Atlanta JUNE 3–5, 2016 ∙ AGES 0–5
VOL. XCI NO. 20
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
Ga. Rabbi Among Most Inspiring
TICKETS
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By Zach Itzkovitz
INSIDE
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Calendar ����������������������������������� 4 Candle Lighting ���������������������� 4 Israel News ������������������������������ 6 Opinion ���������������������������������� 10 Local News ����������������������������� 14 Education ������������������������������� 30 Arts ������������������������������������������40 Sports ��������������������������������������42 Obituaries ������������������������������ 43 Crossword ������������������������������44 Travel ������������������������������������� 45 Cartoon ����������������������������������� 45
Photos by Michael Jacobs
Speaking exclusively in Hebrew, Amit Farkas shares memories of her older brother, Thom, an IDF helicopter pilot killed on the Lebanon border in 2006.
N.C. TRAGEDY
Two 22-year-old East Cobb friends hiking in the mountains suffer fatal falls. Page 14
ELECTION PREVIEW
Three nearby congressmen face multiple primary challengers May 24. Pages 17-28
CONTINUING ED
Jewish Kids Groups’ new middle school program offers an alternative b’nai mitzvah path. Page 34
SPECIAL LENS
Podiatrist Perry Julien captures amazing photos around the world and at nearby concerts. Page 40
MAY 20, 2016 | 12 IYAR 5776
Leaders of Jewish organizations placed wreaths on the bimah during the ceremony.
Israel sets aside a day to remember its lost soldiers and terrorism victims immediately before celebrating its independence.
Night of Remembrance
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efore celebrating Israel’s 68th birthday on Yom HaAtzmaut, Atlanta’s Israeli and Jewish communities gathered at Ahavath Achim Synagogue on Tuesday night, May 10, for the annual observance of Yom HaZikaron, mourning the 23,447 people who have died fighting to ensure Israel’s independence or have been killed in terrorist attacks since 1948. The ceremony, emceed by the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange’s Robbie Friedmann, featured Israeli Scouts; students from the Epstein School, Atlanta Jewish Academy and Davis Academy; Rabbis Joshua Heller, Adam Starr and Neil Sandler; Israeli Consul
General Judith Varnai Shorer (her first Yom HaZikaron here) and Deputy Consul General Ron Brummer (his last Yom HaZikaron here); and leaders of American Jewish Committee, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the Marcus Jewish Community Center, the Anti-Defamation League, AIPAC, Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Israeli actress Amit Farkas, whose older brother, Thom, died flying a helicopter during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and who gained fame by singing “A Million Stars” at his funeral, delivered the passionate keynote address the night before bringing her story to Atlanta day schools (see Page 30). ■
abbi Rachael Bregman of Temple Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick has been named to the Forward’s 2016 list of America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis. The annual list includes 32 rabbis from across the country. According to Forward Managing Editor Dan Friedman, the final list is refined from hundreds of reader nominations. The New York-based Forward cites Rabbi Bregman’s nomination by regular Georgia visitor Gerry Hecht, who wrote: “She has created a community where only a shadow of one existed before. She’s a rabbinic delight. She embodies what an inspirational clergy person should be.” “We were, of course, excited to see that rabbis are able to transform communities around the country,” Friedman said, “not just in the big urban coastal centers, in communities small and large.” Brunswick is a small town an hour or so south of Savannah. Temple Beth Tefilloh has been the spiritual home for Jews there since 1886. Yet when Rabbi Bregman, after her pilot Open Jewish Project at The Temple in Midtown came to an end, was hired for the pulpit at the South Georgia Reform congregation in 2013, she was not only its first female rabbi ever, but also its first resident rabbi in 50 years. Rabbi Bregman is the only person recognized this year from Georgia. Although rabbis from Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia also are on this year’s list and Alabama and Mississippi have made appearances in the past, Rabbi Bregman is only the second rabbi from Georgia to be picked by the Forward since the list started in 2013. Congregation Bet Haverim Rabbi Josh Lesser made the list that first year. Friedman said the chosen rabbis — presented at forward.com/series/ rabbis/2016 — are champions of Jewish culture who give meaning to Judaism for their communities. ■