Atlanta Jewish Times, Vol. XCIII No. 38, September 28, 2018

NEXT WEEK: LEGAL GUIDE

VOL. XCIII NO. 38

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 19 TISHREI 5779 FOOD & TRAVEL

Georgia Aquarium: Big Catch for Downtown Atlanta COVER STORY, PAGES 10-11

Photo by Matthew Paulson

SUPER BOWL LIII

OVER 1 MILLION VISITORS EXPECTED TO BRING BIG BUSINESS TO ATL. PAGE 8

EAT YOUR HEART OUT BELTLINE ARTIST AJT SERVES MUSTTRY RESTAURANT REVIEWS & COMFORT FOOD RECIPES. PAGES 19-26

29-YEAR-OLD ADAM PODBER'S LARGESCALE PROJECTS ADORN LOCAL LANDMARKS. PAGES 30-31

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Contributors This Week AMANDA ROSNER BOB BAHR CHANA SHAPIRO HENRY WOLF ALEXANDER JAN JABEN-EILON MARCIA CALLER JAFFE RACHEL FAYNE ROBYN SPIZMAN GERSON SUSANNE KATZ

The Places You'll Go We take you around the world and back in this week’s Food & Travel issue: from the gondolas of Venice to the artistry of Picasso, Gaudí, Dalí and other masters in Barcelona; and from the nation’s first synagogue in Newport, R.I. to the largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere. The sights and flavors from afar and around the corner in Atlanta are here for the sampling.

Learn about the small rural Jewish community of Waycross, Ga., through a number of Atlantans who reminisce about their childhood. Whet your taste buds with a review of Zafron’s Persian cuisine in Sandy Springs. And try some recipes from a Sephardic Egyptian cook who is using a career in ecology to spread a love of a vegan diet, spices, healthy eating and saving the planet.

Thinking big, we visit the home studio of Paul Heller, who reinvented himself as a 3-D artist after careers in hospitality and education.

We also chat with the young man behind the expansive murals along the Atlanta BeltLine and at the Coca-Cola Roxy theater in SunTrust Park.

In other local landmarks, our cover story explores how the Georgia Aquarium helped lure tourist attractions to the downtown Centennial Park District and continues to inspire million-dollar development.

Speaking about a walkable city, we take you along as The Kehilla of Sandy Springs celebrates having its own Torah with music, dancing, singing and revelry.

For a little levity, Chana Shapiro shares her experience hosting finicky New York visitors. And like her guests, whenever you take off or land, you now have kosher options available at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. So go and come in peace, and remember, you’re never far from home when you’re among Jews. ■

THIS WEEK CONTENTS LOCAL NEWS ���������������������������������� 4 ISRAEL NEWS ��������������������������������� 6 BUSINESS ����������������������������������������� 8 COVER STORY ������������������������������ 10 TRAVEL ������������������������������������������� 12 FOOD ������������������������������������������������ 19 KEEPING IT KOSHER ������������������ 26 CHAI STYLE ART ������������������������� 27 ARTS ������������������������������������������������ 30 COMMUNITY ��������������������������������� 33 CALENDAR ������������������������������������� 34 BRAIN FOOD ���������������������������������� 36 OBITUARIES ���������������������������������� 37 MARKETPLACE ���������������������������� 38 CLOSING THOUGHTS ����������������� 39

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CONTACT INFORMATION GENERAL OFFICE 404.883.2130 kaylene@atljewishtimes.com The Atlanta Jewish Times is printed in Georgia and is an equal opportunity employer. The opinions expressed in the Atlanta Jewish Times do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. Periodicals Postage Paid at Atlanta, Ga. POSTMASTER send address changes to Atlanta Jewish Times 270 Carpenter Drive Suite 320, Atlanta Ga 30328.

Established 1925 as The Southern Israelite Phone: (404) 883-2130 www.atlantajewishtimes.com ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES (ISSN# 0892-33451) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SOUTHERN ISRAELITE, LLC 270 Carpenter Drive, Suite 320, Atlanta, GA 30328 © 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES Printed by Walton Press Inc. MEMBER Conexx: America Israel Business Connector American Jewish Press Association Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce Please send all photos, stories and editorial content to: submissions@atljewishtimes.com

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 3

LOCAL NEWS Fuego Takes Flight at Hartsfield

By Marcia Caller Jaffe The world’s busiest airport now has prepared kosher food for sale courtesy of Fuego Mundo, a popular local LatinAmerican woodfire grill certified by the Atlanta Kashruth Commission.

Fuego Mundo will operate from four kiosks in Concourse A of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Concourse A is used by major carriers such as Delta Air Lines.

The restaurant has a wide menu and catering business at their location at The Prado in Sandy Springs, just inside I-285.

For now, each airport kiosk has these same items: Organic hummus and chips, $16; homemade chicken salad wraps, $22; and smoked turkey breast sandwiches, $24.

“Since this is only weeks old, we will monitor volume and sales to be able to rotate in new items and ensure quality,” said Fuego Mundo manager Sheyla Miranda. She works closely with owner Udi Hershkovitz. “The airport sets the prices, and we have their agreement to discard

4 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

anything not sold in 24 hours. We look forward to being featured on apps that direct kosher travelers accordingly.”

Having kosher options is especially important for those connecting on long flights with layovers, and families know to expect to pay a bit more for the convenience.

Ironically, these A concourse kiosks

are positioned next to Goldberg’s, a Jewish-style high volume retailer – though not kosher. The AKC is a nationally accepted certifying agency that meets the standards of the Orthodox community.

So that Fuego can thrive at the airport, tell your kosher visitors and fellow travelers to spread the word about this valuable food option. ■

Udi Hershkovitz holds one of Fuego Mundo's prepackaged kosher wraps in the airport.

LOCAL NEWS

Kehilla Celebrates New Torah With Dance, Song, Community

By Rachel Fayne A rabbi dances down the streets of a sprawling Atlanta suburb as the sun goes down. Following him are a parade of men and women, also dancing, singing and following along. Children and teenagers hold signs they’ve made themselves with markers. An SUV rides at a snail’s pace, keeping up with the group for the halfmile journey up a hill while playing loud, joyful music and even a little rock for the kids. Another homemade sign is waved from the passenger seat of the musical vehicle. Construction paper stars are cut out and pasted on a board bearing the words Kehilla Kids.

The Kehilla of Sandy Springs, literally translated as “the community,” is a diverse synagogue led by dancing Orthodox Rabbi Karmi David Ingber, and this celebration is one of the most momentous for the congregation. The synagogue recently received a new Torah, and the rabbi and community members are here to escort it to its new home.

After borrowing for a period of time from other synagogues, the ceremony on Sept. 20, also called Hachnosas Sefer Torah, is happening because The Kehilla has been gifted its own Torah. A small group of anonymous Kehilla community members donated enough funds for the congregation to purchase the new Torah, and a larger group of congregants participated by purchasing a letter or a word in the new book. “It’s the highest form of tzedakah,” said Elisheva Ingber, the rabbi’s wife. “The Torah has carried the very same words for so many years.

Think of it. Every single letter is the same.

These donors in our community have really made it possible for us to be able to share it together. What a mitzvah that is.”

Before the official ceremony begins, the congregation gathers at the rabbi’s

Rabbi Karmi David Ingber addresses members of his congregation at his home as they ready for the walk.

Madeline Morrison, 15, and Chava Blanks, 16, show off the sign they made for the occasion.

Rabbi Ingber carries The Kehilla’s new Torah as he and the congregation begin down the street.

house and prepares to make the uphill climb to the synagogue. Rabbi Inger speaks with his hands, animated and joyful, to a group gathered on the couch.

“Back when the ark was brought back into Jerusalem, it wasn’t done properly, and there was a problem,” the rabbi said.

“So now, we bring the Torah into its new home, someplace holy. And we do it correctly. We do it together!”

Water bottles were handed out, the chuppah was readied, the new Torah was handed to a community member, and the group of no less than 40 started up the hill. Everyone’s hands clapped while they danced and sang along to the music being enthusiastically pumped from the SUV. At one point, Ingber appeared with a guitar. Children and teenagers carried their homemade signs, blew bubbles, and some danced at the head of the parade in front of the Torah as it was carried down the street.

When the crowd reached the synagogue, congregation and rabbi celebrat-

Women dance in celebration when they reach the synagogue with the Torah.

Yacov Ingber and Aaron Blanks dance and joyfully lead the Torah to its new home.

ed with more dancing, singing, and an explanation of how momentous the event really was for the relatively new and emerging place of worship. The Kehilla was founded nine years ago. Originally, the congregation concentrated largely on young adult outreach and as a result, most of the 35 marriages Ingber has performed over the years have been for those who met through his congregation. “It’s a very unique community,” he explained. “We try to appeal to people from all different ages and backgrounds.

We relate to people where they are and only want to give them experiences that will improve their lives.”

The Hachnosas Sefer Torah ceremony marks not only a new Torah for The

Kehilla, but celebrates the generosity of its congregants who made it fiscally possible. The diversity of the walkers is evident from the varying ages and different levels of observance as they walk down the street. Teenage girls walk next to older men, and the crowd represents Reform, Conservative and Orthodox congregants. “If we make Jewish thought accessible to more people, they get excited,” Ingber said. “Today represents bringing in the new Torah, which brings in new light. That also means bringing in the idea that we’re going to share what this Torah has to offer with whoever wants it. Everyone can benefit from the lessons learned in the Torah, and that’s why we’re here.” ■

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Rabbi Ingber serenades walkers on the last leg of the journey.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz test run new railway.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz toured the Yitzhak Navon Train Station in Jerusalem and took a test run from Jerusalem to Ben Gurion International Airport on Sept. 20. During the trip, Israel Railways Chairman Dan Harel and Israel Railways Director-General Shahar Ayalon briefed the prime minister on the complexity of the project and updated him on the work that still needs to be done ahead of the opening of the line.

Before boarding the train, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “This is an historic moment, and I use that term carefully, but I have always believed that it is possible to link Jerusalem to the national railway network and not via the old Turkish route that I rode on as a boy and a youth. And here, the moment has arrived after a great effort by the government of Israel, the transportation ministry and all of the elements who worked on it. This truly is a new era. I can only ask that you join the ride and see for yourselves.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu added, “When I was a boy we used to sing ‘The Train Flew between the Mountains and the Hills’ and today I have the special pleasure of being on a train that flies through the mountains and the hills and will reach Tel Aviv in the record time of about 30 minutes. This is a new era for Jerusalem and the State of Israel. Come and join [the ride].”

As part of a major public transportation hub, it is located adjacent to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station and is next to a station serving current and future lines of the Jerusalem Light Rail.

The project was conceived in 2001, at an estimated cost of about $978 million.

Construction began in 2005 and was delayed by environmentalist opposition until 2009. In the summer 2013, most of the station’s basic underground structure was nearly complete. In June of that year, Israel Railways published a follow-up tender for the completion of the underground facilities, the above-ground entry atrium, and the supply and installation of mechanical and electrical systems – with anticipated overall completion in September 2018. The final cost is around $1.8 billion.

The station’s total floorspace will be about 85,300 square feet, and the length of the platforms will be 984 feet. The station is set to double as a shelter in case of a conventional, biological or chemical attack, with refuge capacity for 5,000 people.

Last month, unnamed emergency workers told the Kan public radio that September’s planned opening would have to be postponed because the transportation authority had failed to lay an important concrete foundation under the tracks and had not ordered the necessary safety vehicles and equipment to respond to a major train accident, especially in a tunnel.

After Thursday’s voyage, nobody was willing to commit to a date for the opening of the full line to Tel Aviv — not even Katz.

He told The Times of Israel that he hoped the stretch to the first of Tel Aviv’s stations — Haganah — would be completed in about two months, but could not give a timetable for further stops beyond that.

“No idea,” was the response of an Israel Railways spokesman.

When it finally does open, the journey between Israel’s center of government and its center of finance will take just under half an hour. ■ Compiled by AJT staff

AFP / Thomas Coex

A partial view of the train platform at the new highspeed train station between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv at the Yitzhak Navon Train Station in Jerusalem on Sept. 20.

6 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

ISRAEL PRIDE News From Our Jewish Home U.S. BioPharma Works with BGU on Cell Regeneration

Hebrew acronym for Disaster Victim Identification – is an Israeli nongovernmental lifesaving, rescue and recovery organization with branches in several countries around the world.

Israeli Tech Fights Crime in India

Orgenesis Inc., a leader in cell therapy development and manufacturing, is working with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev to develop and sell a novel technology for cell transplantation with an initial focus on autoimmune diseases.

Orgenesis, based in Maryland, is collaborating with BGN Technologies and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, both BGU affiliates, on the alginate scaffold technology invented and developed by BGU professors Smadar Cohen and Alon Monsonego.

Under the license agreement, Orgenesis will receive the exclusive, worldwide right to make, develop and commercialize products using the technology, subject to achieving certain milestones.

“By combining our scaffold technology with a number of the unique cell therapies Orgenesis is developing, along with other co-development partners of Orgenesis, we believe our technology can facilitate immune tolerance and improve cell performance after implantation, thereby potentially improving clinical outcomes,” said Dr. Ora Horovitz, senior vice president for business development at BGN Technologies.

Israelis Teach Rescuers From Five Countries

The ZAKA Search and Rescue volunteer organization and the IDF Home Front Command completed a training course last month for 40 ZAKA commanders from the United States (Miami, New York, New Jersey and Washington), France, Guatemala, Africa and Zimbabwe.

The course was conducted at specialized sites in Israel. All the ZAKA commanders had previous experience in rescue missions, and most are paramedics or doctors.

The intensive training simulated rescue training, with a focus on natural disasters, building collapses and other mass casualty incidents. Emphasis was put on rescue and recovery techniques, conduct for professional rescuers in a variety of disaster scenarios and earthquakes, emergency rescue medicine and population intelligence.

Established in 1995, the volunteer-based ZAKA – the

Indians fight crime and catch criminals with the help of Israeli tech.

A camera-based Israeli technology is helping India’s police fight crime and nab criminals.

The Times of India reported earlier this month that an intelligent patrolling system developed by the Israeli government was used for the first time in India’s Saurashtra region at its biggest annual fair.

The technology identifies known and wanted criminals with the help of a body camera and voice recorder carried by policemen on patrol.

The video from the body camera is transmitted to a police control room where, based on facial recognition, an alert message about the suspect is sent to police on patrol.

The police engage the suspect and the voice is transmitted to the control room for a database search and analysis.

Rajkot police commissioner Manoj Agrawal told the paper that even “if a person with a criminal background comes to the fair after changing his or her look, … using the Israeli technology of face and voice recognition, we can identify them easily.”

Rajkot is the fourth-largest city in the state of Gujarat, India.

The technology has been deemed a success in Israel and has been effectively tested in a crowd of some 40,000. ■

Today in Israeli History

Sept. 28, 1995: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, known as Oslo II, at the White

House. The deal establishes the Palestinian Authority as an elected, self-governing body and says neither side should take unilateral action on the status of the West Bank or Gaza Strip.

Sept. 29, 1923: Under borders drawn primarily by Britain and France after World War I, the new nation of Syria gains control of the Golan Heights. The French block Zionist efforts to buy large portions of the Golan over the next two decades.

Sept. 30, 1986: Mordechai Vanunu, a nuclear technician who left Israel in 1985 and leaked details about the country’s nuclear program and the reactor at Dimona, is brought back to Israel to face trial for espionage after being lured from London to Italy by an undercover Mossad agent. He is convicted in 1988 and serves 16 years in prison.

Oct. 1, 1981: President Ronald Reagan announces a plan to sell American F-15 fighter jets and Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes to Saudi Arabia. Israel adamantly opposes the sale, but Reagan says, “It is not the business of other nations to make American foreign policy.” He says the sale is no threat to Israel, contradicting Israeli officials.

Saladin’s army is depicted in a 1337 French edition of William of Tyre’s history of the crusader states.

Oct. 2, 1187: Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, captures Jerusalem from crusaders after a siege that began Sept. 20. Saladin eventually signs a treaty with English King Richard the Lionheart that divides the Land of Israel between crusaders along the coast and Muslims in Jerusalem and the interior. Unlike the crusaders, Saladin is tolerant of Jews and allows them to live in the holy city.

Oct. 3, 2005: Sarah Levi-Tanai, a choreographer who won the Israel Prize in art, music and dance in 1973, dies at age 94 or 95 (the Jerusalem native was never sure whether she was born in 1910 or 1911). The daughter of Yemeni parents, she founded the Inbal Dance Theater in 1949 and directed it into the 1990s.

Oct. 4, 1992: El Al Flight 1862, a 747 flying cargo from New York to Tel Aviv, crashes into an apartment complex in Bijlmermeer, Netherlands, 16 minutes after taking off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, where the plane had stopped for a crew change. Caused by a mechanical failure, the crash kills four people on the plane and 43 on the ground. ■ Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org), where you can find more details.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 7

BUSINESS Super Bowl LIII Brings Big Business to Atlanta This year’s football season will end right here in our own backyard on Feb. 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It brings big business to Atlanta’s entertainment and hospitality industries, thanks to Arthur Blank, who co-founded Home Depot and owns the Atlanta Falcons. This rare occasion will begin with a 10-day festival, where more than 1 million visitors are expected to attend throughout the 10 days leading up to and during game day.

Last year’s Super Bowl LII was hosted in Minnesota at the U.S. Bank Stadium.

Americans were expected to spend about $14.1 billion for food, decorations and team apparel, with each person spending an average of $75. Minnesota kicked off the event with a 10-day festival called Super Bowl LIVE, featuring live music, food and interactive entertainment leading up to the game. Super Bowl LIVE was presented by Verizon. About 1 million people attended and 48 bands and artists performed for free at public concerts. There were 1,630 private jet arrivals at Twin Cities airports during week of Super Bowl.

The game attendance at the stadium was

67,612. After the game, 61,000 passengers left Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

An event of this magnitude takes planning and organization from an experienced team of professionals. That team is called the Atlanta Super Bowl LIII Host Committee. They act as the liaison between the National Football League, the City of Atlanta and the local community.

Formed in 2017 under the Championship Hosting Division of the Atlanta Sports Council, the host committee is responsible for helping to plan, organize and support activities and events that will enhance the Super Bowl LIII experience for the city, state and region.

The National Football League works in each Super Bowl host community with local partners to develop and implement environmental projects aimed to leave a positive legacy on the community’s environment.

The Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee, NFL Foundation and The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation teamed up to fund a major capital improvement

project called Legacy 53 for the residents of Atlanta. The $2 million investment in and renovation of the City of Atlanta’s John F. Kennedy Park is a commitment to encourage outdoor play and healthy lifestyles. The renovation will provide the youth in Atlanta a playing field for athletic competition and the surrounding community a safe space for exercise and outdoor activities.

The renovation will include a fulllevel turf playing surface; community walking path; Fit-Trail exercise system for fitness training; new playground equipment with soft turf underpinning; new hard-court basketball court; shaded picnic pavilion; and sidewalk lighting for evening use. The completely renovated park will be unveiled the week of Super Bowl LIII with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

With the big business that the Super Bowl brings, hefty tickets prices are no surprise for those fans who want to attend. The Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee announced its partnership with On Location Experiences, a leader in premium experiential hospitality business in ticketing, curated hospitality, live event production, and travel management in the worlds of sports and entertainment. On Location has announced its Super Bowl LIII Experience tickets prices that include several benefits, depending on the level of ticket you buy. ■ Compiled by AJT staff.

8 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

The “Experience” includes: In-game: Seat and club access according to the level purchased.

Pregame: Three-hour all-inclusive premier party at the Georgia World Congress Center located inside Super Bowl grounds just a short walk from the stadium. Yet to be announced are appearances and meet and greet opportunities with NFL stars and Hall of Famers and additional pregame entertainment.

Post-game: Field access for a confettifilled celebration.

Additional Super Bowl weekend enhancements: On-site concierge service, the ability to upgrade to an all-inclusive weekend with luxury downtown hotels and airport transfers and priority access to exclusive concerts and events.

On Location 2019 Super Bowl ticket packages: On the Fifty: $17,500+ per person includes 50-yard-line club seats, premier pregame party, In-game access and postgame on-field celebrations.

Sixty7: $14,500+ per person includes prime club sideline seats, premier pregame party, in-game club access and post-game on-field celebrations.

Champions: $12,500+ per person includes club sideline seats, premier pregame party, select in-game club access and post-game on-field celebrations.

Legends: $8,500+ per person includes lower and mid-level sideline seats, allinclusive pregame party, in-game club access for select locations.

53 Live: $5,000+ per person includes 100/200/300 level seats and all-inclusive pregame party.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 9

COVER STORY Georgia Aquarium: Big Catch for Downtown Atlanta If it wasn’t for the Georgia Aquarium, a handful of downtown Atlanta attractions may never have dropped anchor where they are today. And the area wouldn’t have attracted $1.7 billion in new investments since the aquarium opened in 2005 and $417 million in projects under construction or being developed around Centennial Olympic Park, according to William Pate, president and CEO of Atlanta Convention & Roni Visitors Bureau.

Within three blocks of the Western Robbins Hemisphere’s biggest aquarium, which began a $100 million expansion earlier this month, are several of Atlanta’s largest entertainment destinations bordering the Olympic park.

Those that emerged since the aquarium opened are the World of Coca-Cola at Pemberton Place – relocating to its current spot in 2007; Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame; Center for Civil and Human Rights; and SkyView Atlanta ferris wheel.

The aquarium reports receiving more visitors each year than any other attraction in the Centennial Park District, the largest collection of tourist sites in the state.

The aquatic attraction records 2.4 million visitors last year, 67 percent of whom were not from metro Atlanta.

Of those, 60 percent were from out-of-state and 4 percent were international visitors.

The 1.4 million visitors not from Georgia are believed to have spent $52 million at the aquarium last year.

“Bernie Marcus didn’t just create the world’s largest aquarium,” Pate said. (It was the largest when built, with the largest self-contained tank today.) “The aquari-

um was a catalyst for growth. It spurred so many other things downtown.”

The aquarium is “in and of itself a very important attraction and an anchor for downtown Atlanta,” Pate said. Several tourist attractions didn’t exist 15 years ago, but came to the area specifically to be close to the aquarium, he said.

In the nine years following the 1996 Olympics until the aquarium arrived, there wasn’t a lot of development around the park. It was a collection of parking lots, Pate said. The aquarium moved construction along and attracted investment in hotels, restaurants and residences, he said.

“Without question, it would not have happened without the aquarium. The aquarium really jump-started tourism in Atlanta.”

While tourist sites existed in downtown before 2005, there is a much stronger concentration of worldclass, family-friendly attractions now, Pate said.

Marcus confirms the growth that has taken place since the aquarium set sail in 2005. “When we originally announced that we were planning on building the aquarium, the west side of the city was dilapidated, to say the least. People did not visit that area, as it was unsafe, dark and dingy and there was no economic growth whatsoever.

“When we announced the building of the aquarium at the state capitol, it was predicted that this would be the impetus for economic growth in that area and that major investments in real estate, restaurants and other entertainment facilities would shortly follow.”

For the first time, Atlanta and the state of Georgia

Photo by Matthew Paulson // Georgia Aquarium is a public aquarium located in the Centennial Park District of Atlanta.

10 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

could claim a strong tourist attraction, Marcus said.

“We knew people that came in for conventions usually came in on Mondays, with no family, and left by Friday.

They wanted to spend family time back at home. Now these convention attendees bring their families because there are things to do downtown, and Atlanta and Georgia have received economic benefit from the extended stays,” he continued.

“Restaurants, hotels and other attractions have all seen growth and one only has to walk through this area to see the billions in investments being made. The aquarium was the impetus for this growth and will remain the lightning rod for development on the west side, Atlanta and Georgia for years to come.”

The Real Thing Not to be overlooked, The Coca-Cola Company played a major role in the aquarium’s location. The iconic soda company had amassed 22 acres in downtown near Olympic Park and announced plans to develop the land “to help spur ongoing revitalization of downtown Atlanta,” according to the World of Coca-Cola website.

In 2002, the company contributed a portion of the land to The Marcus Foundation for development of the aquarium. The company then committed to design and build a new World of Coca-Cola next to the aquarium.

Originally at Underground Atlanta, the attraction had outgrown its previous space, said Jacquie Wansley, spokesperson of Coca-Cola global licensing and retail group and former general manager of the original World of Coca-Cola. The original location was expected to attract 250,000 guests a year, but before it moved in 2007, it was attracting more than 700,000 visitors a year, Wansley said.

From top to bottom: hammerhead, sand tiger and sandbar sharks are among the species set to inhabit the aquarium's Expansion 2020 tank.

COVER STORY

Photo by Matthew Paulson // World of Coca-Cola

museum in Atlanta's Centennial Park District.

Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center and Chik-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in the Centennial Park District.

Linking the aquarium with the new World of Coca-Cola was seen as the “highest and best use” of the property at Pemberton Place, named for Coca-Cola inventor, John Pemberton, Wansley said. The World of Coca-Cola now draws close to 1.2 million visitors a year in a downtown area that is considered a “central attraction district and entertainment hub,” Wansley said.

She pointed to the many entertainment options within a walkable downtown area. On one end of the park, there’s the World of Coca-Cola, the aquarium

and civil rights museum, and on the other end, CNN Studio Tours, the College Football Hall of Fame and not far from there, the big sporting facilities, State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

They all have easy access from downtown hotels, MARTA and the interstate, she said.

With all the attractions, is there competition for tourist dollars? Not according to Wansley. A CityPASS bundles several attractions, encouraging tourists to visit more than one site and offering a discount for those who do.

Several businesses have created packages that incorporate the aquarium into their marketing. Take the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center. It’s VIP Underwater Exploration Package includes a behind-the-scene tour of the aquarium and an aquarium keepsake, among other benefits.

“What’s good for one is good for all of us,” Wansley said of the aquarium and expansion. “It’s always exciting to have new things to talk about. It’s exciting to see how it plays out.”

The aquarium’s Expansion 2020 project – one of its largest – will add a 1 million-gallon shark tank containing eight types of sharks, several of which visitors can’t see in captivity anywhere else. They include hammerheads, sand tiger sharks and sandbar sharks. There will also be opportunities to interact with the predators.

Joe Handy, Aquarium president and COO, said the expansion is a “chance to bring charismatic apex predator sharks to Atlanta … and provide a chance for millions of guests to learn about sharks and their importance to the ocean.”

These are the “kinds of things tourists look for when they go to an attrac-

tion,” Pate said. The fact that the aquarium continues to refresh its exhibits is also beneficial for tourism, he said.

Visitors are more likely to return to an attraction if there are new exhibits, Pate said. They will carve out time before or after conventions or sporting events to visit the aquarium and other sites nearby.

As part of the expansion, the aquarium’s focus on customers and visitors, including a redesigned entrance, digital signage and enhanced ticketing services, “helps us attract more people to downtown,” Pate said.

“Visitors are looking for experiences where they can go and take pictures and videos and share with their friends, and the aquarium is so suited for that.”

Assessing the past and looking to the future is Mike Leven, the aquarium’s chairman and CEO. “Georgia Aquarium has been an important part of the downtown Atlanta area since we opened in 2005 and has been a catalyst for ongoing development in the Centennial Olympic Park neighborhood … Georgia Aquarium will continue to be an engine for that (investment) with our Expansion 2020 project and our neighboring attractions and businesses.” ■

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 11

TRAVEL Our Italian Jewish Adventure

Dr. Giorgio Padoan, of the Mazzega glass factory in Murano, Italy.

Want to know the secret to an exciting and meaningful trip? The answer was eloquently shared during our Italian adventure by historian Dr. Giorgio Padoan, of the Mazzega Glass Factory gallery in Murano, Italy. “A tourist travels, but a traveler learns,” Padoan said, quoting from a philosopher, in Italian.

On a quest to learn, explore and always add a Jewish perspective to our travels, my husband and I headed to Venice and Florence, two of my bucket-list destinations.

With a 10-day window devoted to this Italian journey, we’d spend three days in Venice and the remainder in Florence. Preparing for the trip, it evolved like a novel as Robyn each person, friend, family Spizman member, added something special to our trip.

Exploring Venice and the Jewish Ghetto Our first round of thanks is to seasoned flight attendant and dear friend, Sugar Eisenberg. When asked, Sugar suggested Hotel L’Orologio for its convenient location to the endless canal-lined streets, shops, restaurants and more. For walking city on canals, the hotel location made it easy to get almost everywhere by foot. The hotel concierge coordinated our boat ride to Murano and then we continued to Burano, two quick outings.

As we searched for Jewish relevance, we discovered Venice is home to the ancient Jewish ghetto. The Cannaregio neighborhood, established in the 16th century, is called the world’s first ghetto, 12 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

The winding canals of colorful Burano are a quick boat ride from Venice.

and is where the ancient synagogues and the museum of Venice’s Jewish community are housed.

In planning our visit to the ghetto, we easily arranged a trip to the area to learn about the Italian Jewish community and visit the remaining synagogues. A tour of the ghetto was simple to navigate as concierges in Venice knew of the ghetto and tours are available from the Jewish Museum there. The Venice Jewish ghetto is a confined geographical area with welldefined boundaries. (www. jvenice.org) The Jewish Museum of Venice houses a rich collection of ritual objects, nuptial contracts and ancient books that tell the history of the Gerson Jewish community. It was opened in 1954 by the Jewish community and, since 1990, is managed by a company specializing in cultural services.

While in Venice, we next embarked upon the art world and enjoyed a not-tobe-missed visit to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, (www.guggenheim-venice.it) the former home and now museum of the avid art patron and enthusiast who amassed one of the most significant collections of modern art. An early Jackson Pollock collector and supporter, she encouraged artists and gave them endless opportunities to further their works.

Walking the shop and restaurantlined streets of Venice is entertainment enough. An unexpected surprise came from our rooftop visit to Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Venice’s lifestyle department store by the Rialto Bridge. Complimen-

Menorah at the ancient Jewish ghetto in Venice

tary reservations can be secured ahead of time online or at the concierge desk at the store. It’s an amazing place to photograph and even FaceTime your family to show them the spectacular sights from atop this elegant store that boasts a panoramic view of Venice from every angle imaginable.

As our three days came to an end in Venice, we water-taxied to the Venezia Santa Lucia train station with two tickets pre-purchased online headed to Florence. (www.Trenitalia.com) Falling in Love with Florence A rich layering of history makes Florence culturally diverse and a vibrant place to visit. The main monuments and museum highlights are a must-see. Afternoon breaks, late dinners with a bottle of your favorite Italian wine and endless pizza, pasta and Italian delicacies delight even the most seasoned of foodies.

Gallery Hotel Art was our lodging choice endorsed by our tour guide and highly recommended by Nancy Freedman, who stayed there with her entire family. The Salvatore Ferragamo Group launched this entirely new urban hotel experience. A far cry from the Italian traditional antique-filled hotels, its modern art interior felt like a mini museum.

Located a block from the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, it’s near the epicenter of jewelry and all things gold, silver, dazzling and shiny. As we frequented the bridge, the views on both sides felt like a picturepostcard setting straight out of a subtle brush-stroked Renaissance Italian oil painting.

While checking out my Facebook a month prior to traveling, I noticed friend

Synagogue interior in the ancient Jewish ghetto in Venice.

Diane Lechter sitting in a gondola, which immediately piqued my interest. I instantly messaged Diane and heard about her recommendation of Jim Mazzarella in Florence, a former industry executive and accomplished photographer, who owns a boutique tourist service called “Through My Eyes.” He proved to be our best decision and the finest tour guide.

Friend Joey Moskowitz had also traveled recently with his wife, Susie, and shared, “a travel guide in Florence is definitely necessary.”

As we FaceTimed with Jim, he began planning our trip based on our interests.

Exceedingly friendly and gregarious, Jim’s extensive knowledge of the city and culture and deep personal relationships within the community transformed our trip. Jim accepts a limited number of client’s March to May and September to November, and specializes in customized shopping excursions, food and wine events, and personalized walking tours of the city and its treasures. FirenzeTME@gmail.com As our Florentine travels continued, we requested that Jim take us to our first stop, which was the Great Synagogue of Florence. Designed of Moorish style, it’s a landmark peeking out of the rooftops of Florence, not to be missed. The Great Synagogue is one of the largest and most important synagogues in South-Central Europe, and was built in 1848.

As you scan the rooftops of Florence, with beautiful churches scattered across the city, the one and only beautiful dome of this synagogue stands magnificently and proudly. The Jewish community viewed this synagogue as a symbol and its interior is covered throughout with

TRAVEL colored design in Moorish patterns.

During World War II Nazi soldiers occupied the synagogue and used it as a storehouse. In August 1944, retreating German troops worked with Italian Fascists to lay explosives to destroy the synagogue. However, Italian resistance fighters defused most of the explosives and limited the amount of damage done.

Any destruction was restored after the war. The synagogue was rebuilt yet again after damage from a river flood in 1966.

Over the next few days of our trip, Florence was exciting at every turn. Plan on being lured into endless shops, and if you are in the market for leather, suede or any of the Italian fashions, it’s not for the faint of heart. And you’ll never go hungry. We enjoyed designer Jennifer Tattanelli’s JT Café along with a visit to her next-door magnificent leather store of custom fashion for women and men.

From leather jackets to shoes, clothing and handbags, Jennifer is a respected designer whose fashions are timeless. Florence is definitely a place that beckons the fashionista on all fronts.

A visit to the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze was breathtaking with Michelangelo’s David, a must-see stop, but be sure to arrange your tickets ahead of

The Moorish architecture style of the Great Synagogue of Florence, interior below.

Robyn and Ed Gerson on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence.

time for yourself or through your guide to avoid the long lines of tourists.

Apéritifs were the afternoon’s choice as we slowed down and enjoyed a glass of wine and small plate of something delicious. Our visit to Antica Bottega, set inside of the 13th century palace (palazzo) of the Dante Alighieri family led us to an educated wine tasting.

Serious shoppers will love the designer outlets located in Montevarchi.

There are two outlets. One is Prada Space, which is only Prada, and the other is the outlet mall that includes Gucci, Hugo Boss, Prada and more. Both can

be done in a day with a private driver or prearranged tour. Either destination will tempt shoppers.

For dining suggestions, skip the tourist places and head to restaurants where the locals dine. Il Parione attracted our taste buds with a return-repeat din-

ner dining on truffle-flavored pastas and an endless array of delicacies. It’s a lovely, intimate restaurant devoted to serving a tasteful meal and a divine cheesecake that will be long-remembered.

While lodging in Italy, ask your hotel concierge to recommend daily activities so you don’t miss live concerts, markets or special events. By chance, we learned about The Three Tenors in concert. This group, inspired by the world-renowned “Three Tenors” of Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras, pays tribute to opera arias and Neapolitan songs. Along with a chamber ensemble of mandolin, double bass and grand piano, it was outstanding. (www.operainroma. com) Our Italian journey flew by, and as it came to end, it certainly left a taste in our mouths for Italian food and a return one day to explore the country. The sights and sounds continue to remind us why a trip to Italy is a lifetime event. It’s the perfect gift for anyone you know, especially you. Ciao! ■ Robyn Spizman Gerson is a New York Times bestselling author and a media personality seen often on local and national television, www.robynspizman.com.

EXPERIENCE

South Carolina's Freshwater Coast Less than two hours outside the perimeter, yet worlds away Discover South Carolina's untouched Old South in the Old 96 District

www.sctravelold96.com ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 13

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A Week in Barcelona It was the legacies of Gaudí, Picasso, Miró and Dalí that beckoned to me. Everything I had learned about Barcelona had focused on art and Jewish culture. So it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a Jewish curator to enjoy the week in the luxury apartment that my husband and I had won in the Temple Sinai gala silent auction.

We boarded the plane for Barcelona with two passports, four cameras, six guidebooks, all the time wondering how the Catalan referendum on independence might come up during Susanne our week.

Katz Alex Perez-Gallardo (Luxury Apartments Barcelona) welcomed us at our apartment on Calle Valencia, off one of Barcelona’s main streets, Passeig de Gracia. The secondfloor residence had been subdivided into three updated apartments, which could be accessed by flights of stairs or a beautiful iron lift with carved doors. Across the street, local people were waiting in line to

enter a book store and purchase a signed book by a local author.

We had arrived in time for the festival of Sant Jordi, the patron saint of Catalonia. April 23 honors the anniversary of the deaths of Shakespeare and Cervantes and is a holiday that resembles Valentine’s Day. Men give gifts of roses to the women and women give books to the men. Hundreds of bookshops and flower markets are presented on the city’s best-known promenade, in the main shopping district.

Barcelona was bordered by walls until they were demolished in the mid-19th century, a time of economic growth. The city was enlarged and today the L’Eixample (The Enlargement) is the vibrant center of commerce and tourism.

La Rambla was originally a stream running along the western side of the walls. Today the promenade runs through the city to the harbor that is home to an important port on the Mediterranean

A Gaudí mosaic ceiling with undulating lines.

Gaudí’s Casa Batlló and interior ceiling (inset).

where a statue of Christopher Columbus stands tall. A famous Catalonian legend tells of Columbus, who was originally thought to be Jewish, and how he set sail in August 1492, during the early days of the expulsion of Spanish Jews.

On my birthday last year, Aug. 17, a van was driven into the crowds on La Rambla, injuring more than 100 pedestrians and killing 13. The crowds, the pigeons and the shops were vibrant this spring, even as we remembered the terrorist incident.

Antoni Gaudí Antoni Gaudí was an early 1900s architect, best known for Catalan Modernism, or Modernisme, an organic style with its inspiration from nature. Gaudí is credited with introducing trencadis, a method of using irregular or broken ceramic tile pieces, which became a signature feature of his works.

Crowds stare in awe as they walk by or wait in long lines to get a peek inside Casa Batlló, a conventional house on Passeig de Gracia designed by Gaudí. It was remodeled and refurbished, including his furniture. The facade is adorned with a pale stone, ceramic tiles and sculpted balconies which, during our visit, were covered with roses to celebrate the Sant Jordi festival. In this structure, the walls, ceilings and windows seem to be inspired by waves that could welcome any creature of the sea.

La Pedrera, or the quarry, is an apartment building made of undulating stone with balconies of forged iron. The main floor welcomes visitors to gaze at the circular lobby and apartments on the ascending floors. The nighttime rooftop light show is a technical happening played out on the sculptured chimneys.

Gaudí began construction of Park Gell in 1900. His friend, Count Eusebi

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Güell, asked Gaudí to plan and create an estate, made up of 60 plots just outside of the city, for homes for affluent families. The project failed, but was reopened as a public park in 1926. What was built included an entrance with a parabolic arch, two gingerbread gatehouses, staircases, columns, ramps and sculptures, a flight of steps with a variety of shapes, a fountain, gargoyles and the iconic lizard, and always, a dialogue between art and nature.

La Sagrada Família is an amazing church with stained glass and carvings, pointed spires and organic shapes. Begun in 1882, this enormous project will hopefully be completed in 2026. This interior was overwhelming, not only as a result of its size, but also because of the light that entered from many angles. Gaudí used fractal hyperboloids to allow for holes to let in natural light and eliminate the need for buttresses.

Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso’s works are housed in five renovated adjoining palaces. Museu Picasso includes both studies and completed works from Picasso’s early years, his blue and rose periods, ceramics, and a large collection of “Las Meninas.” In 1962,

Gaudí’s La Pedrera illuminated at night.

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Crowded stands with books and roses.

Picasso’s manager, Jaume Sabartés, donated his collection of 3,500 works by Picasso. In 1982, Picasso’s wife, Jacqueline, donated her collection of 41 pieces of his ceramics. Picasso was a constant student, learning from the artists of the time and exploring new artistic visions, including cubism. In the early 20th century, cubism was developed by Picasso and Georges Braque, revolutionizing modern art. Cubism incorporated simple geometric shapes and later, collage.

Dalí’s Theatre-Museum.

city of Girona, about an hour outside of Barcelona. Girona was a renowned center of Jewish learning in the 13th century, and home to kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.

It’s where Rabbi Moses Ben Nahman Girondi, Ramban, or Nahmanides defended the Jews of Spain in the 13th century Disputation of Barcelona.

In my years of Jewish education, I had learned about the Marranos, who had professed conversion to

Susanne Katz Karlick and Philip Karlick enjoying dinner in Barcelona.

avoid persecution or death, and I had learned that Jews were outlawed in Spain and became converts or became exiles. But here, where it all took place, there was history, but few relics of the times that changed Jewish world history forever. There is so much more for a Jewish curator to ask. I want to know more about that spiritual mysticism we call kabbalah. I may have to return some day to learn more. ■

Joan Miró A 20th century artist inspired by the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud, Joan Miró approached Surrealism with dreamlike images and symbols, incorporating collage and organic shapes. Fundació Joan Miró, in Barcelona, opened in 1975. Miró died in 1983. We reached the Park de Joan Miró, at the base of Montjuïc, and continued walking up the hill to visit Fundació Joan Miró on a day when the museum staff were outdoors and on strike and the galleries were closed to visitors.

Salvador Dalí It is believed that Salvador Dalí is buried in a crypt below the floor in Figueres. The Dal Theatre-Museum, or theater and museum, are dedicated to the artist who combined Surrealism and a theatrical personality in his art. The collection includes such well known works as “The Persistence of Memory,” (1931) “The Hallucinogenic Toreador,” (1968-1970), and “Gala Nude Looking at the Sea Which at 18 Metres Appears the President Lincoln,” (1975).

Jewish Life and Culture in Barcelona About 250,000 Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. On Carrer de Sant Domènec del Call, we searched for the remnants of the Jewish community in The Call, the ancient Jewish Quarter, located off La Rambla. Sinagoga Major de Barcelona has been restored and is now owned and managed by the Call Association of Barcelona.

Montjuïc, Catalan for “mountain of the Jews,” was the site of the Jewish graveyard where tombstones had been found, and is now the site of the 1992 Olympic stadium and the Musea Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.

The Museum of Jewish History is located in the old ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 15

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A Trip to Newport and Colonial Jewish History It’s our good fortune to live in a country where beauty surrounds us. Unparalleled in history, Newport, R.I. is a good example. Our travels began in Marblehead, Mass., visiting family, passing through the oceanside cities north of Boston including Salem, Gloucester, Essex, and then a two-day trip by car to the nearby remarkable historical city of Newport.

A step back in time to Jewish Colonial history, Newport’s cobblestone streets and meticulously manicured streets were Robyn overflowing with historical Spizman points of interest. Visiting the famous Touro Synagogue, the nation’s oldest still-standing synagogue, was certainly a highlight. An amazing tale of freedom, faith and tolerance of all religions, the synagogue and its story embody the American Jewish experience.

Newport, a ship-filled harbor town, is also famously lined with the summer “cottages” of the wealthiest families in the history of our country. From the

Vanderbilts to the Hunts, these mansions, by all standards, lived up to their opulent reputations.

We began our tour with a scenic Viking Tours trolley ride, an organized 90-minute tour on wheels featuring 150 points of interest, including the Jewish synagogue and cemetery.

Next, we visited the famous cottages: from The Breakers, to Marble House, The Elms and Rosecliff, each with its own larger-than-life story of fortune and status-obsessed families. All ominous homes in their own rights, Gerson the tree-lined Bellevue Avenue, where they majestically lined up, was breathtaking. The dedicated Preservation Society of Newport County has captured history on all fronts, in a timeless era filled with philanthropy and quite a few generational scandals.

As Newport lodging would have it, our hotel was rooted in history and called the Grace Vanderbilt. The historic boutique hotel in Newport was minutes

Ha Shana ppy T New ova Yea r

Photo courtesy of Grace Vanderbilt // The historic Grace Vanderbilt hotel is

near the Touro Synagogue and minutes from the waterfront.

from the vibrant waterfront. Ideally located, it is one of the few private homes of the era to operate for guests as a fullfunctioning, top luxury hotel. Its warm atmosphere made you feel right at home with a highly attentive staff. Equipped with a delicious restaurant, luxury spa, pool and rooftop bar, its ambience was stylishly and yet elegantly casual with attention to details, from concierge services to dining options and lodging accommodations that exude comfort. The Grace Vanderbilt certainly lives up to the Newport tradition of historic beauty. www.gracehotels.com/vanderbilt/ Jewish History in The Making Next, we were off to explore the vibrant history of Jewish Newport. The area received its first Jewish residents in the 17th century, possibly as early as 1658. The earliest-known Jewish settlers arrived from Barbados, where a Jewish community we visited last winter had existed since the 1620s.

Our tour of the Touro Synagogue, just a few blocks from our hotel, was memorable. Built to reflect the great synagogue in Amsterdam, it was designated a National Historic Site in 1946.

The Friends of Touro Synagogue (now the Touro Synagogue Foundation) was established two years later to aid in its maintenance as well as to raise funds for and publicize the history.

A Letter from George Washington While the story of the Jewish immigration to Newport is historically recorded and described in detail during the synagogue tour, one of the most notable pieces of American Jewish history revolves around President George Wash-

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ington.

In 1790, Washington wrote one of the most important documents in history addressing freedom of religion and speech. Each year, the Touro Synagogue holds a public reading of the first president’s letter to the congregation as a celebration and pronouncement of religious freedom.

In 1789, Washington, in his first presidency, decided to tour the New England states, but didn’t visit Rhode Island.

In August 1790 Washington chose to pay a good-will visit to Newport for a public appearance to rally support for the new Bill of Rights. He took with him Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and New York Gov. George Clinton. On Aug. 18, 1790, officials and notables from various religious groups read the president’s letters of welcome. Among them was one of the leaders of the congregation, Moses

Touro Synagogue is the nation’s oldest still-standing congregation.

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The interior of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I.

Seixas, who read the letter aloud. Seixas poured out his gratitude to Washington for his leadership of a new government. He expressed the hope that his new country would welcome all citizens with tolerance and respect, regardless of their religious beliefs.

The letter moved President Washington and he responded on Aug. 21, 1790, assuring the Hebrew congregation that “everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.” He also wrote that this would be a country that “gives to bigotry no sanction.”

Experts say he was paving the way for the First Amendment, which would be added to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791.

Building the Synagogue Near the synagogue, behind a brick wall is a private Jewish cemetery filled with century-old trees in which some of the early founders were buried. “By 1677, the community realized the need to acquire land for a Jewish cemetery. Two of the original immigrants, Mordechai Campanal and Moses Pacheco, purchased the lot at the corner of what is now Kay and Touro Streets for this purpose,” according to the historic synagogue’s website.

Through the early and middle 1700s, Newport grew its role in the shipping and mercantile trades of the American colonies. By 1758, the Jewish population had grown and there was a need for a house of worship. The congregation now known as Congregation Jeshuat Israel engaged Newport resident Peter Harrison to design the synagogue, and construction began in 1759.

Harrison drew on his knowledge of Palladian architecture for the exterior. He is credited with being one of the first to bring this European architectural style to

This private historic Jewish cemetery near the Touro Synagogue is where some of the congregation’s early founders are buried.

the American colonies. For the interior, his best references came from congregation hazzan Isaac Touro, who had recently arrived from Amsterdam, and it was modeled in the style of the synagogue there.

The building was completed in 1763 and dedicated during the Chanukah festival celebrations. Newport natives Abraham and Judah Touro, sons of Isaac Touro, later both provided bequests to see to the perpetual care of the congregation’s properties.

Today, the synagogue remains an active house of worship toured annually by thousands of visitors.

If you get the chance to attend services at the synagogue, you should. We went to a daily minyan service and engrossed ourselves in this Orthodox synagogue.

As the final excursion during our 48 hours in Newport, we took the advice of the city’s experts and signed up for an afternoon sail boat tour run by Classic Cruises of Newport. We chose the classic schooner Madeleine, sailing past the ocean-lined mansions and discovering a new view of Newport. With the sights and sounds of sea gulls, we saw from a distance the summer home of 24-year-old Jacqueline Bouvier who married John F. Kennedy on Sept. 12, 1953, in Newport.

A touch of Camelot was the ideal way to bid farewell to this timeless seaside setting and rich historical world of generations past. ■ To read more about George Washington’s letter to the Hebrew congregation in Newport, R.I. and the Touro Synagogue, visit www. tourosynagogue.org. For information about Newport, visit Discover Newport at www.DiscoverNewport.org Robyn Spizman Gerson is a New York Times bestselling author and a media personality seen often on local and national television, www.robynspizman.com ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 17

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Similarities in U.S. and German Holocaust Education Do you remember learning about the European Recovery Program, more commonly known as the Marshall Plan?

This American aid initiative began in 1948 to help Europe rebuild after the second World War. The Marshall Plan consisted mostly of grants rather than loans, so the countries benefiting would not be left in debt to the United States. However, Germany paid back the money it received as a way to improve its negative reputation left Amanda by the war. By 1971, Germany had repaid all Rosner its Marshall Plan money. So how and why did the Marshall Plan help fund my educational trip to Germany this summer?

I traveled to Germany through a program called Germany Close Up, funded by the European Recovery Program Special Fund of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Germany Close Up gives young American Jews the opportunity to experience Germany through a Jewish lens. Every year, American Jewish Committee works alongside Germany Close Up to organize a trip to Berlin for AJC Goldman Fellows like me and other young Jewish adults. The focus of the trip is German Jewish history.

Over the course of eight days, we immersed ourselves in the heritage of German Jewry through tours, museums, memorials, a visit to the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Shabbat services, and conversations with the staff at the AJC office in Berlin. The most enriching parts of the program were discussions with a

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variety of Germans, including members of the German Jewish community, German youth, a former Bundestag representative, and a Federal Foreign Office diplomat.

These discussions helped us understand not only the history of the German-Jewish experience, but the status of the Jewish community in Germany today.

Of all the topics we discussed, I was most interested in how Germany handles Holocaust education. In our conversation with Holocaust educators, we were shocked to hear that many young Germans feel oversaturated with Holocaust history and are therefore paying less attention to that part of their education.

But Germany is not the only country having this problem; a recent study by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany provided alarming statistics about severely insufficient Holocaust education in the United States.

The study found that 11 percent of American adults have not heard of the Holocaust. And those who have heard of it know little about it. Nearly half of all Americans were unable to name a single concentration camp or ghetto, and, more shockingly, more than 30 percent of Americans believed that the death toll was under 2 million.

What can we learn from this study and my experience in Germany? For starters, it’s a great step that the Marshall Plan continues to fund educational programs for American Jews visiting Germany. But we need to

At the Brandenburg Gate are, from left, Amanda Rosner, Connie Hammond, Kayley Tarantino, Jonathan Boretsky, Madi Jackson, Hilary Miller, Amanda Graff, Gabrielle Burack, Lipaz Avigal, Lauren Goldstein, Julie Covall, Stacey Lynn, Alissa Platz.

pay attention to how we address the gaps of Holocaust education in both the German and American education systems. If younger generations are improperly or insufficiently educated about this deplorable era, history could repeat itself. We need to discover methods to teach about the Holocaust so we will be able to say with certainty: Never again! ■

On Top of Mt Herzl Today, I felt a connection.

A bond between a deep part of myself and the Jews and non-Jews who have sacrificed themselves for the freedom of a Jewish land. Today, I finally understand what the land of Israel means. Israel is a people, a land, and an identity. In English, “Israel” translates to “struggle with G-d.” This name Henry Wolf couldn’t be more perfect. On Alexander top of Mt. Herzl, I listened to and reflected upon three heartbreaking stories of amazing people who selflessly sacrificed their lives defending Israel – people who would have accomplished so much had their lives not been cut short. In this land, Judaism is celebrated instead of looked down upon, due to brave soldiers not far from my own age. It is important not to forget that these soldiers are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and fathers and mothers. Because of Israel’s unique situation, Israelis are one big family fighting and sacrificing themselves for freedom.

Walking through the Mt. Herzl cemetery evoked so many emotions in me – the kind of feeling that stays in your chest and throat. I already know that I will return to this land to feel a connection once again, to remember the struggle with G-d that has amounted to gaining and keeping a Jewish land. My Jewish identity has changed at its core. Before coming here, I had no real connection to Judaism. I did not understand what being a Jew meant. Now, after experiencing the culture and learning the history of this land, I feel like I belong, like I am part of the people and part of the land.

Israel is a powerful place with a rich history. As Jews, we are extremely fortunate to have our own land populated by people who will protect it at any cost.

When I leave in 10 days, I will take home a new Jewish identity in the hopes of one day returning to this Holy Land. ■ Henry Wolf Alexander is a 17-year-old senior at The Weber School on BBYO Passport Trek in Israel.

FOOD Kukler on Lure, Midtown’s Sophisticated Fish House Seared salmon: Carolina gold rice, snow peas, butter poached radish, lemongrass broth, redvein sorrel.

Robby Kukler, co-founder of Fifth Group Restaurants, recently named one of Atlanta’s Most Admired CEOs by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Sophistication blends with the seaside atmosphere of Lure’s interior.

Since I was a teenager, being in this business is all I’ve ever wanted to do.

I like creating experiences that make people happy and I have always had a love for food. From an early age I was growing food in a large garden with my mother and learning to cook with her, influenced by her Southern roots and our family’s Jewish heritage. The realization that I could grow, cook and serve food to people and make them happy was a lightbulb moment.

Robby Kukler, co-founder and partner of Fifth Group Restaurants, was named one of Atlanta’s Most Admired CEOs this summer by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and honored last month.

Kukler, a member of Temple Sinai, grew up in Flint, Mich., where his family celebrated a love of food.

He heads a team of 900 at the Fifth Group Restaurants, which includes Ecco, South City Kitchen, Alma Cocina, The Jaffe: What did you learn training Original el Taco, La Tavola and Bold Catering, in addition to Lure, which we fea- in Switzerland’s École hôtelière de Lausanne? ture here.

Kukler: At 20, I was “Lure has a sophististudying with people from cated yet casual vibe, fluidly all over the world who loved bridging the gap between food and the hospitality a weathered seaside fish business as much as I did. house and a fine dining I learned to appreciate difseafood restaurant,” Kukler ferent cultures, perspectives said. “Guests are comfortand the idea that food brings ably dressed up or down and people together. It assured can enjoy a variety of expeme that I was choosing the riences ranging from a fourright career. course meal to a beer with a Marcia seafood platter. We have In- Caller Jaffe Jaffe: What are Lure’s town regulars for weeknight most popular entrees? dinners or happy hour on Midtown’s best The new seared salmon with Caropatio. Many are here on business or startlina gold rice is especially delicious and ing evenings out before a Fox [Theatre] or the whole local Georgia trout from BramWoodruff [Arts Center] show. There’s allett (Trout) Farms is amazing. ways an eclectic, interesting crowd.”

Jaffe: How often do you “change up” Jaffe: How did you get involved as a the menu? teen in the restaurant business?

Kukler: Our executive chef Mike Kukler: Food has always been a part Manley changes the menu seasonally. of my family’s life. We’ve always gathHe is always looking for new and excitered around a table to be together; but ing ways to push the envelope. He startyou can be sure we wanted to know what ed a Sunday communal dinner series we are eating! When I was 15, my first job this year that includes a one-day special was with a locally-owned restaurant in menu. The menus are fun, regionally or the city I grew up in. I worked there eveven globally inspired, and have been ery summer through high school and in extremely popular, usually selling out my first summer of college doing everyquickly. thing from washing dishes to bartending, cooking, banquet serving, and even was a Jaffe: What’s your favorite Lure valet driver. cocktail?

Grilled whole Bramlett Trout Farms trout with frisee, cracked wheat, mint, sour cherry vinaigrette. Lure is adept at fresh seafood preparation.

Tuna crudo: Top dish, perfectly prepared.

Kukler: La Llamada: Alma Custom Barrel Herradura Reposado, Amaro CioCiaro, agave, Scrappy’s Lime Bitters Jaffe: Any tips for preparing our own seafood at home?

Kukler: Start with the best and freshest seafood you can find and cook it quickly and simply, or find recipes for ceviches or crudos that speak to your favorite flavor profiles and let the seafood shine.

Jaffe: How will Fifth Group grow over the next few years?

Kukler: We are focusing our Atlanta expansion into Buckhead. Ecco Buckhead will open in November and Alma Buckhead will open in 2019. We know the neighborhood is excited about these concepts and we look forward to serving our loyal FGR guests while making some new friends at these new locations.

Jaffe: Where do you like to dine out?

Kukler: I love Buford Highway. …

Some of my favorites are Stone Bowl House for Korean, Northern China Eatery for dumplings, El Rey Del Taco for Mexican. For special occasions, if I’m not at a Fifth Group Restaurant, I’ll try somewhere new ... it’s hard to keep up with all the great new restaurants. One trend that I enjoy that is not genre specific is the growing number of chefs creating and including healthy (or at least healthy-ish) food on their menus. The bottom line is: Atlantans can find great food across the entire metro area, from bars to ball parks, food trucks to food halls, cafes to world class restaurants.

Jaffe: Your favorite recipes?

Kukler: They range from my mother’s stuffed cabbage, my father’s gazpacho to my wife’s beef stew. Approaching Thanksgiving, I will dream of my Nana’s recipe for Southern corn bread dressing. ■

Alaska layer cake.

What we went crazy over at a tasting dinner: Appetizers >Yellow fin tuna, shaved celery watercress, citrus – Perfect jewels of raw cubettes. Can’t say that we have ever had any better east of Hawaii. >Mixed lettuces, grana padano, roasted beets, Meyer lemon vinaigrette – I fawn over well-prepared beets. The grana padona is a hard, slow-ripened semi-fat Italian cheese, with shavings somewhere between mellow and “melt in your mouth.”

Mains >Roasted snapper – Grilled asparagus, carrot puree, fava beans, salmoriglio sauce (thyme, Dijon, lemon). The filet was crisp with a perfectly flaky inside. The carrot puree was sweet, colorful and creamy. >Grilled swordfish – Smooth fennel, shaved fennel, frisee, Castelvetrano olives, chili vinaigrette – The mild fleshy olives stole the dish! The frisee was doused in a tart vinaigrette. Some folks think swordfish is the closet texture to meat.

The chef knows how to use licorice-like fennel, which is in the carrot family.

Desserts >Chocolate layer cake with salted caramel – Rich! >Key lime pie with gingerbread graham crust, blackberry coulis, pretzel benne tuile – We liked that this was really a mini pie, not a wedge. The blackberry and tuile combo added the yin and yang.

Lure is located at 1106 Crescent Ave. Parking was $5 for valet (weekend).

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 19

20 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 21

FOOD

Zafron Chef Teimori Scores with Cultural Flavors

By Marcia Caller Jaffe

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Peter Teimori’s Persian Sandy Springs restaurant has set the pace for designer furnishings, marvelously flavored dishes rich with tradition, and the eponymous spice saffron (zafron in Farsi).

Eating at Zafron on a Saturday night is a convivial, mostly Jewish crowd, confident of consistent melt-in-your-mouth food that one cannot make at home.

Known for his specialty rices and desserts “to die for,” Teimori knows his way around hospitality and food service.

Jaffe: Share your beginnings in Persia. Did you grow up in a home with good cooks?

Teimori: One of my earliest memories in Tehran was baking a pound cake with my older sister. I also have fond memories of a dish called “horack” with quince pears, apples, tomatoes and peppers, flavored with saffron, cinnamon and cardamom.

Chef owner Peter Teimori displays a vegetable kebab and a beautiful jeweled rice presentation. He encourages diners to vary rice side dishes.

My family’s culture did not look at me being a career chef as a good thing versus the requisite doctor or engineer.

Jaffe: Describe your varied background.

A swirl of authentic hummus with rich olive oil.

Teimori: I left Iran during the 1979 revolution. After Queens College, I headed west for a degree at UC Davis in food science. I have trained at two culinary institutes (one in the South of France).

I worked in the edible oil industry and at top-notch hotels all over the world like Saudi Arabia (teaching the use of local flour to make bread). I owned a successful café bakery in Hawaii, and then, in Atlanta, an upscale destination, Picasso on Peachtree. Also, I was VP of operations for the Atlanta Bread Company.

In our current location, we operated Flavors, which became Zafron in 2014.

All meaningful chapters leading to here.

Jaffe: How did you become expert in pastries and align with the Ritz organization?

Teimori: I was content at the (InterContinental) Mark Hopkins in San Francisco when a friend suggested I come to Atlanta to meet with Horst Schulze about a Ritz start up. “Just go and talk,” he said.

So, you can guess, they sold me the job as corporate pastry chef. I opened 57 Ritz Carltons.

Jaffe: What is the magic to your wonderful desserts?

Teimori: Many secrets revealed here: Our ice cream is a traditional Shiraz recipe with pistachio and saffron versus the French and Italian gelato with egg yolks. We use salep, an orchid found high in the mountains in Northeast Iran near the Turkish border. The orchid flour is ground into fine powder and blended into milk. The end result is an elastic-like gummy texture – so delicious.

We also have chocolate mousse made with honey, not sugar.

For the holidays we do a non-dairy decadent flourless cake. Everything here

22 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

A kebab with Zafron basmati rice.

Quinoa chopped kale salad topped with tomatoes, mint and citrus dressing.

The colorful arugula salad with beets and sumac dressing bursts with freshness.

FOOD

House specialty, Persian ice cream triangles over sour cherries, has a stretchy texture (also pictured left).

is gluten-free except bread and soy sauce. Chanukah is a big season for us too.

Jaffe: What is unique about Persian food?

Teimori: We make our own sauces and dressings that you cannot find in a store: homemade pomegranate, sumac and honey apple cider vinaigrette.

A popular appetizer is a spicy minced mango and pepper blend cooked in vinegar and saffron – a recipe from southern Iran in the Persian Gulf.

Our rice is unique. We use a basmati from California aged two years to get a nutty flavor. Then we add pistachio, almonds, orange peelings, orange blossom water and dried cassis (not canned).

Others less educated in Persian cooking use carrots.

That’s the difference.

Our jeweled rice has sour cherries, fava beans, fresh dill.

Zafron’s signature fresh seafood is salmon and sea bass … plus often a special succulent barramundi from Greece.

The vegetable kebab has onion, Japanese eggplant,

red bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, and portabellas flavored with saffron sauce. The open flame over our special grill makes it perfect!

Trio of flavored yogurt accompanies the Zafron special with mango, hearts of palm and chilis. Very spicy in a good way! The dish on the right is brought to all diners.

Jaffe: Has the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center affected your business?

Teimori: You bet! Many of the events just across the street are sold out. We see customers start at 5:30 to 6:15 to make an 8 p.m. show.

Jaffe: Do you see any new trends in dining? How often do you change the menu?

Teimori: Our food is semi-traditional. Every day we take it apart and put it back together. Maybe we have done new menus four times in the last few years. Food is always changing, even in presentation. Next, I hope to introduce clay pot vessels.

Jaffe: Where do you dine in Atlanta?

Teimori: Antico Pizza, bartaco, Legal Sea Food (downtown) … I’m all over the city. Truthfully the best pizza I make at home! ■

A Zafron aqua banquette makes for a cool interior.

The restaurant also has a garden room for family occasions like pre-bar mitzvah dinners for up to 70 guests.

Here’s what we went crazy over: Appetizers > Zafron Special – Diced mango, hearts of palm, eggplant, hot chili, herbs – It’s a contest between the sweet mango and the chilis where both win. Happy taste explosion. > Mirza Ghasemi – Smoky rich blend of eggplant, tomato, onion and garlic > Kashk Bademjoon – Oven-roasted eggplant, mint and fried onion, cream of whey topping > Baked goat milk feta cheese – Served with pistachio compote. This is the richest, most divine combo ever! The pistachios are sweet and plump. Careful, served steaming hot. > Fabulous Salads: Kale, arugula, Mediterranean, quinoa – All sparkling fresh and designed like an artist’s palette. Opt for the sumac dressing. Note: Every guest gets a complimentary plate of walnuts, feta, olives, radish, fresh mint and tarragon.

Mains > Sea Bass – Fire-roasted lily white rectangles served with fava beans and dill rice. A rare five-star dish for me!

Teimori cautions that sea bass may no longer be Chilean.

Australia and India are more reliable suppliers. > Veg Kebabs – Large chunks charbroiled with special “secret sauce.” The sumac bread is nicely textured and unique. > Khoresh Karafs (Vegetarian stew) – Artichoke, portabellas, celery, herbs, basmati rice > Dessert – Shiraz (Persian) Turkish ice cream triangles balance well in sour cherry sauce. ■ ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 23

FOOD

Sephardic Vegan Cooks with Passion and Skill

By Marcia Caller Jaffe Wise beyond her 20 years, Maya Ferguson grew up surrounded by family entrenched in Egyptian delicacies. After a childhood in East Atlanta and bat mitzvah at Congregation Or VeShalom, Ferguson headed off to the University of Georgia to study ecology and anthropology with an eye on a master’s in public health and a career in disease ecology/ environmental public health.

“I plan to have a strong platform to share my vegan lifestyle through restaurant consulting and cookbook writing,” she said. “Once people see that vegan food is not just tofu and beans, they realize that it’s delicious and get past the initial shock of veganism. I cook food that is simple, nutritious and inexpensive.”

Learn more about Maya’s use of herbs like sumac, experience in Israeli farming, and compassion for the planet.

Jaffe: How did you get enthralled with the love of food?

Ferguson: My mom is a great cook, so I grew up in the kitchen. At 10, I became obsessed with baking and cooking. I was interested in all parts of food: gardening; learning about edible plants; reading about different food cultures and traditions; and the food industry. As I got older, I became interested in the environmental impact of food production.

Soon, I was cooking meals for family and friends.

Jaffe: What did you learn in Israel?

Ferguson: I worked with my sister on an organic farm in north Israel, surrounded by others who ate well and had access to what grew on the farm, like fresh plums, figs, passion fruit, berries, olives and sprouts. I had an incredible time exploring Israel and eating amazing

Maya’s Yummy Recipes: Cashew Mac and “Cheeze” 4 cups water Vegan cook Maya Ferguson grew up with Egyptian recipes and an early passion for food production and healthy ingredients.

vegan food. Israel actually has one of the world’s highest percentages of vegans per capita in the world. Tel Aviv has a thriving vegan food scene. I planned my time in Tel Aviv around eating at vegan restaurants. So many traditional Jewish recipes from all over the world are already vegan because they tend to omit milk and meat.

Jaffe: Outline a vegan lifestyle.

Ferguson: We abstain from the use of all animal products. Vegans do not eat any animal products, including meat, fish, dairy, eggs or honey. We do not wear clothing with animal skin, fur or hair.

People choose veganism to reduce the suffering of animals, benefit one’s health and to make a smaller environmental impact. There are also a lot of misconceptions about vegan diets like, “Where do you get protein?” “Don’t you need dairy for calcium?” In fact, many vegetables, grains, seeds and nuts have just as much protein as the same serving size of meat.

Greens typically have more calcium than dairy products.

A vegan diet has a diminished impact on greenhouse gas emissions, land usage, deforestation, water usage and pollution. Animals living on these farms almost always have miserable lives. A lot of people buy grass-fed, free range or kosher meats thinking that they are

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1 heaping cup raw cashews 1/ 3 cup cassava flour or tapioca starch 1/ 3 cup (or to taste) nutritional yeast flakes 2 tablespoons (or to taste) lemon juice Maya’s chocolate cake is topped with whipped coconut cream, fresh mulberries and chocolate ganache drizzle.

more ethical. But after researching the operation of these large-scale farms and slaughterhouses, we see that these animals are living a life of suffering and enduring a painful death.

Jaffe: What do you see as food trends?

Ferguson: There is always some new, trendy fad diet that is often restrictive and unrealistic for anyone to sustain. I focus on eating a mostly whole foods, plant-based diet that is actually realistic to maintain, unlike trendy low carb, low fat, paleo, superfood, fully raw or keto diets. I encourage people to do their own research. There are many good documentaries that explore these ideas including “What the Health,” “Cowspiracy,” “Forks Over Knives,” “Fast Food Nation,” and “Food, Inc.,” and studies showing the benefits of being vegan.

Jaffe: How do you use spices and herbs?

Ferguson: My current favorite seasoning is sumac, which I discovered in Israel. Sumac is sour but also has a more complex, warm taste. I cook a lot of Egyptian food and have found that sumac is the perfect addition to tomatobased stews and salads. I also add something fresh to dishes after I cook them – a squeeze of lemon or lime or fresh chopped herbs like cilantro, parsley or dill.

Jaffe: How would you describe your own talent?

Ferguson: My foundation of skills in the kitchen allows me to be more inventive when coming up with vegan recipes.

One of my favorite parts about vegan cooking is that there is much left to be discovered. There are many versatile ingredients like cassava flour, cashews, wild mushrooms, seaweed and nutritional yeast. With baking, most recipes use eggs; vegans can experiment by using substitutes like flax or chia-based “eggs,” applesauce, banana or store-bought egg replacer. These substitutes are just as delicious and cause less harm than using eggs. ■

Blend all the ingredients until completely smooth. If using a weaker blender, strain after blending to obtain a smoother sauce. Place the mixture into a saucepan and cook on medium heat. Stir until you reach desired thickness. Adjust seasoning accordingly and stir into 1 lb. of cooked pasta.

Easy Coconut Lentil Soup 4 cups water 1 cup red lentils 2 tablespoons coconut oil 2 teaspoons cumin seeds 2 teaspoons mustard seeds 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 tablespoon garam masala ½ cup finely diced onion 1 can coconut milk Place a pot on medium heat and add the coconut oil. Once melted, add the mustard and cumin seeds and cook until toasted – just until they start to pop and smell fragrant. Add turmeric, garam masala and onion, cooking until the onion becomes translucent. Add the coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes until mixture starts to thicken slightly. Next add the water and lentils and boil for about 30 minutes or until the lentils cook. Season with salt to taste and serve with a garnish of chopped cilantro or scallions. Add veggies like chopped carrots or sweet potatoes to pot when you add the onion.

Egyptian Stewed Okra (Bamia) ¼ cup olive oil 1 large white onion, sliced into thin strips 3 cloves garlic, finely diced 1 tablespoon ground cumin 2 large tomatoes, diced 1 ½ pounds of okra ¼ cup tomato paste 2 cups water Add the olive oil and onion to pan and cook on medium-high heat until the onions are golden brown. Add the garlic and cumin and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Next, add the chopped tomatoes and cook, lowering the heat to medium-low. Stir often and continue to cook until the tomatoes soften, which will take about 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, water and mix until the sauce is well-combined. Next, add the okra and simmer until it is cooked but still firm. This will take between 20 and 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of sumac. ■

FOOD

Hitzig Waxes Sentimental about Jewish Comfort Food

By Marcia Caller Jaffe The High Holidays are often times that we recall our beloved bubbie’s recipes and splurge away from healthy “rabbit food.” Terri Hitzig, who is in the process of marketing a Jewish home-based comfort food business, recalls her Hungarian grandmother Elsie’s traditional cooking through memories and the use of her ancient meat grinder.

“I believe for most of us, we started cooking seriously when we left home and started our own household. Cooking has since become an important connection to my Jewish background. There is a comfort factor in making traditional Ashkenazi dishes of those who came before me. Although I have many holiday specialties, I’ve been told my chopped liver is just like ‘their grandmother’s.’ When I am making chopped liver, I always feel Elsie’s spirit and love with me.”

Hitzig specifies “tradition” through details such as insisting on saltine crackers as an accompaniment to chopped liver. This old-fashioned soda cracker was

considered a “stomach settling” home remedy when it appeared in Webster’s Dictionary in 1906. Note her use of mayo for moisture. In many households, it was schmaltz.

Hitzig Recipes: Grandmother Elsie’s Chopped Liver 1 pound chicken livers 1 onion, chopped coarsely Canola oil 2 tablespoons to ½ cup mayonnaise Salt and pepper to taste Sauté chicken livers in oil, over medium heat. Livers are done when firm and brown. Season as they are cooking.

Remove liver and add onion to pan. Add extra oil if needed, and sauté until translucent. Remove onion from skillet and combine with cooked liver. Process in a meat grinder or food processor until a roughly-textured paste forms. Add mayo, salt and pepper as needed. Chill in fridge.

Serve with saltine crackers.

Coconut Chocolate Ganache Pie 2/3 cup all purpose flour 5 1/2 cups shredded coconut 1 can sweetened condensed milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract Filling: 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup heavy whipping cream Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 10-inch tart pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine flour and coconut. Stir in sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla and almond extracts. Press into bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Press firmly.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until edges are golden. Cool completely.

For filling, place heavy whipping cream in double boiler. Heat until small bubbles are visible. Add chocolate chips.

Let sit for about 10 to 15 seconds, then whisk until smooth. Pour into crust. Let sit at room temperature, then place in fridge. Store covered. ■

Terri Hitzig proudly holds a tray of her Hungarian grandmother Elsie's chopped liver, garnished with leafy greens and served with saltines.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 25

KEEPING IT KOSHER Jewish Joke of the Week

Chocolate Pudding Pie with Nutty Chocolate Crunch Cook and prep: 50 minutes Servings: 10 Contains: Gluten, peanuts, nuts, soy Preference: Parve Difficulty: Easy Occasion: Shabbat, Purim, Shavuot, Sukkot Diet: Vegan

And G-d Created Israel On the sixth day, G-d turned to the angels and said: “Today I am going to create a land called Israel. It will be a land of mountains full of snow, sparkling lakes, forests full of all kinds of trees, high cliffs overlooking sandy beaches with an abundance of sea life.”

G-d continued, “I shall make the land rich so as to make the inhabitants prosper. I shall call these inhabitants Israeli, and they shall be known to most people on earth.”

“But HaShem,” asked the angels, “don’t you think you are being too generous to these Israelis?”

“Not really,” G-d replied, “just wait and see the neighbors I am going to give them.” ■ Joke provided by David Minkoff www.awordinyoureye.com

A creamy chocolate filling nestled between a chocolate chip cookie crust and a nutty chocolaty crunch.

Crust: 1 ½ cups chocolate chip cookie crumbs About 1 tablespoon oil Filling: 2 packages instant chocolate pudding 2 cups vanilla Gefen Soy Milk 2 tablespoons chocolate liqueur One 8-ounce container Gefen Non-Dairy Topping 1/4 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar Garnish: 3/4 cup caramelized peanuts One 3 1/2 ounce bar Elite Bittersweet Chocolate Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together cookie crumbs and oil in a small bowl, until all the crumbs are well coated. Adjust amounts according to taste. Press into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Meanwhile, prepare filling: Empty chocolate pudding mixes into a large bowl.

Pour in soy milk and whisk together until smooth. Let sit 10 minutes until thickened.

Add liqueur and gently mix. Take 1 1/2 cups of the pudding mixture and pour over crust. Place in freezer until firm.

Place remaining filling in fridge.

Whip non-dairy whipped topping with

powdered sugar and vanilla sugar. Place in fridge until ready to use.

Remove pie from freezer. Mix half of the whipped topping with the remaining pudding mixture until well-combined. Pour over the pie and return to freezer until firm.

Smear remaining half of the whip over the top. Lightly touch all over with the back of a spoon to create peaks (as in a meringue).

For garnish, place chocolate and peanuts in a food processor with the knife attachment and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle over the top of the pie and return to freezer.

Before serving, remove from freezer and leave at room temperature for an hour.

It should be frozen but thawed.

Note: You can use your own chocolate chip cookie dough. If doing so, press a thick layer on the bottom of the pie plate and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden. Also, you can use eight small peanut brittle bars (about 6 ounces) in place of the caramelized peanuts and follow the same instructions.■ Source: Family Table by Mishpacha Magazine. Recipe by Brynie Greisman with photography by Daniel Lailah, styled by Michal Leibowitz.

Yiddish Word of the Week di ganze megillah ‫ – די גאנצע מגילה‬the whole nine yards; the long version; a diatribe. Ganze ‫גאנצע‬, from the German meaning whole. Megillah ‫מגילה‬, Hebrew for a book or a letter, which were in a scroll format in biblical time. From the Hebrew root ‫ גל"ל‬g.l.l., to roll. Five of the Hebrew Bible books are called Megillah (“The Five Scrolls,” namely Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther and Song of Songs). On Purim we read the book of Esther from beginning to end – the whole megillah – which is tiresome for some. From there it came into English to denote a full treatment of something that could use trimming.

Example: What’s a nudnik*? Someone who, when asked, “How are you doing?” tells the di ganze megillah. *Nudnik ‫נודניק‬, Yiddish from Slavic origin: a bore, irritating person.

Rabbi Joab Eichenberg-Eilon, PhD, teaches Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic at the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies, eTeacher Group Ltd. 26 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Heller’s trademarked glass guitars frame the family fireplace under a set of Diane’s happy flowers.

The flanking custom golden olive wood panels were designed by Israel Peljovich (Arts-NLaminates).

Photos by Duane Stork unless otherwise noted // Diane and Paul Heller transferred their love of music into his art, creating illuminated 3-D glass with instruments … especially guitars. Note the saxophone on the wall where Paul uses real instrument pieces in his sculptures. A Heller sailboat is on the left.

Chai Style Art

Pop Art That Makes You Smile A

towering 6-foot-7-inch glass artist, Paul Heller front entrance; sailboats portend a breeze in the great specializes in big pieces of 3-D art. His home room; his Star of David clock is irresistible; and his studio is filled with fiber optics, plexiglass, musical instrument creations set a performolds, resin, lighting components, power mance stage. tools, a bandsaw and equipment for cutTo Diane’s dismay, Paul has taken over ting glass. “I create art that makes people many areas of their home as his sprawlsmile,” said Heller. He proved that it’s never ing glass studio. Apart from the basement too late to start serious endeavors outside storage area, glass and tools can be found one’s comfort zone by reinventing himself on the ping pong table, and crates of glass after retiring from the hotel business at occupy much of the garage. The studio is a the age of 50. After five years of being an hotbed of creativity and technology, conadjunct business professor at area Atlanta stantly pushing the limits of what is possiuniversities, Heller poured his heart into Marcia ble in glass. Who else would make his own becoming a professional glass artist. bowtie out of reflective, mirrored glass?

Caller Jaffe His wife, Diane, a top fundraiser for Illuminated glass art creation is Hellthe local Susan G. Komen breast cancer research foun- er’s third act. No such thing as retirement. dation, is a registered dietitian and a member of the board of directors of the Academy of Nutrition and Jaffe: You began in the hotel business?

Dietetics. They have three sons in their late 20s, all of Heller: Atlanta was a progressive, growing city whom like to have input into his work. to be a hotelier with multiple locations. I enjoyed the Their contemporary home is replete with Paul’s art broad challenges of wearing lots of “hats:” operations, and intriguing 3-D objects that are typically colorful or sales, human resources, renovations, administration, metallic, in a wide range of mediums. Paul’s German as well as the real-estate and financial side. My favorshepherd creation “guards” and illuminates the home’s ites were satisfied customers and mentoring employees.

Heller’s 3-D German shepherd (left) “guards” the home’s front door and can be seen at the I.D.EA. Gallery in Chamblee.

Heller spent time this summer in the Hamptons, New York, displaying his interpretation of the historic Montauk lighthouse which was built in 1796 (right, courtesy of Paul Heller).

There were many success stories of employees starting at the front desk and rising to general manager. One employee got a $10,000 reward for capturing a Top Ten Most Wanted person in the hotel courtyard with armed FBI agents. We lodged all sorts of guests from Cirque du Soleil performers to [actor] Morgan Freeman.

Jaffe: How did you transition to a career in education?

Heller: I always wanted to teach at the university level. I joke that as my first son left for college, I got 30 students to replace him. I loved turning the “light bulbs” on in students’ minds. My objective in teaching business courses was to promote creative, resourceful and persistent problem-solving skills through real-world mini-cases. Teaching is a license to learn. I would reach out to industry thought leaders to help develop lecture and case materials. I taught courses including social media and search engine optimization, marketing management, hospitality, corporate finance and information systems at Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Mercer MBA, Kennesaw State and Oglethorpe.

Jaffe: I see you as a high-energy technical genius.

Describe your artistic style.

Heller: Contemporary with hints of pop art, abATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 27

ARTS

Heller designed these gargantuan goblets and wine bottle customized for various restaurants and cocktail lounges.

Courtesy of Paul Heller

Heller relished posing with country singer Miranda Lambert after he created an illumination of her own guitar.

This full-size Heller creation epitomizes his jammin’ feel for rock and roll.

stract elements and intrigue in every piece.

It is a bit outside the box in terms of categorization, as it includes a combination of mosaic, stained glass and electronics. Unlike a stained-glass artist, my craft is done without leading. Like mosaic artists, I mount glass to a form; however, I use much larger pieces of glass and clear adhesives to allow light to penetrate the finished piece. I have developed proprietary techniques to enhance glass coloration.

I’m 50 percent a glass artist, 40 percent a carpenter, and 10 percent an electronics engineer. I create the custom 3-D forms with plexiglass, wood and fiberglass, requiring a multitude of carpentry skills. The illumination is accomplished with low-voltage and long-lasting LEDs. Creating cityscape and landscape 3-D murals are my most recent fascinations. The 3-D-featured elements of the murals extend toward the viewer and create a different experience when seen from varying angles. Re28 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

cently-completed murals include: the Washington Monument with Cherry Blossoms, New York City with the Statute of Liberty (and iconic buildings), and a golf course landscape. I’m looking forward to a major corporation or museum commissioning something in Atlanta.

Jaffe: How do you generate ideas?

Heller: My first piece was conceived while taking my only art class: “Mosaics” at the Spruill Center for the Arts. Diane and I had just returned from a singer-songwriter festival and had been immersed in music. I made a guitar, and weeks later it ended up in a recording studio in Nashville. Music inspired my initial pieces, including guitars, saxophones, pianos, a five-piece drum set, and a cello. What I like most is creatively collaborating with buyers or design professionals to inspire my illuminated sculptures.

Past collaborations have resulted in 3-D dogs, sailboats, and super-sized wine bottles and

Courtesy of Paul Heller

In addition to this inviting set of clubs, Heller has done a larger landscape of a golf course.

ARTS

Photos by Duane Stork

Heller is inspired by monuments and famous street scenes. Note the detail in his use of cherry blossoms.

glasses. I exhibited in the Hamptons in early August, which inspired two new pieces: the Montauk Lighthouse and a 6-foot swordfish. I made an 8-foot-long illuminated guitar for a music venue in Nashville.

Heller’s USA illuminated sail boat creation shares a corner with a scene of Jerusalem the couple bought in Sfat, Israel.

I can make anything based on what a client is interested in, including customizing coloration and scale. Many art objects over time become unnoticed in a residence or office. Illuminated art is very different as the viewer’s attention is captured from the vivid colors radiating.

Jaffe: Where can we see your work?

Heller: They are for sale at I.D.E.A. Gallery in Chamblee, drop by my East Cobb studio or visit my website, PaulHellerArt.com. My favorite creations are from collaborating with clients. I exhibit

The Hellers use rectangular and square shapes throughout the house. This black metal staircase railing was transferred from their previous home.

my work at a combination of industry design and hospitality shows and highend art shows which have me trucking around the country to places like Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Chicago, and Pier 94 in Manhattan. ■

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 29

ARTS

Podber Creates Modern, Often Giant Art

By Marcia Caller Jaffe A new generation artist with a heart, 29-year-old Adam Podber is making waves with his hip, colorful murals and large-scale projects, including pieces along the Atlanta BeltLine and at the Coca-Cola Roxy theater in SunTrust Park.

Podber’s story comes from a passionate place where he was diagnosed as a young boy with cancer. It propelled him into a career of art and paying it forward to help others through art therapy. Podber, who attended The Epstein School, Woodward Academy and The Weber School, is now featured as a volunteer on the website of Camp Sunshine for children with cancer. “I looked at some of the counselors … who have been there for such a long time, and thought, ‘That’s going to be me.’” Podber made good on his pledge to help others.

With his fine art degree in industrial design from Savannah College of Art and Design, Adam’s brightly colored modern art can be seen on walls 150 feet by 20 feet, at art galleries, and private corporations wanting to appeal to “out of the

Artist Adam Podber is surrounded by works in progress at his studio at MET Atlanta on the West End.

box thinkers” with his stimulating street vibe.

Jaffe: As a child you had health challenges which impacted you.

Podber: At 9, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Before that I was super athletic. After the chemo and

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medications, I couldn’t be as active and turned to ceramics and ultimately selftherapy through art.

Jaffe: How would you describe your talent?

Podber: I lie in bed at night while I’m calm, and ideas come to me. When I slow down, I can envision murals and eye-catching designs. I lean towards tangerine, hot lime and bright blue colors with the goal of being modern and exciting with attention to detail.

Jaffe: How did you come up with the name Hot Grits for your design firm?

Podber: When I was in Savannah doing metal sculpture, I liked listening to the rapper Camoflauge’s “Hot Grits.”

Jaffe: Who are some of your mostmemorable clients?

Nancy Kwan: Paper, spray paint, epoxy resin, 12-by-24 wood panel. Private commission.

Podber: The Roxy theater at SunTrust Park was one of my favorite projects. I also create smaller studio art for galleries, commissions and private collections.

Jaffe: How do you go about executing a large-scale project?

Podber: I start with mock-up drawings and computer renderings. Then sketches go on the wall, aerosol spray paint and house paint. The end result is bright, original and stunning!

Jaffe: What’s your involvement with the BeltLine?

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One of Podber’s favorites at the Coca-Cola Roxy theater: Latexbased paint and spray paint, 16 feet by 40 feet.

ARTS

Adam Podber working on his motorcycle mural: 20 feet by 60 feet at Boulevard Drive and Edgewood Avenue.

Podber: Atlanta’s BeltLine is really cool. My studio is on Metropolitan Parkway, which is near the extension to the Westside (Trail) BeltLine. My work has been in the Facet Gallery and Kai Lin Art. My first BeltLine project was a 2015 sculpture.

I did a large-scale sign for a gym, which required a lot of perseverance.

One of my most difficult projects was a mural on Edgewood and Boulevard, a happening area. It was during the coldest winter, and I was outdoors alone for days on an old-fashioned, shaky ladder. It was a nightmare with equipment, time, the large scale, and the client – seemed like it all was working against me.

Various spots are open to street art.

There are weird “power grabs” on the BeltLine in choosing to paint over other people’s art. There is normally an understanding of respect. Someone painted over an artist’s work, which had been there a decade. He/she got a lot of negative press for doing that.

Jaffe: You believe in giving back to the community?

Podber: Camp Twin Lakes (for children with serious illness and life challenges) and Camp Sunshine are important to me personally. I was a camper from age 10 to 18. I still volunteer as a summer arts and crafts counselor. I executed a large mural there for families. One of my favorites was a large kite project at Twin Lakes.

I am also involved with ColorATL, a nonprofit with other artists creating a coloring book exhibit.

I enjoyed leading projects with Georgia State and Kennesaw State Hillels, where we did hamsas and stars of David stencils on t-shirts.

Jaffe: Where do you see yourself in years to come?

Podber: I want to travel to paint largescale projects like the sides of buildings. I want to continue my studio work, exposure in galleries and being employed in the entire Southeast. Follow me on social media …

I’m all over Instagram! ■

Canvas Study 04: Aerosol spray paint on canvas, 16-by-32.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 31

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ARTS

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Photo courtesy of Donna Kreuger/dk Gallery

Flora Rosefsky speaks about her work, “S’chach,” at dk Gallery in Marietta.

Atlanta artist Flora Rosefsky found inspiration for her newest work in the transitory covering of the roof of the Sukkah, the so-called s’chach that is often made of leaves and twigs.

But her new piece, highlighted Sunday at dk Gallery on the Marietta Square, was constructed, instead, of strips of newspaper clippings, torn bits of diary pages and other examples of what she calls ephemera, texts taken from everyday life.

“It’s a very conceptual piece,” she explained. “For the paper strips that represent the roof of the Sukkah, I took my father-in-law’s diary that he created before he died, and I chose clippings of day-to-day Bob things that were going on Bahr around the world. Life happens so quickly. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

Rosefsky’s large-framed piece, which measures 3 feet by 5 feet, was created against a sky-blue background, to give the impression of the light filtering through the impermanent roof of the temporary structure as glimpsed from below.

“The s’chach has to be open just enough that one can see the sky above, to remind us who is really protecting us,” she said. “I like this holiday so much because, as you sit in the Sukkah, you get the feeling that this is a holiday that’s very spiritual. I feel the sense of a G-d looking down on me.”

Rosefsky often uses nothing more than a pair of scissors and a stack of colored paper sheets in her art. In this piece, she used paper with some connection to her personal history or the history of recent times.

She meant the work not only to symbolize the flimsy nature of the outdoor structure, but to call attention to the fleeting nature of our physical existence, our

Rosefsky’s “Ritual Series” includes a Sukkah.

relationships, and what we create in our everyday lives.

“Many of us think 'I’m never going to move; I’ll never leave my house,'” she said, “but we may experience financial disasters, divorce, or other changes. Our homes are more temporary than we realize. As you get older, as I have, you realize that it is the relationships we have with our friends and family that are the most important; it’s not the physical buildings we live in.”

Also included in the exhibit, “Faith & Hope,” are a series of Rosefsky’s works that commemorate the events of the Jewish holidays during the rest of the year. There are cut paper representations of 15 rituals that are a regular part of Jewish life.

In her short talk Sunday, she spoke about the role of the shofar in the justcompleted High Holidays and described the importance of ritual items in the observance of Shabbat. Her work, she feels, gives form and color to the restless time travel in which we all participate, in some way.

She included a quote from Michael Strassfeld, who helped create the best-selling series, “The Jewish Catalog,” beginning in 1973.

“In our lives, we are all ceaseless time travelers,” Strassfeld wrote, “as we move from moment to moment, event to event.

The Jewish people have developed a map for traveling in time. Called the ‘festival cycle,’ this map has its origin in Torah and has continued to develop and change, even in our era.” ■ “Faith & Hope” runs through Saturday, Sept. 29 at dk Gallery, 25 West Park Square, Marietta, 30060. For more about Rosefsky, visit www.florarosefsky.com.

Waycross’ Jewish Small-Town Start For much of the 20th century, Jewish dows for Waycross Hebrew Center, delife in the Waycross, Ga., area – including picting “all the traditional symbols,” he Blackshear, Alma and Baxley – revolved says proudly.

Sandy Springs resident Felicia Berne around family and the Waycross Hebrew was born in Baxley in 1964, about 45 minCenter. The Conservative synagogue was utes from Waycross, also surrounded by built in 1952. Few Atlantans originally family. Her mother’s sister from those small towns still and brother both brought have relatives in the area, up their families in the same but Waycross Hebrew Cenneighborhood, she recalls ter continues to connect fondly. “Now there’s one them to each other and their cousin and her daughter vivid memories of growing left, although I still stay in up Jewish in small, rural touch with Al Jacobson.” AlGeorgia towns. though her mother’s parents Al Jacobson’s father owned a retail store, Fincame to Waycross in 1924, Jan kelstein’s, her father was in the same year a synagogue Jaben-Eilon the insurance business. Like was opened in a rented hall. many men, he took his turn By the 1940s, there were 48 as president of Waycross Hebrew Center.

Jewish families involved with the syna“I remember him bleaching the steps begogue. However, by the time Waycross fore the High Holidays to make it as atHebrew Center was opened, there were tractive as possible,” she says. probably only 20 Jewish families left, Waycross Hebrew Center is a oneJacobson recalls. Although that number story, little white building, says Paula has fluctuated – there were 24 families in Schwartz, who was born in the city but 1968 – today, he notes, there is “one Jewish now lives in East Cobb.

“Everyone was lady in Waycross, one in Alma and only very close.

We had a minyan every Frimy wife and I in Blackshear, not countday night.

If we needed someone for ing those in nursing homes who don’t a minyan, they’d call my father, who know what’s going on.” Friday night services usually draw six or seven Jews, with owned Kenwin Shops – once traded on maybe a similar number of non-Jews who the American Stock Exchange – and he’d go over there. I remember standing up also attend “just because they enjoy it.”

Those numbers, however, don’t on the bimah doing a little production of reflect the support Waycross Hebrew Chanukah songs,” she reminisces.

But Schwartz’s memories of WayCenter still garners from former congrecross stopped suddenly when she was 14. gants. “We have people who send in anHer parents decided to move the family to nual dues from all over the country, from Atlanta so that Schwartz and her youngArizona, New York and Florida. One er sister could grow up among more Jews. person moved away 80 years ago,” says “We were distraught.

Growing up in WayJacobson. Among those dues payers is cross was wonderful.”

The trauma of the Jacobson’s nephew, Lonnie Cooper, chairmove was lessened, however, because she man of Cooper Holdings, Inc. in Atlanta. had attended Camp Blue Star in North “I still send them a nice-sized check every Carolina and discovered several camp year,” he says. Since the synagogue was friends who lived in Atlanta. paid for years ago, the dues cover the upNot everyone with ties to Waycross keep. actually grew up there. Rich Luskin, now Cooper, who was born in Waycross in Lilburn, moved to Waycross in 1996 in 1954, recalls sitting next to his grandfa“for a business and religious reason,” he ther at services every Friday night. “Peosays.

At the time Luskin, an accountant, ple at the synagogue were committed to lived in Selma, Ala., and went to Wayit. Everyone felt like family,” he says. “We cross to interview for a job as a chief fihad an obligation to be there for minyan. nancial officer.

“I went to services Friday It forged such a purpose for us.” night and the experience decided for me.

He recalls growing up “surrounded I felt like I was home.

I felt comfortable. by strong family leadership. We were The people were great.

I met Al (Jacobson) well grounded, very closely knit. Every that night.

I took the job and lived there Sunday night we ate as a family – uncles, about 14 years.” aunts, cousins and the greatest grandHe may no longer live in Waycross, parents in the world.” His grandfather but Waycross still lives in him. Indeed, owned one of the many Jewish-owned reJacobson says, “We call Rich Luskin if tail stores in downtown Waycross. we need someone to do a funeral or bar Cooper’s mother created the magmitzvah.” nificent three-paneled stained-glass win-

COMMUNITY Ken Silberstein, third from left, is the owner of Kenwin Shops, which was on the American Stock Exchange.

(Left) Paula Schwartz and her sister, Michele Meltzer, were Waycross residents before the family moved to Atlanta.

“I’m the rabbi with a small ‘r’,” Luskin says, laughing. As a young man, Luskin says he never received the calling to become a rabbi even though he’d conducted services even prior to becoming a bar mitzvah. He says his voracious studying and experience gave him the opportunity to lead services and become a part of Waycross Hebrew Center. “Now I think I should have done this for a living.” Asked how often he returns to Waycross, he jokes, “I still have a key, so you never know when I’ll show up.”

According to Jacobson, Waycross was more liberal than most small towns in South Georgia. Jews were well-accepted. When his father died in 1970, “every store in town closed for the funeral.”

Back then, Jewish-owned stores closed for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and “the other stores never advertised sales during the holidays out of respect.”

Once a year, the Morris Jacobson Brotherhood Award is given to a member of the community in memory of his father. “It makes the front page of the lo-

Stained glass window at the Waycross Hebrew Center.

cal newspaper,” Jacobson notes. “A few years ago, a 104-year-old black man won the award for doing so much for the community.”

Jacobson, who lives nine miles from Waycross Hebrew Center – “I’m the closest one” – still fills the roles of secretary and treasurer of the synagogue, which remains Conservative and retains a kosher kitchen. He continues a 67-year tradition of sending out a quarterly newsletter keeping former congregants, as far away as Israel, informed, and obviously, connected to their memories. ■ This is the third in a series of articles about Jewish life in small towns, sponsored

by Atlanta-based Jewish Community Legacy Project. Watch for the next story about Atlanta Jews who grew up in small Georgia towns.

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CALENDAR CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s Nosh to Meet You – From 12 to 1 p.m. Three locations: Your Pie Perimeter, 123 Perimeter Center West, Atlanta; Jason’s Deli Buckhead, 3330 Piedmont Road NE, Atlanta; and Fresh to Order Midtown, 860 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta. Meet with fellow young Jewish professionals in your work neighborhood. Free.

Vezot Hab'rachah Friday, September 28, 2018 light candles at 7:08 p.m.

Saturday, September 29, 2018 Shabbat ends at 8:01 p.m.

Shemini Atzeret Sunday, September 30, 2018 light candles at 7:05 p.m.

Simchat Torah Monday, October 1, 2018 light candles after 7:59 p.m.

Tuesday, October 2, 2018 holiday ends at 7:57 p.m.

Bereishit Friday, October 5, 2018 light candles at 6:58 p.m.

Saturday, October 6, 2018 Shabbat ends at 7:52 p.m.

6 to 12, free for children 5 and under. For more information, www.bit. ly/2QanXEa.

WorldHistorybyaJew–TorahDaySchool of Atlanta, 1985 Lavista Road NE, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Lecture series. This week’s topic is “The Middle East in the Era of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob” by Seth Fleishman. Free. For more information, cayatlanta@gmail.com.

AJA Family Pizza in the Sukkah: ECD through 12th grade – Atlanta Jewish Academy, 5200 Northland Drive, Atlanta, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free.

For more information, www.atljewishacademy.org/.

JumpSpark Presents: Applying & Paying for College – Congregation B’nai Torah, 700 Mount Vernon Highway NE, Sandy Springs, from 7 to 9 p.m. A seminar and interactive panel hosted by JumpSpark and JELF – Jewish Educational Loan Fund – for teens and their parents to learn tips and tools to successfully apply for college.

To register and for more information, www.jumpsparkatl.org/program/applying-college/.

Pasta in the Hut – Congregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Shabbat services followed by a pasta dinner in the Sukkah. $10 per adult, $7 per child. For more information, visit www.bethshalom.net.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

Congregation Shearith Israel Shabbat in the Sukkah – 1180 University Drive NE, Atlanta, from 5:45 to 7:30 p.m. Bring your own dish to share.

Free. For more information and to register, www.signupgenius.com/ go/5080e4aacac2da5fe3-shabbat2.

Questions, contact Lindsay Feinberg, reception@shearithisrael.com.

3rd Annual Bluegrass Shabbat – Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Avenue NW, Atlanta, from 6 to 8 p.m. Kosher BBQ and bluegrass tunes from The Cohen Brothers Band. $15 per adult, $12 ages 34 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

Kehillah. Free. For more information, bethshalomatlanta.net or call, 770-3995300.

JNFuture Presents Shabbat in the Sukkah: Featuring Guest Speaker Simon Schwartz – Congregation

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

Sukkah Fest: Etz Chaim’s Fall Music Festival – Congregation Etz Chaim, 1190 Indian Hills Parkway NE, Marietta, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The festival will feature music from Mr. Michael and The Cohen Brothers Band, a children’s petting zoo, train, bounce house and food from Keith’s Corner BBQ Kosher Food Truck. Tickets will be available for purchase for food and beverages. For more information, www. etzchaim.net/sukkahfest.

Anshi S’Fard, 1324 North Highland Avenue NE, Atlanta, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Share a Shabbat meal with a community of young professionals and supporters of Jewish National Fund. $18 general admission, complimentary for JNFuture members. For more information, contact Nick Contino, ncontino@ jnf.org or call, 404-236-8990 x 852.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

Prospective Member Shabbat – Congregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet Rabbi Zimmerman and other members of the

Free and open to the public. For more information and to register, www.sukkotfarmtotablefestival.com/register.

Special

Sukkah – Congregation Shearith Israel, 1180 University Drive, Atlanta, from 1 to 3 p.m. Annual Special Sukkah for special needs adults and their caregivers, a Sukkot meal celebrating the fall harvest festival. Free.

For more information, contact Arlene Koslow, arlene@koslowlaw.com or call 404-259-7391

Bearing Witness Featuring Murray Lynn – William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, 1440 Spring Street NW, Atlanta, from 2 to 5 p.m. This series features Holocaust survivors, all Atlanta residents, who recall their experiences during the Holocaust. The Breman Museum is pleased to offer free admission to the Bearing Witness series through a generous grant from the Sara Giles Moore Foundation. For more information, www.bit.ly/2CJcZmv.

At the Mikvah with Hadassah – MACom, Metro Atlanta Community Mikvah & Congregation B’nai Torah, 700 Mt. Vernon Highway NE, Atlanta. Tour and snacks in the front building and program to follow in the synagogue, from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m. $7 suggested donation. RSVP to Vivian Gerow at viviang.hadassah@gmail.com or 404-2749285.

JumpSpark Presents: Leadership Through Improv – Dad’s Garage Theatre Company, 569 Ezzard Street SE, Atlanta, from 3 to 5 p.m. A two-hour workshop led by artists from Dad’s Garage that helps with leadership skills and more through improv techniques and exercises. $15 for students in grades 9 through 12. For more information and to register, www.jumpsparkatl.org/program/leadership-improv/.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1

Simchat Torah Celebration – ConSukkah Farm-to-Table Festival – Marcus JCC, 3542 Tilly Mill Road, Atlanta from 12 to 4 p.m. The festival will feature a farmer’s market, chef demonstrations, petting zoo, face painting, a children’s concert and much more.

gregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Complimentary pizza dinner and dessert, followed by singing and dancing and celebrating Simchat Torah. For more information, www.bethshalom. net or call 770-399-5300.

SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

Callanwolde Concert Band’s “Dances”– Amphitheatre at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, 980 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta, from 3 to 5 p.m. Music Director Glenn Moore will be joined by guest conductors, Callanwolde assistant conductors, and will feature local talent with vocalist Sophie Decker. Free and open to the public. For more information, www.calcb.org.

Celebrate Simchat Torah – Etz Chaim, 1190 Indian Hills Parkway NE, Marietta, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. A celebration at 5:30 p.m. for young families with breakfast for dinner at 6 p.m. Put on your silliest hat for Simchat Torah celebration at 6:45 p.m. $5 per adult, free for children 12 and under.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2

Simchat Torah: Honoring Donna & Steve Krodman – Etz Chaim, 1190 Indian Hills Parkway NE, Marietta, from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Simchat Torah to honor Donna and Steve Krodman, the Kallat Beresheit and Chatan Torah for their service to Etz Chaim. Free. All are welcome.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4

Brain Health Bootcamp – Jewish Family & Career Services, 4549 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, from 3 to 5 p.m. weekly on Thursdays. Help maintain and enhance your memory and brain function. $25 per class, $200 per semester. For more information, https://bit. ly/20b6bCB.

Sandy Springs Infertility Support – MACoM, Metro Atlanta Community Mikvah, 700-A Mount Vernon Highway NE, Sandy Springs, from 6:45 to 8 pm.

Free. For confidential registration, www. bit.ly/2OVtc95. For questions, call Elana Frank, 770-843-7413.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3

Open Play Games: Mahjong, Bridge, Rummikub and Scrabble – Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Open play tables are set up every week on MJCCA’s Main Street on Mondays and Wednesdays for you to enjoy popular strategy and skill games. Free for members, $5 for the community. To RSVP, www.bit.ly/2OWdP0h

Yiddish Vinkyl – Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Talk about the Yiddish language and culture, listen to amazing stories and learn popular Yiddish phrases. Free for members, $5 for the community. For more information, www.atlantajcc.org/.

Drop in Jewish Mindful Meditation – Marcus JCC, 3542 Tilly Mill Road, Atlanta from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Instructed by Jewish leaders Rabbi Josh Lesser, Rabbi Analia Bortz, Marita Anderson and Michael Levine, who will take you on a journey and dive deeper into your Jewish roots.

Free for members, $5 for the community. For more information, www.bit. ly/2OyA7W2. ■

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

www.atlantajewishconnector.com

Calendar sponsored by the Atlanta Jewish Connector, an initiative of the AJT. Please contact community liaison, Jen Evans, for more information at jen@atljewishtimes.com.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 35

BRAIN FOOD

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ACROSS 1. “It Happened One Night” director 6. ‘Frasier’ costar Gilpin 10. Buddhist god 14. Border crosser, perhaps 15. Many an Israeli 16. Dark loaves 17. Simcha exercise similar to using a rowing machine 20. Brak preceder 21. With Boy, a kind of chair 22. With maturity 23. 2-2, e.g.

25. They were recently forgiven (hopefully) 26. Tricky (and risky) Simchat Torah exercise 31. Be in doubt 32. Mini car?

33. Motion carriers, at times 35. King Hezekiah’s mother 36. One who probably does not observe Simchat Torah 40. 6 or 60 in Isr. , e.g.

41. Henry Jones Sr. hates them 43. Annoying wait, facetiously 44. American dogwood used in basketry 46. They can be great for cardio on Simchat Torah

50. Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

51. Place 52. Right leaning?

55. Marvel bigwig Arad 56. Jewish teen org.

60. Post-Simchat Torah calorie burning activity 63. Cartoon canine 64. Land with a Supreme Leader 65. “Everybody Loves Raymond” role 66. Forestall, with “off” 67. Delivery people?

68. Make like 52-Across DOWN 1. Dietary component, for short 2. ___ Shvut 3. Load 4. Replace a starter 5. “I”, in Efrat 6. Polytheists 7. Eagle Zach 8. “Yay, team!”

9. Spaniards and Portuguese 10. Pops in 11. Bronte character 12. Kind of Kosher cutlet 13. Grayish 18. Atlanta Brave or New York Met, slangily

19. Chime sound 24. Actress Farmiga 25. Writer also known as S.Y. 26. Todah ___ 27. 1980 Tony winner 28. Javelin, e.g.

29. Location to do the mitzvah of Shiluach Haken 30. Abhors 31. Independence can follow it 34. Rabbi’s speech: Abbr.

37. Some Jewish measurements 38. Cow hand?

39. Be deaf but can still hear?

42. Crept around 45. What “-gate” may indicate 47. Indian’s home 48. Says Shema, e.g.

49. Met song 52. “It ___ no concern” 53. Sass, slangily 54. Like 55. Sometimes foe of ancient Israel 57. “___ buck I might!” (“Newsies” lyric) 58. Jacob, e.g.

59. Source of Israeli news 61. Bud 62. Tour de France measurements, briefly

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION 1

A

14

4

E

C

23

L

24

O

E

S

T

B

O O

U

R

U

R

N

D

E

E

B

61

55

A

34

S

O N K

S

H

R

E

P

H O

P

D

A

V

I

D

D

E

R

Z

E

I

C

E

E

R G

L

A

C

E

D O U G H

N

I

T

Y

A D

E

D

L

E

I L

A

V

F

T

E

A

A

28

I

E

R

F

L

S

N

27

L

P

E

U

32

E

A

L

36

26

B

38

V

L

P

I

N

52

A

K

I

49

I

T

E

N

A

64

41

H

O N

19

D

35

13

T

T

31

S

C

C

25

12

A

R

A

45

C

21

11

M A

B

56

I

30

10

S M A

16

E

S

S

9

Y

D

Y

54

L

8

A

O C

48

18

E

E

S

44

R O

7

H

20

B

40

R

A M S

I

37

6

E

S

G

T

15

R

E

33

I

C

5

S

I

29

36 | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

E

A

C

25 Years Ago // September 24, 1993 ■ The Brotherhood at Ahavath Achim Synagogue won a national award for its adult education series. The series of seminars was focused on male-female communication and titled “Man Talk: Male-Female Relations.” The series was given the Gold Torch Award from the Conservative movement’s Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs at its biennial convention.

3

V

22

15 Years Ago // September 26, 2003 ■ Local Jewish leaders applauded the implementation of a new alert system called Secure Community Alert Network (SCAN). The system would enable Jewish organizations to quickly notify constituent branches of a terrorist threat or other emergency targeting Jewish populations across the country.

■ Adam and Suzanne Bressler of Atlanta announce the birth of their son, Asher Philip, on Sept. 22, 2003. Asher is the grandson of Richard and Linda Bressler of Atlanta, Harriet Perlin of Charlotte, N.C., and the late Steve Siegel.

R

R O

17

Remember When

2

62

53

P

57

46 50

42

I

N

T

O

E

D

E

N

65

39

51

B

63

47

58

U

59

T

43

S E

60

S

J

E

H

U

I

S

E

E

66

■ Betsy Gard, Ph.D., presented a paper at the annual American Psychological Association Convention, on the “Implementation of a Disaster Network in Georgia.”

Dr. Gard received the Metropolitan Atlanta 1993 Mental Health Association’s Nancy Steinberg Mental Health Education Award.

The Standard Club, which hosted Brandeis' president, recently celebrated its 150th anniversary.

50 Years Ago // September 27, 1968 ■ Morris B. Abram, the new president of Brandeis University, was the guest of honor Sunday, Sept. 29 at a pre-inaugural dinner at Atlanta’s Standard Club.

Mr. Abram, a native of Georgia, was named by the Brandeis University Board of Trustees to succeed Dr. Abram L. Sachar, who served as president of the university since its founding in 1948.

■ Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Klepak of Atlanta announce the engagement of their daughter, Renee Judith Klepak, to Dr. Ronald Bert Gurin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Gurin of Atlanta.

Estelle Ezor

OBITUARIES

93, Atlanta

Estelle Ezor, 93, passed away peacefully on Yom Kippur, Sept. 19, 2018. Estelle was born on Feb. 10, 1925, in Providence, R.I., and raised in Hartford, Conn. She was trained in voice at the Julliard School of Music. She was married to the love of her life, Sheldon Ezor, of Paterson, N.J., for more than 70 years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Sadie (nee Sandler) Preblub; husband, Sheldon Ezor; and daughter, Susan Moss (Jeffrey). She is survived by her son, Bobby Ezor (Elisa), and grandchildren, Zachary Ezor (Lara) and Danielle Ezor. “Nanna” was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and daughter. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be designated to Ahava Early Learning Center at www.aasynagogue.org or Weinstein Hospice at www.weinsteinhospice.org. Graveside services were held Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, at Cedar Park Cemetery, Paramus, N.J. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999 and Robert Schoem’s Menorah Chapel, Paramus, N.J., 201-843-9090.

Irene Levinson Schwartz 96, Dunwoody

Irene Levinson Schwartz, 96, of Dunwoody, died Sept. 9, 2018. She was born to the late Anna and Harry Levinson and was preceded in death by her husband, Abraham, and brother, David. Irene met her husband of 70 years at The Ohio State University, where they both graduated.

She loved literature, and was an avid reader and a published author. Irene donated her time researching the archives at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati for their various historical projects. She contributed to Holocaust remembrance by interviewing survivors and documenting their experiences. She was a docent who led tours at the historic Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati, where she was an active volunteer.

Irene loved entertaining for family and friends as well as traveling and antiquing with her husband. Some of her fondest memories were spent with family at their summer cottage in Myrtle Beach. Irene was loving, gracious and generous.

She is survived by daughters, Jacqueline Mandell, Sally Kornhauser, and Lisa Gordon (Ken); and her grandchildren, Chloe Mandell, Erica Davidson (Dale), David Kornhauser, Clayton Kornhauser, Coleman Gordon; and many nieces and nephews. The family wishes to thank her wonderful caregiver, Barbara Davis. Donations may be made to Temple Emanu-El, 1580 Spalding Drive, Atlanta, 30350 or Cure PSP, 1206 York Road, Suite L-4, Luthersille, Md. 21093.

Evelyn Silverman Taratoot 96, Atlanta

Evelyn Silverman Taratoot of Atlanta, 96, passed away peacefully on Sept. 20, 2018.

Evelyn was born in Szczuczyn, Poland on Dec. 23, 1921. Evelyn was the daughter of Alexander and Freeda Sherr, of blessed memory.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, David Silverman, and her cherished sister, Marjorie Codner. Evelyn is survived by her children, Marvin Silverman, Sandra Wolensky (Michael), and Renee Berg (Jeffery); grandchildren, David Wolensky (Heather), Dana Horowitz (Dan), Evan Berg, and Gary Silverman (Tatiana); and five greatgrandchildren.

As a teenager, Evelyn immigrated to the United States with her family in 1937. She was always very proud to be an American citizen and was grateful for the freedoms and opportunities of this country. She was a kind, caring and loyal person. Her greatest joy was her family, especially time spent with her great-grandchildren. Evelyn was a member of Ahavath Achim Synagogue. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the William Bremen Jewish Home, Weinstein Hospice or Ahavath Achim Synagogue. A graveside service was held Sept. 21, 2018, at Greenwood Cemetery in Atlanta. Arrangements made by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999. Sign the online guestbook at www. edressler.com. ■ Obituaries in the AJT are written and paid for by the families; contact Kaylene Ladinsky at kaylene@atljewishtimes.com or 404-883-2130 ext. 100, for details. Death notices, with basic details, are free and run as space is available; send submissions to editor@atljewishtimes.com.

Share your Sukkah with Jewish Atlanta

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We’ll publish a gallery of Jewish Atlanta’s most photogenic sukkahs.

Your submission will be entered in a drawing to win one of 3 raffle prizes and published by the Atlanta Jewish Times in our October 5, 2018 issue or online.

Please provide a favorite photo of your sukkah and send it to creative@ atljewishtimes.com. Be sure to include your name and neighborhood.

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A Visit from New York Relatives The first half hour of the visit: Chana: Sukie! Mike! It’s been years!

You look great! How was the flight?

Sukie: Not fabulous. First of all, the snacks were full of salt, and Mike’s salt-free. It’s a good thing I brought a banana.

Chana: Good planning.

Sukie: Nowadays we never go anywhere without a banana.

Chana: You’re always so resourceful!

Sukie: Also, I had the aisle seat and Mike was next to me. The woman by the Chana window pulled the shade Shapiro down, so we couldn’t see anything. It ruined the whole trip.

Chana: Did you ask her to pull the shade up?

Sukie: Of course not. I could tell she was selfish. Why ask and get myself more aggravated?

Mike: You know Sukie. Boy, can she read people!

Chana: Well, you’re here safe and sound.

Sukie: Our kids didn’t want us to come.

Chana: Why not?

Sukie: They know how hard it is for us to travel now that Mike’s salt-free.

Chana: I promise to make every meal without salt. You have my word.

Mike: People can always add their own salt.

Sukie: But they’d rather just let you know that the food you made needs more salt.

Chana (Cheerily): Here’s the car. Let’s load your things and go.

Sukie (Looking around): Where’s your husband? You drove by yourself?

Chana: Zvi’s waiting for us at home. He had some business to take care of.

Sukie: What’s so important that he couldn’t take a few minutes off?

Chana (Taking several deep breaths): So, Mike, how’s your mother doing?

Mike: Same as ever. We want her to get some daytime help, but she refuses.

Sukie: She’s no spring chicken.

Chana: Why would she refuse?

Mike: Don’t ask me. She’s just stubborn.

Sukie: I’ll tell you exactly what she said: “The help comes in. There’s nothing to do. I have to talk to her and make her lunch.”

Mike: That’s my mother for you!

Chana (Changing the subject): Can you believe this traffic? And all the new construction? Atlanta’s a boom town!

Sukie: Another reason our kids didn’t want us to come.

Chana: Because Atlanta’s growing?

COLLECTIBLES

CLOSING THOUGHTS

What’s wrong with that?

Mike: You know Sukie, always telling the truth. The kids just want to make sure that you drive us everywhere we go.

Chana: Is it the subway that worries them? It’s perfectly safe, but we won’t go any place by train.

Mike: They think we’ll get mugged because we’re obviously visitors here.

Sukie: You know; it’s our clothes.

Chana: Are your clothes different from the clothes we wear here?

Sukie: I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but you have to admit that New York is way ahead in fashion.

Chana (Magnanimously deciding to let her get away with that): So why would you bring such high fashion clothes here if it’ll make you a target?

Sukie: You expect us to dress down just because we’re in the South?

Mike: Anyway, we came here for a restful visit.

Sukie: We need to relax. There’s so much going on in New York, a person can’t stop running.

Chana (Diplomatic to a fault): I know how much you enjoy living in such a cultural mecca.

Sukie: Not that we get to go anywhere. Do you know how expensive everything is? A Broadway show is a month’s rent, and forget eating in a decent restaurant … a fortune! Besides, Mike’s salt-free.

Mike: Don’t forget the tips. If you

ADDICTION

THE DUSTY COIN, LLC

don’t give a good tip, they spill something on you on the way out.

Sukie: It happened to me!

Chana: You’re kidding!

Mike: Like I said, if Sukie says it, it’s true.

Sukie: The waiters make more money than the owners a lot of times.

Chana (Attempting a bit of levity): At our house, all meals are free of charge, and there’s no tipping or spilling allowed.

Sukie: So, while we’re here, we’ll eat at your house?

Chana: Even when we go out, it’s our treat. I insist.

Mike: Well, you’re the boss!

Chana: Here we are. There’s Zvi waiting for us!

Zvi: Sukie! Mike! You look great!

How was the flight?

Chana, Sukie, Mike: Don’t ask! ■

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