Kosher vegetarian Indian restaurant David Moss designs Grace Afteropens MealsininMiamisburg comic book (yes, form really) p. 22 p. 31
THE DAYTON Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton
September 2019 Elul 5779/Tishri 5780 Vol. 24, No. 1
OBSERVER
The Miami Valley’s Jewish Monthly • Online at daytonjewishobserver.org Megan Jelinger/AFP/Getty Images
The U.S.
Death Tax comes to Dayton
ROSH HASHANAH
May 5780 be a year of peace
Youngstown
‘The system worked’
7
Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office
White nationalist James Reardon Jr.
Guys behind Good Boys
36
A vigil on East Fifth Street in Dayton’s Oregon District in memory of the nine people gunned down on the street earlier in the day, Aug. 4
Ed Araquel/Universal Pictures
Gene Stupnitsky (L) & Lee Eisenberg
Address Service Requested Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton 525 Versailles Drive Dayton, OH 45459
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DAYTON
Mysticism & neo-Chasidic scholar keynotes Ryterband Symposium
Wishing You a Happy, Healthy New Year
Dr. Arthur Green, founding dean of the non-denominational rabbinical program at Hebrew College in Boston, will deliver two lectures as the keynote speaker for the 41st Annual Ryterband Symposium in Judaic Studies, Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the University of Dayton. Green will present Excavating Chasidic Texts at 4 p.m. in the Philips Humanities Center’s Sears Recital Hall. At 7:30 p.m., he’ll deliver the lecture, Re-envisioning Jewish Theology and Judaism, in Kennedy Union’s Torch Lounge. Both lectures are free and open to the public. “Art Green has been one of the icons of American Jewry since the ‘60s, when he was one of the founders of the Somerville Havurah, which trailblazed a new path in Jewish communal prayer services,” said Dr. Mark Verman, Zusman Prof. of Judaic Studies at Wright State University. Verman coordinates the annual Ryterband Symposium for United Theological Seminary, University of Dayton, and Wright State. “His writings on Rav Nachman of
Dr. Arthur Green
Bratslav and other chasidic writers have been enormously influential, as have his various administrative roles,” Verman added, also noting Green’s tenure as president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia and his current position as rector of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School and professor of Jewish philosophy and religion at Hebrew College. For more information, contact Verman at 775-2461.
Rabbi Judith Schindler to deliver lecture for Westminster Presbyterian Church
Nosh. Monthly Friday Night Shabbat Dinner with all your traditional favorites. Friday, Sept. 27, 5 p.m. $10 per person. R.S.V.P.
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Rabbi Judith Schindler, Sklut Professor of Jewish Studies and director of the Greenspon Center for Peace and Social Justice at Queens University of Charlotte, N.C., will keynote Westminster Presbyterian Church’s second annual Westminster Lecture on Faith and Civic Life at 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28. Her address, The Jewish View of Faith and Civic Responsibility: A Rabbi’s Perspective, will be followed by a panel discussion with Brother Raymond Fitz, former president of the University of Dayton; Judge Mary Wiseman, Rabbi Judith Schindler Montgomery
County Common Pleas Court; the Rev. Joshua Ward, Omega Baptist Church; and Rabbi Ari Ballaban, assistant rabbi, Temple Beth Or. An ensemble from the Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus will provide interlude music between the lecture and the panel discussion. Schindler co-authored the book Recharging Judaism, which encourages civic engagement as a necessary addition to faith actions of worship, study, and loving kindness. In her 2018 TEDx Talk, Mastering the Art of Loving Your Neighbor, she explored “components of vulnerability, empathy, and courage.” Schindler was named rabbi emerita of Temple Beth El in Charlotte after serving the congregation from 1998 to 2016. She is the daughter of the late Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the Union for Reform Judaism from 1973 to 1995. Westminster Presbyterian Church is located at 125 N. Wilkinson St., Dayton. For more information, call 223-7285.
Hadassah to honor associate members at lunch
The Dayton Chapter of Hadassah will recognize its associate (male) members with lunch and a trivia program at 11 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 22 at One Lincoln Park, 590 Isaac Prugh Way, Kettering.
The cost is $5. Those who become associate members by Sept. 22 eat free. Family and friends are welcome. Checks serve as reservations; send to Sis Litvin, 6901 Lockwood St., Dayton, OH 45415.
IN THIS ISSUE
Call Wendy Archer for details at 937-837-5581 ext. 1269
A Bisel Kisel.....................................25
N o s h e r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2
Calendar of Events.......................24
Opinion...............................23
5790 Denlinger Road • Dayton, Ohio 45426 • fvdayton.com
Family Education............................35
Obituaries.............................38
Mr. Mazel...........................................26
Re l i g i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
DAYTON Rabbi Tina Sobo
COMMENTARY
Realtor/Broker Military Relocation Professional
The U.S. Death Tax comes to Dayton
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By Marshall Weiss, The Observer When Dayton’s Rabbi Karen BodneyHalasz was invited to deliver a prayer at the Temple Israel Senior Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz on the Aug. 4 vigil on East Fifth Street in Dayton’s speakers’ platform on East Fifth Street in Dayton’s Oregon Oregon District — the site where nine people District at a vigil in memory of the nine people gunned were gunned down earlier that day — she down on the street earlier in the day, Aug. 4 already knew where to find words to fit the lives were cut off by violence, a rampage of witoccasion. less aggression beyond understanding. Their The rabbis’ manual of the Reform movement, published in 2015, includes a prayer for “National hopes were severed. Their dreams were lost to brutality.” or Communal Tragedies” written by licensed Clergy with Temple Beth Or had also recited clinical social worker and rabbi, Edythe Mencher. Mencher’s prayer at Dayton’s community-wide “We mourn together over this senseless act of violence and destruction,” Bodney-Halasz, senior service after the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synarabbi of Temple Israel, intoned. “Help us, God, to gogue massacre in October. As it stands now in the United States, it’s not rededicate ourselves to building a world that is a question of whether a mass shooting will occur safer for all people.” in any one of our cities and towns, it’s a matter of Mass slaughter by means of assault weapon has become so frequent in the United States, rab- when. This is the new tax in America — our death bis can draw upon other recently created prayers tax. It might even be called a death lottery. For too. the privilege of living in the United States, from Alden Solovy — a prolific, celebrated writer of Jewish liturgy — wrote After a Deadly Rampage time to time, its residents — both citizens and in 2012, based on the traditional El Moley Racha- aliens — will be slaughtered in packs of dozens. Sometimes randomly. Sometimes because they mim prayer for the soul of the departed. “Seven years ago — after so many mass shoot- are of a type. Yes, we’ve learned to run, hide, fight. And ings — I wrote a prayer for use after a deadly shooting with a fill-in-the-blank to name the com- Dayton’s police, led by Chief Richard Biehl, are true heroes; they took down the shooter within 30 munity,” Solovy posted on Facebook a day after seconds after he began firing. the Dayton shootings. In the post, he noted that Even so, those among us of all ages and backTemple Beth Or, just south of Dayton, posted his grounds now die — gunned down — in accorprayer at its Facebook page that day. The prayer begins: “Author of life, Source and dance with the way of our land. The feature articles appear once again: how to Creator, grant a perfect rest under Your tabertalk to your children about the shootings. What nacle of peace to the victims of the massacre in Continued on next page ______________ (add place of the event), whose
Bark Mitzvah Boy
From the editor’s desk
c O Menachem
‘Who shall live and who shall die . . .’
BMB
Linda Weprin
We bring in the new Jewish year riding a wave of hate against us. I don’t recall seeing as many anti-Jewish attacks and attempted attacks against Jews in America since I’ve been covering news of the Jewish world. Even as this paper was going to press, we Marshall ran out of space to include stories of attacks Weiss on Jews that just keep coming in: California school district reopens investigation into video of students making Nazi salute, 2 Milwaukee-area synagogues have scares over suspicious packages, Fake Twitter accounts are impersonating Jews and promoting antisemitism, Antisemitic flyers found in New York neighborhood, NeoNazis plaster racist fliers on 3 Seattle synagogues, and More than 100 tires belonging to Jews slashed in heavily Orthodox Lakewood, NJ. What’s just as frustrating and making matters worse is that members of both major political parties now habitually use Jews and Israel as political footballs to advance their partisan aims. Sadly, we will undoubtedly see more of this as we get closer to elections. We must not let the culture of the current U.S. system further divide us into “the right kind of Jews” and “the wrong kind of Jews” in our minds and in the minds of others. L’Shanah Tovah.
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DAYTON City of Dayton Public Affairs
HAPPY NEW YEAR
OBSERVER Editor and Publisher Marshall Weiss MWeiss@jfgd.net 937-853-0372
Estate laws have changed drastically in the past several years. Let us give you peace of mind by making sure your documents are up to date and your assets and family are protected.
Contributors Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz Scott Halasz Masha Kisel Candace R. Kwiatek
A vigil on East Fifth Street in Dayton’s Oregon District in memory of the nine people gunned down on the street earlier in the day, Aug. 4 JOE MATTERA | JIM JACOBSON | JOHN CLOUGH
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From all of us at NCCJ, Shana Tova. May this new year be filled with meaning, good health and great joy.
NCCJ is dedicated to ending bias, bigotry, and discrimination. Together, we can serve our communities through tikkun olam and tzedakah. Find out more about the work of NCCJ at www.nccjgreaterdayton.org/payt
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THE DAYTON
Death Tax Continued from previous page
So far, 2019 has been a rough year for Dayton. But one that shows the strength of our leadership and citizens to help each should we tell them to lessen other through the darkest times. their anxieties? On May 25, when nine Our children, we have failed members of the KKK-affiliated you. We adults in this place Honorable Sacred Knights of and at this time cannot work together to ensure your peaceful Indiana held a rally at Courthouse Square amid 500 to 600 futures, physically or emotionally. Keep learning to run, hide, counterprotesters — with 720 fight. That’s your birthright. For police officers in their midst — no other reason than that we in there were no arrests, violent incidents, citations issued, or this place and at this time canuse of force by police. not accept that some concerns “This was a multi-departmust rise above politics. How many times after yet an- ment team assembled to ensure other horrific shooting have we residents and businesses would thought, “this time they’ll have remain safe,” Dayton City Manto address it.” Even when mem- ager Shelley Dickstein said at a city press conference hours after bers of Congress themselves the KKK rally. were shot at during baseball Only two days later, our practice in 2017. region was hit by 13 tornadoes Could the weekend that be— including two at the EF3 gan with El Paso and ended in level (severe) and one at EF4 Dayton be the turning point? (devastating) — that killed one, We have learned in Dayton that solutions to saving lives are injured hundreds, left hundreds without homes and basic more complicated than choosservices, and destroyed wide ing from clunky options set swaths to the northwest and up through false conundrums east of the city. inherent in politics. And now, this. In 2017, Dayton had one of An interfaith coalition put the highest opioid death rates in the nation. Community leaders, together another prayer vigil a day after the shootings to republic health workers, and law member the nine victims, not far enforcement officials came tofrom Dayton’s Oregon District. gether to lower that death rate. Rabbi Bodney-Halasz was inBy the end of 2018, according to vited to deliver another prayer. the CDC, the opioid death rate This time, she turned to another here dropped by 54 percent. from Solovy, which he wrote in Those who worked on this 2016, Against Gun Violence. realized that multiple factors A portion reads, “Source contributed to opioid deaths; those factors needed to be dealt of justice, Rock of strength and truth, You call upon us to with. They studied the data. stand in the name of common They listened to each other’s sense and reason: to witness experiences. They heard each on behalf of the innocent and other. They developed a plan the cut down — the widowed, to hit numerous factors that orphaned and bereaved — to contributed to the crisis. And answer the scourge of senseless they keep in constant commuloss, to advocate for gun control, nication. to remove military weapons Dayton and Montgomery from a civilian population, to County have shown the nation return sanity to our laws, our that it is possible, through nupolicies and our lives.” ance, to rise above politics for Keyn yehi ratzon. So may it be. the good of its people.
Advertising Sales Executive Patty Caruso, plhc69@gmail.com Proofreader Rachel Haug Gilbert Billing Sheila Myers, SMyers@jfgd.net 937-610-1555 Observer Advisor Martin Gottlieb Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton Bruce Feldman President David Pierce Immediate Past Pres. Joel Frydman Foundation Chair Dr. Heath Gilbert Treasurer Beverly Louis Secretary Dan Sweeny VP, Resource Dev. Mary Rita Weissman VP, Personnel Cathy Gardner CEO The Dayton Jewish Observer, Vol. 24, No. 1. The Dayton Jewish Observer is published monthly by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, a nonprofit corporation, 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459. Views expressed by columnists, in readers’ letters, and in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinion of staff or layleaders of The Dayton Jewish Observer or the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton. Acceptance of advertising neither endorses advertisers nor guarantees kashrut. The Dayton Jewish Observer Mission Statement To support, strengthen and champion the Dayton Jewish community by providing a forum and resource for Jewish community interests. Goals • To encourage affiliation, involvement and communication. • To provide announcements, news, opinions and analysis of local, national and international activities and issues affecting Jews and the Jewish community. • To build community across institutional, organizational and denominational lines. • To advance causes important to the strength of our Jewish community including support of Federation agencies, its annual campaign, synagogue affiliation, Jewish education and participation in Jewish and general community affairs. • To provide an historic record of Dayton Jewish life.
Please recycle this newspaper.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
DAYTON
Observer wins first-place Rockower Award
47
We Wish The Dayton Jewish Community A Very Happy New Year.
The American Jewish Press Association announced in June that The Dayton Jewish Observer is the recipient of a first-place 2019 Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism. A feature story by Editor and Publisher Marshall Weiss about the Gem City Market in the March 2018 Observer, Let all who are hungry come and eat, received the Chaim Sheba Medical Center Award for Excellence in Writing about Social Justice and Humanitarian Work. AJPA is the professional association for English-language Jewish media in the United States and Canada. The award brings the number of first-place Rockowers to 10 for The Observer since the Jewish Federation established the publication in 1996, and the eighth for Weiss.
Combined Selichot service Sept. 21 Dayton area synagogues and temples will join together for a Community Selichot service Saturday evening, Sept. 21 at Temple Beth Or, 5275 Marshall Rd., Washington Township. The event will begin at 8:30 p.m. with a dessert reception followed at 9 p.m. by Havdalah and Selichot with the Dayton Jewish Chorale and local clergy. Selichot are penitential prayers offered prior to the High Holy Days. For more information, call Temple Beth Or at 435-3400.
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PAGE 5
THE REGION
We’re Worth The Schlep.
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Tipp City Police Department
Three incidents of hate vandalism reported in Tipp City
By Marshall Weiss, The Observer Over Aug. 4 and 5, the Tipp City Police Department received three reports of hate vandalism — including three swastikas — spray-painted on One of three swastikas reported to ‘White Lives Matter’ vandalism spraysidewalks along Plum Street and on police in Tipp City between Aug. 4 and painted on a CSX electric box in Tipp a CSX Corp. railroad electric box. 5. This one includes the word ‘merica.’ City, reported Aug. 5 According to police reports, a swastika with a circle around it and have decided not to post information and images about “merica” underneath it was found Aug. 4 spray-paint- the incident at the department’s Facebook page at this ed in red on the sidewalk next to a church building at time, so they can investigate the vandalism without 203 N. Fourth St. potentially attracting copycats. Tipp City police also received a report the same day “We’ve had some success in putting them (criminal that a CSX Corp. railroad electric box was spray-paint- incidents) up on our Facebook page and getting the ed in red with the words “White Lives Matter” and that word out,” Graham said. “People who we didn’t know another swastika was drawn in red spray paint on a otherwise had cameras in the area, they might be able sidewalk near the intersection of Plum and Sixth Street. to point us in the right direction. The downside of that And on Aug. 5, Tipp police received a report of another obviously is that it certainly publicizes an event that we swastika in red spray paint on the entrance/exit of an may get copycats out of. So it’s a double-edged sword. alleyway near 424 Plum St., a private residence. It is in no way to mean that we minimize this or don’t Tipp City Police Detective Sgt. Christopher Graham take it seriously. I’ll be on top of this case.” told The Observer there are no leads or suspects. He According to the ADL, reported antisemitic inciconfirmed the cases appear to be related. dents increased in Ohio by 20 percent in 2018 from the Graham and Tipp City Chief of Police Eric Burris previous year, up 31 cases from 26 cases.
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41st Annual Ryterband Symposium Grace Brethren Grace Brethren in Judaic Studies Wednesday, September 18, 2019 At the University of Dayton
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Happy New Year PAGE 6
4 p.m. Excavating Hasidic Texts
Sears Recital Hall, Jesse Philips Humanities Center
7:30 p.m. Re-envisioning Jewish Theology & Judaism Torch Lounge, Kennedy Union
These lectures are free and open to the public. For more information contact Zusman Professor Mark Verman, Wright State University, 937-775-2461. THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
THE REGION
Man arrested after online threat to Youngstown JCC Weapons, ammunition, bulletproof armor and whitesupremacist propaganda found during FBI raid on suspect’s home after he posted threatening video online By Bob Jacob Cleveland Jewish News A New Middletown Village man was arrested Aug. 17 after police said he made a threat toward the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown. James Reardon Jr., 20, is being held in Mahoning County Jail in Youngstown on telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing charges, according to two Youngstown television stations. New Middletown Police Chief Vincent D’Egidio said Reardon posted a video July 11 on Instagram of a man shooting a semi-automatic rifle with sirens and screams in the background with the caption: “Police identified the Youngstown Jewish Family Community shooter as local white nationalist Seamus O’Rearedon,” according to WKBN and WFMJ. The post tagged the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown. The television stations reported that a warrant was issued Aug. 16 and the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force raided Reardon’s house on Eastwood Drive. Police seized dozens of rounds of ammo,
several semi-automatic weapons, a gas mask, and bulletproof armor. They also found antisemitic and white nationalist propaganda. Reardon was not home during the search, but arrived home shortly after law enforcement arrived and was taken into custody, the television stations reported. Reardon pleaded not guilty in court Aug. 19 to the charges. A judge in Struthers Municipal Court, near Youngstown, set Reardon’s bond at $250,000 and ordered a mental health evaluation. The judge also ordered Reardon to stay away from synagogues and Jewish organizations if he is released from jail, the Associated Press reported. New Middletown is about 14 miles south of Youngstown. The Gypsy Lane campus on which the JCC is located also includes the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation; Levy Gardens, an assisted-living facility; Heritage Manor, a nursing home; Akiva Academy, a Jewish day school; and Jewish Family Services. Andy Lipkin, executive vice president
of the federation, sent a statement to the FBI and law enforcement for their swift Youngstown Jewish community about and strong response to this matter and the incident. for their continued willingness to keep He told the Cleveland Jewish News the lines of communication open at all Aug. 17 that additional times. It is because of their efMahoning County Sheriff’s Office security was on the camforts that a very positive resolupus, at area synagogues, tion to this matter has occurred. and a swim club two The positive result here is a clear miles away, also on Shabexample of the importance of bat. He said security will monitoring social media to idenremain increased for the tify credible, hate-fueled threats “near future.” before they are acted on.” The following is an James Pasch, ADL Cleveexcerpt from a statement land regional director, said in a read by Lipkin during an statement, “Today’s arrest is a Aug. 17 news conference: reminder of the continued rise “While we have no of white nationalism and violent James Reardon Jr. comment about Mr. extremism that we are seeing Reardon and the criminal justice pronationwide. The man whom authorities cess that will determine what charges arrested today appears to have attended might be brought against him, I want to the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesstress today that this is a clear example ville, where he announced to the world of everything going right. The system that he was a white nationalist who worked. We take very seriously the need wanted ‘a homeland for white people.’ to be vigilant to ensure the safety of all “Just as we have in every moment members of the local Jewish community, since that Charlottesville rally, we will as well as all members and guests of our remain galvanized and energized in Jewish Community Center and our oth- stopping white supremacists from er agencies. Security has become a vital spreading hate. We remain steadfast in part of the mission of the Youngstown our commitment to work side by side Area Jewish Federation, a mission from with law enforcement and community which we will never waver. partners to continue to stop potential “I am so very grateful to the local attacks and threats.”
How you can ensure Israel has a healthy New Year. If you’re looking to make a difference for Israel and secure the nation’s health and safety this coming year, there’s no better way than through a gift to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical first responder, ambulance, and bloodservices organization. Please give today. Shanah Tovah. Support Magen David Adom at afmda.org/rosh or call 888.674.4871.
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Netanyahu wades into debate on Ukraine’s Holocaust record with commemoration speech Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Babi Yar Holocaust monument near Kiev, Ukraine, Aug. 19
By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA At a speech at a Holocaust commemoration event near Kiev Aug. 19, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that actions of both Nazis and collaborators at a former Ukrainian killing site show how Jews need to defend themselves.
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That may seem like a harmless statement, but in Ukraine the topic of Nazi collaboration is a highly sensitive subject. The country has endured several major controversies after bestowing honors to people who fought alongside the Nazis against the Soviets. Netanyahu spoke at the Babi Yar site, a patchwork of ravines on the margins of the Ukrainian capital, where Ukrainian auxiliary police took about 33,000 Jews to be murdered by German soldiers, Sept. 29 and 30, 1941. Also attending the ceremony were dignitaries including Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky, the first Jew elected to that office in Ukraine’s history. Netanyahu’s previous visit to Ukraine as prime minister was in 1999. During his speech, Netanyahu praised Ukrainian non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust. But several times he also addressed the role Nazi collaborators had in the Holocaust. After mentioning how the Holocaust was carried out by “the Nazis and their collaborators,” Netanyahu also said that “with one swipe of their sword, the Nazis and their partners ended a thousand years” of coexistence between Jews and Ukrainians. He added that the murders at Babi Yar “didn’t happen on a different planet, but minutes away from Kiev’s bustling center. The murders of Babi Yar by the Nazis and their collaborators prepared the murder of the Jews of Ukraine.” Netanyahu has mentioned collaborators in the past in commemoration speeches, but doesn’t always do so. “To humanity, Babi Yar is a warning sign,” Netanyahu said. “To Jews, it’s a timeless command: We’ll always defend ourselves by our own force against any enemy.” Zelensky did not mention collaboration in his speech.
“We cannot forget and forgive” the events at Babi Yar, Zelensky said. “The Ukrainian people will always remember crimes against humanity. We will never forget what racism and xenophobia lead to.” Zelensky told reporters he had asked Netanyahu to recognize as a genocide the Holodomor famine, caused in 1932 by Soviet policies. Ukrainian media devoted some attention to claims that Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s wife, insulted Ukrainians by throwing a piece of bread offered to her at a welcome ceremony to the ground. Benjamin Netanyahu received the piece of bread from a welcoming party of three women on the tarmac of an airport in Kiev upon landing there. He dipped the bread in salt and bit off a piece, offering the rest to his wife, but she reportedly quietly dropped it to the ground without tasting it, in what many Ukrainians online described as a show of disrespect. Andriy Bohdan, head of the office of the president of Ukraine, dismissed these claims, saying Sara Netanyahu, who wore an outfit featuring the Ukrainian national colors to the welcoming ceremony, had “no intention” of disrespecting Ukraine. Israel and Ukraine signed a free-trade agreement earlier this year. During the trip, Zelensky announced the opening of a Ukrainian government hightech and investment center in Jerusalem. Netanyahu has urged many world leaders he has met to follow the United States in moving their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel will open its own high-tech and investment center in Kiev. Zelensky, a former comedian who won the presidency in July, expressed admiration for Israel’s defense capabilities during his swearing-in speech in May.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
Wishing You a Sparkling New Year.
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What Ilhan Omar & Rashida Tlaib were going to do on their Israel & West Bank trip Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
By Ben Sales, JTA WASHINGTON — By now it seems clear that Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are not going to be visiting Israel or the Palestinian areas of the West Bank. Israel’s government announced Aug. 15 that it would not allow the Democratic congresswomen to make their scheduled visit over the following weekend because both have declared support for the Israel boycott movement. A 2017 law entitles the state to deny entry to boycott activists. (Tlaib was granted entry on a humanitarian trip to visit her grandmother in the West Bank. First she accepted, but hours later rejected.) Explaining the decision, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited the lawmakers’ itinerary, which he said “reveals that the sole purpose of their visit is to harm Israel and increase incitement against it.” What was on this itinerary? Omar outlined it in a series of tweets Aug. 16. Where they would have gone? In broad strokes, the itinerary — titled Delegation to Palestine — took Tlaib and Omar through major Palestinian population centers in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and to a string of meetings with Palestinian and left-wing Israeli
Reps. Rashida Tlaib (L) and Ilhan Omar
nonprofits and activists, as well as international human rights groups. “Let’s be clear: the goal of our trip was to witness firsthand what is happening on the ground in Palestine and hear from stakeholders —our job as Members of Congress,” she tweeted. Omar wrote that the delegation was going to meet with Israeli lawmakers — including Jewish ones. She did not say which members of Knesset, Israel’s parliament, they planned to meet. The lawmakers were also scheduled to meet a Palestinian official, Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
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An Israeli nonprofit, the left-wing Btselem human rights group, was to be present at one of their meetings, along with three other non-Israeli organizations. And the congresswomen were to receive a tour of Hebron from Breaking the Silence, a left-wing Israeli group that opposes the West Bank occupation. “I would’ve loved to take @ IlhanMN and @RashidaTlaib on our tour of Hebron,” tweeted Avner Gvaryahu, who would have given the tour. “There’s no joy in seeing or showing the harsh reality of the territories, but change will only come when we face up to the truth.” The would-be trip contrasts with a Democratic congressional delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories taken earlier in August by 41 representatives and sponsored by an organization affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. That delegation met with both Israeli and Palestinian officials and activists. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, however, refused to meet with a parallel Republican delegation. Omar and Tlaib’s trip was planning to meet with staff at the U.S. Embassy in Israel. In addition, they were going to meet with UNRWA, the United Nations agency that aids Palestinian refugees and often is criticized by Israeli officials for having an anti-Israel bias, and had also planned meetings in eastern Jerusalem. Omar and Tlaib planned
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
THE WORLD ‘Jewish blood rituals?!’” Al Zaru request for comment. This was not the first conwrote. “Much of the chatter and gressional delegation to Palgossip about historical Jewish blood rituals in Europe are real estinian areas sponsored by Miftah. Politico first reported and not fake as they claim; the Aug. 16 that Miftah co-sponJews used the blood of Chrissored a trip by five Democratic tians in the Jewish Passover.” congressmen to Israel and the At first the group defended West Bank in 2016 that was the article by saying the blogallowed into Israel without a ger who first criticized it had “wrongly accused MIFTAH and problem. The participants were Dr. Ashrawi of promoting Jew- Matt Cartwright, Dan Kildee, ish blood libel during Passover Hank Johnson, Luis Gutierrez and Mark Pocan. through its publication of an The itinerary of that trip was Arabic-language article that similar to Omar and Tlaib’s Who organized the trip? briefly addressed the subject.” Miftah, a Palestinian NGO But the group deleted the article would-be visit. The representatives met with Arab-Israeli chaired by Ashrawi, organized from its site, apologized and lawmakers. Other than that, the the trip. Its website says its said it disciplined Al Zaru. trip was centered on visiting mission is to “promote the “The said staffer has been Palestinian areas and Arab cities principles of democracy and reprimanded and all our staff in Israel, and on meeting with good governance within varihas been informed as to the Palestinian activists and groups. ous components disgusting But while both Omar and of Palestinian and repulsive Tlaib support boycotting Israel, society” and to phenomena of all of those members of Con“engage local blood libel or gress had been to Israel previand internaaccusation, inously or otherwise had spoken tional public cluding its use out in support of Israel, though opinion and against Jews,” they have also criticized its poliofficial circles on the apology cies, at times harshly. All five the Palestinian said. were endorsed by JStreetPAC, cause.” In a statethe political funding arm of the The group, ment, Miftah liberal Israel lobby. like many called the ban JStreetPAC did not endorse Palestinian civil on Omar and Tlaib or Omar. society organiTlaib “an afzations, supports the movement front to the American people to boycott Israel. and their representatives. It But it has also praised is an assault on the PalestinPalestinian suicide bombers ian people’s right to reach out and published an age-old antito decision-makers and other semitic stereotype, for which actors from around the world.” it later apologized. Netanyahu The group said it wanted to described Miftah as “an avid facilitate Omar and Tlaib’s supporter of BDS, and among “direct contact with the Paleswhose members are those who tinian people, who are subject have expressed support for ter- to Israel’s cruel regime of colo2313 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood rorism against Israel.” nization, oppression and land 937-293-1196 A report on the group’s site grab.” www.oakwoodflorist.com from 2006 about Palestinian Ashrawi has not returned family owned and operated military discount women in the second intifada a Jewish Telegraphic Agency praises Wafa Idris, who killed one Israeli civilian and injured 150 people in a 2002 suicide bombing in downtown Jerusalem. The report says Idris, the first female suicide bomber of the second intifada, “marked the beginning of a string of Palestinian women dedicated Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown Sunday, Sept. 29. to sacrificing their lives for the Yom Kippur starts at sundown Tuesday, Oct. 8. cause.” Years later, in 2013, Miftah Vandalia staffer Nawaf Al Zaru posted an article on its site criticizing 674 W. National Rd. President Barack Obama for 890-6842 hosting a Passover Seder at the White House. In the article, Al Huber Heights Zaru repeated a false accusa8293 Old Troy Pike tion that Jews kill non-Jewish 236-0036 children and use their blood in religious rituals. Springfield “Does Obama in fact know 2984 Derr Rd. the relationship, for example, 937-399-5014 between ‘Passover’ and ‘Christian blood’..?! Or ‘Passover’ and to visit Jerusalem’s holy sites, including the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They additionally planned to visit the Al-Aqsa mosque, which is located at the Temple Mount, a Jewish holy site also revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The remainder of the trip would have taken them to meetings and tours in the West Bank cities of Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah, including at a refugee camp.
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PAGE 11
THE WORLD
9/11-style response needed to fight white supremacists, Jewish security officials say By Ron Kampeas, JTA WASHINGTON (JTA) — After a white supremacist gunman murdered 22 people in El Paso, Jewish groups that track hate say now is the time to get serious about the threat from the far right. In fact, Jewish security officials say, the crisis calls for the kind of response that followed 9/11 — building a system to track white supremacists from scratch. Since the 2001 attacks, white supremacists have been responsible for a far greater number of killings than international terrorists. The El Paso shooter cited the racist “great replacement” theory — that people of color and Muslims plan to “replace” whites in the West — in his manifesto. His targets were Mexicans. The same theory fueled the murder of 51 Muslims at two New Zealand mosques earlier this year. Similar theories
spurred deadly attacks over the past year at synagogues in Pittsburgh and in Poway, Calif. According to the AntiDefamation League, white supremacists have killed at least 73 people since the August 2017 neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia. “We need a wholesale rethink, in terms of our domestic security posture, to address violent extremism and bias crimes,” said George Selim, a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security who is now the ADL’s senior vice president for programs. Critics of President Donald Trump say he has used rhetoric similar to white nationalists in describing immigrants (“invasion”) and areas populated by people of color (“infestation”). Questions have resurfaced about Trump downplaying the white nationalist threat and rolling back programs that track white supremacists.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Trump visited El Paso targeting of the financial Aug. 7, and appears to networks that fund terhave recognized, at least rorists. rhetorically, the need “We do not have the to face down white necessary tools,” said supremacists. Masters, a former senior “In one voice our official at the Cook nation must condemn County, Ill., DHS. “Law racism, bigotry and enforcement can’t take white supremacy,” advantage of the same Trump said at the White tools to address terrorHouse Aug. 5. “These ism as they can internasinister ideologies must tional terrorism.” A demonstrator holds a sign at a protest Aug. 7 be defeated. Hate has Michael German, a against President Trump’s visit following the Aug. 4 no place in America. mass shooting in El Paso, which left 22 people dead former FBI agent who Hatred warps the mind, infiltrated white suravages the heart and devours threat that number for number premacist groups, said Homethe soul.” has been more deadly than land Security is ill equipped to Jewish security officials say foreign terrorist organizations,” address the threat. That’s both it may not be enough in dealing said Michael Masters, who because of Trump administrawith white supremacists, and directs the Secure Community tion disinterest, he said, and hearken back to what hapNetwork, the security arm of because DHS concentrates on pened after 9/11. national Jewish organizations. tracking publicly available “We need to harness some of The 9/11 attacks led to a intelligence sources rather than that same energy that we as a spate of efforts to track interfocused investigations. country demonstrated 18 years national terror: the creation of “Its agents don’t do the inago to face this new threat and the Department of Homeland vestigations, so it doesn’t really provide law enforcement with Security; the enactment of have direct access to reliable what they need to confront a the Patriot Act; the enhanced and up to date information that
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
THE WORLD would be useful to intelligence products it publishes,” said German, who is now a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. Fighting domestic terrorists like the government fights foreign ones could be a hard sell. Progressive Democrats already are calling for the dismantlement of DHS, identifying it with what they call the Trump administration’s excesses in detaining and deporting migrants. The Patriot Act, which passed overwhelmingly in its day, became a bugbear of the left because civil libertarians object to how it enabled email and cyber surveillance. An FBI official said that free speech rights do not allow tracking people according to their membership in a group or because of their ideology. “The FBI investigates activity which may constitute a federal crime or pose a threat to national security,” the official wrote in an email. “Our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on criminal activity. The FBI cannot initiate an investigation based solely on an individual’s race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or the exercise of First Amendment rights, and we remain committed to protecting those rights for all Americans.” Masters and Selim emphasized their attachment to the First Amendment, and said the changes they were seeking should not impinge on speech freedoms. Masters said his Secure Community Network and ADL are training Jewish institutions to identify potentially dangerous markers in communications they receive. The numbers 14 and 88 both have significance for neo-Nazis and are used in their communications, for example. But they said there are several ways the government tracks international terrorists that could apply to domestic terrorists as well. Defining terrorism: “The ability to designate domestic terrorist groups — there is no clear entity responsible for designating those,” Masters said. (The State Department designates international terrorist groups.) Tracking communications: Masters said designating domestic terrorist groups would allow their communications to be monitored. “While law enforcement can monitor communications between people connected with foreign terrorist groups, even for U.S. citizens,” he said,
“those same tools don’t exist for terror groups in the United States.” In watching international terrorism, authorities are able to track key words and phrases in online communications and then seek a warrant to identify the interlocutors. Tracking finances: The Treasury, using the State Department designated-terrorist list, is able to stop financial transactions that provide “material support or resources” to a foreign terrorist organization. The prohibition could be applied to domestic groups, Masters said, and allow for the prosecution of those who provide material support to domestic terrorists. Breaking down silos: The Patriot Act increased information sharing among government agencies and law enforcement. (The CIA failed to share information with the FBI that might have led to the identification of the 9/11 attackers.) Masters said that intelligence sharing on domestic terrorism could be enhanced at all levels, including internationally. “One thing we have to recognize, the connections between manifestos in Christchurch (New Zealand), Poway and El Paso — there is a connection between these movements internationally,” he said, as well as with neo-Nazis in Ukraine. Social media: Because of the First Amendment, social media giants have been reluctant to ban white supremacists in the United States. But Masters said that, as private companies, they have that ability, and should be pushed harder to combat bigotry on their platforms. “Recognizing the incredible
import of free speech protections, that is separate from the abilities of a private company to recognize when their platform is being used in such a way that does not meet the standards set for their own platform,” he said. Education: “It’s not limited to arrest and incarceration,” Selim said. “We need efforts at the state and local level, convened by the federal government, that integrate law enforcement, mental health and education providers to provide whole community wraparound services to intervene in the process that we know takes place when individuals are consuming incendiary literature, when individuals are saying ‘white genocide.’” German, the former FBI agent, said that process, known as community policing, must be handled with care. He added that previous programs to counter violent extremism were at times “damaging to the communities they targeted and often thinly veiled intelligencegathering operations.” “The police are part of the problem, so empowering them absent a larger police reform effort seems problematic,” German said. “The communities often targeted by white supremacist violence are also disproportionately victims of police violence and abuse.” Masters said government officials staffing threat assessment are eager to do the work. “We have no stronger partners in the community than the men and women working in these organizations,” he said. “They are supporting us on a daily basis.”
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PAGE 13
THE WORLD
Trump takes a side in Portland’s far-right rally. Some local Jews say it’s the wrong side. Alex Milan Tracy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
affiliated with a local Antifa for the far right. group — apart during the Aug. Trump’s tweet apparently 17 protests. They reported 13 referred to a Senate bill that arrests and six minor injuwould designate Antifa as a ries, and police seized bear domestic terrorist group. Rally spray, shields, poles, and other organizer Joe Biggs, formerly weapons, The Associated Press of the far-right conspiracist site reported. Infowars, said the goal of what The far-right activists were he called the “End Domestic affiliated with a number of Terrorism” rally was to confront groups, including Proud Boys, Antifa and support the meawhich the ADL describes as sure introduced by Sens. Bill “overtly Islamophobic and miCassidy, R-La., and Ted Cruz, sogynistic,” as well as members R-Texas. of the American Guard, the Far-rightists from the Proud Boys wait to get into vehicles after The president’s comments marching across the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Ore., Aug. 17 Three Percenters, the Oath“play right into the extremist rooted in hate. keepers and the Daily Stormplaybook,” Joanna Mendelson, “When you have groups whose rheto- ers, all of which have been identified as a senior investigative researcher at the ric and whose aim and whose purpose hate groups by watchdog groups. RightAnti-Defamation League’s Center on is to promote an agenda that demonizes wing groups have marched repeatExtremism, told the Jewish Telegraphic (women, Muslims and immigrants) in edly in Portland in recent years, in part Agency. our country, that’s a concern,” she said, because they expect confrontations with “It validates their efforts,” she said, noting that ADL found that extremist-re- the city’s active Antifa community. referring to the far right. “This is a lated murders in 2018 were overwhelmSome leaders in the Portland Jewish group that has embraced all forms of ingly linked to right-wing extremists. community of 35,000 also see the vioisms —misogyny, Islamophobia, xenoNo murders had been tied to Antifa, she lence as troubling on both sides, but see phobia. To not call them out is to ignore said. a fundamental difference in the ideology and condone a problematic group.” Portland police were mostly able to behind it. Mendelson said that while violence keep the two sides — far-right out-of“People are very upset about the acts on both sides is problematic, the farof violence that some people are doing right groups’ ideology differs in that it is towners and a larger number of people
By Josefin Dolstein, JTA When rabbis in Portland joined a coalition of faith and civil leaders to denounce purveyors of violence and hateful rhetoric, it was mostly far-right protesters they had in mind. A demonstration Aug. 17 in the Oregon city’s downtown drew members from white nationalist groups, extremist anti-government militias, and avowed neo-Nazis. But when President Donald Trump weighed in on the day of the protests and occasionally violent counterprotests, he had only one side in mind: the left-wing opponents known collectively as Antifa, or anti-fascists, who gathered to confront the far right. “Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an ‘ORGANIZATION OF TERROR,’” the president tweeted that morning. “Portland is being watched very closely. Hopefully the Mayor will be able to properly do his job!” He didn’t mention the far-right groups. For some Jews in this famously blue city, the president’s comments showed at best a disconnect with their real concerns and at worst a vote of confidence
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THE WORLD were “hyper vigilant” and that under the guise of Antifa, and tion of Greater Portland, said that violence really doesn’t have regular security protocols were he also had shared security cona place in our community, but I followed. cerns but had not worried that “There was a lot of discussion Jews were at a greater risk than don’t think in the Jewish comjust about safety in the community people are making any other Portland residents. munity and recognizing that equivalency between the two” “I think (there’s) just an sides, said Michael Cahana, the there are people coming in with overall feeling of anger that this white supremacist ideology and is happening here, why do we senior rabbi at Congregation that synagogues could easily be need to have these types of proBeth Israel, a Reform with 860 targets,” he said. memberships. tests here in Portland, and how Many at Kesser Israel, an Gunmen who espoused white it just brings out groups filled Orthodox synagogue with 120 supremacist beliefs are being with hate,” Blattner said. memberships, find both sides held in two deadly synagogue As the far-right groups shootings in the past 10 months. to be troubling, said its rabbi, were preparing to gather in a Eleven worshippers were killed Kenneth Brodkin. The rabbi said downtown park, Rabbi Debra he wasn’t able to gauge congre- Kolodny had a much different in a shooting at a synagogue gants’ feelings about Trump’s complex in Pittsburgh and a response from Trump and the remarks. woman was gunned down at a Antifa groups: She put on her “I think the people feel that synagogue in Poway, Calif. tallit (prayer shawl) and, in both the far right and the far A self-identified white front of 60 to 75 people, chanted left are very problematic, and I nationalist was arrested Aug. the Hebrew liturgy that comdon’t think anyone wanted to 17 for plotting an attack on prises the Saturday morning see this type of protesters comYoungstown, Ohio’s Jewish Shabbat service. ing to the community,” Brodkin Community Center. By the end of the service, told JTA. “The answer to the question which also featured a BudHe said the synagogue spoke dhist prayer and a speech by ‘Do you believe white nationalism is driving more mass shoot- with police and engaged its own an NAACP official, 300 to 400 security committee to make sure people had gathered. ings recently?’ is simple: Yes,” the community was safe. ADL tweeted Aug. 18. It noted “I have to stand up as a Jew,” Marc Blattner, the president its own finding that last year, said Kolodny, who leads Unand CEO of the Jewish Federa78 percent of extremist-related shul, a Jewish prayer and social murders were commitaction community that ted by white supremahosts Shabbat services cists. several times a month. “I Cahana was part of have to stand up against the coalition of faith and it. There are those who civil leaders organized believe that ignoring the by Mayor Ted Wheeler white nationalists will ahead of the Aug. 17 make them go away, and event. He said there was I don’t believe there’s any “a lot of anxiety” among evidence of that.” community members The service, held out prior to the demonstraof sight of the protest, tion about security was “spectacular,” said issues in a city that has Kolodny, who also took seen previous clashes part in the mayor’s coalibetween far-right groups tion. and Antifa. The commu- Rabbi Debra Kolodny (R) leads a Shabbat service “People were praying nity made sure members at McCall Waterfront Park, Portland, Ore., Aug. 17 quite jubilantly,” she said.
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THE WORLD
Jewish groups see Trump’s disloyalty remarks as ‘dangerous’ and ‘textbook antisemitism’ By Marcy Oster, JTA Mainstream and left-wing Jewish groups called out President Donald Trump as “dangerous” and displaying “textbook antisemitism” for accusing Jews who vote for Democrats of being “disloyal.” “I think Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” Trump said at a news conference Aug. 20. A reporter had asked Trump about remarks by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that the United States should reconsider its aid
to Israel after the Jewish state denied entry to her and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., both supporters of the Israel boycott movement. Nearly 80 percent of Jews voted for Democrats in November’s midterm elections, polls found, mirroring a long history of supporting the party in large numbers. American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris called on Trump to “stop such divisive rhetoric and to retract his disparaging remarks.” He called the president’s remarks “shockingly divisive and unbecoming of the
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occupant of the highest elected office,” and said that American Jews “have a range of political views and policy priorities.” The Anti-Defamation League’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, said in a tweet that it is “long overdue to stop using Jews as a political football,” and that charges of disloyalty have long been used to attack Jews. Trump’s comments are “unsurprising given his record of abhorrent and dangerous remarks, as well as his efforts to leverage Israel as a wedge issue in U.S. politics,” David Halperin, executive director of the Israel Policy Forum, said in a statement that called on Republicans to join Democrats in condemning the comments. The comments show a “total lack of knowledge about Jewish people,” Daniel Sokatch, CEO of the New Israel Fund, said in a statement. “Trump wants to weaponize Israel and antisemitism to attract Jewish support, all while aiding and abetting Israel’s ultranationalist right, coddling white national-
ists, fawning over dictators, and man to become the next presiengaging in the worst kind of di- dent of the United States.” visive racial politics at home. But Halie Soifer, the executive diit won’t work. In fact, it is a sure- rector of the Jewish Democratic fire way to alienate the American Council of America, slammed Jewish community even further the president’s comments. … SAD!” “If this is about Alex Wong/Getty Images Stosh Cotler, Israel, then Trump CEO of Bend the is repeating a dual Arc: Jewish Action, loyalty claim, which said that “President is a form of antiTrump’s abhorrent semitism,” she said statement today in a statement. “If accusing the vast this is about Jews majority of Jewish being ‘loyal’ to him, Americans who then Trump needs a oppose him of ‘disreality check.” loyalty’ is textbook Meanwhile, the antisemitism and Republican Jewish should be called out President Donald Trump Coalition defended as such, without Trump’s comments. hesitation.” “President Trump is right, it Meanwhile, presidential can- shows a great deal of disloyalty didate Bernie Sanders addressed to oneself to defend a party that the president’s comments the protects/emboldens people that night of Aug. 20 at a rally in hate you for your religion,” the Sioux City, Iowa. group said on Twitter. “The @ “I am a proud Jewish person, GOP, when rarely confronted and I have no concerns about w/antisemitism of elected voting Democratic,” Sanders members always acts swiftly told a cheering crowd. “And, in and decisively to punish and fact, I intend to vote for a Jewish remove.”
MEN'S EVENT
with author Michael Coles
Sunday, September 22 5:30PM - 8PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Michael J. Coles, Atlanta business executive, serial entrepreneur, and the namesake of the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University joins us to talk about his remarkable career in business. Michael Coles started a $100-million company with only $8,000, overcame a near-fatal motorcycle accident, set three transcontinental cycling world records, and ran for Congress twice. His autobiography, Time to Get Tough, is a powerful case study for anyone facing what seems to be an insurmountable challenge in business and in life. Dietary laws will be observed. $20 per person, RSVP online at JewishDayton.org or over the phone at (937) 610-1555.
Jewish Federation
®
OF GREATER DAYTON
PAGE 16
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
THE WORLD
At this Florida Jewish day school, half the students aren’t Jewish Story & Photos By Ben Sales, JTA SARASOTA — Most American Jewish day schools go all in on Chanukah, in part to remind their students that Jews have a winter holiday of their own. But when December rolls around at the Hershorin Schiff Community Day School in southwestern Florida, you’re almost as likely to see kids drawing Christmas trees as menorahs or dreidels. That’s because the school asks its students to design their own holiday plates — and almost half the students at this Jewish day school are not Jewish. “Even though we only teach about Chanukah, if they say, ‘we’re excited that we have a Christmas tree and a menorah in our house,’ if it’s important to our kids, we’re going to honor that and create a space for them to share that,” said Dan Ceaser, the head of school. “So while we’re teaching our Jewish traditions, we are creating a space for families to share their traditions and we are honoring those as well.” The school has always been open to non-Jews, but it began emphasizing that inclusiveness — including a mission state-
ment welcoming “children of all faiths” — when Ceaser, in his first job at a Jewish school, came on in 2015. Since then, Community Day’s enrollment has more than tripled, from 67 students in 2015 to 275 in the upcoming school year. It has students from preschool through eighth grade in a city with about 20,000 Jews. The school is trying to strike a balance between teaching Jewish values, culture, and practice on the one hand, and remaining inclusive on the other. In addition to its Judaism, the school appeals to families by emphasizing its diversity
(students’ families hail from 40 countries) and a philosophy of independent, project-based learning. The school is explicitly trying to serve as a model for other Jewish day schools as non-Orthodox Jewish schools struggle with rising costs and declining affiliation. Another experiment in pluralistic Jewish education, the American Hebrew Academy boarding school in North Carolina, closed abruptly this year, citing financial challenges. For more than a decade, Hebrew-language charter schools have pursued a similar
model. They’re open to students of all faiths and backgrounds and, in order to accept public funding, emphasize Israeli culture, not religious identity. What sets the Sarasota school apart is that, unlike charter schools, it Dan Ceaser, the head of school of Hershorin Schiff Community Day School, has made the is explicitly Jewish. school’s diversity a centerpiece of its message Students pray, eat “kosher-style” to educate Jews but to educate food, and celebrate Shabbat. non-Jews about the importance Tuition is on a sliding scale, but of advocating for all,” Ceaser averages $9,300 per child. said. “We welcome you as you “The best way to fight antiare and we’ll celebrate what you semitism and injustice is not just Continued on next page
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THE WORLD
Day school
Continued from previous page bring to us. That’s in terms of faith, affiliation, culture, ethnicity, families that identify as non-traditional.” Students at the school learn about the Jewish calendar, holidays and Israel, and pray each morning. Through second grade, they all study English, Hebrew and Spanish. Starting the following year, students split off into studying one of the two languages intensively. There are also a few different religious studies tracks kids can choose — from world religions to Jewish studies to a more intensive, four-day-aweek traditional Jewish track run by Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, director of Chabad Lubavitch of Sarasota & Manatee Counties, that will have a handful of kids this year. “It’s kind of cool to compare the two religions,” said Matthew Cook, who enters eighth grade at the school and is a practicing Catholic. “The challah and the wine, there’s something a lot similar, it’s bread and wine — almost the same thing. Just (to me) it rep-
resents the body of Christ and the blood.” In Hebrew class, the emphasis is on learning how to order falafel, or listening to classic Israeli singers, said Snait Ben-Herut, a Hebrew teacher. Ben-Herut said she gives kids an overview of Jewish history, which can get them interested in the language. Middle schoolers also travel to Israel every other year. “The emphasis is less on writing and reading and more on the possibility of expressing yourself in Hebrew,” she said. “There’s an emphasis on the cultural side — Israeli slang, Israeli music, Israeli food. There’s an emphasis on Hebrew as a living, relevant language.” The school also tries to cater to its diverse student body by being flexible in general. Classes will often have students from multiple grades. The curriculum is projectbased, so students can get their hands dirty in a garden, choosing which vegetables to plant, or can devise a way to build a chicken coop on school grounds — a thing that actually happened. Eric Pressman, who is Jewish
The school has a hallway of flags representing the 40 countries its students’ families hail from
and has two children at the school, appreciates that he can place them in a Jewish environment that does not cloister them away from the country’s non-Jewish majority. “It allows our children to be raised with Jewish values, but it still embraces a multicultural feel,” he said. “It allows for children to prepare to engage in a diverse community, whether they do so academically or multiculturally or whether they do so occupationally. We don’t live in a Jewish microcosm.” The Rev. Kelly Fitzgerald, who leads the First Presbyte-
rian Church of Sarasota, began sending her three kids to Community Day two years ago and is now on the school’s board of trustees. She appreciates the school’s project-based learning and gardening lessons, but also sees value in sending her Christian kids to a Jewish school. Recently, she was walking with her daughter in the supermarket and pulled a prepackaged school lunch of meat, cheese and crackers off the shelf. Her daughter made her put it back: It wasn’t kosher. Her kids also asked to light a menorah on Chanukah.
“I don’t feel threatened in going to a Jewish school,” Fitzgerald said, “There’s maybe some understanding in the (Christian) community that that wouldn’t be a faithful choice, but I think it’s where we need to live as a society, in an interfaith culture.” Ceaser said the school’s atmosphere and philosophy aim to make the students empathetic to each other’s divergent experiences, religious or otherwise. One hallway in the school displays the flags of all of the students’ families’ home countries. Ceaser remembers when, after the flags were hung, a group of seventh-grade girls approached him urgently in the hallway to demand that the Nepali flag be rotated. It was hanging in the wrong direction, they said, and could hurt the feelings of their Nepali friend. “They’re like, ‘No, we need to talk to you now,’” he recalled. “‘You hung that flag and our friend, we feel like if she sees it hung upside-down, she’s going to feel really disrespected.’ I’m the principal, and they’re stopping me to advocate for one of their friends.”
J E W I S H FA M I LY S E R V I C E S P R E S E N T S
L’CHAIM 2019:
Technology and The Independent You Monday, September 16 12-3PM @ Boonshoft CJCE (525 Versailles Dr., Centerville, 45459) Join us for: • Speaker Marianne Bailey “The Senior Tutor” discussing how technology can be used to enhance our lives and help us remain independent. • The Better Business Bureau leading us through SCAM BINGO with prizes!
educate
empower
to life!
engage
Jewish Family Services OF GREATER DAYTON
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• A guest panel discussing how to recognize and report fraud and scams so we can safely use technology. Panel members include: Marianne Bailey, “The Senior Tutor”, René Gindelberger, Compliance & Audit Specialist, River Valley Credit Union, Geoffrey D. Larson, Project Associate, Ohio SMP (Senior Medicare Patrol), ProSeniors, Inc., Brooke Lynch, Supervisor, Montgomery County Adult Protective Services, and Sheri Sword, Vice President of Communications, Better Business Bureau at Dayton & Miami Valley. • Vendors sharing information about how to access their services using technology and how to protect your private information. Lunch provided, no cost. RSVP by Friday, September 6.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
Highlights JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES 1 2
2019 ANNUAL MEETING
for the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton & its Agencies
3 1. Kate Elder, Dorothy B. Moyer Young Leadership Award 2. Julie Bloom, JCC Volunteer of the Year Award 3. James Pasch and Michael Lieberman, Speakers 4. Irv Moscowitz, Jack Moss Creativity Award 5. Jonathan McNeal, Jack Moss Creativity Award
4
6. Neil Friedman, Robert A. Shapiro Award 7. Maryann Bernstein & Helene Gordon, JFS Volunteer of the Year Award 8. Sam Dorf, Allan Wasserman Young Leadership Award 9. Bob Goldenberg, Past Presidents' Award
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8
5
9
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
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September events JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
THU 12
FRI 13
SAT 14
SUNDAY 8 JCC Junior Youth Group Planning Meeting 1-2PM @ Graeter's Ice Cream (2412 Far Hills Ave, Oakwood, 45419) Kids in grades 6-8 are invited to meet at Graeter's for free ice cream and to help plan the Junior Youth Group activities for the year. RSVP by September 6.
SUNDAY 15 FOUNDATION Author Arlene Cogen presented by LIFE & LEGACY 10AM-12PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Author Arlene Cogen will discuss her book Give to Live and discuss ways to effectively and meaningfully include philanthropy in your life. No cost.
MONDAY 16 JFS L'Chaim 2019: Technology and The Independent You 12-3PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Marianne Bailey “The Senior Tutor” discusses how to use technology to enhance our lives followed by a panel discussion about fraud and scams. Lunch provided, no cost. RSVP by Friday, September 6.
W T F S 18 19 20 21
RSVPs due at least 1 week before event. Events with no price listed are free. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO RSVP (unless noted): 937-610-1555 www.jewishdayton.org
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SUNDAY 15 YAD (AGES 21-35) YAD @ Top Golf 12-3PM @ Topgolf (9568 Water Front Dr, West Chester Township, 45069) Join YAD for a fun filled afternoon of Top Golf and the opportunity to meet the young adults from Cincinnati.
TUESDAY 17 PJ LIBRARY & HILLEL ACADEMY How to Support Young Readers 5:30-7PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Enjoy a night of thoughtful engagement as Mrs. Jean Boltz, experienced elementary literacy teacher, guides us through ways to support young readers and children still learning how to read. Dinner provided. RSVP by September 10.
SUNDAY 22 JFGD Men's Event with Author Michael Coles 5:30PM - 8PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Michael J. Coles, Atlanta business executive, and serial entrepreneur joins us to talk about his remarkable career in business. His autobiography, Time to Get Tough, is a powerful case study for anyone facing what seems to be an insurmountable challenge in business and in life. Dietary laws will be observed. $20 per person.
TUESDAY 24 JFS Off to a Sweet Start @ Singing Woods 2:30-3:30PM @ Spring Hills Singing Woods (140 E Woodbury Dr., Dayton, 45415). Please join us at an informal reception to welcome Rosh Hashanah. Celebrate the Jewish New Year with friends, songs and sweets.
MON TUE WED 9 10 11
MONDAY 23 JFS Off to a Sweet Start @ One Lincoln Park 2-3PM @ One Lincoln Park (590 Isaac Prugh Way, Dayton, 45429) Please join us at an informal reception to welcome Rosh Hashanah. Celebrate the Jewish New Year with friends, songs and sweets.
T F S S S WEDNESDAY 25 PJ LIBRARY 26 27 28 29 30 Klezmer Kids Concert 6:30-7:30PM @ Wright Memorial Public Library (1776 Far Hills Avenue, Oakwood, 45419) Dayton’s own Klezmer Ensemble starring Richard Begel performs live at the Library! At this family-friendly program, the band will perform lively Jewish folk music and tell the tale of PJ Library book Mendel's Accordion. This event is in partnership with Wright Memorial Library.
Learn something new with the JCC! MUSIC APPRECIATION CLASS • Thursdays, September 5 - November 21 10AM-12PM @ Boonshoft CJCE This engaging course with instructor Rich Begel is a walk through music history from the Medieval Era through the 20th Century. $50 for the twelve week session. CANASTA LESSONS • Wednesday, September 11, 18, 25, and October 2 1-4PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Sue Nelson and Linda Schuman will teach beginning Canasta at the CJCE on Wednesdays, September 11, 18, 25, and October 2 from 1-4pm. Min. of 4 players max. of 10 players. RSVP a must-by September 4.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
Announcements JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
Welcome to Our
PJ LIBRARY & PJ OUR WAY COORDINATOR, KATE ELDER! We would like to announce Kate Elder as the new PJ Library/PJ Our Way coordinator. Kate comments, "PJ Library is an amazing program and very important to our family, and to Jewish Dayton. As a volunteer in our community, my focus was to engage families and bring them together. Now as a PJ Library Professional, I can continue in that, and strengthen those connections with all the resources PJ Library brings to Dayton. I am looking forward to meeting and collaborating with our community members and continue our successful programming this year." Kate, her husband Jake, and their three children reside in Centerville. PJ Library offers the gift of free, high quality, and award-winning Jewish books each month to children being raised in Jewish homes. Children must be ages 6 months through 8 years and live in Dayton. These books are a gift from the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, local donors, and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. They celebrate Jewish culture, values, and tradition in the hope that these stories will become cherished parts of each child’s collection of books. PJ Our Way offers the gift of exceptional books with Jewish themes to kids ages 8½-11 – books they choose themselves! If you have any questions about PJ Library you can contact Kate at kelder@jfgd.net or (614) 795-7343.
Thank you to Rabbi Ron Symons, Center for Loving Kindness, JCC Pittsburgh, and the Squirrel Hill and South Hills neighborhoods for standing with us in solidarity with our beloved city of Dayton and The Oregon District.
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Legacies, Tributes, & Memorials FEDERATION
ROBERT & MOLLIE FITTERMAN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND IN HONOR OF › In celebration of the marriage of Karen Moore Susan and Alan Witte IN MEMORY OF › Mollie and Robert Fitterman Susan and Alan Witte GENEALOGY AND HISTORY FUND IN HONOR OF › Speedy recovery of Sandy Schoemann Donna and Marshall Weiss IN MEMORY OF › Steven Schoemann Donna and Marshall Weiss Genealogy and History Advisory Committee Franklin Cohn Donna and Marshall Weiss
CAROL J. PAVLOFSKY LEADERSHIP FUND IN HONOR OF › Anniversary of Lisa and Gary Pavlofsky Cissy Ellison Dorothy Engelhardt JCC
CAROLE RABINOWITZ YOUTH JEWISH EXPERIENCE FUND IN HONOR OF › Special birthday of Joe Bettman › Paul Berger receiving the Dor L’Dor Tribute Award From the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington › Lisa Wolfe receiving the 2019 JCFS “What’s Possible” Award Bernie Rabinowitz IN MEMORY OF › Joanie Horwitz Bernie Rabinowitz
JFS
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES IN MEMORY OF › Franklin Cohn Beverly and Jeffrey Kantor FOUNDATION
JEREMY BETTMAN B’NAI TZEDEK FUND IN HONOR OF › 90th birthday of Joe Bettman › 65th wedding anniversary of Elaine and Joe Bettman Judy Schwartzman IN MEMORY OF › Steven Fishbein Jean and Todd Bettman
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
A Biss'l Mamaloshen Honik
| HO-nik | Noun:
Honey. Expressions with Honik: 1 GEShMÁK VI A MÓYTSE MIT
HÓNIK. as tasty as bread with honey (delectable, delicious). 2 ZI LEKT NIShT KEYN HÓNIK. She is not licking honey (She's having a rough time). 3 ZIS VI HÓNIK-LÉKEKh As sweet as honey cake (very sweet).
PAGE 21
Upcoming events JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
Off to a Sweet Start Please join us at an informal reception to welcome Rosh Hashanah. Celebrate the Jewish New Year with friends, songs led by Cantor Andrea Raizen, the sounds of the shofar with Stephen Goldberg, and sweets. Monday, September 23 2-3PM @ One Lincoln Park (590 Isaac Prugh Way, Dayton, 45429) Tuesday, September 24 2:30-3:30PM @ Spring Hills Singing Woods (140 E Woodbury Dr., Dayton, 45415)
YAD
(ages 21-35) @ Top Golf Sunday, September 15 12-3PM @ Topgolf (9568 Water Front Dr, West Chester Township, 45069) Join YAD for a fun filled afternoon of Top Golf and the opportunity to meet the young adults from Cincinnati. This event made possible by an Innovation Grant of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton.
WOMEN'S EVENT WITH LISA BARR Sunday, October 20 10AM-12PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Beloved author and journalist Lisa Barr returns to Dayton to talk about her Judaism, her personal life, her career, and how Federation has impacted it all. Nosh on brunch provided by Bernstein's Fine Catering and come ready to mingle and meet new friends at the Jewish Federation. Dietary laws will be observed. $20 per person, RSVP online at JewishDayton.org or over the phone at (937) 610-1555. This event is sponsored by the Pavlofsky and Miller families in loving memory of Carol Pavlofsky.
PAGE 22
How to Support Young Readers Tuesday, September 17 5:30-7PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Enjoy a night of thoughtful engagement as Mrs. Jean Boltz, experienced elementary literacy teacher, guides us through ways to support young readers and children still learning how to read. Kosher dinner provided. There will be concurrent programming for children, 3-5 years old and 6-8 years old. RSVP by September 10. If you have questions, dietary or special needs please let us know. This is a partnership program between PJ Library and Hillel Academy made possible through a grant from the Prizmah Center for Jewish Day Schools.
Klezmer Kids Concert Wednesday, September 25 Klezmer Kids Concert 6:30-7:30PM @ Wright Memorial Public Library (1776 Far Hills Avenue, Oakwood, 45419) Dayton’s own Klezmer Ensemble starring Richard Begel performs live at the Library! At this family-friendly program, the band will perform lively Jewish folk music and tell the tale of PJ Library book Mendel's Accordion. This event is in partnership with Wright Memorial Library.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
OPINION
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A slide at the Jewish Federation’s recent Presidents Dinner read: “Imagine a day when education becomes our strongest tool against antisemitism, second only to the bonds we as a Jewish community build with our neighbors.” I feel compelled to address how some within our Jewish community have betrayed these high ideals in addressing the recent incident at The Miami Valley School (July Observer). Rooting out antisemitism is absolutely an imperative for our Jewish community, and the broader community is generally sympathetic to such. But in a secular school community it is hardly the only issue, nor should we expect it to be. And given that we don’t even have uniformity of thought on these issues within the Jewish community, we certainly can’t expect those outside of it to understand the nuances inherent therein, especially without first engaging in education and dialogue. MVS is an exceptional institution that since its founding has been open and diverse and welcoming to all, including — and arguably especially — to our Jewish community. Singling out one incident by one student and using that to indict and condemn the entire school just strikes me as terribly counterproductive and unfair. And the situation was further exacerbated by The Observer article’s lack of complete information, including its failure to note that MVS has welcomed and co-sponsored the Sinai Scholars program since that program’s inception. The resulting impressions left are truly unfortunate. MVS has as its motto, “Here they become…” As an alum and parent of an alum, that means something. It means MVS students are encouraged to explore and engage in deeper critical thinking. They are taught to think for themselves and grow as humans and engage with the world beyond the school’s four walls. My fear is that this article may have created the impression that Jews are not welcome or perhaps unsafe at MVS, which would not only be inaccurate and slanderous, but tragic. For if even one in our community was dissuaded from giving their child the opportunity “to become…” at MVS, then it truly would be that. We should be strengthening bonds, not destroying them; educating, not condemning. — R. Todd Bettman, Dayton R. Todd Bettman is a former board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton The Aug. 4 massacre in Dayton hit very close to home from 2,400 miles away. Why is a Jewish man from San Francisco so moved and outraged by the massacre in Dayton? I’d never been in southwest Ohio before. I was invited there as a speaker in June, at Temple Israel’s Jewish Cultural Festival. I spoke about my synagogue’s project to return a 200-year-old Torah scroll to its ancestral home in Olomouc in the Czech Republic, and our synagogue’s shared connection to Temple Israel’s Holocaust Torah from Ceske Budejovice. Our synagogue also has a scroll from the same town. We share that legacy. I can also vividly picture the bars and the restaurants in Dayton’s Oregon District, where I enjoyed some fine meals and the quirky ambiance of Fifth Third Field, home of your Dayton Dragons. Who knew stumbling on a post-game fireworks show could be so fun? I met many of the 2,500 people that came through the festival that day, in a celebration of unity and of Dayton’s civic, Jewish, and interfaith pride. Dayton is a beautiful town with a beautiful spirit. Nothing prepared me for the horrific images I saw on television Aug. 4. So waking up on that Sunday morning to the pictures of the horrible rampage was especially hard for me to take. It’s personal and it’s tragic. Gun violence is no longer abstract for me. It’s happened to someone and some place I know. I wish Dayton speedy healing, refuah shlemah (complete healing), comfort to the mourners, and resolute action on the part of your elected leaders. I hope they have the courage to do the right thing to address the scourge of gun violence plaguing your community and our nation. My best to the Miami Valley Jewish community from your new friend in the San Francisco Bay Area. Be strong and of good courage. And to leaders like Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz, be strong, Dayton Strong! I’ll be watching with interest and concern. — Steve Lipman, Foster City, Calif.
The real crisis
missing social relationships,” of no communities, no fathers, no mentors, no initiations into personal responsibility, no daily organizing principles, no instruction in useful trades, no productive activities, no opportunities for love and affection, and no way out. Our leaders are too cowardly to say so, but the signs are everywhere. Mass shootings are just the final manifestation of the problem. Millions are dependent on drugs, legal and illegal. Fifteen percent of all millennials still live at home with their parents. Fifty years ago, more than 80 percent of American adults this age were already married, living with a spouse. Today, fewer than half the adults between 25 and 34 are married. The Washington Post (3/21/19) reports that 51 percent of American young people are not in any kind of romantic relationship at all. So it’s not surprising that millions of them feel helpless, miserable, and alone — they are. They lack friends or parents or religious organizations to give purpose and moral coherence to their lives. They live in a suffocating culture that they feel no control over. Local or personal identity and local institutions are the weakest that they’ve ever been in this country, in our community. Increasingly, young people on social media think our democracy is fake, because in some instances it is. The policies people live under, the jobs they hold, even their personal opinions, are controlled by the Big Tech monopolies, the media rants, the Washington bureaucrats — people far away. America is supposed to be a free country, but millions of young people look around and they feel like they’re trapped in a stagnant, frightening, uncomfortable, and unpredictable place. In an environment like this, a few people will lash out in violence; millions of others will simply fade away: in suicides, drug overdoses, unhealthy escape. The real crisis, the one that’s threatening us and our neighbors, is that. It’s a long-term crisis. It’s been unfolding for decades. Our political pundits and mainstream media are happy to pretend it’s not happening at all, but it is happening, and we cannot ignore it forever.
lot. And we hear the talking points after senseless shootings. What we know is that political pundits’ talking points have little to do with why these By Richard Bromberg things happen; nor do they My wife, Diann, and I ask help much in predicting who a lot of questions about the might act out next. We first saw signs of probOregon District massacre. We lems in 1970s night rides with are impacted in a different way than many. We are red flaggers. the police when called to Red flaggers are forensic spe- parent-absent homes in Centerville, Kettering, and Bellbrook cialists who are risk assessors, with trouble brewing. attempting to identify people Family structures were with significant violence or suiclearly breaking down in the cide potential. This is what we do day in and day out. We look 1980s with increasing domestic violence, divorce, and the emerat a lot of information about a gence of single-parent families. person, from different sources Religious organizations were as well as the person themlosing members, and more selves. We ask them a lot of questions, up to 1,000 questions and more angry children were in a period of several hours. We showing up at schools. In the observe them as they attempt to 90s, insurance changed, and people and families had fewer answer our questions. Seventyopportunities for treatment. five percent of the time they lie Family therapy, popular in the to us; we usually know when 1970s, was de-emphasized. The they’re doing this because this focus became individuals, not is how we’ve been trained. families; medication, not talkWe still get fooled, because some sources aren’t complete or ing. Society’s values changed in the ‘90s and became more accurate, and some people are ambiguous. Depression and mighty good at lying. suicide were increasing signifiMental health professionals cantly, and parents felt helpless. are traditionally the most naïve And then came the internet, of people: they believe mostly and not long after, social media, anything. Unless they’re sufficiently trained, and most aren’t, which put a sword through every marriage and family. they shouldn’t assess risk in People stopped talking with potentially dangerous people. each other. We are very alone in what Today, talk and images of we do — identifying dangerous violence are a regular part of people and then going to court our everyday experience. Suito confront them. Most mental cide and the incidence of mass health folks don’t want to do shootings are at record high what we do. It’s a tremendous responsibility and it comes with levels; they’ve been increasing significantly for 10 years. We risks. But we have a mission to don’t stop killing ourselves or save some people, especially others; we don’t stop doing children, and we feel it’s worth the things that got us here. it. We’re more political, but we’ve What we do comes after learned little about solving our years of being on the frontlines problems. of many mental health emerWhat is the real diagnosis? gencies, years of working with James Howard Kunstler, one numerous law enforcement of our wisest cultural observfolks and courts throughout ers, sums it up this way: “This Ohio and Pennsylvania, years of directing and being involved is exactly what you get in a culture where anything goes in psychiatry units and coorand nothing matters. Extract all dinating behavioral medicine the meaning and purpose from at Kettering Medical Center, being here on earth and erase decades of treating unhealthy as many boundaries as you can family units, all the time being from custom and behavior, and pretty close to the emotional watch what happens, especially ground in the communities among young men.” south of Dayton. Kunstler’s right. Young men So we see a lot. And hear a have a problem. NIMH statistics estimate that Send your letters (350 words max., thanks) as many as 50 to The Dayton Jewish Observer percent of our 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459 boys live in MWeiss@jfgd.net what Kunstler Views expressed by columnists, in readers’ letters, and in opinion describes as pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinion of staff or layleaders of The Dayton Jewish Observer or the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton. “an abyss of
So, what do you think?
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
Dr. Richard Bromberg is a forensic/community psychologist in the Miami Valley since 1970.
PAGE 23
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS Classes
JCC’s Music Appreciation Class: Thurs., Sept. 5-Nov. 21, 10 a.m.-noon. W. Rich Begel. $50. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. R.S.V.P. by Sept. 4 to 610-1555. JCC’s Beginning Canasta Lessons: Wednesdays, Sept. 11-Oct. 2, 1-4 p.m. W. Sue Nelson & Linda Schuman. Free. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. R.S.V.P. by Sept. 4 to 610-1555.
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The Feldman, Moscowitz and Foster Families wish you a sweet New Year filled with good health and happiness.
Temple Beth Or Classes: Sat., Sept. 7, 10 a.m. & Sun., Sept. 15, 11 a.m.: Tanakh w. Rabbi Chessin. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 435-3400. Temple Israel Classes: Tues., Sept. 3, 10, 17, 24, 5:30 p.m.: Musar w. Rabbi Sobo. Wednesdays, noon: Talmud w. Rabbi Sobo. Thursdays, noon: Back to the Basics w. Rabbi Bodney-Halasz. Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.: Torah Study. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 4960050.
Discussions
Temple Israel Torah on Tap: Wed., Sept. 18, 6 p.m. D20: A Bar With Characters, 2144 E. Whipp Rd., Kettering. Drinks &
discussion w. rabbi. First round on Temple Israel. 2nd Annual Westminster Lecture on Faith & Civic Life: w. Rabbi Judith Schindler, Queens Univ. Sat., Sept. 28, 7 p.m. The Jewish View of Faith & Civic Responsibility: A Rabbi’s Perspective. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 125 N. Wilkinson St., Dayton. Free. 223-7285.
Family
PJ Library & Hillel Academy Supporting Young Readers: Tues., Sept. 17, 5:30-7 p.m. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. Includes kosher dinner. Free. R.S.V.P. to 6101555. PJ Library’s Klezmer Kids Concert: Wed., Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m. W. Richard Begel & Miami Valley Klezmer Ensemble. Wright Memorial Public Library, 1776 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. Free. R.S.V.P. to 610-1555.
Children & Youths
Chabad Kids Rosh Hashanah Farmers’ Market: Sun., Sept. 15, 5-6:30 p.m. Crafts, learning recipes, dinner included. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. R.S.V.P. to 643-0770.
Praying for Peace in The New Year
Jeff Noble
Wishing you and your family a wonderful New Year!
L’shanah Tovah Happy Rosh Hashanah!
PAGE 24
Women
Life & Legacy/Jewish Foundation Brunch w. Author Arlene Cogen: Sun., Sept. 15, 10 a.m. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. Free. R.S.V.P. to 610-1555.
Men
Jewish Federation Men’s Event w. Author Michael Coles: Sun., Sept. 22, 5:30 p.m. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. $20. R.S.V.P. to 610-1555 or jewishdayton.org.
Seniors
JFS L’Chaim 2019: Technology & The Independent You. Mon., Sept. 16, noon-3 p.m. Lunch provided. Free. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. R.S.V.P. to 6101555. JFS Off to a Sweet Start: Mon., Sept. 23, 2 p.m.: at One Lincoln Park, 590 Isaac Prugh Way, Kettering. Tues., Sept. 24, 2:30 p.m.: at SpringHills Singing Woods, 140 E. Woodbury Dr., Harrison Twp. For both R.S.V.P. to 610-1555. Community Selichot Service: Sat., Sept. 21, 8:30 p.m. Dessert, Havdalah, Selichot w. Dayton Jewish Chorale, clergy. Temple Beth Or, 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 435-3400.
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YAD @ Topgolf: Sun., Sept. 15, noon-3 p.m. 9568 Water Front Dr., West Chester Twp. Free. R.S.V.P. to 610-1555.
High Holy Days
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Young Adults
Montgomery County Commissioner
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Chabad Rosh Hashanah Dinner: Sun., Sept. 29, 7 p.m. $25 adult, $10 child. 2001 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood. R.S.V.P. to 643-0770 or chabaddayton. com.
Community Events
41st Annual Ryterband Symposium: w. Dr. Arthur Green, Hebrew College. Wed., Sept. 18, 4 p.m.: Excavating Chasidic Texts, Sears Recital Hall, Philips Humanities Ctr., UD. 7:30 p.m.: Re-envisioning Jewish Theology & Judaism, Torch Lounge, Kennedy Union, UD. Free. For info., call Prof. Mark Verman, 775-2461. Hadassah Luncheon to Honor Associate Members: Sun., Sept. 22, 11 a.m. W. trivia. One Lincoln Park, 590 Isaac Prugh Way, Kettering. $5. Friends & family welcome. R.S.V.P. to Sis Litvin, 6901 Lockwood St., Dayton, OH 45415.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
A BISEL KISEL
Descendant of a rabbi, a priest, and a Cossack My great-grandmother Valentina lived surrounded by plants. Her balcony was lined with potted geraniums and violets; inside were wall to wall cacti. Our ritual when I came over to her small apartment in the center of Kiev, which was often, was to fill up the large watering can and walk around “feeding” each of my wards. She waited all week so I could water the succulents. I named my favorites: the ones with the fluffy needles that could be petted.
Masha Kisel A retired botanist in her 70s, she was still an active member of the Soviet Botanist’s Guild and we would attend meetings held in Kiev’s Botanical Gardens together. I still remember entering the park and excitedly seeing the crimson and gold flowers of the hammer and sickle flower bed, which my Mom — an architect and artist — had a part in designing. There were some things I knew about Valentina’s life before she became my “Babushka Valia.” I knew that her husband and her older son both died tragically young during World War II. We were very close and although she never talked about the past, even at a young age, I felt a terrible sadness buried deep underneath her bustling self-sufficiency. What I did not know until much later was that before the Russian Revolution, Babushka Valia’s family line would never have intersected with any of my Jewish ancestors. Valentina’s father, Ivan, was a Russian Orthodox priest (they’re allowed to marry). He taught at the Kiev Theological Seminary. Valentina’s husband came from a long line of Cossacks, who for generations lived in a military settlement called Akhtyrka. I had no idea that Valentina did not want her son Oleg to marry a Jewish girl named Rollana — my grandmother. Rollana’s parents weren’t thrilled either. Before the revolution, this union would
have been unthinkable. In the 1950s it was almost normal. On one side, a priest and a Cossack, on the other side a rabbi who died defending his daughter from a Cossack-executed pogrom. But Oleg and Rollana were university students and ardent members of the Komsomol, the AllUnion Leninist Young Communist League. They were in love and free of those pre-revolutionary Masha at age 3 in 1982 with Babushka prejudices. Valentina and Masha’s mother I didn’t know any of committed to the dream of this family history before I communism that promised to came to the United States. We end the historical nightmare of never discussed religion in our csarist pogroms. Of course, this house. Once, in the late 1980s, I saw a man on the street wear- promise was not fulfilled. My great-grandparents lived ing a cross necklace. “Do you in silent fear under Stalin. think he escaped a psychiatric Following the 1953 Doctor’s ward?” I whispered to my Plot — false accusations against Mom. Jewish doctors of poisoning I sometimes dyed Easter Soviet officials — Stalin had eggs with Valentina and made a plan to send all Jews to a festive pancakes for Maslenremote part of Siberia, where itsa, the Russian Orthodox Fat many would have perished. Tuesday. My family was narrowly But I never thought of these activities as Christian, or in any saved by Stalin’s death in 1954. But repression of Jewish culway antithetical to the fact that ture persisted. My Mom tried I was Jewish. to name me Miriam after her Despite knowing nothing great-aunt, but was told at the about Judaism, there was no registration bureau that no such question about what we were. name existed, Even though so they wrote it These strange my mother’s down as Maria, passport Soviet Jews would Masha for declared her short. nationality need to scrub Had my Ukrainian, we clean layers of great-greatwere keenly grandfather aware of our identity, memory, Hershel imJewishness migrated to the and espeand ancestry that United States cially that we at the turn of “looked Jew- were deemed last century, ish.” undesirable by their the I might have When Herbeen immersed shel, my rabbi new communities. in Judaism great-greatsince birth; I grandfather would have been Miriam. But was murdered, he left behind no, that’s nonsense. his wife and five daughters Had Hershel and his family who spoke Yiddish and had immigrated, I would not have Hebrew names. existed. The historical events But after the revolution, Tzithat ruptured Jewish communipora became Tsilya, Devorah ties, that silenced them, also became Vera, Feyge became created something new. Fanya, Miriam became Manya When I think about the and Pearl became Polya. They psychological divide between stopped speaking Yiddish. American Jews and Soviet émiMy grandmother Rollana grés, I see that it is much more was named after Romaine Rolthan a culture clash between land, a French humanist who the former Soviet Union and admired socialism. I think that my Jewish great- America. Those who have been in the grandparents were genuinely
never as the descendant of a priest, certainly not of a Cossack. I have somehow always known that I better keep quiet about it: in part because of the antiquated tribalism that still exists in many Jewish communities to which I have belonged. I once mentioned my Ukrainian grandfather to a friend’s mom who was asking where my son’s blue eyes might come from and she exclaimed, “Oh, I didn’t know you were part antisemite!” The response was a joke, but as Freud would say, it was only part joke.
U.S. for generations remember their bubbies and zaydies speaking Yiddish and cooking Ashkenazi food. For them, immigrants from the old country were the keepers of tradition. They were unpleasantly surprised when Soviet Jews who arrived in America, Israel, and Canada had little to no old country Jewishness left in them. On the contrary, these strange Soviet Jews would need to scrub clean layers of identity, memory, and ancestry that were deemed undesirable by their new communities. Even today, I think of myself as a descendant of a rabbi, but
Dr. Masha Kisel is a lecturer in English at the University of Dayton.
Celebrate the Warmth of Traditional Judaism at Beth Jacob Synagogue for the High Holidays. High Holiday Services 2019/5780
Rabbi Adam Rosenthal
Rabbi Adam Rosenthal and Cantor Rami Isser will be leading us in prayers for the High Holidays. Beth Jacob Congregation invites and encourages the community to join us for Inspirational High Holiday Traditional services.
Saturday, September 21 Selichot
Cantor Rami Isser
Saturday, October 5 Shabbat Shuvah
9 PM with light dessert reception Morning Services: 9:30 AM Havdalah: 7:53 PM
Sunday, September 29 First Night Rosh Hashanah Minchah/Ma’ariv: 6 PM Candle Lighting: 7:05 PM
Monday, September 30 Rosh Hashanah I
Morning Service: 8:30 AM Torah Service: 10 AM Shofar: 11:30 AM Tashlich: 6:30 PM Minchah/Ma’ariv: 7 PM Candle Lighting: 8 PM
Tuesday, October 1 Rosh Hashanah II
Morning Service: 8:30 AM Torah Service: 10 AM Shofar: 11:30 AM Minchah/Ma’ariv: 7 PM Havdalah: 8 PM
Tuesday, October 8 Erev Yom Kippur—Kol Nidrei
Minchah/Kol Nidrei: 6:45 PM Candle Lighting/Fast Begins: 6:51 PM
Wednesday, October 9 Yom Kippur
Morning Service: 9 AM Torah Service: 10:40 AM Yizkor: 12 PM Break: 3 PM Minchah: 5 PM Neilah: 6:30 PM Ma’ariv: 7:40 PM Havdalah: 7:47 PM Shofar Blast/Fast Ends: 7:57 PM Break Fast at conclusion of service Break Fast — $10.00 — RSVP required by 10/4/19.
7020 North Main Street • Dayton, Ohio 45415 274-2149 • www.bethjacobcong.org
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
PAGE 25
THE MARVELOUS MR. MAZEL
May You Only See Happiness In The New Year.
Dayton native Lauren Koenig is a go-getter. And her can-do attitude has garnered her a spot on a prestigious list in Chicago. Lauren was named to the eighth annual Double Chai
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in the Chi: 36 Under 36 list of young Jewish movers and shakers in Chicago who make major contributions through their work, in their free time, and in the Jewish community and beyond. Lauren, 28, is a senior risk management analyst at CVS Health and in her spare time tutors at Huntington Learning Center, while serving as co-chair of the CVS Health Women’s Success Network. She was also recently named advisor of the year for the BBYO Great Midwest Region, which has more than 600 members. In addition to leading kids, she
took it upon herself to begin a Facebook group for young Jews in the northwest Chicago suburbs and began planning regular meet-ups. The Double Chai list is compiled annually by the Jewish United Fund of Chicago’s Young Leadership Division and Oy!Chicago, a website for Chicago 20- and 30-somethings. Andrew Kahn was promoted to IT systems engineer lead in IT shared services/IT security on the threat and vulnerability and data protection team at Progressive Insurance. Andrew is the son of Linda Ohlmann Kahn and Dennis Kahn. Dr. Corinne Deprano has been named interim dean of the University of Dayton School of Education and Health Sciences. Tiffany Lobertini is now artistic director of the Gary Geis School of Dance in Springfield. Send your announcements to scotthalasz1@gmail.com.
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Schechter-Zwelling Deva and Josh Zwelling are thrilled to announce the engagement of their son Jacob Zwelling to Madison Schechter, daughter of Andrea and Rob Schechter of Woodmere, N.Y. Jacob is graduating from the Sy Syms School of Business/ Yeshiva University in January with a major in business intelligence marketing analytics. Madison is graduating in December from New York University College of Nursing. The couple resides in New York. Send lifecycles to: The Dayton Jewish Observer 525 Versailles Dr. Centerville, OH 45459 Email: MWeiss@jfgd.net. There is a $12 charge to run a photo; please make checks payable to The Dayton Jewish Observer.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
RELIGION
Jewish group asks Ukrainian president to help build large synagogue in Uman Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Aug. 19 he would look into an alleged corruption saga that has reportedly been holding up the construction of a synagogue in the city of Uman for more than a decade. Zelensky’s remarks came during a meeting with Duvi Honig, founder and CEO of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, shortly before the president held his first-ever meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials. The saga began more than 10 years ago, when Israeli businessman Yisrael Elhadad acquired a large parcel of land in Uman, near the grave of Rav Nachman of Bratslav, the founder of the Breslov Chasidic movement. He planned to build a massive Jewish center on the site, with a large synagogue and a mikvah. The need was great, he felt, as there was currently no large synagogue in the city, even though tens of thousands of Jews travel to the city every year on Rosh Hashanah to visit Rav Nachman’s grave. The Uman City Council approved the plans, according to Elhadad, but the town council then refused to allow the project to proceed, allegedly demanding a $350,000 bribe. When Elhadad refused, the council rezoned the property as a public park and began doing site work, preventing the construction of the synagogue. Elhadad and several Jewish community leaders from Ukraine asked Honig to help. On Aug. 15, he led a delegation to Uman to view the site and a press conference in Kiev at the Interfax News Agency headquarters. He also made a plea to the president, who is Jewish, to keep his promise to enabling a “Little Jerusalem” in Uman. On Aug. 19, Zelensky met with Honig to discuss the crisis. Zelensky said he viewed the issue seriously and would work to restore the site to its rightful owner. — JNS
CONGREGATIONS
Choose life — mindfully
Beth Abraham Synagogue Conservative Rabbi Joshua Ginsberg Cantor/Dir. of Ed. & Programming Andrea Raizen Mornings, Mon. & Thurs., 7 a.m.; Tues., Wed., Fri., 7:15 a.m. Sundays, 8:30 a.m. Evenings, Mon.-Fri., 5:30 p.m. Sat. 9 a.m. w. Youth Service 10:30 a.m. 305 Sugar Camp Circle, Oakwood. 2939520. BethAbrahamDayton.org
lives and homes that were deNo walks along the beach, stroyed, but for our own sense roller coaster rides, or sold-out of security. concerts. Is this what is meant In reality, we are no more by the words choose life? Can or less secure today we and should we than we were in live like this? Doesn’t May. vulnerability provide Despite new fears us with opportuniand anxiety, little has ties for growth and actually changed. development? Life continues as It is possible that uncertain and unsome of us may nevpredictable as it ever er feel comfortable was. We still don’t returning to regular have the ability to life, or at least won’t control natural disasfor a long time. ters or other people’s Walking on Fifth Rabbi Karen Bodneychoices. We can only Halasz Street may prove to control ourselves. be a trigger for painNo matter how many times In a few weeks, we will ful memories. Others might we might check the weather, read from Parashat Nitzavim. find themselves avoiding large train our children to “Run, In this well-known section of public areas. It is going to take Hide, Fight,” or identify emerTorah, God places before us a a lot of work for each of us to gency exits, it would be foolish choice: life and death, blessing return to living and to unburto believe we would have been and curse. “Choose life,” we den ourselves from our fears. “prepared” for a tornado or a are told, “so that you and your But we can do it — by mindmass shooting. offspring may live....” fully choosing life over all else. Emotionally, this is a chalIn other years, this may We alone can determine how lenging time, especially for not have seemed to be such the summer of 2019 will define those who were most acutely a daunting request. But my who we are and who we may affected. But for all of us, we instincts tell me it may be difone day become. too find that much of what we ferent this year. Perhaps some of us may once believed to be steadfast Whether directly or peripheven observe this month of and unyielding is ephemeral. erally affected emergency preparation — to Things feel a by the events prepare to reemerge. bit more precari- Our city is in this summer, we We are resilient. We are ous now. We can mourning — not all are carrying stronger than we ever thought no longer say around some we could be. Daytonians know “things like that just for the lives trauma. How how to come together to supdon’t happen and homes that will the fear and port one another. Though life here.” were destroyed, insecurity on may never return to exactly Instead, we our shoulders how it used to be, we will be look around but for our own affect our ability able to feel whole once more. and see that our sense of security. to choose life? May we continue to choose buildings remain Fear is very life in the months ahead and to in shambles, powerful. It prevents us from be compassionate to ourselves checks still need to be cut, and along the way. families continue to pick up the reaching our goals and sometimes even our potential. ImagWishing all of us a refuah pieces of their broken lives. ine the experiences we might shleimah, a complete recovery In the wake of the Memorial never have again if we were of body and spirit, in the days Day tornadoes and the Oregon only to focus on the inevitable to come. May we forever be District massacre, our city is “what ifs.” Dayton Strong. in mourning — not just for the By Rabbi Karen BodneyHalasz, Temple Israel A pop-up notice scrolls across my news feed. September is National Preparedness Month, a time to promote planning for family and community disasters and emergencies. I shake my head. First, because the timing feels laughable. And second, because I know there is no training that could have fully prepared us for what we already faced this summer in Dayton.
Beth Jacob Congregation Traditional Saturdays 9:30 a.m. Yahrzeit minyans available upon advance request. 7020 N. Main St., Dayton. 274-2149. BethJacobCong.org Temple Anshe Emeth Reform Rabbinic Intern Caroline Sim 320 Caldwell St., Piqua. Contact Steve Shuchat, 937-7262116, AnsheEmeth@gmail.com. ansheemeth.org
Perspectives
September Elul/Tishri
Candle Lightings Shabbat, Sept. 6: 7:42 p.m. Shabbat, Sept. 13: 7:31 p.m. Shabbat, Sept. 20: 7:19 p.m. Shabbat, Sept. 27: 7:08 p.m. Erev Rosh Hashanah Sept. 29: 7:05 p.m. First Eve Rosh Hashanah Sept. 30: 8:01 p.m.
Temple Beth Or Reform Rabbi Judy Chessin Educator/Rabbi Ari Ballaban Fridays 7 p.m. Saturdays 10 a.m. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 435-3400. templebethor.com Temple Beth Sholom Reform Rabbi Haviva Horvitz See Web site for schedule. 610 Gladys Dr., Middletown. 513-422-8313. thetemplebethsholom.com Temple Israel Reform Senior Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz Rabbi/Educator Tina Sobo First Friday each month 6 p.m. All other Fridays 6:30 p.m. Saturdays 10:30 a.m. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 496-0050. tidayton.org Temple Sholom Reform Rabbi Cary Kozberg Fridays 6 p.m. 2424 N. Limestone St., Springfield. 399-1231. templesholomoh.com
ADDITIONAL SERVICES Chabad of Greater Dayton Rabbi Nochum Mangel Associate Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin Youth & Prog. Dir. Rabbi Levi Simon, Teen & Young Adult Prog. Dir. Rabbi Elchonon Chaikin. Beginner educational service Saturdays 9 a.m. adults, 10 a.m children. Sundays 9 a.m. 2001 Far Hills Ave. 643-0770. www.chabaddayton.com
Torah Portions Sept. 7: Shoftim (Deut. 16:18-21:9) Sept. 14: Ki Tetze (Deut. 21:10-25:19) Sept. 21, Ki Tavo (Deut. 26:1-29:8) Sept. 28, Nitzavim (Deut. 29:9-30:20)
Rosh Hashanah
Jewish New Year
Sept. 30-Oct. 1/1-2 Tishri Celebration of the beginning of the Jewish calendar year. Begins the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of repentance and prayer that ends on Yom Kippur. Celebrated with festive meals, including apples dipped in honey.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
Yellow Springs Havurah Independent Services 1st & 3rd Saturdays, 10-noon. Antioch College Rockford Chapel. Contact Len Kramer, 937572-4840 or len2654@gmail.com.
PAGE 27
RELIGION
Why Jews dip apples in honey on Rosh Hashanah — and why vegans say it’s a problem Liron Almog/Flash90
Kever Avot Sunday, September 8 10:30am Riverview Cemetery
The Rosh Hashanah custom of dipping apples in honey started among Ashkenazi Jews
A longstanding tradition of remembrance is to visit the graves of loved ones during the month of Elul. This special Kever Avot program serves the residents of assisted living facilities and apartments. Temple volunteers will pair up with older adults for the morning, accompanying them as they visit their loved ones’ graves at Riverview Cemetery. Our older generations will have the chance to share the stories and lessons passed down to them. Please contact the Temple office if you would like to volunteer or be matched with a volunteer. Temple Israel • www.tidayton.org • 937.496.0050 130 Riverside Drive, Dayton, OH 45405 A Reform Synagogue open to all who are interested in Judaism. Childcare provided during Friday services and Sunday school. PAGE 28
By Josefin Dolstein, JTA NEW YORK — The truth is, there is no commandment in Judaism to dip an apple in honey on Rosh Hashanah. But what would the Jewish New Year be without the custom? It’s a question that bedevils vegans, many of whom won’t eat honey because it’s an animal product. So what’s a mock chopped liver/seitan brisket/vegetarian stuffed cabbage kind of Jew to do? Jeffrey Cohan, the executive director of Jewish Veg, explains all the ways that honey production is problematic. In order to produce as much honey as possible, many honey producers manipulate the bees’ natural living patterns, including clipping the queen’s wings to prevent her from flying away, and replacing the honey produced with sugar water, which animal rights activists say is less nutritious. Some vegans
regard the whole process as cruel and exploitative. “Tza’ar ba’alei chayim is a core Torah mandate, so to start the new year right away by violating tza’ar ba’alei chayim does not get the year off to the best start,” he said, using the Hebrew term for the prohibition against causing unnecessary harm to animals. One of the more common substitutes is honey made from dates, according to Cohan. Date honey is not only vegan but has its roots in the Bible. Dates are one of the seven species of the land of Israel mentioned in the Bible. Scholars say that the description of “a land flowing with milk and honey” actually refers to date honey, not bee honey. “(B)ecause date syrup is actually in the Torah, it makes the most sense from a Jewish perspective,” Cohan said. Proponents of eating date honey also
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RELIGION due to cultivation, said Jordan Rosencite its health benefits. blum, a professor at the University of Brian Finkel, the co-founder of a Wisconsin-Madison who studies food company selling organic date honey, and Judaism. says the product has 25 percent less Apples are in season and therefore sugar and a lower glycemic index than plentiful in the fall, when the holiday of bee honey and is a great source of antiRosh Hashanah occurs. oxidants. In 14th-century Germany, the Jewish Finkel, who grew up outside Chicago sage known as the Maharil described but moved to Israel in 2013, first tasted the custom of dipping apples in honey date honey while studying at a yeshiva as long established and rich with mystiin the Jewish state after finishing high cal meaning. school. Silan, as the product is known Dates did not grow in Europe, but there, is a popular ingredient in cooking honey made by bees was available, so and baking, and as a dip. that became the topping of choice, said The entrepreneur had a self-deLeah Hochman, an associate professor scribed “eureka moment” when he at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish thought to introduce it to American Institute of Religion who researches consumers. religion and food. Three years ago, Finkel and his busi“You have all these Diaspora comness partner, David Czinn, launched munities that are adapting to their new D’Vash Organics. Since then, Finkel environments, and over time people said, they have sold hundreds of thouused substitutes that had some sort of sands of bottles of date honey, in stores relationship to the across the United seven species to honStates and through or the ever-longedthe company’s for return to Zion,” website. Hochman said. The product is The custom travproduced in a U.S. eled with European factory that is not Jews when many certified kosher, of them left for the but Finkel said United States in the he is looking to 19th century. Many produce a kosher settled in the Northversion so that obeast, a region where servant Jews can Date honey is an alternative for Jewish apples grow well. have it around the vegans at Rosh Hashanah “They have that holidays — and tradition, and they come to a place year round. that’s great for apple growing, so that “I think it goes great with apples, further cements it,” Rosenblum said. it goes great with challah,” he said. “I Hochman said that as apples and definitely encourage people to use it honey became associated with Rosh on those things, around the holiday Hashanah, the combination gained a time, to make the new year that much symbolic meaning. sweeter.” “Over the course of time, the tradiMaking the new year sweeter is the tion became crucially important for whole point of the custom. Some trace understanding our wishes for a new it to Nehemiah 8:10, where the Jews of year, that they’re sweet,” she said. the Second Temple period celebrating It also helped that bee honey is kowhat would eventually become Rosh sher, even though the bee itself is not. Hashanah are told to “Go your way, eat Rabbis explain that unlike milk from a the fat, and drink the sweet.” nonkosher animal, which may not be As for the apple, the custom was consumed, bee honey is derived from started among Ashkenazi Jews in methe nectar of a flower and not from dieval Europe, when the apple as we something that’s part of the bee’s body. know it had become more accessible
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
PAGE 29
RELIGION
Jewish atonement ritual gets eco-friendly makeover By Penny Schwartz, JTA SOMERVILLE, Mass. — On the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz will lead her congregation on a walk to the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse on the Mystic River for tashlich, a centuriesold ritual when Jews symbolically discard their sins from the past year into a moving body of water. But instead of the customary bits of stale bread, bread crumbs or even bits of matzah saved from last Passover, congregants will toss small pebbles. Members of Temple B’nai Brith, a non-affiliated congregation in this Boston suburb with historic ties to the Conservative movement, have likely been
tossing bits of bread into the Mystic during tashlich for well over a century. The congregation was founded in 1904 by immigrants from Eastern Europe who settled in Somerville’s Winter Hill neighborhood, less than one mile uphill from the river. The recent shift in the tashlich practice from bread to pebbles follows the city’s new environmentally friendly rules that no longer allow bread to be tossed into the river, a measure to protect river wildlife and address other concerns. “Yes, our congregation is environmentally conscious and this was an appealing reason (to change) something we care about on a social justice level,” Jacobowitz said.
May you enjoy the fruits of a good new year.
The Pavlofsky Families PAGE 30
Sharona Jacobs
Passover for tashlich. The challenge of “There was this creating an environelement of planning” mentally friendly long in advance, the tashlich is emergrabbi said. ing beyond this In a touch of irony, city. An article at Jacobowitz pointed ReformJudaism.org out that in her native highlighted newer Israel, bread is not practices, including used during tashlich. one congregation in She said Israelis more Ontario using uncommonly stroll to treated wood chips the sea or other body instead of bread. of water and turn Whatever they their empty pockets use, congregants inside-out, reflecting aren’t meant to think that the ritual The last time Temple B’nai Brith families were allowed to use the idea that “you bread at the traditional tashlich ceremony at the Blessing of are not bringing your is a substitute for the Bay Boathouse in Somerville, Mass. was four years ago sins with you” into the hard work of the new year. Harbor. teshuvah, or repentance, which A resident of Somerville, The appropriately named extends from Rosh Hashanah to Jacobowitz said the environBlessing of the Bay boathouse Yom Kippur (Sept. 30-Oct. 9). where Temple B’nai Brith holds mental improvements along the Another Jewish atonement river in the past few years are tashlich services is named after practice known as kapparot, in noteworthy. a 17th-century wooden ship, which a live chicken is swung “It’s lovely. The water is betthe first oceangoing vessel built over a penitent’s head, has also ter,” she said. Sometimes she in Massachusetts, according to come under scrutiny lately by visits the area to think about the Mystic River Association. animal rights activists. It is In September 2015, before the her High Holy Days sermons performed much more rarely start of the High Holy Days, the and “I see that it is being transthan tashlich. formed.” city granted a one-year waiver In Somerville, the subject Amid the challenge to create to the synagogue, acknowledgwas first raised four years an environmentally friendly ing its long-standing tradiago when its parks and recretashlich, Jacobowitz has created tion of using bread during the ation department notified the a new tradition for Temple tashlich ceremony. synagogue that tossing bread The congregation assured the B’nai Brith’s younger tashlichviolated guidelines from the city that it would educate mem- goers: She brings a bedsheet to EPA and local efforts to protect the river and invites them to bers about the issue and evaluthe environment. The city said write something that they are ate environmentally acceptable feeding wildlife is harmful to sorry for and hope to change options ranging from birdseed their nutrition, leads to poor to earthworms to small pebbles. in the new year. They use pens water quality, and disrupts the with ink that dissolves after 24 After some rabecosystem. hours. She returns binical consider- The recent In addition to the potential the sheet to the ation, Jacobowitz harm to birds, feeding anishift in the synagogue on Yom concluded that mals brought “an unintended for tashlich, small tashlich practice Kippur and the invitation for animals around kids see that their pebbles had greatthe boathouse, including isregrets have disaper resonance than from bread to sues with geese on the docks,” birdseed. explained Jill Lathan, the parks pebbles follows peared. “From the perPebbles sink to and recreation director. the city’s new spective of modelthe bottom of the At the time, efforts to clean environmentally ing what we want river, an echo of up the river from decades to see in the world, the last verses of friendly rules of relentless pollution from I do feel proud of the prophet Micah industry, development and our community (7:19), that is the storm drainage were paying for taking that step, especially textual basis for the tashlich off. In 2017, the river scored an A-minus for water quality from ritual, she explained: “God will in the (High Holy Days) season when we are thinking of how take us back in love; God will the EPA, up from a D 11 years we can do better in the world,” cover up our iniquities. You earlier. The success story was Jacobowitz said. will cast all their sins into the the result of years of collaboraAfter much reflection, the depths of the sea.” tion between Somerville and rabbi has concluded that “this The change brought mixed other local communities, the is not about bread versus emotions. EPA, the Commonwealth of pebbles,” but rather about “There was a bit of commuMassachusetts, and the nonexchanging a ritual that has nal grief,” acknowledged Jacoprofit Mystic River Watershed content with another that is just bowitz, who was ordained in Association. as compelling. Over time, she 2010 at the pluralistic Hebrew The seven-mile-long Mystic anticipates the newer ritual will College rabbinical school. River flows through 22 towns take hold in a meaningful way. Many people had a strong just north and west of Boston. “It’s about replacing the spirattachment to the bread tossing, From Somerville, it goes downitual experience with another she said, and a few synagogue stream through the Amelia practice that will feel equally members have a tradition of Earhart Dam through Everett, spiritual,” she said. saving bits of matzah from Charlestown, and into Boston
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
FOOD
Kosher vegetarian Indian restaurant, Heavenly, opens on Springboro Pike Story & Photos By Marshall Weiss, The Observer It’s been more than 40 years since the Dayton area has had a kosher restaurant. But that changed in July, when Priya and Napoleon Rajavelu opened Heavenly, their vegetarian Indian restaurant at 9486 N. Springboro Pike in Miamisburg, across the street from LexisNexis. The Rajavelus, who previously owned a kosher Indian restaurant in Cincinnati, receive their kosher supervision and certification for Heavenly from Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin, associate rabbi with Chabad of Greater Dayton. The couple catered Dayton Chabad’s Indian-themed Purim dinner earlier this year. For Napoleon, who received his training as a chef in India, and Priya, a research scientist who handles the management of the restaurant, adding kosher certification to their already vegetarian operation is a way to expand their market to those with religious dietary strictures beyond the Indian community. “Regarding the Indian community, 70 percent are vegetarian,” Napoleon says. “Even the non-vegetarian people will not be eating meat every day.” Heavenly’s menu focuses on South Indian cuisine; the Rajavelus both come from the same village, on the outskirts of Puducherry, in South India. “Some of the recipes come from our village, that my
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grandmother or his greatgrandparents, they used to cook,” Priya says. “They are very ancient and very heartfelt recipes.” Napoleon adds that he and Priya, descendants of farmers, are the first generation in their families to leave India. Along with an à la carte menu for lunch, the Rajavelus pride themselves on their Thaali meal of nine courses, served in small cups on a platter covered with a banana leaf. “That is how my father traditionally served food, especially during the lunch hours,” Priya says. “In India, mostly especially South India, the tradition of serving food is on a banana
Heavenly’s nine-course Thaali platter is on the restaurant’s lunch menu
leaf,” Napoleon says. “It starts with the sweet pickle and ends with the sweet dessert, and you have seven varieties of curry side items, all vegetables of seven varieties. And then you get the rice, and you have an Indian type of minestrone called sambar. Mainly it is an opportunity for you to see the varieties.” Napoleon notes that each day, the vegetables are different and so are the side items on Heavenly’s Thaali. Ingredients incorporated into the dishes on this day include cauliflower, baby corn, carrots, cottage cheese cubes, peppers, squash, mango, white and lemon rice, lentils, tomatoes, onions, eggplant, cinnamon, and peas, along with dosa rice bread and roti wheat flatbread. On the lunch menu, the Thaali platter is $9.99. Priya says most lunch customers order it. In August, the Rajavelus also opened a kosher-certified pastry shop in Cincinnati; its cakes, pastries and cookies will be available for purchase at Heavenly in Miamisburg. “We want guests to feel the tradition and the thoughts we bring with us to share,” Priya says. Heavenly: Divine Indian Vegetarian & Kosher Food is located at 9486 N. Springboro Pike, Miamisburg. Catering is also available. For information, call 522-0862 or go to heavenlymiamisburg.com.
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Shana Tova from Temple Beth Or
Join us for a Community Selichot Service Hosted by Temple Beth Or
featuring: The Dayton Jewish Chorale & Local Clergy Temple Beth Or, Beth Abraham, Temple Israel and the Dayton Jewish Chorale are celebrating Selichot together. Local clergy will join us at Temple Beth Or in leading this meaningful service.
Saturday, September 21 Dessert Reception 8:30 p.m.
Havdallah and Selichot
Instant Pot Georgian Pomegranate Chicken Give the Instant Pot a try in the New Year By Sonya Sanford, JTA I was initially an Instant Pot doubter. I love both my Dutch oven and my stock pot, and I love letting the kitchen slowly fill with warmth as things simmer and cook for hours while I mess around the house. Then I got married and an Instant Pot (real talk: Insta-pot) literally showed up on my doorstep. At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I put it in the closet and forgot about it for at least six months. And then I heard about making rice in the Instant Pot. My first pot of sushi rice instantly made me a convert. My first vegetable stock changed my feelings about how stock can best be made. My first batch of chickpeas led me to make hummus on a more regular basis. Rice, stock and beans are all great in
the Instant Pot, but I still carried some skepticism about cooking other things. Chicken? What’s wrong with cooking it in the oven? Turns out, chicken in the pressure cooker is delicious. The chicken ends up deeply infused with any added aromatic or spice, it becomes fall-off-the-bone tender, and requires much less attention than cooking it on the stove. As documented by the queen of Jewish cooking, Joan Nathan, and by Georgian food guru Carla Capalbo, the Georgian Jewish community traditionally makes chicken cooked in pomegranate juice for Rosh Hashanah. It’s a perfect recipe for the High Holy Days: sweet, tart, flavorful and eyecatching. This recipe is an adaptation from multiple recipes for this dish, but in any variation the chicken is braised
G'mar Hatima Tova
Our "Writing and Reading" issue covers a great deal of literary territory, writers and poets known to these pages as well as work fresh to the literary canon.
9:00 p.m.
Erev Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 29, 8 p.m. Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 30
Yom Kippur, Oct. 9
Kol Nidre, Oct. 8, 8 p.m.
Yizkor Service, 4:30 p.m. Ne’ilah and Break the Fast,* 5:30 p.m.
Morning Services, 10 a.m. Morning Services, 10 a.m. Traditional and Family-Oriented Traditional and Family-Oriented Worship Options Worship Options Luncheon,* 12:30 p.m. Dr. Dennis Turner, 1:30 p.m. Family Service, 3 p.m. Family Service, 2 p.m.
*Reservations Required
Temple Beth Or 5275 Marshall Road Dayton, Ohio 45429 www.templebethor.com 937-435-3400
To d a y . . . a n d f o r G e n e r a t i o n s PAGE 32
The BEST words in the BEST order for over 75 years! Patricia Foster's essay "Pilgrimage," Rachel Rose's fiction "Buccal Swab," Gail Wronsky's poem "Let's Not Fetishize the Negativity," John Taylor's Poetry Today column "A Distinct Voice Composed of Voices" and more . . .
http://review.antiochcollege.org THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
in a generously spiced, fruity pomegranate juice-based broth and then topped with fresh red jewel-like pomegranate kernels. The pomegranate juice adds expected sweetness, but there’s also an assertive and awakening tang that comes through, especially with the addition of tamarind and pomegranate molasses. The copious amounts of onion and garlic add deep levels of sweet savoriness to the dish. The coriander, hot pepper (not too hot) and thyme play off each other with their respective aromas, heat and mintiness. It is Rosh Hashanah, so a hint of honey makes its way into the pot to remind you of sweetness without being at the forefront of the show. After 15 minutes at high pressure, the chicken barely clings to its bones and the sauce becomes rich with and fortified by the golden schmaltz left over from browning the chicken. Take out the chicken and let that liquid simmer (still in the Instant Pot), and the mahogany-colored sauce will thicken and become silky and as decadent as a festive meal demands. Once the chicken and sauce are plated, you shower them with the bright green fresh herbs and the glistening ruby red pomegranate seeds. Dark meat works best for this, but you can certainly make it with white meat as well. And like all great holiday dishes, you can make this several days in advance and it only gets better when reheated. It also freezes well; just leave off the fresh garnish until right before serving. And yes, if you
really don’t want to cave to culinary social pressure, you can make this recipe the oldfashioned way. Note: This recipe can easily be doubled. You can find tamarind paste and pomegranate molasses at Middle Eastern stores, Whole Foods, or online. 12 whole chicken legs, or 6 bone-in thighs plus 6 legs (about 4 lbs.) Sunflower or avocado oil, as needed 3 medium red onions, halved and sliced thin 4-5 cloves garlic, finely minced 2 tsp. ground coriander 11/2 tsp. aleppo pepper, or 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste 1 tsp. sweet paprika 2 Tbsp. tomato paste 1 cup pomegranate juice 2 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses 2 Tbsp. tamarind paste 1 Tbsp. honey 3 sprigs fresh thyme 1 bay leaf Arils/seeds of 1 whole pomegranate 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish Salt and pepper, as needed 1. Start by generously seasoning your chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. 2. Turn your Instant Pot or pressure cooker to the sauté setting, which should produce high heat for browning. If needed, increase the heat to More or according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the pot is hot, add a drizzle of oil. Brown each piece of chicken until golden brown, about three to four minutes on each
side. Cook the chicken in batches so as not to crowd the pot and cause the chicken to steam instead of brown. On the stovetop, brown the chicken in a large pot or Dutch oven on medium high heat. Once all the chicken is browned, transfer it from the pot and reserve. 3. Next, add the onions to the same pot so that they can cook in the remaining chicken fat. If your chicken did not release very much oil, add another tablespoon or two of oil to the pot. Season the onions with salt and sauté for five to six minutes or until softened and starting to slightly brown. Add the garlic, coriander and paprika to the pot and sauté for an additional one to two minutes, or until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and stir everything until the onion mixture is well coated in the tomato paste. Nestle the reserved browned chicken back into the pot. Press Cancel to turn off the sauté function on the pot. Follow the same steps on a stovetop. 4. Add the pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses, tamarind paste, honey, thyme and bay leaf to the pot. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, close the pot and seal it. Press the Poultry or Manual setting and set the time to 15 minutes. Let the steam naturally release for 10-15 minutes; shift the valve to venting if more air needs to be released. On the stovetop, cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes on medium-low or until the chicken is tender and cooked through. 5. Press Cancel, open the lid and transfer the chicken to a platter and lightly cover with foil to keep the chicken warm. Remove the bay leaf and thyme stems. Turn on the Sauté function again. Allow the sauce to simmer and reduce by half, or until it has reached your desired thickness. On the stovetop, turn the heat to medium-high and simmer. 6. Once the sauce has reduced and thickened, pour the sauce over the chicken. At this point you can keep the dish warm in a low oven, or you can cool it and freeze if making in advance. 7. Just before serving, garnish the chicken with the fresh pomegranate seeds and roughly chopped cilantro or parsley. Serves six to eight.
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Sonya Sanford is a chef, food stylist, and writer in Los Angeles.
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Wishing you a new year of health, happiness and peace
Howard, Judy, Daniel, Pam, Michael, Scott, Ellison, Oliver & Henry Abromowitz, Brent, Jill, Daria, Tzipi, Lyla & Vered Gutmann
Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year
Dr. Warren Wingate
Wishing you a new year of health, happiness and peace
Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year
L’Shanah Tovah
Ken & Lisa Blum
Wishing you a new year of health, happiness and peace
The Gruenberg Family
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Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year
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Wishing all a good and sweet new year
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The Fraim Family
Tara & Adam Feiner
We wish the Dayton Jewish community a very happy new year
Your northern neighbors, Cong. Anshe Emeth-Piqua
L’Shanah Tovah
May the new year bring much happiness to you
Wishing you a new year of health, happiness & peace
Marni Flagel & Family
New Year’s greetings from
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Louise Stein
New Year’s greetings from
May good health and happiness always be with you
Harvey R. Tuck
Maggie, Mark & Dan Stein
L’Shanah Tovah
Wishing you a new year of health, happiness and peace
May the year ahead be blessed with good health & cheer
Steve, Shara, Rachel & Natalie Taylor
Wishing you a new year of health, happiness and peace
The Garfunkel Family
PAGE 34
May the new year bring much happiness to you
5780
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The Bettman Family
Wishing you a new year of health, happiness and peace
Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year Bill Schoenfeld
Jean Lieberman & Family
Wishing you a new year of health, happiness & peace Beverly Saeks
Myrna Nelson & Family
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
JEWISH FAMILY EDUCATION
A heritage of free speech
Judaism, in both text and cul- that 71 percent of Americans believe political correctness has ture, focuses more on defining silenced important discussions conscientious speech and curbour society needs to have. ing harmful speech: a focus on Deplatforming speakers with responsibility rather than rights. unpopular views — revokNearly 2,500 years ago, the ing invitations, protests, shout ancient Greeks pioneered freedowns — and censoring or even dom of speech as a democratic On July 16, syndicated talk principle. With its political roots ousting scientists and tenured undermining the very premise radio host Dennis Prager testiin Athens, and inspired by John professors for intolerance or of free speech. politically incorrect views is fied at a U.S. Senate hearing Locke’s notion of liberty as a Broadly described, freedom prevalent. With escalation into about the growing restrictions of speech is the right to express natural right, early America harassment and bullying, overt on free speech online. opinions and ideas without cen- readily adopted the notion of threats, and cyber terrorism, “This is the biggest threat free speech. sorship, retaliation, or legal acmany are calling for internet in the history of the republic,” “The free communication tion. It equally implies the right intervention and oversight by Prager explained to news meof thoughts and opinions is to have access to and receive the government. dia, “because there’s only one one of the invaluable rights of information. The ACLU adds Robert Epstein, senior (online) conduit of any signifithat free speech also means pro- man,” wrote Pennsylvania’s cance to free speech, and that’s James Wilson, the constitutional research psychologist at the tecting diversity of thought. American Institute for BehavGoogle.” framer second only to James Clearly, speech itself is a ioral Research and Madison. “(E)very central theme in Judaism. The But does Technology, warns citizen may freely very world itself was created more insidious speak, write, and with speech, “Let there be...” America live of dangers to free Candace R. The story of humans and later print on any subject, speech posed by Big that of the Israelites is advanced being responsible up to this Kwiatek Tech. for the abuse of that with speech. foundational Self-described as The Bible even offers a num- liberty.” politically centerIt wasn’t long ber of examples of free speech. principle? left, Epstein has before the United Controlling 92 percent of Abraham challenges God over proven that biased States became “the worldwide searches, the tech the injustice of destroying the rankings of search results (the giant claims to be “a neutral righteous of Sodom and Gomor- most speech protective of any nation on Earth,” writes Colum- first ones you see versus those public forum, but it acts like a rah. Moses argues with God at hidden on later pages) have a publisher with editorial conthe burning bush about his role bia University President Lee dramatic impact on consumer trol,” Prager noted. Social media in liberating the Israelites. Zelo- Bollinger. With its commitment attitudes, preferences, and platforms, including YouTube, phehad’s unmarried daughters, to free speech principles and behavior. In multiple scientific legal protections, the U.S. has Facebook, and Twitter are com- facing forfeiture of the family’s ing under similar attacks for inheritance for lack of sons, peti- become the number-one address studies of national elections in for those seeking a platform for four countries, undecided voter selective censorship. tion the court to allow daughcontroversial or political speech preferences shifted anywhere Commentators, legislators, ters to inherit. from 20 to 63 percent in reor simply free expression. and social scientists are starting The Talmud further demonsponse to biased search results But does America live up to raise questions as well. strates a commitment to free (which he demonstrated to be to this foundational principle? “Many argue that the platspeech through its format of 2.6 million voters in favor of A recent national poll by the forms are unfairly banning and debate. “(E)ach tractate (is) arClinton in the last election). Furrestricting access to potentially ranged as a manuscript of argu- libertarian Cato Institute found valuable speech,” writes legisla- ments between rabbis of various tive attorney Valerie Brannon. academies…recording both ma“Some have expressed concern jority and minority opinions,” that these sites are not doing notes rabbinic student Matthew enough to counter violent or Stone. “The Talmudic legal false speech.” system is at least as staunchly And still others have begun supportive of the notion of a to observe and document inter- ‘marketplace of ideas’ as the net media’s worrisome potential American system.” for emotional hijacking and But neither the Bible nor Jewmind control, including maish tradition emphasizes free nipulation of voter preferences, speech in the American sense.
thermore, search ranking bias can be masked so people are unaware of the manipulation. Only the first of many discoveries, Epstein’s research has been replicated by other researchers and published by the National Academy of Sciences. In response to these findings, Sen. Ted Cruz noted, “Google has unprecedented control over what people hear, watch, read… a staggering amount of power to ban speech, manipulate search results, destroy rivals, and shape culture.” Who’s in control takes on a whole new meaning. “Freedom of speech is an ancient Jewish value, as well as a keystone of democracy,” writes Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson. “Even if we find certain speech distasteful or disruptive, we all lose when we attempt to quash such speech.” Rather, we should set aside baseless hatreds and pursue civil discourse in recognition of each other’s humanity. “If (only Joseph and his brothers) were to have spoken with one another, they would have made peace,” laments rabbi and religious scholar Yonatan Aibshitz. “The main deterrent in every dispute is when there is no communication and one side refuses to listen to the other. If mankind knew how to communicate, they would see there is no basis for dispute.” As Proverbs 18:21 cautions, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
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Literature to share Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox. Unlike the French political scandal known as the Dreyfus Affair, this true story of a German Jew wrongly convicted of murder in Britain is largely unknown. In this intriguing true-crime tale set in the early 1900s, the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery writer Arthur Conan Doyle applies his method of “rational inquiry” to the real-world case and exonerates the accused. Evocative of a Sherlock Holmes mystery and the best in historical fiction, Fox’s captivating tale of class bias and antisemitism is particularly relevant in modern times. Where’s the Potty on This Ark? by Kerry Olitzky. This charming addition to the preschool bookshelf cleverly uses the animals of Noah’s ark to explain how there are special places for everything, including using the potty. The simple text and adorable illustrations make the topic fun, and the addition of the Jewish blessing for using the potty is a gentle introduction to the awesomeness of creation and importance of a healthy body. (Note: This is not a story about Noah or the flood itself.) Delightful!
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
L’Shanah Tovah PAGE 35
Arts&Culture
The guys behind Good Boys are ready for their close-up Ed Araquel/Universal Pictures
To A Sweet New Year
Cantor Andrea We welcome you to join us Raizen for the High Holy Days. No tickets required. Children’s Services & Babysitting Available
Rabbi Joshua Ginsberg
Erev Rosh Hashanah Sunday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Rosh Hashanah Monday, Sept. 30, 8:45 a.m. Tashlich Service at Island Park, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, 8:45 a.m.
Kol Nidrei Tuesday, Oct. 8, 6:30 p.m.
Yom Kippur Wednesday, Oct. 9, 8:45 a.m. Neilah Service, 6:35 p.m. Break the Fast to follow (no cost) Beth Abraham, Dayton’s only Conservative synagogue, is enthusiastically egalitarian and is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. For a complete schedule of our events and times, go to bethabrahamdayton.org. Service Schedule: Mornings, Mon. & Thurs., 7 a.m.; Tues., Wed., Fri., 7:15 a.m.; Sunday, 8:30 a.m. Evenings, Mon.-Fri., 5:30 p.m. Sat. Morning Service, 9 a.m.; Youth Service, 10:30 a.m.; Kiddush lunch following.
305 Sugar Camp Circle • Dayton, Ohio 45409 937-293-9520 • bethabrahamdayton.org PAGE 36
(L to R) Keith L. Williams, Jacob Tremblay and Brady Noon in Good Boys
By Gabe Friedman, JTA Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky have careers many in Hollywood dream of. Not long after graduating from college and moving to Los Angeles, the duo joined the writing staff of The Office on the strength of a script they wrote together. After contributing to the show for several seasons, they co-created the HBO comedy series Hello Ladies with Stephen Merchant. The pair also worked with Harold Ramis on Year One and wrote Bad Teacher, which starred Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake. Despite all of that, they’ve mostly flown under the mainstream radar. That might change with the arrival in theatres of their latest brainchild, Good Boys. It’s a raunchy R-rated comedy about three sixth-graders who find themselves embroiled in shenanigans over the course of a day on the way to a “kissing party,” where one of their crushes will be hanging out. If it sounds reminiscent of Superbad, there’s one possible reason: Good Boys is produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the duo who wrote the 2007 comingof-age comedy. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky wrote the screenplay for Good Boys, and Stupnitsky directed. It’s received pretty positive reviews, which say the script has heart, along with the usual slew of curse words and sex jokes. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky said that while they are fans of Rogen and Goldberg, they didn’t specifically have Superbad on their minds while writing Good Boys. “We were thinking about South Park and The Hangover, but with kids. A lot of
movies, but with kids,” Stupnitsky said. Eisenberg added that 1980s kids’ classics like Stand By Me and The Goonies were inspirations, too. While some of the funny details in Good Boys are based on real episodes from the writers’ lives, the pair aimed more broadly to capture the anxieties of growing up. “Lee and I weren’t drinking beers in sixth grade. That was probably more Seth and Evan,” Stupnitsky quipped. “It’s not so much about what happened as how it felt. Everything is confusing at that age...It’s a weird time in your life and we were trying to recap that feeling.” On the phone from Los Angeles, they interrupt each other with a friendly ease they have cultivated over nearly two decades. Stupnitsky, 41, was born in Kiev, Ukraine, but moved with his parents to the Chicago suburbs when he was 9 months old. Eisenberg, also 41, grew up in a suburb near Boston and attended a Solomon Schechter day school from kindergarten through eighth grade. Stupnitsky’s grandparents were observant Jews, his parents less so. Still, he grew up with a sense of Jewish identity and had a Bar Mitzvah. “Communism was the religion of the state,” he said of the former Soviet Union. Eisenberg, on the other hand, remembers sneaking off from his class on a school field trip to eat a non-kosher hot dog, and subsequently worrying that his life might then be over. “I can’t think of anything more Jewish than that,” he said. They met in Los Angeles and became each other’s “first and only friend” in
‘Everything is confusing at that age...It’s a weird time in your life and we were trying to recap that feeling.’
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
the city. After spending some time as roommates in the early 2000s, they wrote a script for a television pilot. It involved two friends living together, but instead of aiming to make it in Hollywood, the characters strive to become successful magicians. The show was never produced, but the script helped them land jobs on The Office. During their time on the show, they co-directed the episode in which lead character Michael Scott founds his own paper company (The Michael Scott Paper Company) and acted in bit roles. They’ve carried their Jewish comic sensibilities with them ever since. “I like Chris Hemsworth fine, but when I see Seth Rogen in Knocked Up or Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters — there was very rarely a guy that looked like George Clooney in the movies we found funny,” Eisenberg said of Jews in comedy. “I think (Jews) have always felt a little bit like outsiders, and that resonates.” “Jews are probably the funniest people,” Stupnitsky adds. “But I think there’s a reason for it, and it’s kind of a sad reason — if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.”
Ed Araquel/Universal Pictures
Wishing you a new year of health, happiness and peace Harold, Melissa, Jason, Adam & Benjamin Guadalupe
L’Shanah Tovah Robin & Tim Moore
Gene Stupnitsky (L) and Lee Eisenberg on the set of Good Boys
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Happy New Year from The Dayton Jewish Observer
OPENING NIGHT
The Mental Yentl with Singer/Songwriter Sally Fingerett Stories from a Life Long Student of Crazy Thursday, October 24 7PM @ Wiley’s Comedy Club (101 Pine Street, Dayton 45402) Sally Fingerett, contemporary, award-winning songwriter and performer and a founding member of the musical comedy group, The Four Bitchin’ Babes, joins us for an evening of laughter and song for our opening night event. With her personal life steeped in Judaism, Sally’s one-woman show The Mental Yentl Revue, debuted at “Oy!Hoo,” The New York Jewish and Music Heritage Festival. Realizing her authentic self as a performer, Sally produced the Mental Yentl Radio Hour, for XM/ Sirius’ Radio Hanukah. She has just released her long awaited book The Mental Yentl, Stories from a Lifelong Student of Crazy. Sally and husband Michael live in Columbus, Ohio, where they have successfully launched their three kids, Elizabeth Julian, Max and Aaron. Cost: $12 advance/ $18 door. RSVP online at jewishdayton.org or by calling (937) 610-1555.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
PAGE 37
L’Shanah Tovah.
GLICKLER FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE Larry S. Glickler, Director Dayton’s ONLY Jewish Funeral Director 1849 Salem Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45406-4927 (937) 278-4287 lgfuneralhome@gmail.com
Wishing You A Sweet New Year
OBITUARIES Franklin T. Cohn, age 85 of Dayton, passed away July 23. Mr. Cohn was a proud veteran of the United States Marine Corps and was instrumental in the building of the Korean War Veterans Memorial. He was a very accomplished athlete in many sports and was still competing. He was a man of great integrity. Mr. Cohn was preceded in death by his parents, Tucker and Minette Cohn, and his sister, Cynthia Cohn Sandler. He is survived by his devoted wife, Natalie Rudin Cohn, son Dr. Gregory D. (Melissa) Cohn of New York, daughter, Shari L. Cohn of Scottsdale; two grandchildren, Maxwell G. and Amanda M. Cohn; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law Sondra and David Mack, Jeffrey Rudin and Vivian Pearlman, and Dr. Joseph Sandler, many nieces and nephews. Interment was at Riverview Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice. Semper Fi.
Steven M. Schoemann, age 74 of Tipp City, passed away July 27 at his residence. Mr. Schoemann was born in Dayton Feb. 16, 1944 to the late Max and Meta Schoemann. He is survived by his loving wife of 41 years, Sandra (Recht); sister, Carol Friedman; niece, Elana and Andre Carnevale; nephews, Aaron and Kristi Friedman, Reuben Friedman and Teresa and their families; cousin, Martin and Joan Holzinger and their daughters, Debra and Kevin Mattis and their children, and Laura and Mike Levin; Mrs. Schoemann’s family, Mr. Schoemann’s sisterin-law, Linda Recht; nieces and nephews, Stacey Recht and Philip von Zweck, Melissa Recht and Brian Boyd, Leah Recht and Ben Rockwell and their families. Mr. Schoemann was preceded in death by his brothers-in-law, Philip Friedman and Barry Recht. Mr. Schoemann was a teacher for over 35 years having retired from Dayton Public Schools
and Lehman Catholic High School in Sidney. He loved working with children either in the classroom, coaching, or officiating track or cross country meets. He was a writer who never got published, and a U.S. Army Veteran of the Vietnam War, serving from 1967 to 1969. Mr. Schoemann was a member of the Dayton Amateur Radio Club (N8NRE), Western Ohio Woodworkers, Beth Abraham Synagogue, Writing Club, Lunch Bunch and Coffee Club. He was a funloving guy who could make a quip as quickly as snapping a finger. Interment was at Beth Abraham Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice in Mr. Schoemann’s memory.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
BS”D
Rosh Hashana Dinner
Shana Tova from Hillel Academy.
Sunday, September 29
7:00 PM Cost $25/Adult; $10/child
High Holiday Prayers September 30 & October 1 Morning Prayers 9:00AM 10:30 - 1:30PM Children’s Program 11:15AM Shofar Blowing
Back by popular
7:30 PM
October 8 Kol Nidrei
9:00 AM 11:00 AM 7:00 PM
October 9 Morning Prayers Yizkor Neilah
demand!
Lear ners’ Tefillah
Mon. Sept. 30 & Wed. Oct. 9 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Learn the basic structure of the High Holiday prayers and their intention, hear the shofar and leave with a new meaning and understanding of our prayers and
ourselves.
Family Tashlich Service Monday, September 30, 4:00 PM Hills & Dales MetroPark - Dogwood Pavilion Join us at the pond area for a fun and meaningful Rosh Hashana Tashlich program. We will listen to a story, enjoy delicious snacks, & sing songs! Each child will receive a special gift!
Chabad of Greater Dayton 2001 Far Hills Ave. Oakwood, OH 45419 www.ChabadDayton.com 937-643-0770
PJ Library/Hillel Academy invite you to Supporting Young Readers, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. Kosher meal provided.
daytonhillel.org • 937.277.8966 dkmecoli@daytonhillel.org
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • SEPTEMBER 2019
PAGE 39
Wishing you a new year of good health and happiness.
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