Atlanta Jewish Times, VOL. XCIV NO. 29, July 26, 2019

NEXT WEEK: BACK TO SCHOOL

VOL. XCIV NO. 29 | MACCABI

JULY 26, 2019 | 23 TAMUZ 5779

Atlanta Welcomes the 2019 JCC Maccabi Games

PRO-BOYCOTT RESOLUTION REP. ILHAN OMAR INTRODUCES H.RES. 496, CO-SPONSORED

BY REP. JOHN LEWIS.

ULTIMATE FRISBEE JCC MACCABI ADDS A NEW SPORT TO THIS YEAR’S GAMES

ATLANTA CULTURE TWO PRODUCTIONS OF ICONIC JEWISH PERFORMERS OPEN THIS WEEK.

2 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

PUBLISHER

MICHAEL A. MORRIS

michael@atljewishtimes.com

MANAGING PUBLISHER & EDITOR KAYLENE LADINSKY

kaylene@atljewishtimes.com Executive Assistant

JODI DANIS

jodi@atljewishtimes.com

EDITORIAL Associate Editor

RONI ROBBINS

roni@atljewishtimes.com Sr. Staff Writer & Web Editor

EDDIE SAMUELS

eddie@atljewishtimes.com Contributor & Proofreader

LEAH R. HARRISON leah@atljewishtimes.com Editorial Intern

CHLOE LEVITAS CHARLOTTE MORRISON

Contributors This Week ALLEN LIPIS BOB BAHR DAVE SCHECHTER HAROLD KIRTZ MARCIA CALLER JAFFE RABBI JOAB EICHENBERG-EILON RACHEL STEIN SHAINDLE SCHMUCKLER

ADVERTISING

Let the Games Begin After 18 years, the JCC Maccabi Games are back in Atlanta for 2019. Starting Sunday and for the next five days, more than 1,600 athletes ranging in age from 12 to 16 will descend upon the Marcus JCC, the Marist School and other Atlanta locations from three dozen Jewish communities in the United States and across the globe to compete in 13 sports.

Atlanta’s Jewish community will be well-represented. Team Atlanta has its largest contingent ever, and some 400 host families and 1,500 volunteers will operate behind the scenes to help the games run smoothly.

In this issue, we share the details and preparations for the athletic event.

Added Touch Catering tells us how they are planning to feed all those hungry teens and coaches and keep the food fresh and kosher while accommodating all their dietary needs.

We interview a few coaches about the games, including the longest-tenured coach of Team Atlanta. We also tell you about one of the newest sports in the games, ultimate Frisbee.

One of our other pieces is a love story that developed at a past game and led to a second-generation athlete participating this year.

Beyond the competition, athletes will learn about and participate in service projects related to disabilities and sports.

We also tell you where to find other entertainment in Atlanta, including two shows featuring the history of iconic Jewish performers. In addition, you can try a new Italian restaurant in the BuckheadVinings area we spotlight.

With healthy living in mind, weight loss coach Sheryl Westerman offers a taste of her new cookbook and some tips for keeping fit.

In other news, we bring you an update on the controversial boycott resolution introduced by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and co-sponsored by Congressman John Lewis, a long supporter of civil rights, Israel and the Jewish community. The issue opens a powder keg of debate over the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

It’s an exciting time in the Jewish

THIS WEEK community and about to get even more lively with the start of school, which we highlight in next week’s issue. ■

Cover photo courtesy of Marcus JCC: Maccabi Atlanta U-16 Soccer Team gets ready for the Games. Top row: Thomas Forbes, Bob Meyer, Bryce Kurtz, Yoav Ben Bassett, Jake Francombe, Gary Flaks and Scott Mirsky.

Middle row: Zach Alterman, Ben Salpeter, Josh Asherian, Ethan Ben Moshe and Ben Satinoff.

Bottom row: Sam Beagle, Eden Flaks, Binny Frenkel and Jacob Mirsky.

CONTENTS LOCAL NEWS ���������������������������������� 4 ISRAEL PRIDE ������������������������������� 10 REFLECTIONS ������������������������������� 11 OPINION ����������������������������������������� 12 MACCABI ���������������������������������������� 14 DINING �������������������������������������������� 23 CALENDAR ������������������������������������� 24 COMMUNITY ��������������������������������� 26 BRAIN FOOD ���������������������������������� 29 ARTS ������������������������������������������������ 30 OBITUARIES ���������������������������������� 31 CLOSING THOUGHTS ����������������� 35

Senior Account Manager

BRENDA GELFAND

brenda@atljewishtimes.com Senior Account Manager

MICHAL BONELL

michal@atljewishtimes.com Account Manager

SHERI OKUN

sheri@atljewishtimes.com

CREATIVE & MEDIA Creative & Media Designer

LILLI JENNISON

lilli@atljewishtimes.com

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Community Relations Director

JEN EVANS

jen@atljewishtimes.com Community Liaison

SONIA FIELD

sonia@atljewishtimes.com Interns

ELIANA WEISS

GENERAL OFFICE 404.883.2130

The Atlanta Jewish Times is printed in Georgia and is an equal opportunity employer. The opinions expressed in the Atlanta Jewish Times do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. Periodicals postage paid at Atlanta, Ga. POSTMASTER send address changes to Atlanta Jewish Times 270 Carpenter Drive Suite 320, Atlanta Ga 30328.

Established 1925 as The Southern Israelite www.atlantajewishtimes.com ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES (ISSN# 0892-33451) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SOUTHERN ISRAELITE, LLC © 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES Printed by Walton Press Inc. MEMBER Conexx: America Israel Business Connector American Jewish Press Association Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce Please send all photos, stories and editorial content to: submissions@atljewishtimes.com

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 3

LOCAL NEWS Will Resolution 496 Bolster BDS Effort?

By Roni Robbins

Atlanta and Israeli community leaders shared with the AJT their reactions to A resolution introduced to Congress the resolution and its larger effect on the last week that supports the right to boy- Jewish community and the BDS movecott has some Atlanta Jewish leaders ment.

Although the new resolution doesn’t scratching their heads. House Resolution 496 was introduced and sponsored expressly address Israel or BDS, it afby U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who firms the American right to boycott, cithas also come out publicly in support of ing examples of boycotts used effectively the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions during the 1950s and 60s civil rights era in which Lewis played an active role. movement.

The examples included Further inciting the Montgomery bus Jewish leaders, the boycott, and Nazi Gerresolution was comany “in response to sponsored by Georgia the dehumanization representative and civil of the Jewish people in rights icon U.S. Rep. the lead-up to the HoloJohn Lewis (D-Ga.), a caust.” longtime supporter Chuck Berk, coof Israel and the Jewchair of the Republican ish community. U.S. Jewish Coalition and a Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Dnational Israel Bonds Mich.), another freshboard member, voiced man legislator, whose his concerns about the family is Palestinian, new resolution and also co-sponsored the Chuck Berk is co-chair of the Lewis’ endorsement of resolution, with four Republican Jewish Coalition and others signing on since. national Israel Bonds board member. it. “Congressman John

4 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D. Mich.) have come under fire lately.

Lewis seems to have forgotten the lessons to explain why it is we support a nonviofrom the courageous work that he and lent movement, which is the BDS movethe Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. did dur- ment.”

The resolution states that it “opposing the civil rights movement. … It’s hard to understand why Congressman Lewis es unconstitutional legislative efforts to would now choose to align himself with limit the use of boycotts to further civil U. S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has expressed rights at home and abroad; and urges vile anti-Semitism and has irresponsibly Congress, States and civil rights leaders compared the anti-BDS movement to pre- from all communities to endeavor to previous boycotts of Nazi Germany and the serve the freedom of advocacy for all by Soviet Union. Does Congressman Lewis opposing anti-boycott resolutions and really think it’s fair to compare Israel, legislation.” It also opposes the practice the only democracy in the Middle East, of allowing organizations to “criminalwhich stands for freedom and equal- ize, stigmatize and delegitimize the use of boycotts in an attempt ity, where people of all to stifle constitutionreligions, races and ally protected political sexual preference can expression.” live in peace, … with Omar’s introducNazi-Germany, which tion of H. Res. 496 came was a hate-infested, auas Congress prepared thoritarian regime that Tuesday to consider sought to exterminate another resolution, H. all Jews?”

Res. 246, introduced in In a statement March. Lewis is among to the AJT, Lewis ex11 Georgia legislators plained his position. “I and 348 others that coguarantee that if memsponsored this resolubers of the community tion that focuses on, actually read the text of Dov Wilker is regional director of the American Jewish “opposing efforts to H. Res. 496, a Judiciary Committee in Atlanta delegitimize the State Committee resolution introduced by Rep. Omar, they will of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestdiscover it makes no mention of Israel. ment, and Sanctions Movement targetThe resolution merely advocates for the ing Israel.” The latter directly opposes the right to protest as a central principle of BDS movement, stating, “including efforts democratic freedom. Freedom of protest to target United States companies that are has been important to the advancement engaged in commercial activities that are of both the African American and Jewish legal under United States law, and all efAmerican communities, and there are ef- forts to delegitimize the State of Israel”.

“Let’s be clear,” Berk told the AJT. forts to stamp it out as a tool of activism “The BDS delegitimization movement in our society.”

Still, shortly after introducing the has a single goal: to bring about the deresolution, it was reported that Omar struction of Israel as the sovereign demolinked the resolution with the BDS move- cratic state of the Jewish people.”

Lewis said of his endorsement, “Earment saying, “It is an opportunity for us

LOCAL NEWS

116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION

H. RES. 496

Affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 16, 2019 Ms. OMAR (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, and Mr. LEWIS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

RESOLUTION Affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Whereas boycotts have been effectively used in the United States by advocates for equal rights since the Boston Tea Party and include boycotts led by civil rights activists during the 1950s and 1960s in order to advocate for racial equality, such as the Montgomery bus boycott, and promote workers’ rights, such as the United Farm Workers- led boycott of table grapes; Whereas Americans of conscience have a proud history of participating in boycotts to advocate for human rights abroad, including— (1) attempting to slow Japanese aggression in the Pacific by boycotting Imperial Japan in 1937 and 1938; (2) boycotting Nazi Germany from March 1933 to October 1941 in response to

U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-Ga.) is a co-founder of the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition.

the dehumanization of the Jewish people in the lead-up to the Holocaust; (3) the United States Olympic Committee boycotting the 1980 summer Olympics in

lier this year, I co-sponsored H. Res. 246, trust Congressman Lewis. I always give a bipartisan foreign affairs resolution him room to disagree.”

Dov Wilker, regional director of the that condemns the BDS campaign and efforts opposing Israel’s right to exist and American Jewish Committee in Atlanta, the importance of two-state solution. … said the AJC reached out to Lewis’ congressional office and This resolution has been is “looking forward carefully crafted not to to speaking with him suppress American comabout this resolution mitment to free speech. and understanding his I want to remind you perspective.” that I am a co-chair of Lewis, in his statethe newly reorganized ment to the AJT, urged Black-Jewish Coalition the community to conCongressional Caucus sider all the facts. “We and a key member of must be very careful in the Anti-Semitism Task these times of gross exagForce. My commitment geration and whipped up to these imperatives is hostility to verify alleganot and has not ever waSherry Frank co-founded the tions and accusations vered.”

Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition. that are being reported.”

“My experience Soon after Omar introduced resoluwith John has been that he’s been a total friend of the Jewish community,” said tion 496, she announced her intention to Sherry Frank, who co-founded the Atlan- travel to Israel and the Palestinian territota Black-Jewish Coalition with Lewis in ries in a few weeks with Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

David Rubin, the former mayor of 1982. “We are not gonna agree with our Shiloh in the West Bank of Israel, said in friends on every single issue.” a statement to the AJT Frank was aware that Tlaib should be of the new pro-boycott denied entry based on resolution, but she said her support of boycotts she had not seen it in against Israel. "For sedetail enough to be tocurity purposes, Israeli tally familiar with its law permits authorities contents. She knows, to deny entry to anyhowever, that Lewis has one who supports and been very supportive of works toward a boycott his freshman cohorts. of the Jewish state,” he Frank cited exsaid. amples in which boyDavid Rubin, the former mayor of So the question cotts have been effecShiloh in the West Bank of Israel. remains, will the latest tive, such as the use of nonviolent protest opposing apartheid resolution open the floodgates to further in South Africa. “The problem with BDS anti-Israel efforts, such as those supis that it is so inclusive of anti-Israel and ported by the BDS movement? The Jewanti-Semitic [sentiment] in its language.” ish community will have to wait to find Frank continued, “I totally love and out. ■

Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the preceding year; and (4) leading the campaign in the 1980s to boycott South African goods in opposition to apartheid in that country; Whereas the Supreme Court, in the 1966 case Rosenblatt v. Baer, held that the First Amendment to the Constitution ensures that ‘‘[c]riticism of government is at the very center of the constitutionally protected area of free discussion’’; Whereas the Supreme Court held in the 1982 case NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware that ‘‘[t]he right of the States to regulate economic activity could not justify a complete prohibition against a nonviolent, politically motivated boycott . . . .’’; Whereas the Supreme Court has recognized various activities as ‘‘expressive conduct’’ warranting constitutional protection, such as flag burning, wearing black armbands, silent sit-ins, and creating and designing custom wedding cakes; and Whereas despite this tradition, governments and nongovernmental organizations alike have sought to criminalize, stigmatize, and delegitimize the use of boycotts in an attempt to stifle constitutionally protected political expression: Now, therefore, be it 1

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 3

(1) affirms that all Americans have the right to

participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human

4

rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First

5

Amendment to the Constitution;

6

(2) opposes unconstitutional legislative efforts

7

to limit the use of boycotts to further civil rights at

8

home and abroad; and

9 10

(3) urges Congress, States, and civil rights

leaders from all communities to endeavor to preserve

11

the freedom of advocacy for all by opposing

12

antiboycott resolutions and legislation.

The SMART Place to Buy Diamonds!

Haim Haviv Owner

Appraisals starting at $20

1820-C Independence Square Dunwoody, GA 30338 770-396-3456

Max Haviv

Graduate Gemologist Follow us online!

Repair Services Available Hours: M-Th 10-5:30 & F 10-5

www.hajewelry.com ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 5

LOCAL NEWS

At 95, Hero Recalls Legendary Campaign

By Bob Bahr As he celebrated his 95th birthday last week there was no mistaking Stanley Sassine for anything less than a distinguished veteran of one of the toughest units in the history of the U.S. Army.

There, on his wool beret, were miniatures of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals he had won, and on his vest were more military decorations, awards for expert marksmanship and the badge of the Army’s 5307 Composite Unit, the legendary Merrill’s Marauders.

When he blew out the single candle on a large birthday cake, he celebrated not only an important birthday but his good fortune as the only surviving Jew and one of the few surviving members of a unit whose combat record and brave sacrifice had few equals during the war.

It is exactly 75 years ago, July 26, 1944, that his parents received a telegram telling them that he had been wounded the previous month, but not before he had taken on a dangerous and thankless task as a Marauder.

“I was the point man for my unit.

6 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

I couldn’t hear them get hit, so I moved closer just to make sure I got them.”

Finally, during the campaign to take the important Myitkyina airfield in Northern Burma, Sassine literally came face-to-face with a Japanese sniper less than 50 yards away.

“We both saw each other at the same moment and fired at the same time. I was so close I could see my shot strike him between the eyes, but at the same time I felt this searing pain in my shoulder. His bul“Merrill’s Marauders,” released in 1962, was a stirring and brutal let had whistled by my chin and torn up war drama starring the Jewish actor Jeff Chandler. my shoulder and shoulder blade.”

Sassine would spend the rest of the Because I suffered from color-blindness, U.S. Army unit in the war. they put me up front because I could They were a new kind of guerilla year recovering from his wounds, but clearly make out the Japanese snipers army, patterned after the jungle fighting it would be many more years before he that were hiding camouflaged in the groups that the British had put together would begin to have full use of the arm trees.” earlier in the war, and the forerunners and be able to swing a golf club. He still For more than five months he fought of what would become the U.S. Army’s has deep scars from the muscles that were separated by the with the Marauders behind Japanese Ranger units. sniper’s bullet. lines in northern Burma, battling his They not only Before he was way through 750 miles of some of the had to fight a war, but evacuated, someone worst jungle terrain in the world. They they had to battle expicked up the Japaharassed Japanese communication and haustion, malnutrinese sniper’s rifle, supply lines, assaulted the rear units of tion and epidemics with its chrysanthethe Japanese, and covered more jungle on of cerebral malaria mum emblem of the their long-range patrols than any other and scrub typhus.

Japanese emperor Often they fought stamped into the through bouts of metal, and tossed it bloody dysentery and as a souvenir on his fevers while sloshstretcher.

Seventying through rivers of five years later it’s a mud created by montreasured possession soon rains. in his Huntcliff SumDuring the 1944 campaign, disease A beret and vest covered with his military mit apartment in decorations were very much a part of Sandy Springs. killed five times as Sassine’s birthday celebration last week.

Merrill’s Mamany of the Maraudrauders were immortalized by Hollyers as bullets and grenades.

The Marauders field hospital staff wood in a 1962 film that was a stirring at the time filed a report about their pa- and brutal study of combat. It starred the tients that read in part, “many were so Jewish-American action star Jeff Chantired, dirty and hungry that they looked dler in his last role before he died.

Sassine came more dead than back to Long Isalive.” land to marry after Brig.

Gen. the war. He and Frank Merrill, wife, Renee, celtheir commander, ebrated 70 years suffered two heart of marriage before attacks during she died two years those months, but ago. They had four came back to lead children and 44 his troops when he grandchildren and recovered. great-grandchilThey fought The original telegram of July 26, dren. five major battles 1944, that informed Sassine’s parents On his birthwith the Japanese that he had been wounded. day last week he and engaged in formal combat a total of 32 times. Sassine was honored by the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame for his “selfless was a deadly accurate shot.

“I must have picked off 250 Japanese service and stoic sacrifice during World in those trees. At first I would get them at War II … and his continuous service to 300 yards, but when I was that far away, mankind, thereafter.” ■

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 7

LOCAL NEWS

Jewish Culture Opening This Week If you’re looking for culture in Atlanta, you’ll find it in two productions of iconic Jewish performers shown at local theaters. Through the next week you can view a new film about the love life of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and a play by Neil Simon recapturing the heyday of Borscht Belt comedians such as Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner.

Read more about those productions here:

The Seductive Leonard Cohen

By Bob Bahr Seductive is probably as good a word as any to describe the new film about Leonard Cohen and his friend, lover and artistic inspiration, Marianne Ihlen, which opens July 26 at the Midtown Art Cinema.

The film, “Marianne and Leonard – Words of Love,” was written and directed by the English documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield. It first lures us in by introducing us to the charms of the beautiful Greek island of Hydra.

It was there in 1960 that a young novelist and poet, Leonard Cohen, fell in love with the simple natural beauty of the place. Once smitten, it didn't take long to find there a young, blond Norwegian beauty to share his life and his love. Although they were together only about seven years, for the next 56 years, they shared an on-again, off-again rela-

8 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Leonard Cohen and his relationship with the subject of his song, “So Long, Marianne” is the focus of a new documentary.

The new documentary begins on the Greek island of Hydra among the artists and writers who lived there.

tionship that lasted until both of their deaths in 2016.

Cohen, who grew up in a prominent and wealthy Jewish family in Montreal, finds in the easy, sunny life among the artists and writers in Hydra the inspiration to complete his first novel and face some of the more urgent questions that surround his commitment to writing.

With the help of the romantic muse that he found in his new home, he makes

the slow and inexorable journey to a new identity. He becomes Leonard Cohen, poet, songwriter and inevitably, worldfamous performer. The film is a thoughtful and compelling record of that transformation and the forces of seduction it unleashes.

With his handsome and strongly Semitic features, his soulful gaze and his mournful voice, he became almost irresistible to the women that crowded his public performances. He sang “So Long, Marianne” over and over to the crowds, as well as several others she had inspired him to write. There is in one telling scene an effort by an attractive fan to seduce the young Cohen, despite the presence of the woman’s male companion and a film camera that is recording the entire sequence.

Later he describes his appeal to women with same kind of bluntness that he brought to much of his creative work.

It is, after all, not all his fault, he maintains, it was the swinging 60s.

“For a tiny moment in social history there was a tremendous cooperation between men and women, so I was very lucky my appetite coincided with a very rare phenomenon.”

Eventually his career and his fame kept him apart from Marianne, as he put it, for six months of the year. Then they would only be together for four months, then only for two months, then only two days of the year. His song about the breakup was an early favorite of the crowds of new fans that were drawn to him. He sings it in the film at the historic Isle of Wight music festival.

Eventually, Ihlen also left Hydra behind. She went back to Norway, became a secretary, married an engineer and had three children with him. Through the years, Cohen saw himself transformed from just an attractive Jewish songwriter into a living legend.

His homage to King David, the lengthy anthem “Hallelujah,” became one of the most recorded songs in history.

He made and lost a fortune, then gained it all back again. Through everything, he never lost touch with the woman that had made such a difference in his life.

He learned toward the end of his life that his great love was dying of leukemia and had only a few days to live.

Even though he was himself in great pain and suffering from cancer in his back, he took some time to write her in time for her to have it read to her in Norway before she died.

The letter read: “Well Marianne, it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.

And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and for your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey.

Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”

Ihlsen stretched out her hand and two days later she died. Cohen died not long after, on November 7, 2016, in Los Angeles.

“Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love” is playing at the Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive, through Aug. 1.

‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’ Recalls Early TV Comedy Before there were such programs as “Shtisel,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Seinfeld,” before the Jewish comedic mind created the gold-plated bedrock of the American entertainment industry, there was “Your Show of Shows.”

The program was created by Max Liebman, who had just a few years before been producing weekly summer comedy shows in the Jewish Pocono resort circuit of Pennsylvania. Its star was Sid Caesar, who started out as a professional saxophonist before becoming a standup comedian in the Borscht Belt.

Backing up Caesar were two important Jewish entertainers, Howard Morris and Carl Reiner, who had lengthy ca-

LOCAL NEWS reers in the industry, and Imogene Coca, whose cool, thoughtful comedy style perfectly complimented the manic pace of the show.

Today “Your Show of Shows” is remembered mostly by television historians and connoisseurs of a good laugh, but in the early 1950s, when it was broadcast on NBC, it was one of the biggest hits of early television. At a time when the new medium was looking for ways to reach the rapidly growing audience in America’s living rooms, a group of mostly Jewish comedy geniuses were creating a weekly national laugh riot.

Those days are recalled in a new production by the Stage Door Players in Dunwoody of “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” originally written in 1993 by Neil Simon, who also wrote a film version in 2001. It runs through Aug. 4.

The play, by one of the most successful comedy script writers in film and stage history, recalls the days when a group of Jewish comedy writers faced the challenge of producing big laughs week in and week out. “Your Show of Shows,” starring Sid Caesar, was broadcast live for 1 ½ hours each Saturday night from 1950 to 1954.

In the production by the Stage Door Players, Caesar, renamed Max Prince,

Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks inspired much of the comedy on “Your Show of Shows.”

“Laughter On The 23rd Floor,” based on TV’s “Your Show of Shows,” runs through Aug. 4 at the Stage Door Players theater in Dunwoody.

oversees the writers’ room on the weekly show. The veterans of that grueling routine and the other shows in which Caesar starred would later go on to become household names in the entertainment industry.

Among them was the head writer Mel Tolkin, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Neil and Danny Simon, and Larry Gelbart, creator of the long running TV hit, M*A*S*H., all of whom had gone on to long and profitable careers.

Simon’s play is not the best work of this Pulitzer Prize winning writer. It is a mostly tepid memoir of what must have been a feverish hothouse atmosphere,

watched over by the comic genius, Sid Caesar.

Still, the play does get one thing right, the pressure of early television to dumb-down entertainment for its rapidly growing audience. When the network wants to cut the budget for the show and lay off one of the writers, Max suggests that they all go on strike.

But one of the writers quickly sets him straight, “They have corporate minds, Max. If they could get a TV set to turn out sausages, we’d all be pigs instead of writers,” he says. “They’re not interested in culture. Maybe if Van Gogh and Goya were wrestlers, they’d put

them on Friday nights. But if we quit, Max, they win. We give up an hour and a half to ‘Miss America’ and ‘Beat the Clock.’ We stay, Max. We do what we’ve been doing for years. Only we do it better.”

That’s largely what “Your Show of Shows” did. The program combined broad slapstick with occasional delicate moments of pantomime and deft strokes of satire and brilliant parody to create some of the funniest programs ever broadcast. There were brilliant sendups of “Pagliacci” opera and the popular early TV series, “This Is Your Life.” One sketch recalls the silent German film classics of F.W. Murnau, another, Japanese art house films.

Many program segments didn’t survive the live broadcast era of the 1950s, but a few sketches can be glimpsed on YouTube or on the several DVD collections that are available for sale online. If you can’t get to the Stage Door Players production, which runs through Aug. 4, you have some hilarious alternatives. ■ Bob Bahr teaches a class entitled “Anything For a Laugh – American Comedy and The American Jewish Soul,” at The Temple this fall.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 9

ISRAEL PRIDE

News From Our Jewish Home

Flash90 // Newborn babies in a hospital ward

Health System Lags Behind

Israel’s health system has experienced systemic failures in planning, budgeting and regulation by the government, which resulted in a shortage of beds, inefficiencies and gaps in accessibility of treatment, according to a report by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel.

Professor Dov Chernichovsky and Roi Kfir looked at the hospital system in Israel, showing the country lags behind others in the 36-member Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in number of hospital beds, and has shorter hospital stays and particularly high occupancy rates.

The number of hospital beds per 1,000 people is 2.2 compared to 3.6 in the OECD. While the number of beds is trending down in most countries, the decline is especially sharp in Israel — a 22 percent

Today in Israeli History July 26, 1967: Yigal Allon, a member of the Israeli government and a retired general, presents a strategic proposal for Israel’s retention of the Jordan Valley after capturing the West Bank during the war in June 1967. What becomes known as the Allon Plan calls for a series of settlements and military installations to serve as a buffer against an attack from east of the Jordan River. The plan’s other key points include peace with the Arabs, the preservation of Israeli security, the maintenance of a Jewish majority in the state of Israel and the opportunity for Palestinian independence.

Baruch Spinoza survived excommunication to be remembered as one of the most important philosophers of the Enlightenment.

July 27, 1656: The Amsterdam Jewish community excommunicates 23-year-old 10 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

decline as compared to an OECD average of 15 percent between 2002 and 2017.

The shorter average hospitalization time in Israel is about five days per patient in contrast to an average of 6.7 days among all OECD countries. And the high occupancy rate, about 94 percent compared to an average of 75 percent in the OECD, diminishes the hospitals’ ability to handle emergencies and points to a potentially lower level of treatment quality.

These flaws in the healthcare system stem from the systemic failure of the government in planning, budgeting and regulation, the study found.

Photo courtesy of FIBA // Team Israel receives

medals for its 2018 tournament win.

Under-20 Basketball Wins Second Straight Title

Proving that last year’s win was no

Baruch Spinoza after he refuses to take a stipend in exchange for being silent about his views on Judaism. Particularly offensive to communal leaders are his questioning of the Torah’s divine nature, his denial of the immortality of the soul and his rejection of a providential G-d.

Spinoza nonetheless becomes one of the most influential philosophers of the European Enlightenment.

fluke, Israel’s under-20 basketball team defended its International Basketball Federation European Championship title in front of a roaring crowd at Shlomo Arena in Tel Aviv Sunday.

The team bested Spain in the championship 92-84 led by Deni Avdija, who was the team’s leading scorer in the tournament, with 23 points on 9-of-16 from the field. Avdija was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, averaging 18.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.4 blocks and 2.1 steals per game.

Teammate Yam Madar was also selected to the All-Star Five and put up 17 points and eight assists in the finals.

The first half, in particular, was a nail biter, ending with Israel and Spain tied at 42 all. Nerves for Israeli fans were certainly at their peak to start the second half as the Spanish team returned from the locker room making three straight three-pointers.

Undaunted from the splashy display, Israel put up 50 points in the second half to pull ahead.

This year marks the third time that the team is in the finals. In 2017, the Israeli team was defeated by Greece, but rallied back in 2018, defeating Croatia 8066. The latest win also marked the first

time in more than 10 years that a team successfully defended its title.

July 29, 1849: Max Nordau is born Simon Maximilian Sudfield to an Orthodox Jewish family in Pest, Hungary. He breaks from the family tradition of becoming rabbis, scholars and community leaders when he moves to Berlin, changes his name, earns a medical degree, works as a journalist and becomes a prominent social theorist. Events such as the Dreyfus Affair push Nordau to embrace Zionism.

He drafts the Basel Plan, the blueprint adopted at the First Zionist Congress for a Jewish state in Palestine, and advocates the development of the “new Jew.”

nations, most of them in Latin America, move their embassies to Tel Aviv.

In helping launch Reform Judaism, Rabbi David Einhorn argued that Judaism’s mission no longer was a return to the Land of Israel.

July 28, 1845: A two-week assembly in Frankfurt-am-Main of Reform rabbis ends after the 31 rabbis unanimously agree to remove all prayers calling for a return to Israel. The implication is that Judaism is a religion, not a nationality.

The rabbis, who decided in a previous assembly that most of the service could be conducted in German instead of Hebrew, see the Diaspora as an essential part of Jews’ mission to spread G-d’s message worldwide.

Shimon Peres (left) and Abba Eban vote in favor of the Basic Law: Jerusalem.

July 30, 1980: The Knesset passes the Basic Law: Jerusalem, enshrining the official Israeli position that a united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel among the set of laws holding constitutional authority.

The U.N. Security Council responds Aug. 20 with Resolution 476, which rejects the law and urges U.N. members to move their embassies out of Jerusalem. Thirteen

$27.7 million To Boost Campus Entrepreneurship

Israel’s Council for Higher Education has earmarked $27.7 million over five years to encourage universities and colleges to set up or boost entrepreneurship and innovation programs.

The CHE announced its New Campus Vision, which aims to expose students and faculty from all disciplines to the worlds of entrepreneurship and innovation.

The initiative wants Israel’s campuses to be on par with other nations, especially the U.S., where many colleges and universities have long established centers for entrepreneurship and innovation, the council said in a statement.

The initiative establishes an “environment of creativity and collaboration; breaks down barriers across all disciplines and between students and faculty, so that students become active, entrepreneurial learners; and promotes multidisciplinary brainstorming and collaboration between students and researchers,” according to the statement. ■

July 31, 1988: Jordan’s King Hussein announces that he is giving up political claims to the West Bank, although he seeks to retain influence over Jerusalem.

His announcement leaves the PLO to serve as the representative of the Arab residents of the area. King Abdullah I, Hussein’s grandfather, annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1950, but Jordan lost the territory in the June 1967 war.

Aug. 1, 1955: The development town of Dimona in Israel’s south welcomes its first residents, all of whom are recent arrivals from Morocco, as Israel tries to settle immigrants who have been housed in tent cities. All of Dimona’s early residents are Mizrahim (Jews from Arab countries), and although some work in the nearby Dead Sea Works potash plant, many must travel long distances to jobs. Dimona gains municipal status in 1969, when the population tops 24,000. ■ Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org), where you can find more details.

REFLECTIONS Bergman Brought us to the Stars

Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin, right, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins.

Denver Post // Jules Bergman covered all of NASA’s manned space missions during his lifetime.

Fifty years after the Apollo 11 mission landed three men on the moon, and the words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” were forever burned into the annals of American history, the names Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins are still household names.

One name from the era however, that of Jules Bergman, is perhaps less well known, particularly to younger readers.

Bergman was the reporter who brought all 54 manned space flights of his lifetime into living rooms across the country and around the globe.

Bergman grew up in New York City, but spent much of his time at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., where his goal was to show “not an ivorytower discussion of science, but an onthe-spot report of discoveries, which are changing the lives of human beings daily.”

As part of that reporting Bergman demonstrated personally the challenges and obstacles of space travel, including undertaking the exercise routine astronauts used to prepare for space travel and enduring five Gs, equivalent to five times the force of the earth’s gravity.

“I know that he was incredibly passionate about NASA and all of space exploration. That comes across even when you watch him,” his nephew, Mark Bergman, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a phone interview July 17, just days before the 50th anniversary.

While he didn’t speak about his Jewish identity publicly, Bergman was among very few Jews who were so intricately connected to the space age. Judith Resnick was the first Jewish American to go into space in 1984. She was killed two years later in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

While keeping his feet on solid ground, Bergman is known for making the majesty and mystery of the “Space Age” accessible to each and every viewer.

As a longstanding ABC News science editor, Bergman was the first correspondent to be assigned to full-time space coverage, according to the New York Times in his 1987 obituary.

Covering both the ecstatic highs of

the space race, as well as the decimating tragedies, Bergman was on hand in 1967 when a fire tore through the Apollo 1 spacecraft, killing three astronauts.

“They died at T minus 10 minutes into a simulated launch countdown,” he said, “helplessly trapped inside their spacecraft.”

So too was he the voice of some of America’s greatest triumphs in the middle 20th century, including when Armstrong and Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon. He spoke to the 650 million watching history unfold.

“What’s happening now up there is that, at this point, Aldrin and Armstrong are scheduled to, and we have every reason to think they are, eating dinner, like millions of other Americans,” Bergman said. “Who can imagine any more unusual place for two Americans to have dinner than on the moon?”

While his work was admired by viewers, Bergman was known for having a specific demeanor among colleagues. “[H]e was the most disliked person I guess in the program, but he did his homework and he was real good,” Jack King, who served as NASA’s public affairs officer, said in part one of the three-part PBS documentary “Chasing the Moon,” which aired earlier this month.

George Alexander, a fellow journalist, agreed with that assessment in the documentary.

“There were several prima donnas in broadcasting, Jules Bergman being the preeminent example,” Alexander said.

“Jules wanted you to know that he could have been an astronaut.”

Bergman underwent many surgeries for brain tumors beginning in the late 1970s and was found dead in his New York apartment on Feb. 11, 1987, at the age of 57. He was eulogized by astronaut Joseph P. Allen.

The National Association of Physician Broadcasters named its award for excellence in his honor and footage of his reporting has been used in Hollywood dramas from “Apollo 13” to “Hidden Figures.” ■ Compiled by AJT Staff reports.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 11

OPINION Israel Must Be a Bipartisan Ally How much more complicated can we get than this last week? Trump trashes four members of Congress, four women of color. His rally crowd picks up his refrain of “go back home.”

Representative Omar and several others, including John Lewis, co-sponsor a resolution backing boycotts Harold as an expression of the First Kirtz Amendment, but partially as implicit support for the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement.

The recent couple of months, including last week, have not been a proud time for either President Trump or Congresswoman Omar. As I wrote in April, Representative Omar made comments that were properly taken to be anti-Semitic tropes. They were wrong and hurtful, and she has apologized. Many people are giving her the benefit of the doubt, while others are not, but time will tell if she will turn over a new leaf. In particular, her

12 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

new BDS-supportive resolution is troubling – and more will be said about this soon.

But what the President is doing is even more divisive to American society – and to Jews. He is dividing, not uniting, the various groups in this country. His statements of racism against the Congresswomen should be anathema to all Americans.

But apparently, they are not.

We as Jews know the danger of those in ultimate power having such sway over much of the population in divisive ways.

We must call such leaders to account and must exemplify the uniting forces necessary for the country to thrive.

What the President did, and continues to do, is more dangerous to both Jews and Muslims, and to all of civil society.

Recently, Trump told reporters and others that the Democrats are anti-Semitic, and Jews should not support Democrats because of Israel, that is, because of our Jewishness. He has also said in a variety

of venues that Democrats are not good for Israel.

The Jewish community in America and in Israel have always worked hard to keep Israel from being a partisan issue. It does no good to divide the political world over a question of whether one American party is bad or not for Israel. The political world in the United States is such that, at some points in time, the Republicans are in control of the levers of government and, at other times, Democrats are in control. Israel needs to be supported by both sides of the political spectrum.

Just to gain a personal political advantage, Trump is dividing the political world over Israel. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats can let him get away with this. One of the strengths of the United States-Israel relationship is that it is nurtured by both political parties. Israel has been a bipartisan issue.

Israel needs to be welcomed by both parties and needs support from both of the major political parties. If one party seeks to gain votes by claiming that the other party is anti-Israel or anti-

Semitic, some voters will begin to see the relationship as tainted, or worse, as unnecessary.

The United States also needs Israel, no matter which party is in power. Israel is a democracy in an area without other democracies. Israeli intelligence, military and technology are among the best in the world, and the United States needs access to those advantages, no matter which party is in power.

What Trump is doing is dangerous to the relationship, and we will see it in starker terms as the political season heats up, UNLESS both parties counter his efforts. Democrats must verbally argue back that they are indeed friends of Israel, and Republicans must ensure that they stand for the proposition that both they and the Democrats are central to a good relationship with Israel.

It is up to our community to keep both parties honest and earnest in their support of Israel.

Harold Kirtz is president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta.

OPINION

JCC Maccabi Games Invest in Jewish Engagement The heat in Houston during the JCC coach); Boca Raton in 2014 (missing a week of Maccabi Games in August 2007 was oppresschool so that his grandparents could see him sive. I checked weather records to confirm play); and Dallas in 2015. On the occasions that memory. Indeed, high temperatures when Atlanta did not field a soccer team, he that week were in the mid to high 90s. was attached to squads from other cities.

For the teens playing soccer, the blazIn each of these cities, our children ing sun was as much a challenge as the stayed in the homes of families who opened opposing team. At least, the teams could their doors to JCC Maccabi Games comretreat to a tent during breaks in play. petitors. We met the families in Houston, For parents, especially one who brought Memphis, and Boca Raton, and phoned and an 8-year-old younger brother to watch his Dave emailed with the others. All were effusive 16-year-old sister and 14-year-old brother play Schechter about the opportunity to be part of the From Where I Sit for Team Atlanta, there was little respite.

Games. It’s always nice to hear that your We made frequent trips inside the Emchild has been a well-behaved house guest. ery/Weiner School, where basketball was being played in The JCC Maccabi Games opening ceremony is Olymair-conditioned comfort. And the kid raided coolers stocked pic-style, with delegations entering behind signs identiwith sports drinks on the sidelines of his siblings’ games. fying their home city. There is entertainment and there That was the beginning of our family’s JCC Maccabi are speeches and dignitaries. In Houston, the surprise inGames experience. troduction of Mark Spitz, winner of seven Olympic gold The older brother next competed in the 2008 JCC medals in swimming at the 1972 Olympics in Munich Maccabi Games in San Diego. It was through the JCC – and the father of a JCC Games participant – brought a games that we learned about Maccabi USA, a separate or- standing ovation. In Memphis, then-University of Memganization, which led to his playing for U.S. junior teams phis men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner – now at Georat the quadrennial Maccabiah Games in Israel and at Pan gia Tech – asked if there was anyone 6-foot-9 or taller in American Maccabi Games in Argentina and Brazil. the room.

When the younger brother became age-eligible (12Now it’s Atlanta’s turn, from July 28-Aug. 2, to open to 16-years-old) for the JCC Maccabi Games, he traveled to its doors to some 1,100 out-of-town house guests – many Memphis in 2012; Austin in 2013 (a hip injury suffered be- staying in the homes of the 590 members of Team Atlanta. fore the games kept him on the sidelines, despite pleas to his In the past year, I’ve written several stories about

planning for the JCC Maccabi Games, including one in this week’s issue. Each has repeated basic information: the number of participants; the 13 sports and related activities; the need for volunteers and host families; the planning for traffic, weather, injuries, and security.

These are the first JCC Maccabi Games since Pittsburgh and Poway. Security is why the games’ organizers asked that venues other than the Marcus JCC and the Marist School not be named. Given events in the past year, the abundant security I observed in Houston, Memphis and Boca Raton will be no less in Atlanta, and likely greater. For those who attend the games, there will be security you see and security measures that you don’t.

Stacie Francombe, executive director of the Atlanta games, exudes confidence that Atlanta will put on a JCC Maccabi Games like none before, raising the bar for the cities that follow. (A second, more arts-focused JCC Maccabi Games, is scheduled for Detroit a week later.)

After our youngest returned from the 102-degree heat in Dallas, I wrote about our children’s JCC Maccabi Games experience. We sent them, I said, because in their daily lives they are part of a minority religion and culture. We sent them because we felt that a week spent with other Jewish teens was worth the financial cost.

The Jewish community divides itself into numerous constituencies. For the next week, this year in Atlanta, some 1,700 Jewish youth will come together for competition and camaraderie. That alone makes the JCC Maccabi Games a worthy investment. ■

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 13

MACCABI Atlanta Welcomes JCC Maccabi Games

By Dave Schechter As a teenager, Eli Pollack competed in baseball and tennis at the JCC Maccabi Games as a member of Team Philadelphia. Now 25, he leads Team Houston into Atlanta for the 2019 JCC Maccabi Games, which open Sunday night, July 28, with an Olympic-style ceremony at the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta.

“I am most looking forward to seeing the games form the eyes of a delegation head. I think the JCC Maccabi Games are a great way to blend a love of Judaism and sport in a young person’s life, especially in today’s day and age, where that connection may not always be apparent. I still have friends to this day from my time spent in Maccabi as a teenager and those games are some of the fondest memories I have created so far,” said Pollack, the teen program coordinator at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston.

Team Houston’s 90 athletes will march into the arena with some 1,600 of

14 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

their 12- to 16-year-old peers, representing nearly three dozen Jewish communities in the United States, Israel, Mexico and Panama, along with a mixed group not attached to a formal delegation (including 14 from Montreal).

Entering last will be the host, Team

reported an economic impact from hosting the JCC Maccabi Games of at least $4 million, according to Lora Sommer, public relations manager for the MJCCA, citing figures from the Jewish Community Center Association of North America.

The games will be centered at two hubs: the Marcus JCC and the Marist School, supplemented by other local venues (which, for security reasons, organizers have asked not be named). A fleet of buses will ferry athletes and coaches between the sites. Dining rooms for lunch and snacks will be set up at the hubs.

Competitions will be held in flag football, basketball, soccer, baseball, volleyball, ultimate Frisbee (making its debut), swimming, dance, golf, tennis, bowling, table tennis, and track and field.

Backed by financial support from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Team Atlanta, its 590 competitors and 90 Atlanta will include 13 members from Atcoaches comprising the largest continlanta’s Israeli partnership community of gent ever at a JCC Maccabi Games.

Yokneam-Megiddo, who will compete in Monday morning, July 29, will begin dance, baseball, swimming, tennis, soccer, a week highlighted by competition in 13 and track and field.

Three are members of sports, as well as a community service the Ethiopian emigre community and parproject and other activities designed to ticipate in Yokneam youth programs suppromote Jewish values and camaraderie. ported by the Federation.

A party Thursday night, Aug. 2 (at Yokneam (also known as Yokneam a location not being disclosed publicly), Illit) was founded in 1950 as an Israeli will bring the JCC Maccabi Games to a “development town,” one of more than close. two dozen built to Planning for handle an influx the event has been of immigration. underway for more Located southeast than a year. Stacie of Haifa, Yokneam Francombe, directoday is a city of tor of the Maccabi about 22,000.

The Games for the MarMegiddo Regional cus Jewish CommuCouncil represents nity Center of At12,000 people living lanta, and her staff on nearby kibbutzim have recruited 400 (collective settlehost families (most ments, often a farm) from Team Atlanta) and moshavim (a coand 1,500 volunoperative group of teers who will be individual farms). deployed through“The moshavim out the competition have been suffervenues. ing from socio-ecoMore than nomic challenges, 120,000 Jewish Jaeger Ouanounou, a 14-under basketball high rates of youth youth have taken player for Team Atlanta, dribbles in at risk and youth part in the annual practice for the JCC Maccabi Games. crimes, and lack of sports festival since support systems within the communithe first JCC Maccabi Games in Memphis ties,” said Todd Starr, a member of the in 1982. Atlanta hosted the event in 2001.

Federation’s Global Jewish Peoplehood A planned return in 2007 fell victim to financial issues at the MJCCA. This time allocations committee.

In preparation for the Games, the around, more than $1.5 million in direct Yokneam-Megiddo youth have worked and in-kind contributions have been to improve their English language skills, raised to support the games. learned about the Jewish community in Cities of similar size to Atlanta have

MACCABI

While in Israel, members of JFGA’s Global Jewish Peoplehood allocations committee met athletes from Yokneam-Megiddo: Todd Starr, seated first row, far left, next to Craig Kornblum, committee chair.

Atlanta and the United States, and attended workshops on Israel advocacy.

There also will be a separate Israeli delegation of 26 athletes, along with seven chaperones.

The JCC Maccabi Games are designed to be fun, but also to place emphasis on the Jewish values of rachmanus (compassion) and tikkun olam (repairing the world).

The young competitors, their coaches and adult leaders will participate in a JCC Cares program spotlighting the work done by the Shepherd Center in Atlanta and the Israel Sport Center for the Disabled. Athletes from those centers will exhibit their abilities and JCC Maccabi Games participants will create painted canvases to be displayed at Shepherd and the ISCD. Ari Cohen, delegation head for Team Los Angeles, understands what makes the JCC Maccabi Games effective.

“It meets the teens at their point of interest, bringing them in by way of their love of sports. By starting with the common language of sports/art and shared interest, we are able to create Jewish connections and deep bonds that cross denominational, social, cultural and communal lines like no other experience,” said Cohen, who leads a delegation of 107 athletes and 18 coaches.

“This process is even more effective when it happens in a community that is rich with Jewish culture and community.

I have heard wonderful things about the Atlanta community and am most looking forward to seeing how Atlanta helps the Games flourish,” said Cohen, who is director of experiential learning at the Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles.

Team San Jose’s seven athletes will be attached to soccer and basketball

teams from other cities. “It is always an amazing experience getting to watch our athletes blend with their ‘mixed teams.’ Mixed teams truly give teens exposure to a different level of teamwork.

They meet for the first time on Sunday and then dive into competition the next day,” said Diana Schnabel-Arevalo, director of operations at the AddisonPenzak Jewish Community Center in Los Gatos, Calif.

“Our teens meet lifelong friends in a supportive environment that is fostering mutual respect and sportsmanship.

From JCC Cares to Hang Time, our teens are able to reconnect and rediscover a deeper understanding of their Jewish values and identity, along with hundreds of other Jewish teens. While the JCC Maccabi Games is an amazing athletic experience, we look forward to the additional cultural and social opportunities with Jewish teens from around the world that it exposes to our teens,” Schnabel-Arevalo said.

On the sidelines of their events, the young athletes will have the opportunity to compete in eSports, the electronic gaming that is a burgeoning sport professionally, as well as at high school and college level.

Also new at the Atlanta games, a program called Star Reporter will offer participants professional training in photography, videography, interviewing, blogging and other social media skills.

This being an event involving a large number of Jewish youth, along with adult coaches and visiting parents, security will be tight, with a mix of easily-visible uniformed and less-obvious plainclothes personnel, an operation involving local, county, state and federal law enforcement.

Atlanta’s weather is a wild card. The average high temperature in late July to

Goalkeeper Daniel Levine of Team Atlanta dives for a ball during practice in preparation for the 16-under soccer competition at the JCC Maccabi Games

early August is 88 degrees and the chance of rain averages about 40 percent. Water and sports drinks will be available at the venues. Medical personnel will be stationed at the hubs and trainers will be present at the competition sites.

The games are sponsored by the JCC Association of North America, partnering with the Maccabi World Union, Mac-

cabi USA, and Maccabi Canada. There usually are two JCC Maccabi summer events annually. Detroit will host both a combined athletic competition and the JCC Maccabi ArtsFest from Aug. 4-9.

ArtsFest events include acting/improv, culinary arts, dance, musical theater, rock band, social media, visual arts, and vocal music.. ■

Always fresh and delicious A True Mediterranean Cuisine!

Sun to Wed: 11:30am to 10:00pm Thu to Sat: 11:30am to 11:00pm 6152 Roswell Rd. Sandy Springs, GA 30328 mandolinkitchen.com / 404-705-8880 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 15

MACCABI

Maccabi Games Open with Meaningful Ceremony

Angelica Hale, as seen on America’s Got Talent, is set to give spectators an inspiring concert.

By Charlotte Morrison The Marcus JCC is quite busy this month making final preparations for the upcoming JCC Maccabi Games, Atlanta’s first time hosting the games since 2001.

There’s no better way to kick off historic games than with a unique and meaningful opening ceremony.

It is “really the beginning of the

Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta has a capacity of 12,000, plenty of room for an exhilarating opening ceremony.

whole games,” said Libby Hertz, co-chair of the 2019 JCC Maccabi Games. “It's the big kickoff event. It’s amazing because the whole community is invited to it.”

Hertz noted that most of the other events and competitions are only for participants. The opening ceremonies are “where we light the torch. The athletes and spectators will take an oath to participate in good sportsmanship; it’s a

CELEBRATE AT CELEBRATE

AT MAGGIANO’S LITTLE ITALY

Welcome Maccabi Athletes

M AG G I A N O ’ S L I T T L E I TA LY

LOOKING FOR AN ELEGANT AND PRIVATE SPACE TO HOST YOUR NEXT EVENT? Our skilled banquet managers and staff are experienced in a wide range of social, religious, and cultural events and would love to have you!

BAR/BAT MITZVAHS SHABBAT DINNERS

Find us in Perimeter Mall and LOOKING FORthe ANfollowing ELEGANT specials: AND PRIVATE Enjoy BRUNCHES

REHEARSAL DINNERS CEREMONIES

SPACE TO HOST YOUR NEXT EVENT? $10 OFF with $30 min purchase (main dining room) We will sweep your guests off their feet with our

stunning banquet spaces, delicious scratch-made food, and warm, welcoming atmosphere.

$100 GIFT CARD with $500 min purchaseand (reservation Our skilled banquet managers staff arerequired)

LET US HELP MAKE YOUR SPECIAL DAY ONE TO REMEMBER 4400 ASHFORD DUNWOODY RD, DUNWOODY, GA 30346

experienced in a wide range of social, religious, and cultural events and would love to have you!

B UCKH E AD

(770) 804-3313 HOURS: · MON-THU:11AM-10PM BEST OF M B E R L AN D · CU FRI-SAT:11AM-11PM 1601 CUMBERLAND MALL SE, SUITE 200JEWISH BAR/BAT MITZVAHS ATLANTA, GA 30339 · SUN:10:30AM-10PM ATLANTA 770.799.1590 BRUNCH PE RIM ETE R SHABBAT DINNERS · SAT-SUN:UNTIL 3PMROAD, #3035 4400 ASHFORD DUNWOODY 3368 PEACHTREE ROAD NE ATLANTA, GA 30326 404.816.6257

DUNWOODY, GA 30346 770.804.8898

BRUNCHES

MAGGIANOS.COM/BANQUETS

REHEARSAL DINNERS

16 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES CEREMONIES

very special event.”

With acts like Atlanta singer Angelica Hale and Olympic skater Adam Rippon performing, the ceremony is sure to entertain some 2,000 Jewish athletes and many members of the metro Atlanta Jewish community.

“Angelica Hale was a good choice because she’s from Atlanta, and she’s well known by a lot of the kids who watch ‘America’s Got Talent,’ and I think that she’s got an incredible voice and an incredible story, so I’m excited about her,” said Stacie Francombe, the 2019 JCC Maccabi Games director.

For those not familiar with her story, 11-year-old Hale competed on ‘America’s Got Talent’ and is known for overcoming multiple organ failures and septic shock as a result of bacterial pneumonia at a very young age. She found hope despite her health challenges.

Of the other guests, Francombe added, “Adam Rippon recently spoke at a BBYO convention in Denver and his message just kind of resonated with the kids, and the message of inclusion and bringing everybody communitywide together.”

Spectators will also be able to watch an Olympic-style parade of athletes, with each delegation marching behind a banner that shows its community. Besides entertaining the athletes and spectators, the opening ceremonies serve a greater purpose of showcasing the importance of Jewish communities.

“I think that it’s a mixture of things,” Francombe said. “It’s a welcome to Atlanta and after 18 years we’re finally welcoming everybody back to our city. It’s embracing the city of Atlanta, but also Jewish Atlanta, and I think it’s a combination of a moment where every athlete looks around and says, ‘Oh my gosh, look at all these Jewish kids that are all here

Bronze medal winning Olympic skater and human rights activist Adam Rippon will be speaking at this year’s ceremony.

to play sports.’ I think that there’s Jewish pride in that, and also [it] just embodies all of the values that Maccabi brings to the athletes, coaches and delegation heads.”

The opening ceremony also includes a tribute to the Munich 11, honoring the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches that were massacred during the 1972 summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

This tribute happens at every opening ceremony, but the Atlanta Games hope to stand out with a touching tribute using sand artist and Atlanta native Joe Castillo to tell the story of the 11 athletes.

Hertz explained that the tribute is important because it shows the young athletes how much the Jewish community has overcome over the years, and how amazing it is for them to be playing sports with all these other Jewish athletes.

“We’re really excited about what he’s bringing to the program,” Francombe said. “Munich 11 is obviously a sad memorial time, and we want these kids to learn from Munich 11, and to take away a message of remembering what had happened and that it might be a really long time ago, and the footage might be in black and white, but it still is relevant to these athletes because it’s about Israelis and people who were Jewish and they were targeted because of their religion, so we want people to remember that that happened.”

The opening ceremonies will also include prize giveaways, a performance from the Atlanta Drum Academy, and lots of community involvement. They will take place at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 28, at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre and are free and open to the public, although tickets must be reserved online at www.atlmaccabi2019.org/opening-ceremonies. ■

MACCABI

Photos by Eddie Samuels // Asher Force attempts

a diving catch during practice on July 8.

Josh Isaacs attempts to guard Asher Force and prevent him from finding an open target.

Coach Matt Dickson instructs his team and leads drills in preparation for the upcoming Maccabi Games.

Theo Stein lunges for a disc during practice.

Ultimate Frisbee Set to Fly High at Maccabi Debut

By Eddie Samuels

ready playing, it’s not like we had to go out and recruit heavily. It’s a growing Filling a void for one of the up-and- sport and it didn’t take much to put tocoming sports, this year’s Maccabi Games gether three teams.” will be adding ulHis team has timate Frisbee to been training at its slate. Atlanta least once a week will be fielding since early Januthree teams, led ary, and for Dickby coach Matt son, each practice Dickson. starts out the He first was same way, drilling involved with Fristhe team to make bee in high school sure they have the at a prep school in names down.

Seven-on-seven drills give the Atlanta teams a New Jersey, where chance to get some simulated game experience.

“We’ve put a he served as an ullot of time in, and timate captain. He would go on to play at the reason we did that was not just to get Lehigh University, and explained that the reps, but these kids come from at least sport’s accessibility is part of the reason 12 different schools and they’re getting he still loves it today. together once a week, and they all have “The only cost of playing is a disc, other commitments too,” he said. “My and a really nice Frisbee costs $15,” he biggest rule is that you have to know evexplained. “Kids from any means can get ery kid’s name.” engaged in ultimate, and that’s one of the Fielding three teams is no small feat, reasons I’m such a fan of it.” and part of the challenge in a new sport Philip Rubin, the athletics and is not knowing what to expect from the fundraising chair for the 2019 games, ex- competition. plained that the growth of the sport local“I have no idea what to expect, but ly was one of the reasons neither do they,” he said. “A he thought about includlot of the other kids are on ing ultimate Frisbee in the multi-city teams, so kids games. He was given the from New York and Los final push in 2018’s games Angeles might be on the in California. same team. We’re trying “The way it works is to put out three competimost team sport competive teams, but they could titions end on Wednesbe all-star teams, for all we day, so they have ‘second know, but that’s sports.” sports,’ which lets the kids With three teams, enjoy themselves and do each athlete will get their something else with their chance to see the field and leftover time,” Rubin said. leave their mark on the “Ultimate really took off games, and that’s somethere. A lot of kids wanted thing Dickson wants to to play, and it’s a fun game Harris Dankberg and recognize.

Theo Stein both try to that you can learn fast.”

“I went out and bought catch a high-thrown disc.

With its spot then set a bucket of little gold Frisfor the roster of sports this year, tryouts bee pins, and every game we’re going surpassed all expectations. to be awarding player of the match,” he “We had 60 kids show up at the ini- said. “It’s going to go to the player who tial tryouts,” Dickson said. “The interest had the best hustle, the biggest impact on is out there and there are children al- the game. I think it’ll be cool at the end of

the week for that effort to show visibly.

But his team’s hustle won’t be the only thing on display, as Dickson is bringing them a unique opportunity, the Atlanta Hustle, the city’s professional ultimate Frisbee team, to lead a clinic.

“With only a two-hour window it’s more about giving the kids fundamentals to work on, then developing skills immediately at the clinic,” Hustle captain Matt Smith said. “Ultimate is fundamentally a game of running, catching and throwing.

We’ll try to touch on all three using some basic drills we run through. … I also hope to give individual players some tips that might help refine their games a bit.”

General Manager John Boezi added that one of the Hustle’s main goals is

to bring the sport and its core values to more young athletes.

“At the youth level, the game is selfofficiated by the players,” he said. “This fosters a culture in which players prioritize mutual respect, fair play and knowledge of the rules. Youth ultimate players learn how to resolve conflict with their opponents in healthy ways.”

While he hopes the clinic with pros will give his team a chance to learn and improve, Dickson noted that the Hustle’s team name is appropriate.

“I think the team’s name is great — the Hustle,” he said. “If you want that disc more than the other guy and you’re willing to work harder, you’re going to get there.” ■

TAPAS RESTAURANT - LIVE MUSIC - DRINKS

Artsy setting with live entertainment and award winning specialty tapas.

You will surely fall for the ambiance and service.

Happy Hour 4-6 Mon-Fri half off tapas and well drinks

4505 Ashford Dunwoody Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30346 (678) 205-5862 www.eclipsediluna.net/dunwoody ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 17

MACCABI

21 Years of Maccabi Soccer Fun

Mike Wolff with his team at last year’s Maccabi Games in Orange County, Calif.

By Eddie Samuels As the longest tenured coach for Team Atlanta, Mike Wolff has been coaching at the Maccabi Games since 1998. His resume is well-decorated with seven medals to show for his work: four gold, two silver and a bronze.

A lover of soccer, he has coached both boys’ and girls’ soccer for the games for 21 years, and this year will be leading the girls ‘red’ soccer team at the games,

along with coach Daren Silberman.

Wolff also brings a unique perspective to this year’s hometown festivities as one of the few to have seen the games in 2001, the only other time they were hosted in Atlanta.

“It was great. One of the things that makes the games so successful is volunteers, and we had a ton of them. The building at Zaban Park had also just been renovated, so it really was showing off our new facility to the rest of the delegations.”

THE SONENSHINE TEAM

Atlanta’s Favorite Real Estate Team

DEBBIE SONENSHINE Top 1% of Coldwell Banker Internationally, Certified Negotiator, Luxury, New Homes and Corporate Relocation Specialist Voted Favorite Jewish Realtor in AJT, Best of Jewish Atlanta

Debbie Sells Houses!

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

Fantastic Location ITP $799,900

• Convenient to Northside & St. Joe’s Hospitals

• Close to Brookhaven, Buckhead, Sandy Springs

• Private Cul-de-Sac Custom Brick Home • Riverwood High School

direct 404.250.5311 | office 404.252.4908 Follow Us On Facebook

Debbie@SonenshineTeam.com | www.SonenshineTeam.com ©2018 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Coldwell Banker is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Operated By a Subsidiary of NRT LLC.

18 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Mike Wolff last week at practice with the girls’ “red” team preparing for impending games.

He estimated that the 2001 team was made up of about 450 participants, and this year’s 572 athletes and 78 coaches are set to eclipse that total.

“Typically, when we go out of town, we have about 100 kids with us,” he said.

“When it’s here, we can have a lot more kids participate because it’s a lot more affordable — costs for families are a lot less.”

While Wolff enjoys being able to travel and see different cities and communities with the games, there is a level of comfort having it on home soil.

“When we’re away, coaches leave the hotel in the morning, are out on the field all day and then go to the evening event and are back at the hotel in the evening.

I’m just wiped out,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love going away, but this year I get to come home and be in my own bed every night, and we’re really proud to represent Atlanta.”

Wolff is also feeling confident about this year’s team. “I don’t want to jinx myself by any means, but they did a really good job of promoting the games when it was time for tryouts back in January and February. We got to look at 50 to 70 girls, which was huge,” he said.

Unlike many other sports at the games, which are broken up into two age groups, 13-14 and 15-16, girls’ soccer includes all eligible ages, which, for the host team, can include 12-year-olds.

“We did collect a 12-year-old and two 13-year-olds, and they’re just really good ball players,” he said. “I’ve been doing this a while, and this is the most talented group of girls that I’ve ever had. Our hope is that we do very well, and we think we will.”

In discussing what has changed since he first donned the whistle back in 1998, Wolff explained that his outlook and style of coaching are among the biggest factors.

“When I first started coaching in my 20s, I was loud, very energetic and

always involved, constantly yapping. I’ve mellowed over the years and let things flow,” he said. “I like to do more of the talking at halftime now. I’ve figured out that I can let things play out more.”

He also noted that he’s learned that his enjoyment of the games isn’t entirely dependent on his teams’ successes.

“I got some of the medals in my earlier years, and I always wondered, would I have as much fun at the games if I didn’t win? Winning and getting that recognition puts the icing on the cake, but I found out there’s a lot more to the games than winning, and even a lot more than just playing your sport.”

In terms of what keeps him coming back over the years, there are three major factors: his love of the game, the atmosphere and his fellow coaches.

“Certainly, my love for soccer is at the forefront,” he said. “I started playing when I was 9 or 10 years old and have been playing all the way up into my 50s.”

Wolff also worked at Camp Barney Medintz for more than 20 years, and noted that Maccabi, in just a five-day period, manages to capture some of that camp magic.

“The kids are obviously there for a sport that brings them to the games, but once they’re there, it takes on a lot of the things that one might get by going to camp,” he said. “Some of these kids will make some lifelong friends at these games.”

He also noted that the camaraderie with all the coaches was important but called out two by name.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention two guys I’d coached with over the years,” he said. “One is Bob Meyer, who started just a few years after I did and we coached girls soccer together for a number of years, and the other is Daren Silberman, who played for me when he was in high school at The Weber School, and will be by my side this year.” ■

MACCABI

Competition is Only Part of the Fun

By Charlotte Morrison Team Atlanta looks quite different this year, with more than 600 athletes participating in the host team in comparison to its usual traveling delegation of 100.

With that many athletes, there is a sport for everyone’s taste, from bowling to table tennis and from swimming to volleyball.

For Atlanta, a larger team means bringing together young athletes from all different parts of the city, said Todd Starr, a delegation head and volleyball coach for Team Atlanta. “Well, as a traveling delegation, we’re just a team going Basketball coach Brian Seitz, right, poses Brian Seitz, second from the right, and his basketball somewhere and playing in a set of games, with Jacob Gluck after the team won gold team won gold medals at last year’s games. but hosting, our whole community is medals at last year’s Maccabi Games. involved, so it’s really awesome to see to gain a whole different perspective on people from Cumming, and Intown, and As many of these teams have been big, and the community service is big.”

Starr emphasized the importance the games. “It’s gonna be interesting. … It’s East Cobb, and all these different com- practicing since winter, the first thing on munities coming together for the same their minds is just being able to go out these games have on the athletes. “Just re- going to be a different experience hostcommon cause.” there and play, Starr said. “I would say alizing that there’s so many other Jewish ing entirely,” Seitz said. “I hope they get Starr added that the Games also that they’re ready to play, not practice athletes all over the country that are just to meet kids from other cities and other are attracting more people to the Mar- any more. They’re all excited about get- like you and that we can come together to nations that are similar to them, that have a passion for fun, Judaism, sports, and cus JCC. “It’s amazing to see some of the ting their uniforms and their gear, and do these things, it’s really cool.”

Hosting the games for the first time I hope they have the opportunity to stay people that are walking back into the J just not having to hear about all the activagain.” Some children are coming to the ities and being ready to do them already.” in 18 years is a big change for Team At- in touch with the kids that they’ve met MJCCA for the first time. About 40 to 50 Starr chuckled at the prospect of his lanta, but being a host allows for the kids through this Maccabi.” ■ percent of the children on Team Atlanta team winning many games, saying “Well, this year were unaffiliated with the JCC there’s three levels, we have three volleyand Maccabi before joining this year’s ball teams, and I’m on the third team. So team, he said. we’re excited to play, to participate. The On the other hand, many players are highest-level team, the red team, is hopereturning, but not all to the same sport, fully in medal contention.” said Brian Seitz, a 14U boys’ basketball Since there were so many athletes coach and chief fundthis year, they were raiser for the games. divided into three vol• Prime Steaks • Awesome Sandwiches “About four or five leyball teams, which • Local Craft Beer played with me last is unusual for a local year at Orange Coundelegation, Starr said. ty, Calif., games. And “Pretty much anybody then one of my players who wanted to play in played soccer last year, these games had an he’s playing basketball opportunity. Even if it this year, one of them wasn’t their first sport, played flag football they could play track, last year, he’s playing they could bowl, they basketball this year.” could swim. There was Although coman opportunity to do petition and winning something if you were games is obviously a willing to commit.” big aspect of Maccabi, Besides its size, coaches just want their what makes this team Todd Starr, previously a baseball teams to play, have fun stand out is its ability coach for the games, decided to Redeem for a free and make new friends, to bring people togethcoach volleyball this year instead. starter or dessert Seitz said. “I’ve got 10 er beyond the compe($10 value). players from seven different schools, in- titions, much like this year’s theme, “BeOne per table. Expires 08/31/19. cluding a player from Gainesville, Ga., yond Sports.” on our team. And the team is fantastic, “When it comes to the games, it’s they’re great kids, they like each other, sportsmanship and playing hard, but they compete. They want to get better realizing that there’s a bigger picture,” BogartzFoodArtz.com | 833-foodart | 833-366-3278 and they’re extremely coachable. It’s all Starr said. “Athletics is a big part, but so227 Sandy Springs Place, Ste. 502, Sandy Springs GA 30328 I can ask.” cial activities in the evening are just as

Earn medals in our special events: Goat Cheese Beignet shot put, Duck Two Ways relay, and Dessert triple jump.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 19

MACCABI

JCC Cares Celebrates All Athletes

By Charlotte Morrison JCC Cares, the annual community service project of the Maccabi Games, has always been an important aspect of the sports event. This year’s project proves to be a thoughtful reminder about the importance of sports for athletes of all abilities.

Maccabi participants will collaborate with the Israel Sport Center for the Disabled and the Shepherd Center to learn about and participate in service projects related to disabilities and sports.

ISCD is a sports rehabilitation center for all ages in Ramat Gan, Israel. Its many athletes compete in various Paralympic games in more than 20 sports. “It’s a perfect combination for Maccabi Games, especially for the day of caring, because it [ISCD] allows people with physical disabilities to get the thrill and experience of feeling success through sports that the participants of Maccabi get when they play their sports,” said Jennifer Fink, national executive director of the American Friends of ISCD. The ISCD will be bringing in some of its best athletes to participate in a

20 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Disabled Athlete Exhibition, which will include wheelchair basketball games and education about disabled athletes and sports therapy.

These athletes include Asel Shabo, a wheelchair basketball player who lost his leg in a terrorist attack; 16-year-old wheelchair tennis player Maayan Zikri; Tal Dagan, a 12-year-old basketball player with cerebral palsy, and 13-year-old Omri Bergman, a paraplegic wheelchair basketball player.

The goal of the exhibition is for Maccabi athletes to understand what it truly means to be an athlete, no matter your ability. “It’s so powerful that you could hear a pin drop with a thousand kids in that room,” said Michelle Leven, JCC Cares co-chair.

Also participating in the exhibition will be the Shepherd Center, a local nonprofit hospital in Atlanta that focuses on medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with neuromuscular problems such as spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis and chronic pain.

In addition to the exhibition, athletes will participate in two hands-on ser-

Asel Shabo will be traveling to Atlanta to participate in the exhibition.

vice projects during JCC Cares. They will grateful for our Atlanta family.”

The Atlanta Community Adaptive learn about the importance of art therapy in physical rehabilitation and will Fitness Center is a new part of the ISCD help to create two pieces in a workshop that recently opened and was funded by led by two local professional artists and members of the Atlanta Jewish commuan art therapist. “We thought that maybe nity. “It’s provided something for the Atsomething permanent at both Shepherd lanta community to be proud of,” Leven Center and ISCD was [an] everlasting gift added.

Maccabi athletes have been asked to show our support and partnership,” to purchase and bring in items such as Leven said.

The art will be created by having the clothes, rehabilitation supplies, household supplies, athletes step on games and movpainted bubble ies to donate for wrap to splatpatients staying ter paint, which at the Shepherd professional artCenter.

These ists will then donations are transform into important to the two meaningful Shepherd Cenpieces that will ter because most be revealed at the patients and end of the games. their families are The two art pieces housed there for will be permamonths and years nently installed at at a time while both the ISCD and they receive treatShepherd Center. ment.

Athletes “At ISCD in will be packaging Ramat Gan, bethese items to decause of the generliver to the center osity of the Mike at the conclusion and Andrea Leven of the games.

Family Founda“It’s been a tion and our Atwork in progress The Shepherd Center in Atlanta helps many lanta Friends, we patients with neuromuscular diseases. over the last two have been able to build out a state-of-the-art 4,000-square- years. We’re excited to really visit with foot adaptive fitness center with special the athletes, and we cannot wait to share equipment, … and the art project they’re the ISCD and the Shepherd Center with doing is going to be hung in the Atlanta the larger community,” Leven said.

The Disabled Athlete Exhibition will Community Adaptive Fitness Center,” Fink said. “We have a very strong group take place Tuesday, July 30, and Wednesof supporters in Atlanta, and we are very day, July 31. ■

MACCABI

Troy, Jessica, AJ and Andy Shefsky at a University of Nebraska Huskers home game in Lincoln in October 2018.

A Maccabi Love Story

By Shaindle Schmuckler Once upon a time, there was a cute little boy named Andy, who loved to play and compete in the game he loved: tennis.

Here’s his story: In 1990, when Andy was almost 15, he traveled to Detroit, Mich., representing the Atlanta Jewish Community Center in the Maccabi Games.

In 2001 when the games were in Atlanta, he was a girls’ tennis coach.

The following year, 2002, he was the boys’ tennis coach. His team competed in Omaha, Neb. Are you ready for the power of love?

While he was watching one of his boys compete, he was distracted by a most beautiful young woman named Jessica. She was at the Maccabi Games tennis competition, cheering for her brother, who was competing against one of Andy’s boys. How fortuitous. They experienced an instant connection.

Two years later they were married. They lived in the Atlanta area and raised two wonderful boys.

In 2015, they moved the family to Omaha, Jessica’s hometown, where their lives together in a new city began.

This summer the Maccabi games are here again in Atlanta, hosted by the Marcus Jewish Community Center. Andy and Jessica’s older son, A.J., 13 years old, will be competing in tennis in the Atlanta Maccabi Games, as a member of the Omaha delegation. … And the world goes round and round.

Welcome to the Maccabi Games A.J. and all our Maccabi athletes, their families and coaches.. ■ ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 21

MACCABI

How to Feed 1,800 Young Athletes

By Chloe Levitas

taco night we will have tofu tacos on the food-sensitives buffet, that way we can Preparing for the Maccabi Games accommodate for lots of different people, means working countless hours to enbut not be too crazy.” sure healthy, yet tasty meals in large Not only does Added Touch Catering quantities for the athletes. have to worry about food allergies and “We ordered over 1,200 pounds different dietary restrictions, they have of chicken, 300 pounds of lettuce, and to get all of their food products approved 560 pounds of ground beef just for one by the Atlanta Kosher Commission. event,” said Emily McConnell, head chef “Sourcing all the ingredients to the for Added Touch Catering.

AKC standards has been a huge chal“The reason we have quantiles like lenge for us, pre-planning to make sure this is because we have to feed 1,800 athwe have everything AKC approved,” Bank letes,” said Erin Lis, Added Touch’s direcsaid. “It has been difficult … because trytor of sales and marketing. ing to wash 900 pounds of lettuce, the Added Touch Catering, run by Sanfeasibility of that is impossible. So now dra and Clive Bank for two decades, is we are sourcing pre-chopped and prepreparing the menu for the 2019 JCC washed, AKC-approved lettuce, which Photos by Chloe Levitas // Added Touch Catering team at the Marcus JCC. Maccabi Games. The catering service is very complicated because the AKC in will provide lunches for the coaches and Atlanta won’t take a farm that is AKCathletes, along with make meals that rotating from the approved in Taylor a coaches’ dinner will stay fresh and fridge to the oven Farms in Califoron Sunday night hold well and not on to the buffet.” nia, but they will after the opening dry out even after approve the Taylor Added Touch ceremonies.

And they have been re- differs from other Farms in TennesMonday night of heated. “The chick- catering see. It is the same compathe games they en, for instance, I nies because it does brand, but just difwill provide dinwould normally not make the food ferent locations,” ner in Peachtree do chicken strips ahead of time and McConnell said.

Corners. “We have or fajitas, but in- reheat it on site.

“As far as the planned the menus stead, we are doing “We are all about kosher aspect goes, for months and dea beautiful, juicy, prepping things in there is a serious cided to come up braised chicken so advance and finscience behind it with the most excitit will reheat beau- ishing them off in where AKC knows ing foods that kids tifully,” McConnell the oven to make it certain farms and would love,” said said. fields have larger like your mom just Clive Bank, owner “The logistics brought it out,” Lis infestation of bugs and second-in-comwere crazy. We had said. or use pesticides, mand. The caterto rent refrigerated so produce must be “For instance, ing team plans to trailers that we are we will grill mark thoroughly washed, alternate between keeping in each the burgers and and we have had Head chef Emily McConnell prepares Chefs Clive Smith, Emily kid-friendly dairy location, Marist they are still raw the produce prefood for the Maccabi Games.

McConnell and Miguel Nunez. meals and meat [School] and MJC- in the center, but washed to accommeals.

CA, because half the kids are split in ei- it looks like it’s been cooked on the out- modate to this volume,” Lis said.

Because there will be so much food ther direction. We are not heating every- side and put them in the oven to finish Luckily, Added Touch Catering will be at the games, Added Touch decided to thing up at one time, we have the meals it. They are still juicy and awesome like preparing the food at the MJCCA and will it was just cooked, but we can cook 300 have a dairy kitchen and a meat kitchen burgers at one time in the oven that look as well. They will also have mashgiachs and taste like they’ve been on the grill be- who will supervise the kashrut.

At the MJCCA, the athletes will be cause they have,” McConnell said.

Feeding 1,800 is no walk in the park able to eat in the Brill Family activity and there are many different dietary room and on Main Street, and at Marist, restrictions that Added Touch has to ac- they will be able to eat in the cafeteria commodate. “Each food item will have and outside. “We will be going to Marist’s menu cards and every menu item will kitchen to clean it and to make it kosher,” have a list of the top seven allergens that Lis said. “Parents and spectators are not are contained in that menu item. The included in the meals during lunch, but whole facility is peanut-free, and we use we have A Healthy Touch Café at the latex gloves for the entire event,” McCon- MJCCA that they can get food at,” Lis said.

“One of the things with the company nell said.

“We also have a separate food-sensi- is that, in Atlanta, there are a lot of Jews tives buffet and we will be accommodat- here,” Bank said. “There are very few caing for those who are vegetarian, gluten- tering companies that have the ability to free and dairy-free. For example, on the pull off something like this.” ■ 22 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

DINING

The open and immaculate kitchen makes for fun viewing.

The Eggplant Crema was a table favorite with pickled watermelon rind.

Cappelletti golden tied “purses” in mushroom brodo has a mélange of mushrooms and pistachios. Loud Mouth mushrooms are a conversation piece.

Halibut was served with snap peas, fennel and peaches. Arugula is used as a garnish on many Adalina plates.

Adalina Breathes Life Into Northern Italian Cuisine

By Marcia Caller Jaffe

for a lovely night out. Interestingly the hostess reported that about half the patrons are Post residents, some of whom come almost every day.

The server recommended summer cocktails like “Three Sisters” — vodka infused with berries, which were mashed and soaked for three days. Other sassy names like “I Am the Walrus” contained absinthe. Our Merlot was smooth and reasonably priced by the glass, but a tad skimpily poured.

Smack on the border between Buckhead and Vinings lies the Post River complex, by far the most scenic Post property, mimicking a live, work, play European village with its expected display of beautiful landscaping.

The restaurant anchor is well positioned up the hill with free parking and easy access. Last filled by the River Room, there has been a trail of openings and closWhat we went ings. Hopefully this crazy over: time Adalina’s flair The Eggplant and delivery of flavorCrema was superb, ful Northern Italian scoring both baba cuisine will hold the ghanoush and pickled more permanent glue. watermelon rind. A Chef Joshua Hopkins The “no bake” mascarpone cheesecake marriage of oppois well credentialed, with roasted pineapple and pecans was sites, smooth versus coming from serious irresistible. Lemon almond cake with crunchy, mild versus lemon basil gelato was a close second. award-winning ressweet, with flatbread taurants such as Bacchanalia and Empire wedges baked in the pizza oven. The State South. flavours don’t fight, rather our diners Northern Italian food reflects the fought to get more of it. eight upper regions from Piedmont to Little Gem Caesar salad featured Emilia Romagna, which de-emphasises grilled broccoli, purple cabbage, preolive oil and heavy red sauces in favor served lemon, breadcrumbs (no crouof light cheeses, butter, risotto, polenta tons) and parmesan was worth scraping and trout jumping in a local brook, and the plate and enough to share. sometimes mushrooms and corn.

The Roasted Cauliflower starter Adalina ups the ante a notch further was smothered under arugula, preserved by featuring locally grown produce and lemon and pistachio sauce. A smattersustainable seafood. One would dine ing too rich for my taste, but creative elsewhere for Southern dishes like baked nonetheless. ziti and eggplant parmesan.

Cappelletti golden tied “purses” in The space is open and modern with mushroom brodo featured a mélange no feel of crowding. The tables have a of mushrooms. The most unusual is the white marble look, which pairs well with Loud Mouth mushrooms. It made a very the sea foam blue banquettes rimming sharable, conversation piece display. the room. Mini terrariums are attached Halibut was paired with snap peas, to the wall. The noise level could come fennel and peaches (they gladly ditched down a degree, but the open kitchen and the prosciutto addition listed on the friendly, but not overbearing staff make menu). The sauce was light and the fish

was fresh, bright, white and firm.

To take only a bite of dessert, I couldn’t let loose of the “No Bake” Mascarpone Cheesecake with roasted pineapple, ginger, white chocolate and pecans. The nuts and the pineapple were really rock stars in this heavenly fluff.

Next time, focus will be on the Rosé Sangria, Rainbow Trout with caponata, stuffed peppers, corn risotto, and salsa verde, and fried artichoke with banana peppers, arugula, lemon aioli and gremolata (a fancy term for lemon zest and parsley).

Although we didn’t sample them, pizza choices abound on the menu.

Some intriguing toppings are fig preserves, peppadew peppers, wild oregano and zucchini. Peppadews are known for their nutritional value and come in mild and hot varieties.

Adalina deserves attention and the delight of sneaking away from the crowd in a “getaway” ambiance amidst a gust of an experienced chef’s gourmet fare.

Adalina is located at 4403 Northside Parkway. ■

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 23

CALENDAR FRIDAY, JULY 26

Shabbat in the Park – Grant Park, Cherokee Avenue, Atlanta, from 5:45 to 7:30 p.m. Shabbat in the Park is a casual, fun and family-friendly Friday evening potluck dinner held monthly in a local park. Featuring a Shabbat sing-along led by Rabbi Ari Kaiman.

Enjoy a vegetarian-friendly meal, and an evening of socializing with Shearith Israel. Free. For more information, www.bit.ly/2IaIuGP.

JULY 28 – AUGUST 2

2019 JCC Maccabi Games – The Maccabi Games are returning to Atlanta for the first time in 18 years. Free. For everyone who wants to be a spectator, volunteer or host family, you must register, www.bit.ly/2MIj1sv. For questions and locations, call or email Jody Miller at 678-812-4033 or jody.miller@ atlantajcc.org.

SUNDAY, JULY 28

Congregation Ner Tamid Open House with Babka and Bagels – Congregation Ner Tamid, 1349 Old Highway 41, Suite 220, Marietta, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Learn about the religious school and synagogue. The religious school offers classes for pre-K through grade 7, as well as b’nai mitzvah and confirmation programs. Synagogue activities include weekly Shabbat services, high holidays services, women’s group, youth group, mahjong and book club. For more information, www.bit.ly/32fQfD4.

JULY 29 – AUGUST 2

In the City Camp – Congregation Dor Tamid, 11165 Parsons Road, Johns Creek from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. $295 per child per week. For more information, www.bit. ly/2WvH5hZ.

MONDAY, JULY 29

Cafe Europa for Holocaust Survivors –Congregation Beth Jacob, 1855 Lavista Road, Atlanta, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cafe Europa is a monthly social gathering for Holocaust survivors at Congregation Beth Jacob held the last Monday of the month. This event includes entertainment or a speaker and a kosher catered lunch. Free. For more information, www.bit.ly/2MEdRxG.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31

Open Play Games – Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Atlanta, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Open play tables are set up every 24 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES

Pinchas Friday, July 26, 2019, light candles at 8:25 p.m.

Saturday, July 27, 2019, Shabbat ends at 9:23 p.m.

Matot-Massei Friday, July 19, 2019, light candles at 8:19 p.m.

Saturday, July 20, 2019, Shabbat ends at 9:17 p.m. week on MJCCA’s Main Street on Mondays and Wednesdays for you to enjoy popular strategy and skill games while making new friends. Free for members, $5 for the community. For more information, www.bit.ly/2H6mYRt.

Sweet Summer Series – Locations around Atlanta from 5 to 6:30 p.m. PJ Library’s Summer Series is back again, with a twist. Sweet Summer Series will run every Wednesday night for nine weeks at a local ice cream shop. Each week they will hold Sweet Summer Series in a different location around Atlanta. For more information and locations, www.bit.ly/2Yq9ozA.

of the Atlanta Reform Jewish community to celebrate Shabbat together this year at TKC. At 7 p.m. is the prereception for guests and attendees; 7:15 p.m. learn new music; 7:30 p.m. worship service followed by oneg Shabbat.

Come out and help Kehillat Chaim host the Atlanta area Reform community.

Free. For more information, www.bit. ly/2Y0ZS65.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 4

Blood Drive – Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave. NW, Atlanta, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Every day blood donors help patients of all ages: accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients and those battling cancer. In fact, every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. We schedule an appointment through the Red Cross. Free. For more information, www.aasynagogue.org.

Torah Studies– Chabad Intown on the BeltLine, 730 Ponce De Leon Place NE, Atlanta, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The acclaimed Torah Studies program brings you the tradition of classical Jewish learning in a series of inspiring and engaging weekly classes. The lessons probe the depths of contemporary Torah thought, with a special focus on issues surrounding spirituality, the human psyche, love and relationships.

Free. For more information, www.bit. ly/2ZBX7Zn.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2

Reform Community Shabbat – Temple Kehillat Chaim, 1145 Green Street, Roswell, from 7 to 9 p.m. Join the rest

TUESDAY, AUGUST 6

Artists in the Wild – En Plein Air Art– Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. every Tuesday through August.

The CNC partners with the Roswell Fine Arts Alliance to present local painters creating en plein air art focused on spring and summer blooms.

Visit with the painters and observe them at work. Artist availability may be dependent on weather so please call ahead to determine schedule. Included with general admission to the CNC. $6 per child, $10 per adult, $7 for seniors 65 and up, $7 for students ages 13-18, free CNC members and children 2 and under. For more information, www.bit. ly/2JnQXba.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8

Hadassah Metulla Third Session – 1050 Crown Pointe Parkway, Dunwoody, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Greater Atlanta Hadassah Metulla will meet in Dunwoody for the third in a series of informal learning and discussion sessions led by Dr. Milt Tambor. The topic is “Yiddish the Mother Language.” $5 per person. For questions and to RSVP, waltersanita@charter.net.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9

Scholar in Residence: Jewlicious Founder David Abitbol – 4320 Kim-

MONDAY, AUGUST 5

Magical Mondays – William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, 1440 Spring St. NW, Atlanta, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

For children ages 6 to 12 years old and their families. Do you want to learn some magic? This summer at The Breman you’ll have your chance. Every week a staff member or a visiting guest magician will perform and teach magic that you can do using items you have around the house. By summer’s end you’ll be a regular Houdini. Free for members, regular admission for non-members. For more information, www.bit.ly/2FRA3yP.

ball Bridge Road, Alpharetta, from 7 to 9 p.m. David Abitbol has a remarkable story to tell. He helped convince a member of the hateful Westboro Baptist Church family to leave along with her sister and become an advocate for coexistence. Abitbol, a founder of the game-changing website Jewlicious, and Amy Oppenheimer Abitbol, will share their expertise on nonviolent communication and how our words can help shape the world we live in. For pricing and more information, www.bit. ly/2X66oar.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 11

Sunday on the River Concert Featuring Sam Lewis – Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. The soulful Sam Lewis has discovered what most

JULY 26-AUGUST 15

SUNDAY, JULY 28

JCC Maccabi Games Opening Ceremonies – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre (Formerly Verizon Amphitheatre), 2200 Encore Parkway, Alpharetta, from 6 to 9 p.m.

The 2019 JCC Maccabi Games® will call Atlanta home for just the second time in the history of the competition, with more than 1,600 participants, ranging from 12-16 years old, filling out a field of 13 sports. Hosted by the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, the 2019 JCC Maccabi Games® will include a full range of events, including this Olympic-style opening Tickets are free and the event is open to the community. Parking is $10 to $15. For parking passes and more information, www.bit.ly/2G69CFk.

musicians spend lifetimes working for, the place where feel-good music meets vital social commentary. $16 per lawn seat, $20 per table seat. For tickets and more information, www.bit. ly/2Muk3bq.

Beth Shalom Welcomes David Nissan – Israel Intelligence Expert – Congregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Join enlightened speaker David Nissan, who has 23 years of experience in the Israeli intelligence and security establishment, followed by a question/answer discussion. Refreshments will be served. Free. For more information, www.bethshalom.net.

school’s Babies educator. Every Thursday in the Babies Room. Free. For more information, www.bit.ly/30kViRZ.

Brain Health Boot Camp – Jewish Family & Career Services, 4549 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, from 3 to 5 p.m. This can help maintain and enhance your memory and brain function. $25 per class. For more information, www.bit.ly/2Ob6bCB.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 13

Atlanta Cyclorama – Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Greater Atlanta Hadassah Metulla will visit the Atlanta Cyclorama at the Atlanta History Center. $18 per person. For more information, contact Nancy Schwartz, nshadassah2016@comcast.net.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15

Babyccino – Alefbet Preschool, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Atlanta, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Babyccino chic meet for mod moms and their tots (babies – toddlers) led by their Alefbet Pre-

Mahjong for Beginners & Advanced Players – Congregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. If you have played in the past and just need some reminding, you are welcome to join. If you have just learned and want to get better, you are welcome. If you are experienced, come alone or with your group.

Open to the public. $2 for sisterhood members, $5 for non-sisterhood members. RSVP, 770-399-5300 or office@ bshalom.net. ■

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

www.atlantajewishconnector.com

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

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 25

COMMUNITY

Photos by Eagleshotz // The winning team was Evan Toporek,

Barry Danz, Chris Beaudin and Marty Kogon.

Honoree Steven Cadranel, tournament chair David Kusiel, Harry Maziar, and co-chair Doug Kuniansky.

Annual Golf Tournament Tops $450,000 The 2019 Harry Maziar Classic Golf Tournament raised more than $450,000 through contributions and a silent auction to benefit the Marcus JCC and provide scholarship funds. The MJCCA BB&T 11th annual tournament at the Atlanta Country Club in Marietta included 140 golfers.

26 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

The tournament was chaired by David Kusiel and co-chaired by Doug Kuniansky.

“This event is the MJCCA’s largest annual fundraiser,” Kusiel said. “This year’s annual golf tournament brings the total raised to $3 million over the past 11 years,

something that we are extremely proud of,” he said.

“We are grateful to the golf tournament participants, whose donations through this event support the mission of the MJCCA, helping ensure that scholarships are available to families in our community,” said center CEO Jared Powers.

Each year, the golf tournament honors an outstanding member of the MJCCA whose leadership and dedication have helped shape Atlanta’s Jewish community. This year, the MJCCA is proud to honor Steven Cadranel, owner and president of Arris Realty Partners. He is a past president of the MJCCA, an active board member and recipient of the organization’s prestigious Erwin Zaban Bridge Builder Award.

Cadranel sits on the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta board and has served on the Jewish Community Center Association of North America’s national board. He is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, a life member of the Metro Atlanta Cham-

ber of Commerce, and a director of TWO Capital Partners, an apartment development company.

“We were so pleased to honor Steven at this year’s Harry Maziar Classic, for his outstanding dedication to the community,” Kusiel said. “A board member and past president of the MJCCA, Steven’s vision and guidance have helped enable the MJCCA to impact the lives of so many in our vibrant Jewish community.”

The winners of the tournament were Bruce Morris for the putting contest; Keats Baldwin for the longest drive in the male division; London Andes for the longest drive in the female division; and Rick Bennett for the hole-in-one.

The winning teams were: Barry Danz, Evan Toporek, Chris Beaudin and Marty Kogon for first place; Michael Coles, Rick Bennett, Rick Suid and Benji Halpern for second place; Paul Freeman, Adam Freeman, Jay Dermer and Scott Alterman for third place; and Bryan Taylor, Harry Maziar, Todd Maziar and Neal Maziar for fourth place. ■

COMMUNITY SIMCHA SPOTLIGHT

Wedding Announcement Segal-Balan Sascha Leigh Segal and Rostislav (Ross) Borisovich Balan were married on April 28, 2019, at the Roswell Historic Cottage. The bride’s mother, Dr. Terry Segal, officiated at the ceremony, and also designed and hand-painted the ketubah, which was witnessed and signed by Erin Sikorski and Ruben Shamalov.

The bride, a native of Tarzana, Calif., is the daughter of Dr. Terry and Mr. Fredric Segal of Roswell, Ga. The groom, a native of Moldova, Russia, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Boris Balan of Lilburn, Ga.

The bride was accompanied halfway down the aisle by both of her parents and then joined by her 10-year old son, who walked her the rest of the way, along with her groom. The happy family lives in Georgia.

Have something to celebrate?

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

Share it with your community with free AJT simcha announcements.

Send info to submissions@atljewishtimes.com.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 27

COMMUNITY OY VEY! HAVE I GOT A PROBLEM... ul. I immensely gratef Dear Rachel, my life and feel in gs n, both of so sin d es bl an y I have man ren, a daughter ild ch c ifi rr te o ren. sband and tw ng their own child have a loving hu g a great job raisi in do e ey are emar th d d an an d s accountant as whom are marrie rk wo th bo w son-in-la and the chilMy daughter and ted to each other vo de ry ve e ar ey a lawyer, and Thankfully, th nded). My son is te ployed full time. in un (p r fo d Liz, never had e is accounte y daughter-in-law, m dren, so their tim , in gs in br he were little, and nerous salary my when the kids because of the ge om m e tim llfu cus on her own able to be a of being able to fo to work. She was ry xu lu e th s ha in school, she now that they’re e to my dilemma. that Jim has her s, which brings m m ea dr d an s and I’m grateful al d go re pe m -te en ev on. She is of us get along, Liz is a good pers a bonus, the two As n. re ild ch s hi ys seem increde mother of rankles me. Her da as his wife and th e tim r he ds en friends, shops, e way she sp s out to lunch with too! But, seeing th ad he , m gy e th es that comprise . She goes to e are the activiti ibly self-centered es Th s. ge sa as m tion, with each icures and more like a vaca ds gets facials, man un so le du he sc rbed that this is To me, her treat. I feel distu a her daily routine. as g in nk ra es ned activiti of the aforementio ry. r everyday itinera vote some of her he of Shouldn’t she de the sum-total . rk wo to ve ha te not to l, nursing home, Liz is so fortuna her shul, a hospita in r ee nt lu vo r expression of unity? Let he in some way as an ck time to the comm ba e giv e sh t n’ e want to? I’ve ols. Should d? Why doesn’t sh or in her kids’ scho fte gi en be e’s sh e spitals, nursing luxurious lif e above places: ho gratitude for the th of l al in , er ag like my grandI was a teen a labor of love. I’d volunteered since en be s ha t en om vote their lives ul. Every m ing so that they de homes and my sh giv of els od m le y way for me to up seeing ro ful life. Is there an children to grow ng ni ea m a to ad feel, is the ro to others. This, I z? itive topic with Li ns se bring up this her-In-Law ot M d ne Concer A Frustrated and

Jewish Joke of the Week

Dear Mom, You sound like a very giving person, a persona to be admired. To you, it is unequivocal that if a person has spare time, they should utilize it to help others. After all, you seem to imply, if you don’t try to leave the world a better place, then what purpose have you served?

In Judaism, we believe that G-d loves every person, manifested by the fact that they have been gifted with life. If our omnipotent and omniscient Creator has decided that a person is worthy of existence, then they must be incredibly special!

However, since every individual is unique, then each person surely has their own path to forge. Perhaps Jill at Starbucks makes people happy by serving them coffee with a smile, while Jack Smith fulfills his raison d’etre by earning a respectable living and treating his family with love and caring. Is it possible that Liz is utilizing her potential at this point in her life to provide a loving wife and mother to her family? That by catering to herself during the day, she can be more present for the family when they come home and need her attention? And perhaps, if she focuses her talents more externally, it will come at the cost of her good cheer and equilibrium?

Or is she simply self-centered? That really, she could and should be doing so much more, but she is not stirred by that inclination. The truth may lie somewhere in the middle. But which of us can judge accurately?

Parents have invested a lifetime into their biological children. Therefore, the relationship can usually tolerate some interference or an occasional disagreement and remain viable. Yet, with the in-law dynamic, there is a great deal more sensitivity involved. Therefore, my recommendation is that in-law children should NEVER be criticized and must always be the recipients of love and warmth. This much more fragile relationship should be handled with delicacy and care. And of course, you should never speak negatively to your son about Liz. Certainly, you wouldn’t want your son to view her through a negative lens, thereby causing harm to their marriage.

With that said, my feeling is that your only recourse is to try and broach the topic in an offhanded way. Perhaps you and Liz will be sitting together one day, and you can segue into experiences of your volunteer work and how much it enhances your life. Liz will either catch the bait or it will get tossed overboard.

But your relationship will remain whole, and that is vital – for you, your son, your daughter-in-law, and your grandchildren.

May you always continue to count your blessings. And thank you for everything you do for the community!

Warmly, Rachel Atlanta Jewish Times Advice Column Got a problem? Email Rachel Stein 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!

Yiddish Word of the Week

The Rowing Crew Yeshiva University in Golders Green decided to put together a rowing team.

Unfortunately, they lost race after race. They practiced for hours every day, but never managed to come in any better than dead last. The head of the Yeshiva finally decided he couldn’t stand any more embarrassment, so he sent Yankel to spy on the Oxford University team.

So Yankel shlepped off to Oxford and hid in the bullrushes off the river from which he carefully watched the Oxford team as they practiced.

Yankel finally returned to the Yeshiva.

“I have figured out their secret,” he announced.

“They have eight guys rowing and only one guy shouting.”

Joke provided by David Minkoff www.awordinyoureye.com 28 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Aróp fun dákh ‫ ארופ פון דאך‬- - Off the roof!

The full expression is Meshígene, aróp fun dákh ‫ ארופ פון דאך‬,‫ משוגענע‬- - “Get off the roof, you loony!” No, this is not a quote from a conversation with a roofer or chimney cleaner. Nor does it refer to an actual roof. It is a way of telling someone he or she is unrealistic. Something like “off the wall” in English. It may have nothing to do with this, but whenever I hear this expression, my mind brings up themes from Marc Chagall’s art such as a cow on a roof and a fiddler on the roof. Who on earth would put a cow on the roof (Monty Python producers…)? Example: “Moishe says I can double my money flipping houses. What do you make of it?”

“Aróp fun dákh, Yankel. You will not double your money; you will double your overdraft!”

Rabbi Joab Eichenberg-Eilon, PhD, teaches Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic at the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies, eTeacher Group Ltd.

BRAIN FOOD Float Alternative By: Yoni Glatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com Difficulty Level: Challenging 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

14

15

16

17

18

19

20 24

25

21

22

27

31

32

36

37 40

34

33

11

12

13

28

29

30

49

50

23

26 35

38

39

41

42

43 44

45

46

47

48

51

52 56

58

57

59

53

60

54

55

61

62

65

66

67

68

69

70

63

58. Natan Sharansky's original first name, in Russia 1. Cohn of note 61. Reds abbr. on the scoreboard 5. Omar who said "Israel has hypno62. Didn't go there tized the world" 64. Black Widow, to friends 10. Kashrut word 65. Cortes's gold 14. ___ Asar 66. Got set 15. Act like a conservationist 67. Karl Marx, when referring to 16. Disney's sports company himself 17. Give a direction to steal 68. Still 18. Writer Puzo 69. Some giveaways 19. Piazza's old stomping ground 70. "SNL" castmember Michael 20. Israeli Abba 22. What some take on Shabbat 24. Bay of Naples island DOWN 27. Horse-drawn vehicle 1. A lot of Switz.

31. Bob in several Wes Anderson 2. Horror director Aster films 3. Schmatte 34. "We", to Boaz and Bibi 4. IMAX predecessor 36. Brother of Yaphet 5. "Harry Potter" librarian Pince 37. Romani central Europeans 6. Like some beef 39. Check for ID 7. He helped keep the arms of 40. Possible summertime treat....or Moses up another title for this puzzle 8. Continent band 43. "Oh yeah?! Show me!"

9. Like some signs 44. He famously debated Pablo 10. Explorer for whom America is Christiani named 47. Torah giants 11. "Dip" used before 9 Av 51. Giant 12. Galoot 52. Something to hail or call 13. Evidence letters 54. Term for the destruction of the 21. Child's protector, perhaps Beit Hamikdash 23. Grp. of lawyers

ACROSS

64

24. Where to find the best survivor?

25. Utterance in a hot tub 26. Roman commoner 28. Ganges platform 29. Rose bunch, for short 30. It's 10 in gematria 32. ___ B'Tevet 33. Fabric used for curtains 34. Totally flummoxed 35. Words before "the bud" 38. GPS task, for short 41. Japan's version of the MLB 42. Like a blimp: Abbr.

44. Undo layoffs 45. The A in the Jewish org. ORA 46. Be a blot on 48. Dennings of "Thor" 49. Like the familiar Coke bottle 50. Gavriel or Uriel, e.g.

51. (Chuck) Norris in "The Delta Force" 53. "___ way..." (incidentally) 55. He got into a battle of wits with Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky 56. Blvd. relatives 57. Genesis man who cursed his grandson 58. Seder song, with "Hu" 59. Nair competitor 60. Contributes 63. First name in tyranny, once

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION 1

N

13

S

14

R

A

E

D

A

N

A

T

A M M U

E

S

22 29

35

N

40

36

E

E

17

A T

A H

A

L

23

A

A

I

A

N

A M A

R

24

Z

I

A

43

I

L

T

D O O

K

U

S

A

S

O

S

44

C O

N

25

31

L

E

64

S

A

M A

61

12

P

A

G

D

S

T

57

11

E

E

53

A

C

A

O

10

L

C

52

E

C

20

B E

58

A

9

X

H

E

H

15

M E

I

49

8

D

A

C

S

7

C

I

U

R O N

A

N

R

I

56

6

B

37

I

48

A

L

T

33

5

O R

30

C

42

18 21

34

26

T

27

D

W R

I

28

S T

N

A

A

V

A

E

Z

Z

A

R

B

O

S

E

A

S

T

E

S

D

41

54

D

39

50

59

S

60

I

E

D O M

D

I

65

32

N

38

Y

62

C

51

T

55

45

H

E

O M R

H M A

N O

46

47

O R G

63

E

R I L

G

A

L

E

D

S

66

to help with the laborious post-flood cleanup in Albany. The Flint River’s overflowing banks caused tremendous damage.

■ Atlanta Peace Corps volunteers found Judaism in coun-

15 Years Ago// July 23, 2004

tries that never met Jews. David Gittelman and Harriet Kuhr returned with mementos and memories of their Peace Corps services in Zaire, Lubumbashi.

■ Several Atlanta residents were among 1,500 North American Jews who made aliyah with the assistance of Nefesh B’Nefesh (Jewish Souls United) in the summer of 2004. Residents included Monique Baros of Sandy Springs, Sasha and Ilan Friedman of Atlanta and Jan and Rachael Siegelman of Toco Hills.

50 Years Ago// July 25, 1969 ■ Rabbi Joseph Cohen joined the Atlanta Council of the Jew-

■ Retired architect and city planner Andre Steiner, at 96,

ish National Fund in urging congregation members to spend the time around Tisha B’Av, the day commemorating the destruction of the Temple, supporting the JNF in campaigning to plant trees in Israel. The goal is to shift the focus from mourning and grief to one of rebuilding and planting.

reflected on his career and his honorary doctorate from Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. His projects included Ahavath Achim Synagogue, Jekyll Island, Callaway Gardens and Stone Mountain Park.

■ Atlanta’s B’nai B’rith members traveled to South Georgia

4

E

19

25 Years Ago// July 29, 1994

3

A M

G

16

Remember When

2

Andre Steiner’s architectural projects included Ahavath Achim Synagogue.

■ The Hebrew Academy received a top rating from an interstate accreditation group of educators after a three-year-long self-study.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 29

ARTS Cookbook Sets Delicious, Slimming Path

By Marcia Caller Jaffe Native South African Sheryl Westerman is a local nutritionist, motivator and weight loss coach in private practice.

Since moving to Atlanta in 1993, she has continued to stay educated and search for new ideas and solutions, culminating in her new book “Slim Cooking the Sheryl Westerman Way.” Last month, she kicked off this wellphotographed book at the Atlanta Jewish Academy alongside a colorful buffet provided by healthy gourmet chef Julia Kessler of Stop Think Chew. That night all books sold out, and Westerman is filling a backlog of orders.

Our shelves are overflowing with cookbooks: Weight Watchers, self-help, movie star recipes, keto, diet du jour and blogs. So what’s so different about this book?

“I have had such a great response. I never expected it to be as much of a hit so quickly. People just want easy, tasty uncomplicated recipes. My book is unique and simple, … easy recipes that people can cook quickly. Readers really don’t want fancy books with long and complicated

recipes. This is slimming, nutritious and calorie conscious. Everyone can use these recipes.”

The unusual format of the book is binder-like, where recipes can be pulled out, shared and replaced. “The book publishers gave me three options for the format. … I went with the most expensive.”

The added bonus is that it works with her “Sheryl Westerman Plan,” referring to the bottom of each recipe for portions and exchanges.

Following the book will result in lifestyle changes, Westerman contended.

“You will see results if you follow the recipes. One still has to watch portions.”

Westerman’s three favorite recipes are the gazpacho soup, Chicken de Provence and miso-glazed salmon.

A kosher household can use this book, she added, because everything is “pretty much farm-to-table. As I have a broad client base, some recipes will not be suitable. The majority are.”

The book does not provide an eating-out guide. But on her website, under “handouts,” she explains in detail what to eat in any kind of restaurant, portion sizes, a fast food guide, what to buy in the

grocery store.

In the cookbook, recipes are categorized into appetizers, soups, salads, vegetables, dressings, rubs, meat entrees, chicken entrees, fish entrees, desserts, breakfasts and smoothies.

Along the way she gives motivational tips on her favorite kitchen gadgets and spices. “I have tried to make it as personal as possible. I enjoy cooking and want people to experiment with different vegetables. It’s really easy, you just have get inspired!”

Westerman offered four changes for the quickest results: • Portion control • Consistency • Stop lickin’ and “schmikin” (it all adds up) • Think ‘consequences.’ IF you don’t pay attention, the pounds will start creeping up. My most favorite expression I use with clients is “always in the traffic.”

You have to think about it.

She furthered, “My recipes are uncomplicated. Not too many ingredients.

Also, I specify what are the basic spices 30 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

one should keep. Food has to taste good.

So I also have listed the ones that I use, plus various herbs and for what they are best suited. I keep herbs in planters.

Nothing better than picking your own home grown herbs, …. amazing tastes, aroma and flavor.”

In terms of exercise, Westerman urged, “Keep moving.” Exercise is only 20 percent of weight loss, whereas food is 80 percent. She warned, “One cannot ‘out exercise’ bad eating, no matter how much you work out. If you exercise daily and don’t see results on the scale and your clothes are tight and uncomfortable, then it’s all about the food.”

A fun idea to get on board with: Start a cooking club once a month with friends, get a theme and begin cooking, she said. Common goals will form, friendships will solidify, others will be inspired to join.

The best motivation is seeing results, staying consistent. This is a marathon, not a sprint! ■ To learn more about Westerman, visit her website, www.sherylwesterman.com, and to order the book, sherwesterman@aol.com.

OBITUARIES Belle Teplis Frank 98, Atlanta

Belle Teplis Frank, 98, of Atlanta, died July 17, 2019. A longtime resident of Atlanta, she was a loving, devoted and extremely generous mother, grandmother and sister.

She was preceded in death by her husband Leo Frank; parents, Louis and Miriam Teplis; and brother Nathan Teplis. She is survived by her daughters Sharon Friedman of Brookhaven and Barbara Katz (Barry) of Marietta; grandsons Mitchell Katz and Andrew Katz, both of Marietta; brother, Dr. Paul Teplis of Marietta; special cousin Inna Satunovsky of Peachtree City; and many other extended family members.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Chabad of Cobb or Ahavath Achim Synagogue. Graveside services were held July 18 at Arlington Memorial Park. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Gary Kashdan 72, Atlanta

Gary Kashdan, 72, of Atlanta, died July 16, 2019.

Born Feb. 19, 1947, to the late Beatrice and Israel Kashdan, Gary grew up in Memphis, Tenn. He was married to the love of his life, Sivie, for 21 years.

Gary was an avid exerciser. He enjoyed traveling with Sivie, spending time with his granddaughters and weekly trivia with friends. His granddaughter Ella Hart Kashdan said, “Grandpa will always be in our hearts. He always had the sweetest smile and was so kind.”

Survivors include his wife Sivie Kashdan; sons, Jeff Kashdan (Stephanie), Scotty Barocas (Robyn), and David Barocas; granddaughters Ella Hart Kashdan and Sophie and Lily Barocas; sister Beverly Kashdan; and numerous cousins.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the charity of your choice.

A graveside service was held July 18 at North Atlanta Memorial Park with Rabbi Neil Sandler officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999

Like her mother before her, Ina loved needlepoint. She worked tirelessly to create custom needlepoint creations for all of her children and grandchildren. Needlepoint filled her days, not to mention the living room, bedroom and closets.

She also loved theater and going to the movies. She was an usher at the Fox Theatre for many years.

Ina was an active pollster for more than 15 years and a member of Congregation Etz Chaim synagogue for even longer. She was an avid Braves fan, but only when they were winning pennants!

Her Thanksgiving gravy will live on (but only if her children can figure out how to get it right!), as will her chopped liver.

Later in life, Ina loved to take trips with her friends and family. She was always up for a road trip and loved to drive.

Ina was a beloved mom, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was a very stylish lady, with purple her signature color, except for her red hair!

Ina is survived by sons Reed Travis (Laura) and David Travis (Lisa); daughter Jodi Travis (Terri); grandchildren Rachel Travis (Michael Chiert), Dahlia Levine (AJ), Micah, Alli, Emily and Daniel Travis; great-grandchildren Matan and Aiden Chiert and Ada Mae Levine.

We close with a mahjong reference, as Ina would have wanted. In mahjong, as in life, we cannot control what tiles we get, but we can control how skillfully we play the game. You were a skillful player and will be greatly missed!

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Jewish Interest Free Loan of Atlanta, https://jifla.org, or the UNC Asheville Foundation in memory of Larry and Ina Travis, with checks made out to the Foundation sent to UNC Asheville, Attention: Betsy Blose, CPO 2600, 1 University Heights, Asheville, N.C. 28804.

Arrangements by Dressler’s Funeral Care, 770-451-4999. Please sign the guestbook online at www.dresslerjewishfunerals.com. ■ Obituaries in the AJT are written and paid for by the families; contact Managing Publisher Kaylene Ladinsky at kaylene@atljewishtimes.com or 404-883-2130, ext. 100, for details.

Lenore Rice 95, Atlanta

Lenore Rice, 95, of Atlanta, died July 17, 2019. A native of New York City, she was devoted to her family and known by all for her wonderful sense of humor. She is predeceased by her husband Alfred Rice and her son Alan Rice. Survivors include her son Marc Rice (Jill); daughter Gail Osgood (John); and granddaughter Jessica Nissenbau (Michael).

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta, Ga 30309. A graveside service was held July 19 at Arlington Memorial Park. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Ina Travis 89, Atlanta

Ina Travis had a life filled with love, family, friends and a zest for experiences. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on December 21, 1929, she met and married the love of her life, (the late) Lawrence (Larry) Travis, in Miami. Together they raised three children in Atlanta.

Ina was passionate about exercising, a regular at water aerobics and the gym. She was always willing to try new exercises … even though we promised we would not mention the “exercise ball” incident!

After her husband and children, mahjong was the great love of her life. She participated with several weekly mahjong groups and was always willing and able to fill in as needed on her “off” nights.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 31

MARKETPLACE HOME We are Insulation Professionals: Depending on application Spray Foam, Fiber Glass, Cellulose

COMPUTER

VISIT OUR WEBSITE

w w w. At l a n ta J e w i s hTi m e s .c o m F O R M O R E O F W H AT YO U N E E D

COMPUER HOUSE CALLS

Voted #1 by Atlanta Jewish Community

770-751-5706 www.HealthyComputer.com

As Seen On

CERTIFIED CAREGIVER

Our other trades are garage doors, gutters, mantels and fireplaces www.aplusinc.net • sales@aplusinc.net • 404•373•plus (7587)

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

Private caregiver with excellent references seeking elderly care position in their home for their daily needs. Live in/out - own transportation - Good Cook.

Excellent References. Call Naana 630-200-9592

It’s Time to Call for Help!

INSURANCE

PROTECT THE THINGS YOU CHERISH THE MOST Stephanie Holtz Your Local Agent

1954 Airport Road Suite 210, Chamblee, GA 30341 sholtz@farmersagent.com • Contact me for a free coverage review • Get the most value for your coverage • Insurance you can tailor to meet your needs

Call 470-246-4509 today!

For Home, Auto, Life and Business.

RESIDENTIAL CLEANING

Cleaning Services Earning Your Trust

Detailed Residential Cleaning 20+ Years of Experience 100% Satisfaction Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, One Time Insulation Great References

FREE In-HOME ESTIMATES dustbgone375@hotmail.com

Restrictions apply. Discounts may vary. Not available in all states. See your agent for details. Insurance is underwritten

by Farmers Insurance Exchange and other affiliated insurance companies. Visit farmers.com for a complete listing of companies. Not all insurers are authorized to provide insurance in all states. Coverage is not available in all states.

Life Insurance by Farmers New World Life Insurance Company, 3120 139th ave. SE, Ste. 300, Bellevue, WA 98005

TRAVEL ADVISOR

TRAVEL

Serving Atlanta since 1990

YOUR ADVENTURES BECOME A REALITY WITH THE HELP OF A PROFESSIONAL TRAVEL ADVISOR

LOWEST DISCOUNTED INTERNATIONAL AIRFARES!

River Cruise Specialist Custom Planning by Land & Sea Individual & Group Arrangements Professional, Experienced & Personal Service

TEL AVIV RT FROM $898

Land & Cruise Specialist American Express Agency 770-740-9099

bdiener@cruiseplanners.com www.travelsmartdreambig.com

Experienced in all aspects of travel.

My expertise is your ticket to an amazing journey.

Travel Smart, Dream Big!

32 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

BEST OF BEST OF JEWISH JEWISH ATLANTA ATLANTA

FAKAKTA COMPUTER? I’LL DRIVE TO YOU!

BEST OF JEWISH ATLANTA

+ Taxes

ALSO AVAILABLE AT LOW PRICES: • PARIS • AMSTERDAM • BARCELONA • LONDON • BUDAPEST • GENEVA • LISBON • MILAN • VIENNA • ZURICH • ROME • ATHENS • JOHANNESBURG • MOSCOW RT from Atlanta other destinations available some restrictions apply

404 -252-2152

B J AT

DESKTOP & LAPTOP REPAIR HOME/BUSINESS NETWORKING

10% OF PROFITS THR

PERFORMANCE UPGRADES 2019 WILL BE DONATE APPLE DEVICE SUPPORT

JEWISH CHARITIES.

VIRUS/SPYWARE REMOVAL

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOTES! 10% OF PROFITS THROUGH 2019 WILL BE

DONATED TO JEWISH CHARITIES. Same Day Appointments • Reasonable Rates • All Services Guara

404.954.1004 • DAMON.CARP@GMAIL.COM

• Same Day Appointments • Reasonable Rates • • All Services Guaranteed •

HOME LOANS

Mary: 404.454.2063 or 678.886.2718

SKYWAY TRAVEL INC.

Barbara Diener

COMPUTER

SOUND FINANCIAL ADVICE PERSONALIZED FOR YOU. EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE AND COMMUNICATION. PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITY FOR 16 YEARS.

Brian Krebs 404-786-4513 11380 Southbridge Pkwy., Suite 227 Alpharetta, GA 30022 NMLS # 62841 NMLS ID #1117369 Georgia Residential Mortgage License 40088

ASK ABOUT OUR EARNEST MONEY GUARANTEE. Development Corp. for Israel | 404-817-3500 Eleventh Series Jubilee Bonds 3.36% Eleventh Series Maccabee Bonds 3.21% Eighth Series Mazel Tov Bonds 3.22% Eighth Series eMitzvah Bonds 3.22% Valid through July 31, 2019

MARKETPLACE COLLECTIBLES

PAL PROGRAM

PIANIST

HOME

LAW FIRM

THE DUSTY COIN, LLC “Shekels For Your Collectibles”

• Coins • Bullion • Jewelry • Flatware

404-263-2967

Strict Confidentiality • References Upon Request

Member: ANA, NGC & PCGS

TUTOR

Stella Tarica Gordon Tarica Tutoring Stellagordon835@gmail.com 678-592-3155 call or text

• Writing and reading comprehension • Certified in 5-12 grade English curriculum • ACT and SAT prep • College bound and grad school essays Serving students since 1986 COLLEGE PREP

• • • • • • •

Plumbing Electrical Sheetrock • Floors Tile • Framing • Kitchens Painting • Roofwork Concrete • Stained Glass Antique Door Restoration

as well as many other issues...

John Salvesen • 404-453-3438

thehandymancanatlanta@gmail.com HOME CARE

A brAmson L Aw F irm www.AbramsonLawFirm.net Michael@AbramsonLawFirm.net 404-788-7539 • Business & Personal Contract Attorney & Litigator • Small Business Legal Work - Entity Creation, Deal Formation, and Contract Drafting & Review • Personal Attorney for breach of contract including recovery of wages, loans or services • Specialty Business Law including Sports & Election Law

HOME

Wheelchair Ramps

You Are Great.

Together, let’s make sure your dream college knows it!

The Handyman Can

YES!

YOU CAN RENT YOUR WHEELCHAIR RAMP!

Mauri Artz College Admissions Coach & Test Tutor

• Low Cost • Rent or Buy • Free Home Evaluations • Installed in Hours/Days • Home Modification • Construction Ramps: Amramp PRO

Now Offering Acorn Stairlifts & Portable Showers!

Georgia’s #1 Leading Ramp Company for 10 Years!

I motivate students to write successful college essays. In the process of completing essays, we review essential writing skills for the application journey and beyond.

Mauri@publictutoring.org | 440.668.0870

Owners Mark and Joanne Bradley

470-808-9411 • 404-617-6483 www.amramp.com ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 33

MARKETPLACE WEDDING KEEPSAKE

PARTY RENTALS

MOHEL

The Wedding Napkin A beautiful keepsake for the Bride and Groom

Janet Galanti Designer

Partying is our Business.

Peachtree Tents & Events will make your special event the talk of the town. We are experienced event professionals who work with event planners, corporate and social. We offer only the best, unique party rental equipment in the marketplace. And with locations in Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, Charleston, Savannah, Myrtle Beach & now Jacksonville... we’ve got the Southeast covered!

404-580-9276 • 770-396-5252 janetgalanti27@gmail.com

Call Debbie Kilgore to receive your Jewish Times 10% Discount www.PeachtreeTents.com | 615-920-0345

Rabbi Abi Nadoff Call: 844-MOHEL-ABI (844-664-3522)

SimpleCircumcision.com

COMING THIS SUMMER! LAST E! CHANC

e is n i l d a De 9 July 2

2019 EDITION:

GUIDE TO JEWISH ATLANTA

Great Advertising opportunities! Don’t miss out!

Submit your FREE business directory listing at:

atlantajewishtimes.com/guide-to-jewish-atlanta/ 34 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Silent Speech

By Allen Lipis

once I passed them to enter the sanctuary, they continued their conversation.

On Shabbos, I walk to I quietly went into the services. My usual path is men’s closet to find my tallis, through my neighbor’s yard, and as I put it on, it remindand on schedule. This week, ed me of a story that Rabbi their dogs ran around me Emanuel Feldman once told. barking. They know me by It was a story about a talnow, so I took their barks lis that was crying because as a sign of hello. As I left Allen H. the family had left for their their yard, it occurred to me synagogue without taking that the dogs were speaking Lipis their tallis. I put my tallis on to me in the only way they The Bottom Line knowing that today my tallis could.

As I walked to the synagogue, I ad- would be happy to be worn to do the sermired how beautiful the day was, a per- vice it was meant to do.

As I walked to the seat I usually take fect temperature with birds chirping, the only way the birds and the earth could in the third row, the congregation was speak. At the crosswalk to the shul, the standing and it was crowded where I usuwhite lines on the street were clearly ally sit. The size of the congregation told speaking in their own way telling cars to me that I had better find another seat, so stop for pedestrians, and in due course, I walked toward a seat in the fifth row.

Two men were standing near the aisle a car did stop for me to cross the street.

As I entered the synagogue, I saw a in that row, and once they saw me, one man and woman that I knew in animat- of them waved his hand to invite me to ed conversation with each other, and as join them. When I stopped at their aisle, I approached them, they both stopped to they noticed that I couldn’t get by, so smile at me and nodded their heads to they walked into the aisle so I could pass say hello. I nodded and smiled back, and them. Without a word I joined them.

CLOSING THOUGHTS As I was about to take my seat, Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, who sits in the second row and was visiting from Israel, knew that I usually sit just behind him, pointed to my third-row seat with his open hand indicating that there was room for me.

His smile and his hand beckoned me, but I smiled and took a seat in the fifth row.

As I sat down, the man on my left, who I knew, greeted me with a handshake and a smile on his face, clearly indicating that he was happy to share the row with me. We didn’t say a word. Once seated, I turned my head to the davening that was going on and noticed that a friend had noticed me from 50 feet away, bowed his head at me ever so slightly to indicate an unspoken hello. I did the same to him.

As I thought about all those unspoken occurrences, I turned my head to look at the two bronze yahrzeit plaques on the wall that have my mother’s and father’s names on them. It remined me that my father was gone over 50 years, but I recalled that he once jumped into a pond in Central Park in Manhattan wearing a suit and a watch to save a little boy who had fallen into the water that was over his head. And looking at my mother’s

plaque reminded me that she was gone over 25 years, but often would call me to say hello to remind me to stay in touch. I missed them both.

From the time I left my home, it had taken me about 5 minutes to walk to the synagogue and be seated, and in that time, I had 11 different encounters, all very positive without a word being spoken. I put that thought away in my head to remind me that there are many ways to speak without using words, and they can be very meaningful. There is much that is said without a word being spoken.

The Bottom Line: You can say a lot with a smile, a hand motion or a nod.

Without a word, your body will speak for you.■

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES JULY 26, 2019 | 35

36 | JULY 26, 2019 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES