical center has been at the forefront of the global battle against COVID, treating hundreds of patients from all walks of Israeli society and spearheading research into treatments and vaccines. Sheba recently became the first hospital in the world to begin administering a fourth vaccine dose to the immunocompromised and over 60s age group and announced encouraging preliminary results from the world’s first ever study on the efficacy and safety of the fourth shot.

“The pandemic has elevated our fo-

cus on health and on the urgently needed solutions to global challenges,” said Dr. David Pulver, board chair of the American Friends of Sheba Medical Center.

“Sheba’s leadership on COVID, both in Israel and globally, plus their ranking as one of the top ten medical centers in the world, has helped underscore the importance of funding Sheba’s efforts and we are very gratified with the generous response of so many donors, new and established.”

Funds raised in 2021 were directed to a variety of projects, representing the range and scope of Sheba’s work: humanitarian relief, COVID mitigation, a new oncology center, a gift room at the children’s hospital, as well as unrestricted funds to be spent where most needed.

One of the American Friends of Sheba Medical Center’s new donors in 2021 was Aliza Finder Sorkin and her family. They funded a major new study on a devastating movement disorder called Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy, or PSP, a disease with no cure and no effective treatments.

Yoel Har-Even, head of the International Division and Resource Development at Sheba Medical Center added:

Today in Israeli History

Actress Hanna Rovina stars in the premiere of “The Dybbuk” in Moscow.

Jan. 31, 1922: The Hebrew version of “The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds” begins its successful stage run at Moscow’s Habimah Theater. The play tells the story of a young woman possessed by a malicious spirit.

Feb. 1, 1979: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile.

Under his guidance, Iran establishes an Islamic republic and ends close ties to Israel.

Iran’s Jews become second-class citizen.

Feb. 2, 1915: Politician, diplomat and historian Abba Eban is born in South Africa.

As part of the Jewish Agency’s delegation to the United Nations, he plays a crucial role in the passage of the U.N. partition plan for Palestine.

Feb. 3, 1919: A World Zionist Organization delegation led by Chaim Weizmann makes the case for a Jewish homeland in Palestine at the Paris Peace Conference. The delegation accepts the proposed British Mandate.

18 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

The fatal helicopter crash Feb. 4, 1997, involved the CH-53 Yasur, a mainstay of the Israeli military for a half-century. // Photo Credit: Celia Garion, Israeli Air Force

Feb. 4, 1997: Two CH-53 Yasur helicopters collide in the middle of the night over northern Israel while ferrying troops and munitions to the occupied zone in southern Lebanon, killing all 73 personnel on board.

Feb. 5, 1890: Zichron Ya’akov educator Ze’ev Yavetz takes students to plant trees on Tu B’Shevat, starting a holiday tradition in the Land of Israel that the Jewish National Fund and teachers unions adopt in 1908.

Feb. 6, 1951: Israeli soldiers launch an overnight raid on Sharafat, a village of about 200 Arabs just south of Jerusalem, in retaliation for a deadly Arab raid into Israel. Nine villagers, including five children, are killed.

Feb. 7, 1974: Followers of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook launch Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful), a settler movement determined to establish a permanent Jewish presence in the lands captured in June 1967.

American Friends of Sheba Medical Center announced it had raised a record $11.6M for Israel’s frontline COVID hospital.

“We are grateful for the big increase in U.S. support for the work of Sheba and hopeful that the organization can grow significantly in the years to come. In 2022, we are expanding our presence even more, with the addition of new in-

novations centers in New Jersey and Chicago and look to our American supporters to deepen their partnership with us as we continue to help provide medical care to all those who need it and to impact global healthcare.”

Feb. 8, 2005: A summit among Israel’s Ariel Sharon, the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II declares the end of the Second Intifada after more than 1,000 Israeli and 4,000 Palestinian deaths.

with an Israeli team for the first time, consisting entirely of figure skater Michael “Misha” Shmerkin, 24, a Soviet native who finishes 16th in Lillehammer, Norway.

The former Soviet Embassy, known as Levin House, still stands at 46 Rothschild Blvd. // Photo Credit: Dana Friedlander, Israeli Ministry of Tourism

British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald reiterated his nation’s commitment to Jewish settlement in Palestine.

Feb. 9, 1953: The Soviet Union’s embassy in Tel Aviv is bombed, injuring three people, in an attack blamed on the Kingdom of Israel terrorist group. Despite Israeli apologies, the Soviets break off diplomatic relations.

Feb. 10, 1913: Charles Winters is born in Massachusetts. Winters, who is not Jewish, obtains surplus U.S. military aircraft after World War II for secret shipment's to form the core of Israel’s original air force.

Feb. 11, 1986: After eight years in a Siberian labor camp, Anatoly Shcharansky is released to American custody in Berlin and flies to Israel, where he arrives under his new Hebrew name, Natan Sharansky.

Feb. 12, 1994: The Winter Olympics open

Feb. 13, 1931: In a letter to Chaim Weizmann, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald disavows the threats posed by the 1930 Passfield White Paper, which calls for restricting Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine.

Feb. 14, 1896: Theodor Herzl’s “Der Judenstaat” (“The Jewish State”) is first published in Vienna with a run of 500 copies.

The pamphlet calls for Jews to organize themselves to gain a territory and eventually a state.

Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.

ISRAEL NEWS JNF-USA Set to Bring Record Number of Teens to Israel

Alexander Muss High School in Israel has teamed up with RootOne to provide travel vouchers for Jewish teens.

Thanks to generous subsidies and travel vouchers available to Atlanta Jewish teens, a record number of high school students will travel to Israel in the near term. As Jewish National Fund-USA’s (JNF-USA) flagship study abroad in Israel program, Alexander Muss High School in Israel (Muss) sends thousands of eager American teens to Israel for immersive experiential programs. In addition to its classic academic program, Muss has specialized sessions for students who want to interact with Israel in an even more unique way.

Now Muss has teamed up with RootOne, a program that provides generous travel vouchers for Jewish teens to attend select programs in Israel. RootOne’s vouchers can be used for two of Muss’ premier summer programs: Roots Israel, a 4-week service-learning program, and Your Way Israel, a 6-week educational travel program on which students learn about Israel through a chosen elective.

For the service-minded, Roots Israel helps students make a difference in a fun and meaningful way. On this four-week service-learning adventure, participants travel across the country and volunteer with local Israelis while exploring issues of environmentalism and social sustainability that are crucial to Israel’s way of life.

On Roots Israel, students get to clean up Eilat beaches, work with Sudanese refugee children, learn about green energy and agricultural technology, make new friends and repair the world. On Your Way Israel, students have the op-

portunity to connect with Israel in a unique, customized way, while gaining hands-on experience in entrepreneurship or learning about Israel through art, culture, and music. Participants on the Entrepreneurship track, guided by one of AMHSI’s experienced Israel Studies educators, will explore Israel from north to south and come to understand how it has emerged as a hub for entrepreneurship. Participants whose interest lies in Arts and Culture will explore the country with a Muss Educator while learning about Israel’s unique arts and music scene and creating their own art, music, photography and more.

RootOne vouchers contribute $3000 toward tuition for either of these programs and can be paired with an additional early bird $500 discount.

Local Atlanta Muss Alums and AMSHI parents Tracy and Brian Seitz said, “The experiences we had at AMHSI impacted our lives in such meaningful ways.

We not only learned about our history and how we can advocate for our homeland, but we learned about ourselves and the lives we wanted to lead. And now we are thrilled to witness the incredible benefits of the ‘Muss Magic’ with one of our own ... choosing to have our daughter participate in this life-changing experience this past summer is one the best parenting decisions we have made!”

For more information, contact JNFUSA Israel Programs Admissions Director in Atlanta, Dr. Marnie Nadolne, at mnadolne@jnf.org. ì

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SIMCHA SPOTLIGHT

OPINION Talk About Filling a Hole in the Soul

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Share your simchas with us!

Dave Schechter From Where I Sit

Births, B’nai Mitzvah, Engagements, Weddings, Anniversaries, Special Birthdays and more ...

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20 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

I did not know.

Wi l l i a m Cope Moyers was a colleague at CNN in the early ‘90s. We got on well, chatting about work and the challenges of raising small

children.

In the fall of ‘94, he disappeared. It was not until the 2006 publication of “Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption” that I learned what happened.

The guy who came to work clean shaven, wearing a jacket and tie, was addicted to crack cocaine, and had relapsed multiple times after alcohol and substance abuse treatment.

On Oct. 12, 1994, off-duty Fulton County sheriff’s deputies, part of an intervention team, pounded on the door of a crack house near Ponce de Leon and Boulevard, where Moyers has said he went not to get high, but to die. With nowhere to run or hide, he emerged. In the front seat of a van was his father, the well-known journalist Bill Moyers, who angrily said, “There’s nothing more I can do. I’m finished.” William Cope Moyers wrote that he believed his father then said, “I hate you.” To which he replied, “I hate me, too.”

Soon after “Broken” was published, Moyers spoke to a spellbound Atlanta Press Club audience. Afterward, I told him, “I’m sorry. I did not know.” He said that I wasn’t supposed to know, that he had worked hard to hide his habit.

Moyers, who has been clean since that day in 1994, today is vice president of public affairs and community relations for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, formed by the 2014 merger of the Minnesota-based Hazelden and the California-based Betty Ford Center.

He was in Atlanta several weeks ago, on behalf of the Addiction Alliance of Georgia, a new venture of Hazelden Betty Ford and Emory University. At Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, Moyers read from “Broken,” and discussed the myths attached to addiction and the stigma that surrounds the subject. His remarks, which can be found on the church website, were compelling.

Several million dollars have been raised to start AAG with outpatient services. Millions more will be needed for an

envisioned residential care facility and programs to educate health care professionals, social workers, first responders, and faith communities. “While ours is an important first step to expanding access to care, it will meet only a sliver of this huge crisis in Georgia. Sadly, there are enough sick addicts and alcoholics to go around, yet there’s a tragic dearth of resources to help them,” Moyers messaged me.

This, in a state that listed 358 substance abuse treatment facilities in 2019, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Of the 27,669 Georgians aged 12 and older admitted for treatment in 2020, SAMHSA reported that 62.4 percent were for drug abuse, 19.9 percent for alcohol and drugs, and 17.6 percent for alcohol only.

Jewish Atlanta should not think itself immune. “Addiction doesn’t discriminate,” Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman of Chabad Intown said. “We’re suffering with this plague like the rest of society is.” Chabad Intown is the home of “Jeff’s Place,” named for a young man who succumbed to addiction and promoted as a resource for “those struggling with substance use abuse, those in recovery and their loved ones.”

Moyers talks about using drugs to fill “a hole in my soul.” Schusterman puts it this way: “People are looking for a deeper spiritual connection, a purpose driven life.

They’re depressed, being paralyzed from anxiety. Or they’re using a substance or a behavior to temporarily assuage this.”

Even with several Jewish-oriented treatment efforts in Atlanta, Schusterman said more is needed. “It’s an evolving kind of endeavor. It’s something that I’m very passionate about,” he said. “I’m really looking to expand what we’re doing. At this point, it’s just a function of resources, human resources and financial resources.”

He would like to hire a rabbi who primarily would work with Jews suffering from addiction or in recovery.

Schusterman also would like to see more Jewish facilities host 12-step programs, explaining that the ‘surrender to higher power’ they emphasize is derived from Jewish principles.

“Every single day” Schusterman hears from a spectrum of Jews in need, from leaders of organizations to, the day we spoke, a young man who texted that he was feeling suicidal. “It’s pervasive and we need to help bring some healing,” he said. “It starts with removing the stigma or minimizing the stigma that really holds people back from having open conversations.” ì

OPINION

Letters to the Editor The AJT welcomes your letters. If you would like your letter to be published, please write 200 words or less, include your name, phone number and email, and send it to editor@atljewishtimes.com.

Letter to the editor, Mr. Stewart Epstein (retired professor of Sociology and Social Work) makes a good point in his letter to the editor in the Jan. 15 issue of the AJT when he objects to many on the right calling Democrats “socialists,” “Marxists” and “communists.” Such name calling tends to stifle debate as to whether social systems led by strong central governments provide better outcomes than free market capitalism. But Mr. Epstein follows with the equally unhelpful claim that “…many of today’s Republicans in Congress are Scrooge-like ‘Survival-of -the-Fittest’ Social Darwinists.” Ouch!

Perhaps a reasonable discussion with Mr. Epstein would help inform me of the difference between what he refers to as a “true socialist” and today’s progressives in Congress, a distinction which he fails to explain in his letter. I believe Mr. Epstein might also learn from my forty-plus years of experience in private business, competing in our capitalistic system where the universal values of merit, achievement, personal responsibility, integrity, and honesty (to name a few) have produced more positive outcomes than any theoretical society yet to be imagined by academicians.

The deficiencies in both systems can be singled out and used as a cudgel against the other side. But which system has elevated so many from poverty to prosperity and which has repeatedly relegated citizens to subservience and despair? Let’s have the discussion.

Jon Barry, Marietta

Letter to the editor, This weekend, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office said the synagogue hostage-taker “was singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community.”

The mind reels. The hostage-taker was heard on live stream demanding the release of the convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui, who demanded that jurors in her trial be DNA tested to prove they weren’t Jewish. The FBI actually tried to sell us a narrative in which a hostage-taking at a synagogue during Shabbat services was not specifically related to Jews.

This ridiculous narrative damaged what is left of FBI credibility so seriously that on Monday, January 17, the FBI issued a completely different statement recognizing the obvious: “This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.”

The FBI has not reported that Malik Akram, the hostage-taker, shot himself. But he is dead, which leaves the FBI as responsible.

There was no need to shoot Akram unless someone didn’t want a trial in which “inconvenient” evidence and testimony would be documented, which would likely be specifically related to the Jewish community. No need to construct a politically required narrative if you conveniently bury the situation.

Julia Lutch, Davis, CA

Letter to the editor: The Dying American Musical The traditional American musical is our unique and rich contribution to theater, and it’s dying. This explains the failure of Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” (“Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ Grapples with History,” Jan 15.) It flopped because a younger generation has no exposure to the genre and an older generation is upset at the extra violence, political messaging, and 10% Spanish dialogue without subtitles, not just Covid.

A musical is escapism, designed to leave you humming its songs. The roots harken back to minstrel shows and Ziegfield’s Follies, to revue, book, and theme musicals.

Today, they “modernize” classic musicals.

For a 2011 Broadway revival of “On A Clear Day,” the Barbra Streisand role was played by a male actor for a gay twist.

“La La Land” was lauded by those who never saw a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers

movie. No one recalls any songs from the former, while the latter featured Irving Berlin and Cole Porter standards. 2011’s highly rated “The Artist” was a mediocre silent movie with a lovely 5-minute musical theme that can’t compare to 1927’s “My Best Girl,” starring Mary Pickford and a delightful 80-minute film score at www.youtube. com/watch?v=_VJjQC4_E6E. You can fill a stadium with 50,000 sports fans, but hard to fill 1,000 seats for musicals. The man in front of me at the Times Square TKTS booth in 2015 bought seats to “Kinky Boots.” Kinky Boots! Other choices that day were Vanessa Hudgens in a modernized “Gigi” and unadulterated Bernstein’s “On the Town.” I got tickets to Bernstein’s fantastic edgy musical.

It’s not well known that Bernstein, Sondheim, Robbins, and Laurents all were gay, which is a not uncommon trait among great artists.

I have a Blu-ray copy of West Side Story and wonder how the great Steven Spielberg could ever improve on perfection. I’ll wait for the library DVD of “Woke Side Story” to find out. Hopefully, it will have English subtitles.

Jay Starkman, Atlanta

Letter to the editor, Legalization Comes with a Dire Cost America has opened her arms to many legalization movements over the past 70-years. We embraced the legalization of adultery in the 1950s. Then came legalization of pornography starting in the 1960s. We legalized divorce through no-fault laws in the 1970s. In the 1980s, we blessed the practice of loansharking, making high interest rates easy and legal. In the 1990s we removed restrictions on Indian reservation gambling. In the first two decades of the twenty-first century, we legalized medical marijuana and began to legalize recreational pot.

In 2018, sports gambling was legalized, and now states are rapidly climbing on board just like in all these other cases. This latest freedom we have granted ourselves combines two great national past-times, athletic competition and get-rich-quick.

I can’t help but wonder about legalized gambling’s explosive effect on today’s reluctant workforce. I suspect many people are unwilling to work because they would rather gratify their passion for sports, just like investors do by placing bets on the stock market. It’s not work, but it can replace work. It’s fun, and it pays big!

I know it happens. My physician brother quit his Seattle practice to make it as a day trader in the stock market, and as a Vegas gambler too. His assets dwindled steadily until, in great poverty, he finally committed suicide. He anticipated today’s wild party by a couple of decades.

Kimball Shinkoskey, Woods Cross, Utah

Letter to the editor, As the celebration of Martin Luther King Day approached, it’s important to remember Dr. King’s strong support of Israel and Zionism.

In Memphis in 1968 Dr. King said: “Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality.”

At Harvard shortly before his death, Dr. King also declared: “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews; you’re talking antisemitism”.

Dr. King’s words make clear that he unequivocally supported Zionism and Israel, a fact that all Jews should be proud of.

Richard Sherman, Margate, Florida

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 21

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What's Jewish About Mark Cuban Mark Cuban needs little introduction. He’s a highly visible billionaire investor and one of the stars of the TV show “Shark Tank.”

A seasoned entrepreneur and professional sports team owner, Cuban has ventured into a wide variety of industries, making his name — and fortune — through the sale of startups MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com in the 1990s, and later as an owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks franchise. We caught up with the famous “Shark” to find out some of the lesser-known facts about Mark Cuban.

Mark, tell us about your family and growing up Jewish in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Just a normal kid growing up. Nothing unique or special about it at all. Up until the 7th grade I was one of only two Jewish kids at school and in the neighborhood. Then I moved a few blocks to a new school and that changed who my schoolmates were. That really opened the door to my experience with Jewish friends.

Can you share any stories about your paternal or maternal grandparents, where they came from and how you got the last name Cuban?

All of my grandparents came over around the age of twenty. My mom’s mom was from Lithuania. Her dad was from Bessarabia. On my dad’s side, my grandparents were from the south of Ukraine. They had the typical experience: no English; no money; stay with family; find any job you could. Experience the depression and more. That certainly shaped my parents’ upbringing and, in turn, shaped mine. And as far their name — they didn’t really change their name. People just started writing it as Cubin or Cuban. As it turns out, on my dad’s birth certificate, his name is spelled Cubin; on mine it’s Cuban. No one knows why!

Mark, you were an entrepreneur at a very young age. How’d you get started?

I was buying and selling baseball cards in the local park when I was 9 or 10. I was selling trash bags door to door. I just have always had an entrepreneurial bent for as long as I can remember.

Did you have a bar mitzvah and, if so, what was your favorite memory?

I did not. My dad kind of rebelled against organized religion, but never against his Jewish faith. But he sat me down one day and told me that it was my decision. He had not been bar mitzvahed, and I choose to play football on Saturdays instead of going to Saturday school. So, while that was not a feature of my life, growing up Jewish has certainly been. It’s something I’m very proud of. It was right around that same time that I remember a local kid starting a fight with me in the park. He kept on calling me a kike. I had no idea what that was or meant, but after the fight — which I won :) — I had to ask my dad what a kike was. He spent the time to tell me. It made me very proud to be Jewish.

As a popular “Shark” on the hit show “Shark Tank,” which business have you partnered with lately that you are excited about?

I love them all. You will have to watch on Friday nights to see which I like the very best. There are some amazing companies this season.

You’re a sports enthusiast of the greatest kind. What do you think about our sports teams in Atlanta?

I hope they lose every time they play a Dallas or Pittsburgh team! But it was fun to watch the Braves this year.

What’s your best piece of advice to anyone who wants to succeed in business?

Be curious, be agile, be the best salesperson in the company.

What is the most successful business you’ve ever invested in?

Broadcast.com. Investing in myself has always paid off the best!

What is your all-time favorite book, Jewish food and Chanukah gift you’ve received?

“The Fountainhead,” which I got in high school, kugel, and all of them!

We heard you recently purchased the entire town (77 acres) of Mustang, Texas. What do you plan to do with it?

No plans yet!

What’s one thing you hope your children will remember about you?

How much I love them and, hopefully, how much they learned from me.

Tell us something about you that not many people know.

I’m terrified of heights! No chance you will get me going to space or even on a rollercoaster!

By Robyn Spizman Gerson

CAMP Camp Billi Marcus Makes Fun for Families in Need

Robyn Spizman Gerson

Summer means vacation time for kids; but there are no summer breaks for working families, who often have to take care of work responsibilities and their

kids at the same time.

Billi Marcus knows this predicament all too well. As a mom who worked, she’s dedicated to making sure that working parents in Atlanta have somewhere to send their kids in the summer. Her summer camp, Camp Billi Marcus, has helped to ease the burden of childcare for mothers of pre-school children.

“I feel camp should be available for all children,” Marcus told the Atlanta Jewish Times, citing her own childhood experience. “I went to camp in Connecticut and had a wealthy uncle who sent me to sleepaway camp with other rich kids.

It was called Camp Laurelwood and I

Camp Billi Marcus helps to ease the burden of childcare for families with pre-school children.

never felt the difference. I knew the other kids in camp were rich, but I felt like they were my friends and a nice group of kids.

FRANK

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BENJAM

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BEN FRANKLIN ACADEMY E

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ENROLLING NOW FOR 2022-2023 SCHOOL YEAR

benfranklinacademy.org 24 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

I have wonderful memories from Laurel- young, we had no choice, and he became the best sweeper.” wood.”

She said the experience taught her Being a working mother, however, son, Michael Morris, life lessons about was another matter.

At the time, “I worked at a drug- work and humility. He “learned humility store in Newark, and, on a day when from both Bernie [Marcus] and myself,” Michael — who was four years old at the she said.

“Bernie learned giving back from time — was out of school, I had to find a his mother, as place for someshe encourone to give aged him to him lunch,” give part of she said. “A his allowance kind-hearted to people who woman took had less. You Michael home had to look with her and long and hard he had lunch to find others with her boys. with less than That was the them, and still, moment when she valued I knew I’d do teaching him something one to take a nickday in the fuel out of his ture and hoped quarter to put I could give “I feel camp should be available for it back in the back. all children,” Marcus said. pushke, where “I made $2 an hour at the drugstore, and I know she saved money for those in need. When what it meant to me then to work and Bernie was dating me, he said, ‘If you ever what it meant for Michael. When he was have the need or feel like you need an obout of school, he had to come to work scene diamond, tell me about it and I will with me. Here you’d see a four-year-old fix the cleft palate of a child in another sweeping out the entire drug store and he country.’ It was his way of telling me who loved it. I sold cosmetics at the drugstore he is and that, if I needed fancy, then I got and when you do it’s not as glamorous as the wrong guy.”

Words of gratitude for Camp Billi it is today. I also helped the pharmacist fill prescriptions, unpack boxes and kept Marcus poured in, including from Marmyself busy all day long. Michael was cus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta

CAMP (MJCCA) CEO Jared Powers: “The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta is beyond grateful for the generous ongoing support of the Billi Marcus Foundation.

More than one-third of children enrolled at Camp Billi Marcus are in circumstances that qualify them for financial assistance. With the support of the Foundation, these families received scholarships to attend summer camp. This keeps families — especially single parents — in the workforce, especially during these difficult COVID times. ninety-nine percent of our Camp Billi Marcus families tell us that MJCCA preschools helped create a solid foundation for their children’s Jewish identity. We remain deeply appreciative for all the Marcus family invests in the MJCCA.” Janel Margaretta, chief development and communications officer at the MJCCA, said, “As I’ve come to know Billi over the last decade, I know how important it is to her to provide safe and nurturing childcare services. Billi knows that childcare is a difficult puzzle that working parents — especially single parents — have to solve. She had incredible foresight in challenging the MJCCA to continue to innovate to meet these community needs and to provide the childcare and educational solutions that parents need and trust the MJCCA to provide. She remains a champion for working families and I adore her.”

Camp Director Nancy Parker said that “Camp Billi Marcus has a resoundingly positive impact on its campers. Every year, nearly 100 children participate in our impressive creative and nurturing programming. I’ve witnessed families in our community who are essential workers who are only able to return to work because we are providing this critical in-person childcare. I am proud to be as-

sociated with a camp bearing the name of Billi Marcus.”

Following the interview, in her gracious style, Billi called back to share one final thought.

She wanted to thank the kind-hearted woman, decades ago, who had taken Michael home

for lunch with her boys. We talked about how, after all these years, Billi might possibly locate the woman and thank her, and how perhaps this article might help.

In the meantime, Billi has turned her appreciation into action, paying it forward one happy camper — and grateful mom — at a time. ì

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 25

CAMP

Jewish Camps Take on Mental Health Challenges “This generation of children has long struggled with mental health challenges due to the isolating effects of the internet,” says American Chana Shapiro Camp Association (ACA) CEO Tom Rosenberg, former executive director of Camp Judea in North Carolina. “Technology set the stage. Then COVID came and every parent could see what happens to kids who aren’t in contact with their peers.” Camp staff and campers of all ages have reported higher levels of fragility, volatility and homesickness.

Jill Goldstein Smith, senior programming manager at the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC), wrote in November that three major children’s health organizations — the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association — recently declared a national state of emergency in childhood and adolescent

26 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

mental health, citing “a staggering increase this year in the number of self-injury and suicide cases in five to seventeen-year-olds, compared to the same period of 2019.” According to a study by the National Council of Behavioral Health, “50% of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, and 75% by age 24 — the age range of campers and staff.”

“Jewish camps got ahead of this,” Rosenberg said, referring to Yedid Nefesh, a bold initiative by Atlanta philanthropist Bernie Marcus that focuses on helping counselors and other staff deal with their own mental health challenges and those of campers. “I expect it will have far-reaching implications for the entire field of North American camp and the children, youth and adults it serves.”

“Jewish camps build strong Jewish communities by nurturing a sense of connection, belonging and confidence in each camper and staff member,” Marcus said. “We [at the Marcus Foundation] spearheaded Yedid Nefesh — fortuitously before the pandemic — because we recognized the rising tide of mental health needs in our country, especially among the youth.”

In 2019, more than a year prior to the onset of the pandemic, the Marcus Foundation

created a multi-year $3.2 million grant for a mental health initiative called Yedid Nefesh (“Beloved of the Soul”), intended to promote wellness at Jewish day and overnight camps.

This early support provided mental health internships for returning staff members, brought experienced mental health professionals on board and offered mental health training for hundreds of new staff members.

In 2020 and 2021, Yedid Nefesh worked hard to ease the stigma surrounding mental health issues with focused counselor and staff education and proactive wellness programming. The Marcus Foundation encourages camps to serve as resources for each other and share best practices from within the contemporary camping field, offering matching grants for activities like yoga and mindfulness for staff and campers, with a $500 stipend to help share effective mental health work. The initial cohort included Camp Barney Medintz and Camp Coleman, both of which will be part of the 2022 Yedid Nefesh group, along with 30 other camps.

Two years ago, the FJC began monitoring campers’ mental, emotional, societal and spiritual health needs and challenges. Then, every week from June through August of 2021, the organization tracked the impact of the Yedid Nefesh initiative, surveying camp leadership, mental health professionals and camp counselors in the 32 North American day and overnight camps that were part of the first round of funding. Of the over 2,000 day and overnight camp staff members, including teen- and college-aged counselors, more than 70 percent reported seeking and receiving support from Jewish camp mental health professionals who coached them to

help campers by working on their own interpersonal skills, confidence and resiliency.

Bobby Harris, longtime director of Camp Coleman, said, “The Yedid Nefesh initiative was particularly helpful to our mental health professionals. The social workers and psychologists could share challenges that they were having at their camps and receive support as they shared effective interventions and responses with each other.”

Michael Drucker, director at Camp Barney Medintz, also praised Yedid Nefesh.

“Barney’s mental health professionals led in addressing issues beyond the purview of our counselors and also supported counselors and staff who experienced mental health issues of their own. Having mental health professionals at camp gave everyone the confidence and comfort to do their jobs, knowing that support was present at all times.”

Drucker added, “We look forward to 2022, with our mental health professionals working in concert with our medical team to provide an overall wellness program that supports our community. We are also thankful to Gail and Lyons Heyman for creating the Den, a sensory space that includes an office for our mental health professionals and a comfortable space for campers and staff when they need some quiet, comfort and support.”

According to Rabba Melissa ScholtenGutierrez, director of Family Education and Engagement at the Atlanta Jewish Federation, “Overnight camp seamlessly weaves Jewish tradition and rituals, Hebrew and Israel into the fabric of camp life. There is an increased connection to the Jewish community among adults who attended Jewish

CAMP

Jill Goldstein Smith says that Jewish camps have done a lot to address contemporary youth challenges.

Rabba Melissa Sholten-Gutierrez lauds the benefits of overnight Jewish camps.

Bernie Marcus launched Yedid Nefesh to promote mental health wellness for camp staff.

overnight camps as children and teens, and it impacts the entire family. We hear every year from families who are now incorporating more Jewish moments into their lives, which their children have picked up at camp.”

Scholten-Gutierrez advises families to learn as much as possible about the camps they are considering, because “not every camp is right for every kid, even in the same family.”

Because financial barriers can also be a source of anxiety, the Atlanta Jewish Federation, in partnership with FJC, has set up a robust scholarship program. One Happy Camper offers grants of up to $1000 to Atlanta metro families with children attending nonprofit Jewish overnight camps for the first time.

Harris, now the FJC director of Southeast Region and Israel Initiatives, presents

the following statistics from the 2021 independent survey of North American Jewish overnight camps: • 97% received an excellent or very good rating for creating an atmosphere where the camper is proud to be Jewish.

• 92% received an excellent or very good rating for creating the feeling that the camper is part of something greater (i.e. the Jewish community).

• 91% received an excellent or very good rating for creating appreciation for the celebration of Shabbat.

• 45% of those who used the One Happy Camper grant said that they may not have considered or chosen a Jewish camp without the OHC program. OHC enabled Jewish camps to reach a diverse population within Jewish community, including families with at least one non-North American parent, interfaith families, and families in which parental income is less than $100,000/year.

“The foundational, immersive nature of the Jewish overnight camp is a significantly different environment from other experiences,” Harris said. “It is a 24/7 community comprised of mostly, if not exclusively, Jewish people. Many camp participants share that just living in and being part of such a community is or was one of the most profound influences on their Jewish identity and connection.”

Jeremy J. Fingerman, the FJC’s CEO, agrees. “Our field has an enormous responsibility to teach children and young adults how to take care of one another,” he said, “to proactively cultivate resiliency and wellness and react to the rise in mental health challenges.

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ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 27

CAMP

New Foundation Puts Southern Camping on the Map

By Chana Shapiro The Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) has opened a new Southeast Regional Center office at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta that will be overseen by veteran camp director, Bobby Harris.

Harris, who brings 36 years of experience to the role, joined the FJC in October and is the first veteran camp director to come on board in a full-time capacity.

The Atlanta-based center was established through the generous support of The Zalik Foundation. The new hub aims to strengthen relationships among Jewish camp professionals, community leaders and funders in Atlanta and the Southeast, encouraging learning, sharing and mutual support.

With his broad experience, Harris has an opportunity to identify issues and challenges among area camps and bring together the right people to address them. The Southeast Regional Center serves day and overnight camps, including Camp Barney Medintz, Camp Coleman, Camp Judaea, MJCCA URJ day

camps, Camp Ramah Darom, In the City Camps and Union of Reform Judaism 6 Points Sports Academy.

“Together we can make each other better,” Harris says. “For instance, right after MLK weekend, camp and facility directors from six Jewish camps participated in a tour of each other’s camps. It is the first time that we in FJC have developed a program for the facility directors; one outcome might be that they call on each other for help and learn from each other as they confront facility challenges.

As a camp director, I always called other directors; we need to help all camp professionals build connections with each other and escape the silos in which they currently find themselves.

“For camp leaders and staff, our goal is to provide professional development, strategic programmatic support, networking, training opportunities and succession planning. We can serve as an innovation lab,” Harris believes, “working from the ground up.” That means listening to the needs of area camps and trying out new ideas and programs. In-

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28 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

stead of striving to develop strategies and solutions directed at the entire camping field, “we can try things out locally to see if they work and are scalable for other places.”

Aware of the critical role of counselors and other staff, Harris plans to focus on training and development. He notes, “The majority of our camp staff are in their late teens and early 20s, and for many this huge responsibility may be their first job. They must be responsible caretakers and positive role models for young people, while using good judgment and taking good care of themselves in an exhausting job. We also want to be helpful in terms of counselor and other staff mental health; already, some of our camps are included in the Yedid Nefesh program,” the Marcus Foundation initiative that addresses the mental health needs of staff members who interact most closely with campers.

Harris explains that finding the right people and guiding them to be their best is challenging. Not only is the job demanding, but there are other compelling options for college-aged students, such as internships. “We are looking at ways to enhance value for working at camp in order to increase the number of applicants and provide an inspiring work environment that helps staff learn and develop critical skills for their future,” he said.

Harris is eager to foster collaboration between Hillels and camps (there are 18,000 Jewish camp staff who currently attend colleges and universities in North America) in order to expand staff recruitment. Camps may offer job-sharing partnerships with Hillel staff (who may have a lighter summer job load) and even arrange for year-round camp staff

to get involved in life on campus. Harris says, “Four Hillel executives on campuses in the southeast, including Elliot Karp of Hillels of Georgia, are already working directly with area camp directors on this initiative. Camp directors and Hillel directors are currently working together to schedule specific Jewish staff recruitment events for the camps in the southeast hub.”

When asked why the FJC decided to open an office in Atlanta and how it came to be located at the Atlanta Jewish Federation, Harris says, “I believe in 2013 or 2014 Mark Silberman (former Union of Reform Judaism Camp Coleman chairman and member of the FJC board) brought the idea to the Atlanta Federation of starting a Jewish camp initiative, and this program became one of the most successful in the country. At about the same time, Eric Robbins became CEO of Jewish Federation straight from his stint at Camp Twin Lakes. Eric has had a long career in camping that started when he attended Camp Barney Medintz during his youth. Eric loves camp and the Atlanta community and deeply believes in Jewish camp. Plus, Ramah, Coleman, Judaea, Barney, In the City and MJCCA Day Camps each have their offices located in Atlanta, which has more camp offices than any other city in the southeast.”

Presently, Harris has assembled a local group of volunteers to be part of the host committee in charge of planning the Foundation for Jewish Camp Leaders Assembly, scheduled to take place in Atlanta from Dec. 4 to 6, 2022. Harris said, “The Southeast Regional Center’s first year is focused primarily on the Atlanta community, yet we also reach out to communities in Florida and in North and South

CAMP at Georgia State University Law School.

Drucker has been part of the year-round team at Camp Barney Medintz since 2015, first as operations director and then as interim director. He served on the executive board and advisory board of the MJCCA and was a co-chair of the Erwin Zaban Leadership Development Program. The Druckers have three children, who all attended and work or have worked at Barney.

Bobby Harris oversees the new southeastern hub of the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Southeast Regional Center.

Carolina. Beyond these states, we want to be as helpful as possible to FJC camps in Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi.”

Another aspect of Harris’s role with the FJC is his work with a startup, RootOne, whose goal is “to increase the number of American Jewish high schoolaged students who travel to Israel. Jewish camps, as an aggregate, send more teens to Israel than any other feeder. We are exploring ways to build upon that and make significant quantitative and qualitative impact based on the Camp-Israel Trip connection.”

This year, four regional camp directors — at In the City Camps, Camp Coleman, Camp Judaea and Camp Barney Medintz — are starting their first years in those roles, bringing extensive experience with them, while Camp Ramah’s director is returning for her second year.

Get acquainted with the directors below.

Ashley Conant is the new director of In the City Camps.

Ashley Conant, In the City Camps

After graduating from Florida State University with a bachelor’s in Recreation and Leisure Service Administration, Conant began her Jewish camping career at the Dave and Mary Amber Jewish Community Center in Miami, Fla. From there, Ashley transitioned to Camp Kudzu, a camp for children with Type 1 diabetes here in Atlanta, where she partnered with Camp Twin Lakes and Camp Barney Medintz. Over the years, Conant has gained experience hiring and supervising staff and directing camp for more than 800 campers of varied backgrounds and needs. Ashley loves working with children and helping them thrive in the Atlanta Jewish community.

EXCITING SUMMER ADVENTURES June 6–July 1, 2022

Michael Drucker is the new director of Camp Barney Medintz.

Preschool Camp (2s–PK must be two by June 1) Adventure Camp (K–6th) and CIT (7th–8th)

Michael Drucker, Camp Barney Medintz

A native of Massachusetts, Drucker holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Suffolk University Law School. He was the head student manager for the University of Michigan’s 1989 NCAA national championship men’s basketball team, had corporate roles at a global sports marketing company and was a part-time instructor

Amy Smyler is the new director of Camp Coleman.

Amy Smyler, URJ Camp Coleman

Amy has a master’s in Conflict Analysis and Resolution with a focus on organizational design. She served as the NFTY-STR regional advisor from 2001-

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2003 and as the assistant director of Camp Coleman from 2001-2008. Amy returned to Coleman in 2015 as associate director after spending seven years working as an independent leadership coach and consultant, which allowed her to experience over 60 nonprofit summer camps in action.

Having seen, experienced and even created best practices in camping, Amy leads Coleman with a passion for helping young people be their best selves and a love and commitment to Reform Jewish life. Nine months of the year, she lives in St. Petersburg, Fla. with her daughter, Mikayla.

from Georgetown University Law Center and received her undergraduate degree (magna cum laude) in History and Jewish Studies from Brown University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Anna is married to Danny, and together, they are the proud parents of two sons.

Lori Zeligman is the new director of Camp Judaea.

Temple Sinai Preschool is a warm, welcoming, and creative Jewish environment where young learners focus on academics through play!

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Anna Serviansky is the director of Camp Ramah Darom.

TSPS Summer Camp starts in June! You can join us for all ten weeks of fun or choose weeks that fit your family’s schedule. We’ll explore the world of art, experiment with science, learn sports skills and experience the best part of summer: spending time outside splashing around with friends.

Anna Serviansky, Camp Ramah Darom

Anna Serviansky is camp director and head of education at Ramah Darom. Anna fell in love with Camp Ramah working at Ramah Darom in its early years. After a career as an attorney, she returned to her passion of Jewish education, working at National Ramah and Ramah Nyack. Prior to her current role, Anna served as associate dean of List College for six years. Anna is a graduate of the William Davidson School of Jewish Education where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She holds a law degree

Lori grew up in Augusta, Ga. and has been part of the Camp Judaea family since she was a camper. Her professional career with Young Judaea began as the Southeast area supervisor. She staffed multiple Israel Birthright trips, eventually transitioning into Camp Judaea’s assistant director position. Lori has an undergraduate degree in Judaic Studies, a master’s in Jewish Education, a Human Resources certificate and has studied in Israel at Ben Gurion University. In 2010, Lori was director of Camp Isidore Alterman, and then worked in corporate as a human resources generalist.

Her passion for informal Jewish experiences led her back to Camp Judaea in 2018. Lori met her husband, Michael, at Camp Judaea and they share the CJ experience with their children, Molly and Bram. Lori’s favorite activity at camp is rikkud (Israeli dancing) and you can find her every Saturday night, after Havdalah, dancing with campers and staff on the basketball court. ì

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ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 31

EDUCATION Coming Out to Dad, the Rabbi Coming out to your family has never been easy.

But it can be especially difficult when family includes a parent who is a rabbi or clergy Marcia member, as obCaller Jaffe servant Jewish circles have often taken cautious if not negative views of alternative lifestyles. Rabbis and their families are finding it best to face things head-on, which may encourage solidarity with other Jews who have felt left out or slighted because of their orientation.

Now, two local Conservative rabbis, Hillel Norry and Josh Heller, share their personal journeys as parents of children who have revealed their LGBTQ identifications.

In 2015, about the time that Rabbi Hillel Norry left his pulpit at Congregation Shearith Israel, his daughter Natanya came out to him. He recalled that he

Natanya Norry poses below a portrait of her grandmother, Hillel’s mother.

was “surprised but not surprised.”

“I tend not to preach about my family, and I rarely use my kids as subjects,” he said. Norry referred to a book

Caleb Heller’s coming out was eased by his father’s LGBTQ+ advocacy in Conservative Judaism. // Credit: Caleb Heller

by Orthodox Rabbi Steven Greenberg, “Wrestling with God and Men,” which is about Greenberg’s sexuality. “Not many congregations have this as their chief is-

sue,” Norry elaborated. “Older, younger, no matter, we have to normalize the gay/ trans experience. There’s a gay kid or two in the congregation, and we aren’t al-

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EDUCATION

Norry is majoring in electronic music at Georgia Tech and recently won a SOJOURN award for her leadership.

lowed to make them feel that they don’t exist. They need to hear about themselves from the rabbi.”

Norry says that, earlier on, when he performed mock weddings with youngsters, he would note that “Most guys marry girls, but some marry guys.” He feels that a negative Orthodox approach is too critical. “You either have to say, ‘Don’t have sex, which is not natural according to Judaism, as celibacy is wrong. It’s like saying, ‘Don’t eat.’ Or: ‘Fake it,’ which is unacceptable, to lie. This is not a new topic, think of the Yeshivot having gay boys.”

His daughter, Natanya, meanwhile, is an LGBTQ leader at Georgia Tech, where she is majoring in technological/ electronic music. She recently won the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender & Sexual Diversity (SOJOURN) award for her work there. “Kids give a lot of thought to who they are,” Norry advised. “Sexuality is only one part. If they choose to come out, we have to not let it be a traumatic experience.”

He further counsels kids to protect themselves and decide how assertive to be, considering the situation. He said, “Not every person will greet this with open arms. Be thoughtful about making it a huge stance. It’s not your whole story, like I don’t walk into a room and say, “‘Hey, I’m a Jewish guy!’ In Natanya’s case, her advocacy comes through her natural self.”

Joshua Heller gave a sermon about LGBTQ acceptance at Congregation B’nai Torah, including how his college-aged son, Caleb, came out. The sermon was also posted on Facebook. https://vimeo. com/656188886 Heller said, “For a couple of years, we had wondered about Caleb’s orientation, but it took time for him to figure it

out. It was only during the pandemic that he felt comfortable discussing it with us. He was definitely concerned how we would take the news. He knew that I’m a rabbi who leans to the more traditional.

Meanwhile, the congregation had been on a journey to acceptance of LGBTQ+ Jews; but those efforts and conversations weren’t on Caleb’s radar.”

Heller is one of the editors of the new Conservative rabbi’s manual. One of the major changes from the last edition is the inclusion of marriage ceremonies for LGBTQ+ couples. Heller recalled, “In the end, the conversation with Caleb was actually somewhat anti-climactic.”

Having grown up the child of a congregational rabbi, Caleb was used to living in a fishbowl, which had its own challenges. Heller said, “I always ask his permission before sharing any story about him (a few years earlier, I gave a sermon about teaching him to drive). I had thought several times about giving a version of this sermon, but it was only in December that I felt that he was secure enough in himself for me to talk about him. Caleb told me that it was very emotional for him to watch the sermon with his partner.”

The sermon provoked considerable conversation, with some congregants expressing support. Others disclosed to Heller that they had LGBTQ+ members in their family but had not shared that information widely. Some just hadn’t given consideration to the idea that a truly inclusive congregation can’t just be tolerant, they have to be actively welcoming of LGBTQ+ Jews.

Norry concluded, “I hope for Natanya to seek a Jewish partner and raise Jewish children. … We are beyond heteronormative-only values.” ì

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EDUCATION

How to Score Your Dream Summer Internship “Having an internship with the Global Marketing team at Nutanix helped me find what I wanted to do with my future career,” said Ilana Bonell, a recent UGA graduate who

By Flora Rosefsky majored in advertising and minored in design and media.

In January, Bonell began full-time work at Nutanix, with the same team she interned with.

Her trajectory suggests that landing a summer internship that syncs with your desired career path is a great way to further build your resume and improve your chances at regular employment.

Jodie Goldberg wants to further her Ethan Engel is on his way to Eli Minsk has successfully run his own However, education consultant Mark D. interest in law with an internship. a summer internship in Israel business in retail arbitrage throughout through the Onward program. high school and college, preparing Fisher says that “a student should not think that him to find a summer internship. they are the only ones applying for that position.

It becomes even more important to apply early and not As a freshman, he noticed that many internships pel Hill. Throughout school and now college, Minsk has procrastinate.”

The AJT spoke to Jewish metro Atlanta college stu- run his own business in retail arbitrage, allowing him to were looking for students who were sophomores or dents and educators to get their perspectives on sum- seek summer internships without pay. He said, “money juniors, so he focused on those LinkedIn listings that is not my number one priority now; it is simply to get didn’t mention an age requirement. Minsk also netmer internship success.

Eli Minsk, a graduate of The Davis Academy and work experience in the business world, preferably in works by reaching out to his parents’ friends and contacts, and has even considered working in New York North Springs High School, is a freshman at UNC Cha- something finance-related.”

City, although he said, “leaving Georgia is not ideal, with needing a place to stay as one reason.”

To learn more about navigating the summer internship application process, Minsk reads books like Grant Cardone’s “Sell or Be Sold.” He says that the author lays out advice on how to sell yourself to others, such as during a job interview, by being initially sold on yourself.

Jodie Goldberg, a junior attending Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, is a history major with a double minor in Spanish and music. She began searching for a summer internship during the fall of 2021, with the plan of attending law school after graduation. Her college directly helped her get one internship, while networking by a parent proved to be invaluable for a second one.

Muhlenberg’s history department had sent out an email describing a paid summer internship for two or three research assistant positions, working directly with a professor at the University of Nebraska. The work — digitizing court cases from 19th century runaway slaves — combined history and legal studies. Goldberg thanks her mother for leading her to the second internship with Atlanta Legal Aid, where she saw a Facebook posting for licensed attorneys.

Goldberg responded by asking about summer internships. “I spoke about my pre-law career track and how working for Atlanta Legal Aid aligned with my future plans. I also pointed out how my being fluent in Spanish could reach out to people who appreciate getting legal help from someone who speaks the same language,” she said. Final acceptance for the internships and her decision are expected by the end of the semester.

In November 2021, having never been to Israel, but having heard from many UGA alumni that it was an incredible experience, Ethan Engel, a 20-year-old UGA 34 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

EDUCATION

Educator Mark D. Fisher suggests college students start early when seeking a summer internship.

Iris Wickham followed her interest in corporate philanthropy to find a paid summer internship with NortonLifeLock, a cybersecurity company that shared her philosophy.

sophomore from Marietta, was the first to apply for a summer internship with the Onward program. Engel participated in two virtual interviews and submitted his resume and an essay that spoke about his affinity for management consulting and helping businesses figure out their models. He said that the Onward internship is “an awesome opportunity, where the acceptance is based on learning more about your field of interest … and to do it in Israel! There are so many tech startups and new business ventures there.”

Engel is looking forward to being introduced to real world situations and working alongside the people making decisions, in crucial moments such as when a startup launches a new product. Already thinking ahead to his junior year, he said, “I will apply to all of the large management firms as soon as possible to get a summer internship in 2023, knowing it will be more competitive to find one going into my senior year. But for this summer, the Onward’s internship, where I will be living in Tel Aviv, is the right decision for me.” Engel appreciates his parents’ support for this opportunity, and for agreeing that he should “value the experience over the salary.”

Iris Wickham, a sophomore at Emory, is pursuing a double major in anthropology and finance. Using LinkedIn as her primary resource, Wickham followed her interest in how corporate philanthropy can impact the world to find a paid summer internship with NortonLifeLock, a cybersecurity company that shared her philosophy. When asked how she successfully attained a paid internship as a freshman, Iris said, “I used my freshman year to find my passions and become as involved as possible, and I think that shined through to different companies. It took countless applications, but I received invaluable experience this past summer and I would encourage all freshmen to apply to internships that interest them, even if the positions seem out of reach.” Now, having started to search for her next internship this past fall, Wickham hopes to find an opening at an impact investing firm that will help her gain additional experience.

Bonell’s advice for interns looking for a full-time position? “It’s very important to show your manager you are willing to put 110% effort into all of your projects. Make sure to always ask questions and learn about

GSU Associate Professor Michael Shapiro is the undergraduate internship coordinator in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.

the team you are working with.” She says the more experience you have before you graduate, the more likely you are to get the job you are looking for. “LinkedIn is a great spot to apply to internships and make connections with other professionals!”

As a clinical associate professor in Georgia State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Michael Shapiro also serves as the undergraduate internship coordinator.

He says the search for college internships should start as early as possible. Indeed, Shapiro begins working with students more than six months before they go out into the field, since internships give college students the “real life experiences they need to complement their coursework.”

After an interview with a potential internship employer, he recommends that interns correspond with a brief “thank you” message, which helps to build a professional network. The message should remind the person about how they met, thank them for taking the time to talk with the student and close with a statement that leaves the door open for future contact. While the message can be sent via email, a handwritten note goes a long way toward making a favorable impression, Shapiro says.

Fisher, the education consultant, says that “one of the best ways to learn about possible internships is talking to the staff that works in a career center or an administration office specifically working for internship opportunities. One needs to understand their potential careers. For the company sponsoring the internship, the advantage is that they get to know the student as a potential employee. That saves the company time and money in obtaining employees.”

For students who excel in time management, or who already know what career they hope to pursue, the competitive search for internships can start from November and run through January and February. It’s an early bird’s world out there, and those who wait till spring or the end of their second semester may find themselves missing out. ì

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ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 35

EDUCATION

Hillel’s Climate Initiative Takes Aim at Anti-Semitism

Mark Rotenberg, the vice president for University Initiatives & Legal Affairs at Hillel International, developed the new Campus Climate Initiative.

By Flora Rosefsky The term “climate” isn’t limited to global warming. On college campuses, the term has come to describe the cultural environment or climate of attitudes, ideas and actions — especially when it comes to diversity of opinion.

“One of Hillels of Georgia’s priorities is ensuring that Jewish students on our 20 campuses across the state are able to proudly express their Jewishness and support for Israel free from antisemitism and anti-Israel hatred,” said Hillels of Georgia CEO Elliot B.

36 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

“We are striving to create a campus community where every student has a voice and a place on our campus,” said KSU’s Vice President of Student Affairs Eric Arneson.

Elliot B. Karp is CEO of Hillels of Georgia.

Valerie Chambers directs the Hillel at KSU.

Karp.

Now, Kennesaw State University (KSU) and Hillels of Georgia have announced that they will participate in Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) cohort for the 2021-2022 academic year, where they will receive guidance and training on how to push back against anti-Semitism on campuses.

Mark Rotenberg, the vice president for University Initiatives & Legal Affairs at Hillel International who developed and oversees the climate initiative, said, “CCI was formed to help universities understand that their

commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion for all students must also include a focus on how anti-Semitism affects Jewish students.”

According to Rotenberg, Hillel International didn’t keep track of anti-Semitic incidents until 2013, when it recorded 27 such incidents. In 2021, when most campuses were closed due to COVID-19, Rotenberg said, “we recorded over 235 incidents from Hillel’s field staff and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL),” which works with Hillel to coordinate canvassing and reporting efforts.

In light of this spike in numbers, Hillel

determined that it could not leave its thousands of field professionals and students across 550+ campuses worldwide to fend for themselves. The organization decided to partner with administrators to maintain a positive campus climate.

Valerie Chambers, the Hillel director at KSU, said that “Kennesaw State University is a very diverse and open campus with more than 42,000 students. We believe there are nearly 600 Jewish students at KSU and are very fortunate that many are active in Hillel activities, including nine who serve on our Hillel Student Board. Our students, for the

EDUCATION

KSU Hillel’s Student President Avital Shimon says, “I’ve never felt like I have had to hide who I am or be ashamed of it” on campus.

most part, feel safe and openly express their Jewish identities while on campus. The University administration is also very supportive of Jewish students and Hillel. They are tremendous partners helping to ensure that antiSemitism is kept in check. Nonetheless, when there are issues, especially microaggressions, they are prepared to work with Hillel and our students to combat anti-Semitism and educate the entire campus community.”

She went on to say that President Kathy Schwaig, Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Eric Arneson and their entire administration is receptive to the Campus Climate Initiative.

“We are striving to create a campus community where every student has a voice and a place on our campus,” Arneson told the AJT. “The CCI presents an opportunity to better understand and appreciate the challenges our Jewish students face and gain their perspective on how to make our campus more inclusive.” He noted that CCI represented an extension of the strong relationship KSU has with Hillels of Georgia, which “has helped us support and learn from Hillel on how to best serve our Jewish students.

“The CCI program dovetails perfectly into our action plan around the President’s Task Force on Race. The learning from the CCI program can be a useful tool in training and education of our campus community. We also plan to continue our strong relationship with Hillel to partner on programming and educating the community on all issues around preventing and responding to intolerance in any form.”

Avital Shimon, the president of KSU Hillel’s board, says she feels proud to be Jewish at the university. “I’ve never felt like I have had to hide who I am or be ashamed of it. I have actually been able to grow my Jewish network, take on leadership positions and make others feel proud to be Jewish,” she said. Personally, she says, she has not experienced any forms of anti-Semitism on campus, where students are proud to wear Jewish symbols and to come together for things like Bagel Break and Shabbat.

“Hillel gives students the opportunity to embrace being Jewish and gives them the comfort of having a second home.”

The CCI Cohort program for KSU administrators is one way to ensure that students like Shimon continue to feel safe on campus.

Rotenberg wants to see other Georgia universities like Emory, UGA and Georgia Tech follow suit and join the next CCI cohort. The goal, he says, is for these schools to adopt a DEI agenda where “Jewish students can be proud and feel comfortable wearing a T-shirt with an Israel motif or feel safe having a mezuzah affixed to one’s door.” ì

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EDUCATION

JewishGen Offers Poland Trip for College Students JewishGen. org, Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland and The Matzevah Foundation are seeking Jewish students interested in the second annual Jan Jaben-Eilon JewishGen Future Scholars Fellowship program, which will take them to Poland this summer.

The subsidized trip is open to thirdand fourth-year undergraduates, as well as graduate students, and will take place July 5 to 14.

The first fellowship program was held in 2019, but because of the COVID pandemic, it did not take place in 2020 or 2021. According to Steven D. Reece, founder of Atlanta-based Matzevah Foundation, “we choose to act as if we’re going, until we can’t,” referring to the always-present uncertainty created by the pandemic.

In announcing this summer’s 10-

“The ideal is to find scholars who are interested in this field,” said Steven D. Reece, an ordained Baptist minister and founder of The Matzevah Foundation.

day immersive trip, JewishGen said that it will focus on the role of Jewish cemeteries today in preserving the memory and legacy of former Jewish communities in Poland. Participants will help

ing, n r a le f o e v lo a Building fe. li r o f s ip h s d n ie and fr

clean up a Jewish cemetery, learn about symbols and epitaphs on tombstones, the general state of Jewish cemeteries in Poland after the Holocaust and efforts to preserve them from a communal, political and Jewish legal perspective. Six students will be chosen to join Polish college students in cleaning up a cemetery in Przysucha.

Prior to the work at the cemetery, the fellows will tour the Jewish Heritage Museum in New York before traveling to Warsaw, Lublin and Krakow. They will also tour Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the largest concentration camps in Poland.

The only cost to the students is a $350 non-refundable registration fee.

JewishGen reached out to Reece in 2018 about creating a fellowship program for students, he said. The Matzevah Foundation, launched in 2010, has been involved in 38 projects renovating Jewish cemeteries in Poland, working with as many as 1,350 volunteers from 13 countries. The typical project has about 10 volunteers on the ground.

Reece, an ordained Baptist minister who speaks fluent Polish and has lived in Poland, created the Foundation to facilitate reconciliation between Jews and Poles. “On a practical level, for me, the outcome isn’t the restoration of a cemetery, but the restoration of a relationship which was endearing. Jews gave birth to Christianity,” he said.

He said he asked himself, “if JewishChristian relations are strained, how do

I work beyond the impasse? It should be Christians who take the first step because the Shoah happened during the Christian reign in a Christian country. Ninety percent of the people were Christian. The theological aftermath of the Shoah was very difficult. We were viewed as perpetrators. We need to understand the devastation that resulted from Christians standing idly by.”

Prior to attending theological school, Reece was a photojournalist.

Now he sees himself as a builder of bridges between Christians and Jews, primarily in Poland. “We’re not talking about macro changes, but micro changes” in relations between the two cultures, he said. “The ideal is to find scholars who are interested in this field.”

The student group is being kept small to allow for more intimacy and create closer relationships with the Polish students, he explained. Two other leaders will also accompany Reece.

“Ultimately, we would like to create a university course that offers college credit,” he added, noting that the program will provide kosher food and honor Shabbat.

The European Union, of which Poland is a member, requires COVID vaccinations, although it’s too soon to know how stringent the testing requirements will be. “Our participants will need to be vaccinated,” said Reece. Anyone interested in more information should visit www.jewishgen.org/fellowship/. ì

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EDUCATION

Newman Takes New Post as JF&CS Parent Coach

By Marcia Caller Jaffe Cari Newman, a classroom teacher for 26 years, recently moved to a new center within the Clinical Department at Jewish Family & Career Services that focuses on improving mental health by strengthening and building resilience in families and children.

“The Parent Coach position in the Horwitz-Zusman Child & Family Center has allowed me to do what had increasingly become one of my favorite parts of teaching,” she said, “helping parents better understand their children and working with them on problem-solving day-to-day challenges. In addition to my work as a teacher, I had been consulting with families ‘on the side’ for over 17 years. At JF&CS I get to do it full time! Guiding parents to think and act proactively (instead of reactively) can profoundly shift how parents and kids interact. Parents want to build a more joyful family life but aren’t sure where to start. I show them.”

Parents often seek a parent coach when they’re ready to develop a vision for their family and take action. Some parents seek a coach to get help with identifying family values and making decisions that align accord-

ingly. Others come to Newman when they are at “the end of their rope.” Newman focuses on the present without spending time exploring how parents have ended up where they have. She helps them pinpoint immediate challenges, articulate goals, develop strategies and create an action plan for building or repairing family systems.

“Every family is different,” she says, “so the process, tools, and techniques for every family are different, too. The amazing thing about the Child and Family Center that I haven’t seen anywhere else is that I can work in tandem with JF&CS’s gifted therapists to create a multidisciplinary team. If a parent or child is seeing a therapist here, we can all partner to support the entire family system.

That’s incredibly powerful.”

Newman believes that parents have always worried about their children, but that anxiety has skyrocketed recently, especially after the last 18 months of collective trauma.

Both children and childhood have changed.

“Whether people parent just like their own parents or try to forge a different path,” she says, “it’s often hard to know if you’re doing the right thing. Sprinkle in a partner whose approach is different, kids with unexpected

or divergent needs or judgmental onlookers and you’ve got a really challenging situation.”

On a practical note, Newman’s advice for parents is to listen carefully to your children and validate what they are feeling. Validating doesn’t mean always agreeing with what they are saying, but parents give feelings a soft place to land. It’s hard to do this when you think your child is off track, but listening without attempting to teach, guide or fix the situation can go a long way in building trust.

Newman, a third-generation native Atlantan, graduated from AJA and Yeshiva High School. She studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and graduated from Emory with a bachelor’s in religion. She earned her master’s in teaching from Simmons College in Boston and taught there before moving to Italy to teach at The American School of Milan. After returning to Atlanta, she worked at the Lovett School, the Epstein School, and most recently, High Meadows School for a decade. Her husband, Jonathan, is an English teacher and speech & debate coach at Lovett.

Their children graduated from High Meadows and now attend The Weber School.

When asked what her children think

As a parent coach, Cari Newman helps parents better understand their children and works with them on solving day-to-day challenges.

of her coaching, Newman said, “My kids are excited for me. They watched me struggle mightily with the decision to leave a school and people I love to try something new. I’ve been in a classroom every year since kindergarten, so I’m hopeful that watching me be a risk-taker will help encourage them to try new (and scary) things throughout their lives.” ì

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AJFF AJFF Goes All Virtual in 2022 For the first time in its 22-year history, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is going all virtual.

Starting Feb. 16, the entire line up of 55 Bob Bahr films will be streamed and available to watch at any time during the 12-day festival.

The festival had planned to offer a number of theatrical releases, including the opening and closing night programs, as well as in-person showings of its young professional night film and a special latenight classic.

But all of that was scrubbed on Jan. 20, after the program guide had already been printed and a little over a week before the full lineup of films was publicly announced. The last-minute decision was made by the festival board, based on the recommendation of a COVID-19 task force of healthcare professionals that has been working closely with the festival all

The AJFF’s executive director, Kenny Blank, was forced to cancel all in-person theater showings at the 2022 festival less than a month before it was scheduled to begin.

year.

According to Kenny Blank, the longtime executive director of the festival, the decision was a painful one, made only after considerable deliberation.

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in the middle of January,” he recalled. “We have always said we would let the science and the data drive our decision-making process. There’s a whole host of considerations to look at here, but ultimately, it is a safety-first determination. It was clear that, in this current environment, it was not safe to bring audiences together for a sustained 12-day period in theaters.”

The socially distanced 2022 festival will open on Feb. 16 with the East Coast premiere of “The Survivor,” a new film by veteran director and producer Barry Levinson. The opening night program will feature a conversation between Levinson and Ben Mankiewicz, the host of Turner Classic Movies.

The film, which includes a bravura performance by star Ben Foster, is about a Polish Holocaust survivor who tries to start his life anew in America but is haunted by memories of his experiences in Auschwitz, which he survived only because in boxing matches put on for the amusement of the camp guards he successfully fought for his life. The losers were executed.

Based loosely on the true story of Harry Haft, a Jewish boxer and survivor of Auschwitz, who once fought in the ring with Rocky Marciano, the middleweight boxing legend.

At press time, the festival was still completing its lineup of celebrity guests for at least 16 of its films. Mariette Hartley, whose long career as a star in film and television goes back to the early 1960s, has been scheduled to appear for the world premiere of a film she wrote and in which she stars, “Our (Almost

Completely True) Story.” Also booked are the Israeli filmmaking brothers, Yoav and Daron Paz, whose historical thriller, “Plan A,” is set in Germany in the aftermath of World War II. This year’s festival offerings, culled from the hundreds of films reviewed by the festival’s volunteer screening committee, feature a number of outstanding productions, including a half dozen films that are having their North American premieres in Atlanta. Among these is the selection for Young Professionals Night, “Love and Mazel Tov,” a German romantic comedy about a young doctor who pretends to be Jewish in order to pursue a relationship with a woman he has fallen for.

Also having its American debut, on Feb. 27, is “Woman of Valor,” an Israeli documentary about how an Orthodox woman defies the conventions of her religious community to become a social activist and political leader. The film is in the running for the festival’s Jury Prize for Best Documentary, one of six prizes that will be awarded this year.

Several of the films to be screened come laden with honors; among them, the highly controversial “Ahed’s Knee,” by acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid. The film won the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for eight Ophirs, Israel’s top movie award. (I’ll be introducing the film at the festival.)

Another film to watch is the Israeli

AJFF

“Greener Pastures” is an Israeli comedy about a group of seniors who discover medical marijuana.

2021 Was A Year Like No Other $72M+ PENDING & CLOSED The distinguished Israeli film director Avi Nesher contributed “Image of Victory,” which is set during Israel’s War of Independence.

“Love and Mazel Tov,” a romantic comedy from Germany, is the Young Professionals Night selection.

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AJFF comedy “Greener Pastures,” which was nominated for 12 Ophirs, including Best Film. It tells the story of an Israeli nursing home resident who finds romance and a new source of income by dealing medical marijuana to those who live in his senior community.

“Image of Victory,” which revisits Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, was made by the veteran Israeli film director Avi Nesher, whose films have been audience favorites in past years at the AJFF. It has been nominated for 15 Ophir Awards.

In an effort to recreate some of the personal moviegoing experiences of the past, the festival has brought back its Virtual Lobby, a series of seven informal discussions of important issues raised by the year’s offerings.

Like so many important cultural and entertainment events, this year’s AJFF faces formidable competition from the unprecedented growth of online streaming platforms with a seemingly vast array of offerings at little or no cost.

But, according to Blank, this avalanche of content lacks the personal touch that has made the festival such an important Atlanta celebration.

“We miss that we don’t have that op-

“The Survivor,” starring Ben Foster, is about a Polish Holocaust survivor who tries to start life anew in New York after the war.

portunity to see our audience face to face and see the experience and the transformation that happens when they come out of the theater and watch these movies. No one wants to see us back in theaters more than the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival staff. They have been so com-

mitted, so dedicated, so creative and just relentless in finding ways that the great show everyone has come to expect from us will go on.”

For those who have bought tickets to the festival in the past, the 103-page program guide should be arriving by mail

byearly February. Ticket sales for the general public begin at noon on Feb. 9. For more information, visit www.AJFF.org.

The video trailer for the 2022 AJFF is available at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ntEt8NIJz2w ì

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ARTS & CULTURE Local Jeopardy! Champ Recalls Her Winning Run Before Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio delighted Jeopardy! fans, audiences of the show cheered as Debbie Wexler won backMarcia to-back games Caller Jaffe and qualified for the Tournament of Champions, taking home over $43,000 prize ($85,000 today).

“Believe it or not, I played five games in one day,” said the local grandmother and retired nurse. “We took five outfits to change into. It was quite taxing. They offered us food in between games, but I was too nervous to eat and wanted all the blood flow to stay in my brain, not my stomach!”

Wexler’s winning streak began in 1993 and ended with her loss in 1994. She excelled especially in the medical and scientific categories, but did less well in

Current Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider has captured the hearts of viewers.

sports and pop culture, like TV shows.

Wexler finds that some questions are simply generational. “Recently a question was about the PT-109 [WWII boat captained by John F. Kennedy] and the

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Debbie Wexler with late host Alex Trebek, showing off her winnings.

don’t want to lose by $1,” she said, “but younger folks had no idea,” she said.

Jeopardy! first aired back in 1964. In calculate a winning wager just over the 1984, Alex Trebek took over as host until opponents. Yes, skillful clicking is the his death in 2021. Since then, Mayim Bialik, hardest part. Very frustrating.”

On set, the contestants were manwho is Jewish, has landed one of the two priaged by handlers, even escorted to the mary hosting gigs, second to Ken Jennings.

“Yes, technology has changed, but restroom. They were not allowed to chat the game is still the same,” Wexler ex- with Trebek. Wexler recalled that she plained. “In my case, I found success in shared with Trebek and the audience retrieving much of the things I learned in that she collected earrings and played junior high and high school. I have keen tennis in Atlanta’s ALTA tennis league.

“We contestants became tight memories of the tryout process, what it was like later in the studio and mingling friends. We still send holiday cards and with the tight group with whom I was se- keep in touch. We figured that the only thing we had in common is that we were questered for the championship round.”

After sending in a postcard, Wexler or are from New England, somehow. was picked to audition at the downtown Most importantly, we were very supportive of each other.”

Americana Hotel. FlyUntil current ing through the anJeopardy! whiz Amy swers, she was slated to Schneider came along, appear on the show in none of the top chamLos Angeles, at her own pions had been female. expense. She rememAs her winning streak bers that in the champrogressed, Schneider pionship round her announced that she expenses were covered. was transgender. Is “When I got the gender a factor? Wexcall to head West to tape Wexler is now a grandmother of ler said, “Stop dwelling the show, I immediately three and a member of The Temple. on differences. It’s ircalled my parents to come stay with the kids. It was also funny relevant. I saw a photo of past winners that the show was pre-taped and we were who were evenly male and female.”

Wexler has a photo from her time sworn to secrecy. In November we had to on the show displayed in her home. It is pretend it was St. Patrick’s Day!” Wexler’s other strategies: critical indeed a special memory. “After all,” she clicker timing (not too soon, or one gets laughs, “there I was, a floor nurse, when a shut out, though waiting too late is a di- patient looked up from her TV and cried, saster) and analyzing calculations on the ‘How did you get here? I just saw you on Daily Double and Final Jeopardy. “You the screen!’” ì

ARTS & CULTURE

Robbins' New Novel Finds Silver Lining in Misfortune Tw e n t y seven years ago, Roni Robbins inherited a well-worn cardboard box with ten audio tape cassette recordings of her grandfaBob Bahr ther, Simon Farkas. These tapes contained reminiscences of Farkas’s long life, told over a two-year period, before he died at the age of 85.

From the recordings, Robbins learned how her grandfather had been born in a small town in the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe, how he had made his way to Canada, where he jumped ship and eventually made his way to America, married and had a family of five, including Robbins’s mother.

Along the way, there was tragedy and joy, adversity and achievement and a summing up of the many lessons Farkas had learned.

Now, all these many years later, those tapes have become the inspiration for Robbins’s new novel, “Hands of Gold: One Man’s Quest to Find the Silver Lining in Misfortune.”

Robbins, a former staff writer for the Atlanta Jewish Times — and, later, the paper’s associate editor — has used the tapes to weave a tale of Jewish family life against the backdrop of modern American and world history.

When she was first given the tapes, Robbins had just recently married and was beginning her own life as a parent in Marietta. As she rode along in her car listening to them with a young child in the backseat, she learned from her grandfather the deeper lessons of life.

“I was becoming a parent; he also was a parent. I mean, I guess I began to understand him more. I imagined what he was like as a younger man and meeting the woman of his dreams and I think that I was just fascinated with learning about him at this stage, versus learning about him like when I was a child, when he was just grandpa.”

After Robbins’s second child was born almost 23 years ago, her imagination shaped the dramatic adventures that had made an imprint on her grandfather’s life, how he had survived tuberculosis during the 1930s by becoming an early human guinea pig for new antibiotic treatments.

And how he had had the good fortune to live when so many of his family in Europe had died in the Holocaust — how so much

Roni Robbins with the first shipment of her new book, “Hands of Gold.”

Robbins’s grandfather, Simon Farkas, with the author at her bat mitzvah.

“Hands of Gold” is set against the backdrop of Jewish life of the last 100 years.

in his life was shaped by the love of family and faith in G-d. Meanwhile, in the five years that Robbins worked on the book while her young family was growing, she too was changing.

“I learned to appreciate the importance of family life while family members are still living. I really think that is one of the main messages I learned, to leave your legacy behind in some ways.

He passed on to my mom, who passed on to me, not just the tapes, but his love of Judaism, his love of music and literature, the food we all loved so, and the Yiddish that I have made a part of how he speaks in the book. That’s what family life is like.”

Finding a publisher for her book, Robbins admits, was almost as hard as writing it. It took 15 years to find someone who would actually commit to putting the novel between covers.

“I didn’t know I could get a book published,” she said. “I think, mostly, I learned about how persistent and determined I am, and just how much luck plays a role in your life. Being at the right place at the right time. I got my publisher through a cousin, a family member, and because of that I’ve helped other writers.

I think that that’s something I’ve learned from the whole process, you have to help people and then it will come around and it will help you, too.”

Today, Robbins’s two children, who were just toddlers when she began thinking about the book, are grown and starting adult lives of their own. The book and its publication are, in a sense, part of a living link that ties it all together.

Although she calls her book “Hands of Gold,” it could just as easily be described

as strands of gold that have been woven out of her life, her imagination and her love of family.

“I hope that this is my legacy,” Robbins said. “This is what I’m passing on to my children, that they should appre-

ciate those that came before them, too, because like me, you are who you are because of where you came from.”

“Hands of Gold” is available from Amsterdam Publishers and as a Kindle ebook. ì

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ARTS & CULTURE

Museum of Southern Jewish Experience is Open Though representing less than 1 percent of the population of southern states, and only 2.1 percent of the nation’s JewSuzanne Katz ish population, Karlick Southern Jews have made a substantial mark on the communities where they’ve lived. From Jewish mayors, sheriffs, council members and civic leaders to entertainers and educators, Jews have played major roles in the nation’s “Bible Belt,” a region steeped in deep Christian faith.

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, which opened in New Orleans in 2021, shines a light on the varied experiences of these strangers in a strange land. Here, three Jewish Atlantans select their favorite artifacts from the museum and share their memories of growing up in the Big Easy.

Susan Hart Sandler Community Quilt, 1885 Gallery 1

“My growing up Jewish in New Orleans was all about community — not just in a local sense, but regional, as well. My father, Carole B. Hart, along with two of his brothers, was raised in the Jewish Orphan’s Home, an orphanage created for traditional and nontraditional orphans. My grandmother was widowed when my father was an infant, had to go to work to support her family, and moved from Texas to New Orleans. He always stressed how fortunate he was to have had such incredible support, support that impacted his life and his actions as a community leader. As a result, I was ingrained with the values of chesed and tzedakah.

“I grew up knowing the value of community. I attended Isidore Newman School, created as the educational facility for the children of the orphanage. I became active in SoFTY (Southern Federation of Temple Youth) and spent summers at Henry S. Jacobs camp and conclaves (Jewish youth conventions), together with friends from the region (Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Ar-

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48 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Three Jewish Atlantans — Barbara Ducoffe, Deborah Lamensdorf Jacobs and Susan Hart Sandler — share memories of growing up in New Orleans.

Deborah Jacobs chose this cotton tallit, which she made from cotton grown on her greatgrandfather’s land in Cary, Miss. (Credit: The Museum of Southern Jewish Experience)

kansas). I learned firsthand what it meant to be Jewish from my regional friends — those who were members of the only Jewish family in their community; those who experienced anti-Semitism, many times due to the lack of education of others; the challenge of celebrating holidays in the midst of a predominately Christian society. It helped to solidify my identity such that I pursued Jewish communal work as my profession.

“To this day, my closest friends are those I met through our regional Southern community. We remain connected through our common Jewish heritage. The Museum provides all of us the opportunity to learn and experience the history, the artifacts and stories that solidified the Jewish South, and now share its very rich heritage.”

ris Grundfest purchased in 1919. I realized this cotton land presented the perfect opportunity to create Jewish artifacts for our family. I handwove this cotton tallis for my father, Ben Lamensdorf, during the same time that I handwove the tallitot for my sons’ bar mitzvahs. The white cotton yarn contained in each tallit was spun from cotton grown on Morris Grundfest’s farmland. This tallis is on loan to the MSJE and used by our family on special occasions.”

Deborah Lamensdorf Jacobs Cotton Tallit, ca. 2000 Gallery 2

“Growing up in a small yet culturally diverse Mississippi Delta town, it was a privilege and a responsibility for our family to represent Judaism to our neighbors. The MSJE is the best answer to the question, ‘What was it like being Jewish in a small Southern town?’

“In 1884, at the age of 15, my great-grandfather, Morris Grundfest, emigrated from Minsk to the Lower East Side of New York.

In 1892, he married Mollie Bernstein, from Pinsk, and three of their eight children were born in New York. Hearing from other Jewish immigrants about opportunities in the Mississippi Delta, Morris and Mollie relocated the family in the late 1890s and he began supporting his growing family as a peddler. He built his general store, M. Grundfest, in Cary, Miss., and in 1919 had the opportunity to purchase 200 acres of cotton land.

“My family did not have Jewish artifacts from our ancestors. However, we still own and farm that first piece of cotton land Mor-

Barbara Ducoffe Tzedakah Box, ca. 1960s Gallery 3

“Though I have lived in Atlanta for over 50 years, New Orleans is still my home. I also feel equally welcome in many Mississippi places, as I have visited them frequently.

Many of these small Jewish communities are dying or gone now. The MSJE has kept these communities, artifacts, legends and peopleto-people contact alive.

“I am especially proud of my first cousin Macy Hart, who had the foresight to see and do something about the small-town Jewish losses. MSJE would not exist without his proactive career. So many of the South’s children ended up in larger cities like Atlanta or New Orleans, but their roots will always be in their beloved hometown, even if the opportunities weren’t there.

“I feel a special pull to two objects that represent my formative years. The cap (#7) reminds me of my dad’s service during World War II. He never spoke about his times in the army, but I knew he was my hero! The tzedakah box touched me, as Rabbi Feibelman was my rabbi growing up.

Rabbinic, sincere and certainly a traditional reform rabbi, he was a role model for our entire community.

“Atlanta and New Orleans are connected by these common links, people to people.”

ARTS & CULTURE Visit the Museum of Southern Jewish Experience from the comfort of your armchair, with a self-guided tour of the collection, organized by the museum’s curator, Anna Tucker.

Gallery 1: From Immigrant to Southerner

Artifact #1: Cigarette Case, c. 1910s. Jewish immigrants to the American South often had to make hard decisions about what to bring with them. This small silver case, likely used to hold cigarettes, was one of several items brought by Sarah and William Holtzman when they emigrated from Russia in the early 1900s, eventually living in Lake Charles and New Orleans, La. (Donated to the MSJE Permanent Collection by Edythe H. Sofer, daughter of William and Sarah (Howsoniker) Holtzman.)

Artifact #2: Travel Trunk, c. 1900s. Fearing conscription into the Russian army and seeking political freedom, Jewish immigrant Rachmiel “Robert” Shapiro immigrated to the United States in 1905. Shapiro’s transcontinental journey included secretly crossing the Russian border before gaining passage on a ship departing from Bremen, Germany, and landing in Galveston, Texas. (Donated to the MSJE Permanent Collection by Carla Klausner.)

Artifact #3: Community Quilt, 1885.

This Victorian-era quilt, made by the Jewish Ladies’ Sewing Circle of Canton, Miss., likely was raffled off in support of Canton’s Temple B’nai Israel. The congregation had only recently opened its doors in 1879, following setbacks from the yellow fever epidemics of the 1870s. The quilt was organized by Bertha Loeb and features the asymmetrical designs

and variety of fabrics common in the “crazy quilt” style. Each square features hints to the quilters’ identities and interests, and names like “Mary,” “Leon,” and “Sam” were stitched into the fabric among embroidered beetles, keys and flowers. (Donated to the MSJE Permanent Collection by Isabel Wile Goldman in memory of Bertha Loeb.)

Artifact #8: Tzedakah Box, c. 1960s. Rabbi Julian Feibelman of Temple Sinai in New Orleans supported numerous social justice causes during his leadership from 1936 to 1967, including civil rights initiatives and interfaith dialogue. This tzedakah (charity) box included a specially applied label designating the funds donated for social justice. (Donated to the MSJE Permanent Collection by Temple Sinai, New Orleans, La.) farm in rural Oklahoma shortly after his arrival. He would later serve overseas in World War II. (Donated to the MSJE Permanent Collection by the Daube Family.)

Artifact #4: Georgia Tech sheet music, 1911 [on loan from the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum]. Michael Greenblatt of Atlanta, Ga., is credited with arranging Georgia Tech’s well-known fight song, “Ramblin’ Wreck.” Originally from Knoxville, Tenn., Greenblatt moved to Atlanta following his service in the Spanish-American War. A talented trombonist, Greenblatt later served as bandmaster for the Atlanta police and the Georgia Power Company and became a fixture of numerous social and religious institutions across the city, including Ahavath Achim, Scottish Rite and the Mayfair Club.

(On loan from the Ida Pearle and Joseph Cuba Archives for Southern Jewish History at The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, Ga.)

Gallery 2: Foundations of Judaism

Artifact #5: Cotton Tallit, c. 2000s. The cotton for this tallit was grown by Ben Lamensdorf on land purchased by Morris Grundfest in Cary, Miss., in 1919. Woven by Morris Grundfest’s granddaughter, Betty Lee Lamensdorf, and great-granddaughter Deborah Lamensdorf Jacobs, it represents generations of the Lamensdorf family. It is accompanied by a kippah donated by Louisville-based Rabbi Gaylia Rooks and turn-of-the-century tefillin from the Bowden-Silverman family of Portsmouth, Va. (Tallis on loan to MSJE from Mike Lamensdorf and Deborah Lamensdorf Jacobs.)

Gallery 3: Entering a New Era

Artifact #7: USAAF Cap, c. 1944. Fred Kahn of New Orleans, La., served in the South Pacific toward the end of World War II. His cap, shown here, bears an insignia reflecting his role as an aerial photographer with the Army Air Forces (USAAF).

(Donated to the MSJE Permanent Collection by Catherine Cahn Kahn.)

Artifact #9: Krewe du Jieux Bagel, 2019. During Carnival season, krewes (parading groups) are known for their unique “throws” that they toss to the crowds.

Krewe du Jieux, the original of two Jewish parading organizations, became famous for their satire and decorated bagels. (Donated to the MSJE Permanent Collection

by L.J. Goldstein.)

Artifact #10: Various mezuzot. These mezuzot, donated by members of the MSJE Mezuzah Society, reflect the diversity of Southern Jewish experiences. In addition to the range of styles — from classical to glitter to sports-affiliated — each mezuzah also carries its own story, often reflecting generations of history in the American South. ì

Artifact #6: Haggadah, c. 1930s. Albert Daube’s relatives in Ardmore, Okla. sponsored him to immigrate to the United States in 1937, enabling him to escape Nazi Germany. This Haggadah is one of only a few possessions owned by Albert from the pre-war period. Albert is pictured here on his relatives’ ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 49

DINING Daily Chew Makes Eating Healthy Taste Good

Marcia Caller Jaffe

In November, Julia Kesler Imerman, founder and owner of Stop Think Chew, opened a new walk-up window and neighborhood café, Daily Chew, on Liddell Drive, just

off Cheshire Bridge Road.

Kesler has carved out a reputation for herself as a holistic meal prep and farmer-forward chef who combines her South African and Jewish roots to offer nourishing, quick-service food and beverage options. The new café features a full coffee and tea program, with specialty coffee selections from Atlanta-based BRASH Coffee Roasters.

The newly renovated interior is now open and seats 30-40 customers. It will soon be available as a rental space for private parties. The patio will open when weather permits.

Kesler notes that food delivery has been “big business” during the pandemic. “Really my food and catering are bespoke,” she says. “My goal is to serve people colorful, intentional and simply delicious food that supports your body and the planet. Bowls are gluten-free, yes, delicious and good for you.”

Asked about how she represents the various elements of her cross-continental cultural background, Kesler said, “On the South African part, brekkies, rooibos teas and malva, a sweet, sticky pudding cake with fruity jam and a spongy caramelized texture.” On the Mediterranean side, Daily Chew serves labneh (strained yogurt that has had its whey removed) and the ever-popular hummus.

“Our tahini has its own spin and is substituted for mayo in items like tuna salad,” Kesler says. “Our delicious chocolate chip cookies are even made with it.

We do a lot with preserved lemon, for example, in our labneh, where a whole 12-oz. jar sells for $7.”

The Chew concepts have been created to work together. Stop Think Chew is a holistic meal prep delivery, private chef and boutique catering company that operates out of the same location and is committed to supporting Georgia farmers, while Daily Chew offers and sells a variety of pre-packaged Stop Think Chew provisions, including pro50 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Julia Kesler Imerman has carved out a niche in Atlanta’s sustainable food world. // Photo Credit: Kate Blohm

From left to right: salmon pita, green tahini veggie pita and all-day Brekkie pita. // Photo Credit: Kate Blohm

Smoked salmon and preserved lemon labneh pita are popular items. // Photo Credit: Kate Blohm

tein and veggie bowls, salads, entrees, soups, dressings and other popular offerings.

A separate line of prepackaged provisions is available at other health-conscious locations like Nuts and Berries, Kelly’s Market in Decatur and Lucy’s Market. Kesler is also active in the mutual aid organization Free99Fridge, which places refrigerators around town to pro-

The new Daily Chew features a walk-up window and neighborhood café on Liddell Drive.

The newly renovated interior seats 30-40 customers.

Selection of Daily Chew menu items, including pitas, veggie-filled bowls, rotisserie chicken and cabbage plate, crunchy fries, daily housemade juice and little gem wedge salad. // Photo Credit: Kate Blohm

vide food to those in need.

Here’s what we sampled at Daily Chew: The harissa roasted cauliflower side ($6) has all the signs of having been roasted but isn’t too spicy.

Citrus marinated beets ($6).

Tuna salad pita made with scallions and a dash of cumin, and roasted tomatoes. Huge portions!

Locally smoked Verlasso salmon bowl ($16) with capers, dill, sumac, a tasty green tahini blended with avocado and herbs and preserved lemon.

Creative combinations of radishes, feta, greens, grains, zatar are all so artfully arranged that one must inquire, “Just what is a Jammy egg and Aleppo pepper?”

Daily Chew is located at 2127 Liddell Drive NE. (404) 600-4155. ì

Chai Style Art

Kim Jackson recently accepted a consulting job in Paris.

Morkie Coco looks on. // Credit: Howard Mendel

Kim Jackson’s Eclectic Art Inspired by South Africa Recycling, intimacy, science, sex and nature are just a few of the subjects of Kim Jade Jackson’s original, often largescale paintMarcia ings. “My work Caller Jaffe erupts biologically,” Jackson says. “This is pure knowledge that we cannot escape — our very nature. We are all human, connecting and attaching in molecular ways paralleling the building blocks of science on a cellular level.”

On canvas, Jackson strives to capture all of this as “a dance connecting humans in extreme love and grace across time and space.”

Her garage studio is full of parts and

pieces that represent everything from amoebas reproducing to racial tensions in South Africa to Saguaro cacti. Her works have intriguing titles like “The Way We Lay” (2018). “I paint to rediscover myself as a contemporary visual artist awakened from the backward gift of the COVID virus,” she says. “It reminds us of who we truly are. We cannot escape our nature.”

Mother of a teenager and married to commercial real estate investor and developer Dion Meltzer, the super-talented Jackson can be spotted on Roswell Road, Manhattan, Paris or London on any given day.

Jaffe: You’ve been described as “philosophical and esoteric.” Describe the basis for your own art.

Jackson: Much of the activity goes on in my garage studio, as you see the huge canvasses and variety of materi-

als. I really do not have a linear process.

I may go over a piece three or four times.

Most of my work is 2D, but I’m venturing into 3D, too. I don’t like to pick a lane. My latest series is founded in nature — I’m interested in evolution and where we come from at the microscopic level and beyond, into the spiritual realms. On top of some of my oil and acrylic paints, I apply all sorts of mixed media: ping-pong balls, straws and now I am experimenting with modeling clay. My larger paintings sell for around $9,000 to $11,000; I have smaller works that range from $1,200 to $2,500. Many of my limitededition prints are affordable, about $300$400.

Jaffe: Which works of others do you treasure here?

Jackson: Mostly South African artists. In the formal living room, over the mantle, is an oil painting by John Murray,

Kirsten Sims and William Kentridge. Carrol Boyes, who is credited with putting South African design on the map, was my stepmother. I was the creative director of her brand for nine years, but since her death in 2019, I have been pursuing new art, creating and consultancy roles.

The Carrol Boyes home décor brand originated in Cape Town and can be found in over 30 countries and 24 stores, known for functional art with a sense of humor and surprises like seeing a human figure as a pitcher handle. My kitchen displays many of her pieces.

Jaffe: Where does your interior design work fit in?

Jackson: I lived in London for seven years, working as a design director for Kelly Hoppen, who has links to the British royal family. There I designed the first-class cabins for British Airways and directed photoshoots of vast interiors ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 51

CHAI STYLE

Jackson examines two of her larger works: (left) “Kali” and (right) “Absence and Presence,” portraying South African themes.

around Europe. Neiman Marcus carried many of our products. After some burnout, I segued into contemporary painting, as my foundation was in fine arts. I am now consulting for a Paris-based interior design firm evolving a new brand, which is my passion. I love seed development projects. I will occasionally commute to France as I work on a new atelier and range of products. My art will also be featured in the brand’s showroom.

Above: The Jackson dining room is centered around a reclaimed railroad wood table Kim designed. Her work, “Attunement 2021,” is in the background.

Below: In the formal living room, Jackson’s mantel boasts two pieces by John Murray and Kirstin Sims. Others are handblown by London glass artist Anthony Stern. The silver large vase is a Carrol Boyes.

52 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Jaffe: How has your South African background influenced your work?

Jackson: I was born in Cape Town,

graduated from university with distinction with a BFA, majoring in design also there. I spent some good years in London, which is why my “accent” has more of a “clip.” My father’s family came from Eastern Europe and my mother’s family came from London and Germany and sold their business just before WWII to flee to Amsterdam, while some went to New York City. There is always “Africa” in me, which influences my work in an intimate way and also surfaces in my home aesthetic. I come from a lineage of artists.

Right: This étagère separates the kitchen from the formal living room. It features Murano and Italian glass bowls, African meat platters and found objects from Jackson's travels.

Jaffe: Your “Tikkun Olam” project

CHAI STYLE benefits South African craftspeople?

Jackson: I’m on the board of Monkeybiz, which empowers Black women living in the poorest regions of Cape Town who produce work that has sold at Sotheby’s and been heralded and endorsed by celebrities like Donna Karan, Annie Lennox and the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. COVID has presented an additional challenge in exporting these goods, along with declining tourism to South Africa. Their beadwork is tied to the ancient South African tradition of meticulous embroidery-like beading. My black-and-white beaded poodle in the den is created by a collectible bead artist.

Jaffe: You recently had a show at the Brooklyn Art Fair for Emerging Artists.

How did that unfold?

Jackson: The response to my show in New York was incredible; and a big collector purchased my work. It was always a dream to show there, and my goal is to find a gallery there to represent me. New York is a city that continues to inspire me. ì The scarlet-hued den displays some dramatic Jackson paintings. (Left wall) “Untitled” and (center) “The Plan.” Large black canvas is “Powerhouse.”

Above: Jackson's “Seedlings Group,” acrylic and ink on canvas.

Above: Jackson often incorporates room design into her paintings. Here: “What Does Home Feel Like?”

Left: Kim collects stepmother Carrol Boyes’s home accessories, like these knives with a sense of humor.

Right: Jackson creates mixed media layers on her garage studio floor.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 53

CALENDAR DREAM HOU$E — Select Dates through Feb. 13 DREAM HOU$E follows two Latina sisters on an HGTVstyle reality show who are selling their family home, hoping to capitalize on the gentrification in their “changing neighborhood.” As they perform for the camera, one sister grapples with turmoil in the family’s ancestral past while the other learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the family’s future. What is the cultural cost of progress in America — and is cashing in always selling out? Purchase tickets from Alliance Theater at https://bit. ly/3twVqyz.

FEBRUARY 1-15 Conversations on Zionism: Digital Media Warriors — 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Join Jewish National Fund-USA for a series of interviews, panel discussions and more — all meant to facilitate a dialogue and expose the beautiful and diverse facets of modern Zionism and its positive impact on many aspects of our lives, no matter where we are on the globe. More information found at https://bit.ly/31OfOA0.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s Insider Preview — 7 p.m. Join us for the premiere of the 22nd annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Insider Preview. Shot on location at Trilith Studios in partnership with the Georgia Film Academy, this year’s show will take fans behind the scenes of a working Hollywood soundstage as Holly Firfer and Jason Evans introduce the 2022 AJFF film lineup. Find out more at https:// bit.ly/3sZGSax. Jewish Mindfulness — 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Join Chabad of Fulton for Meditation from Sinai: Mindful Awareness and Divine Spirituality to Help You Think, Feel, and Live More Deeply. Register at https://bit.ly/3ta1kWl.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 AJFF Kicks Off 2022 — All day to whet your appetite for the upcoming Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, we’re doing something unprecedented: a FREE SHORT FILM EVERY WEEK in the Virtual Cinema. This specially curated collection of new shorts is another perfect opportunity to try out the Virtual Cinema before the festival begins.

This week’s film is The Day Before Creation. Get the link for this film by visiting https://bit.ly/3qQUeTR until Feb. 1.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3 PrimeTimers Coffee with Rabbi Jordan — 10 a.m. Grab a beverage and head over to Zoom to spend time with Rabbi Jordan and your PrimeTimer Friends from Congregation Dor Tamid. Get the Zoom link by visiting https://bit. ly/3Cg2QZ6.

complicated emotions. This group is intended for those experiencing longstanding estrangements from family members. Group meetings will focus on processing and supporting one another. To learn more and to register, visit https://bit.ly/3G2BEOQ. Atlanta Jewish Academy High School Girl’s Chagiga — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“Today is going to be a good day and here’s why…” For Girls, By Girls! Chagiga 2022 is just around the corner! Ladies, please join us to enjoy “Dear Eden Hurwitz.” Purchase tickets at https:// bit.ly/3tw2g7H. Virtual Infertility Support Group — 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Join Jewish Fertility Foundation for a FREE virtual support group, open to any woman currently experiencing infertility! RSVP at https://bit.ly/337vOgC to receive the private Zoom Link and password.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5 Shabbat L’Kulam – Shabbat for Everyone! — 9:10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Join us at Congregation Etz Chaim for this fun, new approach to Shabbat morning services. There will be different opportunities throughout the morning to “create meaningful Jewish experiences” to be celebrated by all. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3KjQzXx. Story Time with Rabbi Jordan — 9:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Join Rabbi Jordan from Congregation Dor Tamid for Story Time on Facebook. Visit https:// bit.ly/3xfpywO to get the link.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4 Friday Night Tot Shabbat — 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Join Congregation Etz Chaim for Tot Shabbat Friday night. There will be a potluck dinner, crafts, songs, dances, and fun. Find out more at https://bit.ly/396ku42.

Tot Shabbat and Kiddush Lunch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Join Congregation Beth Shalom every Shabbat at 11 a.m. for an interactive Tot Shabbat where we sing, play and engage in fun activities, followed by a wonderful Shabbat Kiddush lunch together. Visit https://bit. ly/3rZrU3J to get more information.

Family Estrangement Support Groups — 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Being estranged from loved ones brings mixed and

www.atlantajewishconnector.com

Tot Shabbat — 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Come join Dor Tamid for Tot Shabbat. RSVP required at https://bit. ly/3AaHRFt.

Calendar sponsored by the Atlanta Jewish Connector, an initiative of the AJT. In order to be considered for the print edition, please submit events three to four weeks in advance. Contact community relations director Diana Cole for more information at Diana@atljewishtimes.com.

Etz Chaim Tot Shabbat — 5:45 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Join Congregation Etz Chaim for a Potluck Dinner, followed by services, with crafts, songs, dances and fun! Visit https://bit.ly/31vQX3B for more information.

Find more events and submit items for our online and print calendars at:

54 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Acoustic Shabbat Cafe’ – Alon’s Bakery (Dunwoody) — 6 p.m. Join Rabbi Glusman from MJCCA, Drew Cohen and other local musicians for a soulful evening of music, prayer and words of inspiration in celebration of Shabbat. Food and wine available for purchase at Alon’s Bakery and Market.

Arrive early to order food and reserve your table. Learn more at https://bit. ly/3FvMGwo.

Etz Chaim Super Bowl of Trivia — 7:30 p.m. Join 3 Score and More or Less for a fun evening of trivia. Test your knowledge of entertainment, history, sports and so much more! Visit https:// bit.ly/3t2miGx to purchase.

An Evening of Jazz with Joe Alterman — 8 p.m. Atlanta native and pianist Al-

terman returns to the MJCCA with his trio for ONE NIGHT ONLY for a dazzling evening of swinging jazz. Purchase tickets at https://bit.ly/3FYfNIo.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6 Yom Rishon at Etz Chaim — 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Join Congregation Etz Chaim every month on the Sunday after Rosh Chodesh as our synagogue minyan

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES Torah Reading: Terumah Friday, FEBRUARY 4, 2022, light candles at 5:53 p.m.

Saturday, FEBRUARY 5, 2022, Shabbat ends at 6:50 p.m.

Torah Reading: Tetzaveh Friday, FEBRUARY 11, 2022, light candles at 6 p.m.

Saturday, FEBRUARY 12, 2022, Shabbat ends at 6:57 p.m.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7 Peachy Parsha — 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Join Intown Jewish Academy Mondays at noon as we discuss and explore the weekly Torah portion while enjoying a delicious lunch! Get the information to order lunch and RSVP at https://bit. ly/3enslxi. prays in solidarity with Women of the Wall, which has been struggling for 33 years to assemble, pray aloud and read Torah at the Western Wall on Rosh Chodesh. Services are about 30 minutes (both men and women are welcome to lead parts of the service) and are followed by a brief breakfast and a report on what happened at the Western Wall on Rosh Chodesh. Visit https://bit.ly/3G2i2dZ to learn more. program at Congregation Or VeShalom for children ages 3 to 7. Register at https://bit.ly/3k2JcIV.

“Composting at Home” presented by the North Fulton Master Gardeners — Spring 2022 Gardening Lecture Series — 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Learn the value of compost for your garden, the steps involved in making compost at home, and how to best use it in your garden. North Fulton Master Gardener George Scesney has many years of composting experience to share. Register at https://bit.ly/3t1S5HQ.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8 Bereavement Support Group — 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Grief and loss of loved ones bring about complicated and mixed emotions. This support group aims to foster a safe and healthy environment to process these feelings and support people in mourning. To register, visit https://bit.ly/3q2IX2w.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9 Kabbalah & Coffee — 9:30 to 11 a.m. Discuss, explore and journey through the world of Jewish mystical teaching and learn how to apply these profound teachings to your daily life. This ongoing class through Intown Jewish Academy probes the esoteric through a unique program of English text-based study. No prior Kabbalistic experience required. Remember: The best part of waking up is coffee in your cup and Kabbalah in your “kop” (“head” in Yiddish)! Get the Zoom link by visiting https://bit.ly/2UJtM2w.

Building Blocks — 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Building Blocks, Come Grow with Us is our new monthly Sunday School

Couples and Conversation: Building a Life Together as an Interfaith* Couple — 12 to 1 p.m. Being part of an interfaith/Jew-ish/multi-faith/ however-you-define-yourself couple can be challenging, but you don’t need to find the answers alone. This workshop by 18Doors Atlanta offers a safe environment to work on creating your religious/cultural lives together.

It is intended for seriously dating, engaged and newly married Jewish/ interfaith couples. Register at https:// bit.ly/30Ic0Q3.

Atlanta Jewish Bowling League — 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. All adults are welcome! We meet every Sunday at 6:30 p.m. and bowl 3 games per night. Visit https://bit.ly/3yYlEZU to get more information.

Atlanta Jewish Academy High School Girl’s Chagiga — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“Today is going to be a good day and here’s why…” For Girls, By Girls! Chagiga 2022 is just around the corner! Ladies, please join us to enjoy “Dear Eden Hurwitz.” Purchase tickets at https:// bit.ly/3tw2g7H.

NCJW Atlanta General Meeting and Program — 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

General meeting and program Learn more at https://bit.ly/3q20LMq. Jewish Mindfulness — 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Join Chabad of Fulton for Meditation from Sinai: Mindful Awareness and Divine Spirituality to Help You Think, Feel and Live More Deeply. Register at https://bit.ly/3ta1kWl.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10 PrimeTimers Coffee with Rabbi Jordan — 10 a.m. Grab a beverage and head over to Zoom to spend time with Rabbi ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 55

Jordan and your PrimeTimer Friends from Congregation Dor Tamid. Get the Zoom link by visiting https://bit. ly/3Cg2QZ6.

Mami Confessions —7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Join Lorraine Rodríguez-Reyes along as she takes audiences into an unrestricted examination of motherhood. From childbirth to the empty nest and everything in between, the emotional rollercoaster ride of maternal love is brought to life through real-life stories from women of all ages and circumstances. Lorraine portrays 10 mothers who are fierce, funny, protective, loving, sad, joyous, proud, unapologetic, remorseful, provocative and amazing women. Purchase tickets at Kennesaw State University College of the Arts by visiting https:// bit.ly/3IcHv4Y.

she’s willing to sacrifice for the family’s future. What is the cultural cost of progress in America — and is cashing in always selling out? Purchase tickets from Alliance Theater at https://bit. ly/3twVqyz.

Couples and Conversation: Building a Life Together as an Interfaith* Couple — 8 to 9 p.m. Being part of an interfaith/Jew-ish/multi-faith/however-you-define-yourself couple can be challenging, but you don’t need to find the answers alone. This workshop by 18Doors Atlanta offers a safe environment to work on creating your religious/cultural lives together. It is intended for seriously dating, engaged and newly married Jewish/interfaith.

Register at https://bit.ly/3t45gYK.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11 Alec Chien — 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Pianist Alec Chien returns to the Carlos Museum at Emory after a stunning performance of the Beethoven Piano Sonata Series last season. Register at https:// bit.ly/3zz4G6d.

Pediatric Anxiety Disorders in the Frum Community — 7:30 p.m. Join the Blue Dove Foundation to reframe our children’s common experiences as neurodiverse exceptionalities and positive members of the Orthodox community and create an educational network to support parents of children of all ages with anxiety disorders. We want to erase the stigma of such disorders and help parents and children feel less alone. Get the Zoom link by visiting https://bit.ly/3AvHztS. Couples and Conversation: Building a Life Together as an Interfaith* Couple DREAM HOU$E — Select dates through Feb. 13 DREAM HOU$E follows two Latina sisters on an HGTVstyle reality show who are selling their family home, hoping to capitalize on the gentrification in their “changing neighborhood.” As they perform for the camera, one sister grapples with turmoil in the family’s ancestral past while the other learns how much 56 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Mami Confessions — 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Join Lorraine Rodríguez-Reyes along as she takes audiences into an unrestricted examination of motherhood.

From childbirth to the empty nest and everything in between, the emotional rollercoaster ride of maternal love is brought to life through real-life stories from women of all ages and circumstances. Lorraine portrays 10 mothers who are fierce, funny, protective, loving, sad, joyous, proud, unapologetic, remorseful, provocative and amazing women. Purchase tickets at Kennesaw State University College of the Arts by visiting https://bit.ly/3IcHv4Y.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12 Story Time with Rabbi Jordan — 9:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Join Rabbi Jordan from Congregation Dor Tamid for Story Time on Facebook. Visit https:// bit.ly/3xfpywO to get the link.

Saturday Tot Shabbat — 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Join Congregation Etz Chaim for Tot Shabbat. Join other families with young children and sing songs, tell Torah stories, create crafts, enjoy challah. Find out more at https://bit. ly/3zP0UEk.

Tot Shabbat and Kiddush Lunch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Join Congregation Beth Shalom every Shabbat at 11 a.m. for an interactive Tot Shabbat where we sing, play, and engage in fun activities, followed by a wonderful Shabbat Kiddush lunch together. Visit https://bit. ly/3rZrU3J to get more information.

Mami Confessions — 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Join Lorraine Rodríguez-Reyes along as she takes audiences into an unrestricted examination of motherhood.

From childbirth to the empty nest and everything in between, the emotional rollercoaster ride of maternal love is brought to life through real-life stories from women of all ages and circumstances. Lorraine portrays 10 mothers who are fierce, funny, protective, loving, sad, joyous, proud, unapologetic, remorseful, provocative and amazing women. Purchase tickets at Kennesaw State University College of the Arts by visiting https://bit.ly/3IcHv4Y.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13 Kabbalah & Coffee — 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Discuss, explore and journey through the world of Jewish mystical teaching and learn how to apply these profound teachings to your daily life.

This ongoing class through Intown Jewish Academy probes the esoteric through a unique program of English text-based study. No prior Kabbalistic experience required. Remember: The best part of waking up is coffee in your cup and Kabbalah in your “kop” (“head” in Yiddish)! Get the Zoom link by visiting https://bit.ly/2UJtM2w.

Play Tamid — 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Play Tamid is led by Rabbi Jordan from Congregation Dor Tamid. Enjoy crafts, songs, fun activities and more. Play Tamid is for kids under 4 with their par-

ents/guardians. Learn more at https:// bit.ly/3BfP8nH. Atlanta Jewish Bowling League — 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. All adults are welcome! We meet every Sunday at 6:30 pm and bowl 3 games per night. Visit https://bit.ly/3yYlEZU to get more information.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14 Peachy Parsha — 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Join Intown Jewish Academy Mondays at noon as we discuss and explore the weekly Torah portion while enjoying a delicious lunch! Get the information to order lunch and RSVP at https://bit. ly/3enslxi.

MJCCA Literary Book Club — 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Join former Atlanta JournalConstitution book reviewer and book club facilitator Greg Changnon for one of Atlanta’s most interesting and thought-provoking book clubs. This group meets each month to discuss a critically acclaimed piece of literature. “We Begin at the End” by Chris Whitaker. Get the Zoom link by visiting https://bit.ly/3ITlBEV.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15 Virtual Infertility Support Group — 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Join Jewish Fertility Foundation for a FREE virtual support group, open to any woman currently experiencing infertility! RSVP at https://bit.ly/337vOgC to receive the private Zoom link and password.

“Pruning & Maintaining Shrubs” presented by the North Fulton Master Gardeners — Spring 2022 Gardening Lecture Series — 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

North Fulton Master Gardener Willis Lanier describes why, when and how to prune some of the most common shrubs in North Georgia. Register at https://bit.ly/3HFpyMe.

CONNECTOR CHATTER Directory Spotlight www.atlantajewishconnector.com

SVIVAH

The Temple

In conversation with Ariele Mortkowitz, founding director

In conversation with Summer Jacobs, engagement coordinator

How long has your organization been in Atlanta?

SVIVAH began in 2019 in the Washington, D.C. Jewish community. When the pandemic began, we became a national organization, gathering an audience from Toronto to Atlanta to L.A. and around the globe! We have been longtime partners of The Blue Dove Foundation and MACoM and have worked closely with many educators and communal professionals in the Atlanta area.

How long has your organization been in Atlanta?

The Temple has been in Atlanta since 1867 and was Atlanta’s first official Jewish institution.

How do you cater to the younger members of the community?

SVIVAH is incredibly proud of our diverse, multigenerational audience.

One of the most precious aspects of our work is creating spaces for different generations of women* to come together to learn from one another and share their lived wisdom with each other. While we do not particularly cater to young children, we welcome young women* 12+ to all of our gatherings eagerly and with pleasure.

How does your organization help the community?

SVIVAH’s mission is to empower, strengthen, and nourish Jewish women* through community. SVIVAH is a multigenerational, diverse, powerful collective of Jewish women* who deserve to be inspired, supported, connected and celebrated. In Hebrew, svivah means “to surround her” and that is precisely our goal. SVIVAH is women-designed, women-run and women-centered, connecting women to each other, to cross-generational wisdom, to Jewish learning and to the resources we need, all in an inclusive, diverse, women*-only space. We do this by curating Jewish communal faith experiences with women at the center, by producing wide-ranging programming and by amplifying and partnering with organizations in line with our values. SVIVAH is committed to creating communal empowerment and support for women, nourishing us as individuals while making us more powerful as a collective. (*SVIVAH defines “Jewish woman” as anyone wishing to be included in a circle of Jewish women.)

How does your organization help the community?

For 154 years, The Temple has been inspiring lives and transforming our world. In everything we do as staff, clergy and community, we aim to inspire new ways of knowing and being, so that we can engage with the most exciting and most challenging issues of our day. The Temple has had an unwavering commitment to social justice dating back to the Civil Rights movement, which eventually led to The Temple’s bombing in 1958 by white supremacists. Currently, The Zaban Paradies Center operates on our campus, providing a place to stay for homeless couples. We heed the call for Tikkun Olam through our Rothschild Social Justice Institute and seek to affect positive change on the local level and beyond concerning ten broad societal issues of our time: Anti-Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, Environment and Climate Change, Gun Violence Prevention, Homelessness, LGBTQ Inclusivity and Equality, Jewish-Muslim Relations, Racial Justice, Women’s Rights, Public Education and Refugee Resettlement.

How do you cater to young members?

Our Young Professionals come together to have a good time, do social justice work and bridge our Jewish backgrounds with personal interests. We have a monthly Shabbat service, “The Well,” where spiritual prayer meets great music meets Judaism with Rabbi Sam Kaye and Rabbi Micah Lapidus. It’s a really unique experience. As an entryway into the evening, we have a Temple Connect group for Young Professionals known as “Well Done.” It is a group where our folks learn to make international recipes and a craft cocktail that is brought to The Well for everyone to enjoy. We also have a men’s group known as “The Backyard” and a women’s group known as “Women of the Well.” There is both separate programming for the two as well as overlapping programming. Our signature experience is a 3-day yoga retreat in the mountains to balance our minds, bodies and souls.

New Toco Shul

In conversation with Reuven Travis, executive board chair How long has your organization been in Atlanta?

Six years.

How do you cater to the younger members of the community?

By offering intellectually diverse classes and programs on Judaism and how it confronts the changing times we live in.

How does your organization help the community?

Given our size, our reach does not often extend beyond our immediate community, but we are there for our members, both in good times and challenging times, offering friendship and support (including financial, if needed).

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 57

COMMUNITY Chabad of Rural Georgia Launches Outreach Campaign R a b b i Chaim and Chayala Markovits are on a divine mission. Traveling throughout rural Georgia, their goal is to connect with Debbie Diamond every Jewish person throughout the state to ignite their neshama (soul) with a love of Judaism and spirituality. While this may seem a lofty goal to pursue, the powerhouse couple is determined to make it happen — all with the help of Hashem.

The impetus to develop a program to reach Jews in rural Georgia began when Rabbi Yossi New, regional director of Chabad of Georgia and head rabbi for Congregation Beth Tefillah, led a panel discussion at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival following the movie, “Outback Jews,” a few years ago. The documentary followed a group of Chabad rabbis who seek out Jewish people living in rural

Three generations of the Edelson family in LaGrange enjoy a home visit with Rabbi Markovits.

Australia.

“I had been going to Blue Ridge, Georgia for monthly Torah classes, and I always had contact with several other Jews in rural Georgia,” said New. “After seeing the movie, I thought why not de-

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velop a formalized program here to reach out to Jews in rural areas, many of whom are unaffiliated?”

He set out to interview several possible candidates and felt certain he had found the right couple when he met the Markovitses. Rabbi Markovits, originally from Australia himself, spent 15 years in rabbinical school and graduated with an advanced rabbinical degree in Pretoria, South Africa, before becoming a rabbi.

Chayala Markovits worked at the Chabad Children’s Network, organizing youth programs that are used by Chabad centers throughout the world.

COVID was rampant and most of the state had shut down when the Markovitses arrived in July 2020 to launch Chabad of Rural Georgia. Never a couple to run away from a challenge, they knew they had to be creative in order to reach Jews during a global pandemic. They began by reaching out to Jews in Blue Ridge, LaGrange, Columbus and Macon, offering private Zoom calls for Torah lessons and introductions. They traveled throughout the state, often accompanied by Yonatan Hambourger, a recent transplant from Los Angeles who hosts a regular Shabbat text broadcast. They met people outside, on their front porches, to share mezuzot, lay tefillin, or simply to kibbitz (chat).

In 2021, the couple hosted a seder in Macon and well-attended menorah lightings in Blue Ridge, Columbus and Macon.

In LaGrange, Stephen Edelson helped host a Chanukah party for the community. “Rabbi Markovits arrived with kosher Chinese food from Atlanta in what turned out to be a fun and educational evening of fellowship,” said Edelson.

Andi Biron and her family in Macon attended many of the Chabad events

Stephen Edelson shakes the lulav and etrog in the pop-up sukkah in LaGrange.

there. She points to the family-friendly nature of their gatherings and says she particularly enjoyed the shofar-making class and recent menorah lighting. “My children do not have Jewish friends here, so it’s nice for them to have opportunities to interact with other Jewish kids,” Biron said.

What may be most important to Jews in rural Georgia, according to the Markovitses, is knowing that they have a connection to Judaism — and a rabbi who cares about them — day or night.

Chayala recalled one particular evening when they had made plans for a “date night.” As they were heading out the door, they received a call from a man who explained that his mother only had a day or two to live. “Instead of going out, we immediately cancelled our plans so my husband could be with her. He drove the hour to Griffin so he could spend time with her before she passed in the morning,” she said.

Rabbi Markovits tells another story about a seder held at the Macon Marriott last year. As the hagaddah reading was coming to a close, a big, burly man in a motorcycle helmet burst into the room, shouting in a thick Brooklyn accent, “Chag Sameach! What are you all doing here?” The man, who had been adopted by a Jewish couple in New York, was in Macon to meet his birth sister and heard prayers coming from one of the meeting rooms off the hotel lobby.

The man was thrilled to find a Chabad seder taking place and began to cry as he pulled a photo of the late Rebbe Schneerson from his wallet. He spoke about meeting the Rebbe as a child and regretted his decision to skip his own seder. As more tears fell, he told the cou-

COMMUNITY

Rabbi Markovits and Leo Tenenbaum fulfill the mitzvah of affixing a mezuzah to the doorposts of his home.

ple, “I had such an emotional day meeting my sister, and now G-d has brought me here to this seder in Macon, Georgia.”

Stories of lives touched in rural Georgia abound. Well-known Georgia comedian Jerry Farber, now a resident of Columbus, recounted the positive impression Rabbi Markovits made on every-

A six-hour porch visit with Harvey Cohen and Sue Silverman in Young Harris sets an all-time record for Chabad of Rural Georgia visits.

one he met during a recent visit. “I am a big fan of Rabbi Markovits. We sat outside when he came to Columbus, and he met several of my Jewish and non-Jewish friends who came by to visit with us. He was so interesting, thought-provoking and kind that a week later, everyone was still asking me about him,” Farber said.

The town of Blue Ridge joins the Jewish community for Chanukah menorah lighting.

Following in the illustrious footsteps and highways of Georgia, they are deof their forebearers, the Markovitses are termined to find each and every one of committed to inspiring Jews throughout them, to light up their hearts and homes rural Georgia. The Baal Shem Tov, the with spirituality and a love of Judaism.

Anyone interested in getting founder of the Chassidic movement, beWhat would happen if your death occurred whileinyou were lieved that Jews who need spirituality the volved or supporting Chabad of Rural What if death occurred at your seasonal residence most are often the most difficult to find. Georgia may contact them at rabbi@ chabadruralgeorgia.com.

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COMMUNITY

What Is Your Favorite Possession?

By Chana Shapiro

kreplach? I have a card for that!

It took me a while but I managed to get Mom to write down the directions, as she remembered them from her Bubbie, to all of those wonderful recipes that connected her to home. I watched her for years, and then, when she just didn’t have the energy, it was my turn. I’m still working on perfecting tongue and mandelbrot.

On her 90th birthday, we presented her with a cookbook, “Ladles of Love,” containing all those recipes. She autographed each and every book for all the members of our family, the same way she lovingly tended her chicken soup and matzo balls (no box mix!). I hope those cards and cookbooks will be a prized possession with my children and grandchildren to connect their past with the future.

1957, I was looking through a book that we carried with us, listing gun values. I was afraid we’d overpaid for the 1863 Manhattan Navy we’d just purchased because the length of the gun barrel makes a difference. Rather than continuing home to measure our gun’s barrel, Mother turned into a local dime store, bought a ruler and measured our gun. We were both very relieved that we had purchased the correct gun!

As an adult, thinking about our collecting, it seemed rather bizarre. Why would a dignified Southern lady, under five feet tall, who had never touched a gun, not only take me to collect them, but also get into it herself? Collecting antique watches, cuff links or tie pins would have made sense, but antique guns? I asked my mother and she explained that, at that time in my life, I was a stutterer, and she noticed that when I was involved in buying and bargaining, I didn’t stutter as much. She figured that perhaps the want ads, Peachtree Battle basements and gun shows would help me with my stuttering.

the musical, “Man of La Mancha,” or had any paraphernalia related to the show, I would know that our relationship was bashert, as so many other serendipitous events had already transpired that pointed to us getting back together.

I had grown up listening to and singing the musical most of my life, as it was one of my father’s favorites, and it had become mine, too. So, when I saw the statue of Don Quixote on the shelf in Scott’s home, my jaw dropped, my heart skipped a beat and I just knew that we would get together. And we did.

Scott gave me the statue as a gift, and it now sits on my mantle as a reminder of the many signs that pointed to our reunion.

Adira Kessler treasures a pet named after lighting equipment.

Rhoda Gleicher steps back in time via a prized possession.

Rhoda Gleicher Everyone in my family would agree.

My mother, a”h, was the best cook and baker, among other attributes. As a Holocaust survivor, she was our bridge to the alte heim (old country) and knew how to make Shabbos and Yom Tov special with her Old World culinary expertise. My most prized possessions are the index cards on which she wrote the recipes for foods that celebrate the holidays of the Jewish year: marble cake for Shabbos, boiled fish head (feh!) and sweet carrot tzimmes for Rosh Hashanah and stuffed cabbage for Sukkot. Want to know how to make delicious p’tcha, chopped liver or

60 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

For Jay Kessler, an antique gun brings back wonderful memories.

Jay Kessler My favorite possession is this 1863 Manhattan Navy Cap and Ball pistol because it brings back wonderful memories of my mother.

When I was 13, my parents brought me a gift of an 1873 Springfield rifle from New Orleans. Who knew that the gift would lead to a mother-and-son growing interest in antique guns?

Mother and I visited gun shows to scout the antique merchandise, and on Sunday mornings we checked the want ads in the paper. She used to say that we’d been in every basement on Peachtree Battle, hoping to buy antique guns.

Driving home from a gun show in

A favorite musical led to a destined reunion for Ann Tamli.

Ann Tamli I’m not one to value physical possessions as much as I treasure people and experiences; however, one of my favorite things that I display prominently in my home is a small, wooden statue of Don Quixote de La Mancha.

When I first went to reconnect with Scott Paxton, whom I dated long before my marriage and subsequent divorce, and whom I now consider my life partner, I told myself that if he was a fan of

Adira Kessler My most precious treasure is my dog, Kino Flo. He is named after lighting equipment used in digital TV, photography and film production. He was a gift to me from my family, particularly my sister, Miriam.

Kino is a white German Shepherd/ Pyrenees mix. We adopted him from a local shelter called “Paws Atlanta.” He was the sweetest (and quietest) dog there. He just looked at us with big, hopeful eyes and I guess it was an instance of hashgacha pratis (Divine providence). Kino is sweet-tempered, beautiful, highly intelligent and incredibly loyal. He is my protector, my snuggler, my buddy.

I love my precious Kino Flo. He is my most valued treasure, and I’m so grateful to have him. I hope he lives an exceptionally long life. ì

COMMUNITY SIMCHA SPOTLIGHT

Bar Mitzvah

Judah Ruben Krisel

Judah Ruben Krisel became a Bar Mitzvah on December 11, 2021, at Congregation Bet Haverim, in Atlanta. Judah is the son of Erica and Howie Krisel and the big brother to Aaron, Jesse, and Sarina. He is the grandson of Joanne and Jim Krisel of Parkland, FL, Albert Amato and Maria Guarisco of Atlanta, and the late Faye Amato.

Judah attends the Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School and enjoys skateboarding and playing soccer, basketball, and flag football. For his mitzvah project, Judah packaged over 75 “warm wraps” of blankets, hats, scarves, gloves, and socks to donate to Compassionate Atlanta to distribute to people experiencing homelessness to help them stay warm during the winter.

Have something to celebrate?

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Share it with your community with free AJT simcha announcements.

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OY VEY

JEWISH JOKE

OY VEY! HAVE I GOT A PROBLEM...

Dear Rachel,

ilderous, sensitive man. Bu e around, to a kind, gen tim d on sec ced the bra ed, em e rri I’v llenge, one I am happily ma s been a tremendous cha ha ily fam ed ionnd dit ble con a g un ing and nurturin l and stepchildren try to give my biologica I as rd ha ing as tiz , ori Yet pri rt. ile with a full hea t their needs second wh hted, claiming that I pu check in with to try I ce, al love, they often feel slig pla e tak one of these fallouts er Aft en. the ldr chi ” her s my situation. Most of those of the “ot nd or Rabbi who know frie se clo a th my wi t ing sul eth con ctions are som myself and/or best, and the sensitive rea my e don e I’v say tly time, I can hones reflecting my failings. rk through rather than r en. But what is a mothe adult children need to wo that they are my childr ren ild pch ste is my ild w pch sho ste I try so hard to m medical school and her l child is graduating fro to do when her biologica ent cities? Reason would the same day- in differ on ool sch ut ng rsi nu m graduating fro uld be leaving him witho logical child’s event wo bio my end t att sn’ to doe g lin ild ugh my stepch dictate that fai uld be to him- even tho sho n tio iga her, obl fat a my t ve ha tha s a mother, and r died). She doe graduation (her mothe her end pste att ll my wi ll o wi , wh r ’s graduation have a mothe Presuming I go to my son . her for s t fes sen pro pre I be y ll wa though, who wi I don’t really love her the is second best and that child forever feel that she n? to? And is that my concer appreciated. be uld wo ns Any suggestio A Loving (Step)Mother

Dear Loving Mother, Oy Vey, what a challenging dilemma! You’re being tugged in two directions, and you can’t win! Can you clone yourself?

On a serious note, I think you’re correct in going to your son’s graduation. You decided, later in life, to add children to your home and heart- and that’s a beautiful accomplishment. That shows how wide your heart is, that you’re willing to give expansively of your time, love, and compassion. Yet, I don’t think that your biological son should be displaced by the newer addition. I think he’s “entitled” to his G-d-given mother.

Please don’t allow yourself to become a punching bag. You mentioned that your children and stepchildren are adults. Just as they are moving on with their lives, you are allowed to move on with your own. You didn’t do something wrong to them by finding a second life partner. So, if either child lashes out at you, try to remember that their explosions don’t make you guilty. Take some time to figure out a thoughtful response, if one is needed, and move forward, secure in your role as devoted mother.

How would I handle this type of challenge? First, I would turn to our Father in heaven. I would plead for the right words and the wisdom to handle this delicate dance. And then, I would try my best to communicate lovingly with my stepchild.

“You mean the world to me,” I would tell her. “And I wish I could be with you on your special day. I’m so proud of you! Look what you’ve accomplished! Would it be possible for us to celebrate when we both come back? It would mean so much to me.”

Can you write her a letter that your husband will give her when he goes to the graduation?

Can you get her a gift? There are many ways to say ‘I love you’ when you can’t be together.

I hope these two children, both vying for your heart, will come to a recognition that you are doing the best you can. All you can do is continue to show unconditional love. Hopefully, as they continue to mature, they will realize that they each have a special place in your heart, and they will learn to accept the reality that whether a child grows inside or outside of you, a mother always loves freely and generously.

Best wishes for your success, Rachel Atlanta Jewish Times Advice Column Got a problem? Email Rachel Stein, a certified life coach, at oyvey@ atljewishtimes.com describing your problem in 250 words or less. We want to hear from you and get helpful suggestions for your situation at the same time!

62 | JANUARY 31, 2022 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Poor Rabbi As soon as Shabbat services have ended, little Benjy walks up to Rabbi Bloom and says, “When I grow up, Rabbi, I’m going to give you lots of money.”

Rabbi Bloom laughs and replies, “That’s really good to know, Benjy, but why do you want to do this?”

Benjy replies, “Because my Dad says you’re the poorest rabbi we have ever had!”

From: Oy! The Ultimate Book of Jewish Jokes

YIDDISH WORD krechtser n. a moaner (also a blues singer) “If this business doesn’t work out I can always run off and become a country krechtser.”

BRAIN FOOD

Song Subtraction

ACROSS

By: Yoni Glatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com Difficulty Level: Medium 1

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ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 63

OBITUARIES Edward Franklin Boze

Lester Malcolm Breen

Edward Franklin Boze died Jan. 9. Ed was a fighter who sucked the last drops of life from the cup he was handed.

Growing up an Army brat, he moved around the world with his parents and brother.

Stops included Japan, France, Alaska and Leavenworth, Kan. By the time Ed graduated high school, his family had landed in Orlando, so he attended the University of Florida, where he was a distinguished student leader, while earning a BA in engineering and an MBA. After college, Ed moved to Atlanta with his new bride, Paula Lancit Boze, of blessed memory. Together, they built a life that balanced hard work with living in the moment. Most importantly to them, they gave their child and grandchildren a loving and supportive family as a base.

In the community, Ed wore many hats. He was an artist, a Scoutmaster, a coach and a founder of Temple Kol Emeth. Whatever he did, he attacked it with a zeal that bordered on obsession. Preparation and determination were his defining characteristics.

Professionally, Ed fought and won in the ruthless investment banking game. But he did it his own way, eventually starting his own firm supporting the development of affordable housing. Working with his son at Boze Capital, Inc. was one of his crowning achievements.

After Paula’s death in 2013, Ed set the greatest example possible for his family. He not only soldiered on; he thrived. Being involved in the details of his son’s and grandchildren’s lives was incredibly important to him. Returning to painting, Ed gained the respect of the Atlanta art community through his positive attitude, work ethic and general love of life. Those who knew him during this time speak of his laughter and support. Through declining health, he never stopped finding ways to find the joy in life.

Ed is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Scott Hunter Boze and Jamilyn; grandchildren, Ava and Hunter Boze and brother Ken Boze. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Olmsted Plein Air Invitational (www.olmstedpleinair. com). A graveside service was held Jan. 12 at Arlington Memorial Park. An online guestbook may be accessed at www.dresslerjewishfunerals.com. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Lester Malcolm Breen passed away on Jan. 15, surrounded by the family he adored and who adored him.

He was a native Atlantan, the son of Rebecca and Emanuel Oscar Breen. He graduated from Grady High School, where his height and basketball skills earned him the nickname “Sticks.” Lester went to Emory University and then to the University of Maryland Dental School. He was in the Navy in San Diego for two years, after which he returned to Atlanta to enter general practice. He was admired by his patients for his genuine caring, gentle touch and concern for their well-being. He was active in dental organizations, serving as president of Alpha Omega and the Northern District Dental Society and chairing several committees for the Hinman Dental Society. He was on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Association of Endodontics. After years in general practice, Lester returned to school for advanced training in endodontics and once again came back to Atlanta, which he always considered home.

In 1968, he married Betty Hutman and they had two children, Ashli and Adam. In his mid-50s, Lester retired from dentistry and wanted to find a new path. He decided to pursue his interest in finance by obtaining his MBA from Kennesaw State University. He then became a portfolio manager for a small investment firm — a new career that spanned 15 years.

Throughout his two careers, he was admired and respected for his kindness, professionalism and ethics.

Lester was always curious and eager to learn something new each day. He loved history, the NYT crossword puzzle, tennis and was an avid reader. He pursued knowledge through continuing education programs, lectures and his own research. He loved a good conversation and respected opposing views. He loved Atlanta and wanted to give back to his community.

He did so through volunteer programs, including tutoring newly arrived Russian immigrants, working in security for the ’96 Olympics and reading to the blind through the Georgia Radio Reading Service.

Lester is loved and survived by his wife of 53 years, Betty; children, Ashli Breen (Jonathan Eisenstat) and Adam (Jill) Breen; grandchildren, Zachary and Evan Eisenstat, Sela and Jonah Breen and sister, Jody (Ramon) Franco. While we mourn his loss, we are grateful for the time we had with him. He was a wonderful role model for his family, a true friend to those who were in his circle, and we are all better people for having had him in our lives. Contributions in Lester’s memory may be made to the UW Foundation, Neutropenia Research Fund 65-7945, c/o Dr. David Dale, 1959 NE Pacific Avenue, Room #AA522, Seattle, WA 98195, or to the charity of your choice. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

73, Atlanta

84, Atlanta

Selma Grabia 89, Sandy Springs

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Selma Grabia was born Jan. 24, 1932 and passed away January 10. She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother and she will be missed by all. Selma is survived by her husband of almost 70 years, Abe, her two sons, Leonard and Steven, her daughtersin-law, Joanne and Cheryl and her two maternal grandchildren, Josh and Brian. The services were for immediate family only, Jan. 12, at the graveside at Arlington Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Lung Association or the American Cancer Society.

OBITUARIES

Sanford Richard Karesh 87, Atlanta

Sanford Richard Karesh passed away Jan. 10. He was born in Augusta, Ga. on Aug. 16, 1934, and lived a full 87 wonderful years.

Born to Ida Karesh and Mose Karesh, Sanford was raised with sister, Sondra Karesh Pritchard. He attended Richmond Academy for high school. Sanford received his undergraduate degree in 1956 from the University of Georgia and his law degree in 1958. While attending law school, Sanford was elected Vice President of his senior law class. He was admitted to the Georgia Bar Association in 1960.

Sanford married his lovely wife, Harriet Roslyn Rothstein, on March 15, 1959. They moved to Atlanta, Ga., where they had their three beautiful children, Babs, Kenneth and Heath.

Sanford was a partner with Kaler & Karesh law firm and then Seacrest, Karesh, Tate & Bicknese for 35 years. His specialty was commercial real estate, business law and petroleum law. Sanford was a member and head usher at Congregation Beth Jacob for 15 years.

Sanford was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and the chairman of the Saturday afternoon Poker Club at the fraternity house. He was always very involved with his community as a member of the Atlanta Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia, the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, the Bar Association and City Club of Buckhead.

Sanford attended every University of Georgia football game for more than 70 years and became good friends with Vince Dooley in his later years.

Sanford’s love was to be with his family, watching University of Georgia football and spending time at Lake Lanier with his wife and best friend, children, grandchildren and friends!

His one sorrow will be that he missed Monday night’s game with UGA vs. Alabama for the championship.

Sanford’s other loves were walking with his group every Saturday and Sunday and then having breakfast. He took many fishing trips with his buddies at Homosassa, Fla. He enjoyed the fishing, shore lunches, playing poker and drinking good bourbon.

Sanford was nominated “Father of the Year” by the American Diabetes Association in 2004, and 99 of his best friends came to honor him at the Fox Theatre, joined by his wife, children and grandchildren.

Sanford was survived by his wife, Harriet Roslyn Rothstein, who was the love of his life and to whom he was married for 62+ years; his children, Barbara “Babs” Helene Karesh (Bill) Kinneary, Kenneth Blake (Sarah) Karesh and Heath Ivan Karesh; and his grandchildren, Jenna Ivey Karesh, Arden Sydney Karesh and Zachary Aaron Karesh.

Graveside services were held Jan. 12 at 3:00 p.m. at Arlington Memorial Park (201 Mt. Vernon Highway, Atlanta, GA 30328). In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org/donate). Please sign guestbook at www.dresslerjewishfunerals.com. Arrangement by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

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ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 65

OBITUARIES

Susan Bolgla Pollock

Sally Rosenberg

Susan Bolgla Pollock passed away on Dec. 18, 2021, in Dunwoody, Ga., after a long battle with cancer. Susan was born in Chicago, Ill. on July 16, 1948. She moved to Augusta, Ga., with her parents, the late Dr. Benjamin Bolgla and the late Raiza Bolgla Berg, when she was two years old.

Susan was very active in the Jewish community in Augusta through a number of organizations, including BBYO. After graduating from the Academy of Richmond County in 1966, she attended the University of Georgia as a member of the Governor’s Honors Program. Susan married Stanley Pollock in Atlanta on Dec. 22, 1968, during their junior year of college. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a BS in education. Susan began her distinguished career in education as a first-grade teacher for three years.

After moving to Atlanta in 1973, and the birth of their first child, Mark, Susan decided to seek work in a related field, child day care, which afforded her more flexible hours to give her more time at home with a young child.

Susan advanced in the day care field from being a teacher to the director of three different preschools. During those years, she was the founding director of the Temple Sinai preschool and worked there for over 20 years. After her last preschool director position, she worked with public schools in Atlanta as a reading instructor until she retired. Throughout her distinguished career, she always cherished her direct contact with young children.

Susan was an avid fan of Broadway theater and enjoyed going to New York and attending multiple plays in one day. She also enjoyed traveling, particularly leisurely trips to the beach, where she could walk along the edge of the water and listen to music.

She also enjoyed regular mahjong games with her friends.

Susan was a wonderful and loving wife to her husband of almost 53 years, Stanley, and a loving and devoted mother to her children, Mark Pollock (Keri), Jennifer Bender (Mike) and Brittany Pollock. She was a marvelous and greatly loved Bubbie to her four grandchildren, Hannah Bender, Max Pollock, Sarah Pollock and Sydney Bender.

Susan is also survived by brothers Harvey Bolgla (Robert), Mitchell Bolgla (Michele) and sisters Beth Bolgla (Jack) and Jan Bolgla (Bob).

Susan was a wonderful person to all who knew her, whether family, friends or colleagues. While she will be missed greatly, she will always serve as an inspiration to all who had the privilege of knowing her. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

The Hadassah Mafia of Atlanta lost a founding member on Jan. 11, when made woman and good gal Sally Rosenberg passed away at 90 years old. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Sally ran books in Cleveland, Buffalo, N.Y. and Atlanta, Ga. Famously punctilious, she did her most notorious work in Atlanta for the Hadassah Mafia, where her numbers running was nearly as legendary as her kugel. Dozens of little old Jewish ladies owe their charitable careers to her way with the books and their mahjong jackpots to her lack of way with the Chinese tiles.

Sally is survived by her sons, Alan and Gregg Rosenberg, whom she claimed to love equally, though clearly favoring Alan. Also, her daughters-in-law, Leslie and Kasia, who were in keen competition for favoritism. She absolutely adored her three grandchildren, Gunnar, Siri and Ana Rosenberg, and sort of tolerated her grand dog, Amber. Her best friends were her sisters and her eldest sister, Harriette Rubinstein, survives. She is also survived by several matzah balls, some chicken soup, laughter which will echo into eternity, a veritable hoard of devoted and loving nieces and nephews and a lot of controversy about who that fart really came from. She joins in heaven her husband, Donald Rosenberg, whose 20 years of peace and rest are at an end, her sisters, Shirley Michael and Ruthie Fels, best friends reunited, and several pets she never really liked. There was a graveside ceremony for all who loved her at Arlington Memorial Park, Sandy Springs, Ga. on Jan. 14. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

73, Dunwoody

Obituaries in the AJT are written and paid for by the families; contact Editor and Managing Publisher Kaylene Ladinsky at kaylene@atljewishtimes.com or 404-883-2130, ext. 100, for details about submission, rates and payments. Death notices, which provide basic details, are free and run as space is available; send submissions to editor@atljewishtimes.com.

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90, Atlanta

Morton Slutsky 84, Atlanta

Morton Slutsky, born and raised in Chattanooga, Tenn., died at age 84 on Nov. 26, 2021, leaving a huge hole in the hearts of family, friends and acquaintances. He attended Baylor Prep School, Vanderbilt University and Tulane Medical School. He did his internship at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, where he fell in love with his boss, the co-administrator of his internship and the love of his life for 58 years, Ina Turner. His General Surgery and Plastic Surgery residencies then followed at the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University Hospital in Rhode Island.

Morton and Ina are proud parents of Bradley (wife Karen) and David (wife Anne) and very proud grandparents to Isaac, Lauren and Sarah, and Katherine and Alanna. Morton is predeceased by his parents, Anetha and Morris Slutsky. Morton’s friends and colleagues would tell you that he was one of the kindest and gentlest of people, with a most inquiring mind. He never stopped learning, taking courses and/or teaching. He especially liked meeting and helping people, both in his medical practice, as well as in social situations and spending time with relatives and friends. His goal was to relate to people so that their lives would be sweeter and more enriched by the relationship.

His family takes great comfort that, in his last day, Morton was as happy as anyone had ever seen him, as he went around the Thanksgiving table, telling each family member who was there how happy and blessed he was by each of them. He will be greatly missed, but we will be sustained by his beautiful and lasting memories. Donations in Morton’s memory may be made to Temple Emanu-El (1580 Spalding Dr, Atlanta GA 30350) or Jewish Family and Career Services (4549 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338) or a charity of one’s choice. A graveside service was held on Nov. 26 at Arlington Cemetery, officiated by Rabbi Rachael Miller of Temple Emanu-El. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

OBITUARIES

Dr. Zipora (Goldfinger) Wagner 80, Atlanta

Dr. Zipora (Goldfinger) Wagner, beloved mother, grandmother, teacher, mentor and friend, died Jan. 8, after a long battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

Tsipi Goldfinger was born March 21, 1941, in a Jewish internment camp in Rhodes. Her parents, Pesiah and Meir, left war-torn Europe with their sons, Yehoshua and Shlomo, bound for Palestine on the Pentcho (www.Pentcho.eu), a Danube steamboat packed with some 500 refugees. The arduous journey ended five months later, when the Pentcho broke down near Rhodes. Passengers were interned in a stadium for about a year and aided by the Jewish community of Rhodes. Eventually, Pentcho survivors were moved to an internment camp in Italy. When British soldiers liberated it, Yehoshua joined the army, and the Goldfingers were finally allowed to enter Palestine.

A true Sabra, Tsipi grew up with the struggling country. She met the love of her life, Mordechai “Motkeh” Wagner at 19. They married and made a home on Moshav Sde Warburg, where Motkeh had grown up, and raised their sons Roy and Erez. (Erez now lives there.)

When she wasn’t teaching English in Kfar Saba, Tsipi helped Motkeh raise flowers and oranges, build a business at Café Oslo, traveled and “adopted” many students and friends.

After 39 years of teaching middle and high school English in Israel, Tsipi reinvented herself as a university professor in America. She taught Hebrew and Israeli Culture at Emory, Georgia State and College of Charleston, as well as continuing her own education: She earned her PhD in American Literature & Criminology from GSU at 69; she had almost completed a PhD in Criminology at Bar Ilan University decades earlier. Tsipi was a master teacher with an exceptional ability to engage and motivate students, many of whom enthuse about her remarkable impact both in and out of the classroom.

Tsipi’s energetic approach to life and fitness continued into her retirement: she exercised daily, ate well and traveled as much as possible. She spoiled her grandchildren, kept up with friends in both Atlanta and Israel and baked her famous babka — until she couldn’t. PSP slowly robbed Tsipi of her independence, spunk and smile.

Tsipi will be remembered as the family matriarch, who doted on her children and grandchildren, instilling in them confidence and a sense of belonging and a cheerful presence in the academic community. Tsipi was predeceased by Motkeh; her parents, Pesiah and Meir Goldfinger; brother, Yehoshua Goldfinger; brother and sister-in-law, Shlomo and Osnat Goldfinger. She is survived by her sons, Roy Wagner (Jody Steinberg) and Erez Wagner, granddaughters, Danielle and Roni Wagner (Atlanta) and grandsons, Tal and Guy Wagner (Israel), sister-in-law Reva Goldfinger, numerous nieces and nephews, granddog, Matzoh Ball and generations of students. Tsipi’s family will be forever grateful to Tsipi’s devoted caregiver and adopted family member, Hortensia Morales.

Tsipi was laid to rest Jan. 13, next to Motkeh, on Moshav Sde Warburg, followed by shiva at Erez’s home. An Atlanta shiva will be held at a future date. Donations in Tsipi’s memory may be made to CurePSP.org or Congregation Bet Haverim.

Let’s stand together against hate.

Visit LutinforCongress.org in order to contribute, learn more, help with the campaign or to link to our virtual town hall at 7 PM every Tuesday.

Susan Carol Weiner 66, Atlanta

Susan Carol Weiner Clark passed away on Sept. 20, 2021. Susan was born on April 23, 1955. She was the second child of three. She grew up in Atlanta, Ga. She adored her parents, grew up in a household full of love and laughter. Susan had the most caring heart. She was an amazing mother. She truly cherished her grandchildren. She always thought of others before herself. She was the most wonderful gift giver. She was silly, kind, creative and loved arts and crafts. She was the one person who never forgot a birthday, always sent a hand-written card.

Always. She never forgot.

Susan was preceded in death by her loving parents, Edward and Marilyn Weiner. She will be deeply missed by her husband, Ted Clark, her two daughters and sons-in-law, Kimberly and David Jones, Joanna and Steven Kelley. Her grandchildren, Eliya Clark and Micah Jones. Siblings, Richard Weiner and Leslie Weiner Heuberg. Best friend, Harriet Klug. Nieces, nephew and grand dogs, Mulligan, Thor and Pipa. Grand cats, Cooper and Abby. As well as so many others. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia. Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JANUARY 31, 2022 | 67

CLOSING THOUGHTS My Influencers H o w would a child, born before internet influencers, become influenced?

Certainly, one would expect our greatShaindle est influencSchmuckler ers to be our Shaindle’s Shpiel parents, their friends, our own friends and teachers. But is that all? In my humble opinion, not by a long shot.

I attended Dovid Pinsky Yiddisheh Shule Monday through Thursday afternoons after public school and on Sunday mornings, all through elementary school.

This Jewish school was several miles from our apartment building, so I walked the whole way. I almost always took the shortcut through Crotona Park, where I was, more than once, accosted for my money. No worries: I did not have any. Killing me would have been unheard of in those days. Leaving the park, I then walked on to Southern Boulevard and under the El (the elevated train,

for all you non-New Yorkers), then made a right onto Boston Post Road. Yes, of course I sloshed through the proverbial snow and sleet.

Upon entering junior high and all through high school, I attended Farband Central Mittle Shule every Monday evening after public school, and on Sunday mornings. For this I had to take the Lexington Avenue 241st Street train downtown (to Manhattan).

In the summers, from the time I was in first grade and including all the summers until I was a 15-year-old counselor in training, I attended the Kindervelt summer camp in Highland Mills, New York, near Monroe, always stopping at the Red Apple Rest for our traditional halfway stop for some sustenance.

This was the year my entire bunk of 13 CIT girls was expelled from camp. Once again, a story for another day. (P.S.: 13-yearold boys cannot be trusted with a secret.)

Not to fret! Two years later, I moved on to Camp Kinder Ring in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., where I was hired as a senior counselor for a group of tween girls. It was at Kinder Ring that I met my bashert and married him three years later. Camp Kinder Ring

was located across the lake from Camp Kinderland, making it very convenient for us counselors to sneak out in a rowboat and head for some fun times with their staff.

Yiddish Shule and summer camps. I could say that they equally influenced who I am today.

However, I consider my summer camping experiences as having the most profound and deepest impact on my life. The camping staff showed us all how to behave as members of a team. I learned to play tennis, ride horses, tweeze my eyebrows, play volleyball, row a boat, shave my legs, twirl a baton, care for the sick and for those with greater needs than my own. Staff modeled what it is to be a mensch. I only pray that they are proud of the journey I traveled in pursuit of menschlichkeit. These life lessons would lead me to become a woman, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and trusted friend.

Most of the girls in my immediate circle chose elementary education as their major field of study. I, too, accepted this most honorable position as an educator, also known as your most humble teacher. However, you must admit that educator sounds so much more, well, educated.

I loved being with the children. I felt that the impact I had on their personal lives, as well as their lives in my classroom, were life-changing for all of us. I went on to become a family counselor and life coach. My life and the life of my family was once again enhanced immeasurably. We all grew and continue to grow in unexpected and wonderful ways as human beings.

If I am honest with myself, my dream was always to enter the field of Jewish camping for children.

Then, on an average sunny day, not unlike every other sunny day in Tampa, Fla., a little angel flew to earth and whispered my dream into someone’s ear. On this beautiful day, I was asked to serve on the board for a Jewish camp.

Next thing I knew, I was asked to resign from the board and accept the director position. I don’t know how you, my dear readers, would have interpreted this. For yours truly, this was a very clear and definitive sign from the universe that I was about to take on the responsibility of influencer.

With the acceptance of this position, my career in Jewish camping became a reality for me. And the rest, as they say, is history; or, in other words, my life. ì

AN EVENING OF JAZZ WITH JOE ALTERMAN

Alterman is one fine, first-class entertainer.

Saturday, February 5 • 8:00 pm Atlanta native and pianist Alterman returns to the MJCCA with his trio for ONE NIGHT ONLY for a dazzling evening of swinging jazz.

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SILVER SPONSORS The Eva and George Stern Family The Zaban Foundation

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Helen Marie Stern Fund The Hyman Foundation Marcy Louza and Mike Kenig Northside Hospital

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This is a critical moment in the history of safe abortion access.

Reproductive freedom is a Jewish value, and a strong commitment to reproductive health and abortion rights is a belief deeply rooted in our ancient texts.

This weekend is National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)’s 2nd annual Repro Shabbat, when Parshat Mishpatim (Exodus Chapter 21-23) will be read. This parsha includes verses that form the basis for Judaism’s teachings on abortion. NCJW sections around the country are taking the lead to educate our communities on the important issues of reproductive health and access, reproductive rights, and reproductive justice.

NCJW Atlanta Section thanks the clergy leaders in metro Atlanta who have signed NCJW’s Rabbis for Repro pledge. This program is co-sponsored by the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA).

We are proud that more than 40 clergy leaders in metro Atlanta have signed NCJW’s Rabbis for Repro pledge, committing to teach and preach about this important issue, acknowledging the broad community support for abortion access.

CONSERVATIVE

• Congregation Ahavath Achim – Rabbi Sam Blustin, Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal, Rabbi Neil Sandler • Congregation Beth Shalom – Rabbi Mark Zimmerman • Congregation B’nai Torah – Rabbi Joshua Heller, Rabbi Hillel Konigsburg • Congregation Etz Chaim – Rabbi Daniel Dorsch • Congregation Gesher L’Torah – Rabbi Michael Bernstein • Congregation Or Hadash – Rabbi Lauren Henderson • Congregation Shearith Israel – Rabbi Ari Kaiman

RECONSTRUCTIONIST

• Congregation Bet Haverim – Rabbi Dayle Friedman

REFORM

• Congregation Dor Tamid – Rabbi Jordan Ottenstein • Temple Beth Tikvah – Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Wiener • Temple Emanu-El – Cantor Lauren Adesnik, Rabbi Max Miller, Rabbi Rachael Klein Miller • Temple Kol Emeth – Rabbi Larry Sernovitz • Temple Sinai – Rabbi Philip Krantz, Rabbi Brad Levenberg, Rabbi Ron Segal, Cantor Beth Schafer, Rabbi Natan Trief, Rabbi Sam Trief • The Temple – Rabbi Peter Berg, Cantor Deborah Hartman, Rabbi Sam Kaye, Rabbi Loren Filson Lapidus, Rabbi Lydia Medwin, Rabbi Steven Rau, Rabbi Alvin Sugarman

COMMUNITY RABBIS

• Rabbi Michele Selvin Coffsky • Rabbi Lauren Cohn • Rabbi Amanda Flaks • Rabbi Pamela Gottfried • Rabbi Josh Lesser • Rabbi Ellen Nemhauser • Rabbi Scott Sperling

ORGANIZATIONS • • • • • • • •

18Doors Atlanta – Rabbi Malka Packer-Monroe Be’Chol Lashon – Ruth Abusch-Magder Central Conference of American Rabbis – Rabbi Dan Medwin Emory University – Rabbi Jordan Braunig, Rabbi Jonathan Crane Jewish Family & Career Services – Rabbi Judith Beiner Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta – Rabbi Elana Perry, Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez Ma’alot – Rabbi Ariel Root Wolpe Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta – Rabbi Brian Glusman

Mission: National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who

turn progressive ideals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children, and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms. christineh@ncjwatlanta.org • www.ncjwatlanta.org • 404-843-9600

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