LEADERSHIP
Tom Rosenberg applies Jewish camp expertise at the American Camp Association. Page 16
INSIDE: CAMPS DAY DREAMS
At two new sites, In the City Camp provides multiple day camp options. Page 18
SILVER BELLS
Share the memories from Camp Coleman’s celebration of Bobby Harris. Page 19
Atlanta VOL. XCII NO. 1
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
JANUARY 6, 2017 | 8 TEVET 5777
Carts Carry Southside Chanukah Lessons Embassy Move Says ‘Game Over’ By Vicki Leopold
Seven decorated golf carts topped with menorahs, some twinkling with lights, lined up at Fresh Market about 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 25, to parade to the Peachtree City Center, where latkes, doughnuts, games, gifts and crafts awaited at Chabad of Peachtree City’s third annual Chanukah lighting ceremony. Fun commenced soon after the carts arrived. Children made candles, designed edible menorahs, received face-painted menorahs, spun dreidels, won prizes and watched jugglers. About 120 people listened as Rabbi Yossi Lew explained why the shamash is above rather than alongside the other candles: When you light “someone else’s light, you get the top seat.” Peachtree City Mayor Vanessa Fleisch took time away from her family on Christmas to light the first candle. A surprise guest, Israel Defense Forces soldier Ariel Gonen, stationed at Fort Benning during a six-month exchange with the U.S. military, lighted the second candle. Gonen had discovered the menorah lighting during an online search for anything Jewish outside Atlanta and made the trek from Columbus. Rabbi Lew gave his Chanukah message in four parts: • The miracle of the Maccabees is that a small clan was counted out but
DREAM JOB
Anat Fisher-Tsin spent 12 years helping build an Israeli government agency from 20 to 600 employees, then decided to start over for the chance to represent her nation overseas. Page 22
Two of seven carts are ready to roll in Chabad of Peachtree City’s first golf cart menorah parade.
achieved a clear victory over the Syrians, a mighty empire. “Never say, ‘I can’t,’ ” the rabbi said, because if you want it and work for it, it can happen. • What is “perfect” keeps evolving. On the first night of Chanukah, it is perfect to light one candle, but two are needed the second night to make it right, and so forth. As people, we grow and improve, day by day. • “Everyone benefits from the warmth and light of the menorah — everyone. When in a dark room, instead of kvetching about the darkness, search for a candle to light.” • “The Jewish people and the country of Israel have been dealt a severe blow by someone who claimed to be a friend,” the rabbi said, referring to the U.N. resolu-
TOUGH TURF
Scott Selig hits the pinnacle of his industry, assembling a $400 million Midtown project and being named Commercial Realtor of the Year, while refusing to lose the battle of his life. Page 24
tion two days earlier. Allowing countries that “represent lawlessness, human restriction and chaos to vote against Israel is totally unfair, one-sided and immoral” and represents a “stab in the back to a country that has done everything in its power to embrace peace.” U.N. Resolution 2334 “has no meaning and will have no meaning. The Jewish candles of the menorah have been lit for 2,000 years, and the Jewish candles of the menorah will never be extinguished, and we will never stop lighting the candles that will bring warmth, blessing and light to the world. We will not worry about the darkness in the room, but we will light the candle in every dark place.” ■ • Photos from more Chanukah celebrations, Page 6
INSIDE Calendar ��������������������������������������� 4 Candle Lighting �������������������������� 4 Israel News �����������������������������������8 Opinion ���������������������������������������12 Business ������������������������������������� 24 Simchas �������������������������������������� 26 Obituaries ���������������������������������� 27 Marketplace ������������������������������ 28 Crossword ���������������������������������� 30
On June 1 new President Donald Trump will be required to make official a decision he repeatedly has said he has already taken: whether to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. A 1995 U.S. law requires the move but allows the president to sign a six-month waiver in the interest of national security. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama always signed the waiver, as Obama did again Dec. 1. That waiver expires about a week before the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. Trump has vowed to move the embassy. “It’s a big deal, and I think he will do it,” Jerusalem City Council member Arieh King said Dec. 7 in Atlanta. The concern is that placing the embassy in Jerusalem, even on the western side of the 1949 armistice line, would spark violence among the Palestinians and perhaps across the region. But King, who opposes the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, said an embassy move would have a pacifying effect by telling the Arabs, “ ‘Game over. Stop thinking about things that you will never get, OK?’ And once the Arabs will understand that it is game over, they will stop playing. This is what we’re missing here. Because they think that they really can get something, they are doing all kinds of activities, including terrorist attacks.” He said most Palestinians then would be willing to become Israeli citizens. His prediction conflicts with statements from Palestinian leaders. “I think it’s good also for the Muslims themselves,” King said. “It will calm down the flames between themselves.” ■ • Relief at Trump presidency, Page 8