SPECIAL REPORT: JEWISH HEROIN TRIANGLE, PAGES 18-21 Yes, it happens to us. Even with caring Jewish families, good kids can slip into opioid addiction. Some claw their way to recovery; others spiral into overdose. In the first week of a two-part report, meet Jewish mothers who have suffered the ultimate loss and explore ideas for communal aid. Next week, read about health care responses to the addiction epidemic.
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DIALOGUE MATTERS The Black-Jewish Coalition airs the communities’ concerns about racism, anti-Semitism and each other. Page 13
LOUISIANA RELIEF Temple Sinai has a close tie to flooded Baton Rouge, while a new nonprofit responds to its first disaster. Page 14
STANDING UP StandWithUs trains two Atlanta high school seniors on Israel advocacy. Page 25
‘SEINFELD’ SOUND Jonathan Wolff is bringing his music and stories from 75 TV series to Atlanta. Page 30
VOL. XCI NO. 34
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2016 | 29 AV 5776
Federation Starts Sprint For Funding
Cry Freedom
While most Americans will be celebrating the three-day Labor Day holiday weekend Sept. 3 to 5, it’s worth remembering that tens of millions of people in the world, including thousands who pass through metro Atlanta during the year, don’t get a fair wage for their work because they are victims of modern slavery. Most are women or children. Margee BrightRagland’s “Wounded Angel” collage (above right) and Flora Rosefsky’s “STOP: Promises,” one of seven mixed-media works representing the seven days of the week when human trafficking takes place, are part of an art exhibition at the Mammal Gallery from Sept. 10 to Oct. 2 called “46/21: 46 Million Slaves — 21st Century Slavery.” The show comes as Georgia advocates campaign for a constitutional amendment in November to aid victims of child sex trafficking. Read more about local responses to modern slavery on Pages 15 to 17.
Wanted: South Side Rabbi
Congregation B’nai Israel Rabbi Rick Harkavy resigned for personal reasons Thursday, Aug. 25. Rabbi Harkavy took the part-time pulpit of the Reform congregation in Fayetteville last October after moving from Seattle. He replaced Rabbi Lou Feldstein, who had commuted from the northern suburbs to the south side for 13 years. B’nai Israel President David Rosenberg remains upbeat about the short- and long-term future for the congregation. He said B’nai Israel is working with the Union for Reform Judaism to find rab-
binic help. By early Aug. 29 more than 10 rabbis had inquired about filling in for the High Holidays. B’nai Israel can count on cantorial soloist Susan Burden while deciding what Rabbi Rick Harkavy to do next, Rosenwas energized last berg said. “We still fall to be a part want to move forof the small but growing south-side ward. We’re not goJewish community. ing to miss a beat.” ■
Labor Day gives Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta volunteers a final respite before the 2017 Community Campaign, a 100-day drive to raise $15.7 million. The campaign runs from Tuesday, Sept. 6, to Dec. 15. “Hundreds of Federation volunteers will reach Photo by Leah out across Greater R. Harrison Atlanta asking for Mark Silberman support for the 2017 is the chair of the Community Cam- 2017 Community Campaign. paign,” reads the campaign website, jewishatlanta.org/100daysimpact. “We ask because wherever there are Jews in need, your generosity makes it possible to support programs and services that improve lives!” Federation adopted the condensed campaign period last year, in part to provide more time to plan for the spring allocations process. The 2016 campaign raised $14.7 million, so this year’s goal is an increase of almost 7 percent. Led by chair Mark Silberman and vice chair Joanne Birnbrey, the “100 Days of Impact” campaign is the first since CEO Eric Robbins took office Aug. 1. The Super Sunday phone-a-thon is Oct. 30 at Davis Academy. Sign up at www. JewishAtlanta.org/SuperSunday; get details from Joel Abramson at jabramson@ jewishatlanta.org or 678-222-3718. ■
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SEPTEMBER 2 â–ª 2016
MA TOVU
Wedding Dilemma, Part 3
Family Comfort
In my synagogue community, many have become more observant. Our rabbi has counseled, “When a member of a family becomes more observant, it is his or her obligation to make the family comfortable, not the family’s obligation to make him or her comfortable.” My advice is to go to the wedding with a full and happy heart to support your sister and honor your parents. Your analysis is myopic, focusing on only one mitzvah and only one day: • The mitzvah not to intermarry is only one of 613 mitzvot in the Torah. It speaks to the person to be married and his or her parents; a brother is not mentioned. Among the other 612 mitzvot is the fifth commandment of honoring your mother and father. This one does apply directly to you. Although seemingly aimed at your relationship with your parents, it is included in the first five commandments that relate to our relationship with G-d. Its placement demonstrates the importance of our relationship with our parents. Yet you gloss over it as if it is trumped by concerns about intermarriage. Your parents did not create this situation, and they raised you to be a Jew. They do not deserve the punishment of public dishonor. • You are concerned that your attendance will constitute tacit approval of your sister’s marriage. This concern is unfounded. First, your approval, if so perceived, is irrelevant. Who are you to pass this judgment? Second, your attendance would show love for your sister. What has she done to deserve losing your support? Third, I take it your parents do not maintain a kitchen with your desired level of kashrut, yet you will still go visit your parents in their home. Does your visit there display a tacit approval of nonkosher food? • There are practical implications of your not attending the wedding. You won’t get a second chance. If you ever regret your decision, you will not have the opportunity to do it again. Your sister will not have another wed-
ding for you to attend. You will have to live with this action for the rest of your life. Your relationship with your family will be irrevocably hurt. If you attend without this controversy, you and your sister may live another 50 years, sharing many happy occasions together. Your children and hers will be cousins, and all of you will be able to share birthdays, weddings
Shared Spirit Moderated By Rachel Stein rachels83@gmail.com
and other joyous occasions. Are you willing to give all that up? Your sister’s wedding ceremony is only one day. I urge you to attend with enthusiastic joy for your sister and her groom. If you are concerned about the kosher menu, take an apple. — Kevin King
Peace at Home
Your rabbi erred in insisting that you not attend the wedding. My Orthodox brother was told by his rabbi that he should attend my wedding (to another woman) for the sake of shalom bayit (peace at home). It preserved our sibling relationship and kept the door open for future occasions. — Margot Stein
All 613 Mitzvot
What makes a Jew Jewish? Thousands of years ago, our people, a nation of millions, stood at Mount Sinai and unequivocally accepted the 613 mitzvot in the Torah. We promised to give allegiance to G-d for all eternity. If we renege on our commitment, what does that say about our Judaism? We have a G-d-mandated religion; it is not our choice that one commandment takes precedence over another. Respect, yes. Love, of course. But to stand by and accept a family member trampling on our sacred religion? Listen to your rabbi. And pray. Pray that your family’s hearts will be open to understanding your commitment and loyalty to G-d. Every morning and evening, we Jews proclaim, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is one.” We are bound to show loyalty and love to the One who gave us life and embraced us eternally as His people. — H.R. Ostro
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
The following are more responses to the Aug. 5 Shared Spirit column, “Bowing Out of My Sister’s Wedding,” in which a young man, with his rabbi’s advice, decided he could not attend the wedding of his sister to a non-Jew. The first responses ran Aug. 19.
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CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES
Whiskey talk. Basam Odish from Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman speaks to the Edgewise group at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, at 10:30 a.m. Free for JCC members, $5 for others; matureadults@atlantajcc.org or 678-812-3861.
Re’eh Friday, Sept. 2, light candles at 7:43 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, Shabbat ends at 8:37 p.m. Shoftim Friday, Sept. 9, light candles at 7:33 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, Shabbat ends at 8:27 p.m.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 4
Food festival. NoshFest returns to Temple Kol Emeth, 1415 Old Canton Road, East Cobb, with food, music, crafts and other activities from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 5. Food items range from $1 to $5. Admission is two canned goods per family for MUST Ministries; noshfest.com.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 6
Daily shofar blast. Rabbi Brian Glusman sounds the shofar at 11 a.m. each weekday through Sept. 30 on Main Street in the Marcus JCC’s ZabanBlank Building, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, to wake people up to the approach of Rosh Hashanah. Free and open to the community; rabbi.glusman@atlantajcc.org or 678-812-4161. Movie education. Bob Bahr teaches “Fitting In — A Short History of Jewish Film in America” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Dec. 13 at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Tuition is $200 for JCC members, $290 for others; www.atlantajcc.org or 678-812-3723.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 7
Book event. Steve Spurrier talks about his memoir, “Head Ball Coach,” at 7:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Free; www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival or 678-812-4005.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 8
Jewish-Catholic program. American Jewish Committee and the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta hold a program
on tolerance at 7 p.m., with a reception at 6, at The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St., Midtown. Free; www.ajcatlanta.org. Intown listening. Congregation Shearith Israel, 1180 University Drive, Morningside, holds a Listening Lab from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. to hear what people want in a synagogue and how the synagogue can reflect the community. Free; shearithisrael.com/listening-labs.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 9
Carlebach service. Chabad of Cobb, 4450 Lower Roswell Road, East Cobb, includes sushi and sake with its monthly Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat service at 6:30 p.m. Free; 678-773-4173 (Yaacov Gothard) or 770-565-4412 (Chabad).
SATURDAY, SEPT. 10
Pot-luck schmoozing. The Temple
Tribe of the Southside gathers for lunch and community building with Rabbi David Spinrad from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Thomas home, 131 Santolina Park, Peachtree City. Bring a dish to share and a dessert and, if you’d like, beer or wine. Free; RSVP to jdonthomas@ comcast.net or 770-731-0219. Young adult party. YJP Atlanta’s White Party is at 9:30 p.m. on the Ponce City Market Rooftop, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave., Midtown. Tickets are $20 for nondrinkers and $25 for drinkers in advance, $35 at the door; 404-898-0434 or yjpatlantawhiteparty.eventbrite.com.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 11
Mitzvah Day. Jewish Family & Career Services’ young adult group, VIA (Volunteers in Action), hosts the largest community service day in Atlanta for
Send items for the calendar to submissions@atljewishtimes.com. Find more events at atlantajewishtimes.com/events-calendar.
Remember When
10 years ago Sept. 1, 2006 ■ Hank Johnson, the Democratic nominee in Georgia’s 4th Congressional District, recently stopped by the Israeli Consulate in Midtown to show support for Israel on the same day that Margo Dix-Gold paid a farewell visit to Consul General Shmuel Ben-Shmuel and Deputy Consul General Aviv Ezra, both of whom headed back to Israel in August. ■ Bernie and Beverly Jacobson of Overland Park, Kan., and Bernie and Simone Broome Wilker of River Vale, N.J., announce the engagement of their children, Juliana Jacobson and Dov Wilker. A spring 2007 wedding is planned. 25 Years Ago Sept. 6, 1991 ■ Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson inaugurated Operation
Isaiah with a promise to fast on Yom Kippur: “No food, no water, no nothing.” Jackson met with representatives of Ahavath Achim Synagogue, which is organizing the canned food drive, and the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which will receive the cans. Eighteen congregations and schools are participating in the Kol Nidre drive. ■ Ilana and Michael Danneman announce the birth of their son, Lev Shai, on Aug. 11. 50 Years Ago Sept. 2, 1966 ■ Gene Asher, well-known Atlanta life insurance agent, has been appointed Southeastern-area scout for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League. He will rate talent from the Southern independents and members of the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Southern conferences. ■ Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Breiner of Atlanta invite relatives and friends to attend the bar mitzvah of their son, Steven Jay, at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at Beth Jacob Synagogue.
CALENDAR young Jewish professionals. There are 12 projects, including family-friendly opportunities, with varying start times to accommodate busy schedules. Register by Thursday, Sept. 8, at www.MitzvahDayAtl.org.
ing: Healthy Relationships and Understanding Harassment, Consent and Sexual Misconduct” at 7 p.m. at the Weber School, 6751 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. Free; weberschool.org/katie.
Active shooter training. Congregation Anshi S’fard, 1324 N. Highland Ave., Virginia-Highland, hosts DeKalb police Officer Judd Dulick for a class at 10 a.m. on how to respond to the threat of a gunman. Free; info@anshisfard.org.
Senior Day. The Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, with Jewish Family & Career Services and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, offers seniors their choice of three activities plus lunch between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Admission is $5; atlantajcc. org/seniorday or 678-812-3861. Those who need transportation can arrange free rides with JF&CS’ Alterman/JETS service at 770-677-9339 by Sept. 5.
Intown listening. Congregation Shearith Israel, 1180 University Drive, Morningside, holds a community Listening Lab from 10 a.m. to noon to hear what people want in a synagogue. Free; shearithisrael.com/listening-labs. Camp fun. PJ Library and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta hold a family fun day and a camp expo from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Brook Run Park, 4770 N. Peachtree Road, Dunwoody. Admission of $18 per family includes pizza; bit.ly/2bhGOwA. Details from Nathan Brodsky, 404-870-1870 or pjlibraryatlanta@jewishatlanta.org. Genealogy meeting. A video with Yad Vashem officials Cynthia Wroclawski and Zvi Bernhardt on “Using the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names: Beginning and Advanced Techniques With Case Studies” is featured at the fall meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Georgia at 2 p.m. at the Breman, 1440 Spring St., Midtown. Admission is included with museum admission; www.jewishgen.org/jgsg. Geriatrics talk. Northside Healthcare System neurologist Gavin Brown discusses “What’s New in Growing Old?” at 2 p.m. at the William Breman Jewish Home’s Srochi Hall, 3150 Howell Mill Road, Northwest Atlanta. Free; www. JewishHomeLife.org or 404-351-8410. Sephardic sound. Israel’s Baladino performs at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for JCC members, $22 for others; www.atlantajcc.org or 678-812-4002. Sexual misconduct discussion. Student safety advocate Katie Koestner speaks about “Silence Changes Noth-
TUESDAY, SEPT. 13
Election event. Emory political scientist Alan Abramowitz speaks about the election at 7 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El, 1580 Spalding Drive, Sandy Springs. Free but preregistration required; 770395-1340 or templeemanuelatlanta.org. Book event. “Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS” author Joby Warrick discusses his Pulitzer Prize-winning book at 7:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for others; 678-812-4005 or www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 14
Jewish Breakfast Club. Georgia Aquarium CEO Mike Leven speaks at the monthly JBC meeting at Greenberg Traurig, 3333 Piedmont Road, Suite 2500, Buckhead, with networking at 7:30 a.m. and the program at 8. Tickets are $15; atlantajewishtimes.com/ jewish-breakfast-club. Networking event. The Atlanta Scholars Kollel holds its annual event with speaker Rabbi Antony Gordon, a standup comic and financial adviser, and the theme “Failure Is the Beginning on the Road to Success” at 5:30 p.m. at Congregation Or VeShalom, 1681 N. Druid Hills Road, Brookhaven. Tickets are $30 in advance or $36 at the door; ask@ atlantakollel.org or atlantakollel.org. Immigration discussion. Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies presents American University’s Alan Kraut and Kingsborough College’s Libby Garland at the eighth annual Rothschild Memorial Lecture, “Closing the Gates, Building a Wall: What the History of Immigration Restriction Against Jews Can Teach Us About American Nativism,” at 7:30 p.m. in the Oxford Presentation Room, 1390 Oxford Road, Atlanta. Free; www.js.emory.edu.
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SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
Interfaith discussion. Rabbi Malka Packer of InterfaithFamily/Atlanta talks about interfaith trends at 10 a.m. at Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, as part of the Sunday Morning Learning program. Free; 404252-3073 or templesinaiatlanta.org.
MONDAY, SEPT. 12
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ISRAEL NEWS
Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home Breakthrough in melanoma cure. Israeli and German researchers led by Tel Aviv University’s Carmit Levy have unraveled the metastatic mechanism of melanoma (how it spreads to other organs). They have also found chemical substances that can stop the process — promising news for future treatments. Riding the rails. Transport Minister Yisrael Katz has taken the inaugural ride on the Valley Railway. Starting Oct. 16, scheduled service will run along 37 miles of track to five stations: Haifa; Kfar Yehoshua-Yokneam; Migdal Ha’Emek-Kfar Baruch; Afula; and Beit Shean. The full trip takes 50 minutes. Custom material for artificial limbs. Researchers at Tel Aviv University and in the Netherlands have developed a material that can be morphed into any shape. The programmable metamaterial could be ideal for prostheses or wearable technology, in which a close fit with the body is important. Afghan boy saved. A covert operation has ensured that Yehia (born with multiple heart defects) is the first Afghan
treated by Israel’s Save a Child’s Heart, joining more than 4,000 children from over 50 countries the group has saved. Israeli-Palestinian water programs. The United Kingdom is funding two joint Israeli-Palestinian Authority water research programs. Stream finds solutions to water problems; Growth brings Palestinians to Israeli labs to study water technology. SodaStream’s Arab hiring. Soda Stream was subjected to a boycott campaign when it employed hundreds of Palestinians in Maale Adumim in the West Bank. Since that facility closed, the Airport City-based company has moved production to the Negev, where it now employs hundreds of Bedouins. The first to aid Italy. Twenty Israeli volunteers from IsraAID were the first representatives of a foreign nongovernmental organization to arrive in quakestruck Italy. IsraAID is building temporary shelters for homeless families, distributing food and other items, and providing grief counseling. Israel has also offered to send search-and-rescue
teams. The earthquake that hit Italy on Aug. 24 killed nearly 300 people. The best university in the Middle East. The Center for World University Rankings, based in Saudi Arabia, has rated the Hebrew University of Jerusalem No. 26 among the world’s more than 25,000 degree-granting institutions. The annual rankings place Hebrew University No. 1 in the Middle East. Artificial farm intelligence. Tel Avivbased Prospera uses artificial intelligence to help farmers monitor crops. Using in-field cameras and climatic sensors, farmers can irrigate and manage pesticides and fertilizers to maximize crop yields. Prospera, operating in the United States, Mexico and Spain, recently raised $7 million in funding. Crawling, climbing, swimming robot. Engineers at Ben-Gurion University have developed a 3D-printed robot called SAW (Single Actuator Wave-like) that can move forward or backward in a wavelike motion over unstable terrain. It can be miniaturized to travel internally through the human body.
Photo courtesy of the Government Press Office
Israelis await the arrival of the bodies of the slain Olympic team members at Lod Airport in September 1972.
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
Today in Israeli History
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Items from the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org), where you can find more details about these people, places and things. Sept. 2, 1935: Some 80,000 mourners, approximately a quarter of the Jewish population of Palestine, line the streets of Jerusalem for the funeral of Rav Abraham Isaac Kook, who died of cancer the day before. Sept. 3, 2011: Demonstrating against the rising cost of living and economic inequalities in Israel, more than 450,000 protesters fill the streets throughout the country in the March of the Million, the largest demonstration in Israel’s history. Sept. 4, 1975: In Geneva, Israel and
Anti-BDS in a box. You can counter the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel by ordering an ibox (www.jewcer.org/project/israelbox), a surprise box of curated Israeli products delivered to your door. The specialty ibox will let you hear, taste, see, smell and feel Israel. Profits benefit organizations fighting BDS. 2,000-year-old synagogue. The remains of a structure that served as a synagogue during Second Temple times have been unearthed in an archaeological excavation at Tel Rechesh in the heart of the Nahal Tavor Nature Reserve in the lower Galilee. Eight Second Temple synagogues have been discovered in Israel. Lithuanian arms deal. Haifa-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has a deal to sell Lithuania remote-control weapons stations that will fire Rafael’s Spike missiles. The sale is expected to be worth $112 million. Compiled courtesy of verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com, Israel21c.org and other news sources. Egypt sign their Second Disengagement Agreement (Sinai II) since the Yom Kippur War of October 1973. Sept. 5, 1972: During the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, Black September, a Palestinian terrorist group affiliated with Yasser Arafat’s Fatah, kills two members of the Israeli team and takes hostage nine others, all of whom are killed during a botched rescue operation at the airport. Sept. 6, 2007: Eight Israeli aircraft carry out Operation Orchard, secretly destroying a suspected nuclear reactor built with North Korean help at Al Kibar, a Syrian military facility. Sept. 7, 1907: David Gruen and other young adults from Plonsk, Poland, arrive in Jaffa to make aliyah. Gruen settles in Petah Tikvah to work in agriculture. Three years later he changes his name to David Ben-Gurion. Sept. 8, 2010: Maj. Gen. Israel Tal, a native of Israel who served in Britain’s Jewish Brigade during World War II and is best known as the head of the committee that in 1970 designed the Merkava tank, dies at age 85.
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ISRAEL NEWS
Israel’s Water Innovations Bring Life to the World
Israel and Water Because of its location, Israel has always had water issues, and it has developed innovative ways to deal with
them. Now Israel is a world leader in water use and water recycling: • Before 1995, Israel had three water reservoirs; in the next 10 years, 200 were added. There are now 250. • Desalination was too costly, so Israel embraced massive recycling.
Business Sense By Al Shams
Now 85 percent of water is reused. • Over 200 Israeli water startups have formed the past 10 years. • Jewish National Fund has made enormous contributions to Israel’s water success. • Israel shares water technology, such as drip irrigation, with the world. Farmers worldwide benefit. • Southern California will soon adopt Israeli water technologies. • The book “Let There Be Water” tells how Israel became a water superpower.
• Israel’s respect and appreciation for water go back to biblical days when water was equated to life. • Water has the power to be a pathway for peace in the Middle East. • From 1962 to 1979, Israel managed Iran’s water industry; today, Iran is running out of water and has one of the world’s worst water systems. • A U.S. government agency predicts that by 2026, 40 states will face water issues. Each of us can think of ways to conserve water and be water wise. Here are JNF’s 10 Water Commandments: • Defrost smart — do not use running water to defrost frozen foods. • Keep a water jug in the refrigerator rather than run the tap to get a cool drink. • Clean green — wash clothes and dishes only when you have a full load. • Insulate hot water pipes; you will get hot water faster. • Water lawns no more often than weekly and always in the morning. • Use a low-flow shower head. • Check your toilet for leaks by adding food coloring to the tank. Color
will appear in the bowl within 30 minutes if there’s a leak. • Water plants with unused drinking water. • Conserve electricity to conserve water. • Compost food waste instead of using a sink garbage disposal, which requires a great deal of water. Israel’s Future Israel will probably never be a major producer of steel, chemicals, cement, ships or autos. There are many other large countries that can produce these products more efficiently. But Israel is and will continue to be a leader in innovation in water, medicine, computers, cybersecurity and electronics, among many other areas. Israel will continue to deploy its greatest resource, its brainpower, to enhance its standard of living and that of the world. The power of freedom of thought, innovation, ingenuity and hard work can achieve miracles, such as 8 million people having a huge impact on a world of 7.4 billion. G-d smiles on Israel. ■
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
“Water is life,” read signs in the early days of Israeli statehood. We live in a water-rich part of the world, but many of us fail to appreciate the importance of water. Many parts of the world regularly deal with severe water shortages. Nations have risen, fought wars and collapsed over water. Atlanta has been blessed with abundant water, helping the area’s rapid growth. But Alabama, Florida and Georgia are embroiled in a tough legal debate over how the resources of the Chattahoochee River should be allocated. Alabama and Florida believe that Georgia, especially the metro area, takes an unfair percentage of the river’s water and thus impairs the growth of their communities. Regardless of how the contest is resolved, changes will affect Atlanta’s living standards and the economy.
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ISRAEL NEWS
Summer in the Produce Market of Jerusalem The heat in Jerusalem has been unbearable this summer, ranging from 90 to 100 degrees every day. But one of the nice features of the weather is the outdoor Mahane Yehuda fresh fruit and vegetable shuk (market). The stands are overflowing with peaches, nectarines, plums, green and red grapes, green and red apples, figs, plums, watermelons and other melons, and delicious lychees. Since my wife, Rita, and I first came to Jerusalem in 1963 as students, I have had a love for Mahane Yehuda. Part of my feelings are rooted in the Big Apple and A&P supermarkets of Atlanta, where my grandmother Sara Hene Geffen and my mother, Anna Geffen, took me to shop. They each had special techniques of how to select fruits and vegetables. I was privileged to have hands-on lessons from them. What they imparted I think of frequently while I am in Jerusalem’s open-air market. I cannot remember how fresh the produce was in Atlanta, but I do know that I enjoyed eating it. In the 53 years my wife and I have known the Jerusalem market, we have seen interesting changes. But first a little history. Before the beginning of the British Mandate in 1920, all the open markets
in Jerusalem, because there were only tiny stores in neighborhoods then, were in the Old City. With Jerusalem growing in the 1920s, a market grew
Guest Column By Rabbi David Geffen
up between Jaffa Road and Agrippas Street. I do not know the origin of the name Mahane Yehuda — the market of Judah — but it was a most appropriate title for the Jewish market of Jerusalem. The market’s main entrance was from Jaffa Road, but in time the Agrippas side became a functioning entrance as well. I was fortunate to know the late Esther Topkis Potts, a native of Wilmington, Del., who lived in numerous American cities where her husband served as a professor of ophthalmology. Her father, William Topkis, brought his wife, Vi, and Esther to Jerusalem in March 1923 for a five-month stay. Esther regaled me with stories of how she and her guardian for her Jerusalem stay, Lucy, would walk a distance from where they lived at the foot of Mount Scopus to go to the market to buy fruits and vegetables.
On Jaffa road just south of the entrance to the market, William Topkis opened the American information bureau in a store that he had rented for the enterprise. William and his older brother, Louis, were leaders of the Zionist Organization of America — lieutenants of Louis Lipsky, who pushed Justice Louis Brandeis and his team aside in 1922 and took control of the American Zionist movement. Louis Topkis was the national treasurer of ZOA, and William was interested in American Jewish tourism to Eretz Yisrael. He set up the American information bureau so he could find tourists for the first four Jewish licensed tourist guides. Even back then Thomas Cook tours preferred the Arab guides. William Topkis provided an answer: He went to Haifa whenever ships arrived and connected the American and European Jewish tourists with Jewish guides. Whenever Esther and Lucy finished their purchasing in the market, they went to the bureau office so William could arrange a ride back. When I did research 40 years ago, Esther provided me with her father’s diary of the visit in 1923. I was able to get that diary translated into Hebrew for an article in an academic journal in 1979 about “an American tourist in Eretz Yisrael.”
Today the central lane of Mahane Yehuda has a roof and even fans when the heat becomes unbearable. The other main lane of the market between Jaffa and Agrippas is uncovered. That lane is much more significant now for shoppers because it is next to the light railway stop. The presence of trains running every six minutes has made the market a place for new chic restaurants interspersed among the produce stalls. One of my favorites is an authentic kosher Ethiopian restaurant where the food is tasty and the prices very reasonable. The market has been filled in recent weeks with many youth tours of the religious movements in the United States and Zionist groups from many countries. For general tourists, the Mahane Yehuda management now provides a card indicating stalls that provide discounts and small cafes with special treats. I visit the market as often as I can. There, among the produce of Israel and the citizens of Jerusalem, I feel at home. What a blessing that my wife and I made aliyah with our three children 39 years ago. A person I grew up with in Atlanta, Phyllis Alterman Franco, put it all in perspective when she said to me two months before we left the United States in May 1977, “David, I am surprised that you waited this long.” ■
PA Plans to Sue Over Balfour Declaration By Rich Walter
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad alMalki, on behalf of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, recently announced that the Palestine Liberation Organization was making plans to sue the British over the issuance of the 1917 Balfour Declaration. For almost 100 years the declaration has represented for the Palestinians the political beginning of Palestine falling out of Arab influence and into the control of the budding Zionist movement. Al-Malki made his announcement about possible legal action at the end of the July Arab League summit meeting in Mauritania. The possible lawsuit is one more in a series of efforts by anti-Israel or anti-Zionist forces that have, since Israel’s inception, sought to delegitimize Israel diplomatically: at the United Nations, from Eastern European Soviet bloc countries, at the international court at The Hague, through certain Christian church groups, at the 2001 Durban Conference Against Racism, and in the contemporary boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. 8 By focusing on the Balfour Declaration, the PA
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seeks to reinvigorate the claims of the original 1964 PLO Charter, which said, “The Balfour Declaration and the Mandate for Palestine, and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void.” The PLO Charter continued that “claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.” The contents of the Balfour Declaration speak specifically about “the establishing of a national home for the Jewish people and protecting the civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish communities.” That wording was included in the 1922 Articles of the Mandate, sanctioned by the League of Nations, and in the 1920 San Remo Agreement of the victorious Allies of World War I, which established the status of the former Ottoman territories in the Middle East as mandates. ■ Rich Walter is the associate director of Israel education for the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org).
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
Writing for Health Involves More Than Venting By Arlene Appelrouth aappelrouth@atljewishtimes.com Words have power. Not only can words be put together for the purpose of communicating, but they also can be written down to help people heal and achieve better health. Duke University’s integrative medicine department recently held a threeday training conference for doctors, psychologists and others seeking alternative methods to help patients heal. “Leading Others in Writing for Health” was didactic and experiential. I was one of 30 participants who listened to research-based findings on the healing power of writing. John Pennebaker wrote, “Writing about stressful situations is one of the easiest ways for people to take control of their problems and release the negative effects of stress from their bodies and their lives.” A social psychologist on the faculty of the University of Texas, Pennebaker taught John Evans, who with Karen Jooste led the conference. Three main ideas were presented about how writing leads to wellness:
• Writing is an effective tool for people to improve physical, emotional and spiritual health. • Writing can be used in institutional settings like hospital wellness programs, cancer treatment clinics and trauma centers. • Writing is a powerful tool for a reflective professional practice or caring for caregivers. I began writing with a diary as a preteen. I continued daily writing using the popular morning pages advocated by Julia Cameron, the author of “The Artist’s Way.” I learned to keep a journal using the Progoff method, based on Jungian psychology and developed by psychologist Ira Progoff. Eventually I studied with Natalie Goldberg, one of America’s best writing teachers. Her book “Writing Down the Bones” remains in print more than 25 years after she wrote it. She calls the writing she teaches “writing practice.” I’ve been teaching that method of writing to seniors in Emory’s OLLI program and to people in Toco Hills who write with me every Wednesday. The leaders of the conference taught five types of writing for health:
expressive; transactional; poetic; affirmative; and legacy. Expressive writing is journal writing. When you keep a journal, you usually write in the first person and describe events and experiences and how you feel about what’s going on in your life. What surprised me is that this type of writing, which invites people to complain and whine, offers little or no health benefit. Transactional writing, which is writing to a specific person with a specific intention, takes words and employs them to resolve problems, thus relieving stress. One assignment for participants was to take a traumatic situation, like the loss of a loved one, and write about it from a different perspective. Changing pronouns can be healing. As someone who often writes about emotionally charged situations, my experience of writing about these situations as if they happened to someone else gave me an emotional distance that changed my perspective. It was a valuable thing to learn. The instructors taught us about the different letters patients can be
asked to write to relieve stress and create healing. One is called “the compassionate letter,” designed to communicate to a loved one who has suffered from trauma. The purpose is to provide encouraging words of hope, comfort and advice. Such writing is confidential. No one is asked to share any of the contents. After each 20-minute writing exercise, we were asked to evaluate our experience by assessing whether the writing made us feel happy or upset and whether the exercise had value and meaning. The participants paired up and shared evaluations, not their writing. What fascinated me was learning of a body of literature and academic research about the healing power of writing. Many people, including me, write to work out issues and gain perspective on life experiences. My takeaway from the conference was a strong desire to pass on what I learned. I’ll be teaching “Writing for Health” on Tuesdays from Sept. 13 to Nov. 8 through OLLI (ece.emory.edu/ olli/Courses.html). ■
An Atlanta-based crowdfunding campaign has succeeded in buying an advanced defibrillator for United Hatzalah and its most active physician volunteer in the Beit Shemesh area, former Atlantan Arie Pelta. Pelta received the device from United Hatzalah CEO Moshe Teitelbaum at a ceremony at the volunteer emergency medical service’s Jerusalem headquarters Sunday, Aug. 28. “I wish to thank all of the supporters for making this happen,” United Hatzalah founder Eli Beer said. “It is amazing that we were able to raise all of the funds through crowdfunding from people with good hearts. Due to the generosity of the good-hearted people, we will now be able to fix many other hearts.” The defibrillator cost more than $23,000. Pelta told the AJT it’s standard equipment on Atlanta ambulances, but before the donation, only one Magen David Adom ambulance serving the Beit Shemesh area carried the device. The device “allows operators to monitor the rhythm of the heart, give lifesaving shocks, measure blood pressure and oxygen levels, and verify the correct placement of the endotracheal tube after intubation,” said Pelta, who lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef. ■
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
Pelta Gets Defibrillator
AJT 9
OPINION
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Our View
OK the Mosque
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
An imam who more than a decade ago turned a Doraville ranch house into a Muslim house of worship wants to take his thriving congregation 40 miles southeast to Newton County, where 135 undeveloped acres cost $675,000 last year. When Imam Mohammad Islam’s plans for the property — a mosque, a cemetery, a school and eventually housing — became public, panic struck in the greater Covington area, and the questions began. Who would pray at a mosque so far from Atlanta? What do they want? Why did they choose Newton County? Why do they need a compound? Plus other mixtures of “why” and “they” that boil down to why people who are different are in “our” neighborhood. Some concerns are cloaked in quality-of-life issues such as traffic, but, like other houses of worship, mosques usually don’t clog the roads at rush hour. Most criticisms, however, are transparently antiMuslim, such as worries that Newton would become a destination for refugees, foment Islamist extremism and terrorism, or be infected with shariah law. When Newton’s commissioners panicked and enacted a moratorium on new religious facilities, they followed officials in Lilburn in 2009 and Kennesaw in 2014 in embarrassing Georgia nationally. If Baptists had bought the same site with the same idea of putting a cemetery next to the church, along with a religiously based private school and perhaps housing in the future, approval would have been quick and easy. But the Muslim plans represent the advance of the other in Newton County. As people with a long history of suffering as the other, we Jews have an interest in the outcome. After all, how different is Imam Islam’s vision from the reality of LaVista Road between North Druid Hills and Briarcliff roads? They’re enclaves where a religious minority is concentrated enough to live like the majority — the way Christians do in most of America. Legally, there’s no doubt what will happen in Newton County. Federal law makes it almost impossible to deny zoning approval for a house of worship. Sooner or later, with or without the threat of a lawsuit, whether it wants it or not, Newton County will get its mosque. But there’s a bigger principle involved: the meaning of rights. Increasingly, Americans seem to believe that rights have to be justified. We see it with the Second Amendment when people question why anyone would need a high-capacity magazine or a semiautomatic rifle that looks like a military weapon. Maybe ownership of such items should be curtailed or even banned, but the burden is on those who want to restrict a right to prove the need. We see it with the First Amendment when people want to be insulated from words they disagree with or want to limit political speech to control the corruption of money. Yes, rights can have limits, but the burden of proof is on those who would set restrictions. The fundamental rule for liberty in this great nation is that no one exercising a constitutional right, especially a First Amendment right, ever has to explain why. Let’s hope the Newton commissioners 10 learn that lesson and end the controversy. ■
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Cartoon by Marian Kemensky, Slovakia
Tackling 2 Important Topics But taken together, the articles drive home the We at the Atlanta Jewish Times work hard to point that slavery, whether in factory sweatshops offer you a newspaper and a website that are worth in Asia or in the sex abuse of children right here in reading, and I hope we do a good enough job to Georgia, remains a global scourge. make it worthwhile for you to spend some time with When it comes to scourges close to home, the AJT each week. however, nothing is scarier than the nation’s heroin Ideally, you find the newspaper vital enough to epidemic, which is just as likely to strike one of the Jewish Atlanta and to your place in the community good, happy Jewish families in our community as that you subscribe (such a steal at $65), but there’s anyone in the genno denying that some issues are eral public. better than others. Three Jewish Still, it’s rare when we pubEditor’s Notebook women who lost lish stories that are not just interBy Michael Jacobs children to opioids esting, informative or entertainmjacobs@atljewishtimes.com talked to contribuing, but are also important — the tor Leah R. Harrison stories that I believe everyone in about the pain and our community needs to read. In shock of their losses 2015, we may have had as few as two such packages and how they think Jewish Atlanta should respond of stories: our extensive coverage of the centennial to the problem. Leah also got the perspective of of Leo Frank’s lynching in Marietta and our lengthy HAMSA program coordinator Eric Miller, a recoverexamination of what will happen in the too-soon ing addict himself, and did further reporting that future when the world has no more Holocaust informs and deepens her writing. survivors. This special report is not meant to be a compreWe have two of those must-read packages in hensive look at the problem, its causes and its pothis single issue. The timelier of the two is a set of articles dealing tential cures, but it should help you understand the devastation heroin addiction is leaving in its wake. with modern slavery and how Georgia as a state and Next week we’ll try to add to that understandGeorgians as individuals are fighting human trafing by looking at how some health care practices are ficking. Each of the stories in this package on Pages changing in response to the spread of opioid abuse. 15 to 17 developed independently. And we hope to keep developing this important story We started working on the partnership between as more people affected by addiction decide to share Temple Kehillat Chaim and Free the Slaves around their experiences with the community through the Passover, but the story took longer than planned to AJT. pull together and fit into the paper. Matthew FriedBetween human trafficking and heroin addicman of the anti-slavery Mekong Club just happened tion, this isn’t the most cheerful AJT issue you’ll ever to visit in early August and found time to talk to Associate Editor David Cohen. The Women’s Caucus for read. But I hope these articles are examples of the serious topics in Jewish Atlanta that you want to see Art of Georgia pulled together a special exhibition covered in the AJT. in response to slavery just as the advocates of a Safe Don’t worry: We’re only two weeks away from Harbor state constitutional amendment decided to the fun adventures of our next travel issue. ■ launch a campaign for the measure’s approval.
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OPINION
Clergy Must Play Role in Ominous Election and create the “just right” bowl? The answer goes to the essence of G-d’s calling to ministry. We who are moved to pursue a life as G-d’s emissaries must discover a new vocabulary for mind, soul and mouth. Ours is to
Letters To The Editor
self-reliant and responsible Scouts in a strong Jewish environment. Troop 73 meets at OVS, 1681 N. Druid Hills Road in Brookhaven, on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. For more information, contact assistant Scout masters Ed Heller (770-394-1190, ej.heller@comcast. net) or Sam Benator (770-401-8042, iibenator@aol.com). — Alisa Haber, Atlanta
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As the mother of two of the four current Boy Scouts in Troop 73, I want to thank you for your recent story about Congregation Or VeShalom’s amazing program, headed for many years by Josiah Benator (“Troop Down to 2 Scouts,” Aug. 19). Your article mentioned we just celebrated a milestone of 50 boys earning the rank of Eagle Scout. It is important to note we will have three more Eagle Scout candidates before the year is out. While most troops rely solely on parent volunteers, Troop 73 is remarkable because of the dedicated and energetic nonparental Scout masters who are fastidious about keeping Scouts on track for advancement while encouraging adventurous hiking and backpacking, as well as old-fashioned summer camp at Woodruff and the legendary Philmont in New Mexico. This troop offers a great opportunity for both intown and OTP Cub Scouts crossing over and for boys ages 11 and up who are looking to become
Guest Column By Rabbi Marc Howard Wilson
preach compellingly of G-d’s virtues and how they apply to life’s path. If exemplars are called for, we must pick them from Scripture, or at least from current social-political trends — to carefully critique, for example, the skewed values that underlie the vision of Mr. Trump and his throng. But from the pulpit perhaps his name should never be denounced or even mentioned. If we denounce, we denounce the disease and not its symptoms. People will figure out the rest, or they will have their noses rubbed in it via Fox or MSNBC. I was once called to preach at Martin Luther King’s home church,
Zaban Park in 1963 I enjoyed reading the excellent article by Logan C. Richie about the history of the Marcus Jewish Community Center’s Zaban Park (“Jewish Center Sprouts From Dunwoody Farmland,” Aug. 26). I was a counselor there during the summer of 1963. The first half of the summer camp was held at the Peachtree JCC, and the second half, we bused out to Zaban Park. I remember thinking that we were driving out to nowhere. Zaban Park had shelters for the campers, a small temporary administrative building, a swimming pool, a lake, and lots of space for kids to run and play. It was also the summer when this 21-year-old college graduate from
Ebenezer Baptist. I was certainly honored. I prepared my text carefully, one that was in my imagination molded to this middle-class African-American congregation. But the moment I entered the sanctuary, bang! I was whacked upside the head by the realization that in a few minutes I would be standing in the footsteps of Dr. King. So how much more momentous was the occasion? How carefully must I choose my words and express my passion to be a tribute to MLK’s prophetic legacy? What does it mean to stand in the place from which he once preached — visionary, compelling? Daddy King once told me, “Martin said that you must preach from your head, your heart and your muscle.” What a challenge. But think about it. Pastors, wake up and realize that when you ascend the pulpit, you too are standing in the footsteps of luminaries even greater than Dr. King. Visionaries such as Moses, Deborah, Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jesus, Paul and the disciples — all superstars of spirit, faith and divine wisdom. All dug in and left their footsteps precisely where we are
now standing. Their teachings endure. Their personae endure. Role models. Moral exemplars and compasses. Well, what about anger? We must be angry at the sin, not the sinner. Please use only cautious denunciation, leaving the slurs and innuendoes for Rush, Sean, Bill, Ann and the rest of the trash talkers. Let them wallow in their muck, as we of divine calling resist the temptation and ascend the pulpit always mindful of whose footsteps we occupy on the way to a higher calling. We must be the voice of divine ideals to conjure the best from our flock and to encourage neither indifference nor another spate of ugliness on Facebook. We are facing tough times, and they may get even worse. But we of the cloth must serve a unique role, nothing less than G-d’s emissaries on Earth. ■
Miami had come to Atlanta to see his girlfriend, Nancy Feldman. The love affair that continued that summer and for the following 53 years has resulted in three wonderful children and seven adored grandchildren. Who would have imagined that the vision and efforts of Max Kuniansky and Erwin Zaban would produce a place where thousands of Atlantans would have experienced happy memories and that the J and Zaban Park will continue to be there for generations to come? — Jerry Schwartz, Alpharetta
question. So we see that she is incapable of supervising the world in regard to the safety of America and our allies. Our safety inequality in this country is vital. Blacks, whites, Indians and Hispanics, we are all first. G-d blesses our country, which is blessed by the Jews who reside in America. The world looks to us for help, and we will help them, but America comes first. I was active in the Watts riot in Los Angeles during the 1960s. As a result, a manpower program was created by the Department of Labor. The program trained individuals according to their field of study, and the participants received jobs in their field on completion of their program. We want jobs in the African-American communities and jobs back in America now. — Khaleelah Hunter, Gainesville, president, Noah’s Ark Times
Clinton Can’t Face Mistakes I am a 67-year-old person who knows right from wrong. I see the fights of our leaders in America, and we should have an everyday, G-d-given safety for our lives in America. My husband and I are Christians, and we vote for what G-d wants for this nation and his people. However, we see that Democrat Hillary Clinton cannot see her own mistakes, and she doesn’t care. She should have supervised her own staff in regard to email messages and phone calls that contain top security information. Her character is in
Rabbi Wilson is a community organizer, former spiritual leader of Congregation Shearith Israel, and founder/ director of MeetingPoint, an interfaith opportunity to build the beloved community.
Write to Us
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
Compared with the bellicose religious right, we moderate and liberal clergy have been conspicuously silent about a presidential campaign that bodes of horrific consequences to beloved American values. I doubt that it is due to a lack of social conscience. I know that a vast number of my colleagues are mortified by the nefarious plans Donald Trump has for his new reich. So why the paucity of serious exhortation from the pulpit? Perhaps my colleagues are a little gun-shy. Pastors have every reason to be gun-shy, myself included. It is not for fear of recrimination, but from consciences that are tongue-tied by what to say and do. At worst, it is Goldilocks redux: Say something too tepid and you have abrogated your divine calling. You have become just an acolyte dispensing bromides. But if you bluster with angercharged denunciations, you are no longer G-d’s emissary, just a blunderbuss, another pundit, and probably not a particularly good one. Is it possible to fuse the two bowls
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LOCAL NEWS
Wild Geese and Unicorns in the Mountains Why would a Jewish chaplain and wife of a rabbi sign up to spend three days with her children at a Christian festival? That’s precisely the question I asked myself when I walked through the gates of a camping ground in the mountains of North Carolina that hosted the Wild Goose Festival in July. Wild Goose had been mentioned several times on a podcast I regularly listen to, “On Being,” which depicted the festival as a blend of spirituality, social justice, music and art. That describes all of the things I deeply care about. The fact that it was a Christian event made me curious about where our values might overlap and what I, as a Jew, might glean from it. I must admit that in addition to being excited, I had a lot of trepidation about what it would feel like to be an odd Jewish person at a festival dedicated to walking the path of Jesus. Against my better judgment, I imagined the worst. Would my children feel like “the
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SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
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other”? Would I see signs of anti-Israel sentiment? Was the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement part
Guest Column By Marita Anderson
of the conversation? Would my heart wrap itself in layers of protection when confronted with the faith of others? What I actually experienced could not be further from my runaway imagination. Large displays of poetry met new arrivals at the camping grounds, one of which was a favorite poem by Mary Oliver that put me at ease: “You do not have to be good./You do not have to walk on your knees/for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting./You only have to let the soft animal of your body/love what it loves./Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.”
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Our generation is living through uncertain times of intense political and religious divisions, a planet in trouble, and mass violence. We are seeking expressions of hope, moments of joy and reminders of our interconnectedness. The Wild Goose Festival, mostly attended by progressively oriented churches, had a long list of issues to tackle and did so by engaging in difficult conversations, often uncomfortable and sometimes deeply emotional. At any hour, six to eight large tents hosted preachers and panels on subjects ranging from racial justice to responsible farming, from prison reform to the practice of awakened spirituality, from LGBTQ inclusion in religious life to interfaith dialogue. My little family did not feel like “the other,” and there were few mentions of Jesus (mostly in musical performances). Israel did not seem to be on the radar, other than as a place of pilgrimage. And I did not see the frightful acronym of BDS. I found that the issues on the roster were similar to those we wrestle with in the progressive Jewish community. My kids observed, with great interest, that our Christian counterparts are a bit more expressive with their colorful fashion, body piercings and tattoo art than we are used to in our synagogue settings. Young ministers gave many of the
sermons, and lay leaders moderated the panels, which gave the festival a feel of approachability and communal experience. I was surprised by how few African-Americans came to the festival, even though much of the conversation revolved around racial justice as a problem that belonged to us all. At one point Kenji Kuramitsu, a young educator on racism, quipped with disappointment that there were “more people dressed as unicorns than there were people of color” in attendance. We laughed sheepishly, knowing that more work was ahead. On the last day of the festival, my son whispered in my ear that he was no longer afraid of being the only Jewish kid among so many Christians. I hope my son will not mind me sharing this, as I think it was a pivotal moment encapsulating why I ventured into the mountains of North Carolina with my family. My children, who proudly take their rightful place within the Jewish community, are beginning to understand the importance of meeting people of other faiths. In our imperfect world, sometimes we discover possibilities of hope and fellowship in the most unlikely places. ■
Dress Donations Needed
Senior Day Returns
A pop-up shop selling used dresses for b’nai mitzvah parties is being held at the Marcus Jewish Community Center from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9. Dresses are being sold for $10 or $20 each to make it easier for families whose tween and teen daughters are embarking on the mitzvah party circuit. All the proceeds from the sale will go to the Holocaust Survivor Support Fund launched last year by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Clean dresses in good condition on hangers can be dropped off at any of the following locations by Monday, Sept. 19, to be part of the sale: Marcus JCC, Atlanta Jewish Academy, Epstein School, Weber School, Jewish Family & Career Services, Congregation B’nai Torah and Congregation Or Hadash. For more information, email event co-chairs Tracey Grant, Anat Granath, Stefani Newman and Julie Weinstein at popupdressshop@gmail. com or visit www.facebook.com/ events/1112547675490884.
The Marcus Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family & Career Services and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta are holding the fall Senior Day from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, at the Marcus JCC’s Zaban Park at 5342 Tilly Mill Road in Dunwoody. For $5, seniors can pick three one-hour activities and eat a kosher dairy or vegetarian lunch. The options include water aerobics, intro to pickleball, chair yoga, ballet, painting, cooking and a presentation on Israeli culture by Israeli emissary Tamar Gez. Call Ashley Cohen at 678-8123861 for more information. Register at atlantajcc.org/seniorday.
Marita Anderson is a Jewish chaplain and the wife of Temple Emanu-El Rabbi Spike Anderson.
Photo courtesy of the Marcus JCC
Low-impact pickleball combines elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton.
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LOCAL NEWS
Blacks, Jews Keep Conversation Going When the Movement for Black Lives released its official policy platform Aug. 1 with a statement denouncing Israel as an apartheid state committing genocide of the Palestinians, much of the Jewish community reacted with anger and exasperation at the Black Lives Matter organization. “While we support many points mentioned in the platform, the decision to denounce Israel requires us to distance ourselves from BLM,” American Jewish Committee’s Atlanta Chapter said. Such responses sparked their own backlash, spurring AJC Atlanta and the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition to hold a dialogue about anti-Semitism, Israel and Black Lives Matter on Thursday, Aug. 25, at Manuel’s Tavern, where the crowd was standing room only. No BLM official attended, but blacks and Jews engaged in honest dialogue. “We have to keep the conversation going so we don’t lose sight of the good we’ve done together,” said coalition member Chris Walker, a Project Understanding participant last year. “I think I became interested in black-Jewish relations because I was fascinated there was even a Black-Jewish Coalition. I am interested in how Jews have thrived in different communities and environments around the world. There’s room for both to learn from each other. Both groups basically came from nothing, and we’re still here thriving.” The common experiences of slavery, oppression and survival provide the foundation for discussions. The group at Manuel’s grappled with the treatment of blacks, Jews of color and Palestinians living in the West Bank. Ilise Cohen said people should take a good look at the entire Movement for Black Lives platform and check its facts because it is about economics. “The U.S and Egypt have made the biggest contributions to militarizing other countries,” Cohen said. “Instead of just looking at Israel, look at all the countries the U.S. has militarized in Africa and the Middle East. That money could be spent to better train police and foster race relations in the U.S.” When the issue of the West Bank occupation hit the table, some people acknowledged questioning Israel’s tactics toward the Palestinians. Others asked why the BLM platform, which focuses on U.S. policies and changes, even mentions Israel.
Rabbi David Spinrad of The Temple said such conversations are the beginning of healing that is needed in the black and Jewish communities. Dialogue gives everyone the opportunity to overcome the tendency to discriminate, Rabbi Spinrad said, but first we must be honest with ourselves. “There’s brokenness, and it’s different than what it used to be in the black and Jewish communities,” he said. “We don’t go to separate schools anymore or drink at separate water fountains, but there’s terrible economic inequality driven by race. There’s structural racism that make it harder for black families to buy homes or buy homes with predatory loans. Everyone
knows your home is your greatest asset. How do you provide for children without a home? I don’t think most people with my skin color are aware of it; they think the work is done.” Cohen, who is of mixed Mizrahi and Sephardi descent, addressed discrimination within the Jewish community against Jews of color. “The Jewish community doesn’t take on its white privilege,” she said. “It’s always about racism outward, but not against Jews of color. I’m Mizrahi and Latin. It’s 20 percent of Jews who are of color who don’t feel welcome or who are made to feel some sort of suspicion. Jews of color feel like they’re torn apart on this issue. Do they choose priv-
ilege or racial and economic justice?” The night’s dialogue did not resolve problems between the black and Jewish communities, but it kept the conversation going. Many people stayed after the event to keep talking. Stacey Chavis, a co-chair of the coalition, said the group felt that it was necessary to bring people together with no agenda, action plan or statement to come out of the meeting. “I love the fact there were young professionals, seasoned professionals and there was a man who has been in Atlanta since 1937. It was good to have all different perspectives,” Chavis said. “Tonight was just an indication, and now it’s what do we do next.” ■
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
By Patrice Worthy
AJT 13
www.atlantajewishtimes.com
LOCAL NEWS
New Reform Rabbi Helps Baton Rouge Rebuild By Cady Schulman cschulman@atljewishtimes.com For Rabbi Natan Trief, the devastation from floodwaters that hit the city of Baton Rouge in mid-August is hard to describe. Rabbi Trief, who spends two weeks a month in the Louisiana capital, said the area is a tale of two cities: The main roads appear as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened, but as you go farther into the city, the devastation is “mind-boggling.” Now the city’s residents are trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives. Around 90,000 homes in southern Louisiana flooded after more than 30 inches of rain fell in some areas within a few days. “House after house vomited their possessions onto the curb,” the rabbi said. “It’s the same exact sight at every house. We ripped out all the Sheetrock and drywall since mold is a big danger. These relief efforts are going to last for months. We’ve dealt with many houses, but the majority of houses haven’t been addressed. Once mold sets in, it’s hard to get out.” Rabbi Trief said about 10 percent of the members of Baton Rouge’s Beth Shalom Synagogue, the Reform con-
Rabbi Natan Trief works with Nechama to clean up flood damage in Baton Rouge.
gregation where he has served as rabbi since Aug. 1, sustained significant damage to their homes, losing anything from 6 inches above the floor to the entire first floor. As a whole, he said, about 11 percent of the city’s Jewish community sustained damage. “One person had 5 feet of water come in,” Rabbi Trief said. “You could literally see the waterline when it receded. It reached the bottom of the kitchen cabinets. The hardest part for a new rabbi, apart from seeing the suffering and the devastation, is that so many Hebrew prayer books were destroyed. Obviously, that’s a small thing compared to the massive suffering, but it’s also significant.” Beth Shalom, which was damaged during Hurricane Katrina 11 years ago but was spared the flooding, has been set up as a base of operations. Congre-
gants have used the synagogue to cook meals for first responders and for people staying in shelters. It’s also being used as a drop-off point for donations. “The community has rallied together,” Rabbi Trief said. “It’s inspiring. The Jewish community is small but really strong. I think because religion plays such a large role in other groups, I think it influences the Jewish community as well. One good consequence is that it really brings people together.” When he’s not in Baton Rouge, Rabbi Trief is in Atlanta, where his wife, Samantha Shabman, is a new rabbi at Temple Sinai. They graduated from Hebrew Union College and were ordained in the spring. That connection between the cities has benefited the relief efforts in Baton Rouge. Temple Sinai has raised thousands of dollars in gift cards for those affected by the flooding, and over Labor Day weekend Sinai is sending a group of youths and adults to help with the cleanup. “Having my wife and the whole Temple Sinai community rallying around this has been fantastic,” Rabbi Trief said. “The Jewish community in Baton Rouge reaches out to Atlanta for
help and guidance. Obviously, other Jewish communities have faced this, most notably New Orleans, so they’ve been helping out as well.” Right now, donations of money and gift cards are the main ways people outside the area can help, he said. Tax-deductible donations may be made through the Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge as well as the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Gift cards can be sent to Beth Shalom Synagogue, 9111 Jefferson Hwy., Baton Rouge, LA 70809. “I think we’re really worried about donor fatigue kicking in when the flood isn’t in the news any longer,” Rabbi Trief said. “We’re trying to lay the groundwork so people will” continue to donate. Those wanting to help with the cleanup can go through Minnesotabased Nechama (www.nechama.org), a volunteer organization that provides natural disaster preparedness, response and recovery services nationwide. Nechama arrived in Baton Rouge with a truck of building supplies and dozens of volunteers. They “have been like angels descending onto the community,” Rabbi Trief said. ■
The Packaged Good, Emanu-El Send Toiletries By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
Several Jewish organizations in Atlanta have responded to the disastrous flooding in southern Louisiana in August, from fundraising by synagogues and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta to the collection of gift cards and sending of a van of Neshama volunteers by Temple Sinai. Temple Emanu-El had a hands-on response, thanks to a new nonprofit launched by member Sally Mundell. The Packaged Good, where volunteers pack bags of goods and prepare personalized cards for people in need, welcomed about 100 Emanu-El members to create 500 packages of toiletries for flood victims Sunday, Aug. 21. Half the packages were shipped to the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans for distribution in the Baton Rouge area; the other half were carried to Louisiana by a relief group from Mormon Helping Hands, Mundell said. “I think all of us feel, when something tragic happens, we wonder how 14 we can help,” Mundell said. “We’re set
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up to help.” The Packaged Good activated its pool of volunteers through email, social media, partners and friends, and Rabbi Spike Anderson at Emanu-El responded during the Friday night service Aug. 19, which he said had more children than usual because it was a prospective-member service and kindergartners through second-graders from the religious school participated. “We had an entire service where intertwined between the prayers were themes of water and how water could save but also could harm,” Rabbi Anderson said. During the service he told the story of an old man threatened by flood from a breaking dam. As a man of faith certain G-d will save him, he refuses three offers of help to escape, and he drowns, only to learn when he confronts G-d in heaven that those human offers were divine efforts to save him. “Oftentimes, help and salvation come through human intervention,” the rabbi said. “We can be the extension of G-d’s help and aid.” He thus urged congregants to volunteer at the
Packaged Good. “I love the Packaged Good,” he said. As a concept to bring families together to do good, “we couldn’t have come up with something better.” Disasters often leave people feeling helpless, but having the Packaged Good nearby makes it easier to decide how to respond, Rabbi Anderson said. “We’re very proud of her, of Sally, for doing this.” From her launch June 7 through Aug. 26, the Packaged Good prepared 3,400 care packages with the help of 16 charities and 600 people who visited the Dunwoody Village storefront, Mundell said. Her goal is 16,000 packages in the first year of operation. Whether more of them will go to Baton Rouge will depend on the feedback she gets from Louisiana about the needs there. To help meet its goals, the nonprofit shop is holding a fundraiser, Cocktails for a Cause, on Thursday, Sept. 15. The volunteers who will be there, she said, include 12-year-old Harrison Frank, an Emanu-El member and Davis Academy student, who is creating a
program for b’nai mitzvah students to work with the Packaged Good. Also attending will be Bahaumi Shah, 13, a budding videographer who is creating a series of videos for the Packaged Good, starting with one about the Louisiana effort. She also raised $1,364 for the nonprofit through efforts such as bake and garage sales. She’ll premiere the video and present the check at Cocktails for a Cause. The Packaged Good is working with several synagogues and with five nonprofits that support the ongoing needs of groups such as the homeless. Mundell’s operation is gearing up for a day of giving Nov. 13 to help the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. “We feel like it’s our responsibility to help people in need,” she said. “That’s what we’re all about.” ■ What: Cocktails for a Cause, featuring food and wine from restaurants Where: The Packaged Good, Dunwoody Village, 5517 ChambleeDunwoody Road, Dunwoody When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 Admission: $30 donation; RSVP at www.thepackagedgood.org
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LOCAL NEWS
Safe Harbor Sought for Children Sold for Sex Just as they led the fight to enact legislation to crack down on child sex trafficking, two Jewish elected officials played key roles at the launch of a campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to aid that trade’s child victims. Safe Harbor Yes kicked off its drive for Amendment 2 to the Georgia Constitution with a news conference Wednesday, Aug. 24, at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. “Every voter in Georgia can stand up for the children by voting yes in November,” said Evia Golde, a co-chair of Safe Harbor Yes (SafeHarborYes.com). The amendment would create the Safe Harbor Fund to provide restorative services such as housing, counseling, and medical and psychological treatment for victims of child sex trafficking. Two new dedicated sources would pay for the fund: fines on people convicted of sex crimes and a fee on establishments that serve alcohol while providing nude entertainment. Those sources are expected to produce $2 million a year. “To our children, this fund is life,” said Bob Rodgers, the president and CEO of Street Grace, a faith-based organization battling child sex trafficking. The legislation putting the amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot, along with a bill clarifying that minors forced into sex work are victims, not criminals, passed the General Assembly in 2015 with the sponsorship of Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) and the strong backing of Attorney General Sam Olens. Those measures were the culmination of legislative work by Unterman and others going back to 2009 to counter the child sex trade in Georgia. It was a crusade joined by Olens after his election in 2010. “If you’re buying a 12-year-old child, you deserve to spend a long time in jail, just like the seller,” Olens said, adding that in the child sex trade “there are no such words as pimps or johns. You’re a trafficker.” He said Georgia must educate the public and the judiciary about that message to change behavior. But the vote in November is about helping the exploited children more than punishing their abusers. “That’s restoration,” Olens said. “That’s helping those children who have had their innocence taken, often for years at a time, sold up to 20 times a night, just as it will occur tonight
throughout our state.” The constitutional amendment is necessary to protect those restorative programs from elected officials atempts to redirect the money, Unterman said. “This is our one-time opportunity.” She urged supporters of the amendment to spread word of the necessity to go to the end of the ballot to find the four amendments. “We cannot forget that this is a human issue,” Rodgers said. “Our children are being bought and sold by our neighbors.” Dorsey Jones told the packed conference room, which included Steve Chervin from Ahavath Achim Synagogue and Noah Appley of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta, that poverty forced her at age 12
to trade sex for money to buy food in South Georgia. The effort to save children from sex trafficking “brings so much joy to me because I know that there’s somebody out there fighting for all the children who look like me,” Jones said. The opposition to the amendment is coming from the adult entertainment industry, such as operators of strip clubs, because of the new fee the amendment would place on those businesses. But as long as the amendment passes, Unterman is confident that the fee would survive any court challenges because the law is modeled on one in Texas that has passed legal muster. The next step, Unterman said, will be to work on the system of care for trafficked children. ■
Amendment 2 “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow additional penalties for criminal cases in which a person is adjudged guilty of keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, pandering, pandering by compulsion, solicitation of sodomy, masturbation for hire, trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, or sexual exploitation of children and to allow assessments on adult entertainment establishments to fund the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund to pay for care and rehabilitative and social services for individuals in this state who have been or may be sexually exploited.”
“It also sends a message that the state of Georgia cares about its children,” Sen. Renee Unterman says about the passage of Amendment 2.
The buyers of child sex slaves are just as guilty as the sellers, Attorney General Sam Olens says. “Buyers are traffickers.”
“You make me feel happy,” Dorsey Jones, a survivor of child sex trafficking, tells Safe Harbor Yes supporters.
“I’m here because I’m voting yes for Safe Harbor,” former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin says.
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
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LOCAL NEWS
Kehillat Chaim Learns to Help Free the Slaves By Marcy Levinson
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
Temple Kehillat Chaim in Roswell has responded to modern slavery by teaming up with Washington-based Free the Slaves to educate students about how Judaism’s roots and contemporary human trafficking intertwine. Free the Slaves has one goal: to end slavery. Estimates range as high as 45 million people in enslavement. Free the Slaves’ executive director, Maurice Middleberg, a former Kehillat Chaim member, showed the temple’s sixth-grade religious school students a documentary called “Stand With Me” in 2014, Rabbi Harvey Winokur said. The documentary is about Vivienne Harr of Fairfax, Calif., who at age 9 viewed a museum’s photo display of a child carrying a boulder in a rock quarry. Surprised to learn the child was enslaved and not doing the fun things children do, she set out to raise money to free 500 children from slavery. Her plan was to run a lemonade stand for a year. Within six months, she raised over $100,000 for Not for Sale, a nonprofit that works to eradicate human trafficking. Her campaign became a social purpose corporation, Make a Stand, which now stocks lemonade in 137 stores, is run by her father, and donates proceeds to organizations devoted to ending slavery, including Free the Slaves. Since its inception in 2000, Free the Slaves has liberated 12,000 people from slavery, according to its website. The film’s impact on the Kehillat Chaim students was more than anticipated, Rabbi Winokur said. “It was completely an eye-opener for them. They didn’t have any sense this sort of thing was occurring — for children as well as adults.” He said the students did not know the products they buy could have an impact if fair-trade items are available. “This is more about the whole general notion: A fair number of individuals are indentured slaves,” Rabbi Winokur said. “For kids, it was fairly accessible — the fact that Passover comes every year when they sit down and talk about the brick-making business. Jews made bricks for Pharaoh.” During the 2014-15 school year, when Kehillat Chaim education director Caroline Figiel researched, organized and implemented a curriculum based on modern slavery, she made sure it correlated to Judaism through Torah teachings, values and Passover. 16 “It was an issue they had not
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Temple Kehillat Chaim students at a 2015 model seder hear about the conditions under which a 9-year-old Indian boy was kept in servitude in 2005, including never being allowed to leave his room, being forced to work 19 hours a day, suffering torn blisters and having his fingers dipped into boiling oil to seal the wounds.
learned about in school or religious school,” Figiel said. Students naturally related to Harr because of the closeness in age, she said, and because the curriculum was crafted for social action, Harr was a great example of someone who “didn’t wait to grow up to make a difference.” The curriculum also paralleled slavery issues taught in secular schools, Figiel said. “I could tie it in to their weekday school curriculum of American slavery and civil rights issues.” The projects implemented through the yearlong program included ways for students to express themselves. “The issue of modern-day slavery, under Caroline Figiel, it was very moving,” Middleberg said. “They developed a wonderful array of creative projects to express what they had learned and how they felt about it: paintings, poems, videos, etc.” A model Passover seder Kehillat Chaim held for the students in conjunction with Free the Slaves in 2015 used the example of a desperate mother in India selling her 9-year-old son for $15 to work in a carpet factory 19 hours a day. With the support of Free the Slaves, local police liberated that boy and nine others July 12, 2005. The seder script connected that child’s story to Passover: • “Today the salt water reminds us of the bitter tears that this boy shed. The parsley reminds us of the new life and hope he was given by just law enforcement, righteous advocates and conscious consumers.” • “Can we hold up, along with the matzah, a cloth or candy bar that might be made from slave labor?” • “This is the bread of pain and suffering. It reminds us of our difficult life in Egypt.” • “This is a sign of pain and suffering as well. We should try to be aware of where products like candy, coffee, even soccer balls are made. We might be eating and wearing slavery.” For Middleberg, the reality of slavery goes back to the Holocaust, when
the Nazis forced his grandfather to serve them as a jeweler and watchmaker. “He was kept alive to repair what the Nazis were stealing,” Middleberg said. “When I do this, I feel in some ways like I continue to redeem him.” In part inspired by its work with Kehillat Chaim, Free the Slaves has developed a Passover program and launched a five-year campaign to enlist Jewish communities into a network against human trafficking. According to the group’s website, the Passover Project has four goals:
• “Making education about modern slavery a part of congregational life.” • “Mobilizing Jewish communities to take strong advocacy stands against modern slavery.” • “Inspiring synagogues, Jewish schools and other Jewish institutions to be careful consumers and investors to be sure the products they buy or the companies in which they invest aren’t tainted by slavery.” • “Making support for Free the Slaves a part of school tzedakah projects and an option for b’nai mitzvah projects.” Other local congregations have joined the Passover Project. Middleberg’s goal is for 180 Jewish organizations nationwide to participate. “I am so grateful to Harvey and Caroline for embracing this movement with their hearts and bringing the congregation with them,” Middleberg said. “The response was very enthusiastic, and it was wonderful to get their support and engagement.” ■
Slavery’s 4 Children The Free the Slaves-inspired Passover seder includes this modern adaptation of the haggadah’s four sons. The Child Who Cannot Ask I live in a poor village where the houses are made of dung. The landowner doesn’t allow outsiders to come to the village, and we don’t have a school, which means we never learn anything new. All we know is what the landowner tells us. When a person in my village is old enough, they work for him. My grandfather was a slave, his father was a slave, my father was a slave, and I am a slave. It seems I’ll never know anything else; neither will my children and their children. That’s just the way it is. (He doesn’t know how to ask because he doesn’t know he can.) The Simple Person A stranger came to my village. He told my brother that he could help our family. All my brother needed to do was come work for him in the diamond mines. My brother knew it was far away, but the man promised to send my brother’s pay to my parents. We were always hungry, and my brother thought his wages could buy food for all of us. At first my parents said no to the stranger, but the man promised my brother would also be able to go to school near the mines. My parents had always wanted a better life for their children, and this man seemed like he could be trusted, so they finally agreed to the arrangement. It’s been two years now, and no one has heard from my brother. No one has received any money from him. No one knows if he is alive. Since then, Free the Slaves has come to our village and set up a school. … I will never allow myself to become a slave. The Wise Person My daughter and I were bought by a circus. After Free the Slaves rescued me, I asked them to go back and free my daughter. It was awful to be away from her, knowing that she was treated poorly while I was learning to take my first steps in a free world. It took almost a year, but they did it. Now my daughter and I own a small shop. We have learned not only to be aware of the traps of false promises by strangers, but we have also learned to take care of ourselves. The Wicked Person I am a slave owner. I have taken children away from their families and made them do horrible, dangerous jobs that could injure or kill them. Some people think that I am a monster and don’t deserve anything but prison, but my family has been doing this for generations. I have not learned how to treat workers. Perhaps someone can teach me and I can change.
LOCAL NEWS
Georgia’s a Leader In Battling Slavery Georgia’s response to modern slavery is far ahead of the other states that an international expert has visited, but that’s where the good news stops. Matthew Friedman is the CEO of the Hong Kong-based Mekong Club, which fights slavery. He was in Atlanta on Aug. 3 during a 70-day tour to raise awareness about human trafficking. After speaking engagements at the Buckhead Rotary Club, Rubicon Global, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a visit with Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, Freidman talked to the AJT about human trafficking in Georgia and the world. “Most people think slavery is a thing of the past,” Friedman said. “But in reality we have more slaves today than any other time in history.” Friedman, estimated there are 500,000 to 1 million slaves in North America and an additional 45.8 million worldwide. Of that number, only 48,000 people each year receive help. Atlanta is one of the largest hubs for human trafficking in the United States. Some experts estimate that 200 to 300 people are moved through the city each month to be used for forced prostitution, but after meeting with Olens, Friedman said the steps Georgia has taken are encouraging. “Many of the other states I visit have organizations working on the problem, but they aren’t working together,” Friedman said. “There’s less of
Artists Answer Slavery
The Women’s Caucus for Art of Georgia is responding to human trafficking with the exhibition “46/21: 46 Million Slaves — 21st Century Slavery.” “We are artists speaking out. We seek to end human trafficking. We witness the injustice of slavery. We raise awareness to achieve the joy of rescue, of freedom,” said Callahan McDonough, who chairs the artist organization’s Art+Activism Initiative, which is creating and sponsoring the exhibit. The committee planning “46/21” includes Temple Kol Emeth member Maxine Hess and Ahavath Achim Synagogue member Flora Rosefsky, who are among the 57 visual artists contributing work to the show at Atlanta’s Mammal Gallery at 91 Broad St. The exhibit is scheduled for Sept. 10 to Oct. 2, with public hours from
a sense of addressing it at a state level. In Georgia, you have enough of these organizations that have alliances going up to the state. That’s quite exciting because we need more states to do that.” But Friedman said Georgia and the rest of the world have a long way to go in fighting and raising awareness of human trafficking. For instance, he said, 75 percent of victims of human trafficking are forced into labor and not just prostitution, and 60 percent of those in forced labor are involved with supply chains. The profits generated from that forced labor total about $150 billion a year, while the amount spent to fight it is only $350 million. Friedman said people can help by learning about the problem and sharing the information. Before you buy a branded item, check online whether the company has a policy on forced labor. Friedman is developing an app to help consumers decipher which products and brands use forced labor. He has also written a book about modern slavery, “Where Were You?” “People feel like the problem is too big for them and they have nothing to offer,” he said. “The size of the issue tends to shut people down. What we in the counter-trafficking world haven’t done a good enough job of is helping people to understand that everyone has a part to play. If everyone did small, compassionate gestures and we had hundreds of millions of people doing that, it would add up to something quite big.” ■ noon to 6 p.m. Thursday to Saturday. The exhibit opening Sept. 10 features a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. and a collaborative performance of Molly Gochman’s sidewalk Red Sand Project. The show will include a panel discussion on human trafficking at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, and an artist talk and performance by Ruth Showalter at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25. Judge Shondeana Crews-Morris will facilitate the panel discussion among Anna Blau of International Women’s House; Irina Khasin, the head of the human trafficking unit at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office; Dalia Racine, the head of the human trafficking unit at the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office; and Jennifer Swain, the deputy director of youthSpark. The events are free. ■
Expires Sept. 20, 2106
NOW OPEN Located in the same building as Food 101 (Backside)
Parlez-vous français? Back to School is Saturday, September 10 You still have time to come in and discover our school.
✦ French classes on Saturday mornings for native and nonnative children age 18 months to 12 years from September to May. ✦ Beginners and Intermediate classes for adults.
2890 North Fulton Dr. Atlanta, GA 30305
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SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com
AJT 17
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SPECIAL REPORT
Trapped in Atlanta’s Heroin Triangle
Jewish mothers share the lessons of losing children to addiction
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
In March I sat in a Sandy Springs home with three of five Jewish mothers who have children buried within feet of each other in the Menorah Garden at Arlington Memorial Park. All ages 20 to 31, those children died within two years of one another from causes related to opioid addiction — in all but one case, heroin. As kids they attended public, Jewish and secular private elementary, middle and high schools. They had b’nai mitzvah celebrations. They went to Jewish summer camps. They also lived within Atlanta’s Heroin Triangle, an area starting in northern Atlanta, running northwest past Marietta, then east through Alpharetta to Johns Creek and Duluth and back southwest, encompassing Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. The area includes parts of Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett and DeKalb counties. In “The Triangle,” an 11Alive investigative series in February and March, reporter Jeremy Campbell uncovered a 4,000 percent rise in heroin-related deaths from 2010 to 2016 in those affluent northern Atlanta suburbs. The exposé shed light on a problem plaguing U.S. cities large and small and inspiring the National Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta on March 29, which President Barack Obama attended. The series sparked 11Alive’s follow-up “Inside the Triangle” reports. It also compelled those Jewish mothers to share their stories. One mom called to tell me Jewish Atlanta has a heroin triangle as well. Four years after losing her child, she wanted to speak out. She said there is a story here, a Jewish story, and it needed to be told. Although, after much emotion and uncertainty, all preferred to remain anonymous, three of the five mothers spoke with me that day in late March. All of them are permanently changed, their hearts broken by incomprehensible loss. I asked them what they wanted to say and what they needed the Jewish community to know. Their answers: • Atlanta has a Jewish heroin triangle. They all said heroin is just as big a problem in the Jewish community as in the general community, and it must be fully acknowledged. They want to 18 dispel the myth that heroin addiction,
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untimely death and inexplicable loss don’t happen to Jewish people. “We want the Jewish community to be aware that there is a drug problem among the Jewish community,” one mom said. “Young Jewish adults
First Person By Leah R. Harrison lharrison@atljewishtimes.com
prescription overdose in mid-2011. Her mother was due to fly to see her the next day when the coroner called to say she had overdosed on a combination of two drugs and was gone. The treatment center had let Shana leave. Afterward, no one from the facility even called the mother. A victorious judgment in a wrongful-death lawsuit, which paid enough only to cover attorneys’ fees, was little consolation. It did not bring Shana back. Shana’s mom said other drugs,
The Heroin Triangle ALPHARETTA JOHNS CREEK MARIETTA
are dying. We are not immune to this public health crisis.” • The regret, shame and stigma are almost unbearable, but no one is immune. This is a club no one should ever have to join. But some do. The mothers feel that they could and should have done more. They are aware that others must think they are terrible parents because drug deaths don’t happen to Jews, but they would have done anything for their children. In addition to losing their children, they feel as if they lost their friends and community as well. One said, “We want people to know that we’re not bad parents, and our children weren’t bad children.” Another added, “And we don’t want this to happen to them.” The first said, “Heroin is not like any other drug. You can’t get off.” She said most kids trying heroin for the first time don’t know “how potent it is, and once the drug takes a hold of you, you can’t get out of the vicious cycle. Heroin and opiates are poison. Drug dealers are murderers. They prey on the weak.” • You can lose your child even when you are seeking help. Shana was enrolled at a California treatment facility when she died of a
used over time, opened the gateway to the more dangerous, ultimately deadly substances. She emphasized the common statistic that 45 percent of people who become addicted to heroin start out with prescription opioid pain pills. • Low self-esteem is a factor. One young man’s deadly spiral began with a DUI conviction. Even on supervised probation, he could not stay clean, and he ended up in a rural Georgia jail for more than six months. He then was sentenced to two months at a Tennessee halfway house, requiring this Jewish young man to attend church three times a week. Two weeks later, under family supervision at home, he overdosed in his bedroom. “Each time, he couldn’t stay clean,” his mother said. “He used to cry to me that all he wanted was his life back — life before drugs.” She added, “All of these kids wanted to stop, but you just can’t stop.” The moms mentioned stress and depression as contributors. All three said low self-esteem and the feeling of no longer fitting in with peers became factors for their children. • Addicts lie. One mother spoke of how smart her child was. But, she added, “addicts lie. … They’re functioning, and you don’t even know they’re on it.”
Shana Moore (Sept. 2, 1979-July 2, 2011): The publication date for this article would have been Shana’s 37th birthday.
That’s true of addicts of all kinds: They’ll lie and steal to support habits. • You just don’t see it coming. One child was a straight-A student in her third year of college when she succumbed to peer pressure. Her mom said: “Life now? There’s not much life now. G-d hands you this beautiful, perfect child, and then they are gone, and you don’t know why.” • We need a stronger Jewish presence in recovery in Atlanta, as well as additional narcotics-specific resources to battle heroin addiction in our community. In reference to the many addiction programs, rehab approaches, recovery facilities and family support groups that are spiritual or faithbased, the three mothers said none felt comfortable, and most felt foreign to them and their families. They see a need for Jewish support and resources at an affordable halfway house for the period after rehab so young adults can live together, share common experiences, get jobs and learn again to navigate life. Affordability is a factor. Insurance typically covers the 30-days-clean rehab process, but a halfway house for that next crucial period can be costprohibitive. Ideally, the program should be specific to narcotic recovery because heroin addiction is so different from alcohol abuse. The same holds true for Jewish-based narcotic abuse and grief support groups because the path of stigma, shame, guilt and loss traveled by the families of opioid addicts and victims is very different from the
Continued on page 21
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SPECIAL REPORT
HAMSA Helps Jewish Community Battle Addiction There is no cure for heroin addiction. There is no one-stop-shop, easy solution or predetermined path. As with any addiction, there is recovery. The long road back is as individualized as the person embarking on it. HAMSA (Helping Atlantans Manage Substance Abuse), initially funded and sustained by grants from the Marcus Foundation, is a service of Jewish Family & Career Services. It is an entry point and resource to combat addiction, as well as an ongoing source for education, outreach and information dissemination to fight the spread of a devastating problem that afflicts the Jewish community just as it strikes the greater community. Eric Miller sits at the helm of HAMSA. A call to Miller and the HAMSA team is a first response for addicts and their parents, other loved ones and friends so they can map out a customized, realistic and sound road toward recovery from heroin and other substance addictions. Miller is knowledgeable, empathetic and skilled at guiding people through best steps and available treatment options, but he did not come easily to his position as HAMSA coordinator at JF&CS, nor to his place as a resource for Jewish Atlanta recovery. His is a route no one would willingly take. He is particularly qualified to deal with addicts and their surrounding circles because it is a journey he has taken. Referring to his position and place in our community, Miller said: “Everything depends on my sobriety. My job, my relationship, my family — everything.” Contrary to the sacrosanct anonymity that is a cornerstone of the recovery community, Miller allowed us to shine a light on his battle with substance abuse, his life choices and his steps to the position he occupies today. As any addict of any substance knows, sobriety is a tenuous place with
no guarantees, accomplished with hard work and vigilance every day. No one in recovery takes tomorrow for granted. But there is another tenet: One addict helps another addict. Those who let themselves be identified, people in our community like Miller and international personalities like Michael Phelps, greatly benefit others by their example, although it puts greater pressure on their sobriety. “You can’t reduce shame and stigma if you’re not willing to talk about it,” Miller said. He said nobody plans to become an addict. Often, “the thing that set them apart positively is also what took them down. They were the star football player. They tore their shoulder. They got into painkillers. The painkillers stopped being prescribed for them, so they started looking for them on the side. Or they just noticed how it felt.” Coping with addiction eventually brings an understanding that it crosses all religious and socioeconomic boundaries. The more an addict holds himself out as being different, the further he is from recovery and from the benefit of help from others experiencing similar struggles. So even if young Jews and their families feel that they need religionbased resources to become comfortable with a program, they should emerge with a deeper understanding of the commonality we all share. Contrary to popular belief, “there is nothing un-Jewish about the 12 steps,” Miller said about the recovery system used by programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. In part of an Oct. 21, 2005, Atlanta Jewish Times cover story, “Skating on Thin Ice,” about a Cobb County young man who battled heroin addiction with the help of an Israeli program, Rabbi Ilan Feldman of Congregation Beth Jacob took on the issue of attaching religion to a 12-step program. After spending time with 10 addicts, the rabbi said the 12 steps “ultimately address the issue of personal responsibility.”
“Nobody plans this. You don’t plan to be a drug addict. Even all of this heroin use, what’s really tragic is that nobody’s trying to do that. They just — they fall. They fall.” — Eric Miller
Photo by Duane Stork
Eric Miller brings his own experiences with addiction and Judaism to HAMSA.
“People need to get rid of denial, take responsibility and connect to other people in recovery,” Rabbi Feldman said. Miller told of the shocking reality that when you get sober, all those “un-sober friends that were previously around are no longer available to you.” They simply evaporate. “All of my ‘dear’ friends, literally, the day after I got sober, disappeared,” he said. “So you have to now create a new life in recovery, which is why the 12-step program was so effective for me.” As an addict, you might be able to return to your community, but that connection has to be on different terms. A frequent saying in recovery is “The only thing you have to change is
everything.” You have to alter the things you do, the places you go and the people with whom you associate, thereby eliminating potential threats to sobriety. Asked if it felt like a solitary journey, Miller pointed out that recovering addicts don’t do it alone. You find and lean on a new community of people struggling with similar, even if slightly different, issues. The upshot is that the Jewish community needs to take a seat at the table. We could benefit from regular NA meetings and family and grief therapy groups held in Jewish settings as an entry point to participation, although they should be open to all, just as the countless meetings held in churches and community centers around the metro area have open doors (www. grscna.com/Areas). Rabbinical support as a touchstone in treatment and recovery, like the spiritual guidance present for other faiths, would also make an impact. It is time for the Atlanta Jewish community to join in and have a presence in the fight against heroin addiction. ■
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AJT 19
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SPECIAL REPORT
Addiction Resources in the Jewish Community By Leah R. Harrison lharrison@atljewishtimes.com Although we do not have a Jewish presence in residential recovery facilities, Atlanta has many passionate professionals and wonderful programs and treatment networks. Provided is a list of resources for battling addiction that are available in the metro area, as well as a vision for what could be, including models for out-of-state programs to which local professionals refer people in need. HAMSA coordinator Eric Miller described three pillars under which HAMSA (Helping Atlantans Manage Substance Abuse) helps combat heroin addiction and other substance abuse in the Jewish community. Prevention and Education Miller and the HAMSA clinical team are putting in place a curriculum of prevention and education for fifth through 12th grades that will be available to public and private schools, as well as synagogue education programs. The curriculum is evidence-based and age-appropriate and will be infused with local content, people and stories to make it applicable to, and resonant with, Atlanta middle and high school students as it tracks them through pivotal developmental years.
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
Treatment and Intervention This critical function could also be called “Helping the addict and the family.” By the time the mom, dad, aunts, uncles and cousins call HAMSA for assistance, the addict has typically gone
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into treatment, fallen out and gone back in again. Huge amounts of resources have often been expended, and the family calls in desperation, saying, “What are we going to do now?” The HAMSA team asks a series of questions to help determine the course of action and offers information and options for each step, including support and guidance for the family of the addict. The path for combatting heroin abuse varies with each case but can involve the following: • Needs assessment and evaluation. • Individual and/or family counseling. • Clinical referrals. • Detox, typically seven to 10 days. Numerous state-licensed detox facilities are available with options for a wide variety of preferences and budgets. • Treatment, typically 30 days to six months. Many state-licensed drug and alcohol treatment facilities offer inpatient or intensive outpatient programs. The focus can vary from teens and young adults to wilderness experience. Out-of-state inpatient treatment centers, some affiliated with local centers, provide Jewish rabbinical support and, in some cases, kosher facilities. Inform the HAMSA team if those services are priorities for your family. “After detox you need to go into treatment,” Miller said. If the addict has health coverage, “insurance typically covers about 30 days of that. You really need six months. Especially if
we’re talking about heroin, you really want to be in treatment for a year.” Note that the terminology matters. While insurance may cover some services at “inpatient treatment facilities,” it usually does not pay for “residential programs.” Many local centers fall into the latter category and can be very expensive. “There are less expensive options. You just have to find them,” Miller said. • Intensive outpatient. This treatment can vary greatly — including group or individual talk therapy, education, and even yoga — for half a day, roughly four days per week. Many locations and options are available in Atlanta. • Residential, which is long-term intervention. There are many residential options, including halfway houses, sober living, and staying with the family while participating in a 12-step program. Fellowship, Family and Community Support • Sober friends to replace those who threaten sobriety. Create a sober community around you. • Supportive family. Supportive friends and family can also help the addict strategize. For example, have grape juice available at a family simcha, or make sure the addict has access to a car in case a situation becomes uncomfortable. • Recovery groups throughout the city. The addict selects a group that is comfortable and that enables the addict to center his recovery — either a 12-step “home group,” offering the structure of
a sponsor, sponsees and friends, or a more clinically based program. Twelve-step Narcotics Anonymous groups are all around Atlanta (www. grscna.com/Areas). Sally Anderson leads a weekly clinical recovery group through HAMSA at the JF&CS offices at 4549 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. • Additional HAMSA programs in partnership with the Jewish community include Sober Shabbat, a roaming Shabbat dinner held monthly for Jews in recovery; Acoustic Shabbat Cafe, which alternates monthly between Crema Espresso Gourmet in Dunwoody and San Francisco Coffee in Virginia-Highland (see the schedule at www.atlantajcc.org); and Families Anonymous, a group meeting for those whose lives have been affected by a loved one’s addiction, held Monday nights at 7:15 p.m. at Temple Beth Tikvah in Roswell (contact Jeanne and Jeff Schultz at 770-552-8750 or asburypark@comcast.net). Also available are Alcoholics Anonymous, a group meeting for addicts held Tuesday nights at 8 at Temple Kehillat Chaim (contact Mike Gordon at 770-597-4599 or mcgordon@mindspring.com), and two AlAnon sessions, a group meeting held Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs (contact kathyshock10@yahoo.com) and a Seventh Hour Serenity group meeting held Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb (770-973-3533). • Sober Birthright Israel trip (www. israelfreespirit.com/trip/jacs). ■
SPECIAL REPORT Continued from page 18 journey of alcoholics’ families. “Other people have their G-d or Jesus,” one mom said. “I don’t know what Judaism has. We have nothing. It’s a hushed society.” Another said: “I don’t believe in G-d, in Judaism, now. There is no one helping spiritually. It’s not like alcoholism. There’s no shame to that. We need Jewish resources for fighting illegal drug use.” • They want you to talk about it, and they want to hear from you. Have conversations with friends, acknowledge the problem, “throw away stigma, embarrassment and anything else that gets in the way of finding help,” and help them make an affordable facility and Jewish resources available here for addicts and their families. In the spirit of the March heroin summit, regard opioid addiction as a
disease, not a crime, so we can focus on intervening and saving our children. The three women agreed that they know more families need help. If you realize you know these women, please understand how difficult it was for them to lay themselves bare to increase awareness, inform us about Jewish Atlanta’s needs, and, they hope, spare others from the pain they have experienced. Don’t just talk to others about them; reach out to their families, thank them for their courage and offer to help in any way possible. This article was written in loving memory of my bright, creative, sweet and beautiful niece, who left behind a hole in all of our hearts. ■ If you have personal stories, ideas or more information, email lharrison@ atljewishtimes.com or call 404-456-6208. Next week the AJT looks at how health care is dealing with opioid addiction.
A Jewish Place to Go Three Jewish mothers offer a wish list for a communal response to opioid addiction: • Regular but separate AA and NA meetings at synagogues or other Jewish facilities. • A Jewish-friendly narcotics halfway house after rehab with psychological counseling and access to rabbinic support and Jewish services and observances. • Jewish-based family and grief support groups.
Getting, Giving Help If you or someone you know has lost a child and would like information on a support group, or if you want to help create a stronger Jewish support network in Atlanta to battle heroin addiction, contact Eric Miller, the program coordinator for Helping Atlantans Manage Substance Abuse, at 770-677-9318 or emiller@jfcs-atlanta.org.
Vision for Jewish Future Now that the education curriculum is in place, HAMSA coordinator Eric Miller is ready to “focus on a treatment plan for the Jewish community. I don’t think we’re ready to have a Jewish recovery center, but I know we’re ready for a Jewish voice in recovery.” He said he knows of at least three people from the Jewish community who are in treatment facilities without a Jewish component because one does not exist, and at those centers the patients go to church on Sundays. “I tell you what: If the rabbis looked and saw that 100 percent of the Jews with this problem go to non-Jews to help them solve it, you know they’d be up in arms about it, and they’d be looking for everything they could to relieve this problem,” Miller said. He added that faith of some sort is an important aspect of recovery. Under HAMSA’s plan, first the Jewish community must expand the net-
work of addiction resources. The brick and mortar can follow later. The HAMSA road map for battling Jewish substance abuse includes: • Increasing Jewish recovery group options, targeting narcotics and other destructive addictions. • Using the new counseling wing at the Dunwoody campus of Jewish Family & Career Services for enhanced and additional HAMSA programs. • Expanding community partnerships to provide, for example, coffeehouse Shabbats with the Marcus Jewish Community Center; Moishe House educational and social programming; a spiritual cleansing ritual with the Metro Atlanta Community Mikvah; SOJOURN prevention programming; and interfaith programming. • Adding a Jewish spiritual voice to inpatient recovery options by having a rabbi as a resource, as well as Jewish services and observances among the spiritual elements now typical at many recovery centers. A kosher kitchen at a partner facility is a long-range goal. ■
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SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
By Leah R. Harrison lharrison@atljewishtimes.com
AJT 21
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LOCAL NEWS
Growth Is Goal at Ner Tamid By Eddie Samuels Rabbi Joseph Prass became Congregation Ner Tamid’s spiritual leader Aug. 1 after Rabbi Thomas Liebschutz retired from the West Cobb synagogue this summer. A native of Minneapolis and graduate of the University of Minnesota, Rabbi Prass served Temple EmanuEl in Houston for eight years and has been the Jewish community engagement manager at the Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, a job he is keeping. He has served as a regional director for NFTY and said in an interview that Jewish youth groups had a large influence on him. “My first exposure was through youth groups,” Rabbi Prass said. “Eventually that led to involvement with Reform camping. Eventually that led to
my position as a regional director and as an assistant camp director.” Rabbi Prass moved to Atlanta six years ago, and while the city itself is no longer new to him, his congregation is. “What attracted me to Ner Tamid was the opportunity,” he said. “It is just 10 years old. The people there are tremendous, and they have grown so much in a very short period of time. They’re an incredibly tight, close-knit community.” Rabbi Prass said he was drawn to Ner Tamid’s startup mentality. He cited the manner in which every member is invested in the expansion of the congregation. He said members of the Reform congregation spoke to him “about finding a spiritual lifestyle — to help make Judaism relevant to their lives. I want to help them grow, both in numbers
and as a congregation. We’re on the verge of that next phase of growth.” Rabbi Prass said he has been inspired by what he has seen from the congregation, watching members volunteer for duties from teaching Sunday school and serving on committees to helping set up before and clean up after services. “Everyone is so personally invested in this community.” A smaller community does present some challenges, Rabbi Prass said. “Distance is the most obvious issue, both physically and mentally. They are coming from a farther distance away, and that also means they don’t see each other as much outside of the congregation.” His main responsibilities consist of leading services, working with families in the b’nai mitzvah process, working with the religious school and help-
ing the congregation become a larger part of the Marietta community. Rabbi Prass also believes he has a large role to play in helping the leadership and the community through some of the struggles that come with growth. “There’s tremendous potential,” he said. “They’re looking for me to step up, as someone who has been in other synagogues, to help them actualize everything they want to achieve.” ■
Dennis Prager signs one of his books while talking with Arthur Kurtz.
Photos by Marcia Caller Jaffe
The pre-lecture reception at Beth Tefillah brings together (from left) Jeff Kunkes, Dennis Prager, Rabbi Yossi New and Beth Shapiro.
Rabbi Joseph Prass maintains his position at the Breman Museum while taking on the part-time duties at Ner Tamid.
Prager Bemoans Immorality By Marcia Caller Jaffe
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
New York Times columnist David Brooks has said radio host and writer Dennis Prager “is intelligent 99 percent of the time.” On Wednesday night, Aug. 24, he was 100 percent engaging with an enthusiastic crowd of 350 at Congregation Beth Tefillah. Prager talked about the decline of organized religion and a belief in G-d in favor of secular, “touchy-feely” sentiment. “Today’s morality is about feelings, not action. Our schools are teaching vague values, and it’s painful to read the New York Times opinion page,” he 22 said. “I believe there is indeed a clear
AJT
right and wrong. It’s a tragedy that Jews are so profoundly secularized. Jews are behind just about every ‘ism’: feminism, Marxism, socialism.” Prager was recently asked to debate at Oxford (his alma mater) on the topic “Who is the biggest obstacle to Middle East peace: Hamas or Israel?” He was so flabbergasted that he had to call back to ensure he got the subject correct — as if it were a legitimate, twosided question. Prager said college is a “G-d-less place. The best way to get through is to stay inebriated and not listen to professors. On campuses today religious Christians are held in the highest contempt.” Prager is not mean-spirited. He
fielded a question on homosexuality in a caring way. But he is perplexed by fading gender identity and “experiments by crackpots, public cursing and public nudity.” The only guest he yelled at on his radio show was a Jewish representative of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals who equated eating barbecue chicken and cremating Jews in the Holocaust. Prager also addressed the moral obligation to be happy: “Even if you don’t feel it at the moment, it’s your responsibility to make others around you feel comfortable.” He made the Sandy Springs audience feel comfortable by including
lighthearted moments. He said his drug of choice is classical music, and soon he will conduct at Disney Hall in Los Angeles. Prager said in his yeshiva days he once told his rebbe that he was not in the mood to daven. The rebbe replied, “So what?” “Prager has changed my life. I loyally listen to his ‘Happy Hour’ and ‘Male/Female Hour,’ which are core to my character,” said audience member Joni Bellew, a member of Christians United for Israel. “I call him the king of clarity.” Laurie Kunkes said: “I listen to Prager’s show every day from 12 to 3 while I am running errands. He truly illuminates the issues.” ■
SPORTS
Winning the B division for Chabad are (from left) Russ Shadoff, Daniel Kaufman, Greg Eisenman, Jeff Mironov, Alex Mironov, Daniel Weingarten, Phil Gill, Steve Wortman, Jeff Yashinsky and Todd Starr.
Synagogue Softball: Chabad Wins B League The Atlanta Men’s Synagogue softball League wrapped up B league play Sunday, Aug. 28, with Chabad defeating Young Israel in two consecutive games to capture the title. After losing to Young Israel 2413 in the second round of the B division double-elimination tournament, Chabad fought through tight games in the losers bracket against Emanu-El (13-10) and Etz Chaim (7-6) to reach the final. Chabad had to defeat Young Israel twice to win the B league. A barrage of Chabad hitting buried Young Israel in the first game, 22-7. In
the second game, Young Israel couldn’t hold an 8-0 lead and lost 12-10. It was the second consecutive season that Young Israel lost in the B final. In the A league, B’nai Torah took out The Temple, 7-6, on Aug. 28 to advance to the championship against Beth Tefillah. That game will be played at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 5, at East Roswell Park as B’nai Torah looks to win its 10th consecutive A league title. In C, Kol Emeth advanced to the championship with victories over Beth Tikvah 2 and Beth Shalom and will face Sinai 2 in the final. The game has not been scheduled. ■
Israel Picks 3 Ex-Braves
Freiman and Lavarnway are American Jews, not Israelis. Only two members of Team Israel are Israeli citizens: pitcher Shlomo Lipetz, 37, and Dodgers minorleague pitcher Dean Kremer, 20, who this year became the first Israeli chosen in the baseball draft. Kremer is the youngest man on the roster; Marquis is the oldest. Any player in the world who has at least one Jewish grandparent is eligible. According to Jewish Baseball News, Freiman, Lavarnway and Marquis are among nine players who have big-league experience; 20 of the 28 players are in the minor leagues now. No current major-leaguers are on Team Israel, but Jewish players such as Joc Pederson of the Dodgers and Ian Kinsler of the Tigers could be added to the roster if Israel qualifies. Managed by Jerry Weinstein, Israel faces Great Britain, Brazil and Pakistan in the double-elimination qualifier Sept. 22 to 25 in Brooklyn, N.Y. None of the other teams has as many players in the official minor leagues as Israel does. ■
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Israel is turning to at least three players with past connections to the Atlanta Braves in its bid to qualify for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Pitcher Jason Marquis, who started his major-league career with the Braves in 2000; first baseman Nate Freiman, who signed with the Braves in December but was traded to Washington on March 27; and catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who played with the Braves and their Gwinnett AAA affiliate last year and the start of this year, are on the 28-man roster for Team Israel. Marquis, 38, hasn’t played since Cincinnati released him in May last year. Freiman, 29, who starred for Israel in its unsuccessful qualifying tournament four years ago and played for the Oakland A’s the past two years, is with the Boston Red Sox’s AA minorleague team in Portland, Maine, after being released by the Nationals and spending time with an independent team. Lavarnway, 29, whom the Braves released in May, is with Toronto’s AA team in New Hampshire. Like most of the roster, Marquis,
AJT 23
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BUSINESS
Atlanta’s Cabinet King
Israel Peljovich’s path included Castro, a kibbutz and New York taffy In many of the fabulous homes covered in my Chai-Style Homes column, two names pop up: Yaacov Golan (unique lighting) and Israel Peljovich, the go-to guy for mastercrafted woodwork, dining and kitchen tables, chairs, buffets, shelving, cabinets, built-ins, and vanities. Peljovich, a spicy, gregarious grandfather, emigrated from Cuba in 1959 and made a circuitous path to Atlanta to put his stamp on well-heeled homes and businesses. He and his business manager wife, Lidia, have an inspiring success story with Arts-N-Laminates. Jaffe: How did you end up in Atlanta? Israel: The short answer is I followed Lidia (also from Cuba), who eventually became my bride and is related to the Atlanta Kresses, Birnbrey and Saul families. The longer answer is, at 19, I was working for Fidel Castro designing roads and bridges. I donated my salary to his revolution. Then I opened my eyes and supported the counterrevolution (am still waiting). I then left for a kibbutz for Latin Americans in the Negev for two years, then to Be’er Sheva, where I was a translator for Irish people in the yarn business. My parents, who were in the schmatta business in Cuba, followed me to Israel. I immigrated to New York in 1961. While there, I ran a fudge and taffy business both in the city and in Cape Cod. Soon after, we married and
moved to Atlanta, where my hobby became a profession. Jaffe: How do you win the bids on
Jaffe’s Jewish Jive By Marcia Caller Jaffe mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com
so many Jewish homes’ decor? Israel: A lot of positive word of mouth keeps us busy. I also have a tight relationship with quality home builders like Zvi Bekerman. We give a fair price, and people know that. By the way, we just did a 14-foot island for a local home. Jaffe: Do you create for projects outside the residential realm? Israel: We also do commercial jobs, like the Falcons’ on-air commentary desk, Turner’s pavilion at the Atlanta Olympics and even synagogues. Note these restored 500-year-old carved doors from Spain. We have done work for B’nai Torah, Or VeShalom and more recently Ahavath Achim’s meeting rooms. I also designed and crafted the interior of a church in St. Louis here and shipped it to Missouri. Jaffe: What happens in your studio/workshop? Israel: We are off Peachtree Industrial Boulevard inside 285. I have several master craftsmen, some of
Photos by Marcia Caller Jaffe
Left: Israel Peljovich’s craftsmanship makes various woods smooth as glass. Right: Lidia and Israel Peljovich’s recent projects include the restoration of 500-year-old synagogue doors from Spain.
whom I trained, working on quality products. We order the raw wood which you see here in oak, maple, zebra, poplar, purple and walnut, and it ends up smooth as glass. Jaffe: Do you ever return to Cuba? Lidia: We have been several times, but I no longer identify with them. We eat Cuban food, dance the dances and play dominos. It stops there. I am thankful we made it here as true Americans. Israel: Today, I don’t see that opening trade with Cuba will give much help to the average Cuban. The government takes 51 percent off the top from one’s business. I know someone who owns a jewelry store there.
Massell Lists Key Site
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
A property combining three parcels totaling about 2 acres at Peachtree and Roxboro roads recently hit the commercial real estate market and could sell for up to $30 million. “There are few signalized corners of this size remaining on Peachtree which are underutilized and primed for repositioning in the Buckhead office and hospitality district,” listing agent Steve Massell of Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services said. “Developers in the know recognize that Buckhead is and will always remain the strongest submarket in Atlanta,” said the former president of the Buckhead Business Association, the son of former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell. The Atlanta Business Chronicle said the property could sell for $27 mil24 lion to $30 million.
AJT
Whatever he sells, more than half the profit goes straight to the government. Jaffe: What do you do for leisure? Israel: I treat myself by driving an original steel 1929 Model A Ford, which has been completely restored. Lidia: We have wonderful children and grandchildren. Interestingly, my sons are both engineers. One designs airports and is based in Baltimore, Md. The other owns a commercial general contracting company. Jaffe: So, Lidia, what’s your role here? Lidia: I’m the business manager. But more importantly, I keep him in line. ■ university in their communities. Litwin earned his undergraduate degree from South Carolina in 1984 and his law degree from Emory in 1987. He is a tax lawyer and the founder of the Litwin Law Firm in Atlanta.
Photos by Revelry Photo House
Left: Linda and Mike Weinroth join Kessler & Solomiany founding partner Randall Kessler (left) at the 25th anniversary celebration Aug. 17. Right: Kessler & Solomiany managing partner Marvin Solomiany (left) visits with Federal Firm founding partner Keegan Federal at the party.
KS Family Law’s 25 Years The 30 lawyers and staff of Kessler & Solomiany, known as KS Family Law, hosted a party Wednesday, Aug. 17, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the firm’s practicing family law throughout the state from downtown and Sandy Springs offices. “Twenty-five years is a long time to be helping people through such difficult circumstances, but we are pas-
sionate about it and remain honored to be asked by so many to help,” founding partner Randall Kessler said.
USC Picks Litwin
Richard C. Litwin has been appointed to serve as a member at large of the University of South Carolina’s board of visitors. The 31 members of the volunteer board are appointed by the trustees as ambassadors for the
Cohen to Enter Gold Circle
Television lawyer and actor Darryl Cohen of Cohen, Cooper, Estep & Allen in Atlanta will be inducted into the Gold Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Southeast Chapter during the 27th annual Gold and Silver Gala at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead on Friday, Sept. 9. The honor recognizes Cohen’s 50 years of service to the television industry. He advises on contract negotiations for many on-screen personalities and appears on screen himself as a legal commentator.
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EDUCATION
2 Atlanta High School Interns Stand With Israel With anti-Israel sentiment and support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement growing on many college campuses, Jewish high school students applying to college often feel unprepared to defend their beliefs. Since 2012, StandWithUs has run a program to give high school students the opportunity to serve as interns and learn about Israel advocacy. The program features two conferences a year at which students learn the history, strategy and efficacy of sharing their pro-Israel beliefs now and when they head to college in the future. After an extensive application process that includes a written application and an interview with Rayna Exelbierd, the Southeast high school coordinator for StandWithUs, two students from the Atlanta area were selected for the internship and attended this summer’s conference: Zoie Wittenberg from Atlanta Jewish Academy and Alyssa Levitt from Milton High School. “We’re looking for people who are leaders in their communities,” Exel bierd said. “It’s important they are passionate, articulate, and really understand Israel and why it’s so important to us.” The two seniors spent Aug. 8 to 11
in Los Angeles at American Jewish University with the other 82 interns from across the country to learn tactics and methods as Israel advocates. “The most interesting thing I learned was how to use media and social media effectively,” Levitt said. “I’ve always loved and researched Israel, but I’ve never known how to use that research effectively.” Levitt, who is an alumna of NFTY’s Eisendrath International Experience, which sends high school students to Israel for a semester of learning and immersion, said the biggest shock about the conference was how many people passionate about Israel were in the same room. Wittenberg, who was part of an AJA group that delivered matzah to Jews in Azerbaijan in the spring, said she was amazed by how much the conference covered in just four days. “I learned as much there as I do in an entire semester at school,” she said. “Most importantly, I learned to combat antiIsrael and BDS groups and individuals. It taught me what an appropriate response was and how to form one.” Aside from the conference, the students are tasked with planning and leading three pro-Israel programs during the school year. The conference provided some examples, but the in-
Zoie Wittenberg (left) and Alyssa Levitt (right) are working with Rayna Exelbierd through the StandWithUs internship program.
terns were encouraged to be creative and make the events their own. “I’m looking forward to doing something specifically about women in Israel,” Levitt said. “Everything from the everyday life of women there to specific figures like Golda Meir who are important parts of Israeli history.” Exelbierd said the programs’ goal is to bring Israel’s story and history to new audiences, something the internship itself accomplishes by accepting non-Jewish applicants, including the first one from the Southeast this year. “Students here are getting things to put on their résumés,” Exelbierd said. “But the hope is that they grow so much in their time with us that it’s more than that. We want to nurture their passions for Israel.”
Wittenberg said she has not heard much anti-Israel sentiment in recent years while attending a Jewish school, but she recognizes that “it definitely exists. I’ve always felt equipped to answer difficult questions, but StandWithUs has taught me how to combine facts with good communication skills to really tackle the core of the questions.” While their internships are just beginning, Wittenberg and Levitt said they’ve had their eyes opened to all the opportunities for Israel advocacy within their communities and in a global context. “I would 100 percent recommend this to anyone passionate about Israel,” Wittenberg said. “I already have someone picked out who I’m going to convince to apply next year.” ■
first eligible day in 2015 and 2016. For applications and more information, visit www.aleffund.org.
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Dancing With High Tech
Epstein School transition kindergarten teacher Susan Londe (above) and her class use a giant touch-screen TV in a healthy kinesthetic group activity: dancing to the video “Let’s Get Fit Counting to 100 With Jack Hartmann!” Such touch screens, allowing children to interface with technology at their level, are part of Epstein’s effort to integrate state-of-the-art tech into classroom learning.
Apply for Tax Credit
The ALEF Fund and other student scholarship organizations in Georgia
are accepting applications for 2017 state tax credits to provide scholarships for Jewish education. Taxpayers can designate a portion of their state income taxes ($1,000 for an individual or $2,500 for a couple) to go to the ALEF Fund, and the contribution doesn’t cost the taxpayer anything. The ALEF Fund, which works with 16 day and synagogue schools, is accepting taxpayer forms through midDecember so it can submit them on the first business day of 2017. The state has a $58 million cap on the program, and the Department of Revenue received requests exceeding that amount on the
Flax Dental, an Atlanta dental practice that specializes in full-mouth restorations, implants and advanced laser dentistry, is taking applications until Sept. 25 for its Knowledge Matters Flax Dental Scholarship Program. Every year Flax Dental, led by cosmetic dentist Hugh Flax, awards $1,000 to a local student pursuing a dental assistant program or dental hygiene program at a Georgia college or university. Last year’s award went to Georgia State University student Autumn Dipietro. The scholarship is open to a college student, prospective college student or graduating high school senior in Georgia with a cumulative minimum GPA of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Applicants must submit a 400-to-600-word essay that will be judged on its effectiveness in presenting a personal point of view, clear communication and originality. Flax Dental will announce the winner in October. Apply for the scholarship at www. flaxdental.com/about-us/scholarships.
The Kohelet Foundation is offering the Kohelet Prize, a $36,000 award for an educator or teams of educators working in Jewish day schools. Prize winners’ work must demonstrate a progressive approach to education in the following six categories: • Interdisciplinary integration. • Real-world learning. • Learning environment. • Differentiated instruction. • Development of critical and/or creative thinking. • Risk taking and failure. “We know there are incredible, creative and highly effective teachers doing this work in the field right now. We want to inspire them to share what they know about developing the minds and hearts of their students,” said Holly Cohen, the foundation’s executive director. To submit an entry, educators will upload work at www.koheletprize.org between Sept. 29 and Nov. 29. A panel of judges in the fields of education, psychology and neuroscience will select the winning entries. The foundation plans to create a searchable database of all entries. The 25 prizes will be awarded in early 2017. SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
By Eddie Samuels
AJT
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SIMCHAS
Wedding Wasserstrom-Livshitz
On July 10, 2016, Dr. Heather Ann Wasserstrom, daughter of Wanda Scheuer Wasserstrom and Steven Wasserstrom of Tenafly, N.J., married Gregory Livshitz, son of Vieta G. Losik of Decatur, in Newport, R.I. Rabbi Marc E. Mandel officiated. The bride is a pediatric oncologist who works as a medical director at Eli Lilly in Bridgewater, N.J. She graduated from Duke University and received a master’s degree in clinical research from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She obtained her medical degree from Robert Wood Johnson University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Brunswick, N.J. The groom is a manager at Accenture, a consulting firm in New York. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology, from which he also received a master’s degree in computer science. He earned an M.B.A. from Georgia State University.
B’nai Mitzvah Benjamin Robert Coval
The bar mitzvah celebration of Benjamin Robert Coval was held Saturday, July 2, 2016, at Congregation Or VeShalom in Brookhaven. Benjamin is the son of Karen and Joel Coval of Seattle and the grandson of Ramona and Albert Tarica of Atlanta. In preparation for his bar mitzvah, Benjamin launched a service project called Share Packages. He collects donations and finds nonprofit organizations that can distribute them. His share packages have been delivered to homeless and domestic violence shelters, animal shelters, Se-
THE SONENSHINE TEAM DEBBIE SONENSHINE STAR NEWMAN KATIE GALLOW
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With great love, pride and joy, we announce that Justin Harris Kaufman was called to the Torah on his bar mitzvah celebration on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, at Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs. He is the son of Nancy and Mark Kaufman and the grandson of Alice Lewinson of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Henry Birnbrey of Atlanta and the late Sam Lewinson and the late Shirlye and George Kaufman. Justin spent countless volunteer hours assisting neighbors and friends to troubleshoot improperly functioning technology and to assist with the proper recycling of unwanted technology. He donated a truckload of computer parts for recycling. In addition, Justin partnered with ORT to raise funds for the Hodayot school in the Galilee. The money will be used to add technology to the classroom.
Gideon Micah Oren
With great pride, love and joy we announce the bar mitzvah of our son, Gideon Micah Oren, who was called to the Torah at Congregation Etz Chaim on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016. He is the son of Dani and Amir Oren and grandson of David and Musia Oren of Marietta. Gideon has joined with some classmates in raising money to plant a daffodil garden in cooperation with Am Yisrael Chai on the grounds of Etz Chaim to honor the memory of the children killed in the Holocaust.
Blair Jaffe
Allie and Adam Jaffe of Brookhaven, who married in May 2015, are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Blair Lily Helèna Jaffe, born Tuesday, July 26, 2016, at 11:09 a.m. and measuring 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 21 inches at birth. The proud grandparents are Sherry Habif of Atlanta, Alan and Charlie Jaffe of Birmingham, Ala., Danielle Vanatta of St. Petersburg, Fla., and John Lindeman of Washington, D.C.
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attle’s Ronald McDonald House, HOOP Peru in Arequipa, and Rainbow Village in Duluth. Learn more at www.sharepackages.weebly.com. Benjamin extends his gratitude to friends and family who made the weekend so special and to Rabbi Hayyim Kassorla for making it possible for him to celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah in Atlanta.
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Shira Cohen
Delilah and Steven Cohen of Atlanta are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter Shira Rachel on Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. She weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is named after her inspirational maternal great-grandmother Sarah Hanash. Excited and loving big sisters are Sarah, Jamie and Mia. Proud grandparents are Shoshana and Haim Mekyten of Tel Aviv and Phyllis M. Cohen of Atlanta. Elated great-grandparents are Thelma M. Ornstein of Atlanta and Sarah and Zacharia Hanash of Tel Aviv.
Submit Your Simchas
The Atlanta Jewish Times wants to spread the joy of births, b’nai mitzvah celebrations, engagements, weddings, significant anniversaries and big birthdays throughout the community, so we run free announcements of all of those happy occasions. You can submit your simcha announcements at atlantajewishtimes. com/submit-a-simcha or email them to editor@atljewishtimes.com. Include a high-resolution photo (a JPEG file that’s at least 1MB in size is ideal).
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OBITUARIES
Paul Gottlieb 88, Johns Creek
Paul Gottlieb, 88, of Johns Creek peacefully passed away on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016. He was born in Ohio but moved to Georgia in his childhood. Paul enjoyed music, building model airplanes and boats, golf, bowling, hockey, and collecting bottles. He was a member of Jewish War Veterans Post 112. Paul is predeceased by parents Sadie and Samuel Gottlieb and daughters Ellen Ann Cotterill and Alexis Karen Harris. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Marilyn; a daughter, Marlane; grandchildren Miriam Buckley, Scott Beck, Melody Caulfield, Chris Harris, and Natalie Travis/Beck; and five great-grandchildren. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Graveside services were held Tuesday, Aug. 23, at Crest Lawn Memorial Park. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
Carl Orlin 88, Atlanta
Carl Orlin, 88, of Atlanta passed away Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. He was born Sept. 5, 1927, in Leeds, England, to Bessie and Samuel Orlin, both of blessed memory. Carl was preceded in death by his wife, Rebeca, and is survived by his daughter, Karen Levi (Nir); sons Gary and Stewart (Jolane); grandchildren Randi (Scott), Jeremy and Caroline Orlin and Zohar Levi; and sister Muriel Meltzer. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Graveside services were held Sunday, Aug. 28, at Greenwood Cemetery with Rabbi Hayyim Kassorla officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Congregation Or VeShalom, www.orveshalom.org. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
Terry Segall
Funeral services were held Thursday, Aug. 25, at Temple Emanu-El, Sandy Springs. A graveside service was held at Riverdale Cemetery in Columbus, with a reception afterward at Shearith Israel Synagogue in Columbus. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
Death Notices
Sara Borukhov of Brookhaven on Aug. 20. Alice Brooker, 89, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, mother of Congregation Or Hadash member Stuart Brooker and Gary Brooker, on Aug. 23. Arthur Chabon, 81, of West Bloomfield, Mich., husband of Beverly Chabon and father of Temple Sinai member Buttons Hunter, Stacey Rayer, Larry Kaufman, Rachel Wasserman, Ilene Dishman, Allan Chabon and Jeffrey Chabon, on Aug. 17. Naomi Bernstein Diamond, 90, of Roswell, mother of Philip Auerbach and Mitchell Diamond, on Aug. 14. Barbara Dittus of Jacksonville, Fla., mother of Temple Sinai member Erick Dittus, on Aug. 18. Steven Friedman, 47, of Longboat Key, Fla., husband of Betsy Friedman, father of Nathan Friedman and Audrey Friedman, son of Sidney and Ann Friedman, and brother of Sidney Friedman III and Temple member Ellen Kaplan, on Aug. 21. Rachel Ann Grant, 66, of Alpharetta, wife of Kenneth Greene and stepmother of Amanda Wright and Chadwick Greene, on Aug. 17. Shirley Gussack of Atlanta, wife of Harold Gussack and mother of Gillian Gussack, Pam Abrams, Lynn Gussack and Paul Gussack, on Aug. 17. Gloria Helfman-Nasissi of Houston on Aug. 23. Bella Izmaylova of Atlanta on Aug. 26. Berta Krater of Atlanta on Aug. 14. Vivian Lipschitz of Kennesaw on Aug. 20. Gerald “Shai” Richardson, 93, of Sandy Springs, husband of Ruth Richardson and father of Varda Peskowitz, on Aug. 17. Scott Sheron, 47, of Weston, Fla., son of Charles Sheron, husband of Moura Sheron, father of Hannah, Jenna and Mollye, and brother of Heidi Barron, on Aug. 22. Aron Weiner, 80, of Savannah, husband of Marsha Weiner and father of Laurie Rubnitz, Alan Weiner and Jay Weiner, on Aug. 20.
Terry Barron Segall, age 74, of Gainesville passed away on Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clara and David Segall, and a brother, Richard Alan Segall. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Brenda Segall of Gainesville; daughters Tara Teilhaber and husband Brett and Shannon Clayman and husband Ken, all of Atlanta; grandchildren Allie Teilhaber, Blake Teilhaber, Carly Clayman and Remy Clayman; brother and sister-in-law Robert and Mona Segall; and brother-in-law and sister-in-law Donald and Cheryl Ogle. Mr. Segall was born Aug. 21, 1942, in Savannah. He was a 1960 graduate of Jenkins High School. He attended Armstrong State College in Savannah and later attended the University of Georgia in Athens. He was the CEO of the Segall and Sons Catalog showroom chain, which he helped found in 1965. The chain included stores in Savannah, Columbus, Macon and Albany. He served as the president of American Merchandisers Catalog Showroom and as a consultant to Catalog Showroom Magazine and chairman of the watch committee for American Merchandisers catalog group. He and his wife, Brenda, operated the catalog showroom chain and later operated Greetings from the Hill stationery and gift store. He was a partner in Segall Associates, which developed shopping centers over many years. He was the president of the Better Business Bureau of West Georgia and East Alabama. He was a member of Shearith Israel Synagogue in Columbus and served on its board. He was the president of B’nai B’rith men’s organization and served as the president of the Jewish Federation of Columbus. In addition, he served as a board member at the Green Island Country Club. After moving to Lake Lanier in Gainesville, he enjoyed boating, golfing, and spending time with friends and family. He and his wife had a great passion for traveling the world, and he had a love for the Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia Bulldogs. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Donations can be made to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, 4915 St. Elmo Ave., Suite 202, Bethesda, MD 20814.
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
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Books From Talmud Esteem to Kosher Cooking By R.M. Grossblatt I’ve worked at Judaica Corner part time for over 20 years. I love it here for many reasons, one of which is the great Jewish books. There are prayer books, chumashim (Bibles), historical fiction, novels and more. Here’s a roundup of some of the latest additions. Self-Help “Self-Esteem in the Talmud: The Pathway to Self-Confidence and Resilience” by Rabbi Yisroel Roll (Feldheim, 294 pages). This highly respected Baltimore psychologist teaches how to develop your identity, bounce back from life’s challenges and believe in yourself.
Business “So What’s the Bottom Line: 76 Proven Marketing Tips & Techniques for Building Your Business and Personal Brand” by Yitzchok Saftlas (Morgan James, 241 pages). This soft-cover, easyto-read book offers a wealth of creative marketing ideas. Holocaust/Inspirational “I Promise You” by Yael Mermelstein (Israel Bookshop, 280 pages). I met Yael, who lives in Israel, at a writers conference in New York. She is a talented author of children’s stories, novels and now this searing true story told to her by her Polish grandmother, Manisusia (Miriam) Adler. A young,
well-to-do teen, Manisusia is thrown into a painful yet illuminating experience. It’s a first-person account unlike others. The back cover gave me chills.
The book itself is so colorful and inspiring that it could be displayed like a beautiful meal. The author/nutritionist includes a section on healthy living.
Torah Writings “Kesuvin” edited by Rabbi Nosson Sherman (Mesorah, 277 pages). This new edition of Proverbs, with extensive commentary on King Solomon’s wisdom, is in Hebrew and English.
Children “Oh! The Kid You Can Be” by Miriam Chalme’ Abadi (Feldheim, 32 pages). The author/illustrator uses rhymes similar to Dr. Seuss to show children with individual talents whom the kid (you) tries to copy without success. This book is a winner just like the child. “Shmulik Paints the Town” by Lisa Rose, illustrated by Catalina Echeverri (Kar-Ben, 30 pages). A painter puts off an assignment, but his dog has other ideas. Very colorful with a cute ending. ■
Cookbooks “Kosher Classics: Menus and Customs Around the Jewish Year” by Gitta Bixenspanner (Israel Bookshop, 370 pages). Traditional and new, easy recipes will enhance Shabbat and yom tov.
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Births, B’nai Mitzvah, Engagements, Weddings, Anniversaries, Special Birthdays Have something to celebrate? Share it with your community with free AJT simcha announcements. Submit them at atlantajewishtimes.com, or email them to submissions@atljewishtimes.com.
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For OVS, a Whole Lot of ‘Seinfeld’ Nothing Going On By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com The man who created the distinctive music for the show about nothing is bringing a “concert about nothing” to Atlanta, but it’s for something: to raise money for Congregation Or VeShalom. Jonathan Wolff composed the music for 75 prime-time network TV series (such as “Married … With Children,” “King of Queens” and “Who’s the Boss”) and wrote the themes for 44 of them (“Will & Grace,” “The Hughleys” and “Caroline in the City” among them) during a 29-year career in Hollywood. But nothing has brought him more attention than the music, including the theme, for “Seinfeld.” “At the end of all of it … what people want to talk about is ‘Seinfeld.’ It’s a show people genuinely love,” Wolff said in a phone interview from his home in Louisville, Ky., where he grew up “in a small Jewish pond” and where he retired in 2005 in his mid-50s. He said “Seinfeld” represented “a unique moment of cosmic aligning” of TV success and creative excellence, thanks to its “Delta Force squadron of
Jonathan Wolff is happy in Louisville after a 29-year career in Hollywood.
TV professionals.” “It was the ‘Camelot’ of my career,” Wolff said. It was a career that went exactly where he intended while taking him in unexpected directions. Wolff said he was the Louisville Jewish community’s default musician while growing up. He was playing events and writing songs for Hadassah, the Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation as early as age 7 and was taking gigs playing simcha parties at 10. That got him the attention of managers of catering venues, which led to more work. With the piano as his foundation while he experimented with a variety
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of instruments, he played as an accompanist for everything from musical theater to dance teams. He got his first taste of television by recording station identifications for two network affiliates when he was 14. “That beginning with the Jewish community and the support there, that’s how I grew into a fully prepared, established musician,” Wolff said. He also benefited from having master jazz musician Jamey Aebersold in nearby New Albany, Ind. “I was trained by the master himself.” At 17, fresh out of high school, Wolff had enough real-world music experience to take his talents to Los Angeles. He had no trouble getting work, but he also had no direction. “Anything that smelled remotely like music, I took that job,” Wolff said. He became a valued jack-of-all-trades studio musician and made plenty of money, but it wasn’t a career. After 10 years in L.A., he looked around his studio sessions and realized that no one in the rhythm sections was older than 45 because at a certain age, you can’t evolve with the music. “I knew I was going to fall victim to that eventually. It’s a natural selection process,” Wolff said. He realized he was the only one who could change his path to something enduring. “I was too valuable as a utility player for people to hire me as a composer.” So “I nuked my career.” Wolff sold all his gear, bought a commercial building in Burbank to set up as his ideal studio, with the best equipment and musicians and singers, and wrote to all the people who had hired him as a musician over a decade to let them know he was now a songwriter. It worked: “I proclaimed myself a composer, and people said OK.” He also was a businessman. He figured out that the real money was in royalties on shows that could play endlessly in reruns. So he wouldn’t do music for specials, movies of the week, beauty pageants and such; he focused on prime-time network series. He still worked like crazy. You
don’t do the music for 75 series by taking on one show at a time, Wolff said. Instead, he worked on 10 to 14 simultaneously, almost never saying no and almost never sleeping or seeing his family. “It’s not a business decision that I recommend to people, to overwork and overexpose.” He also had to deal with the disappointment of some of his best work getting lost in the failure of shows that were canceled within a season or two. By 2000, with “Seinfeld” behind him but the work still rolling in, Wolff decided that his family needed him more than Hollywood did. So he picked 2005 for retirement and spent the next five years preparing his escape into the “Hollywood witness protection program.” With programs such as “Will & Grace” and “Reba” on the air, “I was still the flavor of the month,” Wolff said, but “if I waited until there were no jobs, we’d never leave.” The family moved back to Louisville when his children ranged in age from 5 to 10, and with the cushion of royalty income from all those reruns, he’s never looked back — even after Larry David kept sending him “’Curb Your Enthusiasm” scripts when the HBO series was launching. Fortunately for “Seinfeld” fans, music fans and those who just love a good behind-the-scenes Hollywood anecdote, Wolff’s kids are old enough that they don’t need a stay-at-home dad anymore, so he can travel, entertain and share a little wisdom. As a retiree, he doesn’t feel the need to hold back from naming names. Fortunately for OVS, he knew the organizer for the synagogue fundraiser, Ann Benator, back in high school through BBYO. When she asked him to do the show, he was happy to volunteer his time. “Doing things like this keeps me off nonprofit boards and committees.” He’ll play the piano for 20 or 30 minutes, tell some stories, take some questions and let the audience determine how the show develops. “Ask your questions,” Wolff said. “I have answers.” ■
Who: Jonathan Wolff What: Music and stories from his TV career Where: Rialto Center for the Arts, 80 Forsyth St., Atlanta When: 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25
Kosher dietary laws observed.
Tickets: $41 to $112; 404-413-9849 or rialto.gsu.edu/event/piano-concert-talk-anevening-with-jonathan-wolff. For VIP seats, including a pre-event reception, for $200 each or $350 for a pair, contact OVS Executive Director Adam Kofinas at 404-633-1737 or Adam.Kofinas@orveshalom.org.
Elul: Realign With the Divine Rosh Chodesh Elul begins Saturday, Sept. 3, and revolves around teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah. Teshuvah is more than repentance. It’s turning away from negative choices and returning to our inner spark of goodness. Tefillah, beyond prayer, reconnects us to G-d. Tzedakah, rather than charity, is an obligation to give to others. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte is on my mind. He provides a case study before we turn inward. In Elul, we explore our own dark recesses to see where we’ve missed the mark. It’s not my place to judge Lochte, but within my own thoughts, I have. I feel ashamed for him, disappointed and angry. He represented our United States and his family. I imagine the intense pride they must’ve felt in previous years when he became a 12time Olympic medalist (six gold, three silver and three bronze), ranking him second behind Michael Phelps. I consider how embarrassed and upset they must be because of his poor decisions and unacceptable behavior that were broadcast around the world. Lochte, 32, has two older sisters and two younger brothers. What was it like for them the day of the breaking news? Lochte learned to swim when he was 5 years old. His dad, a swim coach, reportedly said that he’d kick his son out of class and send him to the showers for misbehaving and that Ryan spent more time in the shower than in the pool. Misbehaving back then meant pulling other children’s legs, blowing bubbles and hiding at the far end of the pool. I felt angry with Lochte for taking a gift from G-d and misusing the power it brought. I was saddened by his lack of discipline with regard to alleged vandalism, dishonesty, cowardice and perhaps entitlement. In a written apology, he referred to his own actions as “immature.” Who among us has not done something immature in our lives? But while he represented our country, himself and his family, this went beyond immature. His actions cost him not only his character, but also millions of dollars in endorsements. Speedo withdrew, as did Ralph Lauren, Gentle Laser Hair Removal and the Japanese mattress company Airweave. There will likely
be sanctions from the Olympic committee. It’s sad to think that people will no longer refer to him as “second to Phelps” and instead will talk about “the one who made false claims of being robbed at gunpoint in Rio.” I find myself wishing that Lochte
CROSSWORD
Dr. Terry Segal tsegal@atljewishtimes.com
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ACROSS 1. Like many biblical films 6. Levi’s ___-washed jeans 10. Most readers of this publication 14. Feldshuh of “The Walking Dead” 15. A Netanyahu 16. Son of Rebecca 17. She won silver and gold in Rio 19. “___ on Down the Road” (song from Lumet’s “The Wiz”) 20. Actor Hammer in “The Social Network” 21. ___air 23. Electricity that could disrupt El Al instruments 26. Israeli medalist in Rio 31. Joan of Arc (figure once played by Leelee Sobieski) 32. Use challah to have soup 34. ___ Ben Peles, early plotter with Korach (var.) 35. One in David’s flock 36. Session at Stern 38. Cousin of a kumzits (in Waikiki) 40. Fudd voiced by Mel Blanc 42. Israeli medalist in Rio 45. “Lights” singer Goulding 47. Emanuel who’s mayor of Chicago 48. Not (chalav) Yisroel 51. With 37-Down, drink option for chilling out in Eilat 52. Have some latkes, e.g. 54. Dead Sea relaxation locale 56. “Rose ___ rose” (Gertrude Stein) 57. Actor who made a surprise visit to Simone Boles 60. Syrup that makes a poison victim brech 62. Troop org. that sells (mostly) kosher cookies 63. Gumbo veggies that would also work in a cholent 65. Say afternoon services 68. Moment of ___, what was finally held at the Rio Olympics for the Munich 11 73. Gefilte fish fish 74. “The Times They
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could have a Yom Kippur in which to meditate, atone, heal, turn from his actions and realign with G-d. I ask for forgiveness in judging him. In the meantime, the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation) helps us delve more deeply into our introspection. Elul’s Hebrew letter is yud, zodiac sign is Virgo, tribe is Gad, sense is action, and controlling limb is the left hand. Yud is the smallest letter of the aleph-bet, much as we are in the presence of G-d. Virgo is represented by the unblemished purity of the virgin. We must clean our slates with Hashem and our fellow humans to begin anew. The tribe, Gad, means “luck” or “good fortune.” Its leaders were known as judges. Action is the sense of Elul. The Virgo personality excels at attention to detail, required to carry out the rituals of observance. The controlling limb is the left hand. It channels the energy of the future. What if we only tried to swim ahead using one hand? We wouldn’t get as far as with both. The right hand transmits the past. If neither is cleared, forward movement is impeded. Meditation focus: Look back over the past year at private blunders, indiscretions, fibs and all things included in the recitation of the Vidui, the confessional prayer. How would it be for you if your mistakes were broadcast around the world? What does this teach you about yourself? What do you wish to turn away from? How can you realign yourself with Hashem? And what do you have that you can share with others? May it be a sweet year and a year of peace. ■
“Rio Review”
By Yoni Glatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com Difficulty Level: Easy
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New Moon Meditations
www.atlantajewishtimes.com
___-Changin’” (Dylan) 75. “Shalom” 76. IDF division 77. Appendage of Fievel Mousekewitz 78. One who catches fish not used in kosher sushi bars
33. ___ Rican (like Juan Epstein) 37. See 51-Across 39. Word with B’koach or Hashem 41. In Israel they’re kgs 43. Eilat and Cairns have them 44. Kingdom of kosher DOWN chicken? 1. Ben Gurion posting (abbr.) 45. ___ Chaim 2. Neighbor of Ger. that once 46. Carew’s CA team, on the had the most Jews in Europe scoreboard 3. Students who are part of 49. Fifth king in the House of Yale’s Chai Society are also David part of this league 50. Computer pioneered by 4. Sterling Jewelers measure Jobs and Raskin, for short 5. Lewis of “Lamb Chop” and 53. Resting spot of Noah’s Ark others 55. Color War relay race at 6. Amora often mentioned many Jewish camps with Rav Ammi 58. Nation of Islam el-Shahabi 7. Stan Lee makes one in most 59. ___ Aviv (Beit Shemesh Marvel films neighborhood) 8. Lyricist Gershwin 61. Lauder of makeup 9. Like many a Jew who 64. Whole (Jewish community) escaped to Sweden during 65. 1994 Jeremy Piven WWII campus comedy 10. What Islam el-Shabai 66. Campaigned, like Sanders heard from the crowd after 67. Paul’s role in “Exodus” refusing to shake the hand of 69. Second Temple or 26-Across Hasmonean 11. “___ Einai” 70. Like a choleh 12. Word between “it” and 71. “¡___ Tormé!” (1959 “good” in Genesis album) 13. Bring to a beit din, perhaps 72. “Will not fail thee, ___ 18. What one without a coat at forsake thee” (Josh. 1:15) the top of Hermon might say 22. Less mashuga 23. Observed shiva LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION 24. Shalosh, in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pisa B E G S A L E M S M A R T 14 15 16 25. Like Linda E N E A M A T I E E R I E 17 18 19 Richman’s fake G O N E W I T H T H E W I N D 20 21 22 nails E S O S E S S A S I A 23 24 25 26 27 27. ___ it T H E C O L O R P U R P L E 28 29 (spends a night H A I M E R E S 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 in a Bedouin M A D F O R M D A N N Y 39 40 41 42 43 44 A S I F N I G H T K A Y O tent, for some) 45 46 47 48 49 M I R O G U M C A P O S 28. Hebrew or 50 51 52 53 54 W I T H F O R A Arabic 55 56 57 58 59 60 A L L T H E K I N G S M E N 29. Have an 61 62 63 S C I C O I L H A Y A interest-free 64 65 66 67 68 T H E H O U S E O F M I R T H loan out 69 70 71 T I N O K A A A A V R A M 30. Shabbat or 72 73 74 M A S T S S N A G S S N L Tamid
SEPTEMBER 2 ▪ 2016
CLOSING THOUGHTS
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SEPTEMBER 2 â–ª 2016