Atlanta Jewish Times, Vol. XCII No. 35, September 8, 2017 by Atlanta Jewish Times

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COMMODORE LIFE

Asheville, the Biltmore and endless mountain beauty are an easy drive away. Page 18

TRAVEL, PAGES 16-23 SERVICE CALL

ON TARGET

An 18-year-old Israeli spends a week teaching Jewish children in Ethiopia. Page 21

Dig deep into Israel’s fight for independence with a visit to a secret bullet factory. Page 22

Atlanta

404-663-7048 Alan Belinky, D.D.S.

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VOL. XCII NO. 35

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SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 | 17 ELUL 5777

Vigil Prays for Young Woman’s Return By Leah R. Harrison lharrison@atljewishtimes.com A somber crowd of approximately 175 people gathered at Congregation Shearith Israel on Tuesday night, Aug. 29, for a vigil in support of the family of Jenna Van Gelderen, who disappeared Aug. 19. During a brief service led by Rabbi Ari Kaiman at dusk, congregants, neighbors, friends, acquaintances and Van Gelderen family members held candles, sang and prayed for the 25-year-old’s safe return. After heartfelt thanks for the guidance and concern shown by the rabbi, Leon Van Gelderen spoke about his missing daughter. With difficulty, he told of the schools she attended, her religious observance and her loyalty to family and friends. He said Jenna has a learning disability, is trusting and gullible, and could be taken advantage of by people, including boyfriends. He also said some things that end up in the media aren’t true. “May G-d bring Jenna back to us,” he said, “and may the authorities do what they can.” Her mother, Roseanne Glick, asked the crowd to visualize a protective bubble around Jenna and see her brought home safely.

Photos by Leah R. Harrison

With his wife and son by him, Leon Van Gelderen asks for the community’s help in bringing daughter Jenna home safely.

The crowd at Shearith Israel holds candles in support of the Van Gelderen family, praying for Jenna’s safe return.

Rabbi Kaiman symbolically sounded the shofar to call her home. The 25-year-old was last seen Friday, Aug. 18, and last heard from early Aug. 19. She was housesitting at her parents’ Druid Hills home. According to postings on the Facebook page “Help Find Jenna Van Gelderen,” she drove her mother’s red 2010 Mazda and had a passenger with her when she returned to the home garage the night of Aug. 18. Jenna had used her debit card that night at Wendy’s at 1940 Piedmont Road, at Texaco at North De-

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catur Road and DeKalb Industrial Boulevard, at Chevron at Cheshire Bridge and LaVista roads, and at Chevron at North Decatur and Clairmont roads. Jenna remained missing as of Tuesday, Sept. 5. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information that helps find her. She is 4-foot-11 and 140 pounds with long, dark hair. Her dark-blue 2010 Mazda 6 sedan, Georgia license plate PWH-5902, also is missing. The family asks anyone with information to call Leon Van Gelderen at 404-966-8565 or the DeKalb County Police at 770-724-7475. ■

INSIDE Candle Lighting �� 4 Israel News ��6 Opinion ��10 High Holidays ��14 Home �� 24 Obituaries �� 26 Marketplace �� 28 Arts �� 30 Crossword �� 31

Braves’ Fried Gets 1st Win The last time Max Fried threw five innings was June 17, when the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits battered him for six earned runs as he took the loss for the Mississippi Braves in front of 3,324 fans. But when the 23-year-old Jewish rookie left-hander took the mound Sunday, Sept. 3, for his first career start for the Atlanta Braves amid 42,145 fans at venerable Wrigley Field, all he did was limit the World Series champion Chicago Cubs to one run on four hits over five innings, needing only 63 pitches to earn his first career win in a 5-1 Braves victory. He couldn’t have looked cooler, sitting around 90 mph with his fastball but cranking it up to 94 when needed. His out pitch was his curve, with which he struck out Anthony Rizzo and two others. “That thing just keeps breaking. I know that’s hard to get a hold of because it has a lot of break and it keeps breaking,” Braves Manager Brian Snitker said. Fried induced four comebackers and generally kept the ball out of the air — except for his one mistake, a fastball down the middle that Ian Happ crushed for a home run in the second inning. Fried got into trouble of his own making in his final inning with some poor fielding and a four-pitch walk, but with the bases loaded, he got a routine grounder to end the inning and his day. ■

STORM RELIEF

From donating, collecting and packing emergency supplies to helping with the demolition and cleanup, Jewish Atlantans are doing all they can to assist Houston and other areas hit by Hurricane Harvey. Page 12

SEPTEMBER 8 â&#x2013;ª 2017

MA TOVU

Job-Sharing Resolution Recap: Dan, home from college for the summer, lands a job in a small Judaica store. The owner of a nearby kosher restaurant asks Dan for a recommendation as she, too, is looking to hire. Dan suggests a good friend, Mark, who is employed by the restaurant. After a few weeks, the store owner lets Dan go because business is down. Frustrated, Dan visits the kosher restaurant to see whether it needs another worker. The proprietress says she can give him hours by taking them from Mark. Should Dan agree, or is he stealing from Mark?

G-d wanted you to have that money, you would have won with your ticket. That was obviously not your destiny.” Similarly, we all encountered a striking event recently: the dramatic solar eclipse. Different people had varied reactions. To my amazement, a friend simply shrugged it off. Others traveled miles to wit-

No Backstabbing

ness the sight. One friend moved me to tears by reciting psalms that best depicted what he called “the celestial dance,” lauding G-d for the magnificent and complex world He created. The resolution to your dilemma is in your hands, Dan. My question: How will you feel next month or next year if you take Mark’s hours? Good luck, Dan. And remember: G-d has many ways to enable a person to earn money. Let your path be one of integrity so that you can square your shoulders and know you have been true to yourself. — Sam Blank

How Do You See the World?

You are in a frustrating position, my friend! Suggesting your friend for the restaurant position was a kind gesture. And now you watch Mark happily head to and from work while you sit twiddling your thumbs. I believe the resolution boils down to how we view the world. If we humans are placed here randomly, we can do what we want, keeping our own best interests in mind. However, if we believe that we were placed here to achieve a specific mission and that no one else can accomplish what we have the potential to fulfill, we are charged to carefully examine each action so that it conforms to a holy standard. From my perspective, once Mark starts working in the restaurant, the job belongs to him. It no longer matters that you helped him get the job, except for the gratitude he should feel toward you. And doing something to take what rightfully belongs to another, isn’t that a form of stealing? Allow me to share a personal example. My son likes to buy lottery tickets. The other day he was so frustrated — his ticket was a mere one digit from the jackpot. Worse, it was my fault: I persuaded him to buy only one. “If I hadn’t listened to you and had bought two, I would be $4,000 richer!” he said. “No, my son,” I told him gently. “If

Moderated By Rachel Stein rachels83@gmail.com

The Essential Secret

Many years ago, an older friend told me the cardinal secret to a good marriage: communication. My newly engaged, young, starry-eyed self nodded in agreement. Decades later, I shake my head at my naivete yet still concur with my friend’s assessment, albeit on a much more profound level. Effective communication is the key to any successful relationship. And what is the foundation of good communication? Trust. When the person you’re dealing with is someone you can count on, no matter what, you can move forward in the relationship. So, Dan, how much do you value your relationship with Mark? If he is truly your friend, I advocate sitting down with him over a cup of coffee and having a meaningful conversation. Maybe he won’t mind sharing his hours if you explain the bind you’re in. But to go behind his back will undermine the integrity in your relationship and may cost you a friend. Think about it. — Jill Shore

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

You should not take Mark’s hours. Even though you were the one who helped him get the job, now it belongs to him. You are his friend, although it wouldn’t be right to lessen his job even if you weren’t. You should not do anything that will diminish his hours. — Zhenia Greszes

Shared Spirit

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DAVID R. COHEN

THURSDAY, SEPT. 7

Survivor and spy. Holocaust survivor Marthe Cohn, 97, who spied on the Nazis for the French, tells her story for the Intown Jewish Academy at 7 p.m. at the Buckhead Theatre, 3110 Roswell Road. Tickets start at $20; bit.ly/2umD9a1. ELI Talks. The TED-style talks feature Bradley Caro Cook, Jhos Singer, Lauren Tuchman, Sharon Weiss-Greenberg and Susan Horowitz at 7 p.m. after a 6 p.m. reception at the Breman Museum, 1440 Spring St., Midtown. Tickets are $18; www.thebreman.org/Events/0907-2017-Eli-Talks.

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Contributors This Week RACHEL FAYNE JAMES S. GALFUND YONI GLATT JORDAN GORFINKEL LEAH R. HARRISON DALIA HARTSTEIN MARCIA CALLER JAFFE KEVIN C. MADIGAN JEFF AND VIRGINIA ORENSTEIN LOGAN C. RITCHIE DAVE SCHECHTER CHANA SHAPIRO RACHEL STEIN DUANE STORK PATRICE WORTHY

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POSTMASTER send address changes to The Atlanta Jewish Times 270 Carpenter Drive Suite 320, Atlanta Ga 30328. Established 1925 as The Southern Israelite Phone: (404) 883-2130 www.atlantajewishtimes.com THE ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES (ISSN# 0892-33451) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SOUTHERN ISRAELITE, LLC 270 Carpenter Drive, Suite 320, Atlanta, GA 30328 © 2017 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES Printed by Walton Press Inc. MEMBER Conexx: America Israel Business Connector American Jewish Press Association Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce Please send all photos, stories and editorial content to: submissions@atljewishtimes.com

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES

Shofar blasts. Rabbi Brian Glusman blows the shofar at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday on Main Street at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Free and open to all; atlantajcc. org or 678-812-4161.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 8

Shabbatluck in the Park. InterfaithFamily/Atlanta, In the City Camp, PJ Library, Jewish Kids Groups, the Marcus JCC and Federation’s Overnight Camp Initiative host families for a picnic at 6 p.m., a music-filled Shabbat experience at 6:30, free King of Pops popsicles at 7 and a screening of “An American Tail” at 8 at 830 Willoughby Way, Old Fourth Ward. Free; www.facebook. com/events/152110958686838. Acoustic Shabbat. The Marcus JCC, supported by the Weber School and the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, hold a celebration of Shabbat at 7 p.m. at Alon’s Bakery, 4505 Ashford-Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody. Free; www. facebook.com/events/475513459481310.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 10

Community minyan. Young Israel of Toco Hills, 2056 LaVista Road, hosts its largest morning minyan ever, includ-

Ki Tavo Friday, Sept. 8, light candles at 7:35 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, Shabbat ends at 8:29 p.m. Nitzavim-Vayelech Friday, Sept. 15, light candles at 7:26 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, Shabbat ends at 8:19 p.m.

Corrections & Clarifications

• The Sept. 10 Walk4Friendship, the biggest annual fundraiser for Friendship Circle of Atlanta, will be between 2K and 3K (1.24 to 1.86 miles). An article Sept. 1 was improperly exact about the distance. • Morah Carol’s Place is an independent preschool operating at Congregation Or VeShalom; OVS does not own it. A headline Sept. 1 was unclear about the connection. • The name and title of Gordon Mathis, the Galloway School’s head of community engagement, were incorrect Sept. 1. • The license plate of missing person Jenna Van Gelderen’s dark-blue Mazda 6 sedan is PWH-5902. An article Sept. 1 omitted one number. ing an Elul shofar blast, at 8:30 a.m., followed by a bagel-and-lox breakfast. Free; www.yith.org.

bers, $25 for others; atlantajcc.org/ bookfestival or 678-812-4002.

Maximizing Medicare. Jewish Home Life Communities’ London Family Age Smart Lecture series continues with a discussion on Medicare featuring Dan Munster, Anita Alvarez Richards and Debbi Dooley at 2 p.m. at the William Breman Jewish Home, 3150 Howell Mill Road, Buckhead. Free; bit.ly/2uZbqsj.

Senior Day. Active older adults are invited for lunch and their choice of three activities at Senior Day at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, co-sponsored by Jewish Family & Career Services, Jewish Home Life Communities and Federation, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with free transportation available. Admission is $5; atlantajcc. org/AMA or 678-812-4070.

Holocaust talk. Henry Lewin talks about his parents, who were from Lithuania and survived the Holocaust, at 2 p.m. as part of the Bearing Witness series at the Breman Museum, 1440 Spring St., Midtown. Free; www.thebreman.org or 678-222-3700. Laugh and read. Comedian Carol Leifer, author of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying,” performs her one-woman show at 7:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Tickets are $20 for JCC mem-

MONDAY, SEPT. 11

Tribute to 9/11. U.S. Army Vietnam veteran Cary King makes a special presentation in commemoration of 9/11 at 1:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Free and open to all; atlantajcc.org. Confederate monuments. The Atlanta History Center’s Margaret Mitchell House, 979 Crescent Ave., Midtown, hosts a panel discussion on “Confederate Memorials: De-Mythologizing the

Send items for the calendar to submissions@atljewishtimes.com. Find more events at atlantajewishtimes.com/events-calendar.

Remember When

25 Years Ago Sept. 4, 1992 ■ Jewish organizations in Atlanta and elsewhere have joined those lending help as the devastated communities in South Florida recover from Hurricane Andrew. Local efforts include the establishment of a disaster relief fund by the Atlanta Jewish Federation. The hurricane destroyed one synagogue and damaged five others. Two Jewish housing facilities for the elderly also were damaged. ■ Atlanta is one of three model communities selected by the Council for Initiatives in Jewish Education for a three-tofive-year experiment to improve Jewish education in North America. The others are Baltimore and Milwaukee. ■ Andi and David Arnovitz of Atlanta announce the birth of a daughter, Dena Ilana, on June 15.

50 Years Ago Sept. 8, 1967 ■ Emory University has announced plans for the establishment of a chair of Judaic studies as part of its Mobilizing Educational Resources and Ideas for Tomorrow program. Emory will seek $500,000 in endowment funds to establish the chair, which university President Sanford S. Atwood said will be similar to professorships at Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Vanderbilt. ■ The Central Hebrew High School of Atlanta, which meets for five hours per week under the sponsorship of the Atlanta Bureau of Jewish Education, will start the school year Sept. 10 with an enrollment of 81 students. ■ Mr. Arthur Lefko of Savannah announces the engagement of daughter Shirley Ann to Stanley Burton Cohen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Cohen of Atlanta. A December wedding is planned.

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CALENDAR Iconography of the South” at 7 p.m. Free; reservations at bit.ly/2pxGBsH. Bat Mitzvah Club. Chabad of North Fulton, 10180 Jones Bridge Road, Alpharetta, holds the first of 16 roughly biweekly sessions of its club for sixthand seventh-grade girls. Annual tuition is $300; www.chabadnf.org/bmc.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 12

New Year’s crafts. Kindergartners to fifth-graders make crafts in the Jewish Art Zone at 4:30 p.m. at Chabad of North Fulton, 10180 Jones Bridge Road, Alpharetta. Admission is $10; admin@ chabadnf.org or 770-410-9000. Dive into the Days of Awe. Rabbi Judith Beiner leads conversations to prepare for the High Holidays at 7:30 p.m. at MACoM, 700-A Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs. The requested donation is $5; RSVP by Sept. 8 to info@ atlantamikvah.org or 404-549-9679.

‘Lavender Scare’ Next for AJFF The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is partnering with Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBT Film Festival, for September’s AJFF Selects film, “The Lavender Scare.” Says AJFF Executive Director Kenny Blank, “The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is delighted to continue a longstanding partnership with Out on Film in presenting this timely and important documentary,” AJFF Executive Director Kenny Blank said. “This powerful exposé revealing a shameful chapter of American history, and the partnership between our two unique film festivals, demonstrates our shared mission to explore themes and subjects relevant to all audiences.” The documentary tells the story of a campaign by the federal government to identify and fire all homosexual employees during a period that overlapped the McCarthy-era hunt for Communists. The purge, documented in an award-winning book by historian David K. Johnson, cost thousands of government

employees their jobs at a time when public service films treated homosexuality as a contagious disease and The New York Times uses “pervert” as a synonym for “homosexual.” “The Lavender Scare” is screening at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, at the Landmark Frank Kameny protests efforts Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive, to force out gay to be followed by a question-and-answer federal workers in session with filmmaker Josh Howard. a scene from “The Tickets are $15. A $30 VIP ticket inLavender Scare.” cludes a VIP reception after the screening at Après Diem, which is in the same shopping center as the movie theater. Tickets are available at AJFF.org/lavenderscaretix. “The film could not be any more topical, and I look forward to sharing a piece of history with Atlanta audiences, many of whom might not know the full story behind the Lavender Scare,” Out on Film Executive Director Jim Farmer said. ■

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13

Resisting Fascism film series. Emory Cinematheque presents “Casablanca” at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall Room 208, 301 Dowman Drive, Atlanta. Free; www. filmstudies.emory.edu or 404-727-6761.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14

Women’s event. Filmmaker Nancy Spielberg speaks at the fall event of the Federation Women’s Philanthropy at 7 p.m. at the InterContinental Buckhead, 3315 Peachtree Road. Tickets are $72; bit.ly/2vALaVv.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 15

Bluegrass Shabbat. Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave., Buckhead, serves a kosher barbecue dinner while the Cohen Brothers Band plays at 6 p.m., followed by a musical Shabbat service at 7:30. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for ages 6 to 12 for dinner and the concert or free for just the service; www.aasynagogue.org. Camp weekend. The Marcus JCC holds its young adult camp weekend through Sunday at Camp Coleman in Cleveland. Admission is $99 for JCC members, $120 for others; atlantajcc.org/campweekend or 678-812-3972.

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

LunchTime Culture. The monthly program of the Breman, the High and the Center for Puppetry Arts continues with a discussion of how art and artifacts can preserve history at the Breman Museum, 1440 Spring St., Midtown, at noon (first-come, first-served admittance begins at 11:30 a.m.). Free; www.thebreman.org or 678-222-3700.

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ISRAEL NEWS

Aliyah Poses Unexpected Challenges for Atlantans By Patrice Worthy

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

Making aliyah will forever change many Americans’ lives, but as they embark on the journey, they will face challenges. Israeli culture is a little more aggressive. The people are straightforward. Life can be chaotic. But young people making aliyah don’t know what they don’t know about life as Israelis. Many have a tough time getting jobs and adapting to the culture. Those moving with Nefesh B’Nefesh don’t face the hurdles alone, said Zev Gershinsky, executive vice president of the organization. “We identify four main barriers: social integration, bureaucracy, employment and financial,” Gershinsky said. “We will always be there, and every year that goes by olim tell us, ‘We’re OK. We don’t need your hand-holding.’ After the first year we give very tight hand-holding.” He said the staff at Nefesh B’Nefesh tries to do everything possible to help olim (immigrants), including job placement and résumé preparation. Nefesh B’Nefesh tries to put young people where they will feel most at home, such as Tel Aviv, the largest city in Israel. “We just opened a young professionals center in Tel Aviv, the center of the high-tech scene,” Gershinsky said. “We understand that’s where young people want to be.” For those who make the move later in life, though, the transition can be daunting. Tamara Haas was 34 when she made aliyah from Sandy Springs eight years ago. She owned a home-organizing company for listed properties, but when the recession hit in 2008-09, business dried up. Haas was single with no children, so the situation was perfect for a move abroad. Her experience with Nefesh B’Nefesh was different from the picture Gershinsky painted. She didn’t have a job when she arrived. Nefesh B’Nefesh helped her look for employment, but she said it was a fruitless effort. “It was eight years ago, and they used LinkedIn as the main source for job placement, which wasn’t very helpful. They told me to go LinkedIn to find a job that suited me. My Hebrew wasn’t very good, so that didn’t help,” Haas said. “Most of the jobs want you 6 to know Hebrew, and it’s easier to learn

Neta Gal, a North Springs grad who is entering the IDF, says the desire to make aliyah clicked for her during an organized trip to Israel without her parents last year.

a language when you’re young as opposed to being 30 years old. I would also fail my job interviews because I was taken off-guard by the questions.” Prospective employers in Israel may ask questions that are barred in the United States, such as whether you have children, whether you’re planning to get married and how much you pay in rent. “I asked her why she wanted to know how much I paid in rent, and she said, ‘So I know the minimum I have to pay you,’ ” Haas said about one job interview. She wasn’t prepared for the employment screening process or the competition for English-speaking jobs, which she said all the olim want. After about six months of searching and living with relatives, Haas landed a job on her own at a shipping company where her English was an asset. After about a year at that company, she went to work at a tech startup but was laid off. Haas did a lot of baby-sitting to get through the rough patches, then worked at a kindergarten. She has worked as an au pair the past four years. The former entrepreneur overcame the challenges of starting over in another country and is now married, but she said she still isn’t fully acclimated to Israeli culture. She’ll sit on her living room couch in Ramat Gan and order products like Ziploc bags from Target’s website to take advantage of a 24-hour free-shipping special. Americans living in Israel don’t pass up such opportunities to pay less for convenience, though problems with Israel’s postal service could delay deliveries by weeks.

Other adjustments range from buying appliances for apartments to handling rude behavior, and Haas said some olim never feel 100 percent at home. “My husband looks at me and says, ‘You’ve been here eight years; how come you’re not used to it?’ ” Haas said. But for Neta Gal, an 18-year-old Atlantan joining the Israel Defense Forces as a part of the Nefesh B’Nefesh Lone Soldier program, moving to Israel is like moving home. She was born in Israel and moved to Atlanta as a child. She attended Greenfield Hebrew Academy and North Springs Charter High School in Sandy Springs. Her mother and father live in Dunwoody about five minutes from the Marcus Jewish Community Center. Gal said the Atlanta Jewish community was a huge benefit, but she felt a connection to Israel. She wanted to thank Israeli soldiers for defending the land after visiting a cemetery where thousands of IDF soldiers were buried, most of whom were no older than 23. “There’s a lot of hate in America toward Israel and the Jewish people, and being here, not being able to do anything about it, it really stings. It feels like a waste, especially when you love Israel so much; it doesn’t feel right,” Gal said. “It clicked last year when I was on an organized trip to Israel, and it was first time I was alone in Israel without my parents. I met all of these Israelis my age and clicked with them. I went to their houses and saw how they live, and right then my whole life felt displaced. I never really realized it was because I wasn’t in Israel.” Rachel Seiden, a 24-year-old from Alpharetta, was teaching English in

Rishon LeZion two years ago through Masa Israel Journey when she caught the bug to make aliyah. Seiden said her parents don’t understand her desire to move to a foreign country, even if it is the Jewish homeland, but she feels as if she’s doing what her ancestors would want her to do. “I fell in love with everything Israel,” Seiden said. “When I came home, I told my parents I would give America two more years before making a decision. Past generations of people wanted to live in Israel, and the fact that I can do it and Nefesh B’Nefesh and the government make it so easy to do, why would I not take that opportunity?” She began the aliyah process in November but wanted to keep teaching second grade at the Epstein School, though her heart was in Israel. “It felt like America wasn’t right for me anymore.” Like Gal, Seiden said she noticed the rising animosity toward Jews, and Israel attracted her as a place where it’s easier to be Jewish. Now she lives in Tel Aviv and is working as an au pair, a job Nefesh B’Nefesh helped her get. She said it feels good to be a part of a trend of young people moving to Israel. “It’s the people, the culture and not being a minority anymore. Being anywhere in America and being a Jew is hard,” Seiden said. “I love Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the beach, but it’s just the culture and the people. I would be walking down the street, and a stranger would invite me over for Shabbat dinner because he saw me speaking English, and that just doesn’t happen in America. Everybody is just so friendly, except when they’re pushing you in line.” ■

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ISRAEL NEWS

Nefesh B’Nefesh Helps 233 Make Aliyah By Patrice Worthy

Some of the 70 Israel Defense Forces recruits on the August Nefesh B’Nefesh flight celebrate their arrival in Israel.

tance, including cash at Ben Gurion Airport, a bank deposit when they move and additional deposits for six months. Their benefits include stipends for rent, subsidized college tuition, a car subsidy and ulpan. For Matan Rudner, 18, of Dallas, Texas, making aliyah fulfills a soul mission. He said he can’t imagine a life not in Israel. Though his parents and grandparents are Israeli, he has no family in Israel now, only friends. The recent high school grad said he is joining the IDF because “Israel’s problems are my problems.” “There is a saying — ‘My heart is in the East, and I’m on the ends of the West” — and as an American, you’re super on the ends of the West. In Israel, I feel like my heart and I are in the same place,” Rudner said. “The army is my army. In Israel, everything is mine, whereas in America it’s someone else’s.” Lapid spoke about his father, a Holocaust survivor, who decided to join the IDF as soon as he entered the country. He reassured the new soldiers that their choice will ensure success because they are choosing to be part of something they can be proud of. Like many of the new IDF recruits, his father was young, but his choice shaped his future, Lapid said. “The clerk shouted, ‘Children who are 17, go to the absorption center; children who are 18, go into the army.’ And my father raised his hand and said, ‘I’m 17½; what should I do?’ And the clerk said, ‘Do whatever you want,’ ” Lapid said. “People make decisions that define their lives and success. … My father looked at my mother and grandmother, picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder and said, ‘I’m going to the army.’ ” Joining the IDF can determine the trajectory of olim’s lives in Israel. The

Israeli politician Yair Lapid shares his father’s immigration and IDF enlistment story at the ceremony welcoming 233 olim to Israel.

IDF helps immigrants adjust to a new culture and launch their careers, easing their transitions. The opportunity to make aliyah and join the IDF is much more meaningful than the typical American route, said Noa Ollestead, 18, an oleh from Seattle. “A lot of my friends are going off to college and excited for frat parties and beer pong, and those things sound fun, but part of me never felt like that was me,” Ollestead said. “I feel like I’m going to gain so much more out of this

and be so much more mature out of this.” Americans in the IDF strengthen the connection between the United States and Israel, said Friedman, who was encouraged to see 70 olim joining the Israeli military. “I think what’s amazing is we have so many Americans coming to Israel, and they’re going to remain American and become Israeli,” Friedman said. “You have this whole group of IsraeliAmericans, and I think they add a lot to both countries.” ■

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

The flight left JFK at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14, full of 233 excited olim (immigrants) making aliyah. It was the latest haul of Americans moving to Israel through Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization dedicated to easing aliyah. Founded by Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gilbert, the 15-year-old organization has chartered more than 55 flights to bring 50,000 Jews to Israel, including 6,300 soldiers. No one could sleep on the plane full of families and single Jews in their teens and 20s anticipating new lives in Israel. Passengers walked up and down the aisles all night, getting to know one another. Most didn’t know what to expect when the plane landed, and few expected to be greeted by Israeli politicians, dignitaries and Israel Defense Forces soldiers welcoming them home. David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, awaited his 24-yearold daughter, Talia, a nurse from New York. She plans to do ulpan, an intensive course in Hebrew, then work as a nurse in Tel Aviv. “We’re so proud of her. We love her so much, and we just want her to be happy. This is something she’s always wanted to do,” the ambassador said. “She loves Israel, and we love Israel. The whole family loves Israel, and this is her dream.” The 233 olim were shuttled to an airport hangar, where a large crowd held welcome-home signs and cheered. Speakers including Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau, Gilbert, Rabbi Fass and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, a former finance minister, addressed the crowd. Rabbi Fass reminded the olim that they are living a centuries-old dream held by Jews around the world. “Most Jews throughout the Diaspora understand and appreciate that Israel is our inheritance, that it is our ancestral land. But how many understand that it is our matana, or our gift?” Rabbi Fass said. “Everyone in this hangar understands that it’s our matana or gift. Everyone understands that and is inspired and appreciates the miracle we have, so share that excitement, share that appreciation with all your families and friends back home so they can follow in your footsteps.” Seventy of the new immigrants are joining the IDF. For them, aliyah is about moving where they feel comfortable as Jews and are inspired to serve. The olim receive financial assis-

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ISRAEL NEWS

Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home Tel Aviv’s growth spurt. A report by Tel Aviv Global based on IVC Research data found that the number of international companies with researchand-development centers in Tel Aviv has more than doubled since 2012. The Startup City now has 73 R&D centers, compared with 35 five years ago. Those centers provide more than 6,200 jobs. The companies include Visa, Renault, Bosch, MasterCard, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Coca-Cola. Curing glaucoma. Belkin Laser in Tel Aviv has developed a laser system that can treat glaucoma with a one-second treatment once a year instead of daily eye drops. There is no need for the equipment to touch the eye. Belkin recently raised $5 million of funding. Cure for tree man. Doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center cured Mohammed Taluli from Gaza of a rare genetic disorder. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (tree man disease) is cancerous. It causes scaly lesions on the feet and hands that resemble tree bark. Tree man syndrome is thought to result from a genetic inability to fight

off human papilloma virus. After the tumors were removed, skin grafts from other areas of Taluli’s body were used to patch his hand. An HPV vaccine was administered in the hope of preventing a recurrence of the tumors. Israeli in FIBA Hall of Fame. Miki Berkovich is the first Israeli player to be inducted into the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Hall of Fame. Berkovich, now 63, helped Maccabi Tel Aviv win its first European championship in 1977. Iron Dome for fruit flies. Shortly before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in July, Indian diplomats heard about a revolutionary no-spray, environmentally friendly solution against the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) made by Biofeed, a 10-employee agricultural-tech company near Kfar Truman. The company’s founder and CEO, Nimrod Israely, who has a doctorate in fruit fly ecology, said Biofeed’s product can protect Indian farmers against fruit flies just as the Iron Dome system protects Israelis against missiles. The Oriental fruit fly

Israeli Photo of the Week

‘A True Champion’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes Daniel Defur into the Israel Defense Forces at a ceremony in his office Thursday, Aug. 31. Defur, 18, is the first blind teenager to enter the IDF as a fully enlisted soldier through the Special in Uniform program, which helps Israelis who have disabilities integrate into the military. It was Defur’s wish to serve in the IDF rather than accept his automatic deferment, and he has been assigned to an air force base. “Most societies see what people lack,” Netanyahu said. “Let’s keep being the country that looks for what every individual has to give. You are showing us all what a true champion looks like.”

has severely damaged 300 fruit species in India and 65 other countries in Asia, Africa and the Americas and is considered to be the most destructive, invasive and widespread of all fruit flies. Biofeed’s lures, hung on trees, contain an organic, customized mix of food, feeding stimulants, and control or

In front of President Bill Clinton on the South Lawn of the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat share a historic handshake Sept. 13, 1993.

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

Today in Israeli History

Items provided by the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org), where you can find more details. Sept. 8, 2010: Maj. Gen. Israel Tal dies at age 85. Tal is best known for leading the 1970 committee that designed and developed the Merkava tank. Sept. 9, 1993: After nine months of secret contacts mediated by Norwegian diplomats, the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel recognize each other’s existence. Four days later outside the White House, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat sign a Palestinian self-rule agreement. Sept. 10, 1956: Eilat Mazar, a thirdgeneration Israeli archaeologist, is born. She is best known for her work at the City of David site in Jerusalem. She is a professor of archaeology at Hebrew

therapeutic agents delivered by a fluidrelease platform. Attracted by the odor, the fly takes a sip and dies before any chemicals reach the fruit, air or soil. Compiled courtesy of ynetnews.com, israel21c.org, timesofisrael.com and other sources. University. Sept. 11, 1921: Nahalal, the first moshav ha’ovdim (workers’ settlement), is founded in the northwest Jezreel Valley, about halfway between Haifa and Afula. Each of the 80 founding families receives 25 acres. Sept. 12, 2009: For the first time since the award was introduced in 1949, an Israeli film, “Lebanon,” wins the Golden Lion Award at the annual Venice International Film Festival. The film tells the story of a tank brigade during the First Lebanon War. Sept. 13, 1984: Shimon Peres becomes Israel’s eighth prime minister as he forms a coalition government almost six weeks after his party wins a plurality of 44 Knesset seats. Sept. 14, 1948: Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion summons dozens of Palmach commanders for a conference, where he announces a plan to dismantle the elite, underground fighting unit and integrate it into the newly established Israel Defense Forces.

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ISRAEL NEWS

Arkansas Rejects Boycotts, Backs Bond Purchases Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed two bills strengthening his state’s economic ties with Israel on Aug. 14. The first allows Arkansas to invest in Israel Bonds; the second prohibits state and local governments from contracting with or investing in companies that boycott Israel. Brad Young, the executive director of the Atlanta Israel Bonds office, and Art Katz, the Temple Emanu-El co-president who chairs the Atlanta Advisory Council, attended the signing ceremony, as did Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer. “Those are two very strong messages that, one, we ought to be open to invest in Israel as need be, and we should not have any restrictions on those investments,” Hutchinson said about the bills. The legislation lets Arkansas be the 27th state investing in Israel Bonds. Georgia holds $10 million worth. Arkansas State Treasurer Dennis Milligan said he would like to allocate 1 percent of the state’s portfolio to Israel Bonds, which could mean a $30 million purchase. Such a state investment in Israel would have seemed like a fantasy when Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion met with American Jewish leaders in September 1950 to discuss “a new approach to the scope of cooperation between the Jews of the United States and the people of Israel.” Ben-Gurion proposed bond investments in Israel instead of donations, but those bonds weren’t expected to appeal to institutional investors. Not only has Israel overcome every challenge imaginable, however; it also has one of the world’s strongest, most resilient economies. Standard & Poor’s issued an opinion Aug. 4 revising its outlook for Israel from “stable” to “positive.” “Israel’s fiscal performance has exceeded our expectations, reflecting the strength of the underlying economy,” S&P said, adding, “The positive outlook on Israel reflects our opinion that, despite existing spending pressures, there is a potential for stronger than anticipated fiscal performance over the next two years.” Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett, upon making a personal $5 million investment in Israel Bonds, said: “You can tell prospective investors that I would have taken a perpetual bond if you had offered one.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (seated) is congratulated by Ambassador Ron Dermer after signing a pair of pro-Israel bills Aug. 14.

I believe Israel is going to be around forever.” State treasurers, who are entrusted with the highest levels of fiduciary responsibility, have praised the value of investing in Israel Bonds.

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel has added more than $219 million in Israel Bonds to the state’s portfolio since 2011. After making a $61 million bond investment in April, he said: “This purchase was consistent with our strategy of making sound investments that prioritize Ohioans’ hard-earned dollars. Over many treasurer administrations, both Democratic and Republican, state treasurers have invested in Israel Bonds, and we are proud to carry on this tradition because it is in the best interests of the taxpayers of Ohio.” Beyond the investment value of the bonds, the Israel factor is also important.

Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs, who has acquired $25 million in Israel Bonds and plans to purchase more for the state, cited “the special relationship with the Jewish democracy in the Middle East.” Frerichs, who has been to Israel twice, most recently in 2016, said he “saw projects such as water and public transportation” that made him confident that “investing in Israel is a great investment.” ■ James S. Galfund is the national director of marketing and communications for the Development Corporation for Israel/Israel Bonds.

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

By James S. Galfund

OPINION

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Our View

Time to Boycott

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

The AJT fiercely opposes the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel and in general doesn’t like boycotts as a tool to effect change, but we can declare our support for boycotting one organization in our community: Jewish Voice for Peace. As an unabashedly Zionist newspaper, we have never been on the same page as JVP, which can most kindly be described as pro-Palestinian and Israel-agnostic. But even though JVP uses the “Jewish” in its name as a shield for relentless attacks on Israel, we have made room on our pages for the occasional JVP event and column. JVP has dropped all pretense at being anything but anti-Zionist, however, with its latest campaign, Return the Birthright, in which it calls on Diaspora Jews ages 18 to 26 to refuse to take Birthright Israel’s free, 10-day trip. “We reject the offer of a free trip to a state that does not represent us, a trip that is only ‘free’ because it has been paid for by the dispossession of Palestinians. And as we reject this, we commit to promoting the right to return of Palestinian refugees,” JVP says in its anti-Birthright manifesto. Birthright Israel is one of the most successful innovations in American Jewish life. Since its creation in December 1999, it has sent more than 600,000 young Jewish adults to Israel from around the world. Many Birthrighters come home with rekindled love for Israel as the Jewish homeland. Some return with mixed or negative feelings about Israel in relation to the Palestinians. All who take the trip are more knowledgeable about Israel and Israelis, and if JVP believes in its own truth, it shouldn’t be afraid of people observing the reality on the ground. What JVP wants, however, is a generation of young Jews who know nothing except the false narrative of hundreds of thousands of innocent Arabs driven from their homes by colonizers with no more connection to historical Palestine than, say, the Sioux. JVP has long sung the same sour song, and, sadly, it always sways some Jews. No matter how much we disagree with JVP’s narrative and goals, we have respected the passion of some of its members and have appreciated the opportunity to educate people by answering JVP’s arguments. But the attack on Birthright is different — not because of Birthright’s role in developing grassroots support for Israel, but because of the organization’s success at building community within the Diaspora. Those groups riding around Israel on buses form connections they bring back to America, and that gift from the Jewish community encourages many participants to get involved with communal organizations so they can give back. That’s what JVP is attacking with its Birthright boycott: a thriving channel to secure Jewish continuity. JVP opposes legacy Jewish communal organizations and recognizes that those groups are strengthened by their involvement in Birthright, so JVP wants to undermine Birthright. In the process, JVP would happily chip away at the foundations of Diaspora Jewry. We can’t let that happen. So if you care about the Jewish future, we 10 urge you to turn your backs on JVP. ■

Speaking to the Collective crowd Aug. 30 are the leaders of five of the most important nonprofits in Jewish Atlanta: (from left) Rabbi Peter Berg, Eric Robbins, Rick Aranson, Jared Powers and Harley Tabak.

A Night for the Collective Good The success of the Collective, a new event to account for everyone but small enough that you celebrating community as well as the winners of the couldn’t avoid interacting. And we need more social annual awards of the Jewish Federation of Greater interaction across our community. Atlanta, wasn’t that it brought together five of the The event itself was worthy of the crowd. None most important leaders in Jewish Atlanta on one of the five leaders said stage Wednesday night, anything new or different, Aug. 30, at Congregation but I’m sure many of those B’nai Torah. 400 people had never been Editor’s Notebook Nor did the success in a position to hear what By Michael Jacobs arise from anything said they had to say about our mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com by Rabbi Peter Berg of The collective future before. Temple, the president of Aranson, for example, the Atlanta Rabbinical emphasized the imporAssociation; Eric Robbins, the CEO and president of tance of partnerships inside and outside the Jewish Federation; Rick Aranson, the CEO of Jewish Famcommunity, and Tabak talked about securing serily & Career Services; Jared Powers, the CEO of the vices for our growing population of senior citizens. Marcus Jewish Community Center; or Harley Tabak, Robbins called for embracing change and the CEO and president of Jewish Home Life Commurecognizing that the things we have done in the nities. Although they shared some valuable insights past won’t get us where we want to be in the future. into our community and its future (more on that Powers spoke of the challenge of geography and the below). impossibility of replicating the huge, impressive but Instead, the success was in the crowd of more expensive Zaban Park everywhere Jews live. than 400 people who schmoozed over desserts and Rabbi Berg warned of the need to always ask an open bar — at $10 a ticket in advance, surely the ourselves whether we are doing good for the Jewish best deal in town — then gathered to cheer on the people and for humankind. award winners, listen to the leaders and laugh at The one uncomfortable element in the program improv troupe Dad’s Garage. was that all five leaders are white men — something You’re a better reporter than I am if you found that is not their fault and doesn’t mean they aren’t any significant demographic or geographic segment the best people for their jobs but does create a bit of of Jewish Atlanta missing from that crowd — with discomfort and limits perspectives. the possible exception of those who live and work on As a Dad’s Garage member noted, however, the South Side and faced a challenge to get to Sandy the female leaders weren’t far away: Five of the six Springs outside the Perimeter by 7 on a weeknight. award winners are young women, and all of them It’s all too rare when Jewish Atlanta gathers as a — Eliana Leader, Viktoria Abelson, Stephanie Wyatt, community for anything other than a disaster. Most Eileen Snow Price and Robin Chanin — have proved larger events involve only segments, associated by age, geography, stream of Judaism or feelings toward themselves to be innovators helping craft a better Jewish future. Israel, or are huge festivals where, paradoxically, it’s Along with the sixth winner, Ben Levy, they are easy to hide within your own clique even while surcontributing to what Robbins called “one heck of a rounded by thousands. The Collective had a different feel — big enough Jewish city.” ■

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OPINION

Soups, Songs and Hunger Letter To The Editor Tony Awards, winning best book of a musical and best original score. A revival on Broadway netted five more Tony nominations this year. Levison, a veteran actressturned-restaurateur, is producing performances of “Falsettos” on Sept. 17 and 24 at the Atlanta History Center. Tickets for the Zadie Project benefit can be purchased on the Souper Jenny

From Where I Sit By Dave Schechter dschechter@atljewishtimes.com

website or at bit.ly/2gz6lRi. On recent evenings, the dining area of the Souper Jenny at the Atlanta History Center has become a rehearsal space. In addition to Levison, the performers are Mitchell Anderson, Kandice Arrington, Craig Waldrip, Adam Levinthal, Wendy Melkonian and 12-year-old Dov Karlin (who, like the character he plays, is prepping for his bar mitzvah). The “Falsettos” performances are just one reminder in this High Holiday season that hunger merits attention year-round. Since I wrote about it in February, the Jewish Family & Career Services food pantry, Atlanta’s only kosher pantry, has moved into larger quarters. In 2016, JF&CS distributed 22,000 pounds of food to 750 households, feeding about 2,200 people. The JF&CS pantry, which serves anyone in need, not only Jews, benefits from the Operation Isaiah food drive coordinated by the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Now in its 27th year, Operation Isaiah has collected more than 1 million pounds of nonperishable food. Volunteers cull the kosher items for the JF&CS pantry. ACFB last year collected 70 million pounds of food, which its 600-plus client agencies distributed to more than 755,000 people, the equivalent of some 57 million meals, in the 29 counties it serves. The blue Operation Isaiah barrels serve as collection points for 23 congregations, plus several day schools and other Jewish organizations. This year’s drive begins Sept. 18 and concludes after Sukkot, which is Oct. 4 to 11. So, eat some turkey chili, enjoy the songs in “Falsettos,” and, please, fill those Operation Isaiah barrels. ■

Good for the Soul

With the High Holidays upon us, we are reminded of our responsibilities to our fellow man. The Torah tells us we are to be the caretakers of the planet and the people on it. The Mishnah tells us of the importance of tikkun olam — that through our actions we must work to repair the world. One of the formative experiences of my life was joining the Boy Scouts at age 11 in 1950. I learned teamwork and self-reliance and developed skills and competencies. I gained a deep appreciation for nature, the environment, and people of all colors and creeds. In Judaism, as in the Scouts, we are asked to serve. Throughout my life I have had opportunities for tikkun olam. I served as a scoutmaster, and over many years and many moves, I sought out service projects in each city in which I lived. Since moving to Atlanta in 2013, I have served as a volunteer with the Marcus Jewish Community Center and the Dunwoody Voter Registration Group. I serve as a Torah reader at

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SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

This column begins at the intersection of turkey chili, undernourished children and the Broadway musical “Falsettos” and ends with the Jewish High Holidays. The chili is the signature dish of Jenny Levison’s Souper Jenny chain. The recipe came from her father, 90-year-old S. Jarvin Levison, a founding member and past president of the Breman Museum, who last year retired after a long legal career. “He’s always been very philanthropic, and he’s also been very involved in the Jewish community here in Atlanta,” Jenny Levison said. “He’s been my inspiration as a cook.” He also inspired his daughter’s creation last October of a nonprofit, the Zadie Project (zadie is Yiddish for grandfather). Every day teachers see the effects of inadequate nutrition on children who have difficulty paying attention or completing assignments. That’s where the turkey chili comes in. A portion of the proceeds from every bowl sold goes to the Zadie Project, where it helps produce and deliver — through after-school programs at Title I schools, which have a high percentage of students from low-income families — 300 quarts of soup a week, the equivalent of 600 meals. “They basically get fresh, homemade, healthy soups to kids that aren’t getting a dinner meal,” Levison said. Along with the chili, the soups include chicken, vegetable and white bean with chicken sausage. “We’re constantly looking for partners who fit in that mission, where the kids are in school and parents are working but they’re still sort of on the edge of making it financially,” she said. Her goal is to distribute 1,000 quarts weekly. An important piece of the process is the Souper Farm, a 1-acre plot behind the Souper Jenny on the west side of Atlanta, where produce is grown for the Zadie Project soups. “The next piece is, we’re starting an educational program to teach people not only about the importance of eating fresh food, but how you can grow your own food in any environment,” Levison said. “Falsettos,” a musical about a dysfunctional Jewish family, premiered in 1992 and was nominated for seven

Congregation Beth Shalom and Emory Hillel. In March, I was presented the Volunteer of the Year award for supporting the Book Festival of the Marcus JCC, for co-chairing the Edgewise lifelong learning program, and for offering my guidance and suggestions to the Mature Adult Council. The Marcus JCC has a poster saying that contributing to the good of others “is a great source of fulfillment and pride.” Those words express what I have gained through volunteering, and I encourage everyone in the Jewish community to participate in activities that enrich the lives of others. As we enter the High Holidays, we can engage in acts of tikkun olam. We can adhere to the Torah’s teachings and volunteer. It’s our responsibility to leave the world a better place than we found it, and doing so you will fill your soul with peace. Scout’s honor! — Ed Aqua, Dunwoody

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NATIONAL NEWS

Children help load the truck that took supplies from the Packaged Good to Keller Williams’ office in East Cobb, where Walton High football players helped make the transfer to a Super Movers semi.

Epstein School students make donations for hurricane relief during a dress-down day Sept. 5.

Environmental club leaders Helena Asherian (left), Tali Feen and Pesach Zeiger set up three collection boxes at AJA.

AJA secondgraders Noa Feen and Isabella Steinberg sell lemonade for Harvey victims.

Chabad of Atlanta Rabbi Avremi Slavaticki checks on the donations at AJA on Sept. 1.

Jewish Atlanta Answers Harvey’s Challenge

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

From rabbis to students, Jewish Atlanta has responded with hands and hearts as well as wallets to the destruction left by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana. When the Orthodox Union called, the Toco Hills community answered. Led by Congregation Beth Jacob Rabbi Ilan Feldman and Young Israel of Toco Hills Rabbi Adam Starr, Jewish Atlantans made their way on their own to Houston to help with the demolition and cleanup in the hard-hit Houston Jewish community, where synagogues and day schools suffered significant damage along with homes. “Everybody here is stoic, calm, matter of fact, doing their job, only a couple of cryings,” Rabbi Feldman said. “Everyone we’ve run into thanks us profusely and thanks our community for sending us,” Rabbi Starr said. The two rabbis demonstrated Harvey’s effects in a Facebook Live video Tuesday, Sept. 5, from a home where the waterline was around 5 feet. The demolition crews included contractors who had almost finished building the house before the storm, as well as Shalom Teller, whom Rabbi Starr called “a tremendous force” in the cleanup. “We’re here really to provide comfort in the emotional and spiritual sense. At the same time, I can tell you these two rabbis are getting their hands very, very dirty with the physicality of what needs to be done of the actual cleanup,” Rabbi Starr said. The rabbis’ group included Atlanta Jewish Academy eighth-grader Shami Frenkel, who said his father, Yisrael, decided to go to Houston when Rabbi Starr sought volunteers, and Shami said yes when his dad asked him to make the Labor Day weekend trip as well. 12 The Frenkels were in Houston

from Sunday through Tuesday. “We heard about the problem, and we wanted to help out,” Shami said. “Shami’s parents are amazing role models,” said Erica Gal, AJA’s admissions director. She said Yisrael Frenkel was an emergency medical technician in Israel during the Second Intifada. Shami might have been the only AJA student to travel to Houston, but he wasn’t the only one who responded to the disaster. The school’s environmental club, led by senior Pesach Zeiger with sophomores Tali Feen and Helena Asherian, established a collection of needed supplies, to be carried west with a shipment from the Packaged Good, and hit email and social media to make sure parents and students alike knew about it. They also planned a dress-down day, during which students could skip the school uniform if they made donations to hurricane relief. Tali said the students were just fulfilling their duty to help others in need. Her 7-year-old sister, Noa, also got into the act, raising $83 at a lemonade stand with some fellow students. Such responses were common at Atlanta’s Jewish schools. The Davis Academy, for example, is dedicating a portion of its September tzedakah collections toward disaster relief in a way to be determined by students in the Middle School Leadership Training Institute. The school also has joined others in offering to take in any students displaced from Houston. The girls at Temima High School organized a bake sale, taking online orders through Sept. 5 for pickup two days later. The Epstein School had its own dress-down day Sept. 5, collecting

cash and gift cards from students who participated, and set up a web page (t.e2ma.net/pages/1801956/3199) to track aid opportunities. Epstein’s sister school in the Conservative movement, Beth Yeshurun Day School, was inundated up to 8 inches deep, forcing the school to look for a temporary home. Congregation B’nai Torah Rabbi Joshua Heller, Epstein Head of School David Abusch-Magder and others in Atlanta have kept close tabs on Beth Yeshurun through a teacher, former Atlantan Rachel Weber. Supplies for the school can be shipped to 5100 South Willow, Houston, TX 77035, or donations can be made at www.byds.org. The head of school at Robert Beren Academy, Paul Oberman, also has Atlanta ties: He was a top administrator at AJA until taking the Houston job in the spring. Oberman spoke at Young Israel during Shabbat on Sept. 2. The day schools weren’t the only way for Atlanta students to help their peers in Texas and Louisiana. The Packaged Good has partnered with Keller Williams Atlanta North and Super Movers to collect, pack and deliver toiletries and other much-needed supplies. After collecting goods for several days, the Packaged Good welcomed more than 400 volunteers to its storefront in Dunwoody Village on Saturday, Sept. 2, to create more than 1,000 care packages, including custom-made cards. The nonprofit organization’s volunteer effort, organized by Executive Director Sam Kurgan with Lisa Jacobson and Joanna Estroff, included education, such as a wall depicting the height of the flood to show children how far they would have been below water.

Packaged Good founder Sally Mundell led a similar packing effort at a family camp at Camp Barney Medintz. Super Movers left Monday, Sept. 4, with a loaded truck, planning to distribute the relief goods wherever needed along the route to Houston. The Packaged Good and its partners are repeating the effort Saturday, Sept. 9, and Kurgan said they hope for more volunteers without the conflict of a holiday weekend. Chabad of Atlanta, working with AJA, organized a similar collection and shipment of goods, without the creation of cards and individual care packages. Jeff Wand, bringing food and other supplies, and Malkie Citrin, donating feminine hygiene products, were among the Congregation Beth Tefillah members dropping off items Friday, Sept. 1. The shipment left Atlanta the next night. “People lost everything,” Citrin said. “It’s the least I could do.” Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank encouraged monetary donations by pledging that the Arthur Blank Foundation would match up to $1 million in fan donations to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The Jewish Federations of North America continue to collect money to aid Houston’s Jewish community at www.jewishfederations.org or at jewishatlanta.org. The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is giving $18,000 from its response fund. Israel also joined the relief effort. Several Israeli nonprofits, such as IsraAID, iAID and United Hatzalah, sent people to help on the ground, and the Israeli government was organizing a $1 million aid package for Houston’s Jewish community. ■

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LOCAL NEWS

Gender Disparities at Heart of Health Event The issue of gender equity in medicine has affected countless women, said Hadassah’s health advocacy chair, Anne Davis, highlighting such disparities between men and women as common reactions to heart medications and differences in health coverage. Those are among the issues Hadassah’s National Women’s Health Empowerment Coalition plans to discuss during a Gender Equity in Medicine session, “Driving Optimal Treatment for Women,” on Sunday, Sept. 10, at Congregation Or Hadash. The event will feature experts on heart health, Alzheimer’s and hormones. According to statistics in Hadassah’s December 2016 magazine, heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, but only one-third of research subjects are female. Moreover, while 66 percent of people with depression are women, only 45 percent of animal research subjects are female. Only 38 percent of clinical trials for hypertension study women, even though 55 percent of people killed by hypertension are women.

Allan Levey chairs the neurology department at the Emory University School of Medicine.

Nanette Wenger is a pioneer in studying heart disease in women.

“I was shocked when I first heard about this, which is why we are running this program,” event co-chair Ellen Sichel said. “I wanted to educate people, as they may be clueless about the disparities and not know what questions to ask their doctors.” In addition to advocacy for more research on women, Hadassah meets with legislators on health-related bills and runs educational programs on the importance of women’s health equity. “It’s opened my eyes, and I think as president of Hadassah’s health professional group, people need to be educated in order to take better care of

themselves,” Sichel said. “We want the program to be a living-room-style event where individuals have their questions answered by a top team of professionals who are capable of providing them with further information.” Scheduled speakers include Emory neurologist Allan Levey, Emory cardiologist Nanette Wenger and Femasys’ vice president for clinical affairs, Mimi Zieman. Rachel Schonberger, who chairs the Hadassah Medical Organization, is moderating the discussion. The panelists will talk about male/ female disparities in medical research and the resulting harm through ineffective or improper treatments. “Hadassah spearheads a lot of change, and it’s so important to educate and let the community know what we’re about, what we’re doing and how we are helping,” Davis said. The program’s mission, she said,

is to generate greater representation for women on lawmakers’ health care work groups by signing petitions, attending town halls and serving as advocates while working with legislators on health care issues. “We are the greatest nation in the world, and yet our health care outcomes are not as good as other countries, which is something all health care organizations are concerned about,” Davis said. “More and more women are underrepresented and underinsured due to lower-paying jobs or are working for smaller companies, yet we can make a difference.” Sichel added, “People don’t want to know about their health or be interested in knowing how to take care of themselves. Yet gender equity in medicine goes beyond everyday information; as individuals, we must be educated on what that means.” ■

What: Gender Equity in Medicine: “Driving Optimal Treatment for Women” When: 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10 Where: Congregation Or Hadash, 7460 Trowbridge Road, Sandy Springs Tickets: $18; www.hadassah.org/events/gem2017 (pre-registration required for continuing education units)

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com

HIGH HOLIDAYS

High Holiday Options

THE SONENSHINE TEAM Atlanta’s Favorite Real Estate Team

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The following are activities related to the High Holidays, as well as places to attend services if you are unaffiliated or interested in trying something different in 5778. Erev Rosh Hashanah is Wednesday night, Sept. 20; Kol Nidre is Friday night, Sept. 29. • MACoM (www.atlantamikvah. org), 700-A Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs, is open for pre-holiday immersions Sept. 15, 20 and 29 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sept. 17, 18, 19, 27 and 28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Make appointments at immerse@ atlantamikvah.org or 404-549-9679. • Birthright Israel alumni may attend free services at Congregation Beth Shalom, Congregation Or Hadash, Ahavath Achim Synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel, the Atlanta Scholars Kollel (Ariel, Anshi or Brookhaven), Chabad Intown, The Temple, Temple Beth Tikvah, Temple Sinai, Temple Kehillat Chaim, Temple Beth Israel (Macon), Congregation Bet Haverim, Congregation Or VeShalom or Congregation Shaarei Shamayim. Sign up at jewishatlanta.org/birthright-israelalumni-high-holiday-services. • The Sixth Point (thesixthpoint. org) hosts Rosh in the Park, a spiritual experience for young adults, at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, at the gazebo at Ashford Creek Townhomes, 1442 Ashford Creek Circle, Brookhaven. It’s free, but RSVPs are appreciated at thesixthpoint. org/event/rosh-in-the-park-2. • Anshi (www.anshisfard.org), 1324 N. Highland Ave., Virginia-Highland, offers a festive dinner at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, after candle lighting at 7:18, for $12 per person. RSVP to info@anshisfard.org. • Guardians of the Torah (guardiansofthetorah.com) holds free services at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 2400 Old Alabama Road, Roswell, at 9 a.m. Sept. 21 and 30. RSVP to Rabbi Richard Baroff at 770-286-3477 or richardbaroff@yahoo.com. • Kehillat HaShem (rabbiatlanta. com), 640 Stone House Lane, Marietta, offers free worship at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20, 10 a.m. Sept. 21 and 7 p.m. Sept. 29 and throughout Sept. 30. Call Rabbi Jeffery Feinstein at 770-218-8094 for seats. • YJP Atlanta (www.yjpatlanta.org) offers a free, 10-minute slackers service at 7 p.m. Sept. 21 at Chabad Intown, 928 Ponce de Leon Ave., Poncey-Highland, before a stump-the-rabbi session, an 8 p.m. service and, for the first 20 to register, dinner with the Schustermans. Sign up at www.eventbrite.com/e/yjpsslackers-service-tickets-36953773732.

• The Kehilla in Sandy Springs (www.thekehilla.org), 5075 Roswell Road, offers free High Holiday services with no reservations. • Congregation Bet Haverim (www.congregationbethaverim.org) holds High Holiday services at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, 1790 LaVista Road, Toco Hills, except for Tashlich at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at WD Thompson Park and Tashlich yoga at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at the synagogue, 2074 LaVista Road. All services are free and require no tickets. Call 404-315-6446 for details. • Young Israel of Toco Hills (www. yith.org), 2056 LaVista Road, offers all services free with no tickets. After Sept. 14, nonmembers can get reserved seats for $72. • Congregation Or VeShalom (orveshalom.org), 1681 N. Druid Hills Road, Brookhaven, welcomes all, although visitors must register in advance and pick up tickets in person for security reasons and are asked to make donations. Contact Executive Director Adam Kofinas at 404-633-1737 or adam. kofinas@orveshalomg.org. • Chabad of North Fulton (www. chabadnf.org), 10180 Jones Bridge Road, Alpharetta, offers free seating with no tickets on a first-come, first-served basis or reserved seating for $100 (purchased by Sept. 14). Educational and children’s services at 10 a.m. Sept. 21, 22 and 30 supplement a full schedule of traditional services. • Chabad of Peachtree City (www. chabadsouthside.com), 632 Dogwood Trail, Tyrone, offers everything free, from Erev Rosh Hashanah dinner at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 to a break-fast at 8:20 p.m. Sept. 30. See the schedule and reserve seats (optional) at bit.ly/2wBz6WP. • Chabad Intown (chabadintown. org), 928 Ponce de Leon Ave., PonceyHighland, offers free services with no tickets, although registration is requested. Rosh Hashanah services will be at Chabad Intown. Yom Kippur services will be at the Crown Plaza Atlanta Midtown, 590 W. Peachtree St., where a pre-fast dinner will be available for $36 and you can book a room by Sept. 15 for the Yom Kippur Retreat. • Atlanta Scholars Kollel (www. atlantakollel.org) offers services at the Kollel Dome, 5237 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, with Rabbi Daniel Freitag on Sept. 21, 22 and 30; at Anshi, 1324 N. Highland Ave., Virginia-Highland, with Rabbi Mayer Freedman on Sept. 21, 29 and 30; and in Brookhaven (address to be announced) with Rabbi Yosef Shapiro on Sept. 21, 22, 29 and 30. A $25

HIGH HOLIDAYS donation per ticket is suggested. Email ask@atlantakollel.org or call 404-3214085 for details and reservations. • Congregation Shaarei Shamayim (www.shaareishamayim.com), 1600 Mount Mariah Road, Toco Hills, welcomes everyone, with or without tickets, though a $100 donation is suggested for nonmember tickets. Call the office at 404-417-0472. • The Temple (www.the-temple. org), 1589 Peachtree St., Midtown, offers free tickets to visitors for the alternative services and overflow seating areas, not the main sanctuary. Visit bit. ly/2xLy09C, or call 404-873-1731. • Congregation Ner Tamid (mynertamid.info), 1349 Old Highway 41, Suite 320, Marietta, offers $90 tickets for all the holidays for nonmembers. Contact highholydays@mynertamid.org or 678-264-8575 for details. • Temple Beth Tikvah (www. bethtikvah.com), 9955 Coleman Road, Roswell, provides tickets to adult nonmembers for all holidays for $180, with college students free with ID. No tickets are required for tot family services at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 21 and 30, Tashlich at 4 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Chattahoochee on Azalea Drive, and Yom Kippur closing services at 4 p.m. Sept. 30. Call 770-6420434 or visit bit.ly/2vCebSR. • Congregation Ariel (www.congariel.org), 5237 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, welcomes guests for $108 for Rosh Hashanah and $108 for Yom Kippur. Contact shuloffice@congariel.org or 770-390-9071 for details. • Shema Yisrael (www.shemaweb. org) holds services at Atlanta Unity, 3597 Parkway Lane, Norcross. A $75 ticket is good for all services: 7 p.m. Sept. 20; 11 a.m. Sept. 21; 7 p.m. Sept. 29; and 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. (Yizkor) and 7 p.m. Sept. 30. Reservations are required; 404-998-5410 for questions. • Congregation Beth Tefillah (www.bethtefillah.org), 5065 High Point Road, Sandy Springs, offers nonmember tickets in the main sanctuary for $118. Rabbi Isser New leads family-appropriate educational services at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 21, 22 and 30 for a suggested donation of $72. Visit bit.ly/2gHrzAm. A High Holiday youth experience with Rabbi Ari Karp is available for children 10 and under during morning services and Kol Nidre for $40 per family with one or two children and $70 per family with three or more children. Visit bit. ly/2vHg1n4 for tickets. For questions, email admin@bethtefillah.org, or call 404-843-2464, ext. 104. • Temple Beth David (www. gwinnetttemple .com), 1885 McGee Road, Snellville, will have guest Rabbi Jonathan Crane leading High Holiday

services. Tickets are free for students and members of the military with ID and have a minimal cost for others. Email gwinnetttemple@gmail.com, or call 770-978-3916. • Ahavath Achim Synagogue (www.aasynagogue.org), 600 Peachtree Battle Ave., Buckhead, offers free tickets to Jewish community professionals, full-time students and active military personnel. Email Anne Cohen at acohen@aasynagogue.org. Adults ages 18 to 35 can buy tickets for $36 for one holiday or $54 for everything; for those 36 and older, it’s $100 for one holiday or $200 for everything. Visit form. jotform .com/72054288915159, or call 404-355-5222. • Temple Sinai (www. templesinaiatlanta .org), 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, offers free, noticket access to services at 8 p.m. Sept. 20, 9 a.m. Sept. 22, and 3:30 p.m. (renewal) and 5 p.m. (Yizkor and closing) Sept. 30. Tickets are not available to nonmembers for other services. • Congregation Shearith Israel (www.shearithisrael.com), 1180 University Drive, Morningside, offers tickets for all services for $78. Contact 404-8731743 or reception@shearithisrael.com. • Congregation Or Hadash (www. or-hadash.org), 7460 Trowbridge Road, Sandy Springs, requires no tickets for the 9 a.m. service Sept. 22 or the 4:45 p.m. service (Yizkor and closing) Sept. 30. Tickets for all services are $198 if you’re 30 or older, $36 if you’re younger. Tickets are free for students and active military personnel with ID (registration required). Visit www.or-hadash. org/high-holidays-at-or-hadash.html#, or call 404-250-3338. • Temple Kehillat Chaim (www. kehillatchaim.org), 1145 Green St., Roswell, offers tickets to nonmembers for $150 for all services. Students under age 25 and military personnel are free. Visit www.kehillatchaim.org/highholy-days to see the schedule, and call 770-641-8630 to get tickets. • Congregation Beth Shalom (bethshalomatlanta.org), 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, provides free access for college students and military personnel with ID. Second-day Rosh Hashanah services at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 22 are free and open to all. Nonmember tickets for all High Holiday services are $180. Visit bethshalomatlanta.org/ high-holidays-5778-2017. • Hillels of Georgia (hillelsofgeorgia.org) offers Reform and Conservative services at Emory University and in Athens that are free for students, $54 for adults 18 to 35, and $150 for other community members. Register at secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=b175b9.

‫לשנה טובה‬

Congregation Congregation Kehillat Kehillat HaShem HaShem 640 Stone House Lane NW 640 SMarietta, tone House Lane NW GA 30064

Marietta, GA 30064

invites you to join in the celebration thecHigh Holy Daysof the High Ho Invites you to join in tofhe elebration

High Holy Day services are led by Rabbi Jeffery Feinstein and follow the Reform Machzor “Gates of Repentance”. Worshippers are encouraged to bring their own books. A limited number are available at services.

High Holy Day services are led by Rabbi Jeffery Feinstein and Reform Machzor, “Gates of Repentance”. Worshipper Services are open to all at no charge, however, encouraged to bring their own books. A limited number are seating is limited. Please contact CKH at 770 218-8094 to reserve your seat.** at services. Services Schedule of

Services are open to all at Rosh no Hashanah charge, however, is pmlimited. Ple Erev 9/20/2017 seating 7:30 CKH Rosh at 7Hashanah 70 218-‐8094 to reserve your seat.** Day 9/21/2017 10:00 am Kol Nidre 9/29/2017 7:00 pm of Services 10:00 am Yom Kippur Schedule Morning 9/30/2017

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Yom Kippur Afternoon 3:00 pm Erev Rosh Hashanah Yizkor 9/20/2017 4:30 pm 7:30 p (approximate) Rosh Hashanah Day Neilah and Havdalah 9/21/2017 5:00 pm 10:00 a (approximate) Kol Nidre (Erev Yom Kippur) 9/29/2017 7:00 p additional information contact Yom Kippur Morning For 9/30/2017 10:00 a Rabbi Feinstein at 770 218-8094, Yom Kippur Afternoon or visit him on the web at: www.rabbiatlanta.com 3:00 p **Donations are Yizkor (checks can appreciated to help to continue to provide services 4:30 p be made payable to Rabbi Jeffery Feinstein) Neilah and Havdalah 5:00 p 15

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Honeymoon Israel Helps Connect Couples

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

By Logan C. Ritchie lritchie@atljewishtimes.com

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Tressa Levenson, 33, wanted to visit Israel as a teen, but her parents were hesitant. It wasn’t until she married Morgan White, 32, a Birthright Israel alum, that she embarked on such a trip. Through her cousin’s Facebook pictures, Levenson was turned on to Honeymoon Israel, 2-year-old nonprofit organization that sends 20 couples at a time from the same city on subsidized nine-day trips to the country and functions as a community back home through social activities. Honeymoon Israel started in Colorado and now sends groups from Atlanta and 13 other U.S. cities. Nearly 1,000 couples have either gone on one of 34 Honeymoon Israel trips since 2015 or have been accepted for an upcoming trip through next May. Levenson had looked for her Jewish home for a while. After a year as a synagogue member, she was unsatisfied. “The thought of going to Israel with my husband and other couples in the same life stage sounded like a good opportunity,” she said. Married 15 months, the couple attended an information session for Honeymoon Israel and met the requirements: at least one partner identifying as Jewish (Levenson and White grew up in the Conservative movement); at least one between 25 and 40 at the time of the trip; married or life partners; and married less than five years. Hannah Spinrad, the Atlanta director of community engagement for Honeymoon Israel, said the company encourages couples from diverse backgrounds, including LGBTQ people. “Our community is changing. It doesn’t look the same as it did 20 or 30 years ago. We have different needs. We want people to see how they can opt in to Jewish life,” Spinrad said. That’s exactly what Levenson and White did. With a little seed money from parents — Honeymoon Israel costs $1,800 per couple — they were on their way. “I went on Birthright as a 27-yearold in 2012,” White said. “At that age, everyone is in different stages. People go different ways. I still keep up with a few people from the trip, but it’s mostly through Facebook. “But that’s the difference between Honeymoon Israel and Birthright. Now we are looking for connection. I can

Photo by Jon Forbes

A Honeymoon Israel group from Atlanta visits Israel in March.

see us maintaining stronger relationships than on Birthright. We built the relationships together with people we can lean on. In my 20s, going to Israel was more about being single and having fun.” After traveling with 19 other couples, Levenson and White returned to Atlanta feeling renewed in their faith. “There are many different ways to be Jewish. They’re all right. How we practice Judaism doesn’t have to be the same for everyone. Both of us were excited to marry someone Jewish, but we saw that it’s OK if you’re not married to a Jewish person,” Levenson said. “This is the future of Judaism. All these people are interfaith, but they are trying to figure it out.” White said the trip “helped me better understand that being Jewish is not about following tradition; it’s a way of life. It’s about leaving the world in a better place than how you found it.” Post-trip, Levenson and White gather with fellow alums to share meals, celebrate milestones and watch sports. Each Honeymoon Israel group uses Telegram, similar to WhatsApp, to share selfies and birthday wishes. “The fact that HMI has been around a short time and seen such success is an indicator that we’re fulfilling a need,” Spinrad said. Eighty-five percent of couples say they feel a new sense of belonging to the Jewish community and a connection to Israel after the trip. Such effectiveness helped persuade the Jim Joseph Foundation recently to grant the organization $1.5 million over three years to expand to more cities and to do more to connect trip alumni at home. “Because there’s a safe space, you skip niceties and get straight into real conversations,” Spinrad said. “There’s talk about the pain and struggles that couples have been through.” In the end, they are still choosing Judaism. ■

SEPTEMBER 8 â&#x2013;ª 2017

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Asheville Offers Year-Round Mountain Appeal

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Asheville and Western North Carolina offer accessible mountains, cooler summers, seasonal foliage color, and impressive natural and man-made attractions less than a four-hour drive from Atlanta. Once famous mainly for the Biltmore Estate, Asheville has emerged as a sophisticated destination with a burgeoning foodie and craft beer scene. It is along the Blue Ridge Parkway and offers gardens, museums and a pleasant downtown art district. The Biltmore remains a major attraction. It is the nation’s largest private residence. Developed by George Vanderbilt, it was designed by Richard Morris Hunt and has a garden designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The 250-room French Renaissancestyle chateau is on an estate of more than 8,000 acres. Touring the mansion using a selfpaced audio recording takes several

Simply Smart Travel By Jeff and Virginia Orenstein jorenstein@SimplySmartTravel.com

Photo by Jeff Orenstein

The beautiful Biltmore Estate in Asheville is the largest privately owned home in the nation.

hours. Guides are also available. The Biltmore boasts a working winery: Antler Hill Winery, in a converted dairy barn. The estate has 94 acres of vineyards, but Antler Hill gets more than 75 percent of its grapes out of state, mostly from California. Chimney Rock State Park is a scenic 25-mile drive east of Asheville in a quaint village along the Broad River,

which flows into Lake Lure. The park’s chief attraction is a 315-foot monolith with 75-mile views in all directions. Driving another 15 minutes on Route 64 brings you to the town of Lake Lure, which has lodging, restaurants and boat tours of the lake.

On a Day Trip • Tour the Biltmore Estate. • Check out downtown Asheville restaurants and craft beer emporia and the Downtown Art District. • Drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Southern Highlands Craft Guild Folk Art Center.

Before You Go Check out: • www.visitnc. com/trip-idea/visitlake-lure-asheville-

Staying Longer • Spend a few days at Lake Lure. • Take a day trip to Hendersonville. • Explore Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

and-cherokee. • www.exploreasheville.com. Getting There • By car, Asheville is on Interstate 240, off I-40 and I-26, about 200 miles from Atlanta. You can take I-85 and U.S. 25 through Greenville, S.C., or I-985 and U.S. 23 through the Chattahoochee National Forest.

Staying Two or Three Days • Drive farther along the Blue Ridge Parkway for the scenery. • Explore Chimney Rock.

How to Dress Smart casual is appropriate for touring the Biltmore or exploring downtown. Chimney Rock and Lake Lure are more outdoorsy and informal. Comfortable shoes are a must. At a Glance • When to go — Year-round. Summer is beautiful; fall color is gorgeous. • Where to stay — Choose the Inn on Biltmore Estate or the Omni Grove Park Inn for luxury. In Lake Lure, cabin rentals and resorts are available. • Special travel interests — Appalachian scenery, craft beer, the Biltmore, and author Thomas Wolfe, who grew up in and wrote about Asheville. Jewish Asheville According to One Jewish Asheville, the area’s umbrella Jewish organization, more than 4,700 year-round residents live in Jewish-connected homes in Western North Carolina, and the area has at least 1,000 seasonal Jewish residents. Western North Carolina has a Jewish Community Center, a Jewish Federation, a Jewish Family Service, some Jewish social and business organizations, and congregations covering the spectrum of Jewish observances. Asheville’s first congregation, Beth Ha-Tephila, organized in 1891. A split over the degree of orthodoxy soon followed, leading to the founding of Congregation Bikur Cholim in 1899. ■ Jeffrey Orenstein, Ph.D., and Virginia Orenstein are husband-and-wife travel writers from Sarasota, Fla. They publish travel ideas, articles, photos and a blog at www.SimplySmartTravel.com and facebook.com/SimplySmartTravel.

TRAVEL and talk about places already visited or plan your next trip to places you do not know yet. It’s a book to share with the younger generation and show them that even though Israel is very small, it is beautiful and incredibly varied.”

Book Tracks Israel Trail A crowdfunding campaign is expected to begin Monday, Sept. 11, to support the production of “A Walk of the Land,” the first photo book documenting a journey along the Israel National Trail from the traveler’s point of view. The photographs and anecdotes in the book follow the journey of Udi Goren, the first professional still photographer to walk the entire trail, which runs the length of Israel from north to south. Goren spoke to the AJT last year before a tour of his exhibit of photography from the trail. The book is edited by photographer Alex Levac. A preview can be seen at udigoren.com/book_sample.pdf. “This is not a book that goes on your bookshelf at home,” Goren said. “It belongs on the living-room table to allow guests to browse through it

Tourist Cable Car Approved

Israel’s Cabinet on Sunday, Sept. 3, approved building a cable car between Upper Nazareth and the lower slopes of Mount Tabor. The Gospel Trail tourist cable car is a collaboration among the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of the Development of the Negev and Galilee, and the Upper Nazareth municipality. It will link historic and religious sites that attract tourists and pilgrims from around the world, as well as Israeli visitors. “The Galilee in general, and the Nazareth ridge in particular, is an area in which rich history and ancient traditions are intertwined,” said Aryeh Deri, the minister for the development of the Negev and Galilee. “The cable car is good news for the people of the Galilee and the area’s many visitors — tourists from Israel and overseas.” The two ministries have agreed to spend up to 1 million shekels ($280,000) for initial engineering work.

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A crowdfunding campaign for “A Walk of the Land” is scheduled to launch Sept. 11.

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Italian Trips Get Personal Touch in Sandy Springs By Rachel Fayne Debra and David Levinson manage to be in two places at once. The founders of Mr. & Mrs. Italy are themselves Mr. and Mrs. Italy, and they customize experiences for customers traveling to the country while arranging every intricate detail from Sandy Springs. A summer trip to Italy 20 years ago with their children motivated another trip that winter, and another trip the following season, until the Levinsons were traveling back several times per year with the family. Debra’s efforts to make the trips educational for the children spawned the couple’s first book geared toward Italian travels with kids. The feedback the Levinsons received from readers wanting their help in planning their own Italian vacations led to what their business is today: a personalized approach to travel through all 20 regions of Italy. Mr. & Mrs. Italy (www.mrandmrsitaly.com) provides an app that travelers can open on smartphones when they land so they can see their full itineraries. The agency arranges everything

from dinner reservations and museum tickets to car rentals and instructions on what to do immediately after landing. The Levinsons don’t work from a template, and no two trips are the same. Mr. & Mrs. Italy gauges the traveler’s interests and customizes the trip to fit them. Vacations centered on cooking, art and outdoor activities are most common, but even those itineraries have a wide range. The Levinsons specialize in finding less popular towns and more niche activities. Based on the three months a year the Levinsons spend in Italy and their intimate knowledge of the country, they put together an annual guidebook that is sold around the world. “There is no substitute for the experience you get from actually hiking the Cinque Terre, biking through Tuscany, tasting fresh pressed olive oil, or making pizza and pasta with Nonna,” David Levinson said. Travelers interested in history or Judaism, for example, may be surprised to learn that Italy has a deep Jewish heritage.

Photos courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Italy Debra and David Levinson take a break from a bike ride near the medieval village of Pitigliano, known as Little Jerusalem.

The Levinsons have planned Italian excursions that feature Pitigliano, a small village in Tuscany known as Little Jerusalem, where visitors can see the mountain Jews used to protect themselves from invaders. Other trips have included a boutique hotel in Sicily where the oldest mikvahs in Europe can be found hidden under a set of stairs. Buildings where Jews were hidden during the Holocaust and where Jewish refugees

were welcomed can be seen in nearby cities. The Levinsons also have relationships with hotels that offer Passover celebrations and with kosher restaurants. Mr. & Mrs. Italy’s business is based on referrals, and clients come from all over the country. Prices of the customized trips vary widely: An eight-to-10day trip could be $6,000 or $60,000, depending on the itinerary. ■

Kathy and Rob Hoddeson of Georgia have a red Ferrari to get around Tuscany.

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Zachery and Lara Ezor of North Carolina enjoy Cicchetto Row in Venice.

Marisa and Sean Costigan of Georgia take a cooking class with Mama Anna in Gaiole in the Chianti region.

Members of the Centracchio family of Vermont kayak along the Amalfi coast.

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5 Days With the Jewish Children of Ethiopia Dalia Hartstein teaches Ethiopian children some Hebrew songs.

By Dalia Hartstein

Dalia Hartstein gets a warm welcome from Hermes and his family.

many) a kid came up to me and asked me to teach him English. I started out by teaching him how to answer basic questions about himself. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by seven kids learning English. A special experience was going to Hermes’ house. I met Hermes the first time we were in Ethiopia as a family, and we really connected with him. He is in charge of Bnei Akiva in Gondar, finished at the top of his class in school last year and speaks fluent Hebrew. On the last day Adi and I were

there, he invited us to his home. We entered his one-room house and sat on a mattress on the floor where he sleeps. His mother and two younger siblings sleep on the bed. His mom made us delicious injera (traditional Ethiopian food) and insisted that we eat more and more. She served each of us three cups of coffee because she told us that in Ethiopia it is customary to drink three cups. I had never drunk coffee in my life, but it was very good. They were so warm, hospitable and glad to host us in their home.

When we left, his mom gave me a huge hug and told me to send all her love to my parents and family, whom she hopes to see again soon. Those five days were an incredible experience, and this article is just a small taste of what it was like there. ■ Dalia Hartstein is an 18-year-old recent high school graduate who lives in Ra’anana, Israel. She made aliyah from St. Louis with her family in 2004. Her parents are Elisa and Morris Hartstein, and her maternal grandparents are Betty and Malcolm Minsk of Atlanta.

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

In August I flew to Ethiopia with my friend Adi to volunteer with the Jewish community in Gondar for five days. We joined 10 Israeli post-army volunteers who ran a camp for the kids in the compound throughout the summer. Gondar is a village in Ethiopia with one paved road, mud houses and animals wandering the streets. Gondar has 5,000 Falash Mura Jews waiting to make aliyah. Many have been waiting for years, and some have immediate family in Israel. More than 1,000 children of all ages attended the camp in the Jewish compound, which consists of outdoor benches and several “rooms” divided by corrugated metal walls. Many of the walls are painted with Stars of David, and there is a large area where they pray three times a day. From 8 to 11 each morning we ran activities for the youngest kids, approximately 50 of them who were around 6 years old. We were joined by a talented 52-year-old Israeli volunteer who used to be a pre-K teacher and three Ethiopian teenagers, who translated and helped us manage the kids. We taught them a bunch of songs in Hebrew, along with hand motions that corresponded to the words, danced with them, and did other activities. Adi and I had an amazing time. They were so cute and well behaved. They waited patiently for their turns and sat right back down when we asked them. They — the teenagers as well as the little kids — got excited about the simplest things. For example, we gave each of them a small ball of Play-Doh, and they played with it for half an hour, making different shapes and animals. We taped a rope to the floor, and they had to walk across it as if it were a tightrope. In the afternoons, activities and classes were held for the older kids. On one of the days I had to teach five 18-year-old boys the alef-bet. It was slightly challenging for me, but I made sure to keep it interesting. I made up a game that helped them remember the letters, and we played it over and over. I was amazed at how eager they were to learn. They wrote down everything I taught them in individual notebooks that were handed to them at the beginning of the camp. Each kid cherished his notebook. In addition, one time (out of

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Delve Into Israel’s Secret Bullet Factory By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

One of the most fascinating and secretive places from Israel’s 1948 War of Independence still exists for tourists to visit just outside Rehovot, a 40-minute drive from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, at the site of an innocent-looking former kibbutz. Before Israel declared independence, the leaders of the fledgling military knew they would need guns and ammunition. But under the British Mandate of Palestine, the punishment for importing arms could be death. So they hatched a plan to make 9mm bullets for the Sten submachine gun, the personal weapon of Palmach fighters, right under the noses of the British. Under the guise of a new kibbutz next to a British military camp, Haganah members smuggled in bullet-making machines from Poland and dug down more than 25 feet to create an underground bullet factory. Roughly the size of a tennis court, the factory was placed directly beneath a bakery and a laundry so that the

Photo by David R. Cohen

Some of the original ammunitionproduction machinery remains intact more than 70 years later.

smell and sounds of bullet manufacturing would be covered. Yosef Avidar, who commanded the Haganah, decided to place the bullet factory next to a British camp because he thought it would be the last place they would look. The British even sent their laundry to the kibbutz and sometimes visited for the Israeli hospitality. From 1945 to 1948, 45 young men and women worked underground all day to produce bullets. By the time Israel declared independence and the machines were moved above ground, the factory had produced over 2 million bullets and suffered no fatal accidents despite the tight quarters and explosive

ammunition. The operation was so secretive that almost no one on the kibbutz knew a bullet factory was under them, not even the women who worked in the laundry and bakery. The 45 factory workers, who were supposed to be in the fields picking fruit, took turns sitting under a primitive tanning bed to make it look like they’d been in the sun all day. Avidar and the other Haganah leaders thought of everything. Carpentry and metal shops were built around the laundry to cover for the oil stains and metal scents. They even plugged the bullet factory into the British pow-

er source so their substantial use of electricity wouldn’t be detected. The bullets were smuggled out in milk cans and later in the compartments of fuel trucks. The underground bullet factory reopened as a museum on Israeli Independence Day in 1986 after a full restoration. Today it is known as the Ayalon Institute and is open to the public. A visit to the museum includes a short film and a tour of the bullet factory. Entering through a secret trapdoor underneath a large washing machine that leads to a steep metal staircase, visitors walk past the original ammunition production machinery and see where the bullets were tested on a small shooting range just steps away from stores of gunpowder. Visitors exit through a secret staircase that leads to the bakery, which provided clean air for the factory through pipes concealed by the furnace. The bullet factory was essential to Israel’s victory in the War of Independence and to the creation of modernday Israel. It is well worth a visit. ■

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Diverted 9/11 Flight Stranded Couple in Canada The world is blessed and often amazed with the kindness of strangers. Marilyn and Geoffrey Posner, an ophthalmologist at Marietta Eye Clinic, were on Delta Flight 129 from Ireland on Sept. 11, 2001, when the pilot calmly announced that the plane would be diverted to Newfoundland’s Gander International Airport, used for refueling and emergencies since World War II. After landing, the passengers were told about the terrorist attacks in the United States. They therefore were grounded in Canada. Four days in sleeping bags without access to luggage led to interaction with the townspeople, who stepped up to host the stranded strangers. An offshoot of this humanitarian phenomenon is the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Come From Away.” Read what the Posners experienced in the town of Lewisporte (population 3,300) as we mark the 16th anniversary of 9/11. Jaffe: So you were vacationing in Ireland, returning to Atlanta on a nonstop Delta flight. Geoffrey: There were about 350 passengers (Americans and Irish) on our flight. Halfway across the Atlantic, our pilot announced that we would be landing in Canada, assured us there was nothing wrong with the plane itself and that we would receive updates. As a physician, my initial reaction was that there was a sick passenger aboard. When we landed in Gander, we saw other planes lining up. Our pilot told us that the Pentagon and Twin Towers were attacked with 30,000 dead. Everyone was in shock. Jaffe: How did the logistics work? Where were you housed and fed? Marilyn: Since there were 37 planes, we all went to various towns (taken by school bus). We were taken to a large building at the Kinsmen Club of Notre Dame in Lewisporte. We had three meals a day prepared by the townspeople in the facility’s large kitchen. They have raised over a million dollars for their charitable efforts; and many of us contributed after returning home. The crew stayed in motels to be well rested when we got the OK to fly. On the positive side, the teenagers had a good time socializing with the Lewis-

Roughly 24 hours after boarding in Ireland, Marilyn and Geoffrey Posner and their fellow passengers are still on board the jet while subsisting on peanuts in Newfoundland.

porte teens. Jaffe: You’re matter-of-fact about this now. What was your level of tension at the time? Geoffrey: Everything was minute to minute. We were grounded initially overnight on the plane with mostly peanuts. People who had family in Manhattan were crying and praying when we were told that an estimated 30,000 people were killed. Of course, that figure was later revised. Jaffe: How were the communica-

tions and security handled? Were there regular announcements or a daily written communiqué? Marilyn: We were told to stay close to headquarters but were able to walk into the town. There was a huge TV screen with updates. Few people had cellphones; but we were provided with access to free phone lines all day. Some people went into town to the general store or to get their hair done. We had an Irish storyteller on board to entertain us. We were touched by a family who invited us into their home for dinner and sleepover the very last night. At 6 a.m. the following Saturday (Sept. 15), we got the call to board the plane. Geoffrey: Coincidentally, this was our pilot’s last flight after a long career, and his celebration was obviously delayed. Poor guy: When we got clearance to leave Gander, our plane would not start. Since everyone’s nerves were on edge, he warned us that he would jump-start the plane, which resulted in a tremendous jerking motion. There was loud applause upon liftoff. When we landed in Atlanta, Hartsfield Airport was like a ghost town. A huge sign inside read “Welcome Home!”

Jaffe: Were there any special concerns or arrangements for Jewish passengers? Geoffrey: Interestingly, the mayor of Gander is Jewish. The first day, they inquired if there were any special meal requests. Kosher and other dietary accommodations were made. They also got everyone’s medical and drug requests taken care of. Jaffe: Did you see the new Broadway hit “Come From Away”? Marilyn: Yes, this past April. We chatted with other stranded passengers and spent 90 minutes onstage after the play, chatting with the actors about our experiences. Note that the musical creators are a Jewish couple from Toronto, David Hein and Irene Sankoff. Jaffe: What message should we take away from your experience? Marilyn: The world changed after 9/11. There is natural goodness in humanity. In a crisis like this, people came forward. The townspeople wept when we were leaving. They were preparing a fish fry that afternoon. ■

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

By Marcia Caller Jaffe mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com

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Midtown Loft a Picture of Contemporary Comfort When envisioning an art collector, don’t limit your view to an older generation with deep pockets building a museum-worthy collection. Atlanta also has a younger generation of collectors who have relatively limited resources but thoughtfully acquire pieces that reflect their own sensibility and passion. Atlanta native Avery Kastin, a commodities broker, is no stranger to the local cultural scene. An art history graduate of Columbia University, he resides in a stunning, art-filled Midtown loft that faces the city skyline. But the real view is inside. For the past decade, he has pursued his love of art by collecting emerging and classic works from a variety of media. While photographs form the core of his collection, they are augmented by prints, pastels and oils. One of Atlanta’s most eligible bachelors, Kastin has been selected by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Jewish Times as one of the “40 Under 40” for his leadership and numerous philanthropic endeavors. Jaffe: How did you arrive at this space? Kastin: It’s a rare combination of adjoining lofts to make a threebedroom unit. Two lofts may be better than one, but I joke to my friends that I probably live in only 100 square feet. Elton John remarked that he bought his 18,000-square-foot condo not because he wanted so many bedrooms, but because he needed the wall space for his collection. I can relate on a much smaller scale. Ultimately, with floor-to-ceiling windows, it was the sweeping views of our skyline that made this place special for me.

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

Jaffe: Describe your style. How do you want to feel in your home? Kastin: Comfortably contemporary. There is a misperception that contemporary design demands a stark, cold interior. This is where I live, and at the end of the day, I want it to feel like a home, not a museum. Coming home is more enjoyable when you surround yourself with things you love. I want to feel stimulated and creative because that is what makes me happy. I have collected pieces of furniture and works of art 24 over many years, during which my

tastes have changed. While not everything adheres strictly to one aesthetic, they are all things that I connect with because they engage me on an emotional or intellectual level. Jaffe: You paired with your mother, a phenomenal interior designer. Were there any glitches?

Chai-Style Homes By Marcia Caller Jaffe mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com

Kastin: There are two people you want in your family: a doctor and an interior designer. My brother is a talented doctor, and my mother, Ros Kastin, is a truly gifted interior designer. I had an initial fear that my mom would impose her own tastes. We discussed the look that I was searching for, and she did an amazing job of creating a space that not only reflected my tastes, but was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. And all within budget! I only remember one argument. She designed a complex mechanism of sliding panels to provide the upstairs lofted bedrooms with privacy yet allow the option to remain open to the rest of the condo. I could not envision it and was convinced the result would look garish. In the end, it was an ingenious and elegant solution. The moral of the story: Listen to your mother. Jaffe: Your master bedroom is eclectic and evocative. Kastin: The furniture is the simplest part of the equation — only a few pieces that are basic in design, form and color, either all white or mirrored, plus a lot of open space, enabling the art to provide the emotional impact. The contrast of different styles can produce striking effects. The lacquer screen is a superb 19th century coromandel. Originally intended as a room divider, I mounted it flat against the wall to provide a decorative backdrop. The jade-colored Chinese vases and two classical black-and-white photographs of the Far East by Michael Kenna echo the screen’s theme and color palette, making it more unified. The serenity of the Easternoriented pieces and simplicity of the room contrast dramatically with the startling Geagan piece “Elsie From

B Chelsea.” Next to the tranquility of the black-and-white landscape photography and contained by the gray concrete structural column, its swirling vortex of loud colors and even louder subject matter makes for a powerful exclamation point in an otherwise serene setting. Jaffe: You are a collector of Joseph Geagan. Kastin: I had been in a black-andwhite photography phase for a few years, attracted by its simplicity of line and form. Then I walked into a gallery and saw Joseph Geagan’s large pastel works. They were an explosion of color, and the subject matter was very risqué and modern. It felt like rebelling from the classicism of blackand-white photography. I love his use of a very traditional medium (pastel on paper) to depict very contemporary scenes. Jaffe: Describe your foyer photography collection. Kastin: I am drawn to the beauty

and simplicity of black-and-white photographs. Without the distraction of color, it lays bare the image in a way that tells a stronger story. I showcase a few different artists’ approach to black-and-white/monochromatic photography. Kertész’s “Washington Square Park” (1954) and Dezso’s “Forest With Mistletoe” (2014) both capture winter landscapes, using a snowy setting to reduce their images down to contrasting lines and shapes of black and white. The result they achieve is less about the subject matter and more about creating balanced yet dynamic pictorial compositions. Jaffe: Last word. Kastin: What is wonderful is how obtainable it is to collect great works of art. The notion that the art world is open only to the wealthy is a myth. Many artists, both classical and emerging, have thought-provoking and moving pieces that have meaning and are affordable. The art world may seem daunting, but it truly is approachable. ■

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SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

A: In the living room, Avery Kastin’s bamboo-style writing desk sits between furniture reflecting his contemporary style and a custom-made gold Murano glass vase from Venice (bottom right). B: The works on display in the living room include “Blue Ridge Paper Mill” by Jeff Rich, “Raining Popcorn” by Sandy Skoglund, “Fiddling Mykkis” by Joseph Geagan, “Hong Kong — 6,426 per km2” by Greer Muldowney, “Twilight 2” by Alex Katz and “New York Times Square at Night” by Thomas Kellner. Chinese aristocracy used the 18th century bamboo woven textile (left) to protect silk garments. C: Avery Kastin favors black-and-white photos, like these displayed in his foyer, because of their beauty and simplicity. Drew Nikonowicz, who digitally alters landscapes, is one of his favorite photographers. D: French sculptor Philippe Hiquily’s “La Croqueuse de Diamants” sits below the photograph “Hyeres” by Henri Cartier-Bresson. E: A silver textured linen wallpaper, Antwerp by Cuvel, provides the backdrop for André Kertész’s “Washington Square Park” (left) and Henri Cartier-Bresson’s “Behind Gare Lazare” (center) in the dining room, where the mirrored wall reflects the downtown skyline. F: The king and queen armoires in the TV room are never-reproduced MaitlandSmith cabinets created by Italian woodcarvers in the 1970s. G: In the master bedroom, a glowing 19th century coromandel lacquer screen reflects the Far East theme and color palette. The frosted-glass and aluminum doors, insisted on by Avery Kastin’s interior designer mother, Ros Kastin, provide privacy. H: Pink-hued “Yuba Lake #7” is from Matthew Brandt’s “Lakes & Reservoir Series,” in which the artist soaks the work in the lake water it represents to break down the photographic image. I: Hanging above a vintage mirrored dresser are Joyce Tenneson’s “Gardenia in Black & White” and Tamas Dezso’s “Forest With Mistletoe (Near Oradea, Romania),” which depicts a forest in a country undergoing vast deforestation. Avery Kastin’s mother is Romanian, so the Dezso work holds sentimental value. J: “Billie” by Katharina Bosse is a rare color photograph in the Kastin collection.

OBITUARIES

Howard Levenberg 88, Atlanta

Howard Levenberg, beloved husband of Nancy Glube and father of Dana Levenberg (Stephen Hersh), Karen Levenberg (Nathan Potter) and Rachel Glube (David Friedman), passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones at his home in Alpharetta on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017. Born April 21, 1929, to Rose Shapiro Levenberg and Dr. Isador Levenberg, D.D.S., in Linden, N.J., Howard attended NYU for two years, then completed his bachelor’s degree in economics at Washington College. Upon graduation, he enlisted in the Army during the Korean War. He served as a special agent in Army counterintelligence in the United States and in Okinawa. Howard became involved in direct marketing and spent his professional career in list management. He married Lore Baer, with whom he had two children, Dana and Karen. They lived in Teaneck, N.J., where Howard became an integral part of the local Democratic Party. He served as county Democratic committeeman and president of the Teaneck Democratic Committee. He proudly worked on many campaigns to get progressive Democratic values in place locally, in the state and at the federal level. He ran as a delegate for Jimmy Carter. Howard married Nancy Glube in 1988. Nancy’s daughter, Rachel, became another devoted daughter to Howard. Howard was committed to Jewish values, proudly helped his children and grandchildren at their b’nai mitzvah, attended synagogue on the High Holidays and connected with local Jewish community members. Howard is survived by his, wife Nancy; his daughters, Dana, Karen and Rachel; grandchildren Caleb and Eli Hersh, Gideon and Ezra Potter, and Emily and Isabel Friedman; and his sister, Bryna Fireside. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Memorial donations may be made to the Alpharetta Bridge Club, Weinstein Hospice or the National Kidney Foundation. A funeral service was held Friday, Sept. 1, at Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care. Interment was Sunday, Sept. 3, at Bnai Israel Cemetery in Newark, N.J. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

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Martin Berger 83, Atlanta

Martin Allen Berger, 83, of Atlanta passed away Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. He was born May 15, 1934, in New York to Louis and Rose Berger, of blessed memory. Marty was married to Robyn Facher Berger, of blessed memory, for 50 years. He was also predeceased by his in-laws, Bernard and Helene Facher. Marty is survived by his daughters, Lisa Boardman and Lori Bryan, and his son, Eric. He was a supportive father-in-law to Chip Boardman, David Bryan and Melissa Lerman and a loving and proud “Papa” to Ross and Allison Boardman and Benjamin and Ella Berger. He is also survived by his brothers, Herb Berger and Larry (Lila) Berger. Marty was known for his tremendous loyalty to his friends, family and, of course, beloved North Carolina. He loved to laugh and could charm a room with his great sense of humor, large stature, and equally large, gentle and loving smile. Marty took over and ran Fasher Painting and Decorating for 40 years, through which he supported his family in all educational pursuits and many extracurricular activities. He was a devoted North Carolina sports fan and a lover of old movies, music and travel. His generosity with gifts was matched only by the enthusiasm with which he loved to share his interests. He will be greatly missed by his close-knit family and friends, including Megan Edwards and Kim Boxley, his devoted and loving caregivers. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to All About Developmental Disabilities or Jewish Family & Career Services’ Independent Living Program. Graveside services were held Sunday, Sept. 3, at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs with Rabbi Peter Berg officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Arthur Lisker 87, Atlanta

Arthur Lisker, age 87, of Atlanta passed away Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in the company of family and loved ones. He was predeceased by his loving wife of 57 years, Barbara Freiman Lisker, and parents Samuel and Bessie Lisker, of blessed memory. Survivors include his daughter Susan Lisker Brochin of Atlanta; daughter and son-in-law Leslie Lisker Lopp and David Lopp of Atlanta; grandchildren Micah, Cara, Shayna and Lindsey; and other beloved family and friends. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Jewish National Fund, the American Heart Association, Congregation Shaarei Shamayim or the Camp Judaea location of your choice. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. A graveside service was held Tuesday, Sept. 5, at Arlington Memorial Park with Rabbi Mark Kunis officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Herbert Shessel

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

92, Atlanta

Herbert Lawrence Shessel, 92, of Dallas, Texas, died Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in Atlanta. He died peacefully at home after a short illness. He had the blessing of a sharp mind and an acute sense of humor to the very end. He was an Eagle Scout who later attended Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas Medical School. While in college, he met and married Madelyn Greenblatt Shessel, who predeceased him in 2010. He later moved to Atlanta, where he established one of the most successful OB-GYN practices in the city and delivered the first baby at Northside Hospital. He was beloved by patients and colleagues alike. He enjoyed life and in his earlier days was a golfer, scuba diver and world traveler. He suffered an automobile accident in 1985 that left him with a permanent limp and restricted his physical activities. He later turned his attention to bridge and was an accomplished player until the time of his death. He was a lifelong member of The Temple. He was predeceased by a daughter, Jan Shessel, and is survived by two children, Fred Shessel and Gaye van der Eerden, both of Atlanta, and four grandchildren, Drew and Blake Shessel and Katie and Josh van der Eerden. He is also sur-

OBITUARIES vived by his daughter-in-law, Sheila Hutchins Shessel, and his son-in-law, Henri van der Eerden. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Please consider a contribution to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or to The Temple. A funeral service was held Monday, Sept. 4, at The Temple, with private interment at Crest Lawn Memorial Park. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Gerda Smith 91, Atlanta

Gerda Leone Suesskind Smith, age 91, of Atlanta passed away Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, from complications related to Alzheimer’s. She was born May 20, 1926, in Berlin. In 1938, at age 12, Gerda left Nazi Germany in a remarkable escape with her parents to settle in Newark, N.J. She later attended Ohio State University, where she met the love of her life, Morton Smith, whom she married in 1947. After having three children, they made it a priority to host frequent family gatherings, which became highly anticipated and beloved annual events: August in Wellfleet Mass.; May in Stowe, Vt.; and winters in Longboat Key, Fla. Gerda was an accomplished bridge player who accumulated master points, was an active member in a wide variety of civic organizations, including ORT and the National Council of Jewish Women, and was renowned for her cooking and entertaining expertise, including table settings, floral arrangements and culinary works of art. Her flourless chocolate cake decorated with exquisite chocolate ribbons was particularly popular. In response to a demand for her services, Gerda began a successful catering company at age 50 and frequently worked from dawn to late night in the kitchen. Her quick wit, love of beauty and strength of character will be sorely missed. Along with her cherished husband of 70 years, Gerda is survived by her children, Leslie Corris (Edward), Cindy Smith (Lauren Levin) and Neal Smith (Susan Margolin), as well as four grandchildren, Jennifer Corris, Tracy Kruehoeffer (Walter), Jeremy Smith and Gabrielle Smith. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. The family especially thanks Pat and Janelle Thompson, as well as the Safe Haven staff, for their dedicated care. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations may be made to the Mort and Gerda Smith Philanthropic Fund at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. The funeral was a private ceremony for family only with arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

www.atlantajewishtimes.com Tuesday, Sept. 5, at Temple Sinai, followed by a private graveside service, with Rabbi Ronald Segal officiating. Contributions may be made to the Ben Massell Dental Clinic (www.benmasselldentalclinic.org) or Weinstein Hospice (www. weinsteinhospice.com). Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770451-4999.

Solomon Tropper 97, Atlanta

Solomon Tropper died of natural causes Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, at the age of 97. Sol was born in Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 9, 1919, to Markus and Cecelia Tropper and immigrated to the United States through Ellis Island at age 3. He was the youngest of six children and was the last of his generation. Sol attended Brooklyn College, where he spotted his future wife, Pearl Kessler. Pearl and Sol were married May 4, 1942, and later moved to Birmingham, Ala. — in Pearl’s words, the best decision they ever made. Sol and Pearl made lifelong friends in Birmingham through a televised greatbooks discussion program in the 1950s. Sol was also very active in civic theater, where he played roles ranging from Marcus Lycus to Thomas Cromwell. He was always passionate about opera and was listening to “Elektra” in his last moments. Sol was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 69 years, Pearl Tropper, of blessed memory. Sol is survived by his sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren: Richard Tropper; Joshua and Jeanne Tropper and their daughters, Sarah and Rachel; and Peter and Sandra Tropper. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Jewish National Fund to plant trees in Israel. To sign the online guestbook, go to www.edressler. com. A memorial service was held Saturday, Sept. 2, at Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Richard Sugarman Dr. Richard A. Sugarman, 66, died peacefully at home Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017. An Atlanta native, Richard was a kind and loving husband, father, grandfather and friend to many. Often described as “the nicest guy,” he used his kind heart, quick wit and extraordinary memory to bring joy to family, friends and patients. Richard was warm, fun and funny and an avid Atlanta sports fan who also loved hiking and travel. Richard graduated from Northside High School in 1968 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1972. He received his dental degree from the Emory University School of Dentistry and completed his graduate training in periodontics at Boston University in 1978. He then joined his father and brother in the family dental practice. “Dr Richard” served as an instructor in periodontics at the Emory University School of Dentistry from 1978 until it closed in 1982. He served as the president of the Georgia Society of Periodontists and served on the executive council of the Hinman Dental Society. He was an honorable fellow of the Georgia Dental Association and a fellow in the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He was a member of the Georgia Academy of Dental Practice. He donated his services to the Ben Massell Dental Clinic, where he served on the executive committee. His patients appreciated his humorous chair-side manner along with his excellent care. Richard is survived by his wife, Helaine; their children, Sarah Sugarman and Brendan Jordan, Rebecca Sugarman and Greg Brazzle, Marla and Ryan Johnson, and Marty Jacobson; and their five grandchildren, Eden, Marshall, Reid, Ben and Blake. He is also survived by his siblings, Edward and Beth Sugarman and Brenda and David Goldberg, and his many nieces and nephews. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Funeral services were held

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

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Atlanta’s 16-and-under girls soccer team won the silver medal.

Atlanta’s 14-and-under boys soccer team took the silver medal.

Team Atlanta sent 108 athletes to the JCC Maccabi Games in Birmingham, as well as 11 athletes to Miami.

Atlanta Wins 67 Medals in JCC Maccabi Games The Marcus Jewish Community Center’s Team Atlanta won 34 gold medals, 22 silvers and 11 bronzes at the JCC Maccabi Games in Birmingham and Miami. Team Atlanta sent 108 athletes to Birmingham from July 30 to Aug. 4 and 11 competitors to Miami from Aug. 6 to 11, accompanied by a total of 28 coaches and chaperones. Two athletes and one chaperone joined Team Atlanta from YokneamMegiddo, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s sister city in Israel. “With Birmingham being so close, we had an incredible opportunity to involve more of our Atlanta community than ever before,” said Libby Hertz,

who led the Team Atlanta delegation. “Team Atlanta’s athletes, coaches, chaperones, parents, staff and volunteers, as well as our wonderful host families, came together to encourage, laugh, hug and cheer, and experience a level of compassion and sportsmanship that defines the essence of our Jewish community.” The Marcus JCC is one of the hosts of the 2019 JCC Maccabi Games. The JCC Maccabi Games are for Jewish athletes ages 13 to 16 across North America. Atlanta teens competed this year in basketball, soccer, tennis, volleyball, baseball, swimming, flag football, golf and dance. Most of Atlanta’s medals came in

the swimming pool, where the team won 13 golds, three silvers and two bronzes in the 15-16 age group and 15 golds, 13 silvers and three bronzes in the 13-14 group. In team sports, Atlanta won silver in 16-and-under girls soccer and 14-and-under boys soccer and bronze in 16-and-under girls basketball and 14-and-under boys baseball. In golf, Lauren S. won gold, and Matthew R. took silver. On the tennis courts, Marissa G. in the 14-and-under girls recreational division and Eli H. in the 14-and-under boys competitive division won gold. Evan E. in the 14-and-under boys recreational division and Emma T. in the 14-and-

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under girls competitive division won silver. Bronze medals went to Paulina L. in the 14-and-under girls recreational division, Bradley F. in the 14-and-under boys recreational division and Sydney S. for 16-and-under girls. Atlanta also had success in the dance competition. Emma E., Olivia L., Sydney F., Annie Rose W., Lily S. and Emma N. won gold in the jazz small group dance. In lyrical dance, Emma E. and Annie Rose W. won gold in the duet, while Sydney F. and Lily S. took the silver. Lily S. earned the bronze for her solo dance. The gold for the highest overall score in the lyrical division went to Emma N. ■

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SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

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‘Young Jane’ Displays Writer’s Mature Artistry By Leah R. Harrison lharrison@atljewishtimes.com

SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

While a student at the University of Miami in 2001, Aviva Grossman becomes a congressional intern and has an affair with her ex-neighbor, married-congressman boss, Aaron Levin. Under a harsh spotlight when the affair is revealed, Aviva sees no choice but escape. She changes her name, runs away and reinvents herself in a small town in Maine. The furor of the Lewinsky-esque scandal abates only on Sept. 11 when national attention is drawn elsewhere. In “Young Jane Young,” New York Times best-selling author Gabrielle Zevin artfully and intentionally weaves the story of Aviva through the eyes of five key personalities, each given a voice in one of the five sections of the book. The reader has the option of sitting back as events unwind or of noting the clever intent and stylistic choices Zevin uses to relay the train wreck of events while injecting insightful social commentary. The first section of “Young Jane Young” is told by Aviva’s mother, Rachel Grossman. It reveals the havoc one person’s choices can wreak on those around her. Formerly principal of Boca Raton Jewish Academy, Rachel hopscotches through different stages in her life, relaying events and revealing their consequences. The subsequent sections are told in the voice of Jane (Aviva in her new life) a dozen or so years later; Jane’s daughter, Ruby, through emails to her pen pal; the congressman’s wife, Embeth; and finally Aviva herself as she comes to terms with her choices and makes decisions about her life going forward.

Included throughout are Zevin’s first time you’ve done that? Zevin: I’ve definitely always played astute observations about character and life, with pearls and truisms such with form throughout my novels, but as: this is the only one that’s precisely • She is young, and she does not like this. I do think, when I’m writing know what she does not know. a book, that the formal choices I make • You’re younger now than you’ll are some of the most important choices ever be. I make. I think the way you tell a story • People make their own choices. is as important as the story itself in • When many ways, so you think of that was ceryour mother tainly true with the word that “Young Jane occurs to you Young.” is too. She hugs you too hard, AJT: In adkisses you too dition to a title, long, asks you for each sectoo many question you protions, worries vide the name too much. … of the narrator She loves you or the point with an almost of view from religious ferwhich it is told. vor. She loves You lead with you too much. Aviva’s mother, Z e v i n , Rachel. Does whose novel this point of “The Storied view create emLife of A.J. Fipathy during kry” spent a scandalous more than four situation? months on Zevin: I the New York think someYoung Jane Young Times best-selltimes it would By Gabrielle Zevin er list, is combe any kind Algonquin Books, 296 pages, $26.95 ing to Atlanta of scandal … to promote her we don’t reninth novel. She will discuss “Young ally think about their mothers or their Jane Young” at the Margaret Mitchell fathers or their daughters because House on Thursday, Sept. 14. thinking about those people makes us She spoke to the AJT about the uncomfortable. And so that’s why I led book Aug. 25. with Rachel’s section. I wanted you to have to really think about what it is to AJT: Your use of five sections, each be the mother of somebody in a scanrelaying events through a different dal, and the scandal affects Rachel revoice, is unique and effective. Is this the ally deeply. She loses her daughter and for a long time her relationship with her granddaughter. Her marriage ends, and she loses her job. So all these things that are important in her life she loses because of the scandal, so I thought maybe, if you introduce somebody to somebody’s parents, it can make you think differently about the person themselves. And I think we are very quick to shame women in public life — certainly Monica Lewinsky, but there are many other examples of that too. I also thought of Rachel’s section as being so much about mother’s love. There’s no question she loves Aviva, and yet her love cannot protect Aviva at all. Not only can it not protect her; it actually makes things worse in many

ways. So it is the sort of flip side of mother’s love, I guess, in that we can’t save even the things we love the most. And we can’t always help them, either. AJT: It is interesting that one section is in the voice of Aviva, while in another it is Jane. Is this because it is at a different time of her life? Zevin: Yes, but in a way Jane doesn’t exist. … Jane Young is the creation of Aviva Grossman, so on some level Jane isn’t even a person, and even in the section that we see with her, I think there is a sort of sadness to her, a sort of emptiness. Other than her daughter, there really aren’t that many people in her life at that point, her mother included. So I think something that does happen at the end of the story is that she has to become Aviva Grossman again. AJT: Toward the end of the book the central character chooses to run for office. Why did you decide not to tell the outcome of the election? Zevin: For me, the book isn’t about whether she wins or loses; it’s about her decision to run, to put herself out there. In a way, the vote she makes is a vote for herself. … I think that maybe fear of losing is part of the reason women have a barrier to entering politics at all. So, to me, the point was that she does run at all, and she chooses not to be shamed. AJT: You used the word “choice.” Is choice a central theme? Zevin: Yes, choice. I think choice is really key in thinking about women’s lives, thinking about what feminism is, thinking not just about women’s issues, but our ability to act and vote and change government in some way. AJT: You also bring up subjects like the role of gender in politics and the emphasis on appearances in our society. Do we have any of the answers? Zevin: We don’t have the answers yet. If it’s difficult to dress to be an intern, imagine how difficult it is for a woman to dress to try to run for president. ■ Who: Gabrielle Zevin What: Talk about “Young Jane Young” Where: Margaret Mitchell House, 979 Crescent Ave., Midtown When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 Tickets: $10; www. atlantahistorycenter.com or 404-8144000

Incidental, Intentional Charity Navigators A long time ago I read the book “Number Our Days” by the late anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff. Her book tells the story of a group of elderly Jewish women and men living on the edge of poverty in Venice, Calif., in the 1970s. They meet regularly at a community center, where their indomitable spirits persevere as they laugh and cry with one another and react to the world around them. This book, which I read more than 40 years ago, made such an impression on me that I find myself reaching into its lessons over and over again. Here’s one: At least once a week, I pass a certain homeless man at an intersection near our home. There he paces with his handmade sign and bags of possessions, soliciting from people whose cars have stopped at the traffic light. I try to remember the suggestion from my friend Gilbert to bring fruit with me in order to feed hungry people on the street, and it’s possible that after a long time of interaction, this fellow may recognize me (or my crazy car) and knows he’ll get an apple or banana from me. He spoke to me only once. “I like fruit!” he said. I took that as my marching orders. Last week, I was the first car at the red light. When he (let’s call him Man One) came to my car, I handed him an apple. He thanked me and put it in the large shopping bag he was holding. Just then, another homeless man (Man Two) started to cross the street in front of us. Unlike the apparently younger Man One to whom I had given the apple, this new arrival looked ancient and moved unsteadily, coughing, disheveled and leaning heavily on a makeshift cane, trying to hold on to several plastic bags at the same time. He was slow but determined to get across the street before the light changed. Even though drivers on all four corners noticed Man Two struggling to get across the wide street, he was oblivious to everything around him. It took all he could muster to keep moving.

I saw that Man One spotted him, too. Was Man One going to overtake Man Two and help himself to whatever was in that man’s bags? Was Man One going to make sure that Man Two didn’t stay to claim the

CROSSWORD

By Chana Shapiro cshapiro@atljewishtimes.com

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corner, ensuring that he, the more pitiful one, would be chosen to receive money or food? It would have been so easy to take advantage of the other’s weakness. No! In a flash, Man One reached into his shopping bag, grabbed the apple, leapt over the curb and stopped Man Two just as he made it to the other side. The light changed, and the honking car behind me let me know that I had to drive on. As I made the turn, in my rearview mirror I saw Man One hand the apple to Man Two. A few days later, I saw Man One at the intersection as usual. I was several cars back, but he got to me just in time to receive two apples. He thanked me, but we didn’t speak. I don’t know whether he remembered helping someone needier, but he was now equipped if he happened upon another person who was hungry. In Barbara Myerhoff’s book, she shows the chesed, caring kindness, of elderly people who share a common culture. Myerhoff describes the collection of tzedakah at the community center each week. Even the poorest Jews give something, sometimes pennies. For these men and women, it is natural to help others, to feel responsible for people who are even needier than themselves. In their world of connection to all Jews, it would be inconceivable to do otherwise. My grandfather used to say, “Leap to do a mitzvah!” I wish he had seen that man on the corner jumping over the curb to give away his apple. ■

“Baby Talk”

By Yoni Glatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com Difficulty Level: Manageable

Chana’s Corner

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

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ACROSS 1. Edelstein or Kudrow 5. Good Leumi bond rating 8. Palestinian leader some believe died of AIDS 14. Parsha next to BeHar 15. ___ Ezra 16. Challah makers 17. She plays Wonder Woman 19. African country about 2,300 miles south of Israel 20. “Blessing in disguise,” e.g. 21. Costa follower 23. Canadian kosher letters 24. 2012 Wahlberg-Kunis comedy 25. Shadchans 29. Nadav to Elisheva 30. ___ I (ditto) 31. Criticism 34. Midler replaced her as a Caesars headliner 37. Pitcher, on Matthew Weiner’s former hit AMC show 41. Classic biblical foes 44. Former talk-show host who doesn’t exactly get along with The Donald 45. (Good) act 46. Jump for Sarah Hughes 47. Eliyahu or Elisha, e.g. 49. “A rat!” 51. Products from Sergey Brin’s company 56. Where to find Kings in America; abbr. 59. “___ My Sons” (Arthur Miller) 60. Bartenura blocker? 61. Possible cholent bean 63. No-goodnik 66. Mishkababble, or what can be found in the circled squares 68. Extremely 69. Facebook’s was $38.23 70. Buffalo’s lake

71. One spending next year in Israel, perhaps 72. Cheap menorah material 73. Often injured team that has kosher stands

39. Broke a fast 40. Sports league of 33Down 42. New Jersey borough with a large Syrian population 43. Israeli actor Fehr known for “The Mummy” movies 48. “What’s our ____, Victor?” (“Airplane” line) 50. Modern-day award Koufax would probably win 51. Shabbat afternoon activities for many kids 52. One of Israel’s seven species 53. Comic photojournalist Jimmy created by Siegel and Shuster in 1938 54. Comet’s path 55. Striped (rare) kosher animal 56. Item for 38-Down 57. Town south of Haifa 58. Sodas with altered ingredients for Passover 62. Couple 64. When Jews light candles; abbr. 65. Metric or bar prefix 67. “___ appétit” (words that might follow a “l’chaim”)

DOWN 1. Kosher 2. Manilow’s “___ It Through the Rain” 3. Well-built (like the Kotel) 4. Best picture winner set in Iran 5. Hatzalah offering 6. Cancel (an IDF mission) 7. Shtick 8. A-list director J.J. 9. Like sushi 10. Mel Brooks __ Melvin Kaminsky 11. Make like Inigo Montoya 12. Passion 13. Russian rulers who weren’t always good to the Jews 18. Uzi rounds 22. Shekels and agorot, e.g. 26. Nimoy’s “Three Men ___ Baby” 27. Dar on “Homeland” 28. Alaskan grizzly 29. What some do for Yeshiva week vacation 31. WWII pres. 32. Language in the Southeast D A F J country with O D A O the least antiJ O Y B E Semitism O M E R A N 33. Colby D A V I Cohen’s S E L E S Colorado team, H A A R for short A T M S 35. Part of a W H O O P rainbow R I 36. Work by S T E I N Judah Halevi P O M O N 38. Drummer A R M L E Weinberg M E Y E R 1

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SEPTEMBER 8 ▪ 2017

CLOSING THOUGHTS

SEPTEMBER 8 â&#x2013;ª 2017