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Meet Hank Johnson’s Last Hurdle
Congressman Hank Johnson sparked outrage in Jewish Atlanta and beyond this summer when he told a pro-BDS crowd in Philadelphia that the growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was like the spread of termites. But the Democrat spoke long after Georgia’s primaries, meaning that voters in the 4th District, covering parts of DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale and Newton counties, were left with one alternative to a sixth Johnson term: Republican Victor Armendariz, a lifelong resident of the district who has never held elective office. “I get asked all the time, ‘Victor, you’re Hispanic, and you’re running against a Democrat.’ No, I’m an American, and we can do better,” he said. “Yeah, I am of Mexican descent, but if it wasn’t for this great country, I wouldn’t be here.” His ancestry also has a twist, Armendariz revealed in an interview with the AJT: Through paternal great-grandparents, he is descended from Spanish Jews. “My father taught us basic knowledge of Judaism just because he felt we should know our heritage. And he always referred to it as my people or our people.” Read more about his optimism and his realism on Page 16. ■
SPECIAL SHABBAT
The Shabbos Project is bigger than ever, with 1,500 women expected to prepare challah together at the Cobb Galleria, a Toco Hills block party Kiddush and a Hasidic trio for a Havdalah concert. Page 10
VOL. XCI NO. 42
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
OCTOBER 28, 2016 | 26 TISHREI 5777
$2.1M Grant to Launch Teen Initiative Atlanta’s Jewish community has received a five-year, $2.1 million grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation to become one of 10 cities in the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative. The new Atlanta Jewish Teen Initiative, focused on high-schoolers, is the latest effort to boost Jewish teen education and engagement throughout the community. AJTI is a collaboration among the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, the Marcus Jewish Community Center and the Atlanta Rabbinical Association. “We see this initiative as a shining example of how key partners can have a bigger collective impact than any individual agency can have alone,” Federation CEO and President Eric Robbins said. The initiative centers on pathways that enable teens to experience areas of interest through a Jewish lens. The pathways will be developed in the coming months for the 2017-18 school year. Possibilities include a spring break performing arts program with Jewish content at the Alliance Theatre and a summer seminar with lawyers on how Jewish values inform social justice issues. AJTI will operate independently, but the Marcus JCC will provide the organization and the managerial support to create and deliver engaging programs and to track and evaluate participation. “This is an exciting opportunity for us to collaborate with other agencies to even more significantly engage the next generation of Jewish Atlantans in an innovative way,” JCC CEO Jared Powers said. ARA will contribute experts in Jewish education and will enlist rabbis and other educators to recruit teen participants, serve as mentors and provide development for teen professionals.
HOME AGAIN
Atlanta native Jane Weitzman is visiting from Connecticut to share her story of charitable giving and Jews helping Jews with Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy. Page 19
Beyond the teen initiative, Federation has convened a NextGen group of Atlanta professionals working with young Jewish adults the past two years. A meeting at Pita Grille on Friday, Oct. 14, drew (visible, clockwise from left front) Rabbi Karmi Ingber, Ryan Kaplan, Rabbi Sam Shabman, Stacie Graff, Jackie Nix, Shira Rothman, Julie Katz, Gabrielle Adler, Adam Kofinas, Rabbi Hillel Konigsburg, Nathan Brodsky, Marcus Brodzki, Leah Fuhr, Dina Fuchs-Beresin, Evan Alberhasky, Jamie Perry and Rachel Kosberg. Also there were Seth Schatten, Tommy Bledsoe and Daniel Sperling. Federation is holding its Super Sunday phone-a-thon Sunday, Oct. 30, at the Davis Academy.
Federation will lead the local fundraising to match the $2.1 million grant. A local funder will provide half the match. “We are very excited about the opportunity to create breakthrough avenues for teens to really connect Jewishly, to see that Judaism has something relevant to say about their life and their world, so they want to engage,” said Lori Kagan Schwarz, who co-chaired the AJTI steering committee with Temple Rabbi Peter Berg, the ARA’s vice president. Jewish Atlanta has attempted various communitywide projects to engage post-b’nai mitzvah teens, perhaps most recently with the short-lived Tribe 360 in 2008, but AJTI has more money behind it. The San Francisco-based Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative is composed of 15 national and local funders, including the Marcus
Foundation and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. The collaborative began in 2013 after the release of the Jim Joseph Foundation report “Effective Strategies for Educating and Engaging Jewish Teens.” “This unique collaboration of national and local funders is a model with great promise for advancing Jewish teen education and engagement,” said Sara Allen, the newly appointed first director of the collaborative. “The lessons learned here can inform others’ investments in Jewish life and even the broader philanthropic arena as we increasingly recognize that collaboration is a means to achieve large-scale social change.” The other participating communities are Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego and San Francisco. ■
INSIDE Calendar �����������������������������������4 Candle Lighting ����������������������4 Israel News ������������������������������6 Local News �������������������������������9 Opinion ���������������������������������� 12 Decision ’16 ���������������������������� 15
Home ������������������������������������� 20 Education �������������������������������22 Obituaries ������������������������������26 Marketplace ��������������������������28 Arts ������������������������������������������29 Crossword ������������������������������ 31