Atlanta Jewish Times, Vol. XCI No. 35, September 9, 2016

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INSIDE Calendar �����������������������������������4 Candle Lighting ����������������������4 Israel News ������������������������������6 Opinion ���������������������������������� 10 Synagogue Guide ����������������� 20 Education �������������������������������26 Business ���������������������������������30 Home ��������������������������������������32 Obituaries ������������������������������34 Sports ��������������������������������������36 Crossword ������������������������������37 Simchas ����������������������������������39

STEEL CITY STYLE Pittsburgh has given us the Steelers, the Pirates — and the leaders of four of Jewish Atlanta’s vital agencies. Page 14

SHUL SHOPPING Start looking for a new Jewish home or a place for the holidays in our directory. Page 20

PAIN RELIEF The second part of our special report on opioid addiction and overdose looks at how health care is adjusting. Pages 23-25

9/11 MEMORIES Davis Academy students hear how the attacks 15 years ago shattered one family. Page 28

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 | 6 ELUL 5776

So Many Mouthfuls Photo by Josh Jacobs

Participants including Barry Sobel (left) and Richard Quintana (center) struggle to consume more than two bagels within five minutes during the first bagel-eating contest at Temple Kol Emeth’s NoshFest on Sunday, Sept. 4. The winner, Teddy Delacruz of Chicago, consumed six Bagelicious bagels to earn $500 and break the record of five bagels set in a New York contest in February. More from NoshFest, Page 16

A delegation from the Western Galilee Cluster is visiting Sandy Springs 11 months after Mayor Rusty Paul, City Council member Andy Bauman and others traveled to Israel to secure a Sister City relationship with the 12 municipalities and local authorities in the cluster.

Mayors Shlomo Bohbot of Maalot Tashiha, Sivan Yechilei of Kfar Vradim, Shimon Gueta of Maale Yosef and Yoram Israeli of Mateh Asher, along with Mateh Asher Deputy Mayor Moshe Davidovich, cluster official Yael Ron and Treasures of the Galilee CEO Yariv Hameiri, are due to arrive Sunday, Sept. 11, and leave Sept. 18.

The visit will include the Pill Hill hospitals and Habif, Arogeti & Wynne on Sept. 13 and the Weber School the next day. The Israelis will attend a reception at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at Or Hadash and go to Friday night services at B’nai Torah. ■

B’nai Torah Softball Streak Snapped Congregation Beth Tefillah ended Congregation B’nai Torah’s nine-year reign in Atlanta synagogue softball with a 9-8, eight-inning win in the A-league championship game Monday, Sept. 5.

It was the first league championship for Beth Tefillah, which entered the double-elimination tournament as the top seed.

Beth Tefillah jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings in the battle of Sandy Springs synagogues at East Roswell Park, but the nine-time defending champs tied the game in the sixth behind a three-run homer by Matt Isenberg. Michael Roth answered in the bottom of the sixth with a home run of his own to give Beth Tefillah an 8-7 lead going into the seventh and last inning.

Down to the final out, B’nai Torah tied the game at 8-8 to force extra innings. But in the bottom of the eighth captain Danny Frankel drove in the winning run with a single and sent the large community of Beth Tefillah supporters

A-league champion Beth Tefillah consists of (back row, from left) Yisrael New, Yale New, Isser New, Danny Frankel, Darren Tobin, Josh Solomon, Michael Roth, Ilan Tobin, Lawrence Tobin and (front row, from left) David Frankel, Jacob Gluck, Danuel Strauss and Zev Frankel. Not pictured are Noah Frankel and manager Harold Goodman.

into a frenzy.

“I knew our streak of nine straight championships couldn’t go on forever,” B’nai Torah captain Neil Weisenfeld said.

“Danny’s young guys played better than our older veterans. We came out flat, and their guys hit well.”

“It was a great game, and B’nai Torah

was a great champion,” Frankel said.

In the C division, Temple Sinai 2 won its first appearance in a championship game, beating Temple Kol Emeth, 8-5. As recently as four seasons ago the squad won only two games.

“For years we have always said it is not about winning,” said Sinai 2 captain Jason Evans, the commissioner of the Atlanta Men’s Synagogue Softball League.

“It’s about making friends and having a great time. But, that said, winning sure was a lot of fun this year.”

Evans was 3 for 3 with 2 RBI. The key play was a highlight-reel catch in deep left field by Rob Scheinman, who turned a double play when the runner on third left early.

It was the third time in four years that Kol Emeth lost the championship game. Captain Rob Natkin called the team “the Buffalo Bills of synagogue softball.”

Chabad won the B league title over Young Israel of Toco Hills on Aug. 28. ■

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SEPTEMBER 9 â–ª 2016

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Thinking to Connect regardless of how far we may feel we are from the Almighty, we should never give up hope. As soon as we feel we can improve in a certain area, we will immediately find the strength to make improvements, the book says.

And if we don’t know how, find people who can help.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, I remember reading, says we must actively

Hand of Hashem

By Mindy Rubenstein editor@nishei.org

fight the yetzer hara (evil inclination).

I Google it and find that the root of yetzer means “to create” and that there’s also a yetzer tov. Each is referred to as an angel, one for good and one for evil.

When a person decides to strengthen her good inclination over her bad inclination, the bad inclination, even against its will, says, “Amen.”

G-d watches in delight, according to Jewish mysticism, as negative thoughts penetrate our consciousness but we reject them. Not inviting the thought in and not judging ourselves for it, but just dropping it and thinking about something else.

With some awareness, we can view the thought as an opportunity to change the momentum. To choose good.

My 4-year-old joins me at the table where I write, playing with a stuffed dog. Then he abandons it, climbing into my lap, giving me a kiss and resting his head on my shoulder.

I stop writing and hug him back as the deep thoughts of Kabbalah and Torah suddenly seem so far away.

A moment later one of my children snaps disrespectfully at me.

Anger swells within me, and suddenly I’m aware of the negative thought beginning to consume me.

“Push it away,” I tell myself. And it’s gone.

I respond to her, recognizing that she’s hungry and needs to have lunch, and I resist saying something I would regret.

I realize that through the simple act of reining in my thoughts, I have connected, or reconnected, and life somehow seems a little lighter.

I have come closer, at least for now. ■

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Lately I’ve found myself disconnected, with my daily responsibilities of children and home and part-time work consuming my time. This column, which is supposed to focus on my relationship with G-d and how that affects me as a mother, would be dishonest if I were to write that it’s truly been part of my daily life and interactions the past month.

So I sit in front of the computer, resting my forehead in my warm hand, closing my eyes. “Where are You?” I wonder. Then I let the words and thoughts in my head dissipate, barely hearing the rattle of the air conditioner in our restored 1940s home or the sweet chatter of my children playing in the next room.

As I silence my mind, even just briefly, I feel tears start to well in my eyes and my chest tighten. Why is it that when I most need to connect — to G-d, to life, to light and to that beautiful goodness that exists — I find it the most difficult?

I look to the bookshelf, and there it sits: Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s “Growth Through Torah,” which I received years ago as a gift from Lakewoodbased Oorah. The hard-bound red book with gold letters on its cover contains insights and lessons into each parsha, or weekly portion of the Torah.

Each Hebrew excerpt sits between its translation and an explanation that relates to real life.

I read through this book with a chavrusah (learning partner) for several years, and though we often missed weeks, I’m guessing I have gone through the entire book at least once or twice.

I speak into my cell phone: “What’s the parsha?” and a long list of sources comes up. OK, the parsha is Re’eh.

I find that section in the red book, skimming through the subsections to find something that speaks to me. And there it is. As if the black words on the white page were waiting for me to find them: “No matter how far away you are from the Almighty, you can always come close when you make an effort.”

I read further, with tingles on my neck in disbelief. The Torah uses the word acharai, which denotes “far distance,” but the verse is telling us to follow G-d, so why not use a term denoting closeness?

This teaches us, says the sage known as the Chofetz Chaim, that

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Shoftim Friday, Sept. 9, light candles at 7:33 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 10, Shabbat ends at 8:27 p.m.

Ki Tetze Friday, Sept. 16, light candles at 7:24 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 17, Shabbat ends at 8:17 p.m.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 9

Carlebach service. Chabad of Cobb, 4450 Lower Roswell Road, East Cobb, includes sushi and sake with its monthly Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat service at 6:30 p.m. Free; 678-773-4173 (Yaacov Gothard) or 770-565-4412 (Chabad).

SATURDAY, SEPT. 10

Pot-luck schmoozing. The Temple Tribe of the Southside gathers for lunch and community building with Rabbi David Spinrad from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Thomas home, 131 Santolina Park, Peachtree City. Bring a dish to share and a dessert and, if you’d like, beer or wine. Free; RSVP to jdonthomas@ comcast­.net or 770-731-0219.

a gunman. Free; info@anshisfard.org.

Young adult party. YJP Atlanta’s White Party is at 9:30 p.m. on the Ponce City Market Rooftop, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave., Midtown. Tickets are $20 for nondrinkers and $25 for drinkers in advance, $35 at the door; 404-898-0434 or yjpatlantawhiteparty.eventbrite.com.

Interfaith discussion. Rabbi Malka Packer of InterfaithFamily/Atlanta talks about interfaith trends at 10 a.m. at Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, as part of the Sunday Morning Learning program. Free; 404252-3073 or templesinaiatlanta­.org.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 11

Intown listening.

Congregation Shearith Israel, 1180 University Drive, Morningside, holds a community Listening Lab from 10 a.m. to noon to hear what people want in a synagogue. Free; shearithisrael.com/listening-labs.

Genealogy meeting. A video with Yad Vashem officials Cynthia Wroclawski and Zvi Bernhardt on “Using the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names: Beginning and Advanced Techniques With Case Studies” is featured at the fall meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Georgia at 2 p.m. at the Breman, 1440 Spring St., Midtown. Admission is included with museum admission; www.jewishgen.org/jgsg.

Camp fun. PJ Library and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta hold a family fun day and a camp expo from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Brook Run Park, 4770 N. Peachtree Road, Dunwoody.

Open house. The Kehilla in Sandy Springs, 5075 Roswell Road, holds an open house for prospective members from 2 to 4 p.m. Free; www.thekehilla. org or 404-913-6131.

TOVA NORMAN MINDY RUBENSTEIN

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES

Jewish-Catholic program. American Jewish Committee and the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta hold a program on tolerance at 7 p.m., with a reception at 6, at The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St., Midtown. Free; www.ajcatlanta.org.

Mitzvah Day. Jewish Family & Career Services’ VIA (Volunteers in Action) hosts the largest community service day in Atlanta for young Jewish professionals. The 12 projects include familyfriendly opportunities with varying start times. Register by Thursday, Sept.

8, at www.MitzvahDayAtl.org.

Active shooter training. Congregation Anshi S’fard, 1324 N. Highland Ave., Virginia-Highland, hosts DeKalb police Officer Judd Dulick for a class at 10 a.m. on how to respond to the threat of

Admission of $18 per family includes pizza; bit.ly/2bhGOwA. Details from Nathan Brodsky, 404-870-1870 or pjlibraryatlanta­@jewishatlanta.org.

Send items for the calendar to submissions@atljewishtimes.com.

Find more events at atlantajewishtimes.com/events-calendar.

Remember When

10 years ago Sept. 8, 2006 ■ The Marcus Jewish Community Center has changed its constitution and created a 10-person governance board to see the center through the financial troubles that led to its withdrawal as a host for the 2007 Maccabi Games. Harry Maziar and Jack Halpern are the co-chairmen of the board.

■ Marshall and Michelle Benveniste of Alpharetta announce the birth of daughter Rayna Nicole on April 23, 2006.

25 Years Ago Sept. 13, 1991 ■ Rabbi Mark Kunis of Congregation Shearith Israel at the end of August was elected the national president of the Federation of Traditional Orthodox Rabbis, a group that

grew out of a 1987 conference to address the influence of Orthodoxy’s right wing on the movement. Rabbi Juda Mintz of Congregation B’nai Torah was elected vice president.

■ The bar mitzvah celebration of David Evans of Lawrenceville, the son of Rosalind and Bruce Evans, will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at Temple Beth David.

50 Years Ago Sept. 9, 1966 ■ Georgia voters on Wednesday, Sept. 14, the day before Rosh Hashanah begins, will troop to the polls to choose among six Democrats vying to run in November against the Republican nominee, Congressman Bo Callaway, to succeed Carl Sanders as governor: Ellis Arnall, Garland Byrd, Jimmy Carter, James Gray, Lester Maddox and Hoke O’Kelley.

■ Alicia Sue Dwoskin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Dwoskin of Atlanta, became the bride of Terry Jay Feldman, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Feldman of Atlanta, Aug. 21 at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue.

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CALENDAR

Sephardic sound. Israel’s Baladino performs at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for JCC members, $22 for others; www.atlantajcc.org or 678-812-4002.

Sexual misconduct discussion. Student safety advocate Katie Koestner speaks about “Silence Changes Nothing: Healthy Relationships and Understanding Harassment, Consent and Sexual Misconduct” at 7 p.m. at the Weber School, 6751 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. Free; weberschool.org/katie.

MONDAY, SEPT. 12

Senior Day. The Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, with Jewish Family & Career Services and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, offers seniors their choice of three activities plus lunch between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Admission is $5; atlantajcc. org/seniorday or 678-812-3861.

FIDF program. Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and Congregation B’nai Torah, 700 Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs, present IDF Lt. Sivan Sisay discussing “Atlanta & the IDF: How Our Community Embraces Our Soldiers” at 7 p.m. Free but RSVP required in advance; www.fidf.org/CBTATL.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 13

End-of-life discussion. Weinstein Hospice and Jewish Home Life Communi-

ties hold a screening of the documentary “Being Mortal” at 6 p.m., followed by a panel discussion on end-of-life decisions featuring physicians Alex Rikhter, Sharon Neulinger and Daniel Dubovsky and registered nurse Jenny Buckley, at the William Breman Jewish Home, 3150 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta.

Free; bit.ly/2a6QQeA or 404-352-4308.

Election event. Emory political scientist Alan Abramowitz speaks about the election at 7 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El, 1580 Spalding Drive, Sandy Springs.

Free but preregistration required; 770395-1340 or templeemanuelatlanta.org.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 14

Jewish Breakfast Club. Georgia Aquarium CEO Mike Leven speaks at Greenberg Traurig, 3333 Piedmont Road, Suite 2500, Buckhead, with networking at 7:30 a.m. and the program at 8.

Tickets are $15; atlantajewishtimes. com/jewish­-breakfast-club.

Networking event. The Atlanta Scholars Kollel holds its annual event with speaker Rabbi Antony Gordon on the theme “Failure Is the Beginning on the Road to Success” at 5:30 p.m. at Congregation Or VeShalom, 1681 N. Druid Hills Road, Brookhaven. Tickets are $30 in advance or $36 at the door; ask@ atlantakollel­.org or atlantakollel.org.

Room, 1390 Oxford Road, Atlanta. Free; www.js.emory.edu.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 15

SPLC speaker. Lecia Brooks of the Southern Poverty Law Center talks at 10:30 a.m. about fighting hate, teaching tolerance and seeking justice to Edgewise at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Free for JCC members, $5 for others; matureadults@atlantajcc.org or 678-812-3861.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 16

Bluegrass Shabbat. Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave., Buckhead, offers games, kosher barbecue, Mason jar cocktails and music with the Cohen Brothers Band at 6 p.m. before a service with Sammy Rosenbaum. RSVP by Sept. 14. Tickets are $15 for ages 33 and up, $10 for 21 to 32, free for college students and ages 5 and under, and $12.50 for other kids; gadler@ aasynagogue.org or aasynagogue.org.

Kranz celebration. Temple Sinai, 5645

Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, honors Rabbi Philip Kranz for 36 years with the congregation at services at 6:30 p.m. after a 5:30 reception. The celebration continues Saturday with breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and Torah study led by Rabbi Kranz at 9. Free; RSVP at templesinai. wufoo.com/forms/z1kulj6z1mqlwqk.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 18

Liberator speech. The brunch meeting of Jewish War Veterans Post 112 at 10 a.m. at Berman Commons, 2026 Womack Road, Dunwoody, features speaker Dr. Morton Waitzman, who landed on D-Day with the 115th Infantry Regiment and went on to help liberate the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp.

Free to all; large groups should RSVP to robertjmax@gmail.com.

Righteous Filipinos. Congregation Or Hadash, 7460 Trowbridge Road, Sandy Springs, hosts a screening and discussion of “An Open Door,” about the rescue of Jews in the Philippines, at 10:30 a.m. Free; dlee@or-hadash.org.

Immigration discussion. Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies presents American University’s Alan Kraut and Kingsborough College’s Libby Garland discussing “Closing the Gates, Building a Wall: What the History of Immigration Restriction Against Jews Can Teach Us About American Nativism” at 7:30 p.m. in the Oxford Presentation

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Geriatrics talk. Northside Healthcare System neurologist Gavin Brown discusses “What’s New in Growing Old?” at 2 p.m. at the William Breman Jewish Home’s Srochi Hall, 3150 Howell Mill Road, Northwest Atlanta. Free; www.

JewishHomeLife.org or 404-351-8410.

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ISRAEL NEWS

Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home Treatment for fatty liver disease. Hadasit, the Hadassah Medical Organization’s technology transfer company, and Jerusalem-based BioLineRx are developing a treatment, BL-1210, for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or fatty liver disease. The treatment modulates the immune system to reduce the scarring that leads to cirrhosis. No treatments have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Physiotherapy using virtual reality.

Tiberias startup VRPhysio matches virtual reality and physiotherapy to help patients exercise and speed up recovery. The system includes a headset, a mobile app, weights and body sensors to monitor body movement, and a set of virtual reality games that aim to make exercising more fun.

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Diagnosing sleep apnea in pregnancy.

A quarter of pregnant women may suffer from obstructive sleep apnea but get no treatment. Researchers from Israel and the United States recommend a new diagnosis, gestational sleep apnea, to properly describe, diagnose and treat OSA in pregnant women.

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Nursing scholarships for Ethiopians.

Eighteen Ethiopian young men and women have received Lapan scholarships to fulfill their dream of becoming nurses. The Hadassah program helps new immigrants, provides jobs and strengthens health care in Jerusalem.

Palestinians prefer Israeli employers. A Palestinian Media Watch report reveals that Palestinians would rather work for Israelis than the Palestinian Authority. Israelis pay twice the wages.

Israeli law protects employees (no exploitation or middlemen). And Israeli working conditions are much better.

The vibrant flavors of Israeli food.

London’s Telegraph newspaper featured the new East London restaurant Struck & Cluck, owned by Israeli Amir Chen. It also mentioned Barbary in Covent Garden, Honey & Co. in Warren Street and Shwarma Bar in Exmouth Market — all run by Israelis.

The No. 6 international airport hub.

Ben Gurion International Airport is one of the most secure airports in the world. Now a recent poll of

Travel+Leisure readers has ranked it as the world’s sixth best global air hub.

Gaming math. Israeli startup Matific develops educational math and science games for children from kindergarten through elementary school. It enables students in 20 countries to access superior math tools in 20 languages at an affordable cost. Matific has just raised $45 million to expand distribution and research and development.

The Australians are landing. A delegation of 10 Australian cybersecurity and financial technology startups will take part in an accelerator program in Tel Aviv in September to boost Sydney’s position as an innovation hub. It is part of the Australian government’s Landing Pads initiative to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in Australia.

High-tech mutual funds for Israelis.

The Israeli government is promoting mutual funds for investing in public and private high-tech companies. In this way, the Israeli public can participate in Israel’s high-tech sector, an area dominated by overseas shareholders.

Norman’s Wolf Prize. American-born opera singer Jessye Norman, 70, has received Israel’s Wolf Prize for Music.

Poor health prevented her from collecting it last year, and she almost missed out again this year, arriving in a wheelchair after fracturing her ankle.

Home for all Jews — plus. Arifa and Assad Farajov recently immigrated to Israel from Azerbaijan. Arifa, the wife, is Jewish and a lecturer in Russian literature. Assad, her husband, is Muslim, a former military judge who said, “I’ve fallen in love with Israel.” Arifa’s grandmother was a rabbi’s daughter who also married a Muslim.

Nine new rabbinic judges. For the first time in nine years, nine new dayanim (rabbinic judges) were appointed to the Supreme Rabbinical Court, Israel’s highest. They include rabbis who have served in the Israel Defense Forces. The appointment committee included its first female member, Rachel Levmore.

Compiled courtesy of verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com, Israel21c.org and other news sources.

St. Joseph’s Seeks Links With Galilee Hospital Paul Scheinberg, the chief medical officer at Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital, visited the Western Galilee’s main hospital during a Jewish National Fund medical mission in the winter.

“They were anticipating my visit” at Western Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, Scheinberg said in an interview in his Sandy Springs office after the trip, because of the Sister City agreement between Sandy Springs and the Western Galilee Cluster.

The hospital, the largest in the Galilee and only six miles from Lebanon, had 115,000 emergency room visits and 5,500 births in 2012 under the leadership of a Christian Arab physician, Masad Barhoum. It also has become a destination for Syrians sneaking into Israel with wounds from the civil war.

“They are taking care of a lot of people at extensive cost,” Scheinberg said.

“It was just a very impressive facility.”

The visit to Nahariya was part of a trip of about 20 American medical professionals — two nurses and the rest doctors — Scheinberg said. The group

included Atlanta nephrologist Sorin Vainer, who was trained in Israel.

Over five days, the mission visited JNF projects in the north and south of Israel with a particular focus on medical technology, which hits home with Scheinberg, who has been visiting Israel every couple of years since 1967.

“I was very impressed with the level of medical care” in Israel, he said.

“In some ways, it’s more advanced than here because they’re not encumbered by the same regulatory burdens.”

A Western Galilee delegation’s visit to Sandy Springs from Sept. 11 to 18 includes a tour of the Emory St. Joseph’s cancer center and a lunch with administrators from St. Joseph’s, Northside and Children’s Healthcare as the Israeli and Sandy Springs hospitals look for ways to work together despite their different strengths.

For example, Scheinberg said, St. Joseph’s is a leader in robotic cardiac surgery, but the Nahariya hospital does no cardiac surgery. “We’re looking for things linking the two communities.” ■

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ISRAEL NEWS

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ISRAEL NEWS

Regev Pushes Mizrahi Recognition

By Eli Sperling In the 1950s and ’60s, roughly 1 million Mizrahim (Eastern Jews) emigrated to Israel. Not only dramatically increasing the young country’s population, they also brought a Middle Eastern cultural paradigm that stood in stark contrast to Israel’s largely Ashkenazi political and cultural origins.

It was not until Menachem Begin took office as Israel’s first Likud prime minister in 1977, in part because of a calculated outreach to the disenfranchised Mizrahi community, that Mizrahi culture and political aspirations began to infiltrate Israel’s mainstream.

Before the late 1970s, most Mizrahi music was available in Israel only in the form of bootlegged cassette tapes in markets and bus stations. After Begin’s election, however, all that changed.

In 1982, after the release of iconic Yemenite-Israeli singer Zohar Argov’s seminal album, “Elenor,” Argov historically performed his hit single “Perach Be’Gani” on Israeli television.

In 1984, famed Iraqi-Israeli author Eli Amir published a semiautobiographical novel, “Scapegoat.” A critical

The biggest arrival of Mizrahim occurred in the 1950s and 1960s; today, half of Israeli Jews have Mizrahi ancestry.

portrayal of the manner in which Mizrahi Jews were cruelly absorbed into Israeli society, Amir’s book sparked a long-lasting dialogue about Mizrahim in Israel.

Also in 1984, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (1920-2013) founded SHAS. A conservative political party, SHAS represented the interests of Israel’s Mizrahim. Gaining lasting support under its platform of integrating Mizrahim into the fold of mainstream Israeli society, SHAS likewise maintained the traditional social and religious values of this community.

Currently, SHAS, although a weakening entity, has members in the Knesset who align themselves with the conservative Likud party, headed by Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Today, roughly half Israel’s Jewish population is of Mizrahi decent. The Israeli political landscape is likewise more proportionately representative of Israel’s demographic reality.

Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports Miri Regev, a Likud member who is of Moroccan-Jewish heritage, is carrying the torch of advocating state support of Mizrahi culture and society in Israel, along with her numerous controversial positions.

This year alone, Regev’s initiative has included pushing Israeli Army Radio to play more Mizrahi music, providing government sponsorship of a Mizrahi Music Festival and lambasting prominent Israeli film critic Gidi Orsher for posting racist depictions of Mizrahi culture on social media.

A favorite punching bag of Israel’s liberal media outlets, Regev, for better or for worse, is pushing the cultural dialogue in Israel toward being more representative of a changing society. ■ Sperling, an Israel specialist, is assistant program coordinator for the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org).

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Today in Israeli History

Items provided by the Center for Israel Education (www.israeled.org), where you can find more details about these people, places and things.

Sept. 9, 1993: After nine months of secret contacts mediated by Norwegian diplomats, the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel recognize each other’s existence.

Sept. 10, 1956: Eilat Mazar, a third-generation Israeli archaeologist, is born. Now a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, she is best known for her work at the City of David site in Jerusalem.

Sept. 11, 1921: Nahalal, the first moshav ha’ovdim (workers settlement), is founded in the northwestern Jezreel Valley, about halfway between Haifa and Afula.

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 66th annual Venice International Film Festival.

Sept. 13, 1984: Shimon Peres becomes Israel’s eighth prime minister as he forms a coalition government.

Sept. 14, 1948: Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion summons dozens of commanders of the Palmach for a conference at which he announces the dismantling of the elite unit and its integration into the new Israel Defense Forces.

Sept. 15, 2009: Judge Richard Goldstone, a South African Jew who previously served as the chief U.N. prosecutor in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, presents his U.N.-sponsored “Report on the FactFinding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.”

The report is widely criticized by Israel, which refused to cooperate with the investigation, and by pro-Israel organizations.

Photo by Alex Catalan

Judge Richard Goldstone, speaking at Beloit College in 2007, has criticized the U.N. Human Rights Council for its repeated condemnations of Israel.

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

LOCAL NEWS

A Night for Young and Old More than 550 people attended the annual Signature Event, organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and Birthright Israel Atlanta for the under-40 crowd, on Saturday night, Aug. 27, at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.

The event chairs are (from left) Sarah Arogeti, Kate Kratovil, and Julie and Andrew Pizitz.

Attending the party are (from left) Sarah Hirsch, Sarah Arogeti and Sara Belza.

The under-40 crowd mixes with the over-65-million crowd at Fernbank.

(From left) Marissa Simon, Michael Fingerman, Jessie Brenner, Staci Eichelbaum, Claire Allyson and Jason Levine are having a good time.

Robyn Tenenbaum (left), Alex Glass and Zack Kroll are part of the Signature Event fun.

SEPTEMBER 9 â–Ş 2016

Photos by Dale Sobel, Jon Marks Photography

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

OPINION

Our View

Speak Freely

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

It’s kickoff time for the NFL, starting with a Super Bowl rematch between Denver and Carolina on Thursday night, Sept. 9, and continuing at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, when the Falcons start their final season in the Georgia Dome against the Buccaneers.

On that 15th anniversary of the most devastating terrorist attack on American soil, some football players will start the season by sitting through the national anthem. As explained by Colin Kaepernick, the backup San Francisco 49ers quarterback whose jersey has become a national best seller since he began this movement of standing up by sitting down, the protest reflects a refusal to show pride in a nation that oppresses blacks and other minorities.

By exercising a First Amendment right to speak up, sit down and protest, Kaepernick and a small number of other players are showing why the United States is a country worth expressing pride in, despite its flaws. Fortunately, a sense of irony is not a prerequisite for First Amendment rights.

The tradition of singing the national anthem and paying respects to the flag is not a statement of blind patriotism, but instead an expression of belief in the national ideals of liberty and justice. Again, Kaepernick and others are free to disagree.

The focus of the quarterback’s wrath is what motivated marches in Atlanta and across the country this summer: police killings of black people. We’re not clear what sign of reduced oppression Kaepernick seeks to end his protest — if he even knows himself.

Most police do a good job, respond to the people they serve based on those people’s actions, not their appearance, and rarely resort to lethal force. And black people are not the only victims of bad cops.

But it’s natural and understandable for black people to focus on the threat to their lives, just as it’s natural and understandable for Israel’s supporters to break with Black Lives Matter over one small portion of the Movement for Black Lives platform that takes gratuitous, false and offensive shots at Israel. After all, as Hillel said, while we have a responsibility to others, we first have to look out for ourselves.

So we get the contradictions inherent in such a protest. A uniquely American, highly violent sport played by privileged men, many paid millions of dollars a year, becomes the venue for a uniquely American protest of American violence to gain safety and security for Americans. The protest falls on the anniversary of a day that united us in tragedy but has since led to our surrendering many of our American liberties in the hope of gaining safety and security.

Some people support the protest as the ultimate expression of American freedom; others support it as the perfect exposure of the hypocrisy behind that freedom. Some are angry at Kaepernick for the political point he’s making or the venue he’s choosing.

He’s not the first athlete to use sports as a protest platform; he won’t be the last. But we hope everyone respects the essence of the First Amendment principle here: Not only does Kaepernick have a right to protest, but each of us has a right to respond as we see fit. And we all benefit from encouraging a free, respectful exchange of ideas rather than rejecting those 10 whose views don’t perfectly align with our own. ■

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Cartoon by Patrick Chappatte, The International New York Times

Opening Eyes on Black Lives One perk of this job is that I sometimes wind up response to the offensive platform, particularly its on guest lists with actual community leaders. So it claim that Israel is committing genocide against the was that I attended a dinner party at the home of the Palestinians.

Israeli consul general Wednesday night, Aug. 31.

“Until and unless Black Lives Matter removes Israel’s naval attaché at the embassy in Washthis blood libel from its platform and renounces it, ington, Capt. Gil Aginsky, spoke about the mission no decent person — black, white, or of any other of the Israeli navy to protect the natural gas fields in racial or ethnic background — should have anything the eastern Mediterranean and about the increasing to do with it,” he wrote, adding that supporting a naval threat presented by Hezbolmovement that prolah and its missiles. motes anti-Semitism But the night wasn’t about just because it also Editor’s Notebook Capt. Aginsky or Israel’s military does good things “is

By Michael Jacobs or economic needs. In many the beginning of the mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com ways, it wasn’t even about Israel. road to accepting It was an example of Israeli Ambassador Judith Varnai Shorer acting as a representative — not the representative, but a representative — of the Jewish people as a whole in addressing the rift between the black and Jewish communities.

In addition to the likes of American Jewish Committee Atlanta President Greg Averbuch, Temple Rabbi Peter Berg, Attorney General Sam Olens, and Lauren Grien, the current president of The Temple and former president of AJC Atlanta, Shorer’s 40 or so guests included prominent black leaders, such as the Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church, state Sen. Vincent Fort and Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell.

While the support of each of those leaders has value to Israel and appears to remain rock-solid, the motivation for the meeting was an American development: the recent Movement for Black Lives platform and the uproar over its apartheid and genocide accusations against Israel.

Each person had a scroll tied with a ribbon at his or her seat. It wasn’t some special certificate suitable for framing to commemorate a lovely evening; it was a printout of a column Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz wrote for The Boston Globe in

racism.”

People at my table quietly skimmed the column while Shorer read a statement criticizing the platform and defending Israel. No one questioned our hostess on what she said.

The small talk over dessert and coffee revealed that the reason for the silence wasn’t necessarily agreement. Instead, most of the black leaders at the dinner didn’t know about the controversy, which makes sense: If your primary concerns revolve around justice for the black community, you’re not likely to pay much attention to side issues thrown into the platform in the interest of intersectionality (trying to connect a wide range of supposedly or actually oppressed groups with the idea of all for one and one for all).

The positive view of that reaction is that it indicates intersectionality is failing; black problems in America and Palestinian issues in the Middle East can and should be addressed on their own. The negative view is that the consul general that night and the organized Jewish community in general might be failing to connect with the next generation of black leaders, those who are marching today and will fill elected offices tomorrow. ■

OPINION

Living Amid The Ripples of 9/11 and failures of this apparatus is “Are We Any Safer?” by Steven Brill in the September issue of The Atlantic.

The work of evaluating every threat, real or perceived, is done by government agencies whose names are well known and barely known at all. Their mantra: “The terrorists have

From Where I Sit

By Dave Schechter dschechter@atljewishtimes.com

to be right only once, but we have to be right 100 percent of the time.”

For the 0.5 percent of the population in uniform, the past 15 years have meant repeated separations from home and family with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Several thousand troops have been killed, tens of thousands have been wounded, and countless more have not found peace in their homecoming.

Virtually since the day itself, the sins of 9/11 have been visited on people we know as neighbors, friends, classmates, colleagues and professionals we interact with frequently.

Because of terrorism committed in the name of Islam, controversy ensues when American Muslims apply to open a mosque, a school or a cemetery.

At a workshop on bullying attended by about 100 Muslim middle and high school students, 90 percent raised a hand when asked if they had been called a terrorist.

For most American Jews, more secure in the blessings of this country, such experiences are (with notable exceptions) more likely to be from a period steadily being consigned to history.

During these 15 years political and ideological divisions within the Jewish community have sharpened and coarsened the tone of discourse. At the extremes, while some Jews devoted themselves to interfaith work and building bridges in response to 9/11, others found in the attacks confirmation of their suspicion and distrust of the “other” in our midst.

We live in the ripples of that terrifying day 15 years ago. On Sept. 11, take time to remember and reflect on how it continues to challenge us, as Americans and as Jews. ■

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, began with the regular morning meeting to discuss that day’s news. The president of the United States was traveling to Florida, and POTUS was on my plate as the Washington bureau’s handler on the national desk.

I listened to the meeting at my desk, where I had a bank of television monitors and an intercom that connected me to the D.C. newsroom and studio control room.

At 8:46 a.m. the New York bureau interrupted the call to report that a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center towers.

What followed was a chain reaction of sorts, as individuals quickly formed groups to discuss what was needed and just as quickly separated to handle those tasks, this cycle repeating for hours.

Callous as this may sound, my focus was on coordinating reports from multiple locations in and around Washington (and the traveling White House, as Air Force One hopscotched to two military bases before returning). Not until I was driving home, closer to dawn than dusk, did I take time to consider my emotions.

Shy of 3,000 people died that day in New York, at the Pentagon and in a field near Shanksville, Pa. The immediate priorities were reporting from those sites, the domestic and international response by the U.S. government, and two questions: “Who did this?” and “How could this happen?” In the days and weeks ahead, there would be time to ponder the impact of these acts of terrorism on America the nation and Americans as individuals.

How we live and how we work, our hopes and fears, the way we view the world beyond our borders — all changed that morning in ways that continue to evolve.

After 9/11, Americans exchanged a portion of their civil liberties for a promise of protection from a threat emanating not from a nation-state, but from an ideology. The cry to “do something” spawned a government apparatus given sufficient authority to require removing shoes at the airport, collect citizens’ telephone records and check out what’s checked out at the library.

A worthy read on the successes

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

OPINION

It’s Time for All Jews To Condemn Trump

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

I am writing to express my great offense at Jeff Kunkes’ Aug. 19 column, “Do Democrats Really Like Jews?”

Dr. Kunkes, a delegate to the Republican National Convention that selected Donald Trump as its nominee, seeks to disingenuously characterize elected Democrats as anti-Jewish. Curiously, his column does not mention or identify Donald Trump, who famously boasted at a Republican Jewish Coalition candidate forum that “I’m a negotiator like you folks” and later added, “This room negotiates perhaps more than any room I’ve spoken to, maybe more.”

That is the candidate Dr. Kunkes helped nominate, and these remarks, rather than Democrats, deserve rebuke. In reaction to this misguided column, I urge our friends and fellow Jews making up the membership of the Republican Jewish Coalition to formally renounce Donald Trump.

I am not advocating for Hillary Clinton or any other candidate, notwithstanding my personal support for Secretary Clinton. Rather, this letter is to condemn Trump’s hateful rhetoric and actions that have veered into anti-Semitism, demagoguery and incitement of violence — all of which are antithetical to common decency and the tenets of Judaism.

While American Jews may have diverse political beliefs, our common values compel us to reject the candidacy that Trump represents. What we have witnessed is shameful and worthy of condemnation in the strongest terms.

Trump has implied assent to “Second Amendment remedies” to prevent Clinton from making judicial appointments. He has cozied up to white supremacists such as David Duke.

As if those affronts were not enough, he has traded in anti-Semitic imagery by using the Star of David to depict Clinton as a money-grubbing Shylock seeking to oppress the masses.

Even worse, Trump has recently hired a campaign chief, Steven Bannon, well known for his tolerance of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia.

After falsely creating the impression that President Barack Obama is an illegitimate, Kenyan-born Muslim, Trump has now repeatedly accused Obama and Clinton of being the founders of Islamic State.

12 All of these hateful acts require

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condemnation. They would not be tolerable from a politician of any other race, creed, gender or political party.

The Republican Party is the party of Lincoln and has played a vital role in the development of a progressive modern America.

Illinois Republican Everett Dirk-

Guest Column

By Ed Rappaport

sen was instrumental in helping pass the Civil Rights Act. Dwight Eisenhower ordered federal troops into Little Rock, Ark., to protect the safety of nine students integrating Central High School.

Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush presided over America’s success after the decadeslong Cold War. Republican Jewish Coalition board member Norm Coleman published a piece March 3 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune asserting that he would never vote for Trump. The former senator further characterized Trump as a bigot, misogynist, fraud and bully.

Coleman claimed the moral high ground in the nomination process, while Trump could have been defeated, and he deserves our gratitude for taking a politically courageous stand.

He was right to forcefully and unequivocally denounce Trump and did so when Trump’s actions revealed him as the danger that he is to our country.

We are a nation that is better than this. Currently, America seems poised to reject Trump resoundingly on Election Day. As delighted as I’ll be with his defeat, that won’t be enough.

His candidacy has ushered in mainstream hatred and demagoguery.

These ills are incompatible with Judaism, and all American Jews, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, must reject this bile.

If Trump is defeated ignominiously, then we will have served notice that such despicable conduct will not yield an electoral prize, and we will be able to return to civilly discussing our diverse political beliefs. ■ Ed Rappaport is senior counsel with the Saylor Law Firm in Midtown.

The Election Results Still Could Surprise You As I survey the presidential political landscape and absorb all of the commentaries, polls and pundit analyses, I see three potential scenarios playing out in November.

Option 1: Truman Beats Dewey The pundits get it wrong, and Donald Trump wins.

Seems like a distant promise, right? But keep two things in mind.

First, let’s start with a generally understood fact: About 25 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Democrats do not want to support their candidates. In all likelihood, the restive bases will not vote for the other side, but they are more inclined to stay home.

However, Trump did something to appeal to his social conservative base that Hillary Clinton did not do for her progressive base: Trump gave social conservatives a bone with Mike Pence as his VP pick.

He also has let everyone know whom he would consider as Supreme Court nominees.

What about Hillary? Well, she gave the progressive wing the finger with her VP choice. Tim Kaine, let alone Hillary, is no darling of the left.

She is banking on Bernie Sanders to help bring over the progressive wing, but his efforts may not help as much as had been expected. Bernie’s newly formed political organization, Our Revolution, has lost much of its staff because the operation has become too “establishment” for its founders. Some members of the progressive wing now consider him a sellout.

The point is that Hillary is taking the progressive wing for granted, hoping to appeal to the “mighty middle,” i.e. moderate voters. In reality, the mighty middle is a fallacy. They don’t come out to vote.

The ones who bother calling from the phone banks or going door to door are the hard-core supporters and, most important, the ones who go to the polls, for the Republicans and the Democrats. Moderate voters cannot be relied on to come out in the numbers that progressives and social conservatives do.

Another point to consider is that Hillary did not learn the lesson of Al Gore. In 2000, Gore did not position

his run as a third term of Bill Clinton. Truth be told, a lot of Americans wanted it, but he chose to run away from Bill Clinton. And Gore lost.

Could Hillary be repeating history? If she presented herself as a third term of Barack Obama, it would certainly mobilize the black voting base

Guest Column

By Dan Israel

of the Democratic Party to come out.

But I just don’t see that happening.

What odds do I put on this outcome? About 35 percent.

Option 2: Republicans Have Their McGovern Moment In 1972, the dream of the progressive wing was manifest in the Democratic candidacy of George McGovern. He represented everything the progressive wing wanted, from being anti-war to offering $1,000 grants to all Americans unconditionally. He and the Democratic Party got destroyed.

Similarly, and I am sure many of my Democratic friends hope for this, Trump represents the dream of the anti-establishment wing. In this scenario, Republicans lose the presidency, the House and the Senate.

I put the chance of this outcome at 20 percent. I speak with a lot of people, and it appears that many, particularly on the Republican side, will split their ticket. Even if Hillary wins, I don’t see the House and Senate flipping.

Option 3: The Scorched Earth Policy There are many things we can say about Trump, but one thing is certain: He hates to lose.

If his pollsters see him losing with no viable path to the presidency in mid-October, why not just double down on the fact that the rules are rigged against him and the Republicans didn’t do enough to help him?

By dropping out, he saves face by not losing in an election, and he gets to ruin the Republicans. Outlandish? What has been conventional this entire cycle?

I give this scenario the highest chance at 45 percent.

What do you think? ■

LOCAL NEWS

The rector of the Episcopal church just around the corner from Temple Sinai is leaving Sandy Springs, but Rabbi Ron Segal is confident that the close friendship between the congregations won’t suffer.

“Congregationally, we certainly won’t let Michael his departure diminSullivan ish what we’ve tried to build over the years that he’s been here,” Rabbi Segal said about the Rev. Michael Sullivan, who has led Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church the past seven years.

Sullivan has been named the president of Kanuga Conferences, an Episcopal retreat, camp and conference center in Hendersonville, N.C. He is scheduled to start the new job Nov. 1.

He and Rabbi Segal have developed a close friendship as their congregations have become good neighbors over the years. They have provided space for each other during construction projects, for example, and together brought in Vanderbilt University religion professor Amy-Jill Levine for a scholar-in-residence weekend shared by the church and the synagogue in January.

Rabbi Segal said Sullivan is scheduled to deliver a sermon from the Sinai bimah in December, and he hopes the Episcopal priest still will be able to return from North Carolina for the occasion.

“He has helped to create a culture of bridge building and emphasized the importance of interfaith relations during his leadership of Holy Innocents’, and I have every reason to believe that whoever serves that congregation next will follow in his footsteps,” Rabbi Segal said. “We will certainly do our part to try to continue and nurture that relationship.”

While personally sad to see Sullivan go, Rabbi Segal said he’s happy for his friend, who is thrilled by the opportunity.

“I cannot imagine a more promising and exciting call than Kanuga,” Sullivan said. “I’m elated to step into the work we are called to, building upon the foundations of past generations, while also trusting G-d to guide us as a bolder and stronger Kanuga for the future of the church.” ■

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Sinai’s Episcopal Pal Leaving

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LOCAL NEWS

Wrapping a Steel Curtain Around the Community 4 leaders bring the lessons of Pittsburgh to Jewish Atlanta

By Tova Norman

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

As pro football kicks off this weekend, four leaders of large Jewish organizations in Atlanta are readying their Terrible Towels, the quintessential gear for a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Steelers fans are known for their loyalty to the home team, but perhaps that loyalty is about more than football.

Perhaps it stems from a deeper connection to the Pittsburgh community.

When Eric Robbins began his post as president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta in August, he joined three fellow Pittsburgh natives atop key Atlanta-area Jewish nonprofit operations: Rick Aranson, the CEO of Jewish Family & Career Services of Atlanta; Beth Gluck, the director of Jewish National Fund’s Southern Zone; and Bobby Harris, the director of Camp Coleman and of youth and camping services for the Southeast Region of the Union for Reform Judaism.

They are among many Pittsburgh natives in Jewish Atlanta, and besides a love for the Steelers (whose season starts Monday, Sept. 12, against the

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Redskins), they share a connection to Squirrel Hill, the walkable neighborhood where Pittsburgh’s Jewish community is centered. All four leaders pointed to that area as the beginning of their connection to the Jewish world.

“There was a point in my life where my entire extended family lived within two miles of each other in one neighborhood,” Robbins said. “It was a community where everyone was close together, everyone looked out for each other, and everyone spent family time together for every occasion you could think of.”

Gluck agreed. “We lived and played and went to synagogue all within a small area. Jewish institutions played a very strong role in my sense of community.”

Harris lived in Monroeville, a suburb 15 miles away, but he spent four or five days a week in Squirrel Hill for religious school and synagogue services.

“My grandmothers lived in the city. All of my extended family lived there. I was one of the only ones that lived in the suburbs,” he said.

And when he went to Squirrel Hill — with the kosher butcher, the

Beth Gluck leads Jewish National Fund’s Southern Zone.

Bobby Harris heads Camp Coleman and the URJ’s Southeast youth and camping services.

Jewish stores and bakeries, the Jewish Community Center, and all of the synagogues — it was special and different.

“It was very unique to have this neighborhood. I loved walking around there — the smells, the sounds, the tastes. There was this whole strip, and I would run into so many family friends, relatives, and see everyone — that was a great feeling,” Harris said.

That feeling kept them all connected to Jewish life.

“Growing up in Squirrel Hill, the epicenter of the Pittsburgh Jewish community, gave me a rich appreciation of our culture and was the root of my so-

Rick Aranson has been in charge of JF&CS since March 2015.

Eric Robbins took the reins at Federation on Aug. 1.

cial network,” Aranson said.

Although the four pointed to their parents’ involvement in the Jewish community as their first inspiration, their Pittsburgh connections started them on the path to Jewish leadership.

“Through this network I was asked to serve on the board of Jewish Family Services of Pittsburgh, an experience which instilled in me a passion for nonprofit service and which ultimately led me to JF&CS in Atlanta,” Aranson said.

“We had such fantastic role models as leaders of the Jewish community when we were growing up,” Gluck said.

She also credited summer camp with having an impact.

Gluck attended the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Emma Kaufmann Camp, where her mother was a nurse for 50 years. “Summer camp was a huge influence on how I got where I am today,” she said. “Camp is an offspring of community.”

Harris, who spent summers and afternoons at the JCC’s Family Park near his home in Monroeville, got a taste of the difference he could make as a counselor at Emma Kaufmann Camp.

“I remember it clicked for me that I had these 10 boys in my bunk, and I could make a difference to them. It enabled me to feel that I could make an impact on the people around me.”

Harris takes that experience into his efforts to inspire campers today.

“Camp is one amazing laboratory for providing leadership opportunities,” he said. “And hopefully we help our young people take the leadership that they experience and learn from at camp and bring that into the rest of their lives.”

Robbins pointed to his experience at Camp Barney Medintz, which first brought him to Georgia, as a major factor in his involvement in the community. Like many Barney attendees then, the Pittsburgh connection of director Moe Kotovsky brought him there.

“The catapult that really got me to say I wanted to do this for a career was

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LOCAL NEWS

definitely the Barney experience,” Robbins said.

Now, as each of the four looks toward the future and how they can affect the Jewish community in Atlanta and beyond, they can pull inspiration from their Pittsburgh childhood.

“I felt really comfortable in the Jewish community, and I was given those experiences at a young age to be comfortable, and certainly my family being around was part of being comfortable,” Harris said. “I would run into people who knew my parents and knew my grandparents. My extended family was also very involved in the community. One of my cousins was actually the original voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers — one of the first Jewish broadcasters — hired by Steelers owner Art Rooney in the 1930s.”

Combining that comfort with the community with his desire to make a difference and a contribution to society, Harris found that Pittsburgh’s Jewish community was the place to start.

“I knew that I wanted to do something that made an impact. The Jewish community afforded me that opportunity.”

The tight-knit Jewish Pittsburgh community inspired a desire to be connected.

“I’ve been working as director of JNF for seven years now, and in thinking about why I’ve stayed as long as I have, I think that it’s not only because it is directed to Israel, which is so important to me, but because it very clearly states that it exists for the whole of the Jewish people, for everyone,” Gluck said. “In a time when our Jewish community is fragmented in so many ways, having such a strong sense of community … I’m really proud to be a part of an organization that believes there is a role for every person, Jewish and nonJewish, in supporting Israel.”

Robbins also felt the impact of that strong sense of community.

“The organized Jewish community was there for every step of the way: preschool, family camp, day camp, overnight camp, college, aging family,” he said. “All of that builds a really strong commitment to community. … My

Eric Robbins and his wife, Ana, join Bobby Harris and his wife, Ellen, for some communal fun.

foundation for all of this was growing up in that. … I probably didn’t appreciate it when I was in it.”

He and Aranson hope to make that sense of community stronger here.

“Because it’s more of a transient city, there is not as much of a deep connection to organizations,” Aranson said. “I have seen what a close-knit, tightly integrated, collaborative community can be, and I can envision with effort that we can move the needle.”

While Aranson acknowledges that the physical centrality of Squirrel Hill cannot be replicated amid the sprawling metro area here, Atlanta can embody the values of collaboration.

“The collaborative focus, I think, is a key part of both of our visions,” Aranson said of Robbins. The two worked

Ana, Sasha and Eric Robbins leave no doubt about their favorite NFL team.

together to open a group home for adults with disabilities at Camp Twin Lakes, which Robbins ran before moving to Federation. “That collaborative model is really the model that’s going to move us forward.”

Gluck looks forward to working with fellow Pittsburgh natives. “I’m really lucky to be able to work with colleagues from similar backgrounds. It’s an honor for me to work with them.”

Gluck and the others want to apply the lessons and examples that make them proud of their hometown.

“I still feel connected to Pittsburgh,” said Gluck, who has lived in Atlanta for 35 years.

“Pittsburgh gave me a foundation to exercise leadership,” Harris said. “My love of community and commitment to

the Jewish people thrived there.”

“It’s really what was there for me; otherwise, I don’t know that I would have the vision or the motivation,” Robbins said of Pittsburgh’s sense of community. “I think it taught me how to care about the world, how to care about other communities. I feel really invested in doing good in the world and helping others to do good in the world, and I think a big part of that is, as a Jew, I saw that, and I saw the importance of that in my own community.”

“There are lessons to be learned from what many would consider a tired old city,” Aranson said, pointing out that his native Steel City has reinvented itself to be a center of industry and innovation. “Atlanta has an opportunity to reinvent itself as well.” ■

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Bobby Harris (left) and Beth Gluck (second from right) show their commitment to the Jewish people by meeting with refuseniks while visiting the Soviet Union in 1985.

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LOCAL NEWS

The bagel-eating task looks more daunting with every bite.

Photos by Josh Jacobs

Teddy Delacruz shows the form that won him $500 and may have set a world record for most bagels eaten in five minutes.

Teddy Delacruz celebrates his iron-stomach victory.

The piles of bagels await the start of the contest. Water was the only accompaniment for the bagels.

A Labor of Food Love

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

NoshFest returned to Temple Kol Emeth on Sunday and Monday, Sept. 4 and 5, restoring a Labor Day tradition after a one-year hiatus. For once granted nothing but sunny skies, the festival of food and fun collected donations for MUST Ministries’ food bank, offered inflatables and other activities for kids, kept the music playing, and packed the parking lot with food stands and other vendors.

But the highlight came three hours into the festival Sunday with the region’s first bagel-eating contest: all the plain Bagelicious bagels six competitors could consume in five minutes. To the victor, Teddy Delacruz of Chicago, went the spoils of a $500 prize and the claim of a world record with his total of six bagels eaten.

None of the other NoshFest participants ate more than 2½ bagels. ■

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A young NoshFest attendee gets to try out the Springfree trampoline system.

A young girl enjoys bouncing ever higher.

Six brave or foolish men struggle to gulp down bagels quickly.

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SEPTEMBER 9 â–ª 2016

LOCAL NEWS

Kollel Speaker: Setbacks Key to Success

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

By Tova Norman

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In 1990, as a Fulbright scholar at Harvard Law School (with classmate Barack Obama), Antony Gordon chaired the Harvard International Rock for Education Committee and called the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Sting from his dorm room, asking them to play a concert to aid education.

The planning landed him in the office of the CEO of CBS and into networking opportunities with other top executives in the entertainment industry.

“It was the most insane entry into an entertainment circle that people spend a lifetime trying to cultivate,” he said.

That experience gave Rabbi Gordon, a native South African who also attended Oxford, a grand impression of America. “The most unbelievable thing about this country is anything is possible, and dreaming big can certainly pay off.”

He is speaking at the Atlanta Scholars Kollel’s annual networking event at Congregation Or VeShalom on Wednesday, Sept. 14. It’s the 12th year the kollel has held this event, which usually draws around 300 participants.

“It’s a nice opportunity to reconnect with old friends, meet new people, eat some good food and get some inspiration before the High Holidays,” ASK Rabbi David Silverman said. The event is open to everyone.

The topic is “Failure Is the Beginning on the Road to Success.” Rabbi Gordon knows about success and failure.

He has worked as a financial adviser and asset manager to such celebrities as boxer Manny Pacquiao, basketball players Derek Fisher and Grant Hill, and rapper MC Hammer.

He has managed two hedge funds. He chairs the nominating committee of the Raoul Wallenberg Award.

His latest venture, LAST (Life After Sports Transition), aims to help athletes prepare for the end of their playing careers financially and emotionally.

But “I’ve probably had more setbacks and more disappointments than most,” Rabbi Gordon said. “That comes with the terrain of being a person who really wants to leave a mark on the world and is prepared to do things out of the box.”

He said it helps to respond to those setbacks with positivity. “Probably the biggest blessing I have is a general proclivity to see the silver lining in life.”

Above: Antony Gordon and his sons hang out with client Manny Pacquiao.

Left: Rabbi Antony Gordon is a financial adviser to athletes and other celebrities.

In his speech he plans to discuss his struggles and those of others. “I’m going to give some examples of pretty famous people who I know personally who have been through tough things.”

Rabbi Gordon said that in working with celebrities and wealthy people, he has realized that more money doesn’t mean more happiness. “At the end of the day there are a lot of commonalities in the human plight.”

He said he sees the negative results of America’s celebrity culture. “There’s a huge pop culture that flies in the face of what traditional Judaism imparts, and I think a lot of people are torn.”

Rabbi Gordon knows about those Jewish values. He spent close to two years learning with a study partner in Israel from 10 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. Los Angeles time before taking a 14-hour exam in Israel and receiving rabbinic ordination. Becoming a rabbi, he said, was one of his “success moments.”

He said he hopes the audience at the kollel event will realize that setbacks and success go hand in hand.

“To me, the definition of success is really how we respond to the inevitable setbacks in life,” Rabbi Gordon said. “It’s not in spite of the setbacks and curveballs, but it’s because of those things that people achieve certain things.”

Perhaps, he said, someone will be inspired to revive a dream. “If one person leaves that room and says, ‘I’m going to give it one more shot,’ then the trip has been more than worthwhile.” ■ What: ASK annual networking event Where: Congregation Or VeShalom, 1681 N. Druid Hills Road, Brookhaven When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14 Tickets: $30 in advance or $36 at the door; atlantakollel.org or 404-321-4085

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SEPTEMBER 9 â–ª 2016

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

SYNAGOGUE GUIDE

Atlanta Synagogue Directory Chabad

Chabad of Peachtree City 632 Dogwood Trail Tyrone, GA 30290 www.chabadsouthside.com 678-595-0199 Rabbi Yossi Lew

Chabad Intown, Atlanta 928 Ponce de Leon Avenue Atlanta, GA 30306 www.chabadintown.org 404-898-0434 Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman Rabbi Ari Sollish

Congregation Beth Israel — South Forsyth 600 Peachtree Parkway Suite 100 Cumming, GA 30041 Jewishforsyth.org 404-954-2092 Rabbi Levi Mentz

Chabad Israeli Center Atlanta 4276 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road Chamblee, GA 30341 www.cicatlanta.com 404-252-9508 Rabbi Mendy Gurary

Congregation Beth Tefillah 5065 High Point Road Sandy Springs, GA 30342 www.bethtefillah.org 404-843-2464 Rabbi Yossi New Rabbi Ari Karp Rabbi Isser New Campus Director Barry Herman President Trevor Horwitz

Chabad Jewish Center 1480 Shiloh Road Suite 500 Kennesaw, GA 30144 www.jewishwestcobb.com 678-460-7702 Rabbi Zalman Charytan Chabad of Cobb 4450 Lower Roswell Road Marietta, GA 30068 www.chabadofcobb.com 770-565-4412 Rabbi Ephraim Silverman

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Chabad of North Fulton 10180 Jones Bridge Road Alpharetta, GA 30022 www.chabadnf.org 770-410-9000

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Rabbi Hirshy Minkowicz

Chabad Enrichment Center of Gwinnett 3855 Holcomb Bridge Road Suite 770 Norcross, GA 30092 www.chabadofgwinnett.org 678-595-0196 Rabbi Yossi Lerman

Sephardic

Congregation Or VeShalom 1681 North Druid Hills Road Brookhaven, GA 30319 www.orveshalom.org 404-633-1737 Rabbi Hayyim Kassorla Executive Director Adam Kofinas Brookhaven Bayit@OVS Director Sim Pearl President Richard Maslia

Orthodox

Congregation Anshi S’fard 1324 North Highland Avenue Atlanta, GA 30306 www.anshisfard.org

404-969-6763 Rabbi Mayer Freedman President Jean Alhadeff Congregation Ariel 5237 Tilly Mill Road Dunwoody, GA 30338 www.congariel.org 770-390-9071 Rabbi Binyomin Friedman Youth Director Rabbi Mordy Birnbaum Executive Director Debbie Kalwerisky President Jason Kaplan Congregation Beit Itzkhak 6030 Goodwood Boulevard Norcross, GA 30093 770-931-4567 Congregation Beth Jacob 1855 LaVista Road Atlanta, GA 30329 www.bethjacobatlanta.org 404-633-0551 Rabbi Ilan Feldman Rabbi Emeritus Emanuel Feldman Executive Director Yitzchok Tendler President Larry Beck Congregation Ner Hamizrach 1858 LaVista Road Atlanta, GA 30329 www.nerhamizrach.org 404-315-9020 Rabbi Shmuel Khoshkerman Congregation Netzach Yisrael 1985 LaVista Road Atlanta, GA 30329 The Kehilla of Sandy Springs 5075 Roswell Road Sandy Springs, GA 30342 www.thekehilla.org

404-913-6131 Rabbi Karmi David Ingber Administrator Effie Ross President Matt Marks New Toco Shul 2003 LaVista Road Atlanta, GA 30329 newtocoshul.com 770-765-7485 Young Israel of Toco Hills 2056 LaVista Road Atlanta, GA 30329 www.yith.org 404-315-1417 Rabbi Adam Starr Office Manager Leslie Mallard President Davi Kutner

Traditional

Congregation Shaarei Shamayim 1810 Briarcliff Road Atlanta, GA 30329 www.shaareishamayim.com 404-417-0472 Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis Office Manager/Treasurer David Krombach President David Fink

Conservative

Ahavath Achim Synagogue 600 Peachtree Battle Avenue Atlanta, GA 30327 www.aasynagogue.org 404-355-5222 Rabbi Neil Sandler Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal Executive Director Manuel Mesa President Rob Wildstein Congregation Beth Shalom 5303 Winters Chapel Road Dunwoody, GA 30360

Free and open seating available at all of our prayer services. Please email Leslie Mallard, Office Manager, at Leslie@yith.org to attend!

SYNAGOGUE GUIDE

Congregation B’nai Torah 700 Mount Vernon Highway Atlanta, GA 30328 www.bnaitorah.org 404-257-0537 Rabbi Joshua Heller Rabbi Hillel Konigsburg Executive Director Natalie Sarnat President Alan Smirin Congregation Etz Chaim 1190 Indian Hills Parkway Marietta, GA 30068 www.etzchaim.net 770-973-0137 Rabbi Daniel L. Dorsch Rabbi Shalom J. Lewis Executive Director Robert L. Bachrach President Todd H. Surden Congregation Gesher L’Torah 4320 Kimball Ridge Road Alpharetta, GA 30022 www.gltorah.org 770-777-4009 Rabbi Michael Bernstein Executive Director Doug Konkel President Mitch Hershkowitz Congregation Or Hadash 7460 Trowbridge Road Sandy Springs, GA 30328 www.or-hadash.org 404-250-3338 Rabbi Mario Karpuj Rabbi Analia Bortz Executive Director Erica Hruby President Marc Medwed Congregation Shearith Israel 1180 University Drive Atlanta, GA 30306 www.shearithisrael.com 404-873-1743 Rabbi Ari Kaiman Business Director Jodi Kadison President Josh D’Agostino

Reform

Congregation B’nai Israel 1633 Highway 54 East Jonesboro, GA 30237 Mail: P.O. Box 142481 Fayetteville, GA 30214 www.bnai-israel.net 678-817-7162 Cantorial Soloist Susan Burden Administrator Angela Ellis President David Rosenberg Congregation Dor Tamid 11165 Parsons Road Johns Creek, GA 30097 www.dortamid.org 770-623-8860 Rabbi David Katz Cantorial Soloist Mike Zuspan Temple Administrator Kerry Sbat President Rob Lederman Congregation Ner Tamid 1349 Old Highway 41 Suite 220 Marietta, GA 30060 678-264-8575 www.mynertamid.org Rabbi Joseph Prass President Kristine Goldstein The Temple 1589 Peachtree Street Atlanta, GA 30309 www.the-temple.org 404-873-1731 Senior Rabbi Peter Berg Rabbi Loren Filson Lapidus Rabbi David Spinrad Rabbi Steven Rau Rabbi Lydia Medwin Rabbi Emeritus Alvin Sugarman Cantor Deborah Hartman Executive Director Mark Jacobson President Lauren Grien

Temple Beth David 1885 McGee Road Snellville, GA 30078 www.gwinnetttemple.com 770-978-3916 President Barry Abis Temple Beth Tikvah 9955 Coleman Road Roswell, GA 30075 www.bethtikvah.com 770-642-0434 Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner Rabbi Emeritus Donald Tam Cantor Nancy Kassel President Harlan Graiser Temple Emanu-El 1580 Spalding Drive Sandy Springs, GA 30350 www.templeemanuelatlanta.org 770-395-1340 Rabbi Spike Anderson Rabbi Scott E. Colbert Rabbi Emeritus Stanley Davids Cantor Lauren Furman Adesnik Executive Director Mark Flaxer Co-Presidents Arthur Katz and Noah Rosner Temple Kehillat Chaim 1145 Green Street Roswell, GA 30075 www.kehillatchaim.org 770-641-8630 Rabbi Harvey Winokur President Lori Dreffin Temple Kol Emeth 1415 Old Canton Road Marietta, GA 30062 www.kolemeth.net 770-973-3533 Rabbi Steven Lebow Rabbi Erin Boxt Cantorial Soloist Blake Singer Senior Temple Administrator Denise Jacobs President Ben Singer Temple Sinai 5645 Dupree Drive Sandy Springs, GA 30327 www.templesinaiatlanta.org 404-252-3073 Senior Rabbi Ron Segal Associate Rabbi Brad Levenberg Associate Rabbi Samantha Shabman Rabbi Emeritus Philip Kranz Bunzl Family Cantorial Chair Beth Schafer Executive Director Jack Feldman President Marcia Nuffer

Reconstructionist

Congregation Bet Haverim 2074 LaVista Road Atlanta, GA 30329 www.congregationbethaverim.org 404-315-6446 Rabbi Josh Lesser Executive Director Amy Robertson President Shoshana Ben-Yoar

Nondenominational

Congregation Shema Yisrael 6065 Roswell Road No. 3018 Atlanta, GA 30328 Services at Unity 3597 Parkway Lane Norcross, GA 30092 www.shemaweb.org 404-943-1100 Cantor Herb Cole Bob Bahr Eugen Schoenfeld Guardians of the Torah P.O. Box 767981 Roswell, GA 30076 guardiansofthetorah.com 770-286-3477 Rabbi Richard Baroff Kehillat HaShem 640 Stone House Lane NW Marietta, GA 30064 www.rabbiatlanta.com 770-218-8094 Rabbi Jeffery Feinstein

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

www.bethshalomatlanta.org 770-399-5300 Rabbi Mark Zimmerman Executive Director Loli Gross President Howard Fish

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Congregation Kehillat HaShem 640 Stone House Lane NW Marietta, GA 30064 invites you to join in the celebration of the High Holy Days 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.

Services are open to all at no charge, however, seating is limited. Please contact TKH at 770 218-8094 to reserve your seat.**

Schedule of Services Erev Rosh Hashanah 10/02/2015 7:30 pm Rosh Hashanah Day 10/03/2015 10:00 am Kol Nidre 10/11/2015 7:00 pm Yom Kippur Morning 10/12/2015 10:00 am Yom Kippur Afternoon 3:00 pm Yizkor (approximate) 4:30 pm Neilah and Havdalah (approximate) 5:00 pm For additional information contact Rabbi Feinstein at 770 218-8094, or visit him on the web at: www.rabbiatlanta.com

**Donations are appreciated to help to continue to provide services (checks can be made payable to Rabbi Jeffery Feinstein)

‘A PLACE FOR ALL JEWS’ THE KEHILLA PROSPECTIVE MEMBER

OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY, SEPT. 11 2-4PM

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

• FREE HIGH HOLIDAY TICKETS • TOT SHABBATS • CLASSES FOR MEN & WOMEN • SANDY SPRINGS KOLLEL • FAMILY-ORIENTED & FRIENDLY

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RSVP to: info@thekehilla.org • www.thekehilla.org

THE KEHILLA

5075 ROSWELL RD, SANDY SPRINGS 30342 1 mile inside I-285

SYNAGOGUE GUIDE

Office Specialist Benefits Beth Jacob, Community

By R.M. Grossblatt Before Congregation Beth Jacob members visited the DeKalb County police headquarters to show their support, Sarah Faygie Berkowitz was on the phone with representatives, neighboring synagogues and members, who came forth to donate pizza, refreshments and soft drinks for the officers.

Facilitating such events is just one part of the job she loves at Beth Jacob.

In 1997, two years after her marriage, she moved to Atlanta with her husband, Rabbi Shlomo Berkowitz, and an infant son. Right away, she was embraced by the Toco Hills community.

“The women kept calling me rebbetzin and insisted I could make a difference,” she said. So she did. She gave classes, tutored and hosted guests on Shabbat and holidays. “It felt great at that young age to be needed by such a thriving, growing community.”

The Berkowitzes moved to Atlanta twice. After six years here, in 2003 they returned with their three young children to Detroit, where Sarah Faygie grew up, to be near family while Rabbi Berkowitz finished his prerequisites for medical school. They moved back to Atlanta in 2007 when he was accepted into Emory’s master of medical science program in anesthesiology.

“When I came back to Atlanta and walked into Beth Jacob … it was such a special connection,” Berkowitz said.

Now she’s really connected to Beth Jacob. In April 2015 she became the communications and program manager at Beth Jacob. “I wasn’t actually looking for a job at the time, but I saw the job description and thought, ‘I could do that — and what an honor it would be to work for the shul.’ ” She said the rich history at Beth Jacob is palpable, and she is amazed that so many members have been there for decades and that their children and grandchildren are now shul leaders.

With a bachelor’s in communications and over a decade in professional writing, Berkowitz got the job. “They had some faith in me,” she said. In the beginning, she did “a lot of learning.”

Now she’s training others, volunteers and interns, to help with the needs of a growing and expanding shul (in ways beyond the renovations).

Before working for Beth Jacob, Berkowitz wrote for the Mother Nature Network, and her articles were republished on CNN.com. For nine years she

Photo by R.M. Grossblatt

Sarah Faygie Berkowitz (left) speaks with Beth Jacob volunteer Nancy Levy.

served as editor of the Atlanta edition of Natural Awakenings Magazine, and she freelanced for other businesses and organizations, creating web content and promotional articles.

As a talented cook, she has given food demonstrations for local organizations, and for a while she worked as a personal chef.

Cooking is a “huge hobby of mine,” said Berkowitz, who has a monthly food column in Mishpacha Magazine.

With two vegans and a vegetarian in her family, she’s a versatile cook leaning toward healthy choices.

She writes for FromtheGrapevine. com, which promotes positive messages about Israel. The site has published more than 200 of her recipes.

Berkowitz handles all of Beth Jacob’s communications: the website, email, Shabbat fliers, program catalogs and bulletins. She connects with local businesses and organizations to promote the synagogue’s major events, such as the Purim parade and festival and the Shabbos Project block party.

“Partnering with these businesses and groups is a mutually beneficial way to serve the community,” she said.

Rabbi Ilan Feldman, the spiritual leader of Beth Jacob, said: “No matter how active and dynamic a synagogue is, if its programs are not communicated effectively and attractively, the synagogue’s impact is limited. Mrs. Berkowitz is exceptionally effective in making that critical connection.”

Her favorite part of the job is “interacting with visitors — members or guests — who come into Beth Jacob, whether it’s the young moms and dads with preschoolers or retirees who come around to volunteer or take care of shul business.”

And she loves to bake and bring in new recipes for her co-workers to critique. Whether connecting to others through food, writing or visits to the synagogue office, Berkowitz has made an impact at Beth Jacob and beyond. ■

SPECIAL REPORT

‘You Need to Have Pain,’ St. Joseph’s Doctor Says

By Kevin Madigan kmadigan@atljewishtimes.com

In trying to treat pain, James L. Carlson says, doctors have nearly destroyed lives.

able, psychologically and physically. To prevent that withdrawal, the cheapest drug out there is heroin.”

Added to the opioid mix is synthetic fentanyl. “It’s an incredible medicine that we use as anesthesia in the operating room every day. It’s hard to get normally, and it only comes in IV form and a patch,” Carlson said. “You can get the components illegally shipped from China through Mexico, and the (U.S.) government is trying to prevent it. It’s incredibly potent and gives you a really good high. Tons of people have been overdosing on it recently.”

The pain problem involves young and old. “When I started doing this work, I would see a lot of patients who were elderly. A lot of nice Jewish ladies who would come all dressed up, and they had terrible knees or bad backs, and their insurance would expect me to fix their pain and make something happen, that I might have a magic wand or a potion for pain management.

“In fact, the only thing you can do is get active: Use the pool, live your life, stay away from doctors. You can get some temporary relief from a pain pill, but in a few weeks you become adapted to it. That becomes your new baseline.”

Rampant drug use by adults has affected children, Carlson said.

“There’s always kids who’ll take them from their parents, and they’ll try them and give them to their friends. Middle school kids are getting high and dependent on the same drugs. In my family I’ve got three nieces and nephews who’ve become addicted to opioids.”

Medicine is “just coming to grips with treating pain that doesn’t involve opioids. Physicians are really struggling with how to deal with this issue right now. We know what we’ve been doing is wrong and hurtful more than helpful. We have to encourage patients to do what they need to do, lose weight, you know, exercise, do all the things we know are good for you vs. just taking a pill. That just masks the symptoms.” ■

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

In a concerted effort to curtail addiction to opioids, an Atlanta pain specialist is taking a tough approach with patients who demand painkillers.

“I’ve swung now towards telling patients, ‘You need to have pain. Pain is a signal from your body that something is not right, and I can make you comfortable, but if I do, you’ll be comatose or dead,’ ” physician James L. Carlson said in an interview.

Carlson, who works in pain management and anesthesiology at Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital, added: “I say it in a pleasant way, but that summarizes where I am and where I think medicine has gone wrong.”

Narcotic painkillers have a strong potential for abuse and addiction. The National Institute of Drug Abuse estimates that 81 percent of the global supply is consumed in the United States, with a large number of legal prescriptions being diverted to street users.

“It has gone from just doing procedures and injections to, in the early-tomid-90s, drug companies promoting, with very little supporting evidence by the medical community, the unlimited use of oxycodone and OxyContin, with no ceiling required in terms of dosing,” Carlson said. It’s “the concept that no one should be expected to have pain. If you’ve paid any attention to society, the results of that have been horrific.”

The overprescription of opioid painkillers is directly related to the national epidemic of heroin addiction.

“Huge doses of narcotics are being given to patients,” the doctor said. “They get hooked on these meds and become dependent on them, and they need them to maintain the euphoria they get.”

Current studies show that little benefit is gained by prescribing opioids for pain, Carlson said. “It’s almost impossible to verify that anyone with moderate to large doses of opioids functions any better. In fact, they become depressed, have all sorts of negative side effects, their hormones get out of balance, they get constipated, they have fatigue, and they don’t interact with family. So in trying to treat pain, you almost destroy their lives.”

That is when many turn to heroin, he said. “What happens is, you truly become physically dependent on an opioid once you’ve done it for a while, and you go into withdrawal. It’s uncomfort-

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

SPECIAL REPORT

Drug Treatment Success Begins With Genes

By Cady Schulman cschulman@atljewishtimes.com When it comes to treating drug addiction, genetics can play a major role.

The genetic factor hasn’t been used in treatment plans, but that’s changing with pharmacogenetic testing that recently was approved by Medicaid and rolled out as a nationwide program.

The test is simple: just a swab from both of the patient’s cheeks. In three to five days, a drug treatment center receives a report listing what medications the patient can and cannot metabolize.

In other words, the genetic report reveals which medications would have no effect on that particular patient, no matter how large the dose.

In addition, the test can determine the likelihood of that person to turn to alcohol, nicotine or sugar as secondary addictions, as well as possible side effects, such as weight gain.

The test is easy to interpret. A green circle means the patient can metabolize the medication. A caution triangle means to proceed with caution because the patient may have an

increased risk of side effects or has a poor response to the medication. A red circle means the patient cannot metabolize the medication.

Currently, doctors focus on either the physical or the physiological side of drug addiction.

But “it’s both,” said Mark Benveniste, the director of operations of Atlanta-based Readmissions Reduction Group, which created the pharmacogenetic testing.

The RRG approach “is way advanced. It’s amazing. We swab them upon admission, and within a couple days they can use this as a playbook to prescribe the exact medication.”

He said half the people who take medications do not metabolize them.

“We tell them not predictively, but exactly which chemicals their body will respond to.”

That information will help doctors treat patients more accurately from the beginning and should reduce the incidence of relapse, which can occur when patients don’t absorb and respond to medicine. Benveniste said a study by the University of Massachusetts Medical School of 52,000 people

being treated for drug addiction found that the use of proper medication for each person cut the relapse rate in half.

“Addiction is not an acute illness that is treated in a short time,” Benveniste said. “It’s a real disease.”

Although Benveniste’s organization has worked on creating the addiction panel test since December, it took until the summer to get approval for coverage by Medicaid. The test also is approved by many private insurance companies.

The protocol has been tested at Valley Vista, an inpatient alcohol and chemical dependency treatment center in Bradford, Vt., where Benveniste said the results were phenomenal. Officials at Valley Vista did not return a phone call seeking comment.

RRG “did a number of tests with them to make sure their medical director was happy with it, our medical director was happy, and state Medicaid realized it’s in their financial best interest,” Benveniste said.

The protocol also was one of 40 national semifinalists for ABL’s Innovations in Healthcare ABBY Awards but didn’t make the list of nine finalists

announced Aug. 23.

Not only can the test be used to help treat drug addiction, but people also can be tested at their doctors’ offices to see which medications they take truly work for them. If necessary, the results include options for other medicines.

Doctors must be participants with Readmissions Reduction Group to perform the test. On the last page of the clinical report is a card that can be laminated and kept in the patient’s wallet to show future doctors and pharmacists.

You need the test only once in your lifetime because genes never change, Benveniste said.

Now that the testing is available nationwide, Readmissions Reduction Group anticipates being contacted by facilities across the country.

“I think the biggest influx we’re going to have is clinically from medical directors,” Benveniste said. “Their level of frustration in trying to figure out what to give somebody who comes in off the street is reaching an all-time high. At the root of it all is your genes.

It’s a game-changer.” ■

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SPECIAL REPORT

Electronic Records Help Grady Handle Pills When Hany Atallah, the chief of emergency medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital, started in the Grady emergency room 13 years ago, he typically saw one or two drug overdoses a month. Now he sees them all the time.

Prescription pill abuse has become an epidemic, and if people get hooked on the pills but can’t get them anymore, sometimes they turn to street drugs such as heroin, he said.

Grady is among the health systems re-evaluating their opioid prescription habits. Atallah said his department is working on a report about how many opioid prescriptions are coming out of the emergency room and how often regular ER visitors are leaving with prescriptions.

The use of electronic medical records helps respond to the problem of overprescription, he said. Doctors can include notes to draw other health care providers’ attention to opioid concerns and even recommend against addition-

al prescriptions.

One important distinction is between chronic and acute pain. Opioids aren’t as effective as exercise and antiinflammatories against chronic pain, Atallah said, and some doctors try to treat even acute pain with nonopioids.

“If you come in with a broken leg, opioids are appropriate. They’re not appropriate for two months,” Atallah said.

Some patients with a history of opioid addiction refuse any painkillers for fear of getting hooked again, which Atallah said he understands. But he also sees patients who have heard about the addiction epidemic and, despite no history, are wary of taking any opioids.

“We have to be careful about overdoing it,” Atallah said. While there probably are too many opioid prescriptions being written by primary care physicians and emergency rooms across the country, there’s also a danger of causing an epidemic of pain by overreacting. “We have to be careful the pendulum doesn’t swing too far.” ■

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Serving as Emory University’s student body president, Max Zoberman has some lofty goals for the new school year.

A native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Zoberman is the grandson of a Holocaust survivor and the middle of three children.

His father was raised in the Orthodox community and took his children to Chabad for a time but eventually settled into the Conservative community.

“We were Conservative for a long time,” Zoberman said. “At some point we made the transition to Reform, not necessarily for ideological reasons, but for logistical reasons.”

He added: “Some of my earliest memories with my dad were conversations, specifically about kashrut: what it was, why it wasn’t arbitrary. For a 10-year-old, those rules can feel incredibly arbitrary. That was the core of my relationship with Judaism for a long time.”

With parents who are lawyers and an older brother in law school, Zoberman has known for a long while that he was headed toward a legal career.

He applied to schools with strong political science programs and chose Emory because of the atmosphere he observed while touring the school.

“There was something really special about the campus community,” Zoberman said. “When I looked around, everywhere people were studying. They were working, but they didn’t seem miserable. It was clear they all enjoyed it.”

Zoberman credits his start in student government to a former president of the student body, John Darby, who

served in 2014-15.

Before Darby, the student government was not a reliable advocate for the students, Zoberman said, and had Max Zoberman damaged the trust between the students and the administration.

Darby redefined the role of the student government, and Zoberman has worked to continue that effort. He started in the legislature and worked his way up to committee chair and vice president before being elected president in the spring.

His platform promoted four major changes: ensuring diversity in the student body, recalculating the way money is divided among student organizations, improving campus safety, and evaluating how mental health issues are treated on campus.

Like many campuses last school year, social justice was a major theme for Emory. “It opened up a lot of wounds,” Zoberman said, “but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. When you break a bone, it heals stronger.

“There were students who called out the administration, staff and fellow students on what they saw as a new form of racism. I think the point was well taken, and there’s a lot of work being done to start healing and reversing the damage of that trend.”

With his term underway, Zoberman has begun implementing some changes. For example, a cabinet-level position, vice president for diversity and equity, was created, and the student government is examining the recalculation of funding for student organizations for the first time in years. ■

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

EDUCATION

Students, Parents to Get Lesson on ‘Hookup Culture’

By Patrice Worthy Katie Koestner became the center of a national debate in 1991 when she came forward as a victim of date rape.

She went on to challenge commonly held beliefs about sex, sexuality and sexual assault.

Now as the executive director of Campus Outreach Services and Take Back the Night, she educates the public on rape prevention. Campus Outreach Services works with hundreds of schools, and Take Back the Night, which seeks to end all forms of sexual violence, has more than 600 locations.

On Sunday evening, Sept. 11, Koestner is speaking at the Weber School in a program supported by the Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta to help parents navigate the modern sex culture among high school and college students. She spoke to the AJT by phone.

and all over TV. When the parents of today were growing up, you kept going until someone said stop. Today it is different.

Laws are going more toKatie Koestner ward affirmative consent, which means you have to get a yes before any contact. That means a yes before any touching and over- or under-the-clothes contact.

logue will empower them?

Koestner: Absolutely. My family was religious and very conservative in our values. We never talked about any of this. My dad was very intimidating, and he met guys at the door, so I never worried or thought about boys treating me a certain way. No one ever said this is what you do if this happens or that boys would do something like that. I didn’t know how to respond because nobody talked to me about it. There’s still more reluctance to talk about sexual things, and we need to get past that.

AJT: You talk a lot about communication and talking openly about sex with children. Do you think open dia-

AJT: What do you want people to take away from your presentations?

Koestner: I hope parents will real-

ize the importance of having a conversation with their children about sex, rape and consent. I also want people to walk away feeling empowerment to speak up about a relationship, situation or any kind of sexual experience where they are abused or violated. ■ What: “Silence Changes Nothing: Healthy Relationships and Understanding Harassment, Consent, and Sexual Misconduct” Who: Katie Koestner Where: The Weber School, 6751 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs When: 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11 Admission: Free; reserve seats at weberschool.org/katie

AJT: What can attendees expect from you at the Weber School?

Koestner: I am giving a presentation on healthy relationships geared toward helping parents give their children the tools they need to communicate about sex, especially with the hookup culture going right now.

It’s important to talk to children about how to navigate the space and protect themselves, especially when alcohol is involved and the vulnerabilities it can create.

AJT: How is your message relevant to religious communities?

Koestner: It’s a predominantly Jewish audience, and there are certain expectations in Jewish families about relationships and sexuality. Talking about sex, sexuality and rape really does matter in faith-based communities. No matter if we’re talking about Orthodox or Reform or what they’re following, it is important they include sexuality in the conversation.

AJT: Why is it important to create dialogue about sex within the community and families?

Koestner: We don’t live in a time where you can avoid sex. It’s in music

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

AJT: Why do you choose to center your work on high school and college students?

Koestner: Sexual assault is a problem that can happen to anyone from childhood to adulthood. I think there’s a need everywhere. Most of the presenters had their experience in high school and college, so that’s our expertise.

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EDUCATION

Sitting beside daughter Suzann, Gina Cayne shows students her husband’s ID card, which was found at the World Trade Center site.

9/11 Story at Davis Shows Power of Faith, Family

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com

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The last time Suzann Cayne heard her father’s voice, it was 8:15 Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001.

With her mom, Gina, and her two younger sisters, she was at home getting ready for school. As usual, after leaving Manalapan, N.J., for Manhattan at 4:30 a.m., Jason “Jake” Cayne was in his Cantor Fitzgerald office on the 104th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, and he was calling to wish his girls a good day.

Like nearly 3,000 other Americans, Jake Cayne died that morning. He was 32. His children were 7, 4 and 20 months.

Davis Academy sixth-, seventhand eighth-graders heard from Gina and Suzann Cayne on Friday, Sept, 2, about the shock of 9/11 and the struggle to find meaning in their lives ever since. They traveled from Florida to Sandy Springs because of their connection to Davis middle-schooler Emily Mann and her father, Brian Curtis, who edited a 10th anniversary book, “The Legacy Letters: Messages of Life & Hope from 9/11 Family Members,” with a letter Suzann wrote to her father.

The students reflected their emotional responses to the harrowing details from that horrible day and the weeks and months after, such as: • Suzann was pulled out of school without knowing what was happening and that evening saw video of the twin towers falling. She thought it was a movie but was confident, even if it was real, that everyone inside was OK because people died only when they were old.

• She and her sisters slept that first night huddled on the foot of their mother’s bed; no one at that point knew whether Jake had escaped.

• It was on Rosh Hashanah, a week

after the attack, that Gina had to face the truth when she learned that Jake’s American Express card had been found in the rubble.

• Months later, when Gina was going through life like a zombie, she hit a car in a grocery parking lot. When she delivered a check for the damage and the cars’ owners heard her story, they tore up her check and wrote her a bigger check to help the family get through.

Living amid a large Sephardic family — it was typical for 100 people to gather at her home to offer support — was crucial for the Caynes, Gina said. And because she wanted to turn tragedy into something positive, she launched a nonprofit that eventually raised and contributed more than $300,000 to families who lost a parent and were at risk of losing their homes.

“It’s a healing thing for me to help out,” she told the Davis students.

Her middle daughter is now in college; her youngest is in high school.

Suzann, now a graduate of the University of Central Florida, is pursuing a doctorate to become a psychologist specializing in family trauma, although being a witness to terrorist trials at Guantanamo Bay also sparked an interest in forensic psychology.

She told the Davis kids about the importance of her Jewish faith, although she acknowledged that her relationship with G-d was shaken.

“Of course I questioned G-d. I questioned G-d a lot. Why do bad things happen to good people? That was my biggest one. And a lot of my Judaic classes, they went over that; they explained it to me,” she said.

By ninth grade, her faith bottomed out, but her rabbi talked her through it. “I think the reason why I never 100 percent lost faith in G-d is because I needed that hope, and without G-d, I wouldn’t have had that hope.” ■

EDUCATION

Photo by Marcia Caller Jaffe

Honorees Stephen and Marianne Garber flank Steve and Eydie Koonin after a JELF event they all deemed a huge success.

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Jesse Itzler fascinates the audience with an animated presentation.

Itzler’s a JELF Slam-Dunk Atlanta superathlete, author and entrepreneur Jesse Itzler dazzled a rapt crowd of 670 at the annual Jewish Educational Loan Fund fundraising event Tuesday, Aug. 30, at Flourish.

Itzler traced his journey from brownie purveyor and kiddy pool attendant to rapper, co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, co-founder of Marquis Jet, husband and father of four.

His motivational message centered on “not dillydallying through life.”

“Surround yourself with people on a mission,” he said. “Pattern your brain not to give up so easily. Most people quit at 40 percent, at the first inclination of pain. … Many of our limitations are self-imposed.”

A charmingly basic, hand-drawn slide illustrated Itzler’s “time pie chart”: seven hours of sleep, three hours of personal time, eight hours for family life and six hours of work.

“Mental toughness determines much of your success,” he said He also signed copies of his new book, “Living With a SEAL,” which will be part of the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center on Nov. 13.

In introducing Itzler, honorary event chair Eydie Koonin recalled that he did the music for her son’s bar mitzvah ceremony. She and husband Steve, the CEO of the Hawks, agreed to match the funds raised that night up

to $100,000.

With that match, the event raised

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$211,000, JELF CEO Jenna Shulman said, and sponsorships raised the net proceeds for the night to more than a quarter-million dollars.

JELF uses the money to make no-interest college loans to Jewish students in Georgia, Florida, Virginia and the Carolinas and has a 99 percent repayment rate.

She thanked Itzler and the Koonins, as well as Legendary Events and founder Tony Conway for providing the venue.

Maryanne Garber, JELF’s board chair and an event honoree with husband Stephen, spoke of her dedication to helping others through the legacy of her father-in-law, Al Garber, and praised Itzler, the JELF staff, and event chairs Joanne and Eddie Birnbrey and Nancy and Ronnie Galanti for an event that was “a dream come true. The sun, moon and the stars lined up.”

JELF supporter Robyn Spizman Gerson said: “The Garbers are generous individuals carrying on such a legacy of love. They are devoted to the next generation and making a lifechanging difference.” ■

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BUSINESS

Chosen Beer Finds Its Georgia Liberator

By Kevin Madigan kmadigan@atljewishtimes.com

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Beer lovers in Georgia have smiled a lot more since the state General Assembly approved the sale of high-gravity craft brews in 2004.

“After they flipped the alcohol cap, they had this incredible renaissance here,” said Jeremy Cowan, the founder of New York-based Shmaltz Brewing Co., who was in Atlanta recently to promote a new distribution deal with a local vendor.

“It was the first time you had access to all these incredible flavors, so we rushed into that and got really excited about it,” he said. “Now Georgia has a very vibrant beer culture, but it’s more crowded than ever. And the challenge down here is how do you carve

AJT 30

out space for yourself, make a name for yourself and keep people’s attention. So we’re working to do just that.”

Cowan spoke to the AJT at an Aug. 10 event at The General Muir to celebrate Shmaltz’s distribution deal with Liberator Distributing. The company, located in Tucker, is just what Shmaltz needs right now, he said. “We’re excited to be with them. They’re a small company that reminds me a lot of when I got started 20 years ago: very passionate, excited about the beers they represent but with a lot more experience than many people who (become) distributors.”

He said Liberator is a new wholesaler. It buys beer such as He’brew from small, talented breweries, then turns around and sells the beer to bars, restaurants and retail stores.

“They are very selective about the beers they choose,” Cowan said. “We can now work together to introduce Shmaltz beers to Atlanta in a way that we were unable to do in the last couple of years. That’s been a big challenge.”

Part of that challenge is competing with hyperlocal beer being made around the country, Cowan said. By law, brewers must go through a distributor to sell their product.

“The sale channel gets incredibly busy and competitive,” he said. “Wholesalers now have access to all their local brewers, so it gets harder and harder to compete. There are very limited options for us.”

Cowan’s brewing career began in 1996 in San Francisco, where the first batches of He’brew, his signature creation, were hand-bottled and delivered from the trunk of his grandmother’s Volvo.

His company now has 33 employees and operates from a 20,000-squarefoot facility in Clifton Park, N.Y., with a capacity of 35,000 barrels a year.

Other beers in the Shmaltz roster include Messiah Nut Brown, Jewbilation, Hop Manna, and Circum Session, a limited-edition ale that started out as an April Fool’s joke.

“If you’re in the beer world

Jeremy Cowan is the founder of the Shmaltz Brewing Co.

and you’re not having fun, you’re probably not doing the job right,” Cowan said. “People still think of Jews as not big beer drinkers, so beer and Judaism seem kind of an oxymoron. … But my dad was at a Jewish fraternity in Berkeley in the early ’60s, and I’m pretty sure they were drinking just as much beer as their non-Jewish neighbors.”

Cowan loves playing with stereotypes, he said, “whether through the packaging, the recipes or the shtick at our events. To me, that’s a really meaningful outlet. The minute anyone reads the stories I’ve written on the side of the labels or looks at our website, they will get a deeper appreciation of what I’m trying to do, which is infuse the most American of products - beer with a sense of Jewish whimsy and history and innovative connections and sensibility. That I’ve survived 20 years is completely shocking.” ■

ARTS

‘Black Flags,’ Red Faces

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com How Islamic State came to be the No. 1 terrorist threat and how the United States should respond will be part of the presidential campaign the next two months, as Donald Trump showed by declaring Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton the group’s founders.

Trump would be wise to read Joby Warrick’s “Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS” to get the true story.

The Pulitzer Prize winner, now in paperback with an afterword about the November attack on Paris, explores how the group’s true founder, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and successor Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi built an Islamist army that helped shatter Iraq and Syria.

Islamic State’s rise was not inevitable. But now its adherents are spread throughout Europe and North America with the potential to repeat Paris-type attacks and turn more people in the West against Islam in general, feeding

Baghdadi’s apocalyptic dreams.

President George W. Bush and those in his administration who were determined to invade Iraq in 2003 without a workable plan for making that country a shining light of Arab democracy created the chaos Zarqawi fed on, then made him an Islamist hero.

President Obama and his administration, in their rush to exit Iraq and their determination to avoid Syria, gave the remnants of Zarqawi’s organization the time, space and conditions to re-form, strengthen and expand.

Warrick’s extensive reporting is stronger regarding the first phase under Zarqawi, who died in 2006, but the bipartisan and multinational mistakes and missed opportunities over two decades provide ample lessons for wouldbe American policymakers. ■ What: Prologue to the Book Festival event Where: Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

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HOME

World Comes Home to Milton Country Estate Yes, culture, drama and aesthetics exist outside the Perimeter — waaaay outside.

Visit the Evans’ compound in Milton with layers of space and special views of the landscape and beyond. It’s all designed to heighten a sense of isolation — urban yet pastoral.

Charles, a retired major player in the health care industry who now heads a nonprofit, has traveled the globe to meet with government heads and collect statement pieces along the way.

Wife Renee, an organic chemist by training, is an accomplished artist, designer, chef and Judaics collector who strives to preserve palaces abroad.

Both approach their lifestyle with a sense of humor, warmth and confidence in what they like.

Take the trip to the Evans countryside estate.

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Jaffe: How do you use these outdoor 10 acres?

Charles: Before I even looked inside the house, I saw the back yard and knew I had to have it. I hand-wrote a contract for the real estate agent on the spot. A lot goes into the landscaping.

We have 30 Japanese maples, various exotic trees, two outside kitchens, a koi pond, an arched wedding venue, pool and a vegetable garden.

Renee: We have a family of deer that is so charming. Right now I am working on the garden. Note the animated owl scarecrow, whose eyes blink to deter critters. The dollhouse is a replica of the main house. Most sentimentally, my two best friends’ weddings were held here, as was our own.

Also, I like to paint outdoors. It is very private.

Jaffe: I see so much interesting Judaica.

Renee: We have a mezuzah on most every room’s door. … They are from Amsterdam, Budapest, England, Greece, Israel, Istanbul, Russia — really all over. I designed our Hebrew house blessing from Portuguese tiles, and our ketubah is a historical Venetian/ Hebrew document with hand-painted detail mounted on rose silk.

Most meaningful to us was having three Torah covers for our synagogue handcrafted in Israel. We sought out artisans in Mea Shearim (the religious area of Jerusalem) to be able to inter32 pret my designs. One was based on the

AJT

Garden of Eden; the others, Shabbat and the Ten Commandments. Each one was hand-made with gold threading.

Some with precious stones. All were coordinated with an individual yad we collected from different countries.

They were dedicated in memory of my mother and both grandparents, taking six months to complete.

Chai-Style Homes

By Marcia Caller Jaffe mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com

Jaffe: You have so much in art and culture from far-off lands. Why so?

Charles: Since retiring, I operate a nonprofit that works with governments and organizations in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Latin America, establishing outpatient health clinics for underserved communities. If you recall, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival movie “Zemene” showcased the Joint Distribution Committee’s work with Dr. Rick Hodes in Ethiopia and spine disease. We did some meaningful work with him there, for example. Oftentimes we work with faith-based charities.

We have collected art from Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Dubai, Europe, South America and Russia. My office features a tapestry from Peru. So we call it all “internationally eclectic.”

Jaffe: You as an artist and designer cover a lot of ground. Describe some of your inspirations.

Renee: You can see my paintings are often bold, colored geometrics with a hint of metal foil. I like to mix it up and can do portraits and landscapes as well. This unusual, full-size knight in shining armor (called “Hymie”) guards the house. But he has a secret. I painted over his original metal form.

Jaffe: What goes on in your kitchen?

Renee: I strive to be a good cook. I like to bake breads and am known for my honey wheat “mullah challah” that can feed a crowd. I love making pizza and pasta from scratch. I guess Charles would say my best dish is seafood pasta. You can see the reclining Buddha from India watches me cook. I will admit to buying cookies and pies from Publix down the street.

Jaffe: The lighting inside is breath-

A taking. Even in the casual sunroom you have formal fixtures.

Renee: Most of our fixtures are Baccarat or Waterford. We collect Waterford, thus we commissioned this replica of the Irish Open golf cup with our crest “C/R” by master craftsman and chief designer John Connolly while in Waterford, Ireland. It came shipped in a HUGE protective crate.

Jaffe: How do you use your carriage house or “man office”?

Charles: The downstairs is a replica of an English pub room. Note the stained glass that we acquired from the Red Baron. There is also a workout room, wine cellar and theater. Upstairs is my working office.

Jaffe: What are some of your most unusual treasures?

Renee: I am a patron of the Royal Palace Association, which strives to preserve these grand historic buildings.

Charles teases me about being a princess, since I do have a jeweled tiara.

I want to note that we bought it not out

of pretense, but because of its historical significance, tracing back to a Jewish family in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Charles: I think the giant Prussian royal egg (circa 1780) is fairly exotic. I have great memories of receiving this oil from Russian President Boris Yeltsin when we worked on a project in Murmansk, Russia.

I do tell a funny story about meeting with the Clintons and Yeltsins and other heads of state on health care.

When the men went into another room to smoke cigars and talk world peace, I stayed with the first ladies to discuss health care.

Jaffe: Charles, I would say you are not exactly retired.

Charles: I am busy doing meaningful work, including serving on multiple company boards, but I keep control of my calendar. That’s the winning combination. Our rescue pup, Winifred, has two cats to chase. Renee expresses herself artistically and serves on the Federation board and committees.

Thus, you could say we are very busy and happy. ■

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

HOME

B

F

C

G D

E

Photos by Duane Stork

A: Hymie, the knight in shining armor, watches over the keeping room and its amber Baccarat chandelier.

B: Renee and Charles Evans with pup Princess Winifred enjoy their formal living room amid European oils, Persian silk carpets, Vietnamese mother-of-pearl lacquer panels and an antique Prussian royal egg.

C: A sparkling Waterford chandelier accents the casual pastel sun room and skylight.

D: A Peruvian tapestry highlights Charles Evans’ man office on the second floor of the carriage house.

E: Deer regularly romp across the Evans property, but swan and flamingo floats are the only wildlife in the swimming pool.

F: A Waterford master craftsman made this replica of the Irish Open cup — with the C/R crest for Charles and Renee — in celebration of their marriage.

G: The carriage house’s lower level replicates an English pub, including stained glass imported from England. The movie theater, wine cellar and workout room are nearby.

H: A reclining Buddha from India watches over the kitchen, where Renee Evans is known for baking her “mullah challah.” The chandeliers are Schonbek crystal.

I: This original oil, depicting Russian villagers, was a gift from then-President Boris Yeltsin after Charles Evans completed a health care project in Murmansk.

I

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

H

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OBITUARIES

Alan Firestone 95, Atlanta

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SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Rabbi Brad Levenberg, Temple Sinai

AJT 34

Alan Firestone of Atlanta, formerly of Cleveland, Ohio, died Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, at the age of 95.

He is survived by his wife, Doris, and his three loving daughters, Shellie (Peter) Moisio, Kathy (Richard) Swartz and Jenifer (Lou Benson) Firestone. He was the proud grandfather to Justin (Amy), Jaime, Michael (Stephanie), Courtney (Katherine) and Hannah and great-grandfather to Maggie and Gabbie. He was the brother of the late Rita (James) Vail and Lois (Norman) Kay. Alan was the son of Isadore and Edith Firestone.

Alan graduated from Glenville High School and the Ohio State University with a degree in medical technology. He was able to start his own medical laboratory, which over the next 50 years he built into the largest private laboratory in Ohio. He retired at the age of 86. Alan worked incredibly hard to provide for his family, was a founding member of Temple Emanu El, enjoyed golf and his life at Lake Forest Country Club, and had a great circle of friends who enjoyed his wonderful (and terrible) sense of humor. He was always an incredible optimist and counted his blessings regularly.

Graveside services were held at Hillcrest Memorial Park in Bedford Heights, Ohio, on Sunday, Aug. 28. Friends who wish may make contributions in his name to Weinstein Hospice in Atlanta. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Lt. Col. A. Ervin Goldberg 99, Atlanta

A. Ervin Goldberg passed away Monday, Aug. 29, 2016, one day after his 99th birthday.

A native Atlantan, he attended Boys’ High School and John Marshall Law School. He began his military career in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942. His team flew supplies into Allied countries.

He was part of the Combat Support Group, Air Corps Training School and U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He also served as an Army Air Forces photographer in World War II. After active duty he served as a reserve officer in the Air Force for 23 years.

Ervin entered the business world with his brother Elliot, starting Superior Egg Co. He found new interests in the automotive electrical rebuilding business, operating Ace Auto Electric Exchange, and over the years he expanded into the distribution of electrical parts from his headquarters in Atlanta. Ace Electric Rebuilders Supply Inc., as it became known, had branches in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee. He retired at 80, turning the business over to his son to enjoy life with his wife, Esther Marie Haskell of Columbus. They were happily married for 70 years before her passing in 2011. They spent their time between homes in Atlanta and Highland Beach, Fla. His greatest joy was his family, which includes his children, Judy Garber, Cheryl Andrews (Sam) and Martin Goldberg (Cydney). He loved spending time with his five grandchildren, Bonnie Garber, Susan Crittendon (Mike), Jason Andrews (Allie), Summer Gabriel (John) and Chanel Goldberg, and four great-grandchildren, Johnathan Oakes and Eric, Samantha and Kati Crittendon. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

He was predeceased by his five siblings, Harry Goldberg, Julia Butler, Eva Martin, Bertha Cohen and Elliot Goldberg. He was a member of Jewish War Veterans Post 112, a Mason, and an active, lifelong member of Ahavath Achim Synagogue. His family wishes to express appreciation to his caregivers during the last few months, especially Laura Jacka, the president of Wellington Place of Serenity, Johns Creek, and her dedicated staff.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. A graveside service was held Wednesday, Aug. 31, at Greenwood Cemetery. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

OBITUARIES

Penelope Posel 70, Atlanta

Penelope “Penny” Posel, 70, of Atlanta died Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, after a courageous two-year battle with glioblastoma.

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, to Eve and Percie Gild, of blessed memory, Penny and her late husband, Teddy, moved to Atlanta in 1978 with their three sons. Penny was full of life and loved nothing more than her family and dear friends. She cherished her grandchildren and could often be seen sitting at the sidelines of a baseball game or doing art projects with them. She always had a positive attitude, even in the face of a terminal illness.

She is survived by her three sons, Greg (Laine) Posel of Atlanta, Peter (Melissa Wolfe) of San Diego, and Marc (Heather Rubin) Posel of San Diego; brother and sister-in-law Anthony and Renee Gild of San Diego; and five grandchildren, who were her everything, Zach, Alexa and Carly of Atlanta and Evan and Bella of San Diego. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles “Teddy” Posel, of blessed memory.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Brain Tumor Fund at Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, or Jewish Family & Career Services. A graveside service was held Monday, Aug. 29, at Arlington Memorial Park with Rabbi Peter Berg officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

John Wolf Atlanta

A great man, John Adler Wolf, passed away at 1:15 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016.

Survivors include his wife, Diane; sons David (Jenny) Wolf and Matthew Wolf; stepsons Jay (Jan) Fisher and Curtis (Tammi) Fisher; and grandchildren Rachel, Lyndsi, Andrew, Emma Grace, Sage and Hayden. Wonderful journey, be loved.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, Weinstein Hospice or Temple Sinai. A memorial service is being held at a later date. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

Death Notices

Your GO TO Specialists for all YOUR REAL ESTATE Needs RE/MAX AROUND ATLANTA David Shapiro Jon Shapiro DShapiro@remax.net JonShapiro@mindspring.com 404-252-7500 404-845-3065 404-845-3050 www.jonshapiro.com

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Vladimir Dronzin of Duluth on Sept. 1.

Harold Feld, 93, of Atlanta, husband of Phyllis Warshaw Feld, father of Scott Feld and Leslie Simpson, and brother of Joseph Feldberg, on Sept. 1.

Elvis Ginsburg Goldsmith, 92, of Memphis, Tenn., mother of Temple Sinai member Jane Butler, Beth Brown, Harry Goldsmith and Peggy Fineman, on Aug. 28.

Bernard Rosenak, 89, of Peoria, Ill., husband of Emily Rosenak, father of Temple Sinai member Cheryl Alifeld, David Rosenak, Melinda Schoch, Bobbi Pauline and Gregory Rosenak, and stepfather of Thomas Marshall, on Aug. 26.

Sima Royter of Atlanta on Aug. 28.

Terry Seaman of Atlanta on Sept. 1.

Myra Weinberg Wiedman, 90, of Atlanta, Temple member, wife of Emanuel Wiedman, and mother of Lisa Yancich, Richard Wiedman and Beth Fishbane.

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Kosher dietary laws observed.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank sits in the first four seats at MercedesBenz Stadium with season ticket holder Stephen Klee and his parents, Rita and Ronnie Klee, who are original Falcons season ticket holders. Blank, Stephen Klee, AMB Group CEO Steve Cannon and Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Dietmar Exler helped install the seats, the first of 70,000 at the $1.5 billion downtown stadium, on Thursday, Sept. 1. Read more at atlantajewishtimes.com.

SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

Gold, Gorst Finish Their First Pro Seasons

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Former Johns Creek High School and Georgia Tech teammates Brandon Gold and Matthew Gorst ended their first regular seasons as professional baseball pitchers on opposite sides of the country over Labor Day weekend, although Gorst advanced to the playoffs with the Lowell Spinners.

Both of the Jewish pitchers were assigned to short-season Class A teams after being drafted in the 12th round in June, Gold by the Colorado Rockies and Gorst by the Boston Red Sox. Gold got off to a rough start as a reliever for the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League. He was one of the last of the team’s 18 pitchers to take the mound, then gave up a grand slam and five runs (three earned) without recording an out in his first appearance.

But he gradually chipped away at his earned-run average. He picked up his first professional win with two shutout innings against Tri-City on Aug. 6, and over his last four appearances totaling 10 innings, he gave up only two earned runs.

His final appearance Sept. 3 — two shutout innings with three strikeouts

— brought his ERA to a season-low 4.01 in 24 2/3 innings over 15 appearances.

He finished with a 1-2 record and 23 strikeouts with only two walks. The downside is that he surrendered 30 hits, including three home runs.

Gorst also was one of the last pitchers to appear for Lowell in the New York-Penn League, but he got off to a hot start working out of the bullpen. Gorst gave up only one run in his first six appearances.

The odd thing about the beginning of his pro career was the lack of strikeouts: He had none in his first three outings.

But in his final five appearances he recorded 19 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings, ending the regular season with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings Sept. 3.

Gorst finished the year 1-0, winning against Batavia on July 28, with two saves in 13 games. He had a 2.67 ERA with 27 strikeouts, six walks and 21 hits in 27 innings.

The Spinners were scheduled to start a best-of-three playoff series against Hudson Valley on Wednesday, Sept. 7. ■

Dog by Any Other Name It’s 6:30 in the morning, and I can hear my purple running shoes and my red socks with little white hearts calling my name: “Shaindleh, oh, Shaindleh!”

OK, perhaps it’s my dog barking, reminding me it’s time for his potty break and my morning run. Whatever, it’s my wake-up call.

I am ready to go. I take the red, grossgrain leash from its hook, rub Ari’s belly and back — not a bad way to wake up; it’s a dog’s life, right? — hook the leash up, and off we go. The heat has not hit its most oppressive number yet; the humidity is not fuzzy-hair high.

When I run, my head clears of worries and opens space for random thoughts and memories. On this particular morning, my mind takes a journey back to my childhood in the Bronx.

When I was a little girl living in the Bronx, a barking dog was not what woke me up to go to school. Either my mom (z”l) woke us, or we woke ourselves. Sometimes we woke each other.

As I recall, no one I knew in an apartment owned a dog. We did have dogs in the Bronx — and I refer here to the four-legged kind — I just didn’t know any on a personal level.

There was one huge dog, a German shepherd, I think, down the Prospect Avenue hill near Tremont in a private residence; it barked whenever anyone walked by. At that time in my young life, I did not know dogs barked to protect their space and their owners. I thought they barked to scare me to death.

Although I was aware he was behind a wooden fence and could not break out, I generally crossed over to walk on the other side of the street, where the shoemaker and the candy store owner could protect me.

My mom and her parents and siblings were all afraid of dogs. Dogs were reminders of the pogroms against the Jews in many areas of Europe and Russia. The military would sic huge and vicious German shepherds on the Jews to scare them or kill them.

The mere sight of a dog would give my mom a chill. Of course, in front of us girls, she appeared not to be affected by the sight of a dog or the sound of the bark.

Yet, somehow, I always wanted a dog of my own. When we had children, we decided to adopt a dog. The

children would learn to be responsible for another living being (ha!) and would learn not to be afraid.

Our first puppy, Chien (dog), arrived in a crate after a six-hour train ride. We bought him a beautiful doghouse, painted it and installed indoor/ outdoor carpet. I even sewed up a soft, cool-looking blankie.

But after hours of heated discus-

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ACROSS 1. Actresses Jennifer Jason or Vivien 6. Pico-Robertson visible air 10. Muscles that might be hit by one receiving lashes, for short 14. Give a heter 15. Tattoo on Amar’e Stoudemire’s face 16. Harold’s “Ghostbuster” role 17. Iconic role played by 63-Across 19. Chaplin who was on Benioff’s “Game of Thrones” 20. Indiana Jones films, e.g.

21. Stats for Ruth and Greenberg 22. King Saul’s commander in chief 23. First film of 63-Across 27. Actor McKellen who has played a Nazi and a Holocaust survivor 28. One is worth a little over four 49-Across 29. Miracle response 32. Reubens’ Herman 35. Sefirat Ha___ 39. Rosen or Green endings 41. Frisco or Waco 42. Killed, in the Bible 43. Time for Purim 44. ___town (where the Warner Bros. opened a studio) 46. “Angry” magazine co-founded by Harvey Kurtzman 47. Hero Ramon 49. Shekels, for short 51. Comedic classic with 63-Across 58. Hungarian composer Franz, father-in-law of antiSemite Wagner 59. “___ to Extremes” (Billy Joel song) 60. Rosh Hashanah start 62. Active site about 500 miles from the Great Roman Synagogue 63. Legend lost on Aug. 29, 2016

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sion on where would be the perfect place for said doghouse, he was too traumatized to get in. His house stood empty as he made himself comfy-cozy in our house.

He eventually joined a gang, ran around the neighborhood and learned bad habits, and when he bit the ankle of the postman, we gave him to a family who thought he was totally adorable.

We’ve had a few dogs over the years. We loved them and gave them special names such as Tippesh (dummy), Shaina (pretty) and Patches.

I did not know a single soul who was allergic to dogs — or cats, for that matter. I did not even know there was such a breed as a hypoallergenic dog.

Then along came our grandbabies, and a whole frightening world opened up. Allergies became the “in” concept, one to be reckoned with.

One day at the airport, I could not believe my eyes. The ugliest dog I’d ever seen was lounging with its owner.

I asked what kind of dog it was. I don’t recall the breed, but I do remember hearing, for the first time in my life, “hypoallergenic dog.”

Seriously?

Many months later at my friend Miriam’s home, I was playing with the cutest dog in the universe and heard those words again. Realizing hypowhatever dogs could be adorable, we set out on a pilgrimage to find a dog my grandbabies could enjoy.

We rescued Ari, who protects our home from stranger danger, brings lots of joy with no fear into our home, and, as it turns out, is a great running partner.

What’s with the Shaindle’s Shpiel on dogs? I have not a clue; blame it on my morning runs. ■

“Losing A Legend”

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

1

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By Shaindle Schmuckler shaindle@atljewishtimes.com

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

57 61

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66. One of Mike Nichols’ “Silkwood” stars 67. State that does not recognize Israel 68. Who lived longer than Methuselah?

69. Moses once drove one?

70. “True ___” (2010 Coen Brothers film) 71. King David’s eldest son

(might need tzedakah) 34. Make like Israel in the Six-Day War 36. Sarah to Isaac 37. Ben Gurion listing: Abbr.

38. Like a holy cow 40. Eugene ___, role of 63-Across in 23-Across 42. Went in head-first, like Ian Kinsler 44. What many get in Eilat DOWN 45. Provide Touro or Stern 1. The Torah is full of them with a fund 2. King David’s eldest 48. Started Shabbat, brother perhaps 3. Words from a brave IDF 50. Winter Olympics event volunteer that sounds like “peace” 4. Northern Brigade 51. Shabbat metal sheet 5. Israel 6 or 90: Abbr.

52. Like Portman’s build in 6. Many a Ben Yehuda “Black Swan” establishment 53. Ed of “Up” 7. Brainy bunch Isaac 54. Biblical mount Asimov was a member of 55. Mossad worker 8. Common tree in Israel 56. ___ a high note (how a 9. Vilna Gaon, a.k.a. the ___ cantor might finish services) 10. Notable role for 57. “___ Evil,” 1971 Richard 63-Across Fleischer film with Mia 11. State some brought to Farrow Terem might be in 61. Dark-brown songbird 12. Like Zac Efron that might migrate to Boca (physically) Raton in the winter 13. Part of Max Weinberg’s 63. Show for Hadag Nahash drum set 64. Eat the forbidden fruit, 18. Kvetch e.g.

22. Like half the clues in 65. Garten of “Barefoot this puzzle: Abbr.

Contessa” 24. Inactive Shabbat activities LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION 25. “According 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 to his ___” E P I C S A C I D J E W S 14 15 16 (Marx) T O V A H S A R A E S A U 17 18 19 26. Date that E A S E A L Y R A I S M A N 20 21 22 might be A R M I E I S R 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 followed by a S T A T I C O R S A S S O N 31 32 33 34 35 bris A R C S O P O H N E W E 36 37 38 39 40 41 29. Possible L U A U E L M E R T E R M 42 43 44 org. of a Y A R D E N G E R B I 45 46 47 48 49 50 shyster E L L I E R A H M S T A M 51 52 53 54 55 56 30. Like a T A I E A T S P A I S A 57 58 59 60 61 man who just I P E C A C Z A C E F R O N 62 63 64 smashed some G S A O K R A S 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 glass P R A Y R E F L E C T I O N 31. Koufax had 73C A R P 74A R E A 75H E L L O 76 77 78 a low one U N I T T A I L E E L E R 37 33. ___ out SEPTEMBER 9 ▪ 2016

CLOSING THOUGHTS

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SIMCHAS

Torah Day Student Pays Chesed Forward Estee Bolnick, a Torah Day School of Atlanta middle school student, hosted a bat mitzvah celebration that was a celebration of life and good health, coupled with the intense desire to give back to an organization that had brought her so much joy.

Estee, the daughter of Jonny and Bev Bolnick of Dunwoody, began her bat mitzvah speech by sharing her story. At the age of 7, she was feeling unwell and was experiencing aches and pains.

Her father took her to the doctor, and she was admitted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. After three “very scary, very boring days” of blood being drawn, numbers and more num-

Estee Bolnick shows a pillowcase wishing its young recipient refuah shlemah (get well soon).

bers being calculated, shots and more

opened the door and found a huge box

shots being given, and her finger being

on her doorstep.

pricked up to 10 times a day, Estee was sent home with information on her diagnosis, Type 1 diabetes.

“I was so excited. The package brought simcha back to me,” she said.

Such packages are created by

She was sad, scared and fearful.

Jewish children who want to make a

But shortly after getting home, she

difference in the lives of sick children

through Zichron Chana Bayla, whose mission is to provide an outlet for students to do chesed (acts of lovingkindness) by creating and sending “We Care” packages designed to provide hours of entertainment and activities for sick and hospitalized children.

The carefully designed care packages provide comfort to the sick children and their families. Estee knows that firsthand and shared that experience with her friends.

During Estee’s party, she and her classmates created beautiful pillowcases hand-painted with messages of hope and cheer for Zichron Chana Bayla, which had brought Estee so much joy a little more than four years earlier. ■

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