Kaleidoscope of Us! After for Beth Abraham’s p. 2 p. 22 David Moss designs Grace Meals in comic 125th book form
THE DAYTON Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton
August 2019 Tammuz/Av 5779 Vol. 23, No. 12
OBSERVER
The Miami Valley’s Jewish Monthly • Online at daytonjewishobserver.org Marshall Weiss
When soccer & Bar Mitzvah dreams collide
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NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTON, OHIO PERMIT NO. 59
Huber man sentenced for hate crime
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Izmir Koch
IDF soldier & drag queen
Address Service Requested
Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton 525 Versailles Drive Dayton, OH 45459
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Laura E. Adkins
Yellow Springs
Havurah
continues to adapt
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Kaleidoscope of Us! continues Beth Abraham 125th celebrations
Monthly Friday Night Shabbat Dinner with all your traditional favorites. Friday, August 23, 5 p.m. $10 per person. R.S.V.P.
Learn. Monthly Diabetic Support Group. With Gem City Home Care’s Mara Lamb. Tuesday, August 13, 10:30 a.m. & 6 p.m. R.S.V.P.
Schmooze. Join us for a free cup of coffee & hospitality at our Coffee House. Every Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free WiFi.
Call Wendy Archer for details at 937-837-5581 ext. 1269 5790 Denlinger Road • Dayton, Ohio 45426 • fvdayton.com PAGE 2
The Robyn Helzner Trio will perform at Beth Abraham’s Kaleidoscope of Us!
As part of its yearlong 125th birthday celebrations, Beth Abraham Synagogue will present Kaleidoscope of Us! From Babies To Bubbies: Celebrating, Sharing, Reflecting, Noshing, from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 25. The afternoon of art, food, and entertainment will feature a performance of Jewish music by The Robyn Helzner Trio from 1 to 2 p.m. Helzner performed underground concerts for refuseniks in the Soviet Union. The trio has performed at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam, the Smithsonian Institution, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
From 2 to 4 p.m., participants can share and record their memories of Beth Abraham and view an exhibit about the synagogue’s history. Kosher food will also be available. Arts and crafts will include helping complete paintings that will become part of Beth Abraham’s artwork on display, “reimagining” Beth Abraham’s stained-glass windows, and making kaleidoscopes. Admission is free; those attending are asked to bring non-perishable food items for donation to the Dayton Foodbank. Beth Abraham is located at 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. For more information or to R.S.V.P., call 293-9520.
Cantor emeritus’ recital to mark 50 years in Dayton Jerome B. Kopmar, cantor emeritus of Beth Abraham Synagogue, will present a recital to commemorate his 50 years in Dayton, at 7 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 18 at Beth Abraham Synagogue. Kopmar founded and led the Beth Abraham Youth Chorale from 1971 to 1983. Under his baton, the ensemble garnered a national reputation for its excellence. The cantor is a prolific composer of Jewish liturgical works frequently presented in synagogues across North America. Now 83, Kopmar retired from Beth Abraham in 1996. He continues to compose and teach voice. “I plan to sing some of the classical repertoire that I’ve loved performing over the years as well as to do what is my true passion, the music of my people in Hebrew, Yiddish, both liturgical and secular,” Kopmar said. “I also plan on doing some duets with my students and perhaps even with family members. It’s been a family joke that I’ve been performing my last recital for about 10 years, and although I won’t definitively say this will be the last one, at my age I really can’t foresee my doing another one.” Beth Abraham Synagogue Accompanying Kopmar will be pianist Bernadette Cantor Emeritus Jerome B. O’Connor. — Marshall Weiss Kopmar
IN THIS ISSUE A Bisel Kisel.....................................19
Mr. Mazel..........................................11
Arts............................................20
O p i n i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 0
Calendar of Events.......................12
O b i t u a r i e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Family Education............................17
Re l i g i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 8
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
DAYTON
Four decades on, Yellow Springs Havurah continues to adapt By Marshall Weiss The Observer Among its current members, no one is sure exactly when the Yellow Springs Havurah was born. New Yorker Len Kramer moved to Yellow Springs in 1968 after he graduated college and took an engineering job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. “Maybe 10 years later, we were very friendly with Gary and Helen Klein,” Len recalls. “And they wanted to start services and Jewish education. So we formed a loose group that I think may have morphed into the havurah.” “And we had services here on Friday evenings,” he says, sitting in Rockford Chapel on the Antioch College campus, where the havurah continues to lead services, now two Saturday
mornings each month. “We started a Hebrew school for the kids, the teachers were the Damasers, Harvey and Esther,” Len says. “We started this little group, we did all kinds of Jewish education for ourselves too. We associated with a rabbi, then a young man, at Temple Sholom (in Springfield).” But as parents began to enroll their children in area temples, the havurah went into a hiatus. This was when Len dropped out. It picked up again in 1995, with another generation of young families. Geriatrics physician Dr. Abi Katz was in that cohort. She and her first husband graduated from Antioch; they settled in Yellow Springs in 1987 when he went to work for YSI. Abi and her friend from AnLauren ‘Chuck’ Shows, Yellow Springs News
Marshall Weiss
tioch, Morissa Fregeau — who also lived in Yellow Springs after graduation — decided to organize Jewish programming like they had when they were in college. “That was the same year the Rothmans moved back from Israel and it happened that they were literally across the street and so they were a part of the conversation,” Abi says, “and I think Toni Dosik and Cheryl Levine were next, and so we started a small work group and did a High Holiday service, and lots of negotiation around how observant it should Yellow Springs Havurah members (L to R) Linda Chernick, Larry Turyn, and Len be or not.” Kramer inside Antioch College’s Rockford Chapel, longtime home of the Jewish In the late 1990s, Rab- fellowship’s worship services bis Nochum Mangel and Shmuel Klatzkin of Chabad led study sessions; the late Rabbi Marianne Gevirtz of Temple Sholom also taught classes and helped lead services. 694 Isaac Prugh Way – 937.297.4300 The havurah tracked down members of the former group and encouraged them to participate. Len facilitated some planning sessions for the havurah in the late 1990s, got to know some of the members, and joined. Today’s Yellow Springs Havurah — with about 15 active members and approximately 50 on the mailing list — is a continuation of that 1995 group. Since then, the group has waxed and waned as each generation of children has grown up and moved on, and as famiKHN, MVH and Lincoln Park Manor have a lies with children have moved partnership that is expected to help quicken Continued on Page Five recovery times, improve outcomes, provide personalized care plans and reduce hospital readmissions for patients.
PREFERRED PARTNER
Members of the Yellow Springs Havurah celebrate Chanukah at the home of Daniele Norman and David Seitz, Dec. 2, 2018
Bark Mitzvah Boy
So what are my choices for dinner?
Eat it or don’t.
OK
Yiddishe Llama c O Menachem
From the editor’s desk
At this year’s American Jewish Press Association Conference, held in St. Louis in June, those of us who love to grapple with questions of style — as they apply to American English and transliterated Hebrew and Yiddish for Jewish journalMarshall ism outlets — began a conversation to Weiss debate the reasons behind choices each of us makes. Style issues go beyond rules of grammar, to consistently use, spell, and set terms that could be handled one of numerous ways. Most of us begin with the Associated Press Stylebook. Jewish news syndicates also have their own style sheets. At the end of the line, the editors of each Jewish media outlet must make well-considered, informed choices to guide our readers to the clearest understanding of our specific content. Is it anti-Semitism or antisemitism? Is it Chanukah or Hanukkah? Is it haredi, ultra-Orthodox, fervently Orthodox or traditional Orthodox? What terms must we define? Which are understood? Sometimes the best of the conventional choices still doesn’t work 100 percent of the time. I suspect our conversations will continue, hopefully to give more precision to the readers we serve.
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THE REGION
Huber Heights man Back to the Basics sentenced to 30 Thursdays at noon months for beating beginning August 15 man in Cincinnati he thought was Jewish
Join Rabbi Bodney-Halasz for a lively discussion of Judaism’s greatest texts.
We will read through Barry W. Holtz’s book, Back to the Sources, which teaches about basic genres of Jewish literature including: Hebrew Bible, Talmud, Midrash, commentaries, philosophy, Kabbalah, Hasidic literature, and liturgy. Feel free to bring a lunch and a copy of the book.
torah on tap thursday, august 8 6:00pm south park tavern 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 4
A Huber Heights man was sentenced July 9 to 30 months in prison for a 2017 hate crime: attacking a man he thought was Jewish. Izmir Koch, 34, was found guilty in December by a judge for his part in the assault of a man smoking a cigarette outside the Mirage restaurant in Cincinnati, Feb. 4, 2017. The conviction marked the first in the Southern District of Ohio under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Koch was also convicted of one count of making a false statement to the FBI. Koch asked people standing outside the restaurant if anyone there was Jewish. When the victim responded in the affirmative, although he was not actually Jewish, Koch punched him, knocking him to the ground. Koch then continued to hit Izmir Koch and kick him, as did others standing outside the restaurant. The victim suffered injuries to his ribs and a fractured eye socket. Before and during the assault, Koch and the other assailants were heard shouting, “I want to kill all of the Jews” and “I want to stab the Jews,” according to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice also noted that after the incident, Koch, accompanied by his attorney, spoke voluntarily to the FBI and falsely said that he was not involved in the assault and that he made no derogatory comments about Jews. “Hate-fueled violent crimes ripple through communities, making entire groups feel unsafe and unwelcome, spawning fear and anger,” Cincinnati’s WXIX reported that U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin Glassman said. “That is why investigating and prosecuting hate crimes is such a high priority. Every community — every person — is entitled to the equal protection of the laws.” In his monthly blog post for July, Shep Englander, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, wrote that he testified at Koch’s sentencing hearing. “I testified that the attack caused fear and panic in the many who reached out to our JCRC,” Englander wrote. “Many were afraid to frequent the Mirage restaurant and even other Jewish community gathering places. I also noted FBI statistics showing that Jews are the group most often targeted based upon religion and second only to African Americans overall.” — Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer, and Marcy Oster, JTA
Editor and Publisher Marshall Weiss MWeiss@jfgd.net 937-853-0372 Contributors Rabbi Ari Ballaban Scott Halasz Masha Kisel Candace R. Kwiatek 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. Todd Bettman President Elect 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. 23, No. 12. 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.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
DAYTON
Havurah
Continued from Page Three to and from the area. And with it, the havurah (Hebrew for fellowship) has adapted to the needs of its members. The priority of Jewish education for children has shifted in recent years to building bridges with other faith communities in Yellow Springs. But the Shabbat service has continued as the prime force for Jews seeking connections to one another and to their spirituality in this hippy-centric village of approximately 3,500 people, 20 miles east of Dayton. “Services are not really led at this point, except when Yellow Springs Havurah youths in 2007 (L to R): Adam there’s a larger group — we’ll look toward Len to keep Zaremsky, Eli Seitz, Hana Katz-Stein, Liana Rothman, Gavin us on track — but if there are much fewer people, Fregeau, Quinn Leventhal it’s whoever speaks up first or starts a tune in which home was that the havurah was there, and that was a key they want to start in,” says Larry Turyn, a retired professor of mathematics and statistics at Wright State. community that I could be in and have that spiritual connection.” Another New York area native, Larry has lived in YelAbi bakes challah for the havurah’s potluck kiddush low Springs since 1986 and was part of the mid-1990s havurah revival. He’s also a member of Temple Sholom lunch that follows each service. Len says that when he comes to services, he gets a in Springfield, 10 miles northeast of Yellow Springs. feeling of community that’s very strong. The Siddur (prayer book) the havurah uses is based “And I feel really good about that. That’s my concept on a Shabbat morning service organized for a Bar of God. I feel fulfilled.” Mitzvah there nearly 20 years ago. It’s an amalgam Larry adds that he generally feels more peaceful of materials from Reform, Reconstructing, Conservative, and Jewish Renewal liturgical resources. Havurah during and after a service, so he tends to go to services members recite aloud from optional readings based on often, both with the havurah and at Temple Sholom in Springfield. what moves a particular worshiper at the moment. “The havurah tends to have, like any other organi“When we sing, we are a ‘leaderful’ group,” says zation in Yellow Springs, an orientation toward social Linda Chernick, native of Columbus who grew up in justice and an interest in politics,” Larry says, Springfield. A retired fundraising profes“but having that from a Jewish perspective, sional, Chernick moved to Yellow Springs connecting it to the Torah readings, the readfour years ago after 42 years in Boston. ings that are in the Siddur.” “There are a few people that are really “After the 2016 election,” Abi says, “it felt skilled at chanting Torah for us, so they really imperative to do things that were comare key.” munity building and that’s how our connecAbi says the havurah doesn’t align tion to the 365 Project got started.” with a particular Jewish religious moveThe 365 Project encourages Yellow Springs ment, an attempt to be as inclusive as citizens to engage in conversations that possible. promote diversity, culture, and educational The havurah has two Torahs, a nonequity. Kosher scroll that United Theological Abi and new havurah member Rabbi Seminary donated, and one on long-term Abi Katz says a key loan from a Dayton synagogue; they are reason she returned to Joshua Krulwich-Klatt — a chaplain with housed in a wooden ark built by Dayton’s Yellow Springs was the Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton — led an end of havurah life talk for 365 with a focus on Jewish themes Dr. Burt Saidel. and perspectives, sponsored by the Yellow Each Saturday morning Shabbat service includes three readings from that week’s Torah portion. Springs Senior Center. “Lots of people have asked us to do more, to con“They’re not all necessarily read from the Torah,” Larry says. “If we’re short on people who are signed up tinue the conversation,” Abi says. Len notes that in the wake of increasing acts of antito chant, we’ll read from the Chumash,” the printed and semitism in the United States — even before the Tree of bound volume of the Torah. Life shootings in Pittsburgh — the general community Right now, there’s only one family in the havurah in Yellow Springs has begun looking to the havurah as with a young child. the voice of the village’s Jewish community. “To me,” Linda says, “it seems to mirror the village “We’re starting to be seen that way,” Len says. at large, because we are an aging community — not “We’re also becoming integrated in with the other faith entirely — but a lot of people choose to retire here or communities in Yellow Springs.” come back here because they loved it.” “We were on the itinerary for the 365 Project’s tour of Len adds that members who hadn’t been active in faith institutions in Yellow Springs,” Larry says. “They several years are coming around again. “Over time,” Abi says, “just like every other commu- came to Rockford Chapel partly for the Friends, partly nity, there’s attrition and I suppose there are other Jews for us.” They opened a Torah to show tour participants. Linda adds the havurah also held an informal gathin Yellow Springs that may just do their own thing.” ering after the Tree of Life shootings. She says the havurah is now about “how do we “For me, being part of the local Jewish community involve ourselves in the community and what else can is key, above and beyond religious services or holiwe do to be a part of the broader fabric?” days,” Linda says. “Just being able to be with a group The havurah, Abi says, is a key reason she returned that identifies as Jewish in these times feels extremely to Yellow Springs. In 2008, she undertook a fellowship in hospice medi- important.” cine at the University of South Florida. From there, she The Yellow Springs Havurah holds Shabbat services on the moved to California for five years. “I had tried a whole bunch of Jewish communities,” first and third Saturdays each month, from 10 a.m. to noon at Rockford Chapel, Antioch College. For more information, she says. “But nothing felt like I could have that sense of community, and so a big piece of the draw of coming contact Len Kramer, 937-572-4840 or len2654@gmail.com.
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THE WORLD
The Jews getting arrested at ICE centers are just getting started
Naftali Y. Ehrenkranz
By Ben Sales, JTA NEW YORK — If you’re going to physically block an entrance to an ICE detention center, the handbook says, don’t act nice about it. Do chant in Yiddish. Do sing Hebrew prayers. “Defiant, angry, urgent, Jewish,” reads the #NeverAgainIsNow Action Toolkit, a six-page Google Doc meant for Jews planning to protest at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. “The goal is to actually make it impossible for ICE and/or the Democratic Establishment to do business as usual. Find the chokepoint and shut it down — we are not f**king around here.” This is the digital handbook for a protest movement called Never Again Action that was born in June and is growing fast. The movement’s first action was to protest at an ICE detention center in New Jersey, where 36 people were arrested. Two days later, 18 people each were arrested in similar actions in Boston and Washington, D.C. In Boston and New Jersey, the protesters were arrested at the entrance to the detention centers. In Washington, they were arrested in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building. At least six actions in total have taken place at ICE facilities across the country, co-sponsored with other groups, according to Sophie Ellman-Golan, an organizer of the New Jersey demonstration. Never Again Action’s leaders say it’s only the first stage of a broader campaign. “What is happening at the border is an abomination, but I also know that there are children in my own city, in my own community, that have gone to bed over the last three weeks without their parents,” said Amy Fischer, 33, one of the Washington protesters who was arrested. “I was trying to make a loud statement that what was happening was unacceptable and until these camps are
shut down we will continue organizing.” The demonstrations, which are live-streamed on social media, employ Hebrew songs and Jewish chants. In Chicago, protesters sang a Hebrew song that translates to “An eternal flame will be lit on the altar.” In Washington, Fischer said, the arrested protesters sang Oseh shalom, or God who makes peace while they were being carted off. The organization’s ma- Police stand in front of protesters at a demonstration at an ICE detention center in Elizabeth, N.J., June 30 terials suggest saying the When the group uses the phrases exercising “deeply selective outrage.” Mourner’s Kaddish for migrant children “Never again” and describes the detenwho have died in U.S. custody. Never Again Action draws on some The protesters’ goals, organizers said, tion centers as “concentration camps,” of the same cohort of youthful activists it’s intentionally alluding to the Holoare to draw attention to the detention who have riled legacy Jewish groups, eicaust. of migrant families and children, close ther because they can be harshly critical The protesters believe that what’s the detention centers, reunite separated of Israel or ally with others who are. happening at ICE facilities is an atrocity, families and ensure protection for unBut while several establishment Jewand that the Jews’ history of persecudocumented immigrants in the country. ish groups condemned Ocasio-Cortez’s Activists acknowledged that marches tion, especially at the hands of the Nazis, use of Holocaust terminology, there has compels them to act on behalf been little public Jewish criticism of alone cannot bring of other persecuted groups. the results they are Never Again the Never Again Action protesters and In that way, the group is seeking. But they demonstrations. Action’s materials explicitly taking a side in a hope they can act as In the past, Jews across a wide politidebate that has raged ever a motivator for offi- say Democrats cal and religious spectrum have supsince Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- ported immigrant and refugee rights. cials to make policy as well as Cortez, D-N.Y., called the dechanges. Mark Hetfield, CEO of HIAS, the tention centers concentration Jewish refugee aid organization, said he Never Again Ac- Republicans bear nearly a month ago. tion’s materials say thinks the Holocaust analogy is inapproresponsibility for camps Organizers dispute the Democrats as well priate but the protests are worthy. claims of Ocasio-Cortez’s critas Republicans bear the conditions in “I think their actions are terrific,” ics, who say the comparison responsibility for he said. “I totally support the protests to Nazi concentration camps the conditions in the the facilities. themselves. This is something we need both overstates the situafacilities. to be protesting. These are basically tion in ICE facilities and trivializes the “Many major civil rights movements atrocities that the United States is comin the U.S. have been led by civil disobe- Holocaust. mitting along the southern border. I “I think we should be using the stron- applaud their tactic of civil disobedience dience,” said Julia Davidovitz, 26, one of the organizers of the New Jersey protest. gest possible language to describe what’s as well.” happening because we’re witnessing an “I think it’s a really important element Other Jewish organizations also are atrocity,” said Ellman-Golan, 27. of catalyzing the government to make a working on behalf of the migrants. She said those who have spent more change, lighting a fire under their asses.” T’ruah, the liberal rabbinic human rights energy condemning the language than group, runs a network of synagogues the actual conditions in the camps were that provides or assists with sanctuary
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for undocumented families, has sent delegations to the border and has had members who have participated in the Never Again Action protests. HIAS has deployed lawyers to provide aid on the southern border and soon will do so in northern Mexico. Boston’s Jewish Community Relations Council, an umbrella local policy group, has provided bond for 90 detained migrants. It accompanies undocumented immigrants to check-ins with ICE, and is encouraging synagogues to provide sanctuary. While the JCRC does not endorse civil disobedience, its director, Jeremy Burton, spoke kindly of the Boston demonstration. “I think that we all have an obligation to demonstrate our horror with what our government is doing,” Burton wrote in a text message. He invoked the 1938 burning of Munich’s synagogue to say that “when good people remain silent, those in power who seek to do bad things will take this as a sign that they can get away with even worse human rights violations.” The New Jersey protest came together within six days through a group of activists who were connected through other progressive Jewish groups like Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and IfNotNow, the millennial Jewish group that protests Israel’s West Bank occupation. The Never Again Action guidelines for a pre-demonstration huddle talk about referencing “INN principles.” While IfNotNow and Never Again Action share some methods, chants and activists, organizers from both groups said they are independent of each other. The protests ban flags of any kind, including Israeli and Palestinian flags, seeking to keep the focus on U.S. policy. Debates about Israel and the progressive agenda have derailed the message of other protest groups, including the Women’s March, where EllmanGolan works as the director of communications and digital outreach. Ellman-Golan said she wants as many Jews as possible to join the movement. “We’re asking Jews to show up,” she said. “We’re asking people who agree that human rights abuses are being committed. I would be sad if folks do not feel welcome.”
Ethiopian protests over police killing touch off wide-ranging debate about Israeli society Ethiopian Israelis and supporters protest in Tel Aviv July 2 following the death of 19-year-old Ethiopian Solomon Tekah, who was shot and killed in Kiryat Haim by an off-duty police officer
By Michele Chabin The Jewish Week Jerusalem — Naava Shafner, a Jerusalem-based social activist and feminist, joined a demonstration July 2 on a busy Jerusalem street corner to show support for Ethiopian Israelis protesting the killing of 19-yearold Solomon Tekah June 30 by an off-duty policeman who is claiming self-defense. Community leaders said the killing, which is under investigation, is just one of countless racist incidents that have been directed toward Ethiopians. “I’m here because part of our white privilege is the ability to stand up for those who don’t have privilege. At the end of the day it is our responsibility,” Shafner said during the loud but orderly demonstration. Although racism has always existed in Israel, Shafner said, “we have so many other things going on, we haven’t brought the issue to the forefront. But for Israel to be a light unto the nations, we have to stand up when things like this happen.” Shafner was one of the many white Israelis jolted into action after Israel’s Ethiopian community brought much of the country to a standstill by blocking major roads, including highways. The protests, some of them violent, lasted for hours and were deeply disruptive. Stuck
in the traffic jams, a groom nearly missed his own wedding, a family missed their son’s army ceremony, people missed their flights, and an infant with a heart condition ran out of medication. Although this was not the first time the 150,000-strong Ethiopian Israeli community has taken to the streets to publicize its agenda, their actions this time were a public wake-up call. The protests made the front page of every Israeli newspaper and were the subject of numerous social media threads. A Hebrew-language video showing a dozen police officers harassing black young men sitting peacefully on a bench quickly went viral. (A Justice Ministry investigation of the recent shooting found that the officer fired at the ground and the bullet ricocheted into Tekah.) Some people acknowledged racism while fuming over the demonstrators’ tactics. “Yes, the Ethiopians have a legitimate long-term gripe against how they are treated by the police and others,” Murray Gingold, a computer expert, wrote on Facebook. But Gingold felt that the demonstrators “pissed off” the public. “That’s not a smart thing to do — there is such a thing as negative publicity. And this applies to any group that pulls
‘We cannot ignore the fact that violence works.’
unless people shout,” Schwab said. Yair Yassan, a doctoral student researching violent clashes between Israeli citizens and the state, said research bears out Schwab’s analysis. “We cannot ignore the fact that violence works.” In 2015, after police attacked an Ethiopian soldier in uniform and demonstrations turned violent, Yassan said, the Israeli public began to take note of police harassment toward Ethiopian teens and young adults. “Without these demonstrations the government would not have created an official government committee headed by the Continued on next page
stunts like this. You want my support? Well, not if you cause me a huge inconvenience while lobbying for it.” Miriam Schwab, a high-tech entrepreneur, saw things differently. While “violence is never OK,” she said, “let’s think about why a community that is generally peaceful is so frustrated and feels so helpless that some of them (the minority!!) are violently protesting. “Maybe it’s because when they’re peaceful no one gives a crap? It’s like ‘oh, how nice, the Ethiopians are protesting, and they’re totally right, pass my espresso.’ This is on us, as a society, for not paying attention
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THE WORLD
Protests
Continued from previous page chair of the Ministry of Justice. The report she wrote was formal recognition of state racism toward civilians in Israel,” Yassan said. That racism manifests in a variety of ways. During the early years of Ethiopian aliyah, the government sent most of the community’s children to boarding schools, isolating them from Israeli society and their own parents. They learned Hebrew but not Amharic, so in cases where the child arrived in Israel before the parents, they were unable to communicate with each other. Even today, many children of Ethiopian descent aren’t integrated into predominantly white classrooms and receive an inferior education, according to several studies. In the 1990s it was revealed that Israeli hospitals were secretly throwing out blood donations from Ethiopians due to fears of HIV-AIDS transmission. Demonstrations ensued. Further, the Chief Rabbinate has long questioned the community’s Jewishness and some rabbis have demanded that Israelis of Ethiopian descent undergo a conversion. They question the authority of the community’s rabbis. Michal Avera-Samuel, a community leader who heads the Fidel Association for the Education and Social Integration of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, told the Zman Yisrael media outlet that when white people see her walk around the upscale neighborhood where she lives, “women
Michele Chabin/Jewish Week
Orthodox newspaper’s editor called African religions ‘primitive’ and gay rights movement ‘evil’
a minor by writing, “A 17-yearBy Josefin Dolsten, JTA old is an adult according to the NEW YORK — The chief editor of The Jewish Press, an Or- Torah.” The Jewish Press describes itthodox newspaper, has repeatself as “the largest independent edly used his Twitter account weekly Jewish newspaper in to make racial comments and the United States.” It has a print excoriate the gay rights moveand online circulation of 95,000, ment for glorifying what he according to its publisher, calls sinful behavior. Naomi Mauer. Elliot Resnick’s comments The Brooklyn-based paper were the focus July 13 of a piece published on Medium by Chaim describes itself as championing “Torah values and ideals from Levin, an advocate for LGBTQ Ethiopian Israelis and white allies demonstrate to protest the killing of a centrist or Modern Orthodox acceptance in the Orthodox an Ethiopian Israeli teen by an off-duty police officer perspective.” community. Resnick has in Mauer said that Resnick, driving SUVs stop me and offer and law enforcement authorisocial media posts over the last chief editor since early 2018, me jobs as a cleaner. If someone ties and local-level senior police year called African religions officers have yielded results in had written the posts in his is looking for a cleaning lady, “primitive” and the gay rights policy changes, he said. I’m the obvious candidate, movement “evil.” He also ques- personal capacity and that they “Some of our recent advances tioned the existence of white su- did not represent the views of right?” include the implementation of the publication. Avera-Samuel said her premacists and asked how an The Jewish Press a code of conduct that every “I’m sorry for nephews have been “slapped adult having sexual relations these tweets, but around” by police for no reason police officer must carry in his/ with a teenager constitutes her pocket,” Assefa-Dawit said. assault. there is such a whatsoever. “Tebeka also led the call to inthing as freedom “How would you react if “If blacks resent America’s troduce body cameras for close of speech and someone slapped your child? (sic) so much, let them discard freedom of him to Why is it that anything an Ethi- to 10,000 officers in 2019. We led Christianity (which the ‘white the call for greater enrollment of man’ gave them) and re-emexpress it,” Mauer opian kid does ends up with a said July 15. “And police record? Why should I be Ethiopian-Israeli police cadets brace the primitive religions Elliot Resnick it’s not done as afraid of any encounter my chil- and the promotion of profesthey practiced in Africa,” the chief editor of The Jewish dren may have with the police?” sional Ethiopian Israeli officers Resnick wrote in June. to senior posts, and those goals Press and The Jewish Press does Fentahun Assefa-Dawit, “Can someone give me a are being met.” not carry that viewpoint.” director of the Israeli NGO coherent reason why blackface Given these successes, “it is Mauer said she told Resnick Tebeka, founded in 2000 by the is racist?” he asked in a tweet in that the tweets were “unacfirst Ethiopian-Israelis to qualify frustrating and tragic that too February. many police officers take the ceptable,” and he in turn said for the bar, said there has been In another tweet, the context law into their own hands,” he he would no longer share such “tremendous progress” in the of which is unclear, Resnick posts. The paper is not taking integration of Ethiopian Israelis said. “Israelis, regardless of asked: “How is it assault to their ethnicity, gender or reliany further action, Mauer said. within society, but that racially commit a consensual immoral gion should be joining hands to act with a 17-year-old? The Levin, the activist, and Resndriven offenses need the immediate attention of the govern- work for a more equal and just notion that a 17-year-old in this ick have history. Israeli society.” Levin said the two first met ment and relevant authorities. century is an innocent child is At the Jerusalem demonstra- laughable.” when he was a camper and Tebeka’s ongoing dialogue Resnick was a counselor at with the Prime Minister’s Inter- tion, a handful of Ethiopian The Jewish Press’ publisher protesters were joined by about said its editor’s tweets were Camp Gan Israel, a summer ministerial Committee, police 100 white protesters, who camp affiliated with the Chabad “unacceptable.” kneeled alongside them creating Lubavitch movement in ParksResnick defended his tweets placards out of torn-up cardville, N.Y. in an email to JTA July 15. Tim Sweeny board boxes. Years later, Resnick found “Calling my tweets ‘vile’ is a REALTOR® Together they chanted “Bibi, out about Levin’s sexuality and smear tactic designed to avoid (937) 901-2346 CELL Bibi, Wake Up,” and “Ethiopian addressing my Facebook post wrote an article in The Jewish (937) 918-2693 BUSINESS Blood Isn’t Cheap.” Press in 2011 attacking him for on the Torah’s views on homotim.sweeny@coldwellbanker.com Israel Sykes said he came to speaking about his sexuality in sexuality,” he wrote. www.TimSweeny.com show his solidarity “because a video. “Chaim Levin is a radical Israel must deal with racism.” Resnick’s article did not Let me be your Real Estate compass. activist determined to push imWhile road disruptions are mention Levin by name but the moral beliefs down the throats ©2019 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles painful, “no one pays attention following year. Levin penned a of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Office is Independently Owned And Operated. Coldwell Banker of society and will trample on and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. if they don’t do it. This was an anyone who stands in his way.” response in The Press in which authentic outburst of pent up he acknowledged that the article On July 11, Resnick wrote a frustration.” had been about him. Facebook post on gay activists. Betty, an Ethiopian Israeli Levin told JTA that he has Facebook removed it for violatactivist at the protest, said she been aware of Resnick’s social ing its “Community Standards fears for her son’s safety. media posts for years but that against hate speech.” “He served in the IDF, he he was moved to take action afWhen asked about his comserved his country. But now, I’m ment on African religions, ter The Jewish Press published an even more afraid for him,” she Resnick said, “According to the article in July which criticized said. participants in New York’s Gay Torah, the closer a religion is “I’m not saying every Israeli Pride parade, saying people to pure monotheism, the more is a racist. I know many good who engage in homosexual advanced it is.” OFFICE (937) 293-3402 800 SHROYER ROAD people. It’s the minority of racrelations are giving in to their He defended his tweet about www.jtgreendds.com DAYTON, OHIO 45419 ists that are harming us.” desires like animals. relations between an adult and
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
THE WORLD
Top Trump officials headline conference focusing on the ‘new antisemitism’
Trump had himself courted bigotry, first in hosting a meeting at the White House for right-wing social media left” and “radical Islam.” figures and then saying in a But he drew particutweet that four Democratic lar attention to what he members of Congress, all called “the new antiwomen of color, should “go semitism,” which he said back” to their countries of “attempts to disguise its origin. Jew hatred as hatred for Josh Rogin, a columnist the state of Israel and the for the Washington Post who anti-Zionist endeavor.” moderated a panel on ProsDeVos said that “BDS Attorney Gen. William Barr (L) and Deputy stands for antisemiAttorney Gen. Jeffrey Rosen attend the Summit ecuting Hate Crimes, referred tism.” She described her on Combating Antisemitism at the Department to this tumult in a question to the three law enforcement department’s investiga- of Justice, Washington, D.C., July 15 officials on the panel. tions into incidents of Asked to what they attributalleged discrimination aimed at in reported hate crimes, the deadly shootings at synagogues ed the rise in hate crimes, and if pro-Israel students at Williams they considered Trump’s often College in Massachusetts and at in Pittsburgh and southern California, conspiracy theories polarizing behavior as one of a pro-Palestinian event sponand cemetery vandalism. the causes, all three — represored by departments at Duke Describing antisemitism as senting the Attorney General’s University and University of a “cancer,” he said he wants to civil rights division, the FBI’s North Carolina. “assure the Jewish community criminal investigation division She also invoked President that the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the Donald Trump’s decision to District of Columbia — demove the U.S. Embassy in Israel and the entire federal government stands with you and will clined to offer any reasons. from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as not tolerate these attacks.” All three focused their andid Mnuchin, as a sign of U.S. The conference, scheduled swers instead on their efforts support for Israel. for weeks, was held following to prosecute purveyors of hate In his remarks, Barr rea news cycle dominated by accrimes and their work with loferred to the wide landscape of cusations that President Donald cal communities on prevention. antisemitism, including a rise Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
By Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney General William Barr called antisemitism a “cancer” at a Department of Justice summit on the topic notable for its focus on anti-Israel activity and for speeches by the top leaders of the departments of Education, the Treasury and the FBI. The Summit on Combating Antisemitism, held July 15 at the DOJ headquarters here, featured panel discussions and an audience of about 150, mostly men representing various Jewish organizations and government agencies that deal with some aspect of hate crimes and civil rights. The conference was bracketed with speeches by Barr and Trump administration top officials Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Elan Carr, the State Department’s Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating
Antisemitism, said the lineup was a sign of how seriously the administration is taking what he called a “time of striking growth in antisemitism around the globe.” He said that growth extends from Europe to the United States, “where vandalism in New York and other cities, according to the Anti-Defamation League, occurs on a fairly regular basis, and campuses have become hostile places for Jewish and pro-Israel students.” Anti-Israel activity — at colleges and by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel — was perhaps the major theme of the summit, with two of the four panels largely devoted to aspects of the topic: Antisemitism on Campus and Combating Antisemitism While Respecting the First Amendment. Carr noted at least three sources of present-day antisemitism: the “white supremacist far right,” the “anti-Zionist far
12 5
Celebrating 125 Years
Kaleidoscope of Us! August 25
FROM BABIES TO BUBBIES: CELEBRATING, SHARING, REFLECTING, NOSHING
1894
2019
Recall • Rejoice • Renew 1 PM - 2 PM Enjoy the Robyn Helzner Trio whose music and storytelling captivates audiences of all ages.
Join us for Join us an forafternoon a free, of music, art, food interactive afternoon andmusic, entertainment. of art, food and 1entertainment. PM - 4 PM
2 PM - 4 PM Continue the festivities with noshing, adding our touch to an art piece, sharing our favorite stories, and more. Entertainment and activities for all ages. This promises to be an afternoon you don’t want to miss!
Pictured: The Robyn Helzner Trio
305 Sugar Camp Circle • Dayton, Ohio 45409 • 937-293-9520 • bethabrahamdayton.org THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
PAGE 9
OPINION
Abortion: rights & responsibilities By Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin Dr. Masha Kisel wrote with personal authenticity on the immensely complex topic of abortion (Robbing mothers of their personhood, religious freedom, July Observer). I trust that words written from such a deep place will have their positive effect, in particular, in evoking a deeper and better conversation on abortion. As part of that process, I will offer responses to two particular points and then to one large and general point that Dr. Kisel made. One aspect of the argument Dr. Kisel develops is that the blastocyte (or the embryo or the fetus) be deemed as something not human. She asserts this crucial point without making any argument for it at all, and the weight of her reasoned argument depends on it. Some elemental points are self-evident; think of Jefferson. But self-evidence is a very high bar. If indeed that cluster of cells from which we all come is not human, then what exactly is it? Only from a human blastocyte does a human being grow. Well we know how the worst of human governments operated by dismissing the disabled, the ill, and the “useless” from humanity. How careful must we be, in the light of the horror with which that dehumanization is associated! At the very least, there is nothing self-evident in that assertion of Dr. Kisel. A second point is that Dr. Kisel’s brief evocation of what Jewish law has to say on the matter is so brief and partial in scope that it stumbles badly under the weight she has loaded upon it. It is indeed true that in the dreadful event when there is no choice but to abort a fetus to save a mother’s life, halacha (Jewish law) unequivocally rules that the mother’s life comes first. But it by no means follows that in any lesser circumstance, the fetus may be disposed of and that its interests have no standing in law. Jewish law directly contradicts her main point that law cannot apply to the decision of a
books through our courts. But one cannot assert rights over and against the One who endows them. All powers we have, including our power to choose, derive from God and operate within the terms of the user’s mother with respect to her unborn. license through which they are granted. Moreover, while the great bulk of what is encomThe way of Jewish law, then, to address the probpassed in the code of Jewish law applies solely to lem, asserts Rabbi Sacks, is through those terms — in the community of Israel, laws regarding abortion are other words, through the lens of responsibility. What considered universally important and are directly (though not identically) applicable to all human beings is our responsibility toward a mother? What is our as part of the rubric of the Seven Noahide Laws. There responsibility toward an unborn child? These are the questions Jewish teachings ask. These questions do not is remarkably little dissent on this in the great corpus end with the simple assertion of our personal feelings of classic halacha. and beliefs, however deeply held. The essence of Torah So in Jewish legal tradition this is a matter of law. That one’s freedom is restricted by law is a given. The is that we are held to a standard higher than anything question is: does the law serve a purpose that warrants we can dictate. The rights of a woman and the rights of the unborn that restriction? That is the test to which we should are necessarily in conflict in the case of abortion. No put all laws of our secular state, for restriction of our meaningful discussion can take place, only endless freedom is no small thing. But Dr. Kisel’s point seems to be that there can be no discussion here, for the free- assertion of one right to the elimination of the other. dom from restriction seems to be to her, self-evidently But we deal every day with conflicts of responsibilities and we daily resolve such conflicts by establishing absolute. This brings us to the general point. In talking about priorities by which the totality of responsibilities can best be discharged. We are responsible to our spouses, the debate over abortion some years ago, Rabbi Jonato our parents, to our children, to our colleagues, to than Sacks has made the point when we address the issue as a matter of rights, it is intractable and unargu- our community, and the work of each day is to find a way to honor them all by making proper priorities and able. Rights must be asserted or lost; to compromise exerting ourselves as unselfishly as we are able to find on a right is to start to descend that slippery slope of the way to do. compromised principle that ends in no good. I believe Rabbi Sacks quite right. Most rightsThe problem in the case of abortion is that we have based discussions of this issue hit a dead end very two sets of rights being asserted whose simultaneous quickly and leave no room for other voices to be heard. uncompromised expression is impossible. With each Accepting the responsibility placed on us by God side committed never to compromise, and each side asserting the self-evidence (and thus unarguability) of through the Torah opens up a real and ongoing discusthe right it champions, there can be no other result and sion on the deepest level, and one that can lead to real resolution in the place where it most matters — in the only power will “resolve” the issue. authentic choices we must each make when facing the Rabbi Sacks asserted, and properly I believe, that grave decisions that determine the integrity and goodJewish teaching approaches things from a different ness of the life we live. perspective. How could it not? We claim our political rights as being “endowed by our Creator,” and laws Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin is Chabad of Greater Dayton’s which deny those rights as we have recognized and associate rabbi. enshrined in our Constitution, we expunge from the
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Miami Valley School better than portrayed
offensive in an attempt to educate, a group of adults instead worked themselves into a self-righteous frenzy of name-calling, condemnations, and demands. An opI am writing in regard to the recent article about portunity for dialogue and education was missed. This my alma mater, The Miami Valley School (Class of reaction violates the ethos of The Miami Valley School, 2006), under the headline, Jewish families dismayed prep but more than that, it violates the spirit of Judaism, as school won’t denounce student display as antisemitic (July demonstrated by our sages in the great debates of the Observer). Mishnah and the Talmud. In 31 years, no secular institution I have been part MVS is better than what was portrayed in that artiof has been as welcoming and safe for Jews as MVS. It cle, and the many Jews whose identities were nurtured was not only a safe space for Jews, it was where I and there know that. many of my Jewish classmates formed the bedrock — Adam Scott Weissman, Los Angeles of our Jewish identity. It’s the only place I know of in Dayton where you could form a minyan of Jews Let us repair our bonds with MVS under 30 at almost any given moment. It was where I would like to weigh in on an event that occurred at I learned the basics of the Israel-Palestine conflict The Miami Valley School that became the centerpiece of through the robust analysis we engaged in as part of The Observer’s July issue on antisemitism. I quote heavModel UN, the school’s most popular extracurricular ily from another article in that same issue, Why commuactivity. The mere existence of the Sinai Scholarship nities must change everything to combat antisemitism. is evidence that the school not only welcomes but One 17-year-old student, unbeknownst to anyone in encourages Jewish students to embrace their Jewish authority at MVS, displayed a poster containing picidentity. tures and words about Israel pulled directly from the So when I saw MVS portrayed as unwelcoming, propaganda of the BDS movement and the Palestinian unsafe, or unwilling to condemn antisemitism in the talking points at a student-run event. pages of The Observer, I was dismayed, but after I read This moment called “...for thoughtful strategy,” eduthe article, I was angry. To call the student’s poster cation, and discussion, “not knee-jerk responses borne antisemitic is, at best, something about which all Jews out of hyperbolic panic about ‘history repeating itself.’” would not agree and which most non-Jews would not We needed to, as declared at the Jewish Federarecognize as such. At worst, it’s an attempt to shut tion Presidents dinner, let “...education become our down debate over one of the thorniest geopolitical strongest tool against antisemitism, second only to issues of our time. Rather than engage the student the bonds we as a Jewish community build with our in dialogue about what community members found neighbors.”
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We needed to “strengthen and grow,” not accuse. We need “to ameliorate hyper-polarization, which gives rise to antisemitism, we need to cultivate... Jewish leaders who can go beyond their ideological bubbles and productively engage with people who think differently” or who do not recognize or know what we see as antisemitism is just that. “We must all learn to hold multiple truths and to speak with nuance.” We must understand “that compromise, moderation, and civility — too often dismissed as qualities of the weak-willed — are actually exemplars of courageous and transformative leadership.” Instead, some members of our Jewish community chose to condemn and accuse the school administration, to demand they denounce this child’s anti-Israel speech, unrecognizable as antisemitism to those who aren’t nearly as immersed in it or emotionally tied to it as we are. We need to expand our repertoire. We need to learn “when to engage...when to isolate,” when to educate, when to allow time “and when to accept a heartfelt apology.” We need to educate “about what we consider antisemitism — especially when it’s not clear-cut — before we censure” and demand that it be called out as such, “because not everyone sees what we see.” Let us repair and strengthen our bonds with one of our greatest allies, The Miami Valley School. — Mary Rita Weissman, Dayton Mary Rita Weissman is vice president of personnel on the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton Board and a trustee of The Miami Valley School Executive Committee
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
THE MARVELOUS MR. MAZEL Ben Pierce graduated summa cum laude from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business with a dual major in finance and honors accounting. At Ohio State, he won a PaceSetters
Scott Halasz Award for being among the top business school students, was a teaching assistant, a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, participated in the Fisher Futures Program, and volunteered for Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance. He has successfully completed the CPA exam and began working for Robert Baird in Chicago as an investment banking analyst in July. Ben is the son of Lisa and David Pierce. Adam Bloom graduated with honors from Trinity College. He majored in American studies and is planning to attend graduate school. Adam is spending the summer working at Camp Wise and will look for a job in politics while he applies to grad school. Adam is the son of Amy and Dr. Mike Bloom. Grayson Lee Throckmorton received his bachelor of arts degree in human biology with a minor in theatre and
So, what do you think?
performing arts from Stanford University in June. Grayson has been accepted to the Teach For America program and will teach in Los Angeles for two years. His plans include medical school. Grayson is the son of the late Donna and Gary Throckmorton and Joann and the late Karl Plotkin. Lauren Williams graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelor of science degree in philosophy. She will pursue a master of arts in philosophy at EMU and will also be a full time graduate assistant with the General Education Program. Lauren is the daughter of Karen and Bruce Williams. Jason Guadalupe graduated from Swarthmore College and
Matthew Klein graduated with an associate of science degree in culinary arts from Sullivan University. He is currently a sous chef and grillardin at Bucks Restaurant in Louisville. Matt is the son of Barb Cauper Mendoza and Doug Klein.
Two of Dayton’s temples have elected new presidents: John Granby at Temple Beth Or and Dan Young at Temple Israel.
Corinne Engber graduated from Emerson University with a master’s degree in publishing and writing. Her featured writings can be found at JewishBoston.com. Corinne is the daughter of Cassandra and Jeff Engber.
Rabbi Ari Ballaban has departed from his position as Jewish Community Relations Council director with the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton to accept the position of recruitment and leadership development associate with Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s National Office of Recruitment and Admissions in Cincinnati. Rabbi Ari also continues on as Temple Beth Or’s assistant rabbi and as a Ph.D. candidate at HUC-JIR.
Eli Jacobs received his law degree from Yale Law School
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Send your letters (350 words max., thanks) to The Dayton Jewish Observer 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459 MWeiss@jfgd.net 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.
in May. He is working at a law firm in NYC. Michael Jacobs received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in May. He’ll continue his research as a Boehringer Ingelheim Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. Eli and Michael are the sons of Drs. Martha Moody Jacobs and Martin Jacobs.
will enter a post-baccalaureate premedical program. Jason is the son of Melissa and Harold Guadalupe.
So is the entire Jewish community. BMB
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Believe Belong Become
PJ Library/Hillel Academy Shabbat in the Park: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Friday, August 23 at Orchardly Park. Kosher meal provided.
daytonhillel.org • 937.277.8966 dkmecoli@daytonhillel.org
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
PAGE 11
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Mark S. Feuer Attorney at Law For your business & personal needs. Tax & Business Planning & Transactions Tax Controversies Employee Benefit Solutions
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 40 North Main Street, Suite 1700 Dayton, Ohio 45423-1029 641-1735 mfeuer@taftlaw.com • www.taftlaw.com
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937-427-2121 937-985-0805 937-321-2554 4theboothteam@gmail.com
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Sales/Investment/Management 1210 Meadowbridge Dr., Suite C Beavercreek, Ohio 45434
Classes
Temple Beth Or Classes: Sun., Aug. 18, 11 a.m.: Tanakh w. Rabbi Chessin. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 4353400. Temple Israel Classes: Tues., Aug. 13, 20, 27, 5:30 p.m.: Musar w. Rabbi Sobo. Wednesdays, noon: Talmud w. Rabbi Sobo. Thurs., Aug. 15, 22, 29, noon: Back to Basics w. Rabbi BodneyHalasz (continues through May). Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.: Torah Study. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 496-0050.
Family
Temple Israel Prayer & Play: Sat., Aug. 10, 10 a.m. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 4960050. PJ Library, PJ Our Way & Hillel Academy Shabbat in the Park: Fri., Aug. 23, 5:307:30 p.m. Orchardly Park, 343 Wonderly Ave., Oakwood. Kosher dinner. Bring drinks, bathing suits, towels for splash pad. Free. R.S.V.P. to 610-1555.
Children & Youths
Chabad Camp Gan Israel: Through Aug. 9, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Ages 5-11. 643-0770.
Young Adults
YAD @ Dayton History’s Old Case Files: Sun., Aug. 4, 3-5 p.m. The Old Courthouse, 7 N. Main St., Dayton. R.S.V.P. to 610-1555.
Seniors
JFS Active Adults Annual Brunch: Sun., Aug. 18, 10:30 a.m. The Dayton Woman’s Club, 225 N. Ludlow St., Dayton. Jessica Michna as Eleanor Roosevelt. $15 in advance, $20 at door. R.S.V.P. by Aug. 12 to 610-1555.
Community Events
Temple Israel Torah on Tap: Thurs., Aug. 8, 6 p.m. South Park Tavern, 1301 Wayne Ave,. Dayton. Discussion w. temple rabbi. First round of drinks on Temple Israel. Beth Abraham Synagogue Shabbat Under The Stars: Fri., Aug. 9, 7:30 p.m. At the home of David Rothschild. Beth Abraham Band, Oneg. R.S.V.P.
to the synagogue by Aug. 6, 293-9520. Jewish Newcomer’s Event: Sun., Aug. 18, 2 p.m. Hosted by Jewish Federation. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. Improv w. comedian Karen Jaffe, children’s activities, ice cream. R.S.V.P. to 610-1555. Cantor Jerome B. Kopmar in Recital: Sun., Aug. 18, 7 p.m. Beth Abraham Synagogue, 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. 293-9520. Jewish Federation Annual Meeting: Tuesday, Aug. 20, 6 p.m. W. Michael Lieberman, Washington counsel, ADL & director of ADL’s Civil Rights Policy Planning Center; ADL Regional Director James Pasch. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. 610-1555. Beth Abraham Synagogue Kaleidoscope of Us!: Sun., Aug. 25, 1-4 p.m. Food, art, entertainment. Free admission. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. 293-9520.
NEWCOMER’S EVENT Sunday, August 18 2-4PM @ Boonshoft CJCE New to Jewish Dayton, or feel like you haven’t connected yet? Join us and get to know each other! Local comedian Karen Jaffe will lead the adults in improv games and exercises while the children participate in an activity of their own. Afterwards we will all join together for ice cream! RSVPs are required. For more information call Cheryl Carne at (937) 610-1778. RSVP online at jewishdayton.org.
J E W I S H F E D E R AT I O N o f G R E AT E R DAY TO N
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
Highlights JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
ABOVE, LEFT: Michele Dritz, Rabbi Simon, and other community members supported the JCC and enjoyed an
afternoon of baseball at JCC Day at the Dragons Game. PHOTO CREDIT: Meryl Hattenbach ABOVE, RIGHT: Campaign Chair Dan Sweeny enjoys a brew at Fifth Third Field with Rob Bloom and Larry Weissman at the Federation Men's Event. PHOTO CREDIT: Katie Lehner
ABOVE, LEFT: On July 10, JFS and the JCC’s Camp K’tan (Mishpacha) traveled to Friendship Village for a Mitzvah
Mission. The campers brought hearts for the residents and then, together, enjoyed an Independence Day-themed craft and snack. The campers even sang songs. America the Beautiful was their big finish! PHOTO CREDIT: Tara Feiner ABOVE, RIGHT: Camp Shalom shows off their bounty of blueberries after picking berries on a field trip to Blue Moon
Farm. PHOTO CREDIT: Meryl Hattenbach THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
PAGE 13
August events JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
AUGUST EVENTS & PROGRAMS
THURSDAY 1
SATURDAY 3
MON TUE 5 6
WED THU FRI 7 8 9
SUNDAY 18 JFS Active Adults Annual Brunch 10:30AM - 12PM @ The Dayton Woman's Club (225 N. Ludlow Street, 45402) Entertainment provided by Jessica Michna as Eleanor Roosevelt. RSVP by August 12. Your payment is your reservation. $15 in advance/$20 at the door. A kosher meal can be provided with advance notice by the RSVP deadline.
MONDAY 19
SUNDAY 4 - FRIDAY 9 JCC JCC Maccabi Games and ArtsFest @ JCC of Metropolitan Detroit JCC Maccabi Games and ArtsFest, a sports and creative arts event for Jewish teens. For registered teens only.
SUNDAY 4 YAD (AGES 21-35) Re-enactment of a Controversial Murder Trial 3-5PM @ The Old Courthouse (7 N. Main Street, Dayton, 45402) Join YAD (21-35) as we step back in time to witness the dramatic reenactment of a controversial murder trial.
SAT 17
FRIDAY 2
SAT 10
SUN MON TUE 11 12 13
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
SAT 24
FRI 16
SUNDAY 18 JFGD Newcomer's Event 2 - 4PM @ Boonshoft CJCE New to Jewish Dayton, or feel like you haven’t connected yet? Join us and get to know each other! Local comedian Karen Jaffe will lead the adults in improv games and exercises while the children participate in an activity of their own. Afterwards we will all join together for ice cream! RSVPs are required.
TUESDAY 20 JFGD Annual Meeting 6-8PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Featuring special guest Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League and Director of their Civil Rights Policy Planning Center along with James Pasch, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League for Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky.
FRIDAY 23 PJ LIBRARY PJ Library, PJ Our Way & Hillel Academy Shabbat in the Park 5:30 - 7:30PM @ Orchardly Park (343 Wonderly Ave., 45419) Celebrate Shabbat with PJ Library and Hillel Academy at Orchardly Park in Oakwood! Dinner is kosher catered by Rochel Simon. All you need to bring are drinks, bathing suits and towels for the splash pad. This event is strictly kosher.
WED THU 14 15
SUN 25
MON 26
TUE 27
WEDNESDAY 21
WED 28
THU 29
THURSDAY 22
FRI 30
SAT 31
SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER!
RAISED OVER $7,000 to help our neighbors impacted by the Memorial Day tornadoes and severe weather. Thank you for your support!
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
Announcements JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
Introducing Our
2019 ANNUAL MEETING GUEST SPEAKERS The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton and its Agencies invites the Dayton Jewish community to its 2019 Annual Meeting featuring Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel for the AntiDefamation League, along with James Pasch, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League for Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Together we will discuss the concerns we face with the rise of anti-Semitic rhetoric and what we as a community can do to identify and educate in the face of hate. We will be honoring our outgoing board members, installing new board members, and recognizing the following 2019 award recipients for their contributions to the Dayton Jewish Community. Past Presidents' Award Bob Goldenberg Robert A. Shapiro Award Neil Friedman Allan Wasserman Young Leadership Award Sam Dorf
MICHAEL LIEBERMAN, WASHINGTON COUNSEL FOR THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
Jack Moss Creativity Award Irv Moscowitz Jonathan McNeal JFS Volunteer Award Helene Gordon & Maryann Bernstein JCC Volunteer Award Julie Bloom
JAMES PASCH, REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FOR OHIO, WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, WEST VIRGINIA, AND KENTUCKY
Dorothy B. Moyer Award Kate Elder
Legacies, Tributes, & Memorials FEDERATION
UNITED JEWISH CAMPAIGN IN MEMORY OF › Mike Shane Susan and Jonas Gruenberg › Martin Bloom Mary and Dr. Gary Youra ENDOWMENT GENERAL FUND IN MEMORY OF › Carolyn Caplan Maureen and Dr. Marc Sternberg THE TALA ARNOVITZ FUND IN MEMORY OF › Albert Schwenk Beverly Saeks DOROTHY B. MOYER YOUNG LEADERSHIP FUND IN MEMORY OF › Dorothy B. Moyer › Hyman Dennis
› Sam Cohn › Nettie Dennis Felman Marcia and Richard Moyer JCC
EARLY CHILDHOOD FUND IN MEMORY OF › Carolyn Caplan Pat Jones JFS
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES IN HONOR OF › Special birthday of Hy Blum Margy and Dr. Otis Hurst IN MEMORY OF › Mike Shane Margy and Dr. Otis Hurst
FOUNDATION
JEREMY BETTMAN B’NAI TZEDEK FUND IN HONOR OF › 90th birthday of Joe Bettman › 65th wedding anniversary of Elaine and Joe Bettman Beth Adelman Dolores and Charles Fried Mel Caplan Esther and DeNeal Feldman Susan and Joe Gruenberg Ellie and Bob Bernstein IN MEMORY OF › Martin Bloom Jean and Todd Bettman
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
A Biss'l Mamaloshen Shlogn
| SHLOG-en | Verb:
To beat, hit, strike; mint (money); fight [with zikh ()]. Expressions with Shlogn: 1 Az me git, nemt men; az me shlogt, loyft
men. When they are giving, accept; when they are hitting, run away. 2 Er vil faln un di noz nisht tseshlogn. He wants to fall and not break his nose (i.e. he wants the impossible). 3 hlog zikh mit Got arum! Go fight city hall! (lit., Go fight with God!).
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Upcoming events JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
SAVE the DATE Sunday, September 22 Men's Event with Michael J. Coles author of Time to get Tough How Cookies, Coffee, and a Crash led to Success in Business and Life
To create your Jewish legacy, contact: Janese R. Sweeny, Esq. jsweeny@jfgd.net | 937.401.1542 | www.jewishdayton.org
Check the
community calendar for updates! JEWISH FOUNDATION of GREATER DAYTON
Shabbat in the Park
YAD
Bring your swimsuit and enjoy a casual Shabbat potluck at a local park. For more information, contact Rachel Gilbert at 937-610-1794.
Re-enactment of a Controversial Murder Trial
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343 Wonderly Ave. Oakwood, OH 45419 kosher catered dinner provided
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5:30–7:30PM Orchardly Park
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Rain location: Boonshoft CJCE
AUGUST 23
LIFE & LEGACY program and the LIFE & LEGACY logo are trademarks of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. All rights reserved. Photo credit: David Verzi/Berkshire Jewish Voice
Sunday, August 4 3-5PM @ The Old Courthouse (7 N Main Street, 45402) Join YAD (ages 21-35) as we step back in time to witness the dramatic reenactment of a controversial murder trial.
CANASTA LESSONS • September 11, 18, 25 & October 2 1-4PM @ Boonshoft CJCE Sue Nelson and Linda Schuman will teach beginning Canasta at the CJCE. Min. of 4 players max. of 10 players. RSVP a must-by September 4. PAGE 16
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
JEWISH FAMILY EDUCATION
A heritage of chosenness Our Dual Heritage
“This country is a blessed nation. (Its people) are special. The world knows it. In our innermost thoughts, we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth.” What first came to mind upon reading these statements? America? Perhaps today’s Israel? Or the biblical Kingdom of Israel?
Candace R. Kwiatek Actually, these words by Tony Blair refer to Great Britain. In response to Blair’s remarks, former Israeli politician and news commentator Yossi Sarid noted wryly, “We Jews are not the only ones who suffer from the ‘chosen people complex.’” A central idea in Jewish thought, chosenness is both a divine relationship and a worldly mission. Beginning with Abraham and continuing to Sinai and beyond, the Jewish people were chosen to enter into a covenant with God through which they might bring the world to ethical monotheism. According to biblical scholar Yehezkel Kaufmann, prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah viewed chosenness — with its emphasis on ethical teaching — as a means to “combat idolatry, curb arrogance, and end violence, greed, and warfare, and thereby usher
in a new kind of society.” “Chosenness,” explains Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, “means being a living example of the kind of people and the kind of communities people admire...(T)hen others are likely to be impressed with the claim that the source of their goodness is the God in whom they believe.” It’s about being a covenant people, and in the words of Isaiah, “a light unto the nations.” Unfortunately, the notion of chosenness has often been misconstrued — by Jews and nonJews alike — as Jewish superiority or Jews being more beloved by God. Yet the Bible is very clear that neither is the case. The Torah itself gives no reason for the choice of Abraham as the first to receive the covenant. This lack of an intrinsic qualification for chosenness becomes more obvious when God threatens to destroy Israel and choose a different people during the golden calf incident at Sinai. As he retells Israel’s history in his final days, Moses repeatedly reminds the Israelites that chosenness doesn’t indicate any virtue or special quality on their part. The prophet Amos goes one step further, emphasizing that chosenness doesn’t imply superior status but instead demands greater responsibility: “You alone have I singled out of all the families of the earth — that is why I will call you to account for your iniquities.”
Their well-documented research unexpectedly led Gitlin and Leibovitz to conclude that this chosenness was less a matter of self-identity than an objective reality, according to University of Michigan political science Prof. Andrei Markovits. “It’s not that Jews and Americans claim to be special, unique and chosen (so do most other nations as well) but that they, through (well-defined) forces of history…were, in a sense, made to be chosen.” There is no question that Jewish and American claims of chosenness from ancient times to the present have been falsely used to justify bad judgment, unjust decisions, and evil actions, from vengeance to Manifest Destiny to slavery. But perhaps we were chosen, in the words of poet Elizabeth Topper, “not for who we are, but who we might become.” It is this transcendent notion of “who we might become” that makes chosenness still meaningful today, both as Jews and as Americans. Chosenness means we have an indispensable role to play in realizing the prophetic vision of human perfection, a mission bigger than ourselves to be a blessing to ourselves and to humanity, and a commitment to shoulderering the burden of repairing a broken world. Chosenness encourages us to persevere, because our task is not yet fulfilled.
America became “God’s New Since the Jewish concept of Israel,” a nation in covenant chosenness never contradicted with God, Brekus explains. Its the belief that God has a reladivine destiny was to be a beationship with other peoples con of democracy to the rest of as well, it’s no surprise that the world. America’s biblically-literate Even today, she notes, most early settlers viewed themselves Americans champion “the as similarly chosen. nation’s moral, political and ecoFrom its very beginnings, nomic distinctiveness,” although America adopted and adapted they’ve adopted the more the biblical notion of choseninclusive language of “American ness. Aboard the ship to New exceptionalism” that deemphaEngland, John Winthrop wrote sizes the religious dimension. a lay sermon that “reflected The notion of chosenness the Puritans’ understanding of continues to play themselves as a vital role in chosen people in Perhaps we were aJewish, Israeli, covenant with and American God,” observes chosen, in the history, conclude Harvard Divin- words of poet Todd Gitlin and ity School’s Elizabeth Topper, Liel Leibovitz, Dr. Catherine authors of The Brekus. ‘not for who we Chosen Peoples: “Winthrop are, but who we America, Israel, suggested that and the Ordeals of the Puritans, like might become.’ Divine Election. the biblical Isra“The wild elites, had been idea that the master of the given a special commission as God’s covenant people. ‘For we universe played favorites by designating the descendents must consider that we shall be of Sarah and Abraham as His as a city upon a hill,’ Winthrop preached, ‘the eyes of all people chosen people is the foundation are upon us.’” Like the Israelites, of Jewish identity as well as the they were to build a successful, American project. Like it or not, God-centered, ethical society as however weird, inspiring, dangerous, mysterious, obnoxious, an example for the world. During the Revolutionary era, or historically dubious, it’s at the belief in American “chosen- the root of their entire histories,” Gitlin and Leibovitz responded ness” grew stronger as patriots envisioned themselves replicat- in an interview with Evan ing the Exodus story from Egypt Goldstein, editor of The Chronicle Review. to Sinai.
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Literature to share The Brave Princess and Me by Kathy Kacer. You’ve likely heard the legend of the Danish king who saved his country’s Jews from the Nazis. But did you ever hear the tale about the deaf princess of Greece who saved a Jewish family during the Holocaust? Written for middle school children with basic Holocaust knowledge, this illustrated nonfiction work emphasizes courage, goodness, caring for others, and how weaknesses don’t need to define the kind of person you become. Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World by Jeremy Benstein. Today, nearly half of the Jewish people live their daily lives speaking Hebrew, while the other largely English-speaking half finds Hebrew foreign or at least unfamiliar, perhaps even irrelevant. Yet, according to author Jeremy Benstein, Hebrew is the doorway to values, culture, identity, and all things Jewish. He suggests a learning approach that focuses not on textbook learning or spoken mastery but on exploration of Hebrew’s three-letter roots, the building blocks of the language. Filled with some history and a bit of linguistics, but mostly devoted to the magic of Hebrew roots, this fascinating book offers an approach worth pursuing.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
PAGE 17
RELIGION
CONGREGATIONS 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 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 320 Caldwell St., Piqua. Contact Steve Shuchat, 937-7262116, AnsheEmeth@gmail.com. ansheemeth.org Temple Beth Or Reform Rabbi Judy Chessin Educator/Rabbi Ari Ballaban Fridays 6 p.m. Preneg, 6:30 p.m. service 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 Yellow Springs Havurah Independent Services 1st & 3rd Saturdays, 10-noon. Antioch College Rockford Chapel. Contact Len Kramer, 937572-4840 or len2654@gmail.com.
PAGE 18
We cannot be bystanders By Rabbi Ari Ballaban Temple Beth Or In the realm of halacha (Jewish law) and morality, there are those who compare the act of accepting refugees to the mitzvah of redeeming captives — pidyon sh’vuyim. In contrast to the aphorism that “one shouldn’t negotiate with kidnappers,” halacha actually requires (in most cases) that Jewish communities pay any reasonable ransom to ensure the freeing of a captive. When he wrote on the topic in Hilchot Matanot Aniyim
Perspectives (Laws About Giving To Poor People) of his Mishneh Torah (8:10), Maimonides expressed his view not only that “redeeming captives takes precedence over feeding and clothing the poor,” but, more so, that “there is no commandment as great as redeeming captives, for a captive is among the hungry, thirsty, naked, and is in mortal danger.” In this passage, he goes on to explain that whosoever “averts one eye” from redeeming a captive violates at least the following commandments: 1. You shall not harden your heart, and you shall not shut your hand (Deut. 15:7) 2. Do not stand by your brother’s blood (Lev. 19:16) 3. You shall not work him with hard labor before your eyes (Lev. 25:53) 4. You shall surely open your hand to him (Deut. 15:8) 5. And your brother shall live with you (Lev. 25:36) 6. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18) 7. Save those who are taken
August
Tammuz/Av Shabbat Candle Lightings August 2: 8:31 p.m. August 9: 8:23 p.m. August 16: 8:14 p.m. August 23: 8:04 p.m. August 30: 7:53 p.m.
does take place in our names. That is a major problem, and we each should be doing everything in our power to fight against it. We should spread the word about the issue to those we know, particularly sharing how we experience it as those connected to the Jewish community, with our unique history and culture; we should be donating to organizations such as the ACLU or KIND (Kids in Need of Defense) that combat the detainment camps and work to protect migrants; and, of course, we should be contacting our federal elected representatives (Sen. Sherrod Brown at 202-224-2315, Sen. Rob Portman at 202-224-3353, and Rep. Michael Turner at 202-225-6465). As I have reflected on this topic in recent weeks, I have
makes perfectly clear, it is that to death (Prov. 24:11). we have an obligation to care Suffice it to say, Maimonides for those who are in need, such considered this obligation of as the poor, the sick, and the unusually high import. orphan. And in contemporary The comparison of pidyon society, few people are as much sh’vuyim to the acceptance of in need as refugees. refugees seems, to me, There has been apt. If we extend to ample documentaall people the labels tion (including by the neighbor and brother, Office of the Inspector then each of these bibGeneral of the Departlical commandments ment of Homeland applies to people who Security) clarifying seek asylum. that our nation’s Beyond this, Jews Customs and Border throughout history Protection agency has have known that payRabbi Ari Ballaban been enforcing poliing ransom for capcies that have caused tives can come with atrocities to take place: children some real, material drawbacks. being separated from their And yet, the halachic conclusion is that there are some risks parents; children being forced to live in condiwe simply must take. Mario Tama/Getty Images tions that, quite So too should it be with acliterally, would cepting refugees at our southbe criminal if ern border. Certainly, there are imposed on anirisks involved. And yet, our mals; and adults moral obligation remains. We might draw some further being physically abused, wisdom from Rabbi Lord psychologically Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1991 tormented, and made to endure to 2013. Opining on the effect legal malfeaof the Syrian refugee crisis on sances. Europe, he wrote: All of these “I used to think that the most important line in the Bible are things that our nation was ‘Love your neighbor as doesn’t imyourself.’ Then I realized that An immigrant released after six months in an ICE pose even on it is easy to love your neighbor detention facility hugs her daughter while being lawbreakers. because he or she is usually reunited with family at Portland International Airport To think that quite like yourself. What is considered how throughout hard is to love the stranger, one refugees suffer them — in our name, in the name of every citi- my life, I have had a fluctuwhose color, culture or creed ating position on history’s zen of the United States, in the is different from yours. That name of all American Jews — is bystanders. is why the command, ‘Love At times, I have felt that a shanda, a disgrace. the stranger because you were while such people obviously Alas, this shanda is a reality. once strangers,’ resonates so weren’t moral examples, it often throughout the Bible. It is Because the United States is a might only be through the representative democracy, the summoning us now.” convenient lens of hindsight mistreatment of migrants at Sacks’ sentiment is remarkthat someone like me can our country’s southern border, ably insightful. If there is judge them for their inaction. a group that includes refugees, anything that Jewish morality Perhaps, I have sometimes thought, it could be that evidence of injustice only becomes fully apparent in retrospect. Torah Today my thinking couldn’t be any more different. Here Portions and now, the injustice is already quite clear and our The Arch of Titus depicts spoils August 3, Matot-Masei taken from the Temple tradition calls upon us to act: (Num. 30:2-36:13) we cannot be bystanders. Tisha B’Av August 10, Devarim As members of a people of (Deut. 1:1-3:22) Ninth Day of Av • August 11 chronic refugees, perpetually (Delayed because of Shabbat) seeking new homes as strangAugust 17, Vaetchanan ers in new lands, we must The day of fasting to mark the (Deut. 3:23-7:11) destruction of the First and identify with refugees, we Second Temples, the loss August 24: Ekev mustn’t let atrocities take place of Jewish sovereignty, and (Deut. 7:12-11:25) in our names, and we must numerous other tragedies said to push back and speak out. We August 31: Re’eh have fallen on this day. The Book shouldn’t require the lens of (Deut. 11:26-16:17, Num. 28:9-15) of Eicha (Lamentations) is read. hindsight to see that.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
A BISEL KISEL
Babel a towering writer from Odessa At a recent Jewish Film Fest screening in Dayton, I picked up a pamphlet listing classic Jewish authors. There were notable omissions of many Eastern European names, which I hope to remedy by telling you about Isaac Babel, a Russian-speaking Jewish writer from Odessa. Babel, who was born in 1894, came of age during the time of revolutionary fervor and joined the Red Army. He reached literary prominence in the early
Masha Kisel Soviet period, but despite or perhaps because of his fame, he did not survive the Stalinist purges. He was arrested on false charges of espionage and executed by a firing squad after a 20-minute trial in 1940. Babel’s beautifully esoteric language has earned him a place among European modernists, yet his writings are uniquely Jewish in theme. His most famous story collections, Odessa Tales and Red Cavalry, are rich in details of Jewish life in czarist and post-revolutionary Ukraine and feature unusual Jewish characters. Odessa Tales are loosely based on Babel’s own early memories and take place in Moldavanka, the shtetl outside of Odessa where Babel was born. If you are picturing scenes from Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye stories — the basis for Fiddler on the Roof — change the channel to The Sopranos. In Odessa Tales, Babel describes a Jewish criminal underworld ruled by Benya Krik, a young mob boss with enormous appetites and the chutzpah to satisfy them. Benya, whose last name means “yell,” is a formidable force whose influence extends even to the world of gentiles. In one story, he tries to dissuade czarist officials from executing a pogrom before his sister’s wedding. The carnal, fearless and frightening Benya is a striking departure from the timid Jewish characters of 19thcentury Russian literature. Red Cavalry is a fictional
retelling of Babel’s own experiences during the Soviet-Polish war in 1920. Many of the stories in this cycle are narrated by semi-autobiographical narrator Liutov, a Jew in the Red Army, whose revolutionary moniker means “fierce one.” This young man “with spectacles on his nose and autumn in his heart” yearns to prove his masculinity, but cannot bear the brutality of what that entails. The most famous in the collection is My First Goose. It begins with the narrator’s homosocial admiration for a manly Russian commander: “I marvelled at the beauty of his gigantic body.” Concerned that the bespectacled intellectual won’t fit in with his new Cossack regiment, the commander advises Liutov to “ruin some nice lady.” The Cossacks mock and ostracize Liutov, who is desperate to earn their approval. He and the Cossacks are housed in the hut of a depressed old (most likely Jewish) woman and although he can’t bring himself to rape her, he kills a goose in the yard by breaking its neck with his boot. This is a symbolic rape — an act of senseless cruelty that wins him an invitation to share his comrades’ pork stew “while his goose cooks.” That night, he fulfills his dream of male bonding as he and the Cossacks sleep with their legs intertwined. But Liutov’s sleep is not peaceful. The last line of the story reads: “I had dreams — I dreamt of women — but my heart stained with murder, creaked and bled.” The death of a bird in My First Goose has a counterpart called The Story of My Dovecot. Set in 1905, more than a decade before the Russian revolution, it is told from the point of view of a young boy who gets into a prestigious school despite the Jewish quota and his parents reward him with two doves for his dovecot. When he buys the longed-for birds at the market, a pogrom breaks out. He encounters an antisemitic neighbor who unleashes his pent up hatred by savagely
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Isaac Babel, 1894-1940
stepping on and killing one of the boy’s doves. The boy loses consciousness and wakes up the next morning to learn that his grandfather was murdered in the pogrom. Given that both stories are semi-autobiographical, one can’t help but think of the dove-loving 11-year-old boy growing up to become the goose-killing Liutov. The little Jewish boy transforms from victim to aggressor but continues to identify with the victim, as evidenced by the dream image of the “bleeding heart” at the end of My First Goose. In his fiction, Babel depicts the psychological dissonance felt by Jewish Bolsheviks following their fraught metamorphoses into revolutionaries. They fought for a world without czarist pogroms but committed violence against other Jews in the process. Men like Babel who had left behind their shtetls and their Judaism to join the revolution, remained Jewish. The consciousness of being a Jew, disembodied from practice and community, persisted. Babel’s prose preserves an ephemeral moment in the history of the Jewish people. He captures the irreversible transfiguration (voluntary for some and forced upon others) of Jews into Soviet Jews. Dr. Masha Kisel is a lecturer in English at the University of Dayton. Excerpts here are from Boris Dralyuk’s translations of Red Cavalry and Odessa Stories.
Next month: How post-
revolutionary Cossacks and Jews came together in Masha’s family history.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
PAGE 19
Arts&Culture
This 20 year-old Israeli soldier is also a drag queen Laura E. Adkins
of the world — a man daring to dress and By Laura E. Adkins, JTA perform as a woman is still a radical act. TEL AVIV — The dimly-lit nightclub’s anxAnd while Israel certainly treats its LGBTQ ious patrons snap to attention when the Fidcitizens much better than most of its neighdler on the Roof song Tradition wails through boring countries do, queer Israelis still have the speakers. limited marriage, adoption and surrogacy Onto the small stage strides a busty Mizrights. rahi woman, her lips defined by serious black This fight for equal rights, and the struggle lipstick and hair concealed by a luminescent to be taken seriously, is how Mama was born. headscarf. She is dressed as a parody version At the 2019 Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade, of a Chasidic man, wearing a long black coat Mama de La Smallah seems to have made it. over her frock and a top hat perched atop her She shared a float with American TV star Neil kerchief-covered hair. Patrick Harris, wearing a red chiffon number She clasps her hands, furrows her eyeadorned with dozens of gilded butterflies, brows, purses her lips and exclaims, for anywhich she designed and sewed herself. one still confused about what she’s performHundreds of thousands of ecstatic sweating, “Kanar al hagag!” — the movie’s title in drenched Israelis and tourists marched along Hebrew. with her, sweltering in the Mediterranean Her outsized presence easily overwhelms sun. the stage and small club as she enthusiastiBut Ellen Best, Mama’s name when not cally staggers around, waving her fists at in drag, would be the first to tell you that the sky and dancing as only a Chasid knows Mama De La Smallah performs at a 2019 Tel Aviv Pride event for her drag house, the glitz and glamour are far from the point. how. During the furious performance, she WERK, at the Desire Club in South Tel Aviv Mama De La Smallah debuted not in a patears off her garments to reveal an entirely rade sponsored by the Israeli government, Drag has been around for centuries, but the art form new costume a full six times, depicting one but as an act of protest against its treatment of its is undeniably having a moment. Today, the 11 seasons stereotypical religious Jew — some male and some LGBTQ citizens. (and counting) of RuPaul’s Drag Race can be streamed female — after another. “I’m a protest queen,” Best said proudly. In July in high-definition on Netflix. Winning queens might But the performer is in reality neither a woman 2018, he took his drag to the streets in a big, streetnot yet be household names, but they regularly secure nor a Chasid, but the 20-year-old genderqueer drag closing protest with 100,000 people in Tel Aviv’s Rabin lucrative high-fashion modeling contracts, charge queen, combat soldier and political activist Mama de Square over the issue of LGBTQ surrogacy, which is thousands of dollars per performance, and amass milla Smallah, who switches between pronouns as easily severely restricted in Israel. lions of followers on social media. as costumes. His journey to the stage was filled with Though he’d been experimenting with drag on and But for most of queer history — and in most parts twists and turns — and she’s only just getting started.
Active Adults
S u n d ay, A u g u s t 1 8
Active Adults Annual Brunch 10:30AM - 12 Noon @ Woman’s Club of Dayton (225 N Ludlow St. Dayton, Ohio 45402) Entertainment provided by Jessica Michna as Eleanor Roosevelt. RSVP by August 12. Your payment is your reservation. $15 in advance/$20 at the door. Reservations can be made at jewishdayton.org or by calling (937) 610-1555. J E W I S H FA M I LY S E R V I C E S o f G R E AT E R DAY TO N
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A kosher meal can be provided with advance notice by the RSVP deadline.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
off since 10th grade, this was the mother a week later. first time Mama De La Smallah She didn’t quite know how made a public appearance. to respond at the time, Best tells “The fun is the fun, but the me. But about six months later, job is to connect other people. she had a coming out of her Drag is about connecting the own: She told Best that she was community,” he said in June an asexual lesbian, which means over tapas at a trendy South Tel that she is not sexually attracted Aviv restaurant. to anyone but is romantically When not in drag, Best carries attracted to other women. Best, himself with a quiet confidence. in hindsight, speculates that He has thick tattoos on both this could have been because thighs and, though he doesn’t “they were very poor; my Mom drink much alcohol, chainwasn’t thinking about relationsmokes Winstons, puffing big ships.” clouds of smoke even when inOne year after Best came out doors. If you try to rush through to his mother, she got cancer. a crosswalk when the light is When he turned 18, Best red, he may admonish you for enlisted in the Israeli Defense not using the time to observe the Forces. Although he grew up world around you, and point living with haredi grandparents out the architectural layers of the — it’s uncommon for haredi city in the same breath. Jews to serve in the military, Best is a child of the periphand when they do they are often ery. He was born in Beersheva ostracized by their communiin 1998 and grew ties — Best Laura E. Adkins always knew up in Dimona, a town best known that he wanted for its “secret” to serve. nuclear reactor After high and home to Heschool, he and a brew Israelites, friend enlisted Russian Jews, in a program and a religious that involved Mizrahi comservice in munity. He cites Karkal, a light these colorful infantry combat and disparate unit that serves influences, on Israel’s boralong with his der with Egypt. Mama De La Smallah on a float grandmother, as at the 2019 Tel Aviv Pride Parade His mother inspiration for died during his the character of Mama. national service. Best has one older sister, In many respects, his haredi two younger half brothers, grandparents have been rean Indian Jewish father, and markably tolerant of his lifea mother whose parents are style. His grandfather banned haredi supporters of the Mizrahi his own sister from the house ultra-Orthodox party Shas. His when she spoke approvingly parents divorced when he was about conversion therapy at the 1, and he grew up “so poor that Shabbat table. I didn’t realize that I didn’t have “My grandparents don’t care money.” that I’m gay,” he tells me, “they In seventh grade, Best transi- care that I’m not keeping Shabtioned from religious to secular bat.” public school, where he attended His grandmother, he says, dance classes instead of soccer also “understands the passion” because he was “a fat kid and I for why he does what he does, didn’t like to run.” “but not the cause.” Best says he He was also bullied because has a lot of other queer people of his long eyelashes. His classin his family, including a trans mates taunted him, saying he uncle, but he was the first one to wore mascara, asserting this as say, “hello, this is me, deal with undeniable proof that he was it.” gay. While he can’t discuss his “In eighth grade, I thought, army service on the record, once maybe I’m gay,” Best tells me, he was finished with his time in but he says he didn’t really Karkal, Best moved to Tel Aviv know because didn’t even fully and got serious about drag. In comprehend what that meant. Israel, like in the United States, He didn’t have a computer in serious drag performers often the house, and his haredi grand- join houses, makeshift families parents weren’t exactly hosting of performers who look out for candid discussions on human one another, sometimes livsexuality. ing together and even taking a In 2014, at age 14, he first atshared household name. Best tended the Tel Aviv Pride Parade is a member of WERK, a line of with some friends from IGY, an the house of Por De Bra, run by organization for LGBTQ Israeli drag mother Galina Por De Bra youth — and came out to his (Gil Naveh).
While Best’s activism primarily focuses on LGBTQ issues, his drag persona highlights another pervasive tension in Israeli society: Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, commonly referred to as Mizrahi Jews, have long faced discrimination in Israel. While their descendants comprise a majority of the country’s Jewish citizens, their culture and language — much like queer culture and vernacular — are either appropriated or treated as a joke. That’s one of the many reasons Mama’s performances are so powerful: With her voluminous headpieces, Middle East-inspired clothing and exaggerated curves, she is parodying not only Mizrahi women, but Mizrahi women as seen through the judgmental Ashkenazi gaze. Leaning into the absurdity of that view, she refracts some of that prejudice back into the eyes of those who have perpetuated it. “I am speaking in Hebrew, thinking in English and paid in Mizrahi,” Best tells me, paraphrasing the Mizrahi poet Adi Keissar’s I am the Mizrahi, a scathing poem about her experience of racism in Israel. Mama is unquestionably a rising star in the Tel Aviv drag scene. But his day-to-day reality is far from a cakewalk. He performs as Mama two to three times a week in the busy season, but sometimes only a few times a month. “I’m poor but I’m happy,” he said. Although the designer Liron Mar Mar, whom he met through his drag house, has taken him under her wing, drag is still an expensive art form, and performers are typically responsible for paying for all that goes into their hair, makeup, costumes, and performance. At this point, “the drag pays for the drag,” Best tells me. Five years from now, Best plans on making more of Mama’s own performance clothes, starting a fashion line, making a name for herself outside of Israel, and being even more political in drag. Wherever Mama appears, whether crooning in a dusky club, haggling in the Jerusalem shuk at high noon or in the heart of the raucous chaos of the Pride Parade, one can’t help but feel that those around her are teetering ever closer — but not quite close enough — to the edge of being ready to internalize the political, cultural, and artistic messages she embodies. Even in liberal Tel Aviv, there’s certainly a lot of progress, both political and artistic, for Mama to make.
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By Kimberly Burnham, JTA You might think that being a Jewish soccer mom is no different than being, say, a Christian soccer mom or a Buddhist soccer mom. In some ways you’d be right. But I’ve recently realized that there are some unique challenges for Jewish families when it comes to raising soccerobsessed kids. Take one recent Sunday, when my 10-year-old stepson, Yair, was so involved in a soccer game that he seemingly lost a shin guard while playing on the field — or, more likely, he was so eager to play that he didn’t even notice that he wasn’t wearing it in the first place. The following week, when I found his missing shin guard in the lost and found at our synagogue, I realized that his dream to be a professional soccer player was on a collision course with our plans for his this spring, I had to pull him Bar Mitzvah. It’s a sticky situout of Hebrew school early on ation, and it’s going to become Wednesdays in order to make it even more difficult as his 13th to his practice on time. birthday approaches. But that’s just the beginning. Here’s the situation: Nearly Sometimes his games are on every week we are forced to Saturday morning, coinciding choose between soccer and with Shabbat serJewish activities. vices, and someYair’s soccer times they’re often coinon Sundays cides with before SunHebrew day school is school, SunBar & Bat Mitzvahs finished. day school or Sometimes we Shabbat services. are lucky and his game is in And he is hoping the afternoon. More often than to move up into his soccer not, however, it’s a juggling act; league’s premier traveling the games are typically in the team, which means even more morning and can be as far as a practices and more time away six-hour drive away. from synagogue. This means that most weekJust how much time he plays ends, we assess what Yair can in a game is largely dependent miss — be it a game or a Shabon whether he attends all his bat service or a Hebrew lesson practices and is on time. — and if soccer wins that week, As such, for several weeks
playing in every soccer game is not even an option for Yair? It is a good question — one I have thought about a lot in the last year. I am a convert to Judaism; I grew up Mormon and there were Sunday basketball games and Sunday swim meets that I couldn’t participate in. My teammates were not happy and I was sad to miss the events but, at the same time, I felt proud of my connection to family and church. I knew my family and my religious community had my back — they loved me, they celebrated me and they wanted the very best for me. Missing Sunday events was part of the price of that loyalty, and part of being in that tribe. I know that my childhood experiences are very different from Yair’s. At the same time, he is proud of being Jewish. He descends from a line of rabbis who will drive him to the game. of his soccer games. who value the observance of It is not a real choice, not in Fortunately, Yair is good at Judaism, particularly because our family — ultimately the Bar of how it builds character and Hebrew. He’s on track with what he’ll need to know for his Mitzvah takes precedence. The develops community relationsynagogue’s expectations are Bar Mitzvah, but still, we have ships. too high, the social pressure to to choose: What can he miss at So with Yair, we try to focus become a Bar Mitzvah too great. on what he gets out of going synagogue? What should he Still, we miss from soccer? to synagogue: friendships, a worry: Will he It will be even What will make connection with his heritage, a more challenging him a better man start to hate connection with God and Torah, being Jewish if in the months and hopefully some joy and in this nuanced it stands in the leading up to grounding in a good life. way of his potent his Bar Mitzvah, and complicated He gets some of these things dream of being a from soccer, too — how to be a as his nearly world — going professional soc- leader, grace in the face of win13-year-old to every soccer cer player? brother, who is ning and losing, camaraderie, a Will he never also obsessed sense of belonging. game or every come back to with soccer, is Right now — and especially Jewish event? synagogue after learning. according to Yair — the list of being strongly He has to atsoccer benefits seems longer. encouraged — some might say tend all Friday and Saturday But we also have to think about required — to miss soccer in services in the three months the future, and what these order to go to services the year before his big day. We — the choices mean: What will make of his Bar Mitzvah? collective we — will have to him a better man in this nuWhy are we forcing this force a choice between having a anced and complicated world choice, or making it so that Bar Mitzvah and playing in all — going to every soccer game or every Jewish event? For now, at least, some of the questions are still in the future. And the other week, Yair’s missing shin guard mysteriously turned up in the synagogue’s lost and found. I say “mysteriously” because, even though I knew it was lost, I never expected to find it there. It almost felt like it was transported there, symbolizing both the divide and the connection between synagogue and soccer. The day the shin guard was lost was much like any other: I picked Yair up early from Sunday school. As I’m driving, a flurry of questions escapes my lips: “Are you ready? Do you have your soccer cleats and shin guards on? Is there a water bottle back there?” As Yair changes into his uniform in the back seat, I am reminded that all these deci-
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sions are being made by and for a kid who is still too small to sit in the front seat of the car. “Did you finish the kosher hot dog I brought for you as a snack? Did you take off your kipah?” It wouldn’t be the first time he had run out onto the field still wearing it. Adrenaline is rushing. It is a hurried transition from the meditative quiet of synagogue to the bustling exuberance of a youth soccer game. Yair is a good player on his team, and they especially need him today, as a few players are absent and they don’t have any substitutes. Yair makes a great assist and his team wins 7-2. When Yair finds out a couple of other boys are staying to play in the next game, so that the team will have some substitute players, he begs to stay and play. “OK,” I concede. He quickly eats a granola bar and Rice Krispies treat from the car and is back on the field playing 30 minutes later. His team wins again. The boys are all happy. As he comes off the field, he says, “One of my shin guards came out of my socks.” It was puzzling — just how does that happen? We look everywhere, walking up and down the field, asking other players and parents if they have seen a lone shin guard. We can’t find it anywhere, so later we buy him a new pair of shin guards. But then, the following week, the missing shin guard turns up in the synagogue’s lost and found. It was discovered by security in the parking lot. Apparently he played two games with only one shin guard. But I have to imagine that one shin guard was on duty, showing how much he cares about soccer, while the other one slipped away and sat quietly in synagogue.
80 Israeli children with hearing impairments have Bar & Bat Mitzvah ceremony Nachshon Philipson
Jewish Agency head Isaac Herzog helps a participant in a Bar and Bat Mitzvah for teens with hearing impairments to unwrap his tefillin at the Nitzanim Synagogue in Jerusalem, May 20
By Marcy Oster, JTA JERUSALEM — Eighty Israeli children with hearing impairments had a joint Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremony in Jerusalem, Monday, May 20. They also visited the Western Wall, with a tour that was presented in sign language. The Bar and Bat Mitzvah at the Nitzanim synagogue in the Baka neighborhood and Western Wall visit were sponsored by the International Young Israel Movement, which
provides programming and support for the Israeli deaf community; and the Jewish Agency for Israel, a beneficiary of North American Jewish federation annual campaigns. The youths were joined by New York-based poet and performer Douglas Ridloff, who is deaf. Ridloff was in Israel on behalf of the SignTalk Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes public awareness of the signing
away from home to meet, share and interact with members of the signing community around the world,” Dr. Joseph Geliebter, founder and executive director of SignTalk Foundation, said in a statement. Jewish Agency chair Issac Herzog, who attended the ceremony, called it “a deeply emotional one for all of us and their parents in particular, and I welcome this opportunity to wish all of those celebrating a big mazal tov.”
community. Jerusalem was the site of the international launch of the foundation’s online social network, SignTalkers, including a signed performance by Ridloff, with his American Sign Language performance translated into Israeli Sign Language for the audience. An initial launch celebration took place in New York, May 8. “Unlike other social media platforms, this exclusive space will serve to provide a home
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Israeli school inspires Bat Mitzvah project By Jane Kaufman A project of the Jewish AgenCleveland Jewish News cy for Israel, Youth Futures When Izzie Mintz decided to seeks to provide disadvanhold her Bat Mitzvah ceremony taged Israeli youths with equal in Israel, much thought was opportunities to develop their given to making the ceremony academic and social skills. resonate for her: It was to be Reaching out to extended a two-day celebration bookfamily and friends through an ending Shabbat with a Friday email, she compiled a list of evening service and a Saturday art supplies that she hoped to evening Havdalah. deliver to the school. And it was to take place in “This is important to me Jerusalem. because I think all children Elana and Josh Mintz, should have opportunities for her parents, said at first the growth like I do,” she wrote of family hadn’t given her experience at Beachmuch thought wood Middle to a mitzvah School. “I get to project. That go to art class changed after every day at a conversaschool, and tion with for me it’s like Bar & Bat Mitzvahs friends Mark therapy without and Leslie Holz, realizing that it is.” who suggested that Izzie, Her plan was to do a Fimo 13, might want to connect with clay project with the students Cleveland’s sister city, Beit at Rambam. Shean. “I think this is also really Partnering with the Jewcool because even if most of the ish Federation of Cleveland’s kids don’t speak English and I overseas connection commitdon’t speak Hebrew, clay will tee, Izzie, who is heading into be the common language,” she eighth grade, decided on a wrote. project to bring art supplies On Izzie’s list were two to students with the Rambam types of clay, wood, paints, School’s Youth Futures propastels, markers, cookie cutgram. ters, rolling pins, cake decorat-
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Patrice Greenbaum, Izzie Mintz’s grandmother, watches as a girl from the Rambam School (L) and Izzie Mintz, 13 of Beachwood, take part in an art project
ing supplies, beads, chains for ily worships in Greater Clevein a session led by a specialist jewelry, and felt. land, flew in to officiate and the Mintz family hired. The supplies rolled in from helped reframe the ceremony “Everyone got so into it,” Amazon, crowding out furnion Friday afternoon. Izzie said. “They all picked ture. Elana said she had put in their own colors and their own With help from a friend, four months of planning on shapes.” Elana packed all of the supplies how the June 14 Bat Mitzvah Izzie’s Bat Mitzvah plans into three duffel bags. would look. changed on a dime when she At the airport, the BeachAs it happened, Hudson learned her friend, Hudson wood family got unwelcome Peters and her family arrived Peters, had missed her plane. news: One of the bags weighed Izzie said she cried when she in time for the Friday night dinmore than the 70-pound limit ner. And the Bat Mitzvah was found out. allowed by the airline. seamless the following evening. The entire ceremony was When the person at the “I am a planner, and I’m shifted to Havdalah on Satbaggage check suggested they not good with going with urday evening. It took place shuffle weight, Elana Mintz the flow,” said Elana Mintz, overlooking the Old City from explained that it would be reflecting on how the ceremony the David Citadel, the hotel difficult. The Delta Air Lines’ changed. “But I learned that where the family stayed. employee asked what was in when you let things go, things Rabbi Sruly Koval, who the bags, and when she learned leads Jewish Family Experience end up the way they’re meant of the family’s mission and saw in Beachwood, where the famto be.” the art supplies, she waived the overweight fee. At the Rambam School, Izzie and her brother Drew, 10, participated with students in the Youth Futures Program. The school placed a sign on a cabinet holding the supplies Izzie donated through her mitzvah project and gave her laminated thank-you notes and two gifts: a ceramic Shabbat candlestick set and an illustrated book of Psalms. “The best part of the trip was the project,” Izzie said. “It was all amazing.” She worked alongside and formed a connection with a girl as the two made key chains out of Fimo clay Izzie Mintz and Rabbi Sruly Koval lead Havdalah at the end of Izzie’s Bat Mitzvah weekend, at the David Citadel hotel, Jerusalem, June 15
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
My autistic son is more than your kid’s mitzvah project By Lara Stolman, JTA My 12-year-old son has autism, and playdates have always been hard to come by. So I was happy for him to be part of a local Bar Mitzvah project that matches neurotypical kids with kids who have disabilities. The young volunteers receive credit for the playdates. I started welcoming kids to our house a few years ago for weekly visits, despite the awkwardness that comes with knowing my child is someone’s mitzvah project. Our synagogue includes community service as part of the Bar and Bat Mitzvah process. Much good comes from this. It exposes children to the many ways they can fold the core Jewish values of chesed (loving kindness), tzedakah (righteous giving) and tikun olam (repair of the world) into their lives. From a Lego drive for children in Haiti to raising money to buy a new “ambucycle” for the Israeli emergency medical service United Hatzalah, the variety of mitzvah projects underway in just my own community gives me hope that some of these endeavors will transcend mitzvah project status and create a lasting habit for Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrants. As for my son, one of my longstanding dreams for him is that he’ll develop and enjoy genuine friendships. But I wondered if this was possible with someone who saw him as a mitzvah project. My son has long struggled with social skills and, having attended a private school for children with autism for a few years, he has a history of being excluded from the mainstream. I worried that his differences prevented deep bonds with typical peers. But I wanted him to be accepted and loved for who he is, quirks and all. My son loves playdates. Like many on the spectrum, he prefers regular routines and easily commits schedules to memory. Once we started weekly visits with soon-to-be Bar Mitzvah boys, my son would often excitedly anticipate these dates well in advance. He had a blast with these new friends, which made it all the more heartbreaking when they stopped coming. After each of these boys completed his Bar Mitzvah, there were a few sporadic plans made, but inevitably the visits ended. Fortunately, my son has a natural ability to pivot. He finds joy in many places and when routines change or relationships end, he moves on. There are always more history books to read, more YouTube videos to watch, or another Taekwondo class to take. The fleeting quality of the mitzvah project friendships may have affected me more profoundly than him. I felt used. And if I needed to be reminded of what was really going on with the playdates, it was articulated starkly in the speeches the boys made at their Bar Mitzvahs. They never approached the program as
Getty/Liza Siqueira
a way to make real friends but as a way to fulfill their community service requirements. Who can blame them? A defining characteristic of friendship is that we get to choose who we want to be friends with. And then there’s the chemistry that brings friends together — it’s impossible to force it. Now that it’s been several months since the last boy cycled through, however, I understand I was approaching my son’s social life all wrong. I was trying to engineer his friendships — making neurotypical matches and expecting relationships to stick. I was imposing my own idea of who his friends should be. Of course, that backfired. My son is in middle school now, and it’s harder for me to really know what’s going on with him socially. I don’t see who he is hanging out with at school and I have fewer chances to observe him with peers. So it took some probing on my end, but I learned that my child has formed authentic relationships with kids he’s met over the years at school and at camp — without my meddling. He does find his people, and he does seem to experience his own version of the magnetism we all feel that draws friends together. His friendships seem built on the same sort of solid rock as mine — bonds between peers that share experiences, interests, and similar worldviews. His friends sit with him at lunch and on the school bus and he says they “really get me” and “help me
out.” They don’t place limitations on him and don’t see him as an obligation to be fulfilled. They may not be neurotypical, but they are his tribe and they chose each other. Now that I am helping my son prepare for his own Bar Mitzvah, I have come to understand those playdates for points were not just a one-way transaction. A few months ago, while brainstorming about his own mitzvah project, my son announced his desire to teach other kids all about autism. Suddenly I could see the capacity for impact those playdates held for the kids who came to our house. Sure, my son was their mitzvah project — but my son was also performing a mitzvah of his own. The root of the Hebrew word tzedakah, tzedek, means justice. When we give tzedakah or undertake acts of social justice, we help redress inequities; this makes our world better for everyone, ourselves included. To give is to receive. The program that sent volunteers to our house provides an opportunity for young people to perform acts of tzedakah: playing with kids who have disabilities, many of whom are isolated at home and rarely have playdates. But this also serves the greater good of making our community more inclusive. The inclusivity creates a feedback loop that allows my son to show the volunteers all the reasons he is a fun and interesting playmate — his willingness to play gaga anytime, his exhaustive knowledge of horror movies, his enthusiasm for singing and dancing, and his unwavering kindness. He’s also able to demonstrate that kids with autism may have difficulty communicating in the ways of typical kids, and they may sometimes behave differently. They may not make eye contact; they might jump up and down a lot or shake their hands; they may obsess about a particular topic of conversation — the list goes on. But more than anything, my son can show how kids with autism and other disabilities are more like typical kids than they are different. And this is something typical kids don’t learn unless they are exposed to kids with disabilities on a regular basis. Those playdates were fun for my son, yes, but they were also his mitzvah project. He was giving as much — if not more than — he was receiving. With his Bar Mitzvah approaching later this year, I don’t think it’s necessary for my son to come up with a brand new mitzvah project alongside the other kids in his class at religious school. If he wants to, I will support him, but I will also remind him that he has been working on a mitzvah project for several years now, a project he can continue, helping typical kids learn how much they have in common with a kid with autism.
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Mark Talisman, champion of key law in fight for Soviet Jewry, is dead at 78 Mark Talisman, who as an aide to an Ohio congressman helped write and muster support for a key measure in the fight to free Soviet Jewry and went on to devote himself to Jewish advocacy and historical memory, died July 11, a week shy of his 79th birthday. His death was announced on Facebook by his daughter Jessica Talisman, who said he passed away unexpectedly at his home in Chevy Chase, Md. From 1963 to 1975, Talisman served as chief of staff to Rep. Charles Vanik, a Democrat from Cleveland. In 1972, Vanik introduced a bill, based on a challenge by Sen. Henry Jackson, D-Wash., that would tie U.S. trade relations to a country’s emigration policy. The Jackson-Vanik amendment, as it came to be known, was targeted directly at the Soviet Union and its persecution of Jews who were neither al-
lowed to practice their religion nor leave the country. According to Gal Beckerman’s history of the Soviet Jewry movement, When They Come for Us We’ll Be Gone, Talisman spent 10 days in January 1973 “calling all 435 representatives’ offices, sometimes speaking with members dozens of times before they added their name to the growing list of cosponsors.” Combined with the work of grassroots Soviet Jewry groups, that built momentum — over the objections of the Nixon administration — for a bill that would pass into law in 1974 and be signed by President Gerald Ford in 1975. “For the first time,” Beckerman wrote in his history, “the direction of the Cold War and of American foreign policy hinged as much on ethical and human rights questions as it did the arms race.” In 1975, Talisman created the Washington Action Office for the Council of Jewish Federations of North America
and served as its director for 18 years. William Daroff, the current director of what is now the Washington office of the Jewish Federations of North America, remembered Talisman as “a force of nature who devoted
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his life to making the world a better place.” In 1980, Talisman was appointed founding vice chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council by thenPresident Jimmy Carter. The 60-member council was established to raise private funds for construction of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which opened in 1993. “He schooled many on the commission and the council in the ways of Washington at a time when the leadership was often novice to their task,” Michael Berenbaum, who served as project director for the museum, recalled in an email. “He offered wise counsel and kept the project moving. He was an unsung hero in the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.” In 1983, Talisman and his wife, Jill, created the Project Judaica Foundation, a nonprofit supporting efforts to rescue and exhibit historic or threatened
Judaica. Berenbaum said Talisman was instrumental in bringing a landmark exhibit of Judaica to the Smithsonian Institution and other U.S. museums in 1983. Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections represented Judaica stolen by the Nazis and shipped to Prague, where it was to serve as the basis for a Museum to the Extinct Race. Talisman earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard University. While growing up in Ohio, he and his family were members of Temple Emanu El, then in University Heights and now in Orange. In a tribute to Gerald Ford written in 2007 for the Cleveland Jewish News, Talisman recalled that when it came time for the president to sign Jackson-Vanik into law, Jill Talisman was in labor with their daughter at a Washington hospital. Ford delayed the ceremony and dispatched a car to bring Talisman to the White House. In the same essay, Talisman also described the impact of the legislation that he helped to midwife. “While the amendment did little, initially, to help Soviet Jewry, by the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to comply with its protocols,” he wrote. “Since then, hundreds of thousands of Soviet refugees (Jews, evangelical Christians and Catholics) have immigrated to the U.S., and more than one million Soviet Jews have immigrated to Israel. Soviet Jews, representing a fifth of all Israelis today, have markedly changed the face of the Jewish state.” In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by a son, Raphael. — JTA
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • AUGUST 2019
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2019 ANNUAL MEETING
for the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton & its Agencies
Tuesday, August 20 6PM @ Boonshoft CJCE (525 Versailles Dr., Centerville, 45459)
For more information, contact Alisa Thomas at athomas@jfgd.net
featuring special guests MICHAEL LIEBERMAN & JAMES PASCH The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton and its Agencies invites the Dayton Jewish community to its 2019 Annual Meeting featuring Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, along with James Pasch, Regional Director of the AntiDefamation League for Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Together they will discuss the concerns we face with the rise of anti-Semitic rhetoric and what we as a community can do to identify and educate in the face of hate.
MICHAEL LIEBERMAN, WASHINGTON COUNSEL FOR THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
We will be honoring our outgoing board members, installing new board members, and recognizing our 2019 award recipients for their contributions to the Dayton Jewish Community.
For more information, contact Alisa Thomas at athomas@jfgd.net.
JAMES PASCH, REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FOR OHIO, WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, WEST VIRGINIA, AND KENTUCKY
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OF GREATER DAYTON OF GREATER DAYTON OF GREATER DAYTON OF GREATER DAYTON