HEALTH & WELLNESS, PAGES 13-28 SPECIAL SUMMER DIGNIFIED END SWEET TRIBUTE
AJA sophomore Eliana Goldin finds inspiration with special needs kids at Shalva. Page 14
After 18 years, Weinstein Hospice’s executive director is set to pass the reins. Page 20
Emily Moore’s friends and family fight Crohn’s with a party in her memory. Page 24
VOL. XCII NO. 45 WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM NOVEMBER 17, 2017 | 28 CHESHVAN 5778
Repaired Educators Answer Anti-Semitism ‘Sunday’ Looks Super By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com
The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is declaring victory with TikkunATL, its reimagined version of the community campaign’s Super Sunday. Under the stale Super Sunday model, hundreds of Jewish Atlantans gathered in one place and spent the day soliciting campaign donations with endless phone calls. Under TikkunATL, part of Federation CEO Eric Robbins’ effort to do things differently across the community, events were held at multiple locations on several days, usually with some service element beyond fundraising phone calls. “I thought the entire effort was incredible and the perfect example of approaching these events in creative and innovative ways,” Robbins said. The initial week of events in October raised more than 80 percent of TikkunATL’s financial goal and involved roughly 100 volunteers. Events were added in November, including a more traditional phone-a-thon at Torah Day School of Atlanta on Sunday, Nov. 12. TikkunATL will continue through the statewide Giving Tuesday fundraising effort for nonprofits Nov. 28. Activities will take place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Selig Center in Midtown. ■
The Atlanta Initiative Against AntiSemitism gathered more than 200 educators, administrators, parents and other community leaders Wednesday, Nov. 8, to respond to signs of increasing bullying and other anti-Jewish actions in public and private schools in the metro area. The TASK (Tackling Anti-Semitism for Our Kids) conference at Temple Emanu-El, modeled on the initial AIAAS conference held in March, brought people together for expert presentations and table discussions about expressions of hate seen in the past year in Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. Participants had direct access to over 20 organizations and educational materials as resources to combat antiSemitism and other forms of hate. The Anti-Defamation League has reported a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents in schools nationally and in the Southeast in 2016 and 2017. “AIAAS is thrilled to have successfully brought together hundreds of education leaders tasked with shaping the hearts and minds of the metro area’s children at our conference to raise the bar on improving intervention and responsive measures as well as proactive methods to prevent anti-Semitism and all forms of hate in K-12 schools,” AIAAS founding
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Allison Padilla-Goodman presents opening remarks during the TASK conference.
Education leaders, parents, counselors and administrators join forces against anti-Semitism targeting youths at the TASK conference Nov. 8.
partner Danielle Cohen said. Attendees received a five-year interfaith calendar that included a range of holidays with descriptions of how they affect each faith. Those calendars will be given to as many schools as possible in the metro area, regardless of whether they attended the conference. AIAAS also provided participants “A Pledge to Tackle Anti-Semitism and Hate” to foster change in their communities. The organization plans to follow up with people who filled out those forms to track the effects and progress. Cohen said AIAAS also will: • Comb through the notes from the table discussions to learn what education leaders feel can be done to prevent antiSemitism and hate, as well as respond to incidents. • Respond to follow-up inquiries and requests from conference participants
and sponsors, many of whom would like to collaborate further. • Regroup with the hundreds of AIAAS volunteers to determine next steps. • Work with ADL and others to advocate hate-crime legislation in Georgia, one of five states without such a law. “I hope educators and administrators left the conference having an expedited need to create a culture of inclusivity within their schools and being proactive about it,” said Allison PadillaGoodman, the ADL’s Southeast regional director, who delivered the TASK conference’s opening remarks. “This involves more than just saying, ‘I’m going to welcome all students to my school,’ but establishing an environment in which students can interact and learn from one another.” ■
INSIDE
DIVIDED ON ISRAEL
Candle Lighting �������������������������� 4 Politics �������������������������������������������5 Israel News �����������������������������������6 Opinion ���������������������������������������10 Business ������������������������������������� 30 Education ������������������������������������34 Obituaries �����������������������������������35 Marketplace �������������������������������36 Crossword �����������������������������������38
Emory University’s annual Rothschild Lecture suggests that disagreements over Israel are so heated that many people and institutions are afraid to talk about the Jewish state. Page 31
Chanukah ART CONTEST
We’re looking for a creative, colorful Chanukah illustration for the cover of the Atlanta Jewish Times’ Dec. 8 issue.
If you’re age 13 or under, send us your Chanukah-themed artwork by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27. Size: Standard 8.5” x 11” Materials: Anything that shows up bold and bright, such as crayons, markers or cut paper. We suggest taping your artwork to cardboard to protect it. Do not fold artwork. Digitally produced art is accepted. Artwork may be submitted as JPEG or PDF file. Age categories: 6 and under, 7 to 10, 11 to 13. To enter: Artwork must be mailed or delivered to the AJT office, 270 Carpenter Drive, Suite 320, Atlanta, GA 30328, ATTN: Art Contest; submitted through atlantajewishtimes.com; or emailed to editor@ atljewishtimes.com. (One entry per child, please.)
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Looking up and Sharing The Gift of a Dream The poet Jane Hirshfield describes the mystical experience as perception of “the extraordinary within the ordinary by changing not the world, but the eyes that look.” Jacob is a complicated, deeply flawed character whose life’s journey is filled with betrayal,
Light & Bones By Marita Anderson
dishonesty and family drama. Yet he looks through the eyes of a mystic and, with a rock for a pillow, dreams a vision of the holy. I learned from my teacher Dr. Tamar Frankiel that dreams permeate our consciousness with symbols and messages that have to be decoded and interpreted to better understand our spiritual selves. Using a curious comparison, the Talmud equates dreaming to one-60th of prophecy and offers a warning that “an uninterpreted dream is like an unread letter.” When Jacob woke up from his dream, he was shaken and said, “How awesome is this place! This must be the house of G-d and the gate of heaven.” I read Jacob’s narrative, and I wonder: Why him? He steals his brother’s birthright, he tricks his father into blessing him, and he runs away from his troubles. Yet he has visions and a relationship with G-d. Perhaps the message is that our ability to belong is within reach no matter where we are, how far away from home, running away or returning. I am struck by how often I meet people who do not pray from the heart, as if they are not pure enough or good enough or knowledgeable enough and need an intermediary. Jacob’s dream reminds us that we are worthy of entering holiness, even in our brokenness. We can feel at home in the world by simply being still under the canopy of nighttime sky. May we see the extraordinary in the ordinary and be aware of the entrances around us. And may we approach our dreams with openness and curiosity, for they can nourish us with meaning. ■
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When I was little, 6 or 7 years old, my house would remain lit up and full of life long after my bedtime, and I just hated going to sleep. I would pester whoever was around to talk with me, asking all kinds of questions. The conversations I remember most had to do with the night sky and the expansiveness of space above. What is out there? Where does it end? What is beyond what we see? My father, an engineer, would answer my questions by pulling out paper and pencil to draw rocket launch trajectories, stages of engine separation and orbital flight projections beyond the atmosphere. My grandmother, a physics teacher, would talk about the universe in terms of astronomy and explain the placement of planets in relation to the sun and the moon. My great-grandfather, a retired veteran, would pull out his pocket watch and teach me about Earth’s rotation, the changing seasons and the passing of time. My mother would peck me on the cheek and tell me to stop procrastinating and go to sleep. It wasn’t until I was in college in Arizona, which is like being on a different planet for a Russian immigrant kid, that I found myself asking the same questions about the nighttime sky as I did when I was 6. When friends came to visit, my favorite local attraction to show them came from driving into the desert and turning off the car lights. Sitting under the canopy of star-filled sky would usually silence even the most talkative. It was there I encountered my soul. I am so grateful to have grown up in a family of scientific thinkers. The challenge of my adult life has been to also discover the value of exploring the expansiveness of sky through spiritual imagination. It is not a surprise that one of my favorite Torah texts is about Jacob running away from home and finding a place to sleep for the night with only a rock for a pillow. He dreamed that he saw a ladder that rested on the ground with its top reaching to heaven, and angels traveled up and down. In the dream, G-d appeared next to Jacob and promised to protect him in all his journeys.
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Contributors This Week MARITA ANDERSON BOB BAHR • JULIE BENVENISTE RABBI PETER BERG ALYZA BERMAN-MILRAD RACHEL FAYNE NORBERT FRIEDMAN GEDALIA GENIN• YONI GLATT ELIANA GOLDIN JORDAN GORFINKEL LEAH R. HARRISON MARCIA CALLER JAFFE SUSANNE KATZ • FRAN PUTNEY LOGAN C. RITCHIE DAVE SCHECHTER CADY SCHULMAN EUGEN SCHOENFELD CHANA SHAPIRO RICH WALTER
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POSTMASTER send address changes to The Atlanta Jewish Times 270 Carpenter Drive Suite 320, Atlanta Ga 30328. Established 1925 as The Southern Israelite Phone: (404) 883-2130 www.atlantajewishtimes.com THE ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES (ISSN# 0892-33451) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SOUTHERN ISRAELITE, LLC 270 Carpenter Drive, Suite 320, Atlanta, GA 30328 © 2017 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
CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES
Toledot Friday, Nov. 17, light candles at 5:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, Shabbat ends at 6:12 p.m. Vayetzei Friday, Nov. 24, light candles at 5:12 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 25, Shabbat ends at 6:09 p.m.
Corrections & Clarifications
The middle name of Shely Izardel Parness was misspelled in the Nov. 10 issue.
THURSDAY, NOV. 16
Book Festival. Donnie Kanter Winokur (“Chancer”), and her family’s service dog, Quinn, appear at 10 a.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road. Free; www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival. Book Festival. Lauren Belfer (“And After the Fire”) and Rachel Kadish (“The Weight of Ink”) speak at 12:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road. Tickets are $10 for JCC members, $15 for others; www.atlantajcc.org/ bookfestival. Ecumenical service. Temple Kol Emeth, 1415 Old Canton Road, East Cobb, hosts its 13th annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Celebration with 19 other organizations at 7 p.m. Free; www. facebook.com/Ecumenical-Thanksgiving-Celebration-119602054760740 or 770-973-3533. Book Festival. Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel and Adam Mansbach (“For This We Left Egypt?”) speak at 7:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road (sponsored by the AJT). Tickets are $18 for JCC members, $25 for others; www. atlantajcc.org/bookfestival.
SATURDAY, NOV. 18
Russian music. The Atlanta Balalaika Society presents a concert of Russian and Roma folk music at 7:30 p.m. at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St. Tickets $22 for adults, $20 for students and seniors, $8 for ages 12 and under; www.atlantabalalaika.com.
Book Festival. Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush (“Sisters First”) speak at 8 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road. Tickets are $18 for JCC members, $75 for premier tickets (including a book), $25 for others; www. atlantajcc.org/bookfestival.
SUNDAY, NOV. 19
Rosh Chodesh. The Women’s Rosh Chodesh Group at Congregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, meets for minyan at 9:30 a.m., followed by a discussion led by Robin Kramarow on the history of Women of the Wall. Free; bethshalomatlanta.org. Book Festival. Rafi Kohan (“The Arena”) and Gary Belsky (“Up Your Game”) speak at noon at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road. Tickets are $10 for JCC members, $15 for others; www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival. Book Festival. Souad Mekhennet (“I Was Told to Come Alone”) speaks at 3:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road. Free; www.atlantajcc.org/ bookfestival. Book Festival. Dan Rather (“What Unites Us”) speaks at 7:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road. Tickets are $30 for JCC members, $35 for others (including the book); www. atlantajcc.org/bookfestival.
Rosh Chodesh. Community chaplain Rabbi Judith Beiner leads a discussion on “Lighting Up the Darkness” of November and December during Kislev at a women’s program at MACoM, 700-A Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs. Suggested $5 donation; info@ atlantamikvah.org.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29 Cookbook talk. Food writer Deb Perelman talks about her new book, “Smitten Kitchen Every Day,” at 8 p.m. at Manuel’s Tavern, 602 N. Highland Ave., Midtown Free; www.acappellabooks. com.
THURSDAY, NOV. 30 European conversations. Shelley Buxbaum, former director of the Lisa F. Brill Institute for Jewish Learning, speaks about 19th century European salons to the Edgewise group of the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, at 10:30 a.m. Free for members, $5 for others; www. atlantajcc.org/knowledgewiseor 678812-4070. Women’s discussion. NCJW Atlanta, 6303 Roswell Road, hosts Frankly Speaking with Sherry Frank, a brownbag luncheon discussion of current events through a Jewish lens, noon. Free; RSVP by Nov. 29 to christineh@ ncjwatlanta.org.
Send items for the calendar to submissions@atljewishtimes.com. Find more events at atlantajewishtimes.com/events-calendar.
Remember When 10 Years Ago Nov. 16, 2007 ■ Thousands of delegates from Jewish federations across North America descended on the Opryland Hotel in Nashville for the annual General Assembly of United Jewish Communities and heard rallying cries for the Jewish future. About 10 Atlantans made the trip up I-75 for the convention, which ran from Nov. 10 to 13. ■ The bat mitzvah ceremony of Madison Peri Hafitz of Atlanta, daughter of Mark and Nina Hafitz, was held Saturday, May 5, at The Temple. 25 Years Ago Nov. 13, 1992 ■ For the first time in 10 months, the 1,200 Jewish students
at the University of Georgia have a professional coordinating activities for them. “Right now we’re scheduling for a well-rounded program, social, religious, educational, social action and Israel,” said Marcia Kaufman, the new director of Jewish student activities. ■ Northside Hospital Inc. announced that the board of directors has elected Sidney Kirschner as president and CEO, effective Nov. 1. 50 Years Ago Nov. 17, 1967 ■ The sisterhood of The Temple in Atlanta has made it possible for a blind Jewish boy. Mario Neppi Modona of Bogota, Columbia, to observe his bar mitzvah. The high cost of the necessary Braille books and talking records makes it virtually impossible for many blind children, particularly in other countries, to take their bar mitzvah training.
POLITICS
Reichel, Tyser Elected mid-October just before a debate at the Standard Club. (The AJT failed to note Marchetti’s exit in an article Nov. 3.) The news was not as good for several other Jewish candidates. In Dunwoody, Joe Hirsch and Bobby Zuckman failed to unseat City Council incumbents. Zuckman won 585 votes (33.9 percent) in a losing run against Jim Riticher, who got 1,119 (64.8 percent). Hirsch got 544 votes (35.8 percent) against Pamela Talmadge, who received 971 (63.8 percent). In the headline election of the night, former Fulton County Chairman John Eaves, who attends The Temple, was unsuccessful in his bid to become Atlanta’s second Jewish mayor, after Sam Massell (1970-74). In a bad night for all the men on a crowded ballot, Atlanta City Council members Keisha Lance Bottoms (25,347 votes, 26 percent) and Mary Norwood (20,144, 21 percent) advanced to a Dec. 5 runoff, and Cathy Woolard finished third (16,134, 17 percent). Peter Aman, who has a Jewish wife and children, was the top male votegetter with 10,924, or 11 percent. Eaves was eighth with 1,202, or 1 percent. ■
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
Election Night proved successful for two Jewish newcomers running for seats on city councils in Fulton County. Jody Reichel, a residential real estate investor and former Davis Academy parent, received almost 65 percent of the votes Tuesday, Nov. 7, to win Gabe Sterling’s former seat on the Sandy Springs City Council against Le’Dor Milteer (927 votes to 505). It was the only contested election in Sandy Springs after Sterling resigned in an unsuccessful campaign for Fulton County chairman. Reichel joins Temple Sinai member Andy Bauman, who was unopposed for a second term, on the council. In Roswell, Congregation Gesher L’Torah member Matthew Tyser won more than 55 percent of the votes against Keith Goeke for an open City Council seat (6,310 to 5,082). Tyser, a certified public accountant, made the argument that Roswell needs his financial expertise amid rising property taxes. He also made traffic a priority issue. In Johns Creek, Mike Bodker remains the only mayor in the city’s 11year history. His lone challenger, Alex Marchetti, dropped out of the race in
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ISRAEL NEWS
Atlanta Celebrates Birthright’s Successes Close to 600 supporters of the Birthright Israel Foundation packed the ballroom at the St. Regis hotel for the annual Atlanta event Monday, Nov. 6, to honor Doug Ross and hear keynote speaker Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN. “Doug constantly inspires me, engages me and challenges me,” Temple Sinai Rabbi Ron Segal said during the pre-function reception. Ross chairs the foundation’s Atlanta Leadership Council and is a member of the national board. Birthright alums and siblings Sarah, Michelle and Jonathan Arogeti spoke of their inspirational memories of climbing Masada and being with thousands of peers from around the world on their trips. Jonathan will lead an Atlanta delegation this December. Danna and David Wellner, who have been in Atlanta four years, are involved with Birthright leadership “to celebrate Israel and pay it forward to help others” because they were trip recipients in 2005.
Ross said his motivation comes from the irresistible pull of communal belonging. “I don’t want to be on the side-
Jaffe’s Jewish Jive By Marcia Caller Jaffe mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com
lines. I want to be on the field … to share with others the excitement of being in Israel,” he said. “Birthright is not just about the trip, but the gift from one generation to another.” One theme for the evening was that Atlanta had raised enough money for two buses of Birthright participants, and by the end of the dinner, Ross said, “we want the third.” The St. Regis delivered an abundant, delicious, family-style Mediterranean dinner with flavorful Israeli salad and appetizers, root vegetables, mushroomed rice, and spicy chicken. The buffet dessert at the exit was highlighted by thumbprint cookies.
The show was stolen by speaker Rachel Gerrol, a Birthright alumna whose secular-oriented life was redirected by her trip. Her view of Birthright in advance: “OK, you can have me for 10 days.” But after the free “vacation,” Gerrol, who had been a nonpracticing woman with one Jewish parent, had an Orthodox conversion, earned a Lion of Judah pin (a benchmark giving level of Jewish federation's National Women's philanthropy), and became fully immersed in Jewish life. “Half the Jewish students in college today are half-Jewish,” Gerrol said. “I was 100 percent welcome with Birthright.” We laughed and cried with her as she explained that before Birthright she thought the expression was “mazal toast” and wondered whether she should light Sabbath candles every night. Mike Leven, an event co-chair and a member of the Birthright Israel Foundation board, served as emcee and interviewed Danon. The ambassador said 56 pre-
The U.N. Security Council votes on Resolution 242 on Nov. 22, 1967.
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
Today in Israeli History
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Items provided by the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org), where you can find more details. Nov. 17, 2012: Israeli businesswoman and fashion pioneer Leah Gottlieb, who survived the Holocaust in hiding in Hungary, dies in her Tel Aviv home at the age of 94. She and her husband, Armin, founded the global swimsuit company Gottex. Nov. 18, 1958: A 2½-year project culminates with the opening of a new water reservoir for Jerusalem at Bayit Ve’Gan. The work is financed through the sale of Israel Bonds. Nov. 19, 1977: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s plane lands at Ben Gurion Airport at the start of his historic 36-hour visit to Israel. Nov. 20, 1977: One day after arriving from Egypt for his historic visit to Jerusalem, Egyptian President Anwar
dominantly Muslim countries are U.N. members, and his goal is to close the gap between their negative public stances on Israel and the positive meetings he has behind closed doors. A recent trip to Dubai was productive, Danon said. He praised the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, whom he escorted to Israel to observe the border with Lebanon. “This is how I am effective: letting others discover reality and bringing it back to the U.S.,” Danon said. “It has to have an impact on their voting … spending four days on the bus. We show the challenges of security. You never know how we can make an impact … like sharing with African nations how to best grow mangos and bananas.” He closed by saying, “We can fight about the budget, but we do not fight about Birthright.” The bottom line is 1,000 North American colleges and universities have sent Birthright Israel participants, 75 percent of whom view the trip as a life-changing experience. ■ Sadat addresses a specially arranged sitting of the Knesset. Nov. 21, 1880: Known for dying while defending the Jewish settlement of Tel Hai in 1920, Joseph Trumpeldor, a Zionist political activist and military hero, is born in Pyatigorsk, Russia. Nov. 22, 1967: In the wake of the Six-Day War in June, the U.N. Security Council adopts Resolution 242, whose concept of trading land for peace has served as a framework for all major Arab-Israeli negotiations since. Drafted in English, the resolution calls for Israeli withdrawal “from territories occupied in the recent conflict” but intentionally omits “the” to leave the area of withdrawal up for negotiation. The French translation, however, includes de (the), providing the basis for the inaccurate argument that Israel must withdraw to the pre-1967 borders. Nov. 23, 1584: Sultan Murad III orders an investigation into the number of synagogues in Safed in the land of Israel, then under Ottoman control.
ISRAEL NEWS
Longtime board member Michael Jacobson has been elected co-president of Jewish National Fund’s Atlanta board of directors, joining re-elected Co-President Howard Wexler. Jacobson replaces Alan Wolk, who served three years as Atlanta co-president and recently joined JNF’s national board as a presidential adviser and member of the audit committee. “Michael joins Michael Jacobson an incredible team of volunteers, led by Howard,” said Beth Gluck, the executive director of JNF’s Greater Atlanta Region. “The two of them are already working towards achieving our vision that is transforming the southern and northern areas of Israel with new communities, economic opportunities and infrastructural improvements.” Jacobson has spent a decade on the JNF Atlanta board. He was honored at the 2017 Sam P. Alterman Memorial Golf Tournament for his leadership in the Jewish community and his longtime support of JNF. With degrees from the University of North Carolina and Georgia State University, Jacobson has more than 30 years’ experience in strategic planning, finance, business and marketing. He is married to Barbara Frank and has a daughter at the University of Texas. “I am very excited to be taking the helm with Howard at such a significant time in Jewish National Fund’s history and in Israel’s development,” Jacobson said. JNF has raised $460 million in the first four years of a 10-year, billion-dollar campaign. Wolk now is playing a part in that effort at the national level. “Alan believes in the principle of ‘leaders lead’ and takes his role seriously, inspiring others to step up their commitments to JNF,” Gluck said. “Jewish National Fund’s unprecedented plan for Israel’s future focuses on connecting all generations to the land and people of Israel while also implementing unique long-term projects,” Wolk said. “These initiatives improve the quality of life for all the people of Israel and ensure a brighter future for our homeland.” ■
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
Jacobson Now JNF President
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ISRAEL NEWS
Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home Beyond central Israel. Nefesh B’Nefesh and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael/Jewish National Fund, which have worked together since 2012 to develop Israel’s periphery with the Go North and Go South programs, have launched Go Beyond (www.nbn.org.il/go-beyond) to provide more incentives for new immigrants to settle in the north and south of Israel, as well as Jerusalem. More than 15 percent of Nefesh B’Nefesh immigrants since 2002 have moved to the periphery in the Galilee and Negev, outside the crowded center of the country. In addition to the employment help, social programming, community advisement, educational resources and support staff of the Go North and Go South programs, Go Beyond offers immigrants grants of up to $20,000, aid to pay documentation expenses and college loans, vouchers for online ulpan, and money and other support for scouting trips to Israel to prepare for aliyah. Certified fresh. “Wonder Woman” is the best superhero movie of all time, according to movie review website Rotten Tomatoes. The film, which stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot and is directed by Patty Jenkins, opened to rave reviews June 2. It is the highest-grossing film directed by a woman and the high-
est-grossing superhero origin film and had the largest opening for a femaleled comic book film. Based on a score combining reviews from amateur and professional critics, “Wonder Woman” passed such films as “The Dark Knight” and “The Avengers” on the Rotten Tomatoes list. Special iPads. More than 600 special education teachers in Be’er Sheva, Kiryat Gat, Dimona and the Bedouin Neve Midbar Regional Council received laptop computers in October as part of the Athena Fund’s iPad for Every Special Education Teacher program. The teachers also will receive 120 hours of training. Using an iPad helps a student with special needs improve learning and quality of life and increases the motivation to learn. Listening for lung disease. Ramat Hasharon-based startup Healthymize has developed an app that records all your calls so it can listen for signals of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. If Healthymize detects a negative breathing pattern, a particular cough or a deterioration in the rate of speech, the app alerts the user and his or her medical team. Although Healthymize will be available to anyone when it is released next year, the app is intended
initially for people diagnosed with COPD who are at risk for potentially fatal flare-ups. Sharing electric vehicles. Haifa and Car2Go have launched the first shared transportation project of its kind in Israel, based on electric vehicles and charging stations. Using Renault Zoe cars, the project began with 40 vehicles Tuesday, Nov. 7, and will add 40 at the beginning of December and 20 at the start of January. Another 100 cars will be added if the program succeeds. The shared electric vehicle project is designed for short and medium trips. Drivers pay based on travel time. Record tourism. Ioana Isac and Mihai Georgescu of Romania had a special tour guide Tuesday, Nov. 7, after Isac became this year’s 3 millionth tourist to visit Israel, a record total. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the couple on a tour of the Tower of David Museum. They were accompanied by Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who welcomed them when they arrived. Chinese MVP. Soccer star Eran Zahavi was named the most valuable player in the Chinese Super League after finishing the season as the top goal scorer. Zahavi, 30, was in his second year in
the Chinese league, which has attracted dozens of top international players by paying huge salaries and transfer fees. His 27 goals fell one short of the league record for a season. Cardinal honored. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has presented its Ladislaus Laszt Ecumenical and Social Concern Award to Vatican Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations With the Jews. The university gives the award to a religious personality with an international reputation; past winners include the Dalai Lama and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom. “Cardinal Koch promotes ecumenical values through his life’s work, which has been devoted to the principles of connecting and unifying Christians across Christian denominations and, in his most recent role, strengthening ties with Jews and Judaism,” said Haim Hames, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and director of the Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters. Compiled courtesy of israel21c.org, timesofisrael.com, globes.co.il and other sources.
Israel Learning Goes on Road With CIE
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
Engaging educators and students with Israel is the core of our work at the Center for Israel Education. Getting into the field is of prime importance as we help diverse audiences expand their capacity to understand Israel’s story and share that story with others. In 2017 the world has become more dependent on technology to accomplish these goals, and CIE is no exception. We are offering our first online-only class on modern Israel for teenagers and reach audiences through webinars on a regular basis. Plans are in the works to expand these offerings. Using technology effectively can help us reach larger numbers of learners without having to gather them all in a single location. Despite our growing reliance on technology for Israel education and engagement, there is still great value in the in-person encounters we have 8 in the field. The past two weeks our
team has worked directly with educators in Mexico City, Washington and South Florida, as well as directly with students in South Florida and adults in Atlanta and Mexico.
From the CIE By Rich Walter
Those efforts have included delivering specialized seminars for teachers in Jewish day schools and synagogue schools, as well as Jewish youth professionals. In the first two weeks of November, 160 Jewish educators and 125 eighth- to 12th-graders learned some aspect of modern Israel from our team. At their core, these engagements allow us to assess the needs of Israel education in communities, both in terms of content and delivery methods, and to model effective techniques.
Educators at the Atlanta Jewish Education Directors Council’s annual professional development kallah at Temple Sinai on Aug. 13 participate in “Teaching Jewish Texts Through Music,” a session led by Eli Sperling of the Center for Israel Education.
If we are to truly transform the way that Israel is taught and learned in North America, we constantly need to share new techniques and methodologies and use fresh primary source materials. Just this past week, two local professionals who participated in a CIE seminar asked for suggestions on replicating what they learned from our team with their students. CIE educator seminars are not just for those teaching older students. On Sunday, Nov. 12, in Bethesda, Md., we presented a special track for
early childhood educators led by Risa Walter, the director of early childhood education at the Alefbet Preschool of Congregation Beth Shalom. The session focused on integrating sensory materials to create knowledge and understanding of Israel for our youngest learners. You can learn more about our work in the community and beyond at our website. ■ Rich Walter is the associate director for Israel education at the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org).
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OPINION
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Our View
For the People
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
The leadership of the Jewish Federations of North America wasted no time at this year’s General Assembly in making clear that religious pluralism in Israel is a crucial element in launching a global renaissance of Jewish life. In a speech that closed the opening plenary of the gathering of American and Canadian Federations in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 12, JFNA CEO Jerry Silverman announced that the organization’s executive committee would present a resolution the next day demanding the reversal of two crucial religious policies established by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government this year: • The suspension of an agreement to develop the egalitarian worship area at the southern end of the Western Wall and to implement an oversight panel at the Wall including non-Orthodox religious leaders. • Proposed legislation under which Israel would recognize Jewish conversions performed in Israel only if they were conducted under the auspices of the Haredi Chief Rabbinate. Those matters, revolving around the position of non-Orthodox streams of Judaism and the determination of who is a Jew, are neither Israeli issues nor Diaspora issues, Silverman said. Instead, they are Jewish issues. That assertion is fundamental to the religious rift that has developed between the Israeli government and Diaspora Jewish leadership. The typical opinion of Israelis is that Israel should decide these matters itself. The Kotel, after all, is in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, and the proposed legislation applies only to conversions that take place within Israel and at its core is about who has a claim to automatic citizenship. As a sovereign and democratic nation, Israel can’t give veto power on crucial issues to noncitizens living overseas. If Diaspora Jews care so much about who can pray where and in what manner at the Western Wall and whose conversions are recognized, they should make aliyah. The addition of a few million committed, non-Orthodox Israelis would shift the political balance to favor the policies advocated by Silverman. That viewpoint, however, is an effort by Israeli leaders to have it both ways: It’s a nation worthy of special support from the Jewish community and nonJewish Zionists when it comes to military aid and diplomacy, but it’s just another sovereign nation that should be left to its own devices when the opinions of those non-Israeli supporters are inconvenient. Diaspora disappointment over fundamental Israeli policies must not be allowed to undermine backing for Israel, and the JFNA resolution emphasizes ongoing support for Israel and Israelis. But Silverman cited the fundamental question: Can Israel “truly be the nation-state of the Jewish people” when it denies official recognition to the nonOrthodox streams of Judaism, representing millions of those Jewish people? Israel has no legal requirement to listen to the opinions of the Diaspora. But, morally, it should do so: The homeland of all the Jewish people should find a way to be welcoming and comfortable to all the Jew10 ish people. ■
Cartoon by Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons
Wrestling With Millennials Jewish Federations of North America CEO Jerry than previous generations. Rabbi Uram said the Silverman laid out some audacious goals for Americrisis approach contributes to the problem of disconcan Jewry for the next decade in his opening speech nectedness because it leads to a concentration of at the 2017 General Assembly — increasing from 14 power and decision-making among funders. percent to 50 percent the portion of Jewish youths Accounting for the diffusion of interests in all who go to Jewish summer camp, doubling to 360,000 areas of life, however — just look at the expansion the number of PJ Library in TV viewing options and families, ensuring that day the resulting decline in ratschools are accessible for ings for the most popular Editor’s Notebook all Jewish families who shows — I’m not sure that want them, getting every view of millennials is acBy Michael Jacobs Jew to Israel at least once curate. mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com by age 25. Every generation is But none of those a source of worry for the goals seems attainable unJewish community, and less the Jewish community can solve the problem of every generation is convinced that it is different. millennials, those 17- to 37-year-olds who seem more If millennials are a little slower in engaging obsessed with social media than synagogues. with the community, that reflects delays in marrying So it wasn’t surprising that a first-day panel and having children more than an increased skeptidiscussion at the gathering of America’s Jewish cism. If they seem more determined to connect their communal leaders Sunday, Nov. 12, focused on “the donations of time and money to specific results than millennial factor.” earlier generations at the same age, they’re reflecting Rabbi Michael Uram, the executive director of the vast increase in available information and everHillel at the University of Pennsylvania, and modera- growing demands for transparency in society. tor Mark Oppenheimer, the host of Tablet MagaThe panelists were right that the Jewish estabzine’s “Unorthodox” podcast, talked about millennilishment fails when it dumbs down programming, als, while Faith Leener, the co-founder and director when it substitutes social fun for Jewish substance, of Base, and David Yarus, the founder of JSwipe, when it emphasizes quantity over quality and when spoke as millennials. its focus is on sustaining itself by turning “them” For anyone who has worried about the Jewish into “us” instead of helping them connect with Judafuture, the conversation was familiar, if, as Yarus ism in ways that let them be who they want to be. and several audience members said, too rare. We err when we treat millennials — or any Jewish communal leaders were urged to recogother group underrepresented in the ranks of our nize that this is 2017, not 1917, and the communal communal leaders — as outsiders who must be institutions and approaches that thrived when lured in. Instead, we must make it as easy as possible newspapers weren’t even challenged by radio and for all Jews to create their own forms of community, television, let alone Facebook and Instagram, won’t and we must clear paths for those new voices to be work today. part of the communal conversation. There’s a sense of crisis involving millennials, As somone suggested to the panel, instead of based on the belief that they’re somehow more disaf- separating young Jews by calling them millennials, fected and disconnected from organized Judaism maybe we should use a different label: “humans.” ■
OPINION
The House We Live In The things I see about me The big things and the small The little corner newsstand Or the house a mile tall Americans are at “a time in our nation’s history where the notion of inclusiveness, diversity and equality is being challenged,” Blank said. “Hard lines are being drawn, and people are again being segmented by many who,
From Where I Sit By Dave Schechter dschechter@atljewishtimes.com
in my view, are more interested in political positioning than they are in demonstrating and championing the ideals of a great country.” The wedding and the churchyard The laughter and the tears And the dream that’s been growing For a hundred and fifty years The recipient of ISB’s Courage Award was Sally Yates, the U.S. deputy attorney general (and briefly acting attorney general) fired in January by President Trump for her refusal to enforce what she felt was an unconstitutional ban on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim nations. The town I live in The street, the house, the room The pavement of the city Or a garden all in bloom “For 27 years, I was privileged to be part of an institution (the Justice Department) that’s dedicated to representing the people of the United States — all the people of the United States,” Yates said to applause and cheers. “Representing the people by upholding the Constitution and the rule of law. At the core of those laws and our Constitution is the founding principle of equality, that we all have the same rights, and regardless of race or nationality or religion, that those rights are protected equally.” The church, the school, the clubhouse The millions lights I see But especially the people That’s America to me A stanza in the song’s second verse, which was not included in the movie, spoke of: The house I live in My neighbors white or black The people who just came here Or generations back … That’s America to me This is the house we live in. ■
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
Perhaps the most unusual Frank Sinatra recording is “The House I Live In.” What is America to me A name, a map, or a flag I see A certain word, democracy What is America to me This is no swinging tune or lover’s ballad, but the theme song of a 10-minute, black-and-white film of the same name, released in 1945 to counter post-World War II racism and anti-Semitism. The lyrics were written by Lewis Allen, a pseudonym employed by songwriter Abel Meeropol (who also penned the haunting “Strange Fruit,” about the lynchings of African-Americans, famously recorded by Billie Holiday). The house I live in A plot of earth, a street The grocer and the butcher And the people that I meet Sinatra steps out of a recording session, stops a group of boys who have chased a Jewish boy into an alley, and croons a lesson on tolerance. The children in the playground The faces that I see All races and religions That’s America to me The Anti-Defamation League’s Southeast Region recently presented its 2017 Abe Goldstein Human Relations Award to Brendan Murphy, a Marist School history teacher, for his commitment to Holocaust education. The place I work in The worker at my side The little town or city Where my people lived and died A couple of nights later, the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta presented businessman and philanthropist Arthur Blank with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The howdy and the handshake The air of feeling free And the right to speak my mind out That’s America to me In receiving the award, Blank recalled his grandparents, who “immigrated to this country in the very early 1900s in pursuit of better lives for their families. They got on ships, taking them to a new place none had ever seen, with a faith, a dream and a determination that I can hardly imagine. … They came for freedoms they didn’t have and opportunities that were readily available to anyone willing to work, regardless of how they looked, where they came from or their manner of worship.”
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OPINION
Trump’s Incapable of Skillful Negotiation President Donald Trump continues to manifest his lack of the qualities conducive to achieve his desired ends, such as a continuation of peace. In threatening to unleash fire and fury on North Korea, he has shown himself to be weak, unwise, fearful, self-aggrandizing and full of vanity — clearly a bad leader. I am quite aware what this small, poor country led by a madman could do to us. But a wise leader would understand how to maintain peace and not threaten this bully. Kim Jong Un, a person subject to his own mental pathologies, has not responded well to threats. Threatening him with war merely reinforces his paranoid view of the United States as a true enemy — a condition that benefits China and Russia. We need now a wise person at the helm of our nation. Based on our ancient sages’ teaching on the qualities of the wise, Trump clearly lacks the necessary wisdom. Our rabbis told us that the best indicator of wisdom is keeping quiet. In their view, the difference between the wise person and the unwise is the ability to contemplate and to “guard his tongue from speaking evil and guile.” The unwise, unlearned person is
like a can that has only a few coins in it and makes a lot of noise when it is shaken. In contrast, the wise person is like a can full of coins, which is quiet when shaken.
One Man’s Opinion By Eugen Schoenfeld
Isn’t that what Theodore Roosevelt proposed should be the essential quality of our leader? His advice was to “speak softly and carry a big stick.” Our president does the opposite. His lips are loose, and he threatens others by bragging about our power. He is like a teenager who needs to show off and flex his muscles in public. The president does not need to act like a puffer fish and inflate his importance and the power of the United States. Only weak people do that. (The only other person I remember who assumed a similar posture by sticking out his chin was Mussolini in the 1930s.) Trump seems constantly afraid and concerned about his appearance as a weak and vain person who lacks true courage. For sure he is not a Goliath, nor is he a David, a true man of courage.
Were he a courageous president, he would not be afraid to seek accommodation with others. By now he has given us ample evidence that in spite of his claim of being a master negotiator, he lacks those skills. He falsely equates his abuse of power and his usual TV declaration of “you are fired” as strength instead of his weakness in human relationships. A skillful negotiator does not have to threaten his opponents, nor does he have to browbeat them. A true negotiator does not act as a bully who lacks the courage; instead, he seeks to be just and from a sense of justice seeks an accommodation with the other person. To be a skillful negotiator, one must first and foremost be a human, in the fullest sense of the word, and must be able to understand the other person’s position and needs. This president cannot do that. The purpose of negotiation is not to defeat and crush the enemy or the opponent. It is to be able to seek accommodation between two or more people. Skillful negotiation is a method by which two opponents seek an agreement through which a new modus vivendi can be achieved. To do so, the parties, or at least one of them, must be committed to achieve an accommodation — that is, to achieve a
state in which both parties give a little to find an equitable way to live with each other. Negotiation is a most important practice in world politics, for we must use it to replace war. But negotiators must be people of reason. Negotiation is a process that requires the skill and above all the ability to restrain oneself, as well as the ability to show the opponent how both sides can gain what is necessary through peaceful coexistence. A fearful man cannot achieve this. A fearful man will either run away from the problem or attack the opponent — and it seems that the president is the latter. It is now that a bipartisan congressional stance is desperately needed. More than ever, this country is in physical peril. Even if we somehow achieve some reduction of hot-headedness by the president, we have lost our credibility to be a world moral leader. After this, which country and which leader in the world will trust this nation again? It seems to me that we are experiencing a déjà vu of 1914, with the same conditions and stupid pride that led to World War I. Perhaps with a strong, bipartisan effort, we can bring another miracle like the one that was wrought by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. I hope so. ■
Stepping Out on the World of G-d
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
The great American poet Maya Angelou thought that the angels looked like her paternal grandmother, Annie. Her grandmother lived an extraordinarily difficult life during the Great Depression as a single black woman in the South, tending to two grandchildren and a son with multiple disabilities. Yet Maya remembers her grandmother clasping her hands behind her back, looking up at the distant sky and saying, “I will step out on the world of G-d.” Inspired by this statement of her sacred mission, Annie began a long and difficult day taking care of others. “She looked up as if she could will herself into the heavens,” remembers Angelou. Because of her grandmother, 12 Angelou grew into adulthood know-
ing that faith could give her strength to care for others even when her own burdens were heavy. The Talmud teaches that when-
From the ARA By Rabbi Peter S. Berg
ever we see flaws in the world, even those not of our own making, we are obligated by Torah to restore balance and harmony. Like Maya’s grandmother, we are asked to step out on the world of G-d as we go about our daily tasks. Says Rabbi Irving Greenberg: Greatness lies at the faithful performance of whatever duties life places upon us, and the generous performance of the small acts of kindness
that G-d has made possible for us. G-d does not ask us to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things, extraordinarily well. Each of us has within us a G-d-given spark of creativity to bring order to chaos; beauty to ugliness. We have a contribution to make that will be left undone without us, an act of compassion that will be denied to the world if we suppress it. We are called to say “yes” when most people are saying “no” and to say “no” when most people are saying “yes.” We are invited to take this battered and weary world and put it on the anvil of life, forging it into a more human, more G-dly shape.
But there’s a catch. We can say no to G-d’s invitation to continue the work of creation. We can walk away. It’s within our power to refuse G-d and deny G-d the joy of finishing what G-d has begun. Jewish tradition teaches us that the choice is ours. If the sick are to be healed, it is our hands that will heal them. If the lonely and frightened are to be comforted, it is our hands, not G-d’s, that will embrace them. The warmth of the sun travels on the air, but the warmth of G-d’s love can travel only through each of us. — Dorothee Soelle ■ Rabbi Peter S. Berg is the senior rabbi at The Temple. This column is part of an ongoing series by members of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association.
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Insurance Enrollment Down to 3 Options small-business owner, you have the same three choices. Social status is no longer a factor in determining what type of health insurance you receive.
Guest Column By Julie Joffre Benveniste
There is a needle in the haystack, as a business owner can create a group plan, so long as there are at least two employees who are unrelated, one of whom must be a W-2 employee working a minimum of 30 hours a week.
Creating a group plan can be tedious, so make sure you work with a professional agent specializing in group health plans. A group plan will be eligible for coverage by many of the more familiar companies, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana. The health care cost-sharing organization, also called a health care sharing ministry, has risen to the top of the viable, affordable options. Just a few health care sharing ministries have endeavored to cover our families’ health insurance needs while providing an affordable option to traditional insurance. Clients regularly find most, if not all, of their doctors on their new plan. Even bet-
ter, the health care sharing ministry includes a nationwide PPO network, giving families the flexibility to cover kids living in other cities. Not all health care sharing ministries are created equal, so make sure you do your homework and work with an experienced health insurance agent. I often ponder why the Jewish community has not formed a health care sharing ministry of our own. With that, I am wishing all of you the best of health! ■ Julie Joffre Benveniste is a licensed insurance agent who can be reached at jjbenveniste@gmail.com or 404-316-7514.
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
Co-pays, deductibles, max out of pocket, escalating premium, HMO, POS, PPO. What does all that mean to my family and me with our health insurance? Unfortunately, as we head into 2018, our choices for traditional health insurance plans and carriers have again been drastically reduced. For those of us who are not covered by an employer or a spouse’s employer plan, we have two choices: Purchase a Kaiser or Ambetter policy through the health care exchange, or join a health care cost-sharing organization (called a health care sharing ministry). Kaiser and Ambetter are offering only their HMO plans. An HMO (health maintenance organization) is a closed system in which individuals and families voluntarily enroll to be treated by member physicians, typically including specialists. If you enroll in an HMO, you will most probably not be able to keep your current doctor. Even if you’ve been seeing your current provider for 20 years, an HMO will require you to use its physicians. Kaiser physicians are excellent doctors, and some people may not be deterred by changing their current physicians. History shows that patients with chronic conditions (diabetes, respiratory ailments, arthritis, etc.) typically search for a compatible physician for years. In the past, Ambetter has been an administrator for the Georgia Medicaid program, also called the Peach State Health Plan. Ambetter has not experienced an easy ride into the health care marketplace. A simple Google search yields harsh reviews, some of which are downright disturbing and all of which are convincing. That said, WellStar recently announced that it will accept Ambetter in 2018, which will bode well for some of us. With Ambetter, the premiums are moderately high, the deductibles can be a bit high, and the max out of pocket also can run high. Many are still under the illusion that if you have the money, you can simply buy private health insurance. This is simply no longer the case, as no matter your income or ability to pay, you still have the same three choices if you’re not covered by an employer (Kaiser, Ambetter or a health care sharing organization). If you are self-employed or a
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Shalva Changes Lives for Kids, Counselors
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
There’s volunteering, and then there’s volunteering at Shalva. The first is something fun, the latter something transforming, inspiring and life-changing. Shalva is an organization in Jerusalem dedicated to transforming the lives of those with disabilities such as autism or Down syndrome. This past summer I had the privilege of volunteering at Shalva for 2½ weeks, and it was hands down the best 2½ weeks of my life. My mission was simple: Be a counselor for an after-school program for kids from difficult homes. I would help them with homework, run activities to teach them life lessons such as being a good friend, play with them on Shalva’s double-decker playground, and simply be an older sister and mentor to them. The task didn’t seem too daunting, but nonetheless it was an important one. When I arrived at Shalva, I was a nervous wreck. The building was enormous, and I was afraid I would feel like an outsider because I didn’t know anyone or speak fluent Hebrew. But I was also excited — excited to meet the kids and excited to meet my co-counselors, volunteers and bnot sherut (National Service women) from all over Israel. I looked around. Kids were running between swings, smiles plastered across their faces, while the bnot sherut and volunteers playfully chased them. I felt the joy around me begin to diffuse throughout my body. I felt a tug at my legs, urging me to join in the fun. Suddenly, a small, pudgy hand grabbed mine. My heart skipped a beat, and I looked down. Standing there was boy, no more than 7 years old, smiling at me while swinging my hand back and forth. “Mi at?” he asked. “Who are you?” “Ani Eliana,” I answered. “Vi mi atah (and who are you)?” He told me his name is Gavriel, and he dragged me into the building, payot swaying back and forth, eager to get inside and get the afternoon started. (Note that the names in this article have been changed to protect people’s privacy.) The rest of the day was a whirlwind of activity. I met the kids who would be my chanichim (campers) and 14 got to know my co-counselor Sarah,
a first-year bat sherut whose parents started Shalva when her brother Yossi began to improve after becoming deaf, blind and acutely hyperactive because of a faulty vaccination as a baby. After a jam-packed day of firstgrade math, dodgeball in the gymboree’s ball pit and Israeli pop music, Sarah and I sat in our room, exhausted but invigorated. We talked about our
Guest Column By Eliana Goldin
kids, each one with a specific story for being at Shalva. Some had fathers who walked out on them. Others had siblings with severe diseases. All had some type of learning disability. “What is Gavriel’s specific reason for being here?” I asked. “He comes from a Haredi family with 10 other children. He doesn’t get a lot of attention at home,” Sarah said. I thought about that for a while. How could I help Gavriel? How could I, besides being his counselor, make him feel noticed, appreciated and loved? I decided that I would, as small as it may seem, work with him during homework time. With all the kids tapping my shoulder, needing help on this or that, I knew it would make him feel special if I chose him above everyone else. The next day when it came time for homework, I went straight to Gavriel and asked whether he wanted help on his kriyah (reading). He responded with a smile. A smile so wide it could have split the sea. A smile that spoke a thousand words. For the next two weeks I found ways to cater to each of my chanichim individually. For Malki, I played soccer with him in the hallway when his anger got the best of him. For Adin, I raced her to the music room and back when she couldn’t contain her energy. I made each and every one of my kids feel special. And in return, they made me feel special. Every time I walked into the Shalva building, I was bombarded with hugs. Every time I left, I was bombarded with shouts of “See you tomorrow!” and more hugs. When the 2½ weeks were up, I felt as if I didn’t have nearly enough time with my chanichim, yet I felt as if they
Eliana Goldin (right) spends quality time with campers at Shalva this summer.
were younger siblings I had been with forever. I was sad to leave but excited to see how much they would grow while I was gone. Before I left, Sarah and our chanichim made me a booklet. It was covered in drawings and personalized letters to me, along with a keychain that pictured our entire group. When I read the letters, I began to cry. Some of the letters wished me good luck in Atlanta; I hadn’t realized that the chanichim remembered where I lived. To not only feel the impact on the kids, but also to have proof that I made an impression on their lives was something I had never felt before. It takes much more than words to explain Shalva and what it does for the kids. It takes even more than that to explain how Shalva affects you as a person. I left Shalva as someone more compassionate. More patient. More empathetic. I left Shalva as someone who looked at a person and didn’t see the background or the disability but saw who that person really was. Saw the likes and dislikes, the personality, and the neshama (soul). I left Shalva a better person. I and six other students from Atlanta Jewish Academy are trying to raise $21,000 for Shalva. This is no easy task. As much as we email friends and family, getting that much money
only from familiar faces is nearly impossible. This is where we need your help. If you go to www.run4shalva.org/my/ atlantajewishacademy, you can donate to help us help Shalva. Even if you can’t donate money, sending the link to your family and friends helps spread the word about this amazing organization. The same way each and every interaction you have with a kid at Shalva makes a difference in his or her life, each and every dollar given to the organization helps make Shalva possible. You too can make a difference. In addition, we will be running the Jerusalem Marathon in March as a part of Team Shalva. If you are interested in joining, email me at 20egoldin@atljewishacademy.org. Shalva can’t function without donations. For every service Shalva offers, it doesn’t charge the families even a shekel. It provides care not only for all of Jerusalem, but also for all of Israel. There is no other center like Shalva anywhere in the world, much less anywhere in Israel. Shalva needs us, and we need organizations like Shalva that help open our eyes and create more compassionate people. ■ Eliana Goldin is a 10th-grader at Atlanta Jewish Academy.
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Cyclist’s Lap Around U.S. Eases Childhood Cancer By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com When Glenn Hirsch was in third grade, he learned lessons about exercising and giving back that would help shape his life years later when he cycled to raise awareness about I Care I Cure after losing his nephew Ian to leukemia at age 11 in 2006. Hirsch, 67, was introduced to cycling when he was a teenager. Although he took a break to finish medical school, he started again while completing his residency in central Pennsylvania. When he turned 50, Hirsch took leave from his family medical practice for a cycling tour from Seattle to Washington, D.C., to benefit the American Lung Association. He has continued to support organizations such as the Arthritis Foundation. Hirsch’s rides have included Key West, Fla., to the Canadian border, which he crossed on his 40th wedding anniversary; Seattle to San Francisco; New Orleans to St. Augustine, Fla.; and Phoenix to New Orleans, nearly completing a full lap around the U.S. Hirsch’s intention was to ask people to donate to the charities of their choice during his cycling trips, but after Ian’s death, he decided to raise money
Ian Besner died of leukemia at age 11.
Glenn Hirsch will complete a 10,000mile, 17-year lap around the United States to raise money for research into gentler treatments for childhood cancer.
for cancer research and morphed his sister-in-law’s foundation from I Care I Cure into I Care I Cure I Cycle. “It’s something I really didn’t think a lot of people were doing and thought I could help,” Hirsch said. Two months after completing a cross-country cycling tour, however, Hirsch had a heart attack in 2000. His wife, Lynn, didn’t think he would ride again. Hirsch had open heart surgery six months after the heart attack. During his recovery, doctors asked Hirsch to maintain a minimum lifting weight that was less than 20 pounds, close to the weight of his bike, and he implemented lifestyle changes.
“I knew before I had the heart attack that I needed to slow down and change my work pace, which has made things a lot less stressful,” Hirsch said. “I have been able to do everything that I have wanted since and have always found cycling as a relaxing activity.” Since his sabbatical, Hirsch has raised awareness about gentler treatment options for childhood cancer. Ian’s parents, Beth and Brad Besner, have raised nearly $2 million to support research into less toxic therapies for children with leukemia and other forms of cancer, Hirsch said. Hirsch continues to divide his time between cycling and giving to
charity. “I do some of my best thinking while riding my bike and was going to give back to a foundation anyway. So getting the chance to ride and having someone benefit from it helps.” Whenever the cycling gets tough, Hirsch thinks about his nephew. “He had a much rougher go at it than I did … which helps me get through the rides.” Hirsch will participate in one last ride for I Care I Cure I Cycle in December. A ride from Phoenix to Santa Monica, Calif., will complete his journey around the country’s perimeter, covering more than 10,000 miles in 17 years. He is scheduled to leave Phoenix for San Diego on Dec. 20, then will head north up the California coast, reaching the Santa Monica Pier on Dec. 29. “Both Glenn and I had a helpless feeling after Ian passed away, and there wasn’t anything we could say or do to help console my sister, but we thought that by helping the foundation, we were doing our part to help them accomplish their goal and get through the ordeal,” Lynn said. “It’s been a long journey. … I don’t think Glenn ever imagined he would ride around the perimeter of the country, but he is the kind of person that, once he sets a goal for himself, he does not back down.” ■
5 Tips for a Happy, Healthy Winter
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
If you lived in a cold climate, you would naturally think of winterizing your home. But what can you do to prepare your body and mind for waning daylight and brisker temperatures? Just as a house requires insulation in the winter, our bodies benefit from extra layers of clothing and warming foods. For many of us, the ritual of moving the clocks back at the end of daylight saving time can trigger a case of the winter blues as the days darken earlier. We may find ourselves oversleeping, craving carbs or even feeling overcome with fatigue or depression. The good news is that a few simple steps can combat the winter blahs. Here are five natural tips that benefit the body, mind and spirit: • Keep your office and home welllighted with full-spectrum lighting or Reveal bulbs, which cast a bluish tint that creates a color spectrum closer to 16 natural sunlight.
The Light Research Center reports that full-spectrum lighting improves mood, productivity, mental awareness and vitamin D synthesis in the body. Some researchers suggest that it’s not
Guest Column By Gedalia Genin
only a matter of getting more light, but that the most important time to get light is in the morning. • Diffusing essential oils such as eucalyptus, peppermint and ginger so they are inhaled can provide a host of health benefits. Essential oils travel quickly into the limbic part of the brain, which affects emotions, regulates hormones and stimulates the immune system. Research suggests that essential oils can lessen sinusitis and allergies and boost mood.
I highly recommend using therapeutic-grade essential oils, such as those sold by Nature’s Gifts, Mountain Rose and Young Living. A cool mister is preferable to a warm one to obtain the best results from aromatherapy. Start by using a few drops of each. Essential oil roll-ons can be applied to the wrist or behind the ears. Visit www.gedaliahhealingarts.com to learn about my winter roll-on. • Keep moving. A daily brisk walk and a dance class are surefire ways to kick-start your endorphins and banish the winter blues. One of my go-to moves is to bounce on a Rebounder, a mini trampoline that can mimic the benefits of a long-distance run in far less time. • Stay warm and hydrated with soups and stews. While the colder weather may make us gravitate toward heavier foods, eat them in moderation. Add foods rich in vitamin C, such as oranges, dark leafy greens and spirulina,
to your diet to boost your immune system. Limit your consumption of foods with white sugar, white flour and white rice because they increase heaviness in the body and mind. • Remember to breathe. Set aside as little as 10 minutes a day for conscious breathing. Deeply inhaling and exhaling while listening to the sound of your breath can help you maintain calm and avoid feeling caught up in the frenzy of holiday shopping or travel. A few simple, extended inhales and exhales can shift your awareness and help you feel present and relaxed. Be sure to take time to breathe, appreciate and pause. It will help you stay fit and cheerful and better able to enjoy the season. ■ Gedalia Genin is the author of “Enough Drugs! I Am a Woman and Can Heal Naturally: A Practical Guide to Feeling Your Best.” She can be reached at CentreSpring MD in Brookhaven (centrespringmd.com).
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Innovative Abdominal Surgery Fights Cancer He’s the guy you would want on your crew in a Zombie apocalypse: a surgeon with military combat experience who also can lead a minyan. Emory University School of Medicine’s Joshua H. Winer is a general surgical oncologist who served in an anti-tank unit of the Nahal Brigade in the Israel Defense Forces in the early 2000s. But since moving to Atlanta in 2013, the Toco Hills resident, Congregation Beth Jacob member and father of four has been busy fighting cancer with an innovative procedure. The Massachusetts native and University of Maryland medical school graduate is one of the few surgeons in Georgia to practice hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, or HIPEC. The HIPEC procedure delivers a highly concentrated, heated chemotherapy treatment directly to the abdomen during surgery and is used on cancers that have spread into the abdominal cavity but not outside. “My interest lies in the peritoneal surface malignancies,” Winer said, “that’s dealing with cancers that have spread to the abdominal cavity beyond the organ where they started. We do somewhere around 100 cases a year.” Winer said the lengthy procedure involves several steps. It often takes longer than eight hours and involves multiple surgeons. The first step is slowly removing all the cancer from the abdomen, which can take many hours. “Everything that you can see has to go,” Winer said. “If you can’t get rid of all the disease, then the second step isn’t effective.” The second step is the delivery of a heated, sterilized chemotherapy solution to the abdomen to penetrate and destroy any remaining microscopic cancer cells. The solution is around 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Tumor cells are thermosensitive, which means the heat of the solution helps kill them at the microscopic level. The final step involves putting everything back together and closing the incision. Winer said the mortality rate for the procedure has dropped from around 10 percent when it was first performed to 2 to 4 percent, which is in line with other large inter-abdominal surgeries.
Winer works at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Decatur and Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sandy Springs. Although he lives just a few blocks from the VA hospital, he has spent most of his time lately at St. Joseph’s, which makes it tough to get home to his wife, Michelle, and kids before Shabbat in traffic. “We had no specific ties here in Atlanta, although some of our friends have lived here in the past,” he said. “It was a nice offer from Emory to come down and help build the program here and also build our family." ■
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By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Alzheimer’s Cure Is Personal for Families By Cady Schulman cschulman@atljewishtimes.com
The pediatrician you choose for your kids matters. More Atlanta moms are discovering the unique, team-based 360Care™ designed to keep your kids well. Sara Dorsey, PNP Maureen Shifflett, PNP Amanda Batlle, PNP Jennifer Martin, PNP Michael Levine, MD, Emeritus Ruth Brown, MD, Emeritus Jonathan Winner, MD, Emeritus
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
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For Pearlann Horowitz, raising money for research into a cure for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) is more than just hosting an annual fundraising dinner. It’s something that hits home. Horowitz’s husband, Jerry, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s seven years ago and now lives at the William Breman Jewish Home, which he once served as president. “Jerry was the consummate of everything,” Horowitz said. “He was charismatic. He loved to laugh. He understood business in a way that shocked some people with professions that were hard to understand. He was a leader in almost anything. It’s just a devastating loss of somebody who was so outstanding in so many ways. There was just nothing Jerry couldn’t do. And you would think (he) was one of the last people around who would be stricken.” The past eight years, A Family Affair has been held in Atlanta to raise money to fight Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS. This year’s event, set for Thursday night, Nov. 16, at the Cherokee Town and Country Club in Buckhead, has raised $800,000 so far for the Emory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “I’m very humbled because it’s an outstanding amount thus far,” Horowitz said. “I’m humbled by the accolades that say what a great job me and my team are doing. It’s exciting, and it’s a testimony not only to Jerry, but to all of those who are becoming more and more aware and/or who have had loved ones stricken by the disease, and the urgency and the knowledge that the
Seltman at Eye Consultants Optometrist Whitney Seltman, a Congregation Etz Chaim member, began practicing at Eye Consultants of Atlanta in Buckhead in August. Seltman, a University of Georgia graduate who got her O.D. from the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis in May 2016, is a therapeutically certified optometrist, meaning she has passed the national board exams to prescribe ophthalmic and nonophthalmic medications to treat such diseases as glaucoma and eye infections. Before joining Eye Consultants, the Brookhaven resident did an extern-
numbers are growing is frightening.” The event is called A Family Affair because Alzheimer’s takes a toll on a patient’s family and caregivers. “It’s bittersweet,” Horowitz said. “I hope and pray and intend that we are going to find that cure somehow for so many people that know … they could inherit the disease.” This year’s event honors the research of Allan Levey, who chairs the neurology department at Emory’s School of Medicine and directs the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “With our outstanding, multidisciplinary team at the ADRC, a portfolio of exciting research projects, collaborations around the world with other leading researchers, and our incredibly supportive and generous community, together we will accelerate the progress towards a cure and prevention,” Levey said in a press release. “I am privileged to have wonderful colleagues, to be a member of a great university and to enjoy the support of our amazing community.” Attendees at the event will see a short video featuring family and friends of Alzheimer’s patients, as well as doctors talking about the disease and how it affects a family. Each table will have at least one doctor or researcher present to answer questions. “I’m praying and hoping that this may be the year that we get” hope, Horowitz said. “I’m just hearing from different sorts of folks I never knew (who) have a sister or a mother or a brother with one or all three (diseases). It’s really been an educational thing for me as well as obviously a drive to find a cure.” ■ ship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and a clinical fellowship with Alan Kozarsky. “Working with Dr. Kozarsky, I gained knowledge Optometrist valuable Whitney about treating and Seltman managing corneal disease. We routinely treated patients with diseases like keratoconus, Fuchs dystrophy and severe corneal ulcers,” Seltman said. Seltman is now accepting new patients and can be reached to schedule appointments by calling Eye Consultants of Atlanta at 404-350-1425.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Kidney Donations Save Lives, Follow Jewish Law Rabbi Josh Sturm’s job isn’t to ask for money. As the outreach director for New York-based Renewal, a private Jewish organ donation registry, he’s asking for kidneys, and he’s asking you just to think about it. Rabbi Sturm was in the Atlanta area Sunday afternoon, Oct. 22, to speak at a program, “The Jewish Response to Organ Donation & Transplants,” held at Congregation Beth Shalom and presented by Hadassah Greater Atlanta’s Metulla Group and Beth Shalom’s Sisterhood. The event was organized to provide information and raise awareness about the need for kidney donors and the work Renewal does to help match people with terminal kidney disease to donors. Many people wonder whether Jewish law permits organ donation, but Rabbi Sturm and Beth Shalom Rabbi Mark Zimmerman assured the audience that, while halacha says you should not desecrate the body, the act of saving a life supersedes all laws. Because of the potential risks, “you’re not obligated,” Rabbi Sturm said, “but how beautiful it is to give a limb to save life.” With 96,000 people on the national kidney transplant list, the need for kidney donors is serious. In Renewal’s 11 years, and mostly the past six, the organization has been involved in arranging 400 kidney transplants, including 67 last year. Rabbi Sturm said Renewal focuses only on kidneys because matching is relatively easy (recipients and donors need only share blood and certain tissue types) and the transplant surgery’s success rate is high. People with kidney failure must often undergo unpleasant and expensive dialysis treatments to do the job of cleansing the blood that healthy kidneys would do. “Kidney failure is a terminal illness that has a cure,” Rabbi Sturm said. “A relatively healthy person can save a life. It’s an amazing thing.” While most kidney donors are between the ages of 18 and 70, overall health, rather than age, is the main consideration. A potential donor receives a complete physical evaluation as one of the first steps in determining eligibility. If a donor is able and truly willing
Rabbi Josh Sturm of Renewal thanks Anita Otero, the co-president of Hadassah’s Metulla Group, for hosting the kidney donation discussion at Beth Shalom on Oct. 22.
— Rabbi Sturm emphasized that there is never any pressure and that a potential donor can back out for any reason up until the last minute — the kidney is removed laparoscopically with a small incision. The donor’s recovery typically requires a few days in the hospital and several weeks of rest. Rabbi Sturm said donors never incur any financial costs. The recipient’s insurance pays the medical bills. If the donation is arranged through Renewal, the organization picks up all other incidental costs, including any travel or lost work wages. Bringing the discussion home, Atlanta resident Nancy Rose shared her story of worsening kidney failure producing an urgent need for a donor. Rose undergoes a three-hour dialysis treatment three times a week, but she is hopeful that a recently identified potential donor will be the match she has been waiting for. Shai Robkin shared his decision to donate a kidney. Motivated by the knowledge that, past age 60, “time was ticking” on his ability to help anyone else and that live donors are usually best, he donated a kidney in December at Emory University Hospital. At the time, he didn’t know the recipient. Raye Lynn Banks’ heartbreaking stories about the loss of her children underscored Rabbi Sturm’s appeal for people to consider organ donation. When her son died in 1993, she was in too much shock to immediately agree when the hospital called to ask the family to donate his organs. Two years later, her daughter died from liver disease caused by hepatitis before a transplant could save her life. Now Banks, who volunteers with the Link Counseling Center, said her children’s lives are making a difference because she is telling their stories. If organ donation is “something you’re thinking about,” she said, “talk to someone and share your decision with your family.” ■
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
By Fran Putney
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Celebrating Weinstein Hospice’s Chai Birthday The realities of dying were always a mystery to me. My parents visited their dying parents in the hospital. I went to the funerals but never felt a sense of being present and supportive of my grandparents during their last days. I was left with childhood memories and a few special objects from their living rooms. It was during my mother’s last years that I learned about hospice care. I had turned away from physicians who suggested more tests and more surgeries for this elderly patient, now in her ’90s, and I searched for a more caring way to manage her pain during her last months of life. That search led me to Talya Bloom, the executive director of Weinstein Hospice.
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
A Conversation With Talya Bloom Talya was born in Zimbabwe to an Israeli mother and a British father who had met in Palestine. After completing nursing school in Cape Town, South Africa, Talya became a midwife. She moved with her husband and two sons from South Africa to Atlanta in 1986. “It was very traumatic,” Talya said. “My mother had died of ovarian cancer five months before we immigrated. It was not a good death at the age of 63. It was a fearful, dark time for me. I was left with a fear of dying from that experience.” It was later in her career while working as an oncology nurse at Northside Hospital that Talya became aware of the similarities in helping people into and out of the world. But it was hospice care that peaked her interest. She started working with Hospice Atlanta in 1990. The holistic approach that hospice uses to deal with mind, body and spirit changed the way she saw and understood dying. “It was life-changing. Being dead is not the greatest fear,” she said. “The greater fear is the process of dying: the pain, shortness of breath, angst and sadness. And this can be dealt with and controlled for the most part. Hospice is not about if we will die, but how we will die. Everyone needs to be loved, to be forgiven and to be surrounded by people who care from birth to death.” 20 Hospice (from “hospitality”) was a
guesthouse or hotel of sorts for weary or ill travelers in the Middle Ages. Originating in Europe, it was a place where guests could find rest, shelter and comfort. The book “On Death and Dying” by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced the concept of death with choices and dignity, focusing on pain
Guest Column By Susanne Katz
management and specialized care in a person’s home rather than in an institutional setting. Almost 90 percent of Weinstein Hospice patients receive hospice care at home. The nonprofit Jewish hospice serves approximately 50 percent Jewish and 50 percent non-Jewish patients and receives support from Jews and non-Jews. Almost half of hospice funds come from individual gifts, tributes and grants. “It is a remarkable service,” Talya said, “but I fear that many people don’t understand what it is. I want them to understand that hospice, when it is done properly, is an extension of good health care, not a failure of the medical profession. “There is no cure for dying. The end is a natural part of our lives, and hospice allows nature to take its course. I love my job, working with people whose goal is to help make a person’s last days peaceful and valuable. Our staff, volunteers and board have amazing pride, involvement, commitment and ownership.” Weinstein Hospice’s Beginnings In the 1990s, a time of expansion and renovation of the Jewish Home, the executive committee of that nonprofit organization (today Jewish Home Life Communities) realized the need for an added program. “We had the potential,” Sam Coolik said, “but we didn’t have the money. After some due diligence and a pro forma, I believed we might be able to break even by the third year, but we had to raise funds. I was certain that we would lose money the first few years, but I felt that, with community fundraising, we could satisfy the need. “We had to prove our worth in the first two or three years. I made a mo-
Talya Bloom (left) will hand off leadership of Weinstein Hospice to Cory Shaw at the end of the year.
tion to approve hospice, and it was approved by the executive committee. In 1998-9, Steve Berman, the Jewish Home president, asked the Weinstein family to give a large gift for something new to benefit the Jewish community, and the Weinsteins became our first funders. “In 1999 I was asked to be a founding co-president with Faye Siegel. Then we were followed by Diana Silverman. We hand-picked board members from synagogues and looked for diversity on the board. We needed people to spread the word and to provide leadership. All of them are still supporters.” In September 1999, Weinstein Hospice was certified by the state of Georgia and served its first patient. That October, it was approved for Medicare reimbursement. It has now been 18 years since the founding of Weinstein Hospice. “We asked Talya Bloom to interview for the executive director position,” Sam said. “She hit the floor running and has been great from Day 1. She is the best. I am proud of her leadership, and I have stayed involved. “We are recognized for our care of patients and their families, and we are a hospice of choice. We are good for the Jewish and the general community, and we continue to grow. We provide quality service and never deny service to anyone. We want to live within our budgets each year and never have to ask Federation for funding. “It is important to be self-funding, and we thank our caring funders and our supporting foundations.” Education and Outreach “Sam Coolik and I were co-presidents of the Vi and Milton Weinstein Hospice and were dedicated to hospice, a brand-new program brought to us by Eve Levine and Debra Beard,” Faye Siegel said. “But we soon found that people shuddered and pulled
away from the conversation about dying. “So our first challenge was to provide outreach and education for our Jewish community and our medical community. I am proud to say I was there in the beginning. Our community has benefited from Weinstein Hospice. Patients can choose to die just as they lived, Jewishly and with dignity.” Faye credited Talya Bloom with being a committed mover and shaker and applauded the volunteers who work directly with and provide caring support to patients. “A patient with no living family can choose to die with dignity in their own home because of the volunteers and medical staff of Weinstein Hospice, who serve both the Jewish and non-Jewish community,” she said. The New Leader Weinstein Hospice’s office and business manager, Cory Shaw, soon will succeed Talya as the executive director. Cory reminded me that, while the business office and clinical and administrative headquarters are in the campus of Jewish Home Life Communities, hospice is not a place. It is a type of care. “It’s about how we live until we die. It’s about having hospice as an option that allows us to die at home surrounded by the people we love. It’s an amazing place to work,” Cory said. “I have worked with Talya for five years, and I want to maintain and grow what she created. Talya is a fighter, and it has been a privilege to work for her. Talya may be small in stature, but she is fearless and passionate. I have big shoes to fill.” ■ Talya Bloom’s last day as executive director of the Vi and Milton Weinstein Hospice is Dec. 31.
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NOVEMBER 17 â–ª 2017
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Big Climb Raises Big Money for ALS
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
By Fran Putney
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At 19,341 feet, Mount Kilimanjaro is the largest free-standing mountain in the world. The majestic volcano is part of the Rift Mountain range in the East African country of Tanzania. Climbing Kilimanjaro is a monumental feat, but that’s what 26-year-old Jared King decided to do to raise awareness and research money for ALS, a progressive, debilitating, usually fatal illness affecting the nervous system and muscle movement. Through his dad, Gerry King, who serves on the board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Jared King was moved by stories of family acquaintances who have suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease). King told his parents in May that he wanted to do something to fight the disease. “I don’t think people know too much about it,” he said. “It’s so tragic how it can affect people in tip-top shape of life.” A Weber School graduate and selfdescribed “outdoorsy” guy, King decided to combine two life passions — hiking and helping others — when he planned for the 11-day September trek up Mount Kilimanjaro’s Shira Plateau and set up a fundraising page for supporters to pledge $1 for every foot of his climb. Inspired by hiking experiences he’d enjoyed in such places as Alaska, Norway, Idaho and even Camp Barney Medintz in Cleveland, where he said his love for the outdoors started, King found that climbing Kilimanjaro had become a dream. “I love (challenges) to push myself to the edge of my comfort zone,” he said. King trained physically as much as possible but knew his success would depend on psychological strength. “For me,” he said, “it was much more mental prep, getting in the right mindset and knowing there would be challenges and roadblocks. I would need to have the mental fortitude to power through.” He made the climb with the assistance of a professional guide, and it wasn’t easy. Starting at about 14,500 feet, he began to suffer from acute symptoms of altitude sickness, including difficulty breathing and extreme pain and vomiting. The last day was supposed to take
Jared King reaches his goal on Kilimanjaro.
one hour to reach the summit, but it took three because of his condition. It was tough, he recalled, “knowing your body is physically spent and feeling miserable.” But remembering why he was doing it “helped me dig deep to a mental, emotional place” that enabled him to make it to the top. Those who supported the accomplishment helped King raise nearly $50,000 for ALS research, for which he was recognized at the MDA Night of Hope gala Friday, Oct. 27, at the InterContinental Buckhead. He raised all the money through small donations in amounts from $1 to $100 from friends, family, work colleagues and people he doesn’t even know. “It was absolutely a humbling experience to get support from everyone who contributed and climb for people who can’t,” King said. For her part, Jared’s mom, Robin King, said she is proud of her son. “He has a special place in his heart for helping people with disadvantages.” Adventure and travel are in King’s DNA. He studied international relations and Arabic at George Washington University and studied abroad in Oman. After college, he lived in Israel for more than a year while doing a fellowship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. King now lives in Manhattan and works as the New York sales rep for Ceramic Techniques, a distributor of Italian porcelain and the King family business. He said his Mount Kilimanjaro climb was “hands down the most physically and mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done.” But, he added, “it was absolutely worth it.” ■
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Cerebral palsy results from an early brain injury or a disturbance in brain development during pregnancy or birth or shortly thereafter. CP is the No. 1 cause of motor disability in children, affecting one in 323 children in the United States, although a large adult population also is affected by CP. Because CP has different levels of severity, people with the condition require different kinds and levels of support. Much can be done to help children with CP. Parents often are scared and do not know what to do after their children are diagnosed, which is why educational programs such as the Blazing New Trails town hall event June 3 at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are important. Parents must learn to be strong advocates for their children in clinical, academic and community settings. The best way to help children with CP is to stay educated and keep up with the latest updates in care. The goal of Blazing New Trails, a program of BlazeSports America, is to educate people with CP and their families about updates in management, physical therapies and adaptive technologies that could help children with CP and lower limb spasticity. The town hall at Children’s included a panel discussion with parents, clinicians, therapists and researchers. It offered attendees the chance to ask questions and pick up information from CP and disability groups, among other organizations. There are many misconceptions about Cerebral palsy, and the abilities of people with CP are often underestimated. CP is commonly misunderstood because its severity and symptoms can vary widely. National CP Awareness Day (March 25) and programs such as Blazing New Trails are the first steps in promoting a better understanding of CP and advocating greater accessibility for CP patients and their families. ■ For more Atlanta-based resources for families dealing with CP, visit the following: • Reaching for the Stars. A Foundation of Hope for Children With Cerebral Palsy at www.reachingforthestars. org. • Cure CP, www.curecp.org. • FOCUS, https://focus-ga.org.
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Photos by Michael Jacobs
Emily Moore’s mother, Loli Gross, welcomes volunteers to the fundraiser.
Each table at the trick-or-treat fundraiser has a sponsor, including many Jewish families.
What’s a costume party without Disney princesses making the rounds?
Brook Run Park is packed to raise money and have fun in Emily Moore’s memory.
Friendly Monsters Honor Young Mom’s Memory By Logan C. Ritchie lritchie@atljewishtimes.com Emily Roffwarg Moore was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer on Halloween 2015. During the next 18 months the wife of Kurt Moore and mother of two young children endured misdiagnosis, surgery and a failed clinical trial before dying in March. Just weeks after the 35-year-old’s death, her mother and three friends decided to honor Emily with a Halloween-themed celebration. Twenty-five volunteers, dubbed Em’s Crew, stepped forward to help with Emily’s Trick or
Treat for a Cure. “Halloween was a holiday she loved,” said Congregation Beth Shalom Executive Director Loli Gross, Emily’s mother. On Oct. 22, 600 costumed children crowded into Dunwoody’s Liane Levetan Park at Brook Run for trickor-treating at sponsored tables with candy and activities. Benefiting the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, the event raised nearly $40,000, and donations are still rolling in. Emily was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammation of the
colon, at age 16. Gross, described as a warrior by friends, said the group chose to benefit CCF because “we want a cure so that people don’t go through what Emily went through. Colitis didn’t define her because she was the kind of person who didn’t let anything get her down. You’d never know, and she was sick a lot of the time.” Colitis is a debilitating disease often managed by a biologic agent administered intravenously. The drugs suppress immunity to everyday germs but keep colitis symptoms at bay. When one medication stops working because
of allergy or resistance, patients are advised to try stronger and newer drugs. After graduating from Dunwoody High School, Emily attended the University of Alabama, where she met her husband. “I remember the first time I saw her at a fraternity (party). The girls were all dolled up. There was Emily in jeans and hiking boots. She was not a Southern belle. She was down to earth, very relatable,” Kurt said. Emily managed her symptoms at Alabama and returned to Atlanta after graduation. Soon she and Kurt married and launched their careers. Morning
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
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colitis symptoms were rough for Emily, however, and she found that maintaining a work routine was difficult. She worked part time in marketing for Home Depot and later for Altman and Grubbs. “I am a bigger personality than Emily, but she was a deeper person than me. She had strong friendships with a lot of people,” Kurt said. Rachel Barr and Emily were like sisters, creating family traditions like an annual pumpkin patch visit and weekly taco night. Their second children were born within weeks of each other, as the women planned. “We joked we should buy one big house together,” Barr said. “Our lives were one. We are one big family.” Barr was pregnant with her third child when Emily found out she had cancer. Her first day of chemotherapy, Barr delivered a son and talked to Emily via FaceTime from the maternity recovery room. Emily never complained, not even when she was being treated for cancer. “She didn’t want people to feel bad for her or worry about her. Even her close friends may not know the extent” of her suffering, Barr said. Stacy Rothberg met Emily many times over — at Camp Isidore Alterman at the Marcus Jewish Community Center, at Camp Barney Medintz, through mutual college friends — and the friends finally connected over their colitis diagnoses. “There will always be good and bad days. Emily taught me that you have to laugh at this embarrassing disease. She always saw the silver lining. She was so positive about something that was consuming so much of her life,” Rothberg said. The women were each other’s support group, discussing medication, sharing embarrassing moments and funny stories, and venting. “She was my safe zone,” Rothberg said. If Emily Moore was an excellent friend, she got it back twofold. Nearly 1,000 people attended her funeral, and 300 people attended shiva each night. Kurt has spent many Shabbat dinners with friends. “If it wasn’t for (friends), some mornings I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed,” Gross said. “They check on me, asking to go out for lunch or in the evening. They have kept me going.” “I’m OK. I don’t feel bad for myself or my kids; I feel bad for Emily. She was my best friend. She’s never going to be OK,” Kurt said. “If any good has come from it, it’s the support from the community.” ■
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
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www.atlantajewishtimes.com
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Training for 12 Years Preps Native Gastroenterologist By Rachel Fayne Native Atlantan Brett Mendel has gone into private practice as a gastroenterologist. We got to know a little more about the brunch-loving, firsttime father. AJT: Why gastroenterology? Mendel: I knew I wanted to be a doctor after undergoing an emergency appendectomy when I was 10 years old. I can still recall lying on the hospital bed in pain, awaiting the arrival of my surgeon. My parents were trying to keep me calm while dealing with their own nerves. When Dr. Naffis walked into the room, the air changed. He carried with him a sense that everything would be OK. I decided at that moment I wanted people to have the same sense around me that I had around Dr. Naffis. During medical school I was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute research fellowship. At the time I wanted to become a transplant surgeon and spent the year performing immunology research in the transplant lab at Emory. During that year I
learned how the immune system interacts with and affects different organs. The liver, for instance, possesses tolerant properties that can allow Brett Mendel a person to accept a is the son of new liver in an enviFalcons limited ronment that would partner Ed reject a heart, lung or Mendel. kidney from the same donor. I decided that I wanted to pursue a medical field that would include taking care of patients with liver disease. Gastroenterology is the field of medicine that deals with diagnosing and treating liver disease among many diseases and illnesses in the abdomen. My time in the transplant lab provided invaluable experience studying the immune system, which forms the basis for many of the diseases we encounter every day. AJT: Do you have any ties to the Atlanta community? Mendel: I was actually born at
Northside Hospital. The media sometimes talk about Atlanta as a transient town, but there are a good number of native Atlantans around. That said, my wife was one of those transient people who came to the city for work. She liked what she saw, and the city is pretty great too. My family is still in the area and active in the Jewish community. I was very fortunate to complete all of my medical training in the Atlanta area. It is such a joy to have the opportunity to help take care of the community close to where I grew up. AJT: You must have a unique perspective from growing up in Atlanta. What do you enjoy about working in the city? Mendel: Atlanta is such a dynamic place. I love seeing the changes that seem to occur daily. My wife and I enjoy exploring the different neighborhoods, parks, farmers markets and cuisines available. Atlanta really does have something for everyone. As the newest member of Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates, I am joining the
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largest private gastroenterology group in the country. Where other practices may have to send patients a long way for specialty care, we can offer our patients almost any GI need under one roof. Outside GI, the medical community in Atlanta is close. My patients usually do not have to travel far for excellent care in any field. AJT: Are you connected with the Jewish community? Mendel: We have such an amazing Jewish community in Atlanta. Some of my earliest memories from childhood involve going to the JCC to watch my dad’s basketball games. I have many other happy memories of going to Sunday school, BBYO programs and of course summer camp. In fact, my wife and I met because our fathers went to summer camp together about 55 years ago. It is very important for me to pass on the traditions and culture of our Jewish community. My wife and I love our Shabbat dinners and can’t wait for our daughter to light the candles with us as she grows. AJT: You just began practicing at St. Joseph’s. How has that experience been? Mendel: I spent the past 12 years training at Emory. The past five years were part of the division of digestive diseases. After training, I took a few months off as my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. I began in private practice with Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates in October. I see patients with various digestive diseases, including reflux, trouble swallowing, abdominal pain, screening and prevention of colon cancer, celiac disease/gluten sensitivity, and liver disease. I also spend time in the hospital taking care of patients admitted for diseases such as GI bleeding, acute liver injury and pancreatitis. AJT: Spending so much time in the hospital caring for patients with diseases must take a lot out of you. What do you enjoy most about your job? Mendel: I grew up with my parents telling me, “Find something you love to do, and you will never work a day in your life.” I am so fortunate to love what I do. Getting to know my patients and their families and working with them to diagnose and treat their illness continues to spur my passion for medicine. There is also something very satisfying about removing colon polyps and preventing cancer. ■
www.atlantajewishtimes.com
HEALTH & WELLNESS
The Wheelchair-Bound Prophet of Pleasure
Jaffe: Describe the documentary. Tepper: In “Love After War,” patriotic young men and women volunteer to defend their country, experience catastrophic injuries, and come home
to face emotional and physical barriers to intimacy. The stories are painful, but all have won their personal battles for love. Jaffe: How did you get involved? Tepper: In 2006, I was asked to
Jaffe’s Jewish Jive By Marcia Caller Jaffe mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com
speak to 100 grievously injured veterans at the Road to Recovery Conference. It was a very moving experience. None of the participants had received any support with their intimate relationships; they had suffered in silence until this point. I was working at Morehouse School of Medicine with former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher in the Center of Excellence for Sexual Health. We felt an urgency to focus on the topic because failing intimate relationships were the leading cause of suicide in the military.
Jaffe: What are some myths about sexuality among people with disabilities that you are debunking? Tepper: The myths include “No one’s going to want someone with a disability as a partner”; “My partner left me, cheated on me or avoided having sex with me; therefore, I’m not lovable”; “Sex is not the same, it’s not normal, so it’s pointless; why bother?”; “I have no feeling; my sex life is over.” Jaffe: What do you draw upon from Judaism in this work? Tepper: I consider my work as my calling, and a spiritual endeavor. It’s a part of me, as is my Judaism. There are some very fundamental tenets that come straight from the Torah and out of Bereishit. Hashem created light on the first day but did not create the celestial bodies until Day 4. The light on Day 1 can be interpreted as a universal light that keeps us connected to G-d and each other. Then G-d made man in His image, meaning that we’re all holy with intrinsic value, regardless of ability or disability.
Jaffe: What is “tantra” sex, mentioned on your website? (www.drmitchelltepper.com) Tepper: I conduct a workshop I call Mitchell Tepper “Tantra: Mindfulness has sex advice and the Yoga Sex.” for people with Mindfulness comes and without from the same root as disabilities. tantra. I operationalize this as “stop, focus and connect.” Yoga has a similar origin as tantra. Yoga is good to learn how to connect with your own breath and body. Jaffe: What is one nugget of sexual advice you can give to nondisabled couples reading this? Tepper: When you go to bed tonight, get in on the opposite side of the bed before approaching your partner. You’ll be surprised how different it is when you go to face your partner and caress them with your less dominant hand. It’s the Atlanta Jewish Times, so I’ll stop there. ■
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
Local sex expert Mitchell Tepper has a laundry list of degrees and honors. With a master’s in public health from Yale and a doctorate in human sexuality education from the University of Pennsylvania, he is certified by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists as a sexuality educator and counselor. A diving accident at age 20 left Tepper paralyzed from the neck down, but he is motivated to help others experience joy and succeed in intimate relationships. He’s working on a documentary, “Love After War.” Go to Loveafterwar. org to register for the newsletter, watch the trailer and fund the film. Tepper, along with wife Cheryl and son Jeremy, is a member of Congregation Beth Tefillah.
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
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cannabis, he or she can experience Q: My friend smokes pot a lot irritability, insomnia, headache, loss in college. When I confronted him, of appetite, mood swings, anxiety, he said that it is not addictive. I am worried about him. What do I do? A: This is a great quesBerman Center Briefing tion and one I hear often. Clients say, “I smoke weed By Alyza Berman-Milrad every night, but weed is not addictive.” For some, that is true: depression and, of course, cravings for Marijuana is not addictive. They can the drug. smoke and not care whether they ever Pay attention to your friend’s smoke again or quit smoking and not behavior. be bothered by it. If he has a good time only if he is However, that’s not the case for high or if there is pot around, that is a everyone. For many, marijuana poses problem. a substantial risk If he refuses When a chronic user of addiction. Many to quit and cannot people have admitstops using cannabis, go a day without ted that although he or she can experience smoking, that is a they might not be physically addicted irritability, insomnia, problem. If his grades, to marijuana, they headache, loss of social life and are psychologically change, that addicted. appetite, mood swings, moods is a problem. A client once anxiety, depression and, Different told me, “If I need drugs have differto eat, sleep, relax, of course, cravings for ent effects on the be amused, calm the drug. brain and body, down, forget a horbut, in nearly all rible experience, cases, repeated drug use will lead to practice self-love, run errands of any addictive behavior. kind, watch TV or create something, I What can you do? If you are worsmoke.” ried, the immediate thing you can do Truthfully, I have heard it all. is offer support. Talk to your friend Some people argue that because and let him know you are concerned marijuana does not have dramatic and are there for him. Encourage him withdrawal symptoms like alcohol or to seek help from a therapist or call for heroin, it is not addictive. However, an evaluation. there are two errors to this thinking. You also can talk to me, and First, the THC in marijuana today together we can figure out how to find is more than two times stronger than professionals who can get your friend what it was 20 years ago. THC can afhealthy again. You can be a positive fect someone’s brain drastically. I have seen many clients who have developed influence. ■ high anxiety and severe depression For individuals and families from smoking pot and from withdrawstruggling with addiction and mental ing from it. health illness, The Berman Center (www. Because of the increased THC bermancenteratl.com) is the treatment, potency, mental distress, panic attacks recovery and personal advancement and other problems have increased. resource to help people move from existIn 2011, nearly half a million visits to ing to living through an individualized, ERs were related to problems with spiritually holistic approach, best-inmarijuana use, and that number has class clinical excellence, and exceptional almost doubled today. post-treatment community integration Once the marijuana is completely programs. Finding hope, igniting purout of the patient's system, the anxiety and depression decrease substantially. pose. For more tips on how to approach The other error is the belief that the above types of situations or answers there are no withdrawal symptoms. to your questions about drugs, call The There ARE withdrawal symptoms. Berman Center at 770-336-7444, or email When a chronic user stops using questions@bermancenteratl.com.
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NOVEMBER 17 â–ª 2017
BUSINESS
Amazon’s Whole Foods Cuts Off Creamery
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com
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Jewish-owned AtlantaFresh Artisan Creamery has lost its best customer, Whole Foods, since Amazon closed its purchase of the eco-friendly grocery chain in August. Owner Ron Marks founded AtlantaFresh in September 2009. The company produces organic yogurts and fresh cheeses with milk from cows that are 100 percent grass-fed at Newberry Farm in Waynesboro. Marks said AtlantaFresh’s dairy products are certified to be free of genetically modified organisms and were among the first to be locally produced. “I really felt that there was an unmet need in the Atlanta market for very high-quality Greek yogurt and freshly produced cheeses,” Marks said. Whole Foods agreed, bringing Marks’ company into a program that supported small, local food producers and helping AtlantaFresh purchase equipment for a rapid expansion of its capacity. AtlantaFresh’s products were plentiful in Whole Foods stores in Georgia and the Southeast. But in September, after Amazon took over Whole Foods, the company ended a seven-year contract to stock the creamery’s yogurt and other dairy products. Tomorrow’s News Today was first to report the contract’s end. “We were initially happy about the agreement,” Marks said. Whole Foods not only made AtlantaFresh a supplier, but also provided a loan that enabled the creamery to expand and sell its yogurt outside Georgia through a dairy license that allowed the business to cross state lines. The end of the seven-year contract means that Whole Foods is forgiving the loan it made to AtlantaFresh. “They became our largest customer fairly early on, and we became ecstatic about the relationship, as they were very strong supporters of the local food movement.” Marks said. AtlantaFresh was distributed in 180 Whole Foods stores in 20 states, but not anymore. Marks said Whole Foods indicated it will no longer conduct business with AtlantaFresh because its products do not meet the chain’s standards for profitability. The senior management team at Whole Foods also has been overhauled since the Amazon purchase.
AtlantaFresh owner Ron Marks hopes to sell his dairy products in 400 Publix stores by mid-March.
AtlantaFresh produces 100 percent non-GMO dairy products, including Greek yogurt.
“It has produced some struggles and some opportunities for us, but we are working hard to make those lemons into lemonade,” Marks said. Though the creamery never diversified its customer base, it now has garnered support from other grocery retailers, such as Alon’s and Savi markets. Trying to bounce back quickly, Marks said he is in discussions with Publix to increase distribution from 30 stores to 400 by mid-March and will start selling in about 120 Kroger supermarkets within two weeks. “Although we found out that we lost our distribution method, we also discovered that we have lots of loyal customers who are looking to find us in other places, and we are looking for alternate ways to meet that demand,” Marks said. He said AtlantaFresh’s yogurts and cheeses will soon be available through the PeachDish delivery service, which will enable the creamery to ship its products anywhere in the country overnight. Customers also can buy AtlantaFresh products at the creamery at 6679 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. in Norcross. The facility has been kosher the past five years under Atlanta Kosher Commission supervision. AtlantaFresh hopes to expand its product line to include Greek yogurt cream cheese and Greek frozen yogurt. “We are heartened by the support of loyal customers we have built relationships with,” Marks said. “We are also very encouraged that other major chains, such as Publix and Kroger, see a good opportunity to acquire our, as well as Whole Foods' customers into their supermarkets.” ■
www.atlantajewishtimes.com
LOCAL NEWS
Israel Criticism Widens Divide in Jewish America The rock-solid, shoulder-to-shoulder relationship between the U.S. Jewish community and Israel is not what it was and likely will never be again. That’s the conclusion of Dov Waxman, who delivered this year’s Rothschild Memorial Lecture at Emory. In a wide-ranging examination of how American Jews see Israel, Waxman, who leads the Jewish studies and Israel studies programs at Northeastern University in Boston, said, “The age of unquestioning and uncritical American Jewish support for Israel is over.” While support for the Jewish state remains strong, he said, “growing numbers of American Jews are becoming more ambivalent and more critical of Israel government policies.” That critical view is prevalent among younger generations of American Jews. Many Jews under 45, particularly those under 30, no longer see Israel as the tiny David struggling against the Arab Goliath. They view Israel in the light of the peace treaty it signed with Egypt in 1979 and its growing commercial ties in the Middle East, so that Israel is the Goliath and the Palestinians are the diminutive David. Younger Jews have, Waxman said, “only grown up with Israel as a focus of controversy, as a military power, as an occupier, as a source not of pride.” That situation is creating major turmoil in Jewish communal organizations. “It is harder and harder,” Waxman said, “for the major Jewish organizations to represent a community consensus because that consensus is disappearing.” In terms of energizing a broadbased constituency and a creating a diverse donor base, life is becoming ever more difficult for those national organizations. Many increasingly rely on a smaller number of wealthy and sometimes politically conservative donors. “There is a growing split, a very ugly uncivil argument, happening in the American Jewish community today,” Waxman said. “It is leading to bigger arguments between members of the same synagogue. It is discouraging rabbis from talking about Israel altogether, in case they create an argument and lose their jobs.” He said Jewish community centers are avoiding controversial speakers and Israel events that could become controversial. The divide is significant between
Photo by Bob Bahr
Dov Waxman says many Jews are afraid to talk about Israel.
the Orthodox community, which is increasingly conservative politically, and Jews who are liberal in their political and religious beliefs. In “Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict Over Israel,”
Waxman devotes a chapter to the polarization of American Jewry. The split between Orthodox and non-Orthodox is over several issues, not just Israel. “There is a divide in the American Jewish community between religious conservative and secular liberals. … The polarization poses a severe challenge to the future cohesion of the American Jewish community,” Waxman wrote. Some American Jews are shifting their concerns from Israel’s future to the political future of America. In a lunchtime talk on the Emory campus the day of the Rothschild Memorial Lecture, Waxman described a growing Jewish backlash to the policies
of the Trump administration. “The response by certain elements in the American Jewish community has been an outpouring of grassroots political activism and political organizing … whether it is synagogues, community groups, local organizations or individuals engaged politically as Jews or, as it is sometimes referred to, the Jewish resistance to the Trump agenda,” he said. America’s Jews are divided over the way each sees the modern world and their place in it. As Waxman said, “Liberal democracy no longer is seen as stable or as unassailable as it once was. This challenges the core assumptions of American Jewish identity.” ■
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
By Bob Bahr
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Why wear jewelry when you can wear art?
LOCAL NEWS
Photos by Sarah Moosazadeh
Singing under the direction of Drew Cohen are Weber School students (from left) Chloe Deutsch, Natalie Abramova, Leah Cohen, May Abravanel, Lindsey Gelernter, Rebecca Glusman and Shayna Fraley.
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Abe Besser watches as JCC Vice Chairman Ken Winkler lights a candle.
Abe Besser’s nieces (from left) Peggy Klug, Gina Karp and Susan Scheinfeld light a candle during the Kristallnacht commemoration.
Book Festival author and guest speaker Alexandra Zapruder lights the last candle.
Epstein School eighth-grader Joshua Sampson plays “Erev Shel Shoshanim” as people arrive for the Kristallnacht ceremony.
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Atlanta Remembers Kristallnacht at JCC
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com
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“Ninety-one Jews were killed, 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps, 5,000 Jewish shops were looted, and 191 synagogues were attacked,” Rabbi Brian Glusman told community members gathered at the Marcus Jewish Community Center on Thursday, Nov. 9, to commemorate the 79th anniversary of Kristallnacht with a candlelighting ceremony and a reading by guest speaker Alexandra Zapruder. Students from the Weber School chorus sang “Esa Einai” and “Beautiful Dawn,” and Zapruder read from Klaus Langer’s diary, describing what his family experienced the day after Kristallnacht.
“We look back on this time, and we see it in broad strokes. But when you hear the account as it was written, it brings the details to life,” said Zapruder, the author of “Twenty-Six Seconds.” Rain forced the program inside to the Morris and Rae Frank Theatre and from the Besser Holocaust Memorial Garden. Marlene and Abe Besser led the candle ceremony, and Rabbi Glusman’s father, Fred Glusman, recited the “El Maleh” prayer. “Tonight, we remember all those lives who were affected on that dreadful night,” Rabbi Brian Glusman said. “We remember the arrests and the deportations. … We remember a night of darkness and fear that swept the heartland, and we remember those who were persecuted, Jews for being Jews.” ■
www.atlantajewishtimes.com
LOCAL NEWS
How Work Saved Me From Nazis
Guest Column By Norbert Friedman
take you back to the camp.” My father was elated to see me and hugging and confessing said, “I did not think that I would see you again. Where were you?”
I was startled and replied, “I was working.” I told him that Mr. Pusch had insisted I stay and work on an urgent assignment. A sudden silence descended on the people in the room, followed by a uniform outcry. “He held him to keep him safe. G-d bless his soul.” Finally, I got the story: Just as the holiday was about to start, the Gestapo car with the chief from the town of Mielec, Walter Thormeyer, his henchman Rudi Zimmerman, the camp commandant and another SS man entered the camp. Inside, they opened fire, shooting at anyone in sight and killing
over 20 prisoners. As I found out later from Mr. Pusch, the Nazi group had been drinking heavily, knew about the significance of Yom Kippur and decided to be the ultimate judges of “who shall live and who shall die.” Engineer Pusch did what he could to keep me out of the harm. Because it could not be proved that he risked his life to save a Jewish life, he did not meet the Yad Vashem criteria for being recognized as righteous among the nations. But in my heart and in the garden of my memories, he will remain the most righteous human being. ■
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Mr. Pusch simply refused to join the orgy of destruction and tried, often successfully, to thwart its design. Was it something in his upbringing? He did not seem to be a practicing Christian. Was it some other ethical imperative that prompted him to behave this way, or was it simply a mysterious predisposition to do the right thing? Why were there so few like him, especially those whose moral training should have equipped them with the knowledge to step forward? His concern for my welfare once saved my life, I believe. In the struggle against the Russian army, the Germans developed a new bomber, the Heinkel 177. It was a strategic bomber intended to support a long-term bombing campaign against Soviet industry in the Urals. Our department at the airplane factory was assigned the task of creating testing instruments to inspect the functioning of the wing flaps. Friday, Oct. 8, 1943, was Erev Yom Kippur. Engineer Pusch came to me with a sketch of a contraption to be put together in a hurry so that we could start testing. I went to the machine shop and used existing parts to put together a working instrument. Mr. Pusch seemed not to be satisfied with the result and told me to improve it and present it after lunch. He then insisted on making more involved changes, a process that continued until after quitting time, when I hoped to go back to the camp and join my father in a meager pre-fast meal that he tried to prepare. There was talk of some people meeting in a barracks for a brief Kol Nidre service. Engineer Pusch insisted on redesigning the instrument. He brought me a sandwich, apologized for the delay and insisted that we stay until the results were satisfactory. He kept coming in every hour or so to check on my progress, offering suggestions on how to proceed. I noticed that the lights in his office were on and that he spent a lot of time on the telephone. He came down shortly after
midnight and, without checking on the project’s status, shut off the light over my bench and said, “That is all for tonight. We will finish tomorrow. I will
©Disney
This is the second part of a tribute written by Holocaust survivor Norbert Friedman to an engineer named Pusch who oversaw Friedman at a German airplane factory during World War II. See Part 1 in the Nov. 10 issue (bit.ly/2yBc01a).
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91999 / HALF PAGE / ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES RUNDATE: FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 17
EDUCATION
Unified by Differences Davis Academy fifth- through eighth-graders learn about the power of individuality and how distinct pieces can form a beautiful whole by studying the kinetic art of Yaacov Agam on Friday, Nov. 10. Agam’s art reflects a core belief of the Davis Academy: Community is made more powerful through differences. Arts and Agam Day involved learning stations, including dance and art, psalms and poetry, and music. AJA seventhgrader Jemima Schoen has delivered 50 of these hero bags to the VA hospital.
AJA students show the bags they’re preparing for veterans.
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
AJA Bat Mitzvah Project Thanks Veterans
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Atlanta Jewish Academy seventhgrader Jemima Schoen led classmates and friends in filling 50 bags with toiletries and other items military veterans could use, turning her appreciation for veterans into her bat mitzvah project. But, as CBS 46 highlighted Thursday, Nov. 9, the 12-year-old ran into unexpected trouble when she tried to deliver the hero packs to the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center. No one from the VA would accept the packages when Jemima went to the hospital in August. But CBS 46’s “Better Call Harry” segment made contact with hospital officials, and Jemima was able to deliver bags to retired veterans living at the hospital in time for Veterans Day. Jemima, who has a great-uncle who is a decorated 37-year Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam, and fellow AJA students prepared more of the hero bags Nov. 9.
Riverwood’s Balser Wins Wilson Award
Riverwood International Charter School senior Dori Balser has received
the 2017 Woodrow Wilson Community Service Award from the Princeton Club of Georgia. The award presentation Tuesday, Oct. 24 — rescheduled from September because of Hurricane Irma — recognizes outstanding service to the community. Dori is in the International Baccalaureate diploma program and is the student body vice president at the Sandy Springs high school. As one of 16 high school students selected to the Youth Board of the United Way of Greater Atlanta, she plans service projects for Atlanta teens. Dori was Riverwood’s 2017 HOBY ambassador, representing the school at the Hugh O’Brian Summer Youth Leadership Conference. “Service has always been an important part of my life,” Dori said. “I believe that it is our responsibility as humans to be there for other humans in times of need. As teens, we need to value the importance of service and helping other people.” The Princeton Club of Georgia established the Woodrow Wilson Community Service Award in 1985 to honor Atlanta-area students who exemplify the ideals of service and volunteerism espoused by Woodrow Wilson. “It is such an honor to receive this award,” Dori said. “I hope this inspires people my age to get involved in service. Not only does it help others tremendously, but I have grown so much as a leader and as a person through my service to others.”
Riverwood senior Dori Balser accepts the Woodrow Wilson Community Service Award from Principal Chuck Gardner.
OBITUARIES
Claire Baron 91, Marietta
Claire S. Baron, 91, of Marietta passed away peacefully Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. She was born Feb. 14, 1926, in New York City to Sadie and Samuel Smolev, both of blessed memory. Claire was preceded in death by her brother, Larry. She is survived by her loving husband of 70 years, Harry; daughter Babarba Schafer; sons Robbie (Nancy) and Stuart; grandchildren Amy Alterman (Louis), Harold (Liann) and Piper Baron, and Madison, Ashley, Justin and Cameron Schafer; and six great-grandchildren. She was loved by all and will be greatly missed. Sign the online guestbook at dresslerjewishfunerals.com. Graveside services were held Sunday, Nov. 12, at Greenwood Cemetery with Rabbi Neil Sandler officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770451-4999.
Arnold Beskind 89, Atlanta
Arnold “Arnie” Irwin Beskind, 89, died Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, after a brief illness. Arnie was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Aug. 3, 1928, to Dorothy and Samuel Beskind. The youngest of three children, he was a 1946 graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School, where he studied culinary arts. He began working as a chef in and around New York City. Arnie was a corporal in the U.S. Army, stationed in Japan during the Korean War. After the war, he returned to Brooklyn, began working at Nathan’s Hot Dogs in Coney Island, and married his sweetheart, Sandra Tasman. In 1962, they had their first child, Stacy, and in 1966, after moving to Atlanta, their second child, a son, Myles. When he moved to Atlanta, Arnie had a long career in the wholesale ladies’ accessories business. Arnie’s Handbag Sales became a must-attend event for North Atlanta women during the 1970s and early 1980s. Arnie retired from sales and worked for Kroger in Toco Hills for many years. Arnie had a larger-thanlife personality. He loved people and made everyone a friend. His wife, Sandra, passed away in 2001, and his son, Myles, in 2014. He is survived by his daughter, Stacy Mays; his daughter-in-law, Marcie Beskind; grandchildren Aaron and Hannah Mays and Adam, Alison and Josh Beskind; and many nieces and nephews and their extended families. Sign the online guestbook at dresslerjewishfunerals.com. Graveside services were held Friday, Nov. 10, at Crest Lawn Memorial Park with Rabbi Ilan Feldman officiating. Donations in his memory may be made to Hadassah Greater Atlanta, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance or the charity of your choice. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
www.atlantajewishtimes.com Davidson, that he could fix it. He couldn’t, but less than a year later, she married him anyway, beginning what would become a 55-year love affair filled with family, friends, travel, service, ongoing debates about what temperature to keep the house and holding hands. After a brief stay in New Orleans, where he was a resident at Charity Hospital and where their sons, Steve and Bruce, were born, Dot and Sheldon moved to Atlanta. There, in 1961, they had their daughter, Andrea, and moved into a house they built together, turning it into a home filled with love, art, family, friends, music, holiday meals and celebrations, Tuesday morning Bible study, and the occasional Wednesday evening tree crashing through the roof. Sheldon practiced psychiatry for nearly 60 years in Atlanta and was deeply committed to his patients. Over the years he taught at Georgia Baptist and Emory School of Medicine. He was devoted to public service, especially through organizations related to medicine, health, conservation and sustainability. He was a member of the American Psychiatric Association, the Atlanta Medical Association, the Southern Medical Association and the American Medical Association and was a former editor of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. He was also a longtime, avid supporter of Southface Energy Institute and so many other organizations. Sheldon was predeceased by his loving bride of 54 years, Dorothy “Dot” Cohen, of blessed memory, and his younger brother, Adrian “Bunny” Cohen. In addition to his children, he leaves his daughter-in-law, Jennifer, and his much-beloved grandchildren, Ari, Naomi and Simon. Sign the online guestbook at dresslerjewishfunerals.com. Funeral services were held Sunday, Nov. 12, at Greenwood Cemetery with Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the Dot Cares Fund at Hospice Atlanta, 1244 Park Vista Drive, Atlanta, GA 30319, or to Southface Energy Institute, 241 Pine St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
Continued on page 36
Sheldon Cohen Sheldon Bradley Cohen, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, physician and friend, passed away Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. Sheldon was a psychiatrist who practiced for over 60 years, an avid runner of marathons and lowlier distances, an indomitable writer of letters to the editor, a member of the 1,000-mile swim club at the Lucky Street Y, an early and ardent advocate of conservation and sustainability, a tireless foe of smoking, an exhaustive rememberer and recounter of bad jokes, a compeller of people to pick up litter, turn off lights, close refrigerator doors and not keep cars running, a lover of books and music, and a man who saw wonder in so much. Sheldon B. Cohen was born in Savannah on March 26, 1928, to Sara and Benjamin Cohen. Raised in Augusta, Sheldon liked to tell of his early entrepreneurial bent, selling soft drinks to construction workers and at ball games when he was 6. He later attended Richmond Academy, Augusta Junior College, Vanderbilt University and the Medical College of Georgia, from which he graduated at the age of 23, before working at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kan. While serving in the Navy in the summer of 1954, Sheldon met a woman with a broken radio at Virginia Beach and told this soon-to-be college senior, Dorothy
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OBITUARIES
SIMCHAS
Marshall Kramer 81, Atlanta
Marshall Rael Kramer, a shoe salesman since his teens, died Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, at The Piedmont in Atlanta. He was 81. Beloved husband for 53 years of Lynda S. Kramer, whom he met and married in their hometown of Chicago; loving father to Staci D. Kramer (Edward Kohn) of University City, Mo., Edward M. Kramer (Edith Kramer) of Maceio, Brazil, Nancy K. Joffre (Steven Joffre) of Atlanta, and S. William Kramer (Julie Kramer) of Dunwoody; adoring grandfather of Sydney Joffre, Erik Kramer, Haley Joffre, Alana Kramer and Aidan Kramer; “Uncle Marshall” to the children of many close friends; and a cherished relative and friend. Mr. Kramer lived in Memphis, University City, Atlanta, Cherry Hill, N.J., and Boynton Beach as he advanced in the shoe industry. He eventually launched his own women’s fashion shoe company, including the Trivia, Mikala and Alexa Perri labels, often commuting from Florida to Brazil, where the shoes and handbags, sold in major department stores, were made. Mr. Kramer’s salesmanship and his trademark snazzy ties were on full display when he pitched his creations on HSN. He moved back to Atlanta in 2016 to be closer to family. A philanthropist and fundraiser, Mr. Kramer was dedicated to the Two Ten Footwear Foundation and was honored with the organization’s A.A. Bloom Award in 1992. He was active in the Memphis Jewish Federation, leading a mission to Israel with his wife. He was a lifelong fan of the Chicago White Sox. He also enjoyed cards, golf, Las Vegas, Frank Sinatra and collecting shoe memorabilia. He was preceded in death by his wife; his parents, Simon Kramer and Marion (Sachar) Kramer Silverman; his sister, Faith; and his stepfather, Leo Silverman. Sign the online guestbook at dresslerjewishfunerals.com. Memorials may be sent to Two Ten (attention: Marshall R. Kramer memorial) at www.twoten.org/ donate. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
PAVING SERVICES
Engagement Lindemann-Bern
The families of Bruce and Ellen Lindemann and Eric and Caryn Bern are happy to announce the engagement of their children, Andrea Michelle Lindemann and Stuart Destin Bern. The bride-to-be was born and raised in Atlanta. She attended Dunwoody High School and the University of Illinois for her undergraduate degree. Andrea graduated from the University of Georgia with a master’s degree in social work. Andrea works as an individual and family counselor and as a play therapist for children, adolescents and adults. The future groom recently moved back to Atlanta from New York City, where he worked at Bloomberg. He attended the Epstein School, North Springs Charter High School and the University of Georgia, where he graduated with a business degree in real estate. Stuart is a senior director at CoStar Group, where he helps oversee operations for Apartments.com. A spring wedding is planned at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead, and the couple will live in Dunwoody.
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CLOSING THOUGHTS
The Kippah Tales
NOVEMBER 17 ▪ 2017
My grandfather called it a yarmulke, my aunts called it a skullcap, and now it seems that everybody calls it a kippah. Here are three kippah anecdotes. We lived in Israel during the heady year after the Six-Day War. Afterward, we were determined to identify ourselves as Jews wherever we went, sensing somehow that it would make a difference in the world. We left Israel and traveled in 1968. On a train between Paris and London, we were approached by an excited man, who explained that he was a Holocaust survivor. He thanked my husband for wearing his large, knitted kippah publicly, declaring his Jewish identity without saying a word. Wherever we went, we were surprised by men and women, many of them survivors, who wanted to talk to us. Zvi’s unmistakable kippah was the spark that ignited fires of connection. That was 1968. We all know that things have changed for men wearing a kippah in Europe. But in Atlanta, in 2017, Zvi’s kippah serves its purpose, still opening conversations with interesting strangers. We were sitting in the waiting room at a Kaiser Permanente facility, minding our own business. A man came up to Zvi, asking, “What shul do you belong to?” He had spotted my husband’s black kippah. We began to converse, and soon a second man joined us. A lively discussion about synagogues, day schools, old Atlanta families, Jewish businesses and neighborhoods, immigration, and, of course, the economy went on and on. We learned a lot, discovered mutual concerns and ended up exchanging contact information. Later, when Zvi was with the doctor, a woman came over to me: “My friend and I overheard part of your conversation. It’s great to see men wearing yarmulkes in public these days. It didn’t used to be like that.” We, too, got into a lengthy, meandering conversation, and we learned that we have many common interests, support the same causes and even know some of the same people. Zvi’s kippah had provoked a second round of connection. A multigenerational family had been sitting nearby. One of the men leaned over and said, “You’re Jewish, 38 right?” I was expecting another Jew to
identify himself, but not this time. “Yes, why do you ask?” “How do all Jews know each other?” he wondered. “We don’t all know each other,” I answered, “but because my husband wears a skullcap, other Jews recognize it and feel related to him in a unique way.” The man nodded, and I felt, for want of a better word, proud.
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A week later, Zvi had an appointment at a different Kaiser facility. Because the office is near Costco, we decided to stop there on the way home. It was Thursday afternoon, and we could do some shopping for Shabbat. We showed our card to the AfricanAmerican greeter, who welcomed us with “Shalom aleichem! Mah nishma?” (“What’s new?” or “How’s it going?”) “You speak Hebrew?” I asked. “Are you Jewish?” I saw his name tag: “Abraham.” “I’m not Jewish yet,” he answered, turning to Zvi. “I study Hebrew. I knew you’d understand me because you wear a kippah.” Countless Jews who don’t cover their heads speak Hebrew, and just as many Jews who cover their heads don’t speak Hebrew, but it wasn’t the time or place to discuss Jewish demographics. Zvi and I were simply delighted to meet Abraham. “Your accent is very good,” Zvi said as we walked away. “Todah rabbah (thanks a lot)! Shabbat shalom!” Abraham called after us. The following day, Friday, Zvi made a quick trip to Publix. It was getting close to Shabbat, and he was in a hurry. But he was stopped by a man driving an old, rusted car. The driver showed him a kippah and asked him if he wanted to buy it, claiming that his family was stranded in Atlanta without any money. Zvi gave him a few dollars. “I knew it was a scam, and my kippah identified me as a likely mark,” Zvi said. “However, I gave some tzedakah, and I rescued a kippah!” Remember our decision, 50 years ago, to identify ourselves as Jews? Zvi continues to get what he wished for. ■
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By Chana Shapiro cshapiro@atljewishtimes.com
“The Empire Strikes”
By Yoni Glatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com Difficulty Level: Medium
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ACROSS 1. Name of a star in “10” or “The Ten Commandments” 6. Yam ___ 9. Cohn and Jacobs 14. Glazer of “Broad City” 15. “Borei ___ hagefen” 16. Reading the Torah with no mistakes, e.g. 17. They conquered the Kingdom of Israel 19. Look closely and you can see the glass between this snake and Harrison Ford in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” 20. Flamethrower fuel 21. Herzl or Sinai 23. ___ ayin hara 24. End of Proverbs? 25. Empire that conquered Judah (and 17-Across) 29. Pais or the Boston Garden 31. El Al competitor, once 32. They allowed the Jews to rebuild the Temple 35. Husband of Sarai 39. Pasta option 40. Famous ballerina (or a dessert named after her) 42. Loeb and Bonet 43. Empire the Maccabees fought 44. Casual attire 46. They might have a siddur or kosher app 47. Ryan Braun and Ted Williams, for two; abbr. 50. Empire that destroyed the Second Temple 52. “Danny and the Dinosaur” author Hoff 55. Aaron’s son and successor as high priest 58. Candy dish raider 61. Video’s counterpart 62. Empire that took control of the Holy Land after 50-Across
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rtes. in the Negev 36. The Eden ___ (hotel) 37. Jewish name or a video file 38. Neuman’s magazine 40. Salt-N-___ 41. Actress Masterson of “The Walking Dead” (with a name similar to 14-Across) 43. Card for visiting Israel? DOWN 45. Period for each of the 1. 12-Down did not like her empires in this puzzle 2. Disney’s queen of 47. “From the ___ even to the Arendelle and others greatest” (Jeremiah 42:8) 3. Talks like Harvey Fierstein 48. Champagne glass 4. Irish singer who became a 49. Exodus commemoration star for Geffen Records 51. Comet’s path 5. First name in communism 52. Notable Shabbat of 6. Carmel Forest, for one “song” 7. Where Jewish remains 53. She put the “she” in should not be put? yeshiva, according to Homer 8. Suspicious Simpson 9. Zapped (the cold kugel) 54. ___ up (make like 10. Major simcha 53-Across, essentially) 11. Hasidic title 56. Lays out (like clothes in 12. Rhea Perlman’s “Cheers” Eilat) role 57. An eruv creates one, 13. Killed, like Goliath simply 18. Words from one needing 59. “And we held ___ each a restful Shabbat other like brother to brother” 22. El Al reading; abbr. (Billy Joel) 26. Screen legend who 60. David has a famous one married comic legend Mel 63. ___ HaZikaron 27. Some YU degs. 64. Ancient Jewish coin 28. What the city of Shechem LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION is called today H A L V A A S H I B E M A 29. Words after A R E A L T H I N O L A M “Save me” or J O H N S H T I C K N A Z I “Have” I D I D E L K S A F T E R 30. Prepare to Y O R E S S P I E L S J A C K P R E A C H E R have bread S U E E A R L 32. Seth Rogan A D I E U K A T S A M P A L R Y E to James E R E S D A F O C E A N Franco, e.g. I N D I A N A L O A N S 33. High S E L M A S L O Y A L priest with P L U M Y M A G I D D A Y disappointing E L M O J A S O N S W O R N sons L I E N O C H O H A W K E 34. Some rural L E T S B E A D E R N S T 1
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