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PLACE TO PLAY
Chabad of Cobb celebrates 15 years with Rabbi Ephraim Silverman while honoring some leading lights. Page 4
CAMP INCLUSIVE
Toco Hills is a little more than $4,000 away from winning a new playground. Page 6
Camp Ramah Darom is launching a program to ensure Jewish summers for children with autism. Camping, Page 26
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TEEN SENSATION
Atlanta VOL. XC NO. 6
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Conventions Exhilarate ATL A
Shabbat celebrated by more than 3,200 Jewish teens. Jewish actresses, Atlanta rappers and Hawks cheerleaders. Messages from Shimon Peres and Michael Steinhardt. Service done and services participated in. The annual conventions of BBYO and NFTY in downtown Atlanta, the gathering of Young Judaea in Winder, and associated summits and meetings have come and gone. They started in earnest with a lunch for several hundred participants in the Summit on Jewish Teens at the Hyatt Regency on Feb. 12. They ended with a blowout celebration of NFTY’s 75th birthday at the Marriott Marquis on Feb. 16. Along the way, Atlanta’s Elise Eplan was named B’nai B’rith Girls’ Alumna of the Year and celebrated the lifelong friends generations of her family have made in BBYO. Atlanta Council BBYO’s Meredith Galanti of Lehavah BBG was elected BBG’s 71st international mazkirah, or secretary, while East Cobb’s Jordy Frankel fell short in a bid for NFTY membership vice president. You can read some of the highlights on Pages 15 to 20 in this issue and more in our Feb. 27 issue, plus catch an assortment of photos and a few videos from the action at atlantajewishtimes.com. ■
MAGIC ABILITIES
Two adaptations of Disney masterpieces, “Aladdin” for Jerry’s Habima Theatre and “Pinocchio” for AJA, take the stage within days. Page 23
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FEBRUARY 20, 2015 | 1 ADAR 5775
In Denmark, ‘When, Not If’ By Suzi Brozman sbrozman@atljewishtimes.com
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The combined choirs of The Temple and Ebenezer Baptist Church put on a show to Rabbi Micah Lapidus’ “Rise Up” for their congregants and nearly 200 Jewish teens visiting the church from the BBYO and NFTY conventions Feb. 15. Read what Rabbi Peter Berg had to say to the packed sanctuary on Page 15.
DIFFERENT BIRD
Michael Gurevich took a flight path through the IDF and cosmetics before landing on the idea for the Seven Hens schnitzel empire. Page 24
Photo by Michael Jacobs
Calendar 2
INSIDE
Arts 21
Candle Lighting 3
Business 24
Local News 4
Camping 25
Israel 9
Obituaries 29
Opinion 10
Marketplace 31
ohanna Bach-Frommer, a half-American woman who is integral to Copenhagen’s tightknit Jewish community, was away from Denmark when news broke early Feb. 15 of a shooting death at the city’s largest synagogue. She and her family instinctively knew who the victim was. Dan Uzan, 37, was a 6-foot-5 volunteer guard described as a gentle giant, a warm and protective person always doing anything and everything for others. He died helping police protect some 80 guests celebrating a bat mitzvah. Copenhagen’s Jews are convinced that Uzan and the armed guards, on duty in response to recent anti-Semitic violence in Europe, prevented a massacre. Uzan had been a volunteer guard since age 17 and took courses to increase his skills. “He was one of those people everyone liked — such a nice guy,” said BachFrommer, connected to the Atlanta Jewish Times through a friend. “You always felt safe and protected when he was around. And he gave his life for it in the end.” Being a volunteer guard is a Jewish custom in Copenhagen. Parents and others, usually under age 40, volunteer at synagogues and at the facility for Jewish nursery school through high school. Within hours, police killed the suspected attacker, a 22-year-old Palestinian who always lived in Denmark. “Dan would have hated if his memory would have been used to divide people. That would not have been in his spirit,” Bach-Frommer said. “We appreciate the outpouring of love and solidarity. We are in shock but not shocked. It was a case of when, not if.” ■