BDS MIND
Anti-Israel, pro-BDS activists gathered in Atlanta find Zionism at the root of the world’s woes. Page 8
BY THE BOOK
FILM STAR
“Ally” author Michael Oren backs the Atlanta consulate and ponders life under the Iran deal. Page 9
Take a tour of Carrla and Jeff Goldstein’s Sandy Springs mansion, a popular TV and film location. Page 26
Atlanta VOL. XC NO. 37
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
Special Travel Section
Am Yisrael Chai Wins $4K Sandy Springs Grant
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Photo courtesy of the Beaches Museum via Jeffrey R. Orenstein
TIMELESS GETAWAY
Shown in 1926, Casa Marina has served as a beachfront escape for gangsters and movie stars in its 91 years and, since a renovation in 1991, has regained its place as a Florida vacation destination. Learn more about the barrier island beaches near Jacksonville, a Florida dude ranch, Jewish life in Florida in the 1950s, Jewish institutions in Poland and Bulgaria, the perils of air travel to Israel without a direct flight from Atlanta, and some of the synagogue trips planned for 2016 in this week’s Travel, Pages 18-23.
HOME AT LAST
A year after buying its first building in 30 years, Congregation Bet Haverim is ready to celebrate its homecoming at Simchat Torah. Page 2
YOUTHFUL TURN
The Baal Shem Tones, Helene and Michael Kates, prepare to release a CD that takes their Jewish music to a different audience, children. Page 25
OCTOBER 2, 2015 | 19 TISHREI 5776
he city of Sandy Springs has granted Am Yisrael Chai $4,000 for the group’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day event in January. The grant, one of 12 totaling $50,000 for nonprofit groups through the Serving Sandy Springs program, will partially pay for the Holocaust commemoration organization’s “Courage and Compassion: A Lucky Child Survives Auschwitz” on Jan. 24, 2106. Thomas Buergenthal, born in Czechoslovakia in 1934, will be the featured speaker. He was one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz and was liberated at Sachsenhausen in April 1945. Courage and compassion helped him survive, said Am Yisrael Chai’s Andrea Videlefsky, and he has shown both traits as a human rights lawyer and law professor. The annual Am Yisrael Chai event always begins with the lighting of a memorial candle by Holocaust survivors in the Atlanta area. Buergenthal’s fellow Auschwitz survivors will be a particular focus at the 2016 event, Videlefsky said. An Auschwitz-related exhibit will be part of the event, as will a signing of Buergenthal’s memoir, “A Lucky Child.” The grant is the second consecutive
INSIDE
Calendar 2 Travel 18 Candle Lighting
3 Arts 24
Opinion 10 Home 26 Business 13 Obituaries 28 Education 14 Crossword 30 Israel 17 Marketplace 31
for the event from Sandy Springs, the home of the commemoration since it began at Congregation Beth Tefillah in 2008, Videlefsky said. “I’m incredibly appreciative of the support of the city.” Am Yisrael Chai received $3,250 for the 2015 event. The increased grant will help the event move from Atlanta Jewish Academy to the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North to accommodate the growing crowd. The 900 who attended in January exceeded AJA’s capacity. The $4,000 does not cover all the expenses of the event, which is free to attend. Am Yisrael Chai depends on sponsors, whose gifts get them daffodils planted in their names for the Daffodil Project. Am Yisrael Chai has worked since 2010 to plant 1.5 million daffodils worldwide to remember the 1.5 million Jewish children killed in the Holocaust. More than 187,000 daffodil bulbs have been planted in such countries as Israel, Poland, Canada and the Czech Republic, as well as many U.S. states. The annual Daffodil Dash at the Marcus Jewish Community Center supports the effort. Videlefsky said her group has planted 100,000 daffodils in downtown Atlanta and plans to add 55,000 this year. The next major Am Yisrael Chai event in Sandy Springs is a daffodil planting at Hammond Park at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15. Organizer Mike Weinroth said he expects at least 600 people. Mayor Rusty Paul will speak at the event, the first for the Daffodil Project since Sandy Springs’ first mayor, Holocaust survivor Eva Galambos, a past Am Yisrael Chai speaker, died in the spring. ■