Israel-Hamas conflict spills over to local restaurant 6 David Moss designs Grace After Meals in comic book menu form p. 22
THE DAYTON Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton
July 2021 Tammuz/Av 5781 Vol. 25, No. 11
OBSERVER
Celebrating
25 Years
The Miami Valley’s Jewish Monthly • daytonjewishobserver.org Hillel Academy
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Turning learning into art at Hillel Seth Schwartz and Brihanna Howell, then Hillel Academy sixth-graders, creating art for the school’s Institute for the Arts project led by David Moss
Cheryl Carne Jane Hochstein
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Longtime Federation staffers retire were just so enthusiasWith 33 years of comtic. They really take the bined service between initiative,” she says of them, Jewish Federation the women — representExternal Relations Direcing Dayton-area Jewish tor Cheryl Carne and Jewcongregations and orgaish Community Center nizations — who bring Director Jane Hochstein women from across local retire from the Federation non-Jewish communithis summer. ties to participate in the Both started as volSeder. unteers in the Jewish comJewish Community Jewish Federation Cheryl says her curmunity when they had Center Director rent work in external reyoung children at home. External Relations Jane Hochstein Director Cheryl Carne lations has been her most Now, they each look forward to the time they’ll enjoy adults south of Dayton. The late challenging and rewarding with the Federation. visiting their grandchildren. Hyla Weiskind would staff the “When asking community “When my daughters were program through the JCC and members to support our annual in the JCC preschool, I joined Jewish Family Services. campaign, you have to provide the Early Childhood CommitIn 2007, the JCC hired Jane people with a reason — why tee,” says Cheryl, who started for its cultural arts and active Federation — due to the many her career as a market analyst adults programming. Much of with Mead Data Central, which her portfolio encompassed run- worthy organizations they can would become LexisNexis. ning the JCC’s Jewish Film Fest give their money to,” she says. “I liked that part of it. And the “And then we decided to send and its Cultural Arts & Book most rewarding for me are the our girls to Hillel Academy Jew- Series. Jane was named JCC people I’ve met along the way.” ish day school, so we became director in 2013. Her favorite aspects of the involved in Hillel as well.” Jane says it’s been rewarding For eight years, Cheryl was to see how Film Fest and CABS job have been meeting with newcomers and reactivating employed at Hillel, in charge have evolved and expanded of recruitment and retention. through the talent and energy of the Federation’s Young Adult Division. In 2002, she came over to the their committees. “I was able to have lunch JCC as its membership director. “When I first took the posithis week with someone new to Since then, she’s held numerous tion, Film Fest was practically Dayton. Due to the pandemic, I positions across the Federation every night for a certain brief hadn’t done that in 15 months. and its agencies, including JCC amount of time, and Cultural director, Federation’s director Arts & Books was the same way, It was so very gratifying,” Cheryl says. of resource development, and, though over a few months,” “I loved the challenge of since 2013, as Federation’s diJane says. “We started spreadintroducing newcomers to other rector of external relations. ing them out more over time people. It is a pleasure to match Jane worked for the Montand our attendance is really them with similar age groups, gomery County Board of good. Both have grown.” including if they have small Mental Health and Retardation The community Women’s children, and often connecting and then for Centerville Public Seder, which the JCC oversees, Schools. is one of her favorite programs. them to people who live in their neighborhood and who have She became a member of the “Working with that group similar backgrounds. What is JCC South/Jewish Federation was just amazing because they pleasing to me is that our comBoard in the 1990s. When Jane’s The Jewish Federation will munity embraces new people.” mother moved in with her, Jane honor Cheryl Carne and Jane Jane says she’s loved when noticed there was no programHochstein with a picnic lunch at community members have ming for Jewish older adults Polen Farm, 5099 Bigger Road, come to her with program ideas. south of Dayton. Kettering, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., “If other people are interested With the Federation’s blessSunday, Aug. 29. Register for in those ideas and suggestions, ing, Jane and Bonnie Orlins this free event at jewishdayton. we try to make it happen. And volunteered to start a grassorg/events or at 937-610-1555. that’s been fun. Like our virtual roots program for Jewish older “Happy Hours” last year with comedians and a magician when Covid hit. That’s where I would use the JCC Advisory Board and bounce suggestions off of them. Right now, there’s Beth Abraham Synagogue, the Dayton a series of three hikes we have area’s Conservative Jewish congregation, planned through June and that has named Rabbi Melissa Crespy of Columcame from the advisory board. bus as its interim rabbi for the year beginI’ve had the opportunity to ning July 1 while it conducts its search for a meet and work with some really rabbi. A native of Freehold, N.J., Crespy was super people. Those are relaordained at Jewish Theological Seminary in tionships that you cherish. That New York. Most recently, she was staff chapRabbi Melissa Crespy I won’t forget.” lain with Mt. Carmel Health System after — Marshall Weiss serving as Congregation Agudas Achim’s rabbi in Columbus.
Beth Abraham selects interim rabbi for year
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Arts & Culture.............................17 Calendar.............................15
Family Education......................16 Obituaries...............................19
O p i n i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 3 Re l i g i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 4
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
DAYTON
Turning learning into art at Hillel Academy Project reconnects Judaic artist & calligrapher David Moss to his Dayton roots
Artists Colony
one-of-a-kind piece was done Teacher Institute and training, in medieval style and crafted they worked hand-in-hand on parchment paper with gold with the Judaic teachers who leaf, moving parts, mirrors, and taught the lessons used in the more. Moss was also instruartworks. mental in making handcrafted, “I teach general studies and illuminated ketubot (marriage not Judaics, so I had to coordicontracts) one of the most nate with Rabbi Levi Simon,” sought-after additions to Smith explained. “I would sit By Faygie Holt modern-day Jewish wedding in on his classes and when Special To The Observer ceremonies. we’d get to a portion I thought Against the window, colorIt was his sister, Meredith was meaningful to introduce an ful glass pieces shined and Moss Levinson, who sug(art) concept, I’d say, ‘So tomorsparkled, the meaning of each gested that Hillel apply for the Judaica calligrapher/artist David Moss row we’re going to do art with square personal to its creator. program, according to Kathy this,’ and the next day, I would In a hallway, handwritten and Mecoli, co-administrator of the lead the class.” crafted posters about biblical tute’s training. school with her husband, Dan. One technique the teachers leaders lined the halls, serving Complicating matters was the “Because we do so much employed was using visible as a reminder of the importance lack of a dedicated art teacher with project-based learning and because of the pandemic. That symbols to represent specific of good behavior. the arts in general, Meredith concepts. While art activities such as meant that everyone — teachthought this would be a good fit ers, students, support staff — When learning about Joseph, these may not be the first thing for us,” Kathy Mecoli said. “We had to up their game. While for instance, the older students one thinks about when it comes created posters with 10 unique to Jewish education, Hillel Academy hoped that the children the classroom teachers were would gain a greater these works and nuthe “official” participants in the Continued on next page understanding of Jewish merous other hands-on texts by engaging the art projects were a key arts and, in turn, applycomponent of this year’s ing the text to their own Judaics curriculum lives.” at Hillel Academy of Premier Retirement Living Hillel was accepted Greater Dayton. 590 Isaac Prugh Way – 937.298.0594 into the program this The blending of art year, and that’s when and Jewish studies was the real work began as made possible by the the program is tradikindergarten-to-gradetionally offered to older six Jewish day school’s students and had to be acceptance into the made understandable to Teacher Institute for the kids as young as 5. Arts. “I thought it was goThe nonprofit proing to be interesting, and gram seeks to elevate I was curious to see how Jewish educational we would scale it down instruction through inespecially after seeing novative curricula and some of the things other programs by providing schools had done,” said mentorship to teachers Anna Smith, one of the in text, art, and leaderteachers at Hillel who ship. Lena Elder, then a Hillel Academy third-grader, “Compared to tradicreating art for the Teacher Institute for the Arts project took part in the institional text-based learning alone, using creativity and the arts can vastly enhance Judaic studies by engaging much more of the abilities, talents, and potential of students,” said calligrapher and Judaica painter David Moss — originally from Dayton — who oversees the Teacher Institute. “(The students) participate in and create and live the ideas rather than just rationally remembering them.” Moss, a resident of Jerusalem since 1983, has been combining Judaics and art since he finished college several decades ago. The father of four and grandfather of 16 has created pieces in several formats. Among his most famous works is the Moss Haggadah. The commissioned,
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From the editor’s desk With the surge in antisemitism across the world and in the United States, it would be easy to get stuck in a bitter mind-set of what it means to be Jewish. Yes, we must look Jew-hatred straight Marshall on and combat it as best we can. We must remember the painful sufferings Weiss of Jews in the world. Our Judaism is informed by these realities. But it should never be defined by them. It is the sweetness of Judaism, its message, and our creative ways of enhancing and carrying out mitzvahs that is our birthright, and our children’s. The sweet sustains us through the bitter. This is why we’ll do everything we can to bring about a better world. A reminder of this sweetness is the story above, of the past year’s special project at Hillel Academy Jewish day school, which combined the lessons of Judaism with the artistic impulses of our children. Golda Meir once said, “Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.” We move forward with the hope and optimism that comes from necessity.
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THE DAYTON
OBSERVER daytonjewishobserver.org Editor and Publisher Marshall Weiss MWeiss@jfgd.net 937-610-1555
‘Judaism teaches us that the highest obligation of the living is to take care of our deceased.’
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or Linda and Steve Horenstein, their first personal experience with the Beth Abraham Synagogue cemetery was after the devastating loss of their 8-year-old son Joel in 1986. Since then, it has become a place of solace and reflection for them. Although there was a family plot in the greater Boston area, almost 20 years later, Steve brought both his parents to Dayton to have them buried in the Beth Abraham cemetery, fulfilling their wishes to be buried alongside their beloved grandson. Both Linda and Steve find comfort in the magnificently maintained cemetery; but understand the financial burden of perpetual care. So, they contributed to the Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton campaign to ensure that all necessary funding and resources will be available to keep the cemetery a serene and tranquil place for all future families seeking the same consolation. Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton was created to preserve our three Jewish cemeteries in perpetuity: Temple Israel, Beth Abraham and Beth Jacob. Please join us as we strive to maintain the sanctity, care and integrity of these sacred burial grounds.
Preserving our Past Ensuring Our Future
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Hillel students created glass art for a yearlong project facilitated by David Moss
Hillel Academy
Her friend, Shoshana KrummelAdkins, 11, said her favorite project was creating posters about biblical Continued from previous page figures and what people can learn symbols to represent 10 parts of his life’s story. Using only symbols, they from their actions. “We were trying to think about had to retell what happened and what our Jewish ancestors were doing in the right order. They also had to good and bad,” she said. “The bad check their work using their chumashim (the Torah in printed form) to things was harder to do, but we were able to think of the good things.” ensure they were correct. The girls said their group came up It was a time-consuming endeavor, with slogans they used on their postSmith said, “but I feel they gained more from it. I think anytime you are ers, including “Be Like Noah and do asked to do something with informa- the right thing,” or “Don’t Gossip,” because “Joseph would gossip to his tion, you retain it differently.” dad about what his brothers were Mecoli agreed. doing.” “When you can apply something, Looking back over the last year, we know that you really understand everyone is thrilled with what they it,” she said. “You didn’t just memorize the material, but you understand accomplished. “This opportunity catait and can do somepulted us into something thing with it.” ‘When you unique and fun, imaginaWhile the educacan apply tive and creative,” Mecoli tors may have been said. “It was a one-time focused on the lessomething, experience, but we will sons and ensuring the certainly continue to students were learning we know that use the techniques and the material, the kids you really ideas that were generated themselves thought the yearlong program was understand it.’ through this process.” Smith agreed, notgreat fun. They got to explore numerous me- ing that the lessons have permeated diums — including glassworks, game- beyond the Judaic classes. “It is applicable everywhere,” making, computer programming and she said, “and art is a great form of stop-motion animation — and bring self-expression, and anytime you can out their creative sides. bring those two things together, you Some of the students even worked are creating a much richer experience with their music teacher on an original song based on school-wide lessons for students.” As for Moss, who “loved reconnectof integrity and being accountable for ing with the community” this year, he their own actions. knows Hillel’s arts program will be “It was fun to turn learning into just as successful next year as the new, art, and I think other kids will like it, too,” said 11-year-old Ellie Peace, who incoming arts teacher, Hannah Levinson, is married to his nephew and is painted a sprout on a glass block as “just fabulous.” part of her art studies this year.
Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton Dr. Heath Gilbert President Bruce Feldman Immediate Past Pres. Mary Rita Weissman Pres. Elect/VP, Personnel/Foundation Chair Beverly Louis Secretary Neil Friedman Treasurer Dan Sweeny VP, Resource Development Cathy Gardner CEO The Dayton Jewish Observer, Vol. 25, No. 11. 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 • JULY 2021
DAYTON
Forum digs into spate of antisemitism resulting from Hamas-Israel conflict With an increase in U.S. antisemitic acts of 80 percent reported by Secure Community Network in the wake of Israel’s 11-day war with Hamas, Dayton’s Jewish Community Relations Council hosted a virtual community forum about Israel and antiIsraeli Consulate’s semitism on May 27. Adva Vilchinski “I know it’s not easy to speak out for Israel, physically on the streets or on social media or writing op-eds,” said Adva Vilchinski, consul for public diplomacy with the Israeli Consulate in New York. “People were and are still afraid. We believe in the freedom of speech, we believe people can demonstrate against Israel, but the problem is when demonstrations morph into antisemitism and violence that was and is targeted at Jewish civilians. There is no topic or issue, whether it’s Israel or anything else, that can justify the occurrences of antisemitism or permit antisemitic behavior. It’s a warning sign and we should take it very seriously.” James Pasch, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, concurred. “We are all entitled to criticize the actions of a government entity,” he said. “In fact, most of us do. Criticizing the actions of the Israeli government is not, in and of itself, antisemitic. If it was, most Israelis would be called antisemitic. It’s when we cross over from legitimate criticism of a governing entity to the criticism of an entire people that we cross over into antisemitism.” Attacking Jews and holding them collectively responsible for the policies of Israel, Pasch said, isn’t activism, it’s antisemitism. “When individuals burn Israeli flags outside
of a synagogue, that is not activism, that is antisemitism. When we vandalize Jewish Community Centers, it is not activism, it is antisemitism. Injection of bigotry into a conflict — whether that bigotry is antisemitism or Islamophobia — has never helped resolve a Hillel International’s single conflict in our world’s Matthew E. Berger history. Quite to the contrary, it only exacerbates tensions.” Matthew E. Berger, Hillel International’s vice president of strategic action programs and communications, said he’s never experienced what he just witnessed on college campuses. “We are accustomed to BDS, we’re already accustomed to isolated incidents of antisemitism, but over the past three weeks, we’ve dealt with 40 campuses around the country that have experienced anti-Israel and antisemitic activity. That’s unprecedented for this timespan.” He’s seen individual student leaders taking the reins of student government and putting out one-sided, unilateral statements that bypass the democratic process. “You saw the direct targeting of Zionists and then quickly that term went from Zionists to Jews, in which we saw individual Jews on college campuses targeted, predominantly on social media.” Berger said Hillel is developing tools for Jewish students to speak for their values and to disconnect from toxic conversations. “We recognize that the best way to address these issues is to have good relations with university administrators, teaching them about antisemitism, helping them address the campus environment for Jewish students the way they’re doing it for other minority groups. — Marshall Weiss Peter Wine
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A rainbow appears over the Graeter’s Ice Cream truck at the opening night of the JCC Film Fest, June 8 at Dixie Twin Drive-In. The festival continues virtually though July.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
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DAYTON
Israel-Hamas conflict spills over to local restaurant menu Co-owner, also DPS board member, changes menu, apologizes for offending Jewish patrons
suggested she include PYM on the Jewish state of Israel. menu, based on “issues around food On email chains and Facebook posts, some of Coco’s Jewish patrons have said and water and humanitarian things as a result of what she read is happening they won’t return to the restaurant. with some of the children.” After meeting with repreJewish Federation CEO sentatives of the Jewish FedCathy Gardner, a Coco’s eration June 1, Wick-Gagnet By Marshall Weiss, The Observer regular, reached out to Wicktook the PYM item off her When Coco’s Bistro co-owner Karen Gagnet to meet with her and Wick-Gagnet reopened her dining room printed and online spring/ her daughter. The Federasummer menu. as the Covid pandemic waned, she “I’ve heard from people tion’s Jewish Community decided to include listings of “organizaRelations Council Director, tions to learn about and support through on social media, Facebook, Marcy Paul, also joined the donation” on her spring/summer menu a couple of phone calls,” Wick-Gagnet said. “I turned June 1 conversation. printed in mid-May. off my Facebook because I “The issue is that the lanOne of the three organizations she guage used to refer to Israel included on her menu was the Palestin- can’t — I’m going to have Coco’s Bistro co-owner a nervous breakdown. But is a tinderbox that ignites the ian Youth Movement. Karen Wick-Gagnet I’m calling people. People firestorm of antisemitism,” The description on the menu, taken Gardner told The Observer. “It’s a onefrom PYM’s website, refers to itself as “a have used some pretty inflammatory language towards me: Abomination. I’m dimensional statement. It doesn’t do transnational, independent, grassroots anything to embrace history, truth, facts, movement of young Palestinians in Pal- an abomination. That’s the big one that and all people.” estine and in exile worldwide as a result sticks out. The antisemitist, that’s been Paul said she was glad Wick-Gagnet’s of the ongoing Zionist colonization and used a lot.” Wick-Gagnet said she is devastated daughter agreed to have further converoccupation of our homeland. Our besations with her, in the hopes of creating longing to Palestine and our aspirations that she hurt so many people. “Coco’s has always been a space and some public dialogues. for justice and liberation motivate us to a place for me that embodies love and “I was wrong,” Wick-Gagnet said. “It assume an active role as a young genpeace and inclusivity, and I want to meet was wrong. It was wrong and insensieration in our national struggle for the tive, and it really was just a — I didn’t liberation of our homeland and people.” people where they are. I would never hurt anybody, ever. I missed the whole really like the word ignorant. It’s so In an interview with The Observer, thing, in a way. I should have been more harsh or whatever to me, so I don’t Wick-Gagnet said she had no idea the want to call myself ignorant, ‘cause that statement would offend Jewish custom- responsible.” Wick-Gagnet said her 25-year-old makes me sad a little bit inside — but it ers, that she was unaware the language daughter, the restaurant’s namesake, really was an honest, honest mistake.” strongly implies the elimination of the
Wick-Gagnet, who is a member of the Dayton Public Schools Board, said she hasn’t decided if she’ll run for reelection this fall. “So I found myself a little bit more vulnerable to kind of like a little of that chatter right now. I’d like to continue my work, but I’m a little scared of people, you know. I mean this situation has been unsettling to me.” She said that every time the front door of her restaurant opens, she’s afraid. “I’m afraid because somebody I have cared about so deeply for a long time is going to come in, and I hurt them, and I don’t want to hurt anybody. I would never do that. I am not that person,” she says, tears streaming down her face. “And now, I’m like, I mean, I’ve lost sleep over it, I’m really upset. It’s not financial. It’s not financial. Maybe 10 percent of what sales I do around here will come from your community. It’s not about money. It’s about people that I have loved and cared about and think this horrible thing about me, because I’m not a horrible person. I realize that I may have offended people who will never come back to my space.” When asked if she has received election campaign contributions from the Jewish community, she responded, “a little bit, but nothing significant.”
Mazel Tov, 2021 Hillel Academy Graduates! (L to R)
Brihanna Howell Seth Schwartz Ellison Peace • Exemplary secular and Judaic education • Art and science professional residencies • Project-based learning and critical thinking • Hebrew language immersion via Tal-Am Hebrew Curriculum • Sinai Scholarships available to eligible new students
The 2021-2022 school year begins Wednesday, August 18.
daytonhillel.org • 937.277.8966 • dkmecoli@daytonhillel.org PAGE 6
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
THE WORLD Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90
Netanyahu replaced as Israeli prime minister after 12 years in office Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the swearing-in ceremony of the new government at the Knesset, June 13
includes Bennett, whose Yamina party By Ben Sales & Shira Hanau, JTA holds only six of the Knesset’s 120 seats After 12 years, seven elections and but served as a linchpin for the new cothree corruption charges, Benjamin Nealition. The largest party in the coalition tanyahu is no longer the prime minister is the centrist Yesh Atid, which is headed of Israel. by Yair Lapid. Lapid is slated to take Netanyahu, who served as Israel’s over as prime minister in 2023, and until leader continuously beginning in 2009 then will serve as foreign minister. and holds the distinction of being the Speaking before the parliament on country’s longest-serving prime minJune 13, Lapid opted to skip his written ister, was removed from the job in a speech and denounced the hecklers. He razor-thin vote in the Knesset, Israel’s also apologized to his mother for the parliament, on June 13. spectacle. The vote, 60-59, installed a new gov“I wanted her to be proud of the demernment with the narrowest of majorities, composed of eight parties spanning ocratic process,” Lapid said. “Instead she Israel’s political spectrum and dedicated and every other citizen is ashamed of you, and reminded of why it is necessary to one goal: ending the Netanyahu era. to replace you.” The new government is headed by The day was not without drama, a Naftali Bennett, a right-wing former fitting end to recent weeks in which the deputy of Netanyahu who broke away future shape of the Israeli government from him. Bennett is the son of American immigrants to Israel and as an adult was tense and uncertain. Netanyahu, who has lived for a time in New York Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 called the new governCity. He speaks fluent English. ment dangerous and In an address before the vote, fraudulent, has put Bennett thanked Netanyahu heavy pressure on the for his years of service, even as incoming coalition’s members of Netanyahu’s Likud right-wing members to party heckled him and shouted return to his side. in attempts to drown out his In his final speech as speech. Bennett pledged to work prime minister, delivon behalf of all Israelis and ered ahead of the vote, extricate Israel from the electoral crisis that has frozen its politics Israel’s opposition leader Netanyahu attempted Benjamin Netanyahu to remind members of for two years, sending Israelis the parliament why he should remain as to the polls in four largely inconclusive prime minister, running through a list of elections since 2019. his accomplishments and warning that “We are facing an internal challenge, the new government would not be able a divide in the people that is being seen to stand up to the security threats facing at these very moments,” he said as the Israel, particularly from Iran. shouting continued. “The prime minister of Israel must be Bennett’s governing coalition is able to say no to the American governremarkable and unprecedented in ways that also make it appear precarious. It ment,” Netanyahu warned, referring to is the first government in Israeli history attempts by the Biden administration to to include an independent Arab-Israeli revive the Iran deal. party, the Islamist Raam, as a partner. It Under the new government, Netanincludes parties that are both staunchly yahu is leader of the parliamentary opright wing and staunchly left wing, in position, which is mostly made up of his addition to two centrist parties. It has Likud party and its right-wing religious a record number of women serving as allies. (Ayman Odeh, a Knesset member ministers. It was made possible only and head of the Arab Joint List, welbecause several former close allies of comed the outgoing prime minister to Netanyahu joined his rivals. the opposition in a tweet June 13.) In his That group of Netanyahu defectors Continued on Page Eight
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THE WORLD
Prime minister
Continued from Page Seven speech, Netanyahu predicted that the new government will not last long and he would soon return to power. Whether that prediction bears out depends on how well the new, ideologically incongruous government can hold together. It is sharply divided on nearly all of the core questions facing Israeli society, from the future of the West Bank to LGBTQ rights. One potential area of common ground involves religious policy. This
is the first government since 2015 that does not include haredi Orthodox parties. That means state funding for haredi institutions may be cut, and Israel could see liberalization of its laws regarding Jewish conversion, public transportation on Shabbat and a space for non-Orthodox worship at the Western Wall. For now, however, the new government has accomplished its primary objective: removing Netanyahu from office. Netanyahu, who also served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999, had become nearly synonymous with Israel during his decade-plus in power. Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (front L), Israeli Pres. Reuven Rivlin (front Center), Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (front R) and Israeli ministers pose for a group photo of the newly sworn-in Israeli government, at the President's Residence, Jerusalem, June 14
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He was known internationally for his campaign against the Iranian nuclear program and his close personal involvement in Israel’s relations with the United States — from his frosty attitude toward Barack Obama to his close friendship with Donald Trump. Within Israel, supporters hailed him for a long stretch of steady economic growth; relative security, day to day, for Israelis; close relationships with world leaders; the string of normalization deals last year with several Arab states; and, recently, a world-leading Covid vaccination drive. Opponents in Israel derided him for maintaining the status quo regarding Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, as well as for a persistent housing crisis. He passed a controversial law in 2018 defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, which critics said marginalized Israel’s Arab minority. American Jewish organizations as well as some secular Israelis also criticized him for perpetuating haredi control of Israel’s religious establishment to the exclusion of non-Orthodox Jews.
Except for a period of several years about a decade ago, Netanyahu has been a lifelong public opponent of a Palestinian state. In recent years, he had made pre-election promises to annex parts of the West Bank, which never ended up happening. And under Netanyahu, Israel conducted three major offensives against Hamas in Gaza, including the 2014 Gaza War and the recent fighting in May. In 2019, Netanyahu was indicted for fraud, bribery and breach of trust — the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister went on criminal trial. The trial sparked a protest movement that demonstrated regularly outside the prime minister’s residence, calling on Netanyahu to resign. Netanyahu has denied the charges and vowed to fight them. He persisted in office with a shrinking group of allies who proved too few to form a governing coalition. In May, after considering joining a coalition with Netanyahu, Bennett instead worked with Lapid to assemble a “change government” to remove Netanyahu from his position.
Who is Naftali Bennett, Israel’s new prime minister?
spat with Netanyahu — and became director of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization representing Israeli settlements. In 2012, he won the primaries of Jewish Home, a right-wing, religious Zionist party. In Knesset elections the following year, Jewish Home quadrupled the size of its delegation, winning 12 By Gabe Friedman, JTA seats in the 120-seat Knesset, and BenHere’s what you need to know Israel’s new nett became Israel’s economy minister prime minister, Naftali Bennett. in a government led by Netanyahu. Since then, Bennett has served in American-Israeli background various cabinet positions under NetanBennett was born in Haifa to American immigrants from San Francisco, and yahu alongside his longtime political partner, Ayelet Shaked — as Diaspora lived in the United States and Canada affairs minister, education minister and for a time as a child before the family returned permanently to Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 defense minister. He later split from Jewish Israel. Like Netanyahu, he Home and now heads a rightspeaks fluent English with wing party called Yamina, barely any accent. which holds six Knesset seats. Bennett recalls that he Last year, after an uneasy became Orthodox as a child, alliance with Netanyahu, after attending a Chabad preBennett broke with the prime school while his family lived minister and has since allied for a time in Montreal. with Lapid. As an adult, he is Modern Orthodox and wears a kipPalestinian statehood and pah, the first prime minister West Bank annexation to do so regularly. He lives in Naftali Bennett Bennett is an unabashedly hawkish Raanana, a suburb of Tel Aviv. religious Zionist who has long opposed After serving in the Israel Defense Palestinian statehood, citing what he Forces, Bennett earned a law degree deems Israel’s security concerns. and entered the tech industry, moving Early in his political career, he vowed to New York City. to do “everything in my power” to He co-founded a successful fraud detection software company, Cyota, and make sure Palestinians can’t establish an independent state. sold it in 2005 for $145 million. If he had his way, Bennett would also Back in Israel, after leaving the immediately annex much of the West tech world, Bennett got involved in Bank to Israel. right-wing politics. He quickly rose to Netanyahu also flirted with West become Netanyahu’s chief of staff, a Bank annexation, but demurred from position he held from 2006-08, when the idea due to opposition from a wary Netanyahu was the leader of the opTrump administration. position in Israel’s parliament, the Because his coalition includes leftKnesset. He left the role — reportedly in a Continued on Page 14
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
July JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
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UPCOMING EVENTS Connect with us! Check out our events. For more information, check out our calendar at jewishdayton.org. July 1 through 4 — Virtual Film, The Crossing
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July 5 through 7 — Virtual Film, Kiss Me Kosher July 8 through 11 — Virtual Film, Golda Sunday, July 11 @ 11:30AM — Film Fest Zoom with Director Udi Nir Thursday, July 15 @ 7PM — JCC Happy Hour Game Night
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Friday, July 16 @ 10:30AM — JCC Book Club Sunday, July 18 @ 10AM — PJ Our Way & YAD at The Trails Mini-Golf
PJ Our Way and YAD at The Trails Mini-Golf Sunday, July 18 @ 10AM (1601 E. David Rd., Kettering, 45429) Join PJ Our Way (ages 8+) and YAD for a round of mini-golf at The Trails. (One free round of mini-golf per person. One parent per group is required for anyone under 17)
GAME NIGHT Thursday, July 15 @ 7PM via Zoom Register online at
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/events
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
young adult division
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mitzvah
mission
mitzvah
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July
JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
mitzvah
Mitzvah Mission – Hannah’s Treasure Chest & St. Vincent de Paul Sunday, June 27 @ 10AM - NOON JFS is hosting another Drive Thru Mitzvah Mission! Prepare frozen, unbaked macaroni and cheese casseroles. Drive thru the Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education (CJCE) with your frozen casseroles and/or donations of high need items for Hannah's Treasure Chest. JFS will provide you with a sweet treat in return. You can find the recipe for the macaroni and cheese and list of high need items at jewishdayton.com/events. If you have any questions, please contact Mindy Adams, 937-610-1555. No cost.
Jewish Family Services OF GREATER DAYTON
A Biss'l Mamaloshen Shtaygn
| SHTAYG-en | Verb
To climb, rise, ascend, advance. Expression with shtaygn: 1 Nisht geshtoygn un nisht gefloygn.
It never happened (lit., it did not climb nor did it fly). According to Michael Wex, the expression has traditionally been explained as referring to Jesus, who is said to have neither climbed nor flown up to Heaven after the crucifixion. Alternatively, it refers to his having neither climbed or flown up to the cross. In other words, it originally meant that the crucifixion or Jesus' death never took place and was subsequently used to refer to anything which never took place historically.
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Legacies, Tributes, & Memorials FEDERATION
JCC
UNITED JEWISH CAMPAIGN IN HONOR OF › The birth of Debby and Bob Goldenberg’s grandson Mary and Gary Youra › Bonnie Parish and Tara Feiner being named a Women of Valor Marni Flagel LINDA RUCHMAN FUND IN MEMORY OF › Enid Bayer › Arthur Timmins Judy and Marshall Ruchman
PJ LIBRARY IN HONOR OF › The special birthday of Marcia Kress Her friends › The birth of Debby and Bob Goldenberg’s grandson Marcia and Ed Kress THE RESILIENCE SCHOLARSHIP FUND IN MEMORY OF › Dan Weckstein Leslie Newlee IN HONOR OF › The mothers in our family, Debbie Weckstein Frank, Caryn Weckstein, Kellie Weckstein, Caryl Weckstein Caryl and Don Weckstein MIRIAM SIEGEL MARKS AND MILTON A. MARKS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND IN HONOR OF › The 50th wedding anniversary of Ronnie and Andrew Smulian › The special birthday of Andrew Smulian Joan and Peter Wells
DAYTON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER IN MEMORY OF › Ellen Elovitz Roberta Caplan
JOAN & PETER WELLS CHILDREN & YOUTH FUND IN MEMORY OF › Arthur Timmins › The mother of Karen Levin and grandmother of Ryan Levin Joan and Peter Wells JFS
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES IN MEMORY OF › Claire and Oscar Soifer › Harley Ellman Diane and Jim Duberstein › Arthur Timmins Beverly and Jeffrey Kantor › Minnie and George Rudin Natalie Cohn › Shelly Charles Susan and Joe Gruenberg Beverly and Jeffrey Kantor FOUNDATION
JEREMY BETTMAN B’NAI TZEDEK YOUTH PHILANTHROPY FUND IN MEMORY OF › Arthur Timmins Jean and Todd Bettman
OBSERVER ENDOWMENT FUND IN HONOR OF › Marshall’s 25 years as editor, with sincere thanks and admiration Susan and Joe Gruenberg
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
July JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
2021
SHARED LEGACIES
2020 • 1hr 37min • Documentary • English WINNER: BUILDING BRIDGES JURY PRIZE @ ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2020; AUDIENCE FAVORITE AWARD @ MAYERSON JCC; AUDIENCE FAVORITE AWARD @ ISRAELI FILM FESTIVAL 2021.
Available Online June 28 - 30
Benjamin A. Mazer, Esq. (top) & Brandon McClain, Esq. (bottom)
THE CROSSING
2020 • 1 hour 30min • Drama Norwegian with subtitles
Available Online July 1 - 4
WINNER: BEST FEATURE FILM FOR CHILDREN @ ZLIN FILM FESTIVAL 2020; EMERGING FILMMAKERS AWARD @ ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2021; WINNER BEST CHILDRENS FILM, NOMINEE BEST SCREENPLAY, AMANDA AWARDS, NORWAY 2020.
KISS ME KOSHER
2020 • 1hr 41min • Comedy English/German/Hebrew/Arabic
Available Online July 5 - 7
WINNER: GERSHON KLEIN AWARD: SPECIAL PRIZE FOR BEST GERMAN FILM ON A JEWISH THEME @ BERLIN JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2020.
Tuesday, June 29 Shared Legacies - Viewing and Discussion Program begins at 7PM, via Zoom Cost is $5, RSVP required. To purchase tickets, go to jewishdayton.org/events JCRC’s Racial Justice Alliance invites you to a special screening of Shared Legacies, a documentary highlighting the civil rights movement and the relationship of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Heschel. The screening will be followed with discussion led by Benjamin A. Mazer, Esq. and Brandon McClain, Esq.
GOLDA
2019 • 1hr 25min • Documentary • Hebrew WINNER: GERSHON KLEIN AWARD: SPECIAL PRIZE FOR BEST GERMAN FILM ON A JEWISH THEME @ BERLIN JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 2020.
Available Online July 8 - July 11
TICKETS Virtual Screening, per film: $10
Jewish Community Center OF GREATER DAYTON
To purchase tickets, visit
Jewish Community Center
July 11 @ 11:30AM with Film Director Udi Nir
OF GREATER DAYTON
Shared Legacies can be streamed at your convenience from June 28 - 30 for $10. For those who purchased tickets to view the film and Season Pass holders, the above discussion is free of charge. Contact Amy Dolph at ajdolph@jfgd.net to RSVP. Please visit our website for more information at jewishdayton.org.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
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July JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
DAYTON JEWISH T H E DAY TO N J E W I S H F I L M F E ST I VA L S I N C E R E LY T H A N KS T H E F O L LOW I N G F O R T H E I R S U P P O R T PRODUCER ($1000 +)
Sam Levin Foundation Gayle & Irvin Moscowitz Bernard Rabinowitz DIRECTOR ($500 - $999)
Michael Goldstein Terry & Marlene Pinsky Stephen Renas Sue Spiegel & Lisa Hanauer Mary Rita & Norman Weissman SCREENWRITER ($250 - $499)
Beth Adelman Enrique & Ruth Ellenbogen Marni Flagel Renate Frydman Robert & Debby Goldenberg Robert & Vicky Heuman Michael Jaffe Joseph & Marsha Johnston 2 0 2 1
Marc Katz & Julie Liss Katz Ed & Marcia Kress Ann Laderman David London Carole & Donald Marger Mr. & Mrs. Sandy Mendelson ACTOR ($100 - $249)
Matt & Elaine Arnovitz Jack & Maryann Bernstein Stanley & Connie Blum Michael & Patty Caruso Adam & Tara Feiner Neil D. Friedman Felix Garfunkel & Family Paula Gessiness & Jay Holland David & Lynn Goldenberg Martin Gottlieb Judi & George Grampp Franklin Handel & Renee Rubin Handel Dr. & Mrs. Stephen Harlan F I L M
F E S T
Judy Heller Michael Herrlein Jane & Gary Hochstein Linda & Steven Horenstein Susan & David Joffe Linda & Allan Katz Andrea Klein Jim & Meredith Levinson Ellie M. Lewis Norm & Kay Lewis Judy Lipton Beverly Louis Jane & David Novick Cantor Andrea Raizen Carolyn Rice Burt & Alice Saidel Judith Schwartzman Felice Shane Melissa & Tim Sweeny Suzanne & Bob Thum Dieter & Suzanne Walk Barbara & Jim Weprin
Jane Hochstein (JCC Director) • Amy Dolph (JCC Program Administrator) JCC Cultural Arts Programming is made possible by a grant from The Ohio Arts Council
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Innovation Grants REOPENING JUNE 14! Do you have an innovative or creative program idea? The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton will be accepting Innovation Grant applications for programs occurring between September 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. Applications available Monday June 14, and are due by noon on July 30, 2021. Questions? Contact Jodi Phares at jphares@jfgd.net. THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
OPINION
American Jews need allies against antisemitism cause it’s worried about bombs. It’s not I believe there is systemic By Jordana Horn complicated that many Jews are taking racism. I believe that our Obviously these past off their external signs of being Jewish, nation, built on the scaffoldseveral weeks have been whether Stars of David or kipot. That’s ing of enslaving people, has difficult for so many people, unequivocally wrong and terrible. prejudice and stereotypes, mainly the Palestinians and It’s been absolutely appalling to see at best, and hatred, at worst, Israelis who were enmeshed the surge of hatred against Jews, both baked into its fundamental in conflict and under fire. here and abroad. recipe. Thankfully there’s a cease-fire But what’s making it worse is seeing And I’m also someone who that everyone hopes will hold how those whom we’ve aligned ourbelieves, as a White-present— but the aftermath of the selves with in the fight against bigotry ing Jew, that I should sit back conflict lingers. in the past have been silent — at best — and listen, or be an upstander I’m not Israeli and I’m not in our time of need. as needed, when a person living in Israel. I’m a Jew, I These past several weeks have been of color tells me about their live in the U.S., and these past pretty personal for us Jewish parents. experiences with hatred and several weeks have made me What is more of a gesture of hope in the bigotry. extremely uncomfortable in world, after all, than having a child? I do not attempt to tell a way that will persist for a them that they did not experi- For Jews especially, we have children long time. ence what they are telling me, in part from a sense of carrying on the Some would say it’s uneven if it’s beyond the param- legacy of heritage, history, and tradition seemly to talk about these that our ancestors fought to keep alive. eters of my understanding or feelings in light of the greater I had six kids, which in darker moown experience. suffering in the Middle East. ments I think of as my own private way I have learned, especially But if we don’t talk about of fighting against Nazis, hate, and all over the past year, what what’s going on, candidly those who would put out the flame of it means to be an ally. I’ve and openly, I fear for what Jewish light in the world. marched, put up signs, had will come next for Jews in I don’t want to have the hard conmany hard and productive America. versations with my kids, to activate conversations, as well as hard There’s been a trementhat dormant epigenetic trauma, to and unproductive ones. I’ve dous uptick in targeted hate done my own initiatives as an introduce them to the realization that crimes against Jews all over in every generation we’ve had to worry individual, including starting the world in the past several about who would hide us when the shit a town-wide reading project weeks. In the United States, hits the fan, or where we would go. I where participants read and recent violent incidents don’t want to face the fact, explicitly, discuss books meant to open include an assault on Jewish that the past several weeks have shown our eyes to experiences not diners at a kosher restaurant conclusively why the Jewish people so our own, and setting up a in Los Angeles, a synagogue demonstrators are captured on cellphone video desperately need the state of Israel to town-wide meeting with our door smashed in Arizona, and Pro-Palestinian physically attacking Jews and using antisemitic language at a exist. local police department to garbage thrown at a Jewish restaurant in Los Angeles, May 18 But over the past several weeks, have an open dialogue with family in Florida. many of us have had to realize what our community. out the white race is unholy and God In New York City, a Jewish man was generations before us have realized: It’s I do believe that even one person can will have his vengeance (sic)” — I find punched, kicked and pepper sprayed possible that as Jews, we are not safe make a difference, however small, and Jews like me being gaslit, quite honin Midtown Manhattan, and a window anywhere. estly, by people I’d consider allies under try to live according to that ideal. was smashed at a kosher pizza restauMy activism — or that of countless other circumstances. rant on the Upper East Side. Jews across the land — is not a quid pro Jordana Horn is the host and head writer of Instead of offering unconditional I’m thankful that President Biden the podcast Call Your Mother. quo, by any stretch of the imagination. made an unequivocal statement against allyship or support, I’m seeing many But I’d be lying folks respond to this exponential antisemitism, and I don’t doubt his if I didn’t say that it growth of antisemitism with retorts like sincerity or intent. And I’m grateful for does make me won“Islamophobia is on the rise” (I’ve not other politicians who have done the der: Where exactly seen any statistics bearing out a sudsame. are our allies now? However, the reality on the ground is den dramatic uptick in Islamophobia, Why am I being and find that this is often stated as an unfolding all around us, both in person told, as I tell people attempt at “whataboutism”). and online, and there are those who about targeted vioOr, “Actually, you can be anti-Zionist refuse to discuss or acknowledge this lence against Jewish and not antisemitic.” (To that, I say, acrise in violent hate against Jews, much diners on the streets tually, anyone can criticize the governless denounce or condemn it. of Los Angeles or ment of Israel — but arguing that Israel That’s how antisemitism grows. And New York, or people has no right to exist seems a lot like I won’t be complicit or let it go quietly. wearing Jewish Over the course and after the Hamas- antisemitism). stars, “This is comOr, “Palestinians are Semites!” Israel conflict in May, more than 17,000 plicated”? (Exactly how is that relevant when I’m tweets were posted with permutations No. It’s not telling you about Jews getting beat up of the idea “Hitler was right.” complicated that my And despite my efforts to bring these or spat on or told that “Hitler should kids needed even have finished the job”?) alarmingly frequent incidents to folks’ more security at Why does it seem to be so excruciatattention — even posting screenshots of their Jewish schools. hateful remarks made to me on my own ingly difficult for so many people — It’s not complicated including those who consistently stand Instagram feed, like “Killing the son of that my kids’ Jewish up against hatred directed toward any god and subverting nations into a cesscamp will not allow A frame from a video shows a Jewish man being beaten on the other group — to unequivocally stand pool of sexual deviance and destroying street in New York City, May 20 care packages beup against antisemitism? the family home and working to wipe
So, what do you think?
Send letters (350 words max.) to The Dayton Jewish Observer, 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459 • MWeiss@jfgd.net
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
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.
PAGE 13
Beth Abraham Synagogue Conservative Interim Rabbi Melissa Crespy Cantor/Dir. of Ed. & Programming Andrea Raizen 305 Sugar Camp Circle, Oakwood. 937-293-9520. BethAbrahamDayton.org
Bennett
RELIGION
CONGREGATIONS
Speedily in our days
in addition to the destruction The prophet Isaiah describes of both the first and second the fasts as “days of goodwill Temples in Jerusalem, many before God.” Why goodwill? calamities befell the Jewish Because they are days of oppeople throughout history. portunity. We can use our We commemoregret over past failBeth Jacob Congregation Traditional rate these events by ings as the impetus Rabbi Leibel Agar fasting on the 17th for forging a renewed Sundays & Wednesdays, 7:09 of Tammuz and on and even deeper p.m. Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. the 9th of Av. During bond with God and 7020 N. Main St., Dayton. the intervening days, His people. 937-274-2149. BethJacobCong. no weddings are The Lubavitcher org held, we do not take Rebbe teaches that haircuts, purchase there is a deeper Temple Anshe Emeth new clothes, or listen dimension to all of the stake of your plow, for Reform to music. the above. That is, to your Holy Temple has now 320 Caldwell St., Piqua. However, there recognize that the exbeen destroyed.” The cow then Contact Steve Shuchat, 937-726is more to the Three Rabbi Levi Simon ile itself is a necessary cried a second time. Said the 2116, AnsheEmeth@gmail.com. Weeks than fasting phase of redemption. Arab to the Jew: “Son of Judah! ansheemeth.org and mourning over the deThe word in Hebrew for the Yoke your cow, reset the stake struction and exile. ultimate redemption, geulah, is of your plow, for the Messiah Temple Beth Or During this time, we try comprised of the entire He— Moshiach — has now been Reform to remedy the brew word for exile, golah, with born.” Rabbi Judy Chessin spiritual causes of In the era of the addition of the letter alef. We are apAsst. Rabbi/Educator Ben Azriel the exile, galut in This indicates that the state proaching the 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. Moshiach, the Hebrew. We try to of redemption includes within 937-435-3400. templebethor.com saddest period of inner good of address the misit everything positive of our the Jewish year. Temple Beth Sholom deeds that resulted present life, plus everything, The three weeks our presentReform in the galut. with the addition of the elebetween the 17th of Rabbi Haviva Horvitz Our sages tell us ment of alef. The alef refers to Tammuz and 9th of day lives will 610 Gladys Dr., Middletown. that the destructhe Alef, the Master of the Av (corresponding come to light 513-422-8313. tion of the second World, God. this year to June 27 templebethsholom.net Holy Temple was The perfect world of through July 18) are and shine. caused by a lack of Moshiach, of Messiah, that we a time of mourning Temple Israel true love and consideration of pray for daily is not a negation for the destruction of the Holy Reform one Jew for another. of who and what we are now. Temple(s) and for the resulting Senior Rabbi Karen BodneyTherefore, we take the opRather, it is the perfection and exile of the Jewish people. Halasz. Rabbi/Educator Tina Sobo portunity during these weeks enhancement of the very same We mourn not only for the Fridays, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. to awaken our hearts, to return elements which make up our physical exile from our Holy In-person worship Sats. July 10 & to our better nature, individulives today. Land, but also for the spiritual 24, 11 a.m. Registration required. ally and as a community, to While the world we live displacement — from which 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. strengthen our connection to in doesn’t seem to be conduwe still suffer. 937-496-0050. tidayton.org God and our fellow man. cive to godliness; in actuality, During these three weeks, every positive deed, word, and Temple Sholom thought — each mitzvah (comReform mandment), minute of Torah Rabbi Cary Kozberg study, and act of kindness — 2424 N. Limestone St., contributes towards a world Springfield. 937-399-1231. templesholomoh.com which expresses the perfect goodness inherent in all that Torah created. ADDITIONAL SERVICES Portions God In the era of Moshiach, the inner good of our present-day Chabad of Greater Dayton lives will come to light and July 3: Pinchas Rabbi Nochum Mangel Shabbat shine. (Num. 25:10-30:1) Associate Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin The Talmud relates: Rabbi Candle Youth & Prog. Dir. Rabbi Levi July 10: Matot-Masei Yehoshua ben Levi asked Lightings Simon, Teen & Young Adult Prog. (Num. 30:2-36:13; 28:9-15) Moshiach: “When are you comDir. Rabbi Elchonon Chaikin. July 2: 8:50 p.m. ing?” July 17: Devarim Beginner educational service Replied Moshiach, “Today.” (Deut. 1:1-3:22) Saturdays 9:30 a.m. 2001 Far July 9: 8:48 p.m. Later, Rabbi Yehoshua met Hills Ave. 937-643-0770. July 24: Vaetchanan Elijah the Prophet and comJuly 16: 8:45 p.m. chabaddayton.com (Deut. 3:23-7:11) plained: “He told me that he July 23: 8:40 p.m. is coming today, yet he didn't Yellow Springs Havurah July 31: Ekev come.” Answered Elijah, “This July 30: 8:33 p.m. (Deut. 7:12-11:25) Independent is what he meant: ‘Today, if you Antioch College Rockford Chapel. will listen to His voice.’” Contact Len Kramer, 937-572Tisha B’Av May that day come soon, 4840 or len2654@gmail.com. Ninth Day of Av • July 18 and then all the mournful dates on the Jewish calendar will The day of fasting to mark the destruction of the First and Second Temples, the loss of Jewish sovereignty, and be transformed into days of numerous other tragedies said to have fallen on this day. tremendous joy and happiness, The Book of Eicha (Lamentations) is read. speedily in our days, Amen. By Rabbi Levi Simon Chabad of Greater Dayton The Midrash tells: On the day that the Holy Temple was destroyed, a Jew was plowing his field when his cow suddenly cried very agonizingly. An Arab was passing by and heard the call of the cow. Said the Arab to the Jew: “Son of Judah! Unyoke your cow, free
Perspectives
July • Tammuz/Av
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Continued from Page Eight wing parties, Bennett won’t be able to annex any of the West Bank under the new government. Economics Bennett advocates for freemarket reforms, particularly in Israel’s expensive housing market: He is against regulation, taxes, and other restrictions on business. He is a proponent of widening Israel’s network of trade partners around the world, including in emerging markets and in smaller countries with newer relationships with Israel. Controversial comments The outspoken politician has been criticized for his inflammatory rhetoric about Arabs and Palestinians. In 2013, Bennett called for killing Arab terrorists who have killed Jews, instead of imprisoning them. “I have killed lots of Arabs in my life — and there is no problem with that,” he said at the time. He has also said there is no perfect “solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and compared it to an ongoing irritation, like “shrapnel in the buttocks.” He urged Netanyahu to attack Hamas more aggressively in Gaza as well. In 2019, he said Netanyahu had “failed against Hamas in Gaza” for a decade and criticized Israel’s policy of “containment.” Recently, though, he said addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be a lower priority than addressing the pandemic recovery. Other policy As an observant Orthodox Jew, Bennett is against samesex marriage. However, he is slightly more liberal on the issue than some of his Orthodox peers in politics, saying that he would allow for tax breaks for same-sex couples. As education minister, Bennett was criticized for attempting to insert religious content into Israel’s secular public school curriculum. Bennett also voted for a controversial law that defined Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, which critics called damaging to Israel’s multiethnic democracy. Following the law’s passage, however, Bennett said the law hurt non-Jewish Israelis who serve in the Israeli military, such as Druze Israelis.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
CALENDAR
THE MARVELOUS MR. MAZEL Peter Wine
Jeremy Katz, senior director of archives at the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, has authored the book, The Jewish Community of Atlanta, in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America Series. A native of Dayton, Jeremy received his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State and his master’s in archival science from Wright State. He’s worked at the Breman since 2013. Mathew Klickstein is helping area kids learn his trade. The writer and filmmaker is working with local theatre group Dare2Defy and The Hub/Arcade this summer, hosting a free playwriting/ performance workshop for kids 10-16. Mathew is leading
Scott Halasz the group in crowdsourcing the script based on the kids’ own lives and personalities. George Orwell’s Animal Farm is being used as a thematic and cultural guidepost for the kids. A week of rehearsals will follow the group’s scriptwriting process, resulting in two full performances of the work at Downtown Dayton’s The Brightside. A Q&A will follow each show during which audience members can ask workshop participants about their process. Performances are planned for 7 p.m., Aug. 10 and 11. The workshop is offered free for the participants.
Classes
Beth Jacob Virtual Classes: Sundays, 2 p.m.: Conversions w. Rabbi Agar. Tuesdays, 7 p.m.: Weekly Parsha w. Rabbi Agar. Thursdays, 7 p.m.: Jewish Law w. Rabbi Agar. Email Tammy at bethjacob1@ aol.com. Temple Beth Or Adult Ed. Movie Discussion Series: Discussions via Zoom. Movies available for rental via Amazon Prime. Thurs., July 1, noon: Discussion of Shalom Italia. Thurs., July 29, noon: The Other Story. To register, contact donna@templebethor.com. Longtime JCC Film Fest supporters Bernie Rabinowitz and Gayle Moscowitz (Center) honor retiring JCC Director Jane Hochstein
president of communications for the Guild of Temple Musicians Board of Directors. Julian Doninger, son of Sandra and Nick Doninger, was named a first-year scholarathlete at Kettering Fairmont High School. Brian Schwenk, grandson of Cicely Nathan, received his master’s degree in school
administration in May. He will work on science curriculum for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. Molly Buchanan, daughter of Bonni and Dennis Buchanan, graduated from the University of Dayton with a bachelor's degree in science. Send your announcements to scotthalasz1@gmail.com.
Temple Israel Virtual Classes: Mondays, noon: Coffee w. the Clergy. Saturdays, 9:15 a.m.: Torah Study. For details, call 937-496-0050.
Family
Temple Israel Prayer & Play: at home of Rabbi Sobo. Sat., July 10, 4 p.m. Details at tidayton.org. PJ Our Way & YAD Mini-Golf: Sun., July 18, 10 a.m. The Trails Miniature Golf, 1601 E. David Rd., Kettering. Register at jewishdayton.org/events.
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Temple Israel elected Linda Novak its new president at its annual meeting, also in May. Courtney Cummings, Temple Israel’s music and program director, has been elected vice
JCC Film Fest
For complete schedule, see Page 11.
Community Events
JFS Mitzvah Mission: for Hannah’s Treasure Chest & St. Vincent de Paul. Sun., June 27, 10 a.m. Call 937-610-1555. JCRC Screening & Discussion of Shared Legacies: Tues., June 29, 7 p.m. w. Mont. Co. Recorder Brandon McClain & attorney Benjamin A. Mazer. Free. Register at jewishdayton.org/ events. JCC Virtual Happy Hour Game Night: Thurs., July 15. Register at jewishdayton.org/ events. JCC Virtual Book Club: Fri., July 16, 10:30 a.m. Register at jewishdayton.org/events.
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At the JCC Film Fest Opening Night, held at Dixie Twin Drive-In June 8, longtime Film Fest supporters Gayle Moscowitz and Bernie Rabinowitz announced that they have established the Jane Hochstein JCC Programming Fund in honor of the longtime JCC director, who retires this summer. Beth Abraham Synagogue elected Scott Liberman its new president at its annual meeting in May.
Chabad Camp Gan Izzy: Mondays-Fridays, July 26-Aug. 13. Register at cgidayton.com.
Beth Abraham Synagogue Shabbat Under The Stars: Fri., July 23, 7:30 p.m. Call the office, 937-293-9520, to R.S.V.P. & for location.
JCC Camp Shalom K’tan (Preschool): MondaysFridays through July 30. Register at jewishdayton.org.
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JCC Camp Shalom Gadol: Mondays-Fridays through July 23. Register at jewishdayton.org.
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MSG PAGE 15
JEWISH FAMILY EDUCATION
Messages of Eden Considering Creation
His dinner finished, my grandson was ready to play. Despite a reminder to first wash his greasy hands, he grabbed his high chair like a wheeled baby walker and began to push. My sharp, “Jacob! Hands!” so startled him, he banged his head. After a quick snuggle, I insisted on an apology: “I’m sorry. I should have
Candace R. Kwiatek washed my hands first.” Hands clean, he went off to play. And for the next five minutes, I heard him murmuring to his toys, with dramatic intonation, “I should have washed my hands first!” It’s never too early — even as a toddler — to learn about choices and consequences. “The Lord God planted a garden in Eden...with a tree of life and a tree of knowledge of good and evil...God placed man in the garden, to till and tend it... “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden, you
are free to eat, but as for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat of it, for as soon as you eat of it you shall die... “The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, yet they felt no shame. “Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’... And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You are not going to die, but God knows that as soon as you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of the fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate... “Then the Lord God said, ‘In extreme pain shall you bear children...By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat, until you return to the ground — for from it you were taken.’ “...So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden to till the soil from which he was taken (Gen. 2:8-3:23, abbrevi-
The serpent is neither the source nor the symbol of what is bad in your life. He just reveals it. ated).” Having created humans in the likeness of animals and in the image of the Divine, God placed Adam and Eve in Eden. There they were guided by animal instinct to care for the garden and, as Maimonides explains, by a transcendent rational intellect to master their world by discriminating between the true and the false. Life was a paradise for body and mind, serene and uncomplicated. “Yet there was still something unfinished — and ultimately, God knew it,” writes educator Anita Silvert, “the
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realization of the (Divine) potential of human choice.” To that end, God placed in the Garden the tree of knowing good and evil and promptly forbade eating from it on pain of death. This raises some challenging questions. Did God not want humans to understand good and evil? Could human choice be fully realized through an obedience test? Was this a setup, where human nature essentially guaranteed the fruit would be eaten? What was the point of threatening death for disobedience? It was not a setup at all, explains biblical scholar and commentator Franz Delitzch. The Divine intention was that obedience (not eating the fruit) would eventually lead to a recognition that everything opposed to God’s will is an evil to be avoided. Resisting evil is a deliberate choice for good. This godlike understanding of good and evil, together with
self-mastery over temptation, would ultimately lead to true personal liberty. However, this outcome hinged on being guided solely by animal instinct and a rational intellect — avoid the threat of death and evaluate the choices: God expects me to obey, true or false? But then the snake appears. This scene begins with Adam and Eve described as arummim, naked or “without a veil.” In the very next line, the snake is described as arum, translated as shrewd. What is the connection? Arum can also mean “revealer, as in one who is able to lift up the veil, or who makes known.” So what does the snake reveal to Eve? The non-rational, emotional, egocentered intellect, which entices Eve and Adam to disobey God’s command. As a logical consequence of their disobedience, humans would not be like gods — eterContinued on Page 19
Literature to share Osnat and Her Dove: The True Story of the World’s First Female Rabbi by Sigal Samuel. This illustrated children’s book recounts the life story of Osnat, a 17th-century rabbi’s daughter who loved the books in her father’s library. She begged to learn and practiced reading to a tame, white dove in her neighborhood. Credited with many miracles, she became a respected teacher in her father’s yeshiva and eventually became its leader. Brilliant artwork with reds, blues, and aquas captures the ambiance of the Near East, adding to the uniqueness of the story. A delight for elementary ages, this is one of my all-time favorites for story and illustrations. Little Pieces of Me by Alison Hammer. When a DNA testing site contacts Paige about a new leaf on her family tree, her already precarious life shatters. Why? It’s a paternal match, but her father has been dead for over two years. This novel captures the emotions and challenges of unearthing longburied family secrets and wrestles with the notion of identity and how it emerges. Fast-paced, interesting characters, and well-written, this is an engaging summer or weekend read.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
Arts&Culture
Fireglory Pictures
Kiss Me Kosher well-crafted romantic comedy By Sheldon Kirschner Times of Israel Shirel Peleg’s enjoyable and well-crafted romantic comedy, Kiss Me Kosher, surveys the wonders and agonies of the oldest and most durable human passion — love — through the prism of German-Jewish relations and Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. It will be presented online by Dayton’s JCC Film Fest, July 5-7. A co-Israeli-German production blending laugh-out-loud humor with somber undercurrents, it is set in contemporary Israel. The central characters, Shira (Moran Rosenblatt) and Maria (Luise Wolfram), are lesbian lovers trying to navigate their immense cultural differences. Shira, an Israeli, runs a hip bar in Jerusalem in conjunction with her business partner. Maria, a German from Stuttgart, is pursuing a Ph.D. in climate change. It’s unclear where they met, but when Maria arrives in Israel for a visit, they’ve already known each other for The JCC Film Fest presents Kiss Me Kosher, virtually, July 5-7. $10. Tickets are available at jewishdayton.org/events.
three months. Shira has slept around, but Maria is special as far as she’s concerned. “I have found a woman of my dreams,” she tells her grandmother, Berta (Rivka Michaeli), a Holocaust survivor, prior to Maria’s arrival. Berta seems open to her granddaughter’s liaison with a German. “I don’t care if she’s a lesbian, as long as she doesn’t look like a truck driver,” says Berta gruffly. When Shira’s inquisitive mother, a former exchange student in Germany, asks Maria how her grandparents spent the war, she initially remains silent. To Shira, Maria’s family history in Nazi Germany does not make the slightest difference. But Berta, revealing her true feelings, refers to Maria as a shiksa and voices her opposition to their budding friendship. In fact, Berta is behaving hypocritically. Her boyfriend, Ibrahim (Salim Day), a refined physician, is an Israeli Arab committed to the Palestinian cause. They converse in a melange of Hebrew and Arabic. Shira and Maria really care about each other, but Shira’s friends detect tension and predict they’ll break up. Maria
Moran Rosenblatt (L) and Luise Wolfram star in Kiss Me Kosher
is sorry she was hasty in proposing marriage to Shira, but admits she loves Shira. Maria is not even certain whether they “fit,” but Shira is confident they’re compatible. Armed with a video camera, Liam (Eyal Shikartzi), Shira’s mischievous brother, records the ups and downs of their somewhat tumultuous relationship for a school project. In an amusing scene, he teaches Maria a vital Hebrew phrase he urges her to memorize: “I eat pork on Yom Kippur.” Maria’s liberal-minded parents, Hans (Bernhard Schutz)
The specter of the Holocaust permeates the movie.
and Petra (Juliane Kohler), having heard from their daughter that she intends to live in Israel, fly there to meet Shira’s family. Petra, a peacenik, insists she will not cross the old Green Line into the West Bank. This could be a problem because Shira’s parents, Ron (John Carroll Lynch) and Ora (Orit Kaplan), live in the West Bank, which Ron considers “liberated territory.” Shira doesn’t share his right-wing views, but Ron loves his daughter “exactly how God created her.” The dinner table conversation takes an uncomfortable turn when Ron suggests that Maria should convert to Judaism if she and Shira decide to adopt a child.
In the meantime, Berta has warmed to Maria, but she is still opposed to their wedding plans. The specter of the Holocaust permeates the movie. As Petra and Ora tour a Holocaust museum, Ora confides that her relatives, hailing from the Polish city of Lodz, were murdered during the war. Petra breaks down in tears, still concealing her family’s pedigree. Maria also feels the pull of history, saying she is ashamed of Germany’s wartime crimes. Despite these objective difficulties, Shira and Maria are determined to ensure that Germany’s Nazi past does not interfere with their romance.
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PAGE 17
Golda explores triumphs, failures of Israel’s trailblazing prime minister By Gerri Miller Los Angeles Jewish Journal As the only woman to serve as Israel’s prime minister (19691974), Golda Meir is perceived as a Jewish icon and feminist heroine. But in Israel, she’s more reviled than revered. The documentary Golda, which will be shown virtually for the Dayton JCC Film Fest July 8-11, explores why Meir is “a synonym for failure and disgrace” to Israelis, according to filmmaker Udi Nir. “The gap between her different images was a very interesting starting point because we felt there must be some things we are missing from the story of Golda Meir, and that people in other places don’t see what we experienced here,” Nir said. “The truth is somewhere in the middle. And that kind of complexity was our basis of starting the project.” Nir co-directed the film with his life partner, Sagi Bornstein, and Shani Rozanes, and said they aimed to chronicle the events of Meir’s five years in office “and what she went through personally and professionally. We didn’t want to take sides. We wanted to see her
the broadcast ended. “We spent through her eyes, to be able to empathize with her and connect 2018 to 2019 reediting the whole film,” Nir said. with her. All three of us direcToday, he said, he’s better tors were born after she died, so we’re less biased and emotional able to analyze Meir’s triumphs about her than our parents and and failures. “Her condepeople of their generation who scending approach and lack fought in the (Yom Kippur) war of empathy for Mizrahi Jews (of Middle Eastern ancestry) or experienced that traumatic and the Israeli Black Panther year in 1973,” he said. movement caused a huge exploBeginning in early 2017, the sion in Israeli society filmmakers interand we still face the viewed “only people consequences today,” with first-hand ache said. “Her other big counts of working mistake was how she with Golda,” both perceived Israel’s place champions and detracwithin the Middle East tors, Nir said. Working and her lack of flexibilwith Bornstein in Tel ity in negotiations with Aviv and Skype-ing Egypt and the Paleswith Berlin-based tinians throughout journalist Rozanes was logistically difficult, Filmmaker Udi Nir the early 1970s. Israel desperately needed a “but I think it brought different kind of leadership at some complexity to the film, and is part of why it was so well that time.” He added he believed Meir’s accepted in Israel,” he said. “It allowed both the ones who hate biggest triumphs were from her and love her to learn some- the time before she was prime thing new about her and relate minister — when she was labor minister and foreign minister to her.” The documentary was nearly in the 1960s. “She set up the welfare system, which was, for finished when the directors found a box marked “GOLDA” many years, the basis of the socialist system for housing, at the Israeli TV archives in health, and education in Israel. Jerusalem. It contained old As foreign minister, she was tapes of Meir’s last television very much responsible for the interview plus never-aired relationship between Israel and candid footage recorded after
Beth Abraham welcomes Interim Rabbi Melissa Crespy
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Shabbat Under The Stars Friday, July 23, 7:30 p.m.
We’ll raise our voices in joyous song and prayer, grateful to be together once again. Oneg following service. Call the office to RSVP and for location. Beth Abraham, Dayton’s only Conservative synagogue, is enthusiastically egalitarian and is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. For our complete program schedule, go to bethabrahamdayton.org.
305 Sugar Camp Circle • Dayton, Ohio 45409 937•293•9520 • www.bethabrahamdayton.org PAGE 18
Israeli GPO/David Eldan
Golda Meir, Israel’s only female prime minister
the United States, and Israel and numerous African countries.” Nir believes Meir’s greatest asset and greatest flaw was her perseverance. “She was very strong and hard-minded, which enabled her to hold the country together in a way I don’t think many people could have, but it didn’t enable her to change with the times and imagine a different future,” he said. “She was very honest but also very narrow minded, and didn’t see far ahead.” Nir said he found some of her positions “very irritating and hard to digest. But there’s also something very captivating about her, and an honesty and integrity that in recent years has been very much missed in Israel. She didn’t have hidden motives and she said what she believed.” The son of Israeli parents, Nir is Ashkenazi on his father’s side and Yemeni on his mother’s. “I have a very strong link to Judaism as a culture but not from the religious angle,” he said. He met Bornstein while he was writing and directing for the theatre. The pair made the docu-
mentary #Uploading_Holocaust, edited from YouTube video clips from teenagers’ visits to concentration camps. Their next project will be a series “that breaks down the historical narratives of Israelis and Palestinians, side by side and event by event, from 1948 to present day.” He hopes audiences will come away with a greater understanding of Meir and a more complex image of Israel. “There’s a lot to learn from her decisions and views and the way she handled the country, and the light that sheds on the Zionist movement and Israel in general,” he said. “I’d like them to see some of her grave mistakes and learn from them, but I also would like them to see the unique, uncompromising woman in a world of men, who was able to do great things at a time when that wasn’t very popular.” Asked what Meir would think of Golda, Nir said, “She would definitely have a hard time and disagree with some of the claims brought up by the interviewees and by us. After the 2019 premiere at DocAviv (the documentary festival in Tel The JCC Film Fest presents Golda, Aviv), her grandson said it was virtually, July 8-11, including a hard to see some of the things conversation with director Udi Nir, we chose to include, but he 11:30 a.m., Sunday, July 11. The could see what we were trying Nir event is free. Movie tickets are to do, to go through some kind $10. Make reservations for both at of shift for the viewer. I think jewishdayton.org/events. she would have respected that.”
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2021
Kwiatek Continued from Page 16 nal beings living in paradise, authorities over good and evil — as the serpent implied. Expelled from the Garden, humans would now toil in the earth, experience pain and suffering, and ultimately die. Perhaps in the afterlife or at the end of times, humans would return to Eden. The messages of Eden? The architect of the universe, God, is also the only architect of objective morality. Each of you, created in the image of God, has free will, a transcendent rational intellect, an emotional intellect, and responsibility for your choices and their consequences. The serpent is neither the source nor the symbol of what is bad in your life. He just reveals it. The source is you and your worldview and how you act in the world. These are not popular messages today, but they are foundational to Judaism. It’s not a universal belief that everyone has free will and choice. Rather, life is controlled by circumstances. It’s not a universal belief that decision-making should be accomplished by using one’s rational and emotional intellect, with the rational having the final say: “Is this true or false? Is this moral or immoral?” Rather, good intentions and emotions
should rule decision-making, because caring outweighs results. It’s not a universal belief that each of us is responsible for the consequences of our actions and the work that fills our lives. Rather, responsibility and blame belong elsewhere — even on fate. The living laboratory of four concentration camps, however, led survivor Viktor Frankl to reaffirm the truth of the Garden’s messages: “Man has both potentialities within himself (to be like swine or saints); which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions.” More than 3,300 years ago, a group of former slaves left Egypt to establish their own free nation built upon these ideas from Genesis, codified into law and culture at Sinai. Despite exile, persecution, and near-genocide, their descendants retained these messages from Eden, ideas so powerful they shaped Western Civilization, built America, and rebirthed an ancient nation, each of which has experienced success beyond any dreams. The egocentric modern world, however, seems to reject not only the Bible but its verifiable precepts, like those of Eden. One has to wonder if today’s antisemitism and anti-Zionism aren’t, at least in part, because Jews continue to personify these timeless hallowed principles.
OBITUARIES Dr. Bernard “Bud” Berks, age 88, of Germantown. A devoted family man, friend, doctor, and pilot, he passed away peacefully June 4 at his home surrounded by his family and lifelong friends. Dr. Berks was raised in Farrell, Pa. and was inspired toward a career in medicine by his childhood physician. He graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1958, and proudly completed his residency at Grandview Hospital. Upon graduation, Dr. Berks began his own family practice in Germantown and devoted over 50 years providing oldfashioned care, taking house calls or accepting patients at home as well as his office. Even after retirement, Dr. Berks and his devoted wife and partner of 58 years, Claire, continued to inquire about the lives of each community member they touched — sometimes including multiple generations of families served.
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daughter, Stephanie Berks Gordon (Darrell Lewis); son, Jonathan Berks; brother, Michael (Sherry) Berks; lifelong friend, Betty Crouse; sister-in-law, Barbara Mandle; grandchildren, Joshua (Rachel) Gordon, Martin, Madelyn and Megan Berks; many great-grandchildren; nieces, nephews, cousins; many friends; and his beloved grandpuppies, Buddy and Mozzie. Interment was at Beth Abraham Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Germantown Rescue Squad, 79 N. Butter St., Germantown, OH 45327; Crossroads Hospice or the charity of your choice.
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Dr. Berks actively served his community as a member of the Village Council of Germantown and medical advisor to the Germantown Rescue Squad. He was also a member of the Rotary, Masonic Lodge 0257 F&AM, Antioch Temple, and Beth Abraham Synagogue. His lifelong interest in aviation led to his work as an FAA Senior Aviation Medical Examiner — it would not be unusual to see a helicopter landing behind his office. Dr. Berks spent weekends collecting medical antiques and flying with his grandson, Joshua. His physical absence will be felt deeply, but his traits — compassion, wit, kindness — remain in the memories developed throughout his practice and personal life. Dr. Berks was preceded in death by his parents, Martin and Rose Berks; daughter, Jennifer Lynn Berks; sister, Marcia Solomon; and lifelong friend, Dr. Mel Crouse. Dr. Berks is survived by his wife, Claire;
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