Oregon Jewish Life October 2016 Vol.5/Issue 8

OCTOBER 2016

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B’NAI MITZVAH

Little Things Create Meaningful Memories

A&E

America’s Got Talent Discovers Portland’s Orthodox Beat

WOMEN MOVE THE

WORLD NILI YOSHA

Giving Homeless Youth Skills & Confidence

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 1

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THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.

Take us to bed with you.

The feel-good publication that inspires, informs & enriches your life.

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O r e g o n J ewi s h Li fe • O c t o b e r 201 6 • E l u l 57 76 -T i s h r e i 57 7 7 • Vo l u m e 5/I s s u e 8

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YOUNG ADULTS

EMPOWERED WOMEN

Emerson Fellows ready to support Israel 56 Min’s chicken soup legacy 57

COVER STORY Nili Yosha: Giving “Lost Boys” a voice Anna Steckel: Gap year guide Jen Singer: Creating life balance Linda Alper: Theatrical “mom”

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16 22 24 26

Self-defense Israeli style 28 Digital-age divorce 29 BRCA genes 30 SHOC for cancer research 32 Ovarian cancer events 33 Clean eating in minutes 34 Genetic knowledge is power 36 Fitness in a mad minute 37 Women fight for bigger picture 38

FEATURES 34

Strange election provides fodder for journalist’s speech

10

Ins & Outs

12

ISRAEL Sukkot is fine time to be outdoors

39

ARTS & ENTERTAIMENT Talent with an Orthodox beat Forgotten Kingdom’s musical tales

40 42

FOOD Chef’s Corner: The Spice of Life NW Nosh: Boke Bowl

44 46

HOME & LIFESTYLE

60

DIY kitchen updates made easy Organizing saves time Finding joy watching tiny neighbors

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SENIORS Following the mysterious sounds of a trumpet 60 Parkinson’s Gait is not just motor skill issue 62

JKIDS & TEENS TOO Bar & Bat Mitzvah B’nai Mitzvah moments with meaning Consider destination ceremony A bar mitzvah party with a mystery Remember to speak kindly at b’nai mitzvah Bar & Bat Mitzvah Showcase Running in the rain Kids and Teens Calendar

JEWS WITH ATTITUDE

BUSINESS

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Moishe House celebrates first decade

62 65 66 68 70 73 74

JLIVING Community Enrichment honorees named Jewish Book Celebration begins FACES Previews of things to come Calendar

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COLUMNS Chef’s Corner by Lisa Glickman NW Nosh by Kerry Politzer To Life by Amy Hirshberg Lederman Ask Helen Family Time by Debra Rich Gettleman

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COVER • Nili Yosha. Photo by Adam Levey 4 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

This Rosh HaShanah, make a healthy New Year a reality for millions of Israelis.

Magen David Adom serves Israel’s 8.5 million people, providing emergency medical aid, ambulance services, and blood to the injured and ill. Last year, MDA responded to 600,000 emergencies, saving thousands of lives. Join us in this sacred work. Thank you and our best wishes for a healthy New Year.

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 5

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O r e g o n J ewi s h Li fe • O c t o b e r 201 6 • E l u l 57 76 -T i s h r e i 57 7 7

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A Prince Hal Production ( TGMR18) 2016-2017 MediaPort LLC All rights reserved The content and opinions in Oregon Jewish Life do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers, staff or contractors. Articles and columns are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, Oregon Jewish Life, and its agents, publishers, employees and contractors will not be held responsible for the misuse of any information contained herein. The publishers reserve the right to refuse any advertisement.

Publication of advertisements does not constitute endorsement of products or services.

HOW WILL YOU ASSURE JEWISH TOMORROWS? OJCF is your philanthropic partner, promoting strategic philanthropy to help you achieve your charitable goals.

We can assist you with supporting the organizations most important to you through your current and legacy giving.

To discuss creating your Jewish legacy contact: Julie Diamond at 503.248.9328 | julied@ojcf.org

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Shana Tova u'Metuka!

This month we are excited to highlight Empowered Women. The word “empower” can be a bit controversial. Some interpret it to mean strident, selfish or even brash. However, in our Empowered Women’s section, we use it in the true sense of the word: “Make someone stronger and more confident. Liberate.”

Judaism is filled with empowered women, from Sarah to Ruth (coincidentally, both our mother’s names) and Esther, Golda Meir and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to the very epitome of modern empowerment, Sheryl Sandberg.

Robert Philip

And is it just a coincidence that so many Jewish actresses – Gal Gadot, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis – play super heroes or super moms in movies? We like to think there is a connection.

But the true reason we feel it is so important to devote a special section all about women is that women are still significantly underpaid and under-represented in key decision-making positions in the boardroom and beyond. And while women, whether working away from home or stay-at-home moms, may have the significant power of decision-making at home, they are still vastly underrepresented in the other house, the House of Representatives.

The socio-economic benefits of empowering and educating women are huge. In fact, investing in girls’ and women’s education has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty and, of course, improve the lives of our most important national treasure, our children.

Cindy Saltzman

Women do have the power to change the world.

We hope in the following pages, you will be inspired, educated and nourished by the wonderful women and resources we highlight.

Wishing you and yours a sweet, happy and healthy New Year.

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Jews with Attitude

Federation gala presents journalist Jeffrey Goldberg Strange election provides plenty of fodder for Oct. 26 speaker

By Deborah Moon

Award-winning journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic, expects he will have plenty to talk about when he is in Portland Oct. 26.

“This is a very strange, unpredictable election, so I imagine there will be stuff happening that day that will warrant comment,” says Goldberg, the keynote speaker at this year’s Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Gala Celebration (see box).

But Goldberg doesn’t need to rely on the events of the day to ensure he has captivating material.

He will draw from his deep well of knowledge about elections, American standing in the world and the U.S. relationship with Israel to provide a thought-provoking evening. He plans to speak about the debates and the different world views of President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

“All these subjects are huge,” says the winner of prizes including the Daniel Pearl Prize for Reporting and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Prize for best investigative reporter. He wrote The Atlantic’s April 2016 cover story “The Obama Doctrine.”

Asked to encapsulate the three world views of Obama, Clinton and Trump into one sentence each, he initially declined saying it was too complex. Then, after a pause, he did just that.

He says Obama is trying to reduce American exposure to the volatility in the Middle East, Clinton is more traditional advocating for using power appropriately and Trump is more of an isolationist, though he added Trump’s stand is “a little bit of a mystery.”

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“He has not articulated his vision of America’s global role,” says Goldberg.

“What are the consequences for Israel and other countries of American withdrawal from the world?” Goldberg asks. In a July 21 article, he wrote that until Trump’s candidacy, Republican foreign policy fairly clearly understood “the withdrawal of the U.S. from three key regions of the world – East Asia, Europe and the Middle East – would create vacuums soon filled by non-democratic regimes that would operate counter to U.S. national-security interests.”

The continuation of that policy would be uncertain under Trump.

One thing Goldberg believes is crystal clear however: “There’s not a chance in hell he (Trump) can fix everything he promises.”

“People are desperate for all-encompassing answers to problems,” says Goldberg.

“That is why a person like Trump can gain so much power.”

Goldberg has traveled to several other parts of the world this past year, and he has heard a common refrain about this year’s election from his contacts in Europe, Hong Kong and Tokyo: “What are you guys doing?” Sitting in the cafeteria at Israel’s Knesset, he says politicians he has known for years kept asking him to explain the current campaign. “Your politics seem crazier than ours,” he was told by politicians who are accustomed to craziness being the norm in their political arena.

Goldberg understands Israel from firsthand experience.

Growing up in a liberal, non-observant Jewish family on Long Island, he belonged to a Zionist youth group. He made aliyah because, “I wanted to participate in the great adventure of building a Jewish state.” His time in the IDF as a prison guard and his evolving friendship with a Palestinian prisoner provided the material for his book, Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and

“People are desperate for all-encompassing answers to problems.” ~ Jeffrey Goldberg

Terror, which explores the animosities deeply buried in that embattled region.

While pursuit of the Zionist dream took him to Israel, pursuing a different dream brought him back to the United States. “I was pursuing a journalism career and this is the place to do it,” he explains.

Goldberg, who delivered the 2011 Oseran Family Lecture at Congregation Beth Israel, says he is looking forward to returning to Portland. “I like it out there. What’s not to like?

The clouds are a bit much, but it is a great city.”

He was also, at the time of this interview, looking forward to the presidential debates slated for Sept. 26, Oct. 9 and Oct. 19.

“Like many Americans I am eagerly anticipating these debates and also dreading them,” he says. “I am worried they will be more about entertainment than the illumination of issues.”

A week after the final debate, the federation gala should feature both illumination and entertainment in abundant supply.

GALA CELEBRATION WHAT: 2016 Election Edition, Jewish Federation of Greater Portland annual gala WHEN: 7 pm, Oct. 26 WHERE: Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland WHY: Hear dynamic insights into the election and celebrate the federation, which has been uniting, serving and supporting the Jewish community locally and globally since 1920. The evening’s nostalgic Americana theme will feature red, white and blue popcorn, and a festive atmosphere.

WHO: Keynote speaker Jeffrey Goldberg is a recipient of the National Magazine Award for Reporting.

Before joining the Atlantic, he was a Middle East correspondent and the Washington correspondent for The New Yorker. He has also written for the New York Times Magazine, Jewish Daily Forward and The Jerusalem Post.

TICKETS: $60 includes cocktails and dessert; $35 for first 100 under age 35 RSVP by Oct. 12: 503-892-7413 or jewishportland.org/gala

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INS & OUTS WineSpectator.com

the Wines of

JFCS Welcomes New Lifeline Services Assistant

Jewish Family & Child Service has appointed Karen Abrams to the position of Lifeline Services assistant. Karen will provide client and administrative support to the Lifeline Services programs Emergency Aid, Holocaust Survivor Services and Partners for Independence.

Her professional career has centered on health care, hospice and human services in state government and nonprofit organizations. She has played an integral role in helping to establish multiple health care facilities and has also enjoyed a successful career as a communications professional.

Karen holds a B.A. in psychology of health and healing from Naropa University, with a concentration in health care administration. In addition, she holds an M.S. in management from Antioch University New England, with a concentration in marketing health care and hospice services.

A northern New Jersey native, Karen knew she was “home” after she first landed in Portland years ago on a summer break from college. After a long hiatus, Karen returned to Portland in 2010 and is elated to be serving the Jewish community once again and the community at large. kabrams@jfcs-portland.org | 503-226-7079, ext. 126 | jfcs-portland.org

Rabbi Rafi Shenk Joins Oregon Kosher Rabbi Rafi Shenk, from Atlanta via Baltimore, is the newest member of the Oregon Kosher team. Rabbi Shenk will be a “rabbinic field representative,” working with a growing number of companies seeking kosher certification in the Pacific Northwest.

“Rabbi Shenk has shown a tremendous aptitude for practical application of halachah, which is the name of the game in kosher supervision,” says Rabbi Dov Chastain, the Oregon K’s rabbinic administrator. “He also has kosher training from the Star-K, a highly regarded and reputable national kosher agency."

A Georgia native, Rabbi Shenk studied in yeshivas in Atlanta, Baltimore and Israel, and also holds a Master of Education from Johns Hopkins University. In addition to his professional skills, he plays drums and guitar and composes music.

He says he and his wife, Aviva, a kindergarten and firstgrade teacher at Maayan Torah Day School, were drawn to "the warm, welcoming community" in Portland.

Rabbi Shenk will be something of a generalist, visiting facilities ranging from distilleries to coffee companies to dairy factories.

“More and more Northwest companies are seeking kosher certification, as interest in kosher supervision grows 12 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Israel

Surprising Quality From an Emerging Region

vineyards in the golan heights

travel guide to israel New directioNs iN spaiN: More thaN 325 wiNes rated 90+ global values: 100 delicious wiNes $20 or less rupert Murdoch’s los aNgeles wiNery

Karen Abrams

Rabbi Rafi Shenk

Wine Spectator

both nationally and locally," notes Rabbi Chastain. “In addition, many Oregon companies are looking to expand their markets nationwide, and kosher supervision gives them another avenue toward gaining shelf space against their competitors.” rrs@oregonkosher.org | oregonkosher.org

Maimonides Adds Staff Members Rivka Schechter has joined the teaching staff of Maimonides Jewish Day School as Judaic studies teacher for the upper grades. Morah Rivka comes to MJDS after relocating to Portland from Brooklyn, NY, where she was the program coordinator for Ohr HaLimud’s Bais Yaakov School. She also provided educational therapy for students with dyslexia and ADHD in her private practice. While at Ohr HaLimud, she adapted the Orton-Gillingham approach to the teaching of Hebrew reading. Schechter has taught both general and Judaic studies for schools in the United States, Israel and Thailand.

“I am excited to be spending more time in the classroom,” she says. “After several years working in school administration, I missed the satisfaction that only comes from classroom teaching.”

Additionally, Shelley Sanders joins the MJDS faculty as assistant principal. Working in partnership with the leadership and staff, she will nurture social, emotional and cognitive skills as well as helping to develop children’s ethical characters.

She has lived and worked in the Portland area for many years and raised her children here.

For the past six and a half years she was a program area supervisor for Head Start in Washington County. Prior to that, she spent 10 years as the early childhood education director at Congregation Beth Israel.

"I believe childhood is a time for exploration and experimentation,” she says. “As an educator I am committed to providing quality educational support by building a strong foundation for learning, setting clear boundaries and establishing achievable goals for all students at all ages and stages."

“The addition of Rivka Schechter and Shelley Sanders to the Maimonides staff, along with general studies teacher Leah Wegner is a sign of the commitment MJDS has to con-

Rivka Schechter

Shelley Sanders

The Society for Humanistic Judaism

tinually improving its organization and meeting the educational needs of all its students,” says MJDS Principal Rabbi Shnuer Wilhelm.

Maimonidesjds.org | 503-977-7850

Wine Spectator Magazine Praises Israel’s Wines Israel’s wines are featured (and praised) in the cover story of Wine Spectator magazine’s Oct.15 issue, which hit newsstands in September.

The piece titled The Wines of Israel examines how fine wine production is now part of a rich cultural tapestry as a generation of modern-minded winemakers explore what is possible on their arid land.

Wine Spectator also reviews more than 100 Israeli wines for a list of the country’s best bottles, and provides an in-depth guide to the country’s top wineries, the best restaurants and lodgings. Additionally, a new video posted at WineSpectator.com takes a look at the history of wine in Jewish life.

“Following a boom beginning in the early 2000s, driven

by Israelis’ search for quality from their native land and by a dawning appreciation for its wines in both Europe and America, the wine industry in the Jewish state is transforming at a rapid rate,” writes Kim Marcus in the main feature.

In a companion piece, Touring Israel’s Wine Country, Itay Gleitman writes: “A millennium and a half ago, the land that is modern-day Israel was renowned for its wine. The numerous ancient wine presses still being discovered today demonstrate how great the demand was for wine from this part of the world. …

“And the local wines have never tasted better.” winespectator.com

OJCF’s New Socially Responsible Investment Pool Today, more and more people are looking for more than just strong monetary returns on their investments. People are choosing to invest based on personal values that will have a positive impact around the world as well as lead to growth of investments. In response to this growing trend, the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation now offers a Socially Responsible Investment Pool for its Donor Advised

Oregon Jewish Community Foundation

Fund holders and Partner Organizations.

“OJCF is excited to add an SRI pool to our current investment options,” says Executive Director Julie Diamond. “Over the last several years, we have had both individuals and organizations express interest in this type of investment, and we are pleased that we can now provide this new service for our community.”

The SRI pool was evaluated and approved by OJCF’s Investment Committee and Board of Trustees. The balanced pool is structured to provide long-term competitive financial returns as well as positive social impact. The investments that comprise the pool have been screened to meet certain environmental and social governance criteria. ojcf.org | 503-248-9328

Society For Humanistic Judaism Names New Exec The Society for Humanistic Judaism, the congregational arm of the Secular Humanistic Judaism denominational movement, has installed Paul Golin as executive director.

He is a nationally known writer, speaker, advocate and consultant on some of the most important issues facing the organized Jewish community today, including intermarriage, outreach, engagement and inclusion.

Founded more than 50 years ago, Secular Humanistic Judaism embraces a human-centered philosophy combining rational thinking with a deep connection to Judaism and its culture. Humanistic Jews celebrate Jewish holidays and life-cycle events such as weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs with inspirational, non-theistic ceremonies that draw upon but go beyond traditional liturgy. SHJ-affiliated congregations provide a welcoming space for atheistic and agnostic Jews and their family members of all backgrounds in which members can express and celebrate their Jewish cultural identities.

Golin articulates his goal of growth for humanistic Judaism: “Obviously my top priorities are to help grow the membership in the locally affiliated communities and to cultivate more financial resources for SHJ’s work. But I’m also thinking about a deeper kind of growth, and that is personal growth, mission growth, and growth in meaning and impact.

How does Secular Humanistic Judaism improve people’s lives or help people improve the world?”

The Portland affiliate congregation of SHJ is Kol Shalom, OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 13

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INS & OUTS

Community for Humanistic Judaism. 503-459-4210 | info@ kolshalom.org | kolshalom.org | paulgolin@gmail.com

Shongolulu Creates Fashion For A Cause

With the slogan “saving wildlife with style,” a multinational team of entrepreneurs recently launched the fashion company Shongolulu with the goal of raising awareness and resources to protect endangered species and their habitats.

The company donates 10% of its profits to nonprofit organizations that work in wildlife conservation around the world.

“As the most dominant species in the world, it’s our responsibility to take care of and save the other species,” says Shongolulu co-founder Oz Laniado, who grew up in Israel and now lives in southern California.

The company designs, manufactures and sells socks, scarves and hats through its website. Some of the colorful merchandise features images of endangered species such as lions, rhinos, elephants and cheetahs.

The multinational team includes co-founders from Israel, Africa, Europe and the United States. They currently have a partnership with Wildlife Alliance, which works primarily in Southeast Asia, with plans to support wildlife conservation

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Shongolulu

organizations on every continent.

The name Shongolulu is derived from “shongololo” – the Zulu word for millipede. Co-founder Adam Schechter says they replaced the “o’s” with “u’s” because “our mission is nothing without every one of you. It’s about unity and growing this movement until we have a million feet marching.” shongolulu.com

Biz Ins & Outs submissions

Oregon Jewish Life welcome submissions of news items for our Business Ins & Outs column. Please submit a brief writeup (up to 200 words), contact information (phone, email and/or website) and a photo of the person or product (attached jpg at largest available size). Submissions should be sent to Editor-in-Chief Deborah Moon at Deborah.moon@ojlife. com by the 10th of the month for inclusion in the next month’s issue.

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World Power can take many forms.

We’ve profiled four successful women who share their wisdom and skills

with new generations to help them succeed in life and work. Whether

empowering homeless youth, guiding recent graduates to live successfully

away from home, helping young professionals find life balance, or “mothering” young actors and writers, these women are enriching a new generation.

If you don’t have a mentor to turn to, we have resources to help you find

your own power. Fitness, self-defense and healthy eating are the building

blocks for physical strength and safety. Understanding their genetic makeup gives women power over their health and that of their children.

We hope the women and resources on the following pages will inspire you and help you to take control of your life and give you the power to repair the world.

MENTORS 16 Nili Yosha: A Voice for Youth 22 Anna Steckel: Gap Year Guide 24 Jen Singer: Connects Young Adults 26 Linda Alper: Theatrical Mom NILI YOSHA

ANNA STECKEL

RESOURCES 28 Krav Maga & Self Defense 30 Know Your Cancer Risk 32 Ovarian Cancer Research 34 Clean Eating Made Easy 36 What's in Your Genes?

37 Mad Minute to Fitness 38 Women Negotiators

JEN SINGER

LINDA ALPER

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 15

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Nili Yosha

helps Lost Boys find a voice

By Deborah Moon

NILI YOSHA WAS RAISED IN ISRAEL AND HOLLYWOOD immersed in both filmmaking and social action. But when she boarded a plane from Tel Aviv to New York Sept. 10, 2001, she wanted to put social activism aside, concentrate on her studies and do anything but make movies.

The next day as she watched the Twin Towers fall, she realized “You can’t escape your destiny, and you can’t shirk your responsibility as a human being.”

Now she has found the perfect blend of the two passions she sought to leave behind – social justice and the arts. Last year she founded Outside the Frame, a Portland nonprofit that empowers homeless and marginalized youth to tell their stories on film while gaining job skills that will enable them to rejoin society.

Outside the Frame had its public launch in June with the premiere of “The Lost Boys of Portlandia.” The documentary follows Portland’s real lost children as they debate if and how to return to mainstream society while creating their own film of the iconic story Peter Pan.

otfpdx.org to donate or volunteer “The Lost Boys of Portlandia” trailer: vimeo.com/otfpdx/teaser

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NILI YOSHA

PHOTO BY ADAM LEVEY

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 17

1

2 3

4

1 ) Nili is a 13th generation native of Israel. Pictured are four generations of the maternal line in Tel Aviv, 1982. From oldest to youngest: Charne Stern, Hannah “Nili” Merfish, Dorit Yosha, Nili Yosha.

2) Nili Yosha and daughter, Eliana.

3) Filming with young filmmakers during a recent film workshop. Nili Yosha, Nova and Jamie.

4) Cast from “Lost Boys of Portlandia”

18 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

The June 7 inaugural gala drew some 500 people, including politicians who said they would share the film with other policymakers and the filmmakers themselves who answered questions about homelessness and becoming contributing participants in society. HUD Oregon Field Office Director Margaret Salazar welcomed attendees to the event at Revolution Hall, which Nili chose both for its name and location at 1300 SE Stark St., near homeless tent camps.

Outside the Frame offers film workshops for marginalized youth and video production services (courtesy of the youth trained in the program) to organizations that need a voice.

“We create authentic, high-quality media pieces,” says Nili. “We can make your organization look good. And it helps us fund our mission to provide film workshops to homeless and marginalized youth.”

Outside the Frame provides film workshops for youth to share their stories with the community.

Making films, she explains, engages a lot of people with a variety of skills as they create something that changes others’ perceptions.

“You can’t change peoples’ minds through logic, you have to change them through the heart,” says Nili. The films the youth create enable people “to hear what these youth have to say for themselves. This is a two-way street.

People watching are getting educated and changing their views, and hopefully are moved to change policy or give the youth opportunities with a job or internship.”

The film workshops teach the youth soft job skills, and give them confidence and something for their resume.

Some participants in the first Outside the Frame workshop have gone on to complete their GEDs and are now attending college; one was hired as a production assistant by one of the group’s film mentors, and another is on the board as a youth mentor of Step Up while he attends school for film production.

“If we give them tools and chances at this critical time in their life, they will stand on their own two feet,” she says.

While Nili believes Portland has excellent social service programs, she feels providing just necessities is not enough. She sees her program as a valuable complement to those social services.

“There is no Torah without bread, but bread isn’t enough,” says Nili, paraphrasing a Talmudic concept.

She adds that early Jewish scholars “thought of everything already.”

“The age I work with (18-24) is old enough to under-

stand what is going on and young enough to rail against it,” she says. In the past, social service programs ended at age 18 and foster youth were left to find their own way. Now support extends to age 25, and she believes her program is a good complement to the necessities provided by social services.

Nili says she decided to focus her efforts on youth because she realized the experiences she had at a young age were critical to her worldview.

“I grew up seeing how you use film as a tool to make the world a better place with limited resources,” she says.

Her parents, Yaky and Dorit Yosha, are acclaimed filmmakers who directed and starred in Israel’s first anti-war film, “Shalom,” in 1973. In 1978, their film “Rockinghorse” was the first film to represent Israel in the

“You can’t change peoples’ minds through logic, you have to change them through the heart.” ~ Nili Yosha Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival, where they returned with two more films in later years.

The 13th generation of her family to live in the land of Israel, Nili was born during the first Lebanon War in 1982. When she was 4, the family moved to Hollywood for a film project and ended up staying for nine years. Returning to Israel in 1995 after the Oslo Peace Accord, Nili became very involved in the leftist, socialist youth group of the Meretz political party, where she says, “We had a lot of discussions and did lots of social action.”

She participated in a Bat Shalom peace trip with 10 Israeli, 10 Palestinian, 10 Spanish and 10 Italian girls, who spent two weeks in Italy talking about the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. She says a special bond formed the first day between the Israelis and the Palestinians when a bus driver told the girls they couldn’t eat their lunches on the bus. Nili says the Italian and Spanish girls quickly put their lunches away, but the Israelis and Palestinians slid down in their seats and exchanged glances as the surreptitiously ate their sandwiches.

“From then on you couldn’t fool us,” says Nili. “We

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 19

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realized we had more in common than not. … The media divides and conquers.”

Nili says the trip was a very formative experience for all of the girls, which helped her realize what a crucial age the teen years are.

Following high school she was a conscientious objector to serving in the IDF. Instead she spent her compulsory service time doing community service as a counselor working with Israeli Arabs in the village of Tira. She says that Israeli Arabs have the most complex identity in the Middle East, but because they were young, “We had no idea how impossible the situation was, and we did things.”

That experience also taught her the power of supplemental or experiential education, which is the basis of Outside the Frame.

She says she still remains optimistic there will be peace founded on a two-state solution because “there is no other choice. …

People have long wanted peace. People want to raise their children

“The politicians are the stumbling block.

Unfortunately, fearmongering wins elections.” ~ Nili Yosha and not have to worry. The politicians are the stumbling block.

Unfortunately, fear-mongering wins elections.”

After being swept up in the events following 9/11, Nili headed for Portland to attend Reed College.

Coming from Tel Aviv, she says Portland seemed small and wet.

So after two years she moved to California to finish her bachelor’s degree at the San Francisco Art Institute in North Beach and earn a master’s degree in Hebrew Literature from San Francisco State University.

She returned to Portland in 2009, where she discovered that in the years she was away, “Portland has gotten more hip and me less so, so we meet in the middle.”

She is now happily settled here with her partner, Annie Johnson, who is studying with Rabbi Joey Wolf of Havurah Shalom, where she will be his last conversion before he retires.

Nili says she had two babies last year: the first when she launched Outside the Frame and the second a month later with the birth of her daughter, Eliana Yosha, now 14 months old.

She hopes someday Outside the Frame will become a nationwide program to combat homelessness with funding from the government. But for now, her Portland nonprofit relies on volunteers, tax-deductible contributions and contracts with organizations needing a voice for which the youth create authentic, high-quality media products. She has also applied for grants to provide more stable funding to ensure homeless youth have what they need to thrive and rejoin society as contributing members.

“The dilemma of the Lost Boys is whether to go back to the real world,” says Nili. She adds through the power of film, “We can hear what they worry about and what they hope for while clearly seeing they are able to participate in society and be articulate and hard working.”

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 21

Anna Steckel, 22, center, gets to know two of Tivnu’s gap year participants during a camping trip in central Oregon.

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Anna Steckel

Gap year guide teaches life skills

By Deborah Moon

22 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

A

nna Steckel thinks serving as house president of an extremely diverse household of 85 students at Smith College last year is excellent preparation for her new role as Tivnu residential advisor and madrikah (guide).

Seven young adults arrived in Portland Aug. 31 for the Tivnu: Building Justice Gap Year of hands-on, Jewish social justice engagement. Participants live together as they explore connections between Jewish life and social justice. Options include the building track or the new direct service and advocacy track.

“The biggest challenge of getting people to live together is making sure they know it will be hard,” says Anna, noting this will be the first time most of the residents have lived outside their parents’ homes.

“Some will come in and expect it to be fun. It’s not always easy. I want them to balance being realistic and optimistic.”

Tivnu founder Steve Eisenbach-Budner thinks Anna has the right blend of sensitivity to help residents feel comfortable talking about issues with her, authority to make sure residents develop group living skills and organizational skills to help the Tivnu run efficiently.

“RA is a very difficult job,” Steve says. “You have to be supportive … yet authoritative enough to make sure the brass tacks of house operations and growing up work.”

A graduate of Portland Jewish Academy and Riverdale High School, Anna wanted to attend a smaller college where people knew each other. She hadn’t considered an all-girls school, but she visited Smith College in Northampton, MA, because the other small colleges she had visited were in isolated Midwest communities. She says she fell in love with the Smith community and its housing concept of students staying in the same house of 12 to 110 students for all four years.

“It was a wonderful eye into intentional communities,” says Anna.

“It is important to be able to say, ‘I need help, support, space…’”

Congregation Kesser Israel, which her parents, Adam and Ruth, and sister, Lily, continue to attend.

During her senior year, Anna also served as co-president of the Smith College Jewish Community. In her first two years she generally joined a friend’s family at an Amherst synagogue for services since she did not find the campus group’s core membership of six or seven to be very welcoming. Last year she and her copresident worked to make the community open to anyone curious ~ Anna Steckel about Judaism; the Passover seder drew about 80 people.

Anna also plans to rely on the leadership skills she has gained at the Summer Enrichment Program at the University of Oregon.

“It allows anyone in the house to hold leadership positions. My During high school, she spent summer at SEP and then served on senior year I was house president; I learned how to run meetings – the staff during college. For the past two summers she served as how to engage students with the community of the house and not counselor supervisor. just see it as housing. It was ideal training for Tivnu.”

“I’m really excited to take all the leadership experience I have The key skill that she learned about living away from home had and apply it to this job,” says Anna. “Being back in Portland is is the need for self-advocacy, a skill she hopes to share with her also exciting. And finding myself a part of the Jewish community Tivnu household. again is really great.”

“It is important to She looks forward be able to say, ‘I to sharing her need help, support, love of the Pacific space…’ Being Northwest with the able to articulate Tivnu residents. my needs was one Part of her job will of the best things be to take them on I learned moving day or weekend trips away from home. around the region.

Parents know our She anticipates moods and know introducing the when to give space group, who come or support. I can’t from across the read their (gap country, to Lost year residents) Lake near Mount minds, so they Hood so they can need to learn open experience the hiking, communication swimming, camping and honesty.” and fishing she knows Six of this year’s seven Tivnu participants are welcomed to their new home for the next nine Since conflicts so well. months by Tivnu Program Director Adinah Miller (in red and white) with son Eitan and inevitably arise The one area where Tivnu RA Anna Steckel (third from right). when unfamiliar Anna does not have people live in close direct experience is quarters, Anna says she will emphasize “Let’s work together to as a gap year participant. With her involvement in NCSY, most of make this work.” her friends who went on a gap year program went to Israel to take Coming from a household that had 85 people from all over the classes at a university there. globe, raised in virtually every major religion, and all shapes and “I realized going to school in Israel was not really the break from colors, Anna is accustomed to diversity. school I was looking for,” says Anna. “I would have loved a gap Her double major in psychology and Jewish studies will also year in a program like Tivnu, which wasn’t available then. I work be useful at Tivnu, as will her own diverse Jewish experiences. there (Tivnu) for a reason. They give the opportunity to kids who She grew up and became a bat mitzvah at Congregation Shaarie wouldn’t normally have it.”

Torah. During high school she was active in NCSY and attended

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 23

Jen Singer:

Mentors gain as much as they give

By Deborah Moon

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

H

aving served as a formal mentor for the real estate and Jewish communities, Jen Singer believes more people need to step up as both formal and informal mentors.

“People mentor us every day,” says Jen. “A mentor is someone you rely on, trust, confide in; they take the time to listen and give insight back.”

Jen, 43, has served as a mentor for Keller Williams Real Estate and for PDX Pathways, the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland pilot mentor program for which she was one of four founders. She has also mentored paid interns on summer vacation or those taking a year off from college.

“For me, it’s not about having the answer, it’s about being able to point someone in the direction for the answer,” she says. “When I mentor, I try to help people figure out their life balance and goals and how to achieve them.”

As one of the four founders of PDX Pathways (along with Michael Jeser, Kim Rosenberg and Rob Schlachter), Jen’s priority has been to help young adults find their place in the Jewish community.

“I was born and raised here,” she says.

“But when I became single in 2009, I found

24 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Photo by Modern Art Photograph

it challenging to find where I fit into the community. … How do we help young adults find their place?”

Jen wanted to help young professionals find ways they could be part of the Jewish community, how they could enhance their career path, and how they could tie the two together and use their skills to benefit the community.

So, despite the fact that she had 90 days to plan her wedding for 220 guests on Labor Day weekend, Jen agreed to mentor one of three groups in the pilot program of PDX Pathways. Jen spent the summer meeting with three women and three men involved in entrepreneurial, marketing and technical fields to help them advance their careers and lives, all while finding a Jewish home.

Jen says the main change she feels needs to be made to the pilot program is to have it last longer than the summer.

“It has been amazing to watch these young adults want to take part in something and the commitment they made over the summer,” says Jen. The 17 people who took part in the pilot program learned what federation does and what the community has to offer.

Left: Jen finds balance with her husband, Kevin, and daughter, Lucy, under the family chuppah.

“Our group talked about the workplace and how to navigate it,” says Jen. She says one woman who was formerly in the military was having a hard time dealing with people who did not carry out assignments. This woman had been accustomed to people following orders, and the civilian workplace was a perplexing transition for her.

Jen explains that regardless of the business someone is in, there are three basic skills needed: communication, teamwork and the ability to present oneself as one wants to be seen.

“At the end of the day, the only thing we have is our reputation,” she says. “About 80% of the time, it walks into the room before we do. How do you keep your reputation intact when asking for a raise or quitting a job?”

For Jen, the key thing she wants her mentees to learn is how to find and pursue their life balance.

“Most young adults are heavily career focused,” she says. “I talk to them about ~ Jen Singer getting into a groove of what life balance looks like. If it’s not a priority now, it’s harder to make it a priority later when there are more variables (like a spouse and kids).”

When Jen asked her PDX Pathway mentees to share where they want to be in five years, most responded with work-related answers. “But what do you want your life to look like?” she asked them.

Jen says the benefit to the mentor is almost as great as for the mentee.

“The more I talk about life balance, the more balance I gain in my life,” she says, adding, you teach to mastery – whatever you explain to your mentees becomes clearer to you.

Jen says she also gains optimism.

“I gain belief in the future,” she says. “There is so much positivity that happens in these interactions.”

So as Jen headed off to marry Kevin Brown, the father of their 2½-year-old daughter, Lucy, she took the time to talk about the importance of community and mentoring. She wants a new generation to find the lifelong friendships she developed at B’nai B’rith Camp and through BBYO youth organization.

She wants other young parents to find the benefit of Portland Jewish Academy, where Lucy started preschool this fall.

And she looks forward to the 40 community leaders who have stepped forward as Pathways Partners to help more young adults find their place within both the workplace and the Jewish community.

“The more I talk about life balance, the more balance I gain in my life.”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 25

Linda Alper:

Mentoring is “maternal” EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

By Deborah Moon

W

ith more than 30 years as a theater professional to her credit, Linda Alper finds she often becomes a mentor to younger artists she works with.

“It usually begins with a relationship of working together on a project,” says Linda, a resident artist at Artists Repertory Theatre. “I see younger artists I admire and watch them evolve. … I help them move forward in their career. It’s kind of maternal.”

Helping young artists often includes recommending them for programs, roles and auditions and helping them prepare for specific auditions or

Above: Linda Alper Right: Linda Alper in Artists Repertory Theatre’s production of “The Price,” with Michael Mendelson, left, and Michael Elich.

create an audition tape. She says the directors and recruiters she refers her young charges to are often appreciative. “Their job is to look for talented, hard-working actors.”

A year ago she took mentorship to an international level. She spent a month in Islamabad, Pakistan, working with a “hard-working theater group.” She hopes to return there next year on a grant to provide more intensive mentoring on running a theater. “I hope to bring them to Portland so people can meet people they think are really different, but who really aren’t,” says Linda. “It breaks down stereotypes.”

26 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Her time in Pakistan was one of several Fulbright grants she has received over the years, which include short-term travel or specialist grants to Taiwan, Beijing and Hong Kong. She also received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Grant to serve as a professor at Soochow University in Taiwan for the 2011-12 school year. During that year, her husband, Kevin Cooney, worked as a guest professor, and their daughter, Rose Cooney, now 27, studied in mainland China for a year abroad. The next year Rose started a job in Shanghai, where she lived for nearly three years.

Linda and Kevin had visited Shanghai during their stays in Hong Kong and Beijing, both of which are about an hour’s flight from that city. Linda was interested in Shanghai because her mother’s second husband, who had escaped from Germany as a teen, volunteered at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and gave Rose a memoir called The Shanghai Diary

Berlin who grows up in Shanghai, an international city prone to corruption. The saving grace for Jews fleeing Germany, however, was that Shanghai accepted displaced persons without visas. While refugees initially lived throughout the city, after Japan invaded and took control of the city, the Jews were forced into a one-square-mile ghetto shared with 100,000 poor Chinese residents.

“This is a real story of two incredibly different cultural communities living and working together in tolerance,” says Linda.

The play’s main character is a composite drawn from published memoirs and oral histories from the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education and the U.S. Holocaust Museum.

In addition to sharing a little known history of rescue, Linda says the play is also relevant to the plight of refugees today.

“Not many people know about the 20,000 European Jews who survived World War II in Shanghai.” ~ Linda Alper

when she turned 14.

“Not many people know about the 20,000 European Jews who survived World War II in Shanghai,” says Linda. She recently received a Table|Room|Stage commission from Artists Rep to complete her play, tentatively titled “The Only Place Left,” which explores that experience.

Linda’s play follows an adolescent girl originally from

“The only time there were as many or more refugees was during the second world war,” says Linda, noting there are other parallels beyond sheer numbers. “People would not take Jews in when they needed to get out of Europe. So many doors were closed, similar to today.”

Linda plans to finish writing this year, and Artists Rep plans to develop and workshop the play during its 2016/17 season.

As an actress, Linda has played leading roles at Portland Center Stage, Portland Shakespeare project, Off Broadway, Mark Taper Forum, The Intiman, Seattle Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse and Baltimore Center Stage. She spent 23 seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, where she acted in more than 50 productions.

She has co-written adaptations and translations produced by numerous theaters and festivals including the Stamford Shakespeare Company in the United Kingdom.

“An important part of my writing is that I’ve had relationships with the actors I’m writing for,” says Linda. “That influences the writing.”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 27

Left: Krav Maga works well for smaller people against larger attackers. Since it does not rely on strength, power or athleticism is very popular for women wanting to learn selfdefense.

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Feel Bold, learn to fight dirty

By Deborah Moon

A

couple of years ago, a now-retired Krav Maga instructor explained to me why the hand-tohand combat techniques developed for the Israeli military are ideal skills for women’s self-defense.

“There are no rules when you’re fighting for your life, so we teach ‘dirty fighting,’ striking vulnerable targets such as the eyes, nose, throat, groin, and secondarily knees and shins to make the attacker fall,” Mark Blake told me.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that one in three U.S. women have suffered physical violence from a partner, one in five women have been raped, and 1 in 7 women have been stalked and fear she or someone close to her will be harmed or killed.

28 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Now women anywhere can learn the self-defense techniques of Krav Maga. A press release from Krav Maga Worldwide announces the first-ever online academy.

Krav Maga Worldwide Academy members can learn life-saving selfdefense tips anywhere they have an internet connection. The website (kravmaga.com/academy) offers links to local academies for learning in person, but if you live far away from one of the three Krav Maga centers in Oregon and Southwest Washington, you can still learn the techniques to defend yourself against larger, stronger attackers.

Krav Maga emphasizes neutralizing the threat, avoiding injury to yourself, going from defending to attacking as quickly as possible, and using any tool or object nearby as a weapon.

Founder Imi Lichtenfeld was a champion boxer and wrestler who adapted his formal skills to include street fighting as the Nazis rose to power in the 1930s bringing anti-Semitic attacks to Bratislava, Slovakia, where Lichtenfeld lived. He took those skills to pre-state Israel training local Jewish defense groups and paramilitary organizations such as Haganah. He then spent 30 years developing and teaching his close combat technique to Israel Defense Forces before retiring and sharing Krav Maga with civilians. Today, Krav Maga centers around the world teach his life-saving defense techniques.

With the new online academy, students can learn at their own pace wherever they live. Each lesson incorporates slides, printouts, forums, peer chat, bookmarks, notes and progress tracking. Classes available are designed for learning the basic techniques of Krav Maga, for teaching kids and anti-bullying, and for defenses to use against guns.

The self-defense lesson teaches the key pillars of selfprotection. According to the website: “We instruct you on the most effective ways to get out of dangerous situations, such as choke holds and headlocks. … This lesson is integral to Krav Maga, as it will help to ensure your safety in a hostile situation.”

Founded in 1997 to promote Krav Maga throughout the United States and around the world, Krav Maga Worldwide trains and certifies instructors and licenses more than 150 authorized Krav Maga Worldwide training centers in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South America and Europe.

So in a center or online, self-defense options are readily accessible.

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Divorce in the digital age

By Jessica A. Flint

everything you post online can be accessed by your spouse’s attorney, regardless of security features or privacy settings.

Remember that once something is online, it is essentially impossible to fully remove it.

O

versharing can be too easy when disclosing personal information and happens as fast as the push of a button.

To avoid potential missteps, it is beneficial to take that extra second and think before you act. Whether speaking directly to your spouse or to a social media audience, every word you say can impact your legal case. Here are a few simple “dos and don’ts” when it comes to managing a digital presence during a divorce: DO READ OVER MESSAGES BEFORE YOU SEND THEM Sending an emotional message may feel like a relief in the moment, but it can have serious repercussions in court. Take a step back and ask yourself if what you intend to send is something you would be OK with a judge seeing in court.

Anything you send can be traced back to you, and the long-term consequences may not be worth the short-term satisfaction DON’T FORWARD EMAILS FROM YOUR ATTORNEY Passing on communications from your attorney to others can waive your privilege to keep conversations with your attorney private and confidential. Do not turn private advice from your attorney into something your spouse has a right to see because you sent your attorney’s email on to someone else. Only send attorney-client communications on to others if it is first approved by your attorney.

DO USE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES CAUTIOUSLY According to Pew Research Center, 65% of American adults used some sort of social media website regularly in 2015.

Accessing Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr is easier than ever via your computer, smartphone, tablet or laptop. You should assume

DON’T BREAK INTO YOUR SPOUSE’S PERSONAL INFORMATION Using electronic surveillance programs to “check up” on your spouse may seem well-intentioned, but the fruits of such efforts are useless when it comes to a court of law. The same often applies to unauthorized access to your spouse’s email accounts. In truth, your attorney is generally unable to use this information and these unauthorized actions may actually subject you to civil and criminal penalties. To avoid this issue altogether, keep in mind that evidence may be excluded if it has been illegally obtained.

DO SECURE YOUR DEVICES AND ACCOUNTS If your spouse knows or could guess your passwords, it is time for your passwords to change. Reset all passwords on your computers, email accounts, smartphone, tablet and other online accounts. Select new passwords that you can remember but ones that cannot easily be guessed by another person. It is also a good idea to remember to turn off the location settings on your cell phone.

All information that is given to you during your divorce should stay only with you. Privacy and professionalism are important factors to make your divorce as easy as possible.

Jessica A. Flint is an associate at Gevurtz Menashe.

This information is not intended to be legal advice regarding any particular case or issue, and it is not intended to replace the work of an attorney. Gevurtz Menashe has experienced family law and estate planning attorneys licensed in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. 503-227-1515 | gevurtzmenashe.com

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 29

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Ashkenazi women under-tested for cancer genes

By Deborah Moon

A

shkenazi women are under-tested for genetic risk for breast and ovarian cancer, according to medical oncologist Dr. Lucy Langer, the national director of genetic risk, evaluation and testing for Compass Oncology and US Oncology Network.

Ashkenazim (central or eastern European Jewish descent) have a one in 40 chance of having a harmful BRCA1/2 (BReast CAncer) genetic mutation. Only one in 400 people in the general U.S. population have such a mutation.

A mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 increases a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer from 12% (1 in 8) to as high as 80% (8 in 10); lifetime risk of ovarian cancer increases to between 16% and 60% versus just under 2% for the general population. Men with BRCA1/2 mutations also have increased risks of cancer – colon, prostate, pancreatic and breast.

Dr. Langer’s comment echoes a finding from an international conference held in Israel this summer. The conference was sponsored by Cure Breast Cancer Foundation and brought together breast cancer researchers from the United States, Europe and Israel. A press release from the symposium noted that testing for mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 only for those with suspicion-arousing family histories may deny other people with the mutations the opportunity to undertake prevention strategies.

In a news conference at the end of the symposium, Conference Chair Dr. Larry Norton said, “not having a family history does not mean that you should not be tested.” Dr. Norton, who is the medical director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center of Memorial Sloan Kettering Medical Center, continued, “Indeed, testing all Ashkenazi Jews, as an example, finds twice as many people with mutations as testing just those with family histories.”

30 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

“Knowing that one has a dangerous mutation could well be life-saving, since one can do things that minimize one’s risks,” he added.

Genetic screening for cancer risk began with BRCA testing, which is at one end of the spectrum where the increased risk is well documented. At the other end, says Dr. Langer, are genes such as the CHEK2 gene mutation, for which the individual risk of cancer is modified by family history.

As knowledge of inherited gene mutations that can lead to cancer has grown, many labs now offer panelbased genetic testing, which looks at a large set of genes in a single test. Dr. Langer says labs offer panels that look for six (all related to breast and ovarian cancer), 25 or 36 mutations, with one lab in Seattle testing for 99, which many physicians feel is excessive.

Dr. Langer recommends using a panel based on a patient’s family history. “Panels include genes for which you can take action if they are found,” she says. “It is actionable.”

Carriers of genetic mutations found in these panels should consult with genetic counselors regarding their increased risk of developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer and possibly thyroid or kidney cancer.

Genetic counselors can help patients consider appropriate responses including early and more frequent screening, lifestyle alterations, certain medications and preventive surgery.

“For example, a patient with a CHEK2 mutation who does not have a family history of ovarian cancer is likely not at a very high risk; the risk of breast cancer increases with the number of cases reported in the family,” says Dr. Langer. “CHEK2 is also associated with a risk of colon cancer, so surveillance colonoscopies are recommended at about twice the usual

frequency (one every five years) for patients with colon cancer in their family.”

Early detection is a key factor in survival rates for many cancers.

Improved detection and treatment have substantially increased five-year survival rates for women with breast cancer.

The National Cancer Institute reports that five-year survival rates increased from 75.2% in 1975 to 90.6% in 2008; death rates fell an average of 1.9% each year from 2004 to 2013. Survival rates for ovarian cancer, which is frequently detected much later than breast cancer, have also improved from 33.7% in 1975 to 46.2% in 2008. The NCI Fact Sheets note that the statistics “are based on large groups of people, they cannot be used to predict exactly what will happen to an individual patient.”

Dr. Langer says some exciting new treatments have emerged in recent years.

For instance, breast cancer that is HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) positive, is often more aggressive and harder to treat with hormone treatments used for other types of breast cancer. A new drug, pertuzumab (Perjeta), was approved by the FDA in 2014. “When we use pertuzumab with standard chemo before surgery … patients can actually feel the cancer shrinking,” says Dr. Langer. “If we do chemo before surgery, we can do ultrasound and other studies to show the treatment is working.”

She says immunotherapy cancer treatments may be “the wave of the future.”

Dr. Langer says that Keytruda, which “made the mass in President Carter’s brain go away, if you remember that story … boosts the immune system to recognize cancer as a foreign cell rather than (part of) self.”

She says these new drugs can have immune-related side effects, but they appear to be effective.

Compass Oncology is currently running a clinical trial for patients whose breast cancer is triple negative (lacking HER2, estrogen and progesterone). The trial uses standard chemo and an experimental drug before surgery. Information on this and other clinical trials is available at compassoncology.com.

Cancer care built around you The most frightening part of any cancer diagnosis is not knowing what will happen next. For breast cancer patients the feeling of losing control is overwhelming. Compass Breast Specialists is a multidisciplinary team of surgical, medical and radiation oncologists, nurse navigators, pathologists and supportive care experts all focused on helping you regain control and participate fully in choosing the best course of treatment for your needs. From the beginning of treatment to life beyond cancer, you’ll find a culture of listening, collaboration and respect.

Find your path to hope and healing at CompassOncology.com.® OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 31

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Ovarian cancer

research inspired by Sherie Hildreth, funded by SHOC

By Deborah Moon

D

iagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2004, Sherie Hildreth, z”l, has been a constant source of inspiration and funding for Dr. Tanja Pejovic, who heads a Gynecologic Cancer Lab at OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute.

“Sherie was very forward-thinking and noble and engaged,” says Dr. Pejovic. “She was thinking beyond herself.”

A lifelong member of Congregation Beth Israel, Sherie, like 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jews, had a BRCA mutation. Sherie founded the Sherie Hildreth Ovarian Cancer Foundation in 2005 to support ovarian cancer research and awareness. For 12 years SHOC has hosted a fun run and walk, and other events, to raise funds for Dr. Pejovic’s lab.

“The OHSU Cancer Foundation told me it is rare to sustain an effort for 12 years,” says Dr. Pejovic. “These are ordinary people, not huge donors, who come together year after year. I have not missed a single year.”

With the current “revolution in cancer therapeutics,” Dr. Pejovic says Sherie’s legacy is playing a role. Though Sherie succumbed to a recurrence of her cancer in December 2009, Dr. Pejovic says, “We all think about her. She is always there.”

Over the years, SHOC has donated $730,000 to Dr. Pejovic’s

32 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Dr. Tanja Pejovic addresses runners and walkers at the SHOC Walk & Run.

research. “With SHOC support, we built the team that now includes two more labs and their expertise,” she says. “We are able to team up with colleagues in adjacent labs to discuss projects … it adds additional strength.”

Two parallel developments in ovarian cancer research – targeting and immunotherapy – are very exciting, according to Dr. Pejovic.

Targeting allows doctors to tailor cancer treatment toward the unique molecular profile of a tumor. That means the very BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations that make a woman more susceptible to ovarian cancer also make the tumor cells more susceptible to targeted treatment. Women with a BRCA1 or 2 mutation have proteins in their cells that do not perform the DNA repair of normal cells, explains Dr. Pejovic: “The proteins just are not working properly,” making women more likely to develop cancer. Yet those same mutated BRCA proteins make it “easier for chemo to kill the cancer cells.”

Immunotherapy is a parallel development in which cancer vaccines can be targeted to specific proteins. “Almost all ovarian cancer cells have a protein, survivin, in great amounts that is very low in normal cells,” Dr. Pejovic says. “The vaccine marks the protein and activates the immune system to attack those cells with the protein.”

OHSU recently launched a clinical trial combining an investigational DPX-Survivac vaccine with low-dose chemotherapy drugs for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

For information about the trial, contact trials@ohsu.edu or 503-494-1080.

Below left: Sherie Hildreth, z"l Below: About 600 participants turned out for the 12th annual SHOC Walk & Run, raising an estimated $60,000, which will be donated to support the work of Dr. Tanja Pejovic at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. Next year’s bat mitzvah edition of the run will be Aug. 5. For more information about other SHOC events, visit shocfoundation.org.

OVARIAN CANCER EVENTS O-Vary Funny!

WHEN: 6 pm, Thursday, Oct. 6 WHERE: DoubleTree Hotel,

1000 NE Multnomah St., Portland.

WHAT: Silent auction, dinner and the

comedy and magic of Hart Keene.

WHY: It is the only fundraising event

hosted by the Ovarian Cancer

Alliance of Oregon & SW Washington.

TICKETS: $75 per person; $750 for a reserved

table for 10. Scholarship tickets are

offered to ovarian cancer survivors.

Tickets must be purchased in

advance at http://ocaosw. schoolauction.net/ovaryfunny2016/ SPONSORS: Gold: Compass Oncology; Walsh

Trucking; Silver: Jay and Diane

Zidell Charitable Foundation;

Oregon Health & Science University;

The Zidell Companies; Bronze:

Genentech, Inc.; Legacy Health

Systems; Myriad Genetics, Inc.;

Pacific Seafood

Complementary Medicine Seminar

WHEN: 10 am-noon, Saturday, Nov. 5 WHERE: McMenamin’s Kennedy School,

5736 NE 33rd Ave., Portland.

WHO: Dr. Cynthia Bye, ND will moderate

the seminar and provide an

introduction to complementary

medicine. Dr. Bye specializes in cancer

care. Additional speakers will focus on

acupuncture, nutrition and more.

Registration is required, but the

event is free. Space is limited.

http://ovariancancerosw.org/ event-2194664 .

Breast Friends/SHOC Girls’ Nite Out

WHAT: Potluck and Emotional Support for

Breast, Ovarian & Other Women’s Cancers WHEN: 6-8 pm, Third Thursday of each month WHERE: SHOC Foundation, 18575 Portland

Ave., Gladstone CONTACT: Cindy Guarente 503-721-2624 days,

503-557-3128 eves; cguarente@bullardlaw.com; OR: Breast Friends Co-Founder Sharon

Henifin 503-598-8048 or sharon@breastfriends.org

Other Resources and Events

For more information on other resources and events for ovarian cancer patients, visit shocfoundation.org or ovariancancerosw.org/Pacific-Northwest

orjewishlife.com

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 33

A EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Tips

for clean eating

ward-winning registered dietitian nutritionist, Cordon Bleu-certified chef and best-selling author Michelle Dudash has created recipes for busy moms struggling to feed their families nourishing meals while the clock is ticking.

As an on-the-go working mom herself, Michelle understood early on that it is possible to cook like a chef while eating like a nutritionist, which is where the idea materialized for her first book, Clean Eating for Busy Families: Get Meals on the Table in Minutes with Simple and Satisfying Whole-Foods Recipes You and Your Kids Will Love (Fair Winds Press, January 2013). In January 2016, Michelle launched her online program: Clean Eating Cooking School: Monthly Meal Plans Made Simple (cleaneatingcookingschool.com).

The clean eating food movement has gained popularity over the last several years. Starting to eat clean does not have to be daunting.

“The clean concept boils down to eating whole foods and minimally processed foods made with whole-food ingredients that are good for your body and good for the planet,” says Michelle. “Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll be on your way in no time.”

Here are her five food rules for eating clean: CHOOSE FOODS CLOSEST TO THEIR NATURAL STATE The less processed foods are, the more naturally occurring vital nutrients and the fewer harmful ingredients they contain.

Instead of components that sound like things from lab experiments, opt for foods with ingredients you find in home kitchens.

ENJOY A COLORFUL ARRAY OF FOODS Each color of the rainbow provides a unique blend of diseasefighting, immunity-boosting antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals.

GO LOCAL AND SEASONAL Foods that travel shorter distances to get from farm to fork leave a smaller carbon footprint, making them better for the planet. Start by reading the signs next to your produce and the labels on the backs of packages.

CHOOSE HUMANELY PRODUCED FOODS THAT ARE GOOD FOR THE PLANET Learn what you can about the companies you buy food from.

Every time you check out at the grocery store, you are voting for who will fail or succeed.

ENJOY EVERY BITE Food not only nourishes and fuels our bodies and minds, it also provides entertainment, encourages creativity, invites togetherness and rejuvenates the soul. Food should taste good first and then be good for us also. As often as possible, enjoy food intentionally while seated at the table and avoid mindless snacking.

Beef Lettuce Wraps 34 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Chicken Piccata

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 35

Every parent wants a healthy child.

Pre-pregnancy screening for Jewish genetic diseases provides information and options to increase your odds of having a healthy baby.

Now a new generation needs to be reminded of the importance of getting tested for the 100 diseases that are now included on Ashkenazi genetic screening panels.

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Know child's risk for

Jewish genetic diseases

By Hillary Kener and Deborah Moon

A

s we approach the new year of 5777, we reflect on the past and hope for the future. At this time of spiritual introspection, science offers a way we can positively impact the lives of our family and the entire Jewish community.

One in four Ashkenazi (eastern European) Jews is a carrier for at least one preventable genetic disease. Often women are offered testing for these genetic diseases after they become pregnant, when their options for avoiding having a child with one of these diseases are limited.

The prognoses of many of these diseases are horrific; several, such as Tay-Sachs and Canavans, are fatal in early childhood.

SUCCESS OF SCREENING The ability of science to substantially reduce the incidence of these diseases was demonstrated by the effectiveness of screening for Tay-Sachs disease. Thanks to a large-scale awareness campaign in the 1970s and ’80s, Tay-Sachs screening reduced the incidence of the fatal disease in the Jewish community by more than 90%.

Before 1970 there were about 60 cases a year in the United States; now there are about three to five cases a year among U.S. Jews.

36 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

WHY JEWISH GENETIC DISEASES? Biology and Jewish history explain why the Ashkenazi population has such high carrier rates.

Jewish genetic diseases are recessive, single-gene mutations on one of the 22 non-sex chromosomes.

Couples in which both partners have the mutation for the same disease have a 25% chance of having a child with the disease. For each pregnancy, there is a one in four chance the child will have the disease, a two in four chance the child will be a carrier of the disease and a one in four chance the child will be a noncarrier.

During the large diaspora following the destruction of the second Temple, the incidence of the mutated genes in the Ashkenazi population was increased by repeated cycles of that population expanding and then shrinking dramatically several times over 2,000 years. Persecution reduced the Ashkenazi population frequently; if a person with a mutated gene survived, the gene was then in a larger percentage of that population.

GAUCHER & NIEMANN-PICK AWARENESS October marks Gaucher Disease Awareness Month as well as Niemann-Pick Disease Awareness Month, two diseases that affect the Jewish population at rates higher than in the general population. Gaucher Disease, which is treatable with enzyme replacement therapy, is the most common Jewish genetic disease; approximately 1 in 12 Jews are carriers.

JScreen, a national nonprofit genetic screening initiative, brings the innovative technology of genetic screening to your front door.

Thanks to generous philanthropists, JScreen is able to greatly reduce the cost of screening to $149 (which includes genetic counseling follow-up). JScreen’s goal is to make screening accessible and affordable to anyone interested.

JScreen can test for more than 100 different genetic diseases, including over 40 diseases that are more common among people of Jewish ancestry. JScreen provides results by way of a certified genetic counselor, so you can ask questions, better know what your results mean and talk through all of your options to help ensure you can have a healthy baby.

JScreen seeks to reach couples pre-conception, so they have their genetic information early on and thus more options to have a healthy baby.

JScreen challenges you to mention genetic screening to five people over the course of the High Holidays. Tell them to visit JScreen.org, where they can learn more, request a “DNA spit kit” or ask a question.

Hillary Kener is assistant director of national outreach at Emory University’s department of human genetics.

Jeremy Scott’s

Author, coach, athlete and trainer Jeremy Scott is a former collegiate athlete and cum laude graduate turned best-selling author of Make Success Mandatory and Get Lean Gluten Free.

His blog has been named one of the top 20 fitness blogs online by Breaking Muscle.

SHAPE Magazine named him one of the 50 Hottest Trainers in America. Jeremy is a contributor for Men’s Health Magazine and also a Reebok sponsored athlete. jeremyscottfitness.com

Mad Minute Workout W elcome to “The Mad Minute Workout.” Set up a simple four-movement bodyweight circuit. Select a rep-range and complete the circuit as many times as you can within the given time frame – in this case one minute, hence the name “Mad Minute.” A 10-minute workout would be 10 total rounds starting a new round on the minute, every minute.

Prisoner Squats

T-Push Ups

Start standing tall with your feet shoulderwidth or slightly wider apart, place your hands near the back of your head (as if you were being arrested – aka prisoner style).

With a straight back, tighten your core, shift your hips back and lower as far as your hip mobility allows. Making sure your heels are pressed firmly to the floor as your knees bend. “Back straight, chest out” – look straight ahead, not at the floor. Pause at the bottom of your movement for a split second and return to your starting position. 5 reps.

T-pushups are a great way to integrate your shoulders, chest and core into one amazing metabolic movement. Start in prone pushup position with your hands about shoulder-width apart. Perform standard pushup, but at the top of the movement, twist your feet and hips and lift arm from the floor raising it toward the ceiling, as your entire body turns in sync making your body a perfect “T.” Return slowly to the starting prone position and repeat with the opposite hand. Keep your body in a straight line from head to heel as your torso turns in sync. 6 reps, 3 per arm.

Seal Jacks

Mt. Climbers

Stand tall with your feet together and hands in front your chest.

Moving your feet and hands, jump as you spread your arms and legs at the same time. Once you reach your full range of motion with your feet and arms snap back to the starting position with your hands coming just short of clapping. 10 rep.

Begin in the pushup position with your hands about shoulder-width and your weight supported by your toes and hands. Holding your body in a straight line from your head to heel, flex your knee and hip driving one knee as close to your stomach as your mobility allows. Return to starting pushup position and repeat with the opposite leg. Quickly repeat extending and flexing your knee and hip in alternating fashion making sure your body remains in a straight line with little to no movement in your lower back. If you imagine you have a glass of water on your back and try not to spill it, you will ensure you are getting the most out of your core. 10 reps, 5 per arm.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 37

EMPOWERED WOMEN Improve the World

Businesses win when women fight for others

A

new Tel Aviv University study on women in the workplace finds women are as savvy and exacting as their male counterparts when negotiating with or on behalf of

Junior Ad

friends.

The study was conducted by Dr. Hilla Dotan of TAU’s Coller School of Management and Professor Uta Herbst of Potsdam

University in Germany. It will appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing.

Dr. Dotan and her team conducted two laboratory studies, which paired 216 MBA students in single-gender teams, some of whom were friends and some of whom were not. The teams engaged in several multi-issue negotiations – concerning pesticide products in one scenario, and airplane engines and parts in another.

“When we looked at the negotiation tactics and outcomes of these young professionals, we found several differences between men and women,” said Dr. Dotan. “However, the one condition under which we found no difference between men and women was when women negotiated in teams of friends.

“We found that women negotiate better outcomes when 38 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

negotiating on behalf of others whom they care about. Men do not exhibit a difference in this respect. What’s important for women is the sense of fighting for others, for their friends, for something bigger than themselves.”

QUESTIONING ASSUMPTIONS According to Dr. Dotan, existing research is “disheartening.”

Men initiate negotiations four times as often as women; women negotiators generally achieve 30% less than their male counterparts; 20% of women do not negotiate at all even when they believe they ought to; and women consider negotiations a chore rather than a pleasure.

“We consistently read that women negotiate lower outcomes than men. But is this really true?” said Professor Herbst.

“We know that women generally behave differently in the workplace. They focus on maintaining relationships and cooperation and fostering harmony, which are ripe circumstances for negotiations. This behavioral aspect and the process of negotiations have commonly been overlooked in existing research.”

“Women tend to focus on the process of negotiations and on building relationships and reputations,” said Dr. Dotan.

“These outcomes may not be seen in the immediate commercial outcomes, but may be observed over time. This difference may indeed explain the differences between the genders and calls on researchers to take a more longitudinal perspective to evaluating negotiation outcomes.”

THE BUSINESS BENEFIT OF WORKPLACE FRIENDSHIPS Dr. Dotan believes that company management would benefit from fostering and encouraging personal relationships at work.

“Women naturally form relationships and these organic friendships shouldn’t be touched, because they ultimately prove profitable for the company,” said Dr. Dotan. “Companies would also be wise to recruit employees’ friends – although we should remember that ‘not all friendships are created equal.’”

In prior research Dr. Dotan studied how friendships in organizations impacted various organizational outcomes, including performance.

“I found that trust-based friendships are best for individuals and organizations,” she said. “We’re now studying whether women who form such trust-based friendships and negotiate in teams of friends achieve equal or better commercial outcomes than men.”

Dr. Dotan and her colleagues are also currently exploring the implications of friendships among individuals on opposing teams and how they affect negotiation outcomes.

Tel Aviv University is one of the world’s most dynamic research centers and Israel’s most distinguished learning environment. American Friends of Tel Aviv University pursues the advancement of TAU in the United States, raising money, awareness and influence through international alliances.

[Israel]

Oregonians decorate a sukkah. In Israel, the weather during Sukkot is generally much drier and warmer than in many parts of the United States.

Sukkot in Israel: The weather is fine

By Teddy Weinberger

In the Book of Leviticus, Moses tells the Israelites that beginning on the 15th day of the seventh month (counting from Nissan, the month containing Passover), "You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I am the Lord your God" (23.42-43). The most remarkable aspect of Sukkot in Israel, for someone who observed the holiday in various locations in the States before making aliyah, is the fact that the idea of obeying Moses can seem like a pleasant one.

Whether Sukkot comes at the end of September or in October, the climate in Israel is perfect for being outdoors, especially at night. One never has to worry about rain, and even if the sun is still hot during the day, there is usually enough of a breeze to make a meal inside the sukkah (which by Jewish law must contain more shade than sun) seems more like a picnic than an onerous religious ritual.

Jews in the States are usually not that lucky. In Miami, for example, where I lived for six years before making aliyah, Sukkot occurs in the middle of summer (summer in Miami being mid-April through early-November). Daytime Sukkot meals in Miami leave one drenched in sweat, and many families eat some of these meals indoors. At the other extreme, for my cousins in Chicago, the most vivid memory of Sukkot is of eating soup with gloves on, hovering over their steaming bowls for warmth. And it often happens that in many parts of the States the rabbi's brief remarks on Sukkot eve sound more like "notes from the rain bunker," covering such topics as "Kiddush in drizzle" and "when to throw in the towel."

In Israel, the weather is so nice that it is indeed much more common to find people doing what Moses had intended: living in the sukkah. There are people who move their dining room tables and chairs into the sukkah, along with their china-laden

buffet. At night these people will not just make do with sleeping on floor mattresses; they move their whole beds outside to their sukkah.

There is just one problem with the pleasant weather in Israel on Sukkot: it ruins a popular rabbinical teaching. Remember the reason given for the booths in Leviticus? The Sukkot are reminders of the temporary booths used in the Exodus from Egypt. A classic rabbinical question therefore is: if so, if the booths are connected to the Exodus, then why was the Sukkot holiday not assigned to one of the months more immediately following Passover? Here is the traditional answer: A Sukkot in the late spring or early summer would not demonstrate a Jew's commitment to Judaism. After all, the whole world enjoys going outside at that time. But when a Jew builds their temporary hut in the fall and must fight the elements, they show they are doing so not for pleasure but because they are following God's commandment.

What are we to say, then, about Sukkot in Israel? Given that September and October are just as mild as May or June, perhaps we should move Sukkot in Israel to its proper historical place in the year? Aside from the fact that I believe the Chief Rabbinate would tend to give a little more weight to centuries of Jewish custom than to the arguments of this column, I like to think of this situation as our chance in Israel to show solidarity with you in the diaspora.

Happy Sukkot.

Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., writes from Givat Ze’ev, a suburb of Jerusalem just over the Green Line. He and his wife, Sarah Jane Ross, made aliyah in 1997 with their five children. Teddy is director of development for Meaningful, a company that works with Israeli nonprofit organizations.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 39

Orthodox beat booms out of Portland

By Polina Olsen

Think you’ve heard it all? Have a listen to beatboxing. Also known as vocal percussion, it replicates the sounds and rhythms of drums along with noises that heretofore humans didn’t make.

Portland has a recognized expert rising from our own Laurelhurst neighborhood, Portland Jewish Academy and Grant High. An Orthodox Jew, Ilan Swartz-Brownstein, also known as Aleph Bass, honed his skills on weekly schleps to Congregation Kesser Israel. He and his friend, Josh Leviton, recently took well-deserved bows on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” including all-expenses-paid trips to Los Angeles and a peek inside the set where “Seinfeld” was filmed.

Ilan attributes his beatboxing start to high school buddies who enjoyed messing around.

One day a friend complained that Ilan’s beatboxing was most annoying, and he should either get better or quit.

“Breathing and making drum sounds at the same time is always a challenge,” Ilan says. He worked with instructional videos and practiced tirelessly on crosscountry runs and, of course, his 9-mile walks to Congregation Kesser Israel each Shabbat. Ilan is now a senior majoring in marketing at Yeshiva University in New York, where he beatboxes every day except Yom Kippur and Tisha B’av.

America’s Got Talent

Ilan Swartz-Brownstein (left) and Josh Leviton at their “America’s Got Talent” audition. Courtesy of Ilan Swartz-Brownstein

So how did Ilan’s stint on “America’s Got Talent” get started? “They want a good story,” he explains. “People look at us and think we’re Torah scholars and then we beatbox. We’re a surprise.”

Ilan and Josh’s surprise began at a November New York City audition that happened to fall at 7:15 pm on Shabbat. “We sent in a video, and they wanted a second audition so we rushed out of services that day,” Ilan says. “We wore kippot, white shirts and black pants. When a producer asked, ‘Which one of you is from Alaska?’ I said, ‘I am, can’t you tell,’ which they thought was funny. (Ilan is originally from Alaska). When we finally got out about 11:30 pm, we bought candles and spices for Havdallah.”

The audition was a success, so it was on to the first round. In March, AGT flew Ilan and Josh to Pasadena for three days of interviews, practice and tips. “The audition was unreal,”

40 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Ilan says. “There were all these lights. We could see about 3,000 people, but we couldn’t make out faces. When we started singing and dropped the bass (i.e., beatboxing with a punch), everyone stood up and cheered. The judges loved it. All four of them said, ‘yes!’ ”

A R T I S T S R E P E R T O R Y T H E AT R E

Second Round Preparations

Chances of making the second round were good but not guaranteed. The go-ahead came in April, leaving them only two weeks to prepare their new set. Then it was on to NBC’s Studio City in Los Angeles, where AGT videotaped them studying Torah, riding bicycles, even coming out of the dry cleaners on the “Seinfeld” set. Still, since the duo was eliminated after the second round, the videotapes weren’t shown when their set aired on national TV in July.

Disappointed but invigorated, Ilan enjoys recounting his unusual experience and its takeaways.

“People look at us and think we’re Torah scholars and then we beatbox. We’re a surprise.”

by

Bess Wohl Shawn Lee

directed by

STARTS OCT 4 ThisJewish post-recession, comedic embraces Oregon Life: 1/4 Page (3.5 xcommentary 4.875) the humor in misery, the creativity in despair and Itzhak Perlman Recital the ingenuity of the human spirit.

SEASON SPONSORS:

a r t i s t s r e p .o r g 503. 241 .1 278

~ Ilan Swartz-Brownstein

“Thirteen million people watch this program,” Ilan says.

“The videos would have been a way to show what Judaism really is, so when they didn’t use them, I was disappointed.

Then I realized the opportunity we’d had to spend time with the 20 other acts. There was a Mormon rap group, contortionists, other religious Christians. Maybe they’d heard the word Judaism, but they’d never met a Jew. One lady with a dance act came up and asked, ‘How do you guys keep those menorahs on your heads?’ ” “Part of being Jewish is showing the beauty of being Jewish,” he says. “We made a tremendous impact backstage. Young people want to change the world. That’s what Josh and I wanted to do on ‘America’s Got Talent.’ But the biggest impact we had was behind the scenes. There’s a lesson in that.”

Ilan and Josh’s impact has extended in ways that still surprise them. “Once this aired in July, my phone didn’t stop buzzing for three days,” Ilan says. “We had hundreds of emails and messages on FaceBook and Twitter. High school friends, elementary schools teachers, people from South America, Jews and non-Jews wrote. They gave us credit for our pride in being Jewish and talking about Israel on TV. We still get requests to perform. We’re going to Palo Alto and UC Berkley. Kids like us and think beatboxing is fun. Hopefully, this journey will not end soon.”

Check out Jewish beatboxers online at youtube.com/watch?v=k7Vu5nAHBlk

OREGON SYMPHONY PRESENTS

ITZHAK PERLMAN RECITAL

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 7:30 PM Itzhak Perlman, violin Rohan De Silva, piano Brahms: Sonata No. 2 Ravel: Sonata No. 2 A rare evening with the 16-time Grammy winner who continues to thrill audiences around the world.

The Oregon Symphony does not perform.

OrSymphony.org | 503-228-1353 ARLENE SCHNITZER CONCERT HALL

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 41 OregonJewishLife_ItzhakPerlman_QP.indd 1

8/16/16 11:37 AM

Guy Mendilow Ensemble. Photo by Gretjen Helene

Ladino songs with world flair come to Eugene

The Guy Mendilow Ensemble brings its interpretation of Ladino music to the Shedd Institute in Eugene Oct. 9 as part of a nationwide tour.

“Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom” dives into Ladino tradition, from songs and stories carried by Sephardic Jews as they moved from Spain and settled along the Mediterranean’s northern coast to Greece and Turkey. Multi-instrumentalist, singer and arranger Guy Mendilow and his four musical The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts & The Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon

Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities

collaborators leap into this world: the intertwining music and storytelling conjure up an imagination lost to war and upheaval, recorded in a language that blends archaic Spanish with Hebrew, Greek and Turkish.

Mendilow grew up in Jerusalem, hearing various renditions of Ladino songs spinning from the family record player, or drifting mysteriously from open windows, as elder women went about their housekeeping. It felt too slick or too rough, and left

AC 2 ANDERSON

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH

COOPER

present

&

ANDY

COHEN

DEEP TALK AND SHALLOW TALES

Guy Mendilow Ensemble

Traditional Sephardi songs sung in the Judeo-Spanish language

Tales From The Forgotten Kingdom � Ladino Songs Renewed Sunday, October 9th - 7:30 pm The Shedd Institute - Eugene 541.434.7000 www.theshedd.org

42 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

ON SALE FRIDAY OCT. 7 AT 10AM Join Cohen and Cooper for an unscripted, uncensored and unforgettable night of conversation

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only a faint impression on the young musician.

“The songs were cryptic, the language was mysterious, opaque,” he recalls.

However, once he mastered Spanish while living in Mexico, after having engaged intensely with very different music, he found himself fascinated by Ladino repertoire. The epic stories – tales scholars of Spanish literature prize for encapsulating much medieval material unavailable elsewhere – are coupled with tantalizing, zesty melodies.

“As a more mature artist, I was able to listen with more of a musician’s ear, and it was entrancing, those meandering melodies and modes,” he says.

Despite the grim fate of many communities during World War II, Mendilow discovered rough field recordings such as the collection held at the National Archives of Israel. Immersed in the material, he began to explore sounds that might capture the tales and convey them to contemporary, non-Ladino-speaking audiences. He turned to instruments from around the world, adding Brazilian berimbau and overtone singing, for example, to a mocking treatment of a courtship gone wrong, “Mancevo del dor,” and thumb piano

to “Una Noche al Borde de la Mar,” a piece originally from Sofia, Bulgaria.

The overall sound, however, is based on more familiar though equally expressive elements. Singer Sofia Tosello, from Argentina and with a background in tango vocals, weaves her sometimes crystalline, sometimes gritty voice with Mendilow’s pure tenor. Violinist Chris Baum, Palestinian drummer and percussionist Tareq Rantisi, and woodwind player Andy Bergman can be sprightly or lyrical.

“There’s lots of research and scholarship behind what we’ve done, but it’s a stylized project to make the stories come alive today,” Mendilow says.

“I don’t want someone to think they’ve heard Ladino music when they’ve come to our concert. It’s not about that; it’s about bringing the stories to life,” he explains. Like all good stories, those tales of wonder from lost communities continue to inspire and thrill.

“As a more mature artist, I was able to listen with more of a musician’s ear, and it was entrancing, those meandering melodies and modes.”

Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom 7:30 pm, Oct. 9 theshedd.org | 868 High St., Eugene

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Food

CORNER

Variety is the spice of life, and in my line of work I am often called upon to create a unique variety of food for clients with unusual tastes. I’ve fashioned many menus that include exotic dishes from all over the world. When researching ingredients for a particular menu, I know that specific herbs and spices play an integral part in creating authentic global fare.

The food of Thailand incorporates bright red or green curry, fish sauce and sweet palm sugar. South American braises get their rich red-orange color from annatto derived from the achiote seed, while a select combination of spicy dried chilies, cocoa, nuts and canella make up the Mexican mole. Magical

THE SPICE OF LIFE Story and photos

by Lisa Glickman

blended spices such as garam masala have countless regional variations that include ground mustard seeds, cardamom, cloves and turmeric to lend bold flavor and bright color to the tagines of Morocco. And any true Texas barbecue pro relies on the paprika and garlic-scented “secret rub” for their perfectly seasoned slow smoked beef brisket. All of these distinct flavors make the food come to life on the palate, but there is a surprising bonus.

Before the advent of modern medicine, many of these spices were used to improve overall health and help alleviate common aches, pains and ailments. Now the modern world is discovering why.

Lisa Glickman is a private chef and teacher who lives in Portland. She has made TV appearances on COTV in Central Oregon and appeared on the Cooking Channel’s “The Perfect Three.”

She can be reached at lisa@lisaglickman.com.

44 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Ginger and garlic crushed into a fine paste are used liberally in main dishes of China, Thailand and India. Garlic contains high levels of vitamin C and is great for boosting the immune system. Fresh ginger has beneficial anti-inflammatory properties and is often recommended for nausea. Spicy peppers like cayenne, habanero and serrano chilies are integral to many styles of cookery from central Mexico to Jamaica. Chilies contain high amounts of capsaicin, which has been shown to increase circulation and even contribute to weight loss. The everyday black peppercorn used to be one of the most sought after and expensive spices during the spice trade era. Is has been proven to lower blood lipids and inhibit cholesterol absorption.

Cumin, coriander and turmeric are familiar ingredients used in foods from the Middle East, Egypt and Morocco. Cumin has been said to aid in digestion and has been shown recently to have antibacterial qualities. Coriander, the small round seed of the cilantro plant, contains carotenoids that have high levels of beta-carotene well known as a super antioxidant. Bright yellow turmeric, often claimed to be one of the world’s healthiest foods, boasts large levels of curcumin, a substance with documented health benefits that include promoting a balanced mood and improved cognitive function.

Exploring cuisines of the world is a great excuse to add a whole lot of spice to your life. It’s an opportunity to bump up the flavor and boost your health – all at the same time!

are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Heat oven to 325º. Add cinnamon stick, dried ginger, turmeric and honey along with enough water to submerge the meat. Bring to a boil. Cover and place in oven. Cook for 1½ to 2 hours until meat is very tender.

Remove dish from oven and add pitted dates. Cover pot and allow dates to soften for about 30 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro and sesame seeds and serve with basmati rice.

Lamb Tagine with Honey and Dates A recent birthday party’s theme was “A Romantic Night in Morocco.” This lamb tagine was served as one of the main courses. The meat marinates overnight in the spices, so plan ahead to make this dish that takes you straight to Casablanca!

4 pounds boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and cut into golfball size pieces Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon paprika 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 tablespoons margarine or olive oil 1 large onion, sliced, about 2 cups 1 serrano chili, sliced thinly with seeds 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 2-inch piece of cinnamon stick 2 teaspoons dried ginger 1 teaspoon ground turmeric ¼ cup honey 1½ cups pitted whole dates Fresh cilantro sprigs and sesame seeds for garnish Season lamb generously with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine garlic, fresh ginger, paprika and cumin to form a paste. Add meat and coat with paste. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Return meat to room temperature before proceeding.

In a Dutch oven (or an Indian tagine if you are lucky enough to have one) melt margarine over medium high heat. Add onion and sliced serrano pepper and sprinkle with salt. Cook for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in tomato paste and cook one minute. Add seasoned meat and cook until meat and onions

Egyptian Dukkah The first time I tasted this addictive blend of spices and nuts was at the Kokanee Café in Camp Sherman. The chef serves this as you arrive with crusty bread and olive oil for dipping. I discovered that it is also perfect to sprinkle on a hard-boiled egg, add to mayonnaise for a flavorful spread or dip, or add spice to simply grilled meat or fish.

1 cup hazelnuts, roasted, peeled and finely chopped ½ cup sesame seeds 2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon ground black pepper ½ teaspoon ground turmeric Pinch of brown sugar (optional, but I like just a touch of sweet) Place hazelnuts in a bowl. In a dry sauté pan, toast sesame seeds until fragrant and add to nuts. In the same pan, toast cumin and coriander until seeds just begin to pop. Coarsely grind in spice mill and add to nut mixture. Add salt, pepper, turmeric and sugar if using. Store in airtight container for up to a week.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 45

NWNosh

Korean Spicy Chicken Wings

Boke Bowl’s vegan broth is culinary art

By Kerry Politzer

As the weather starts to cool down, there’s nothing quite like a comforting bowl of ramen. It’s so satisfying to slurp the thin wheat noodles. But sometimes, it’s hard to find ramen that doesn’t contain pork. Fortunately, pork-averse diners can enjoy an alternative at the Asian fusion restaurant Boke Bowl, which has two locations in Portland.

Boke Bowl chef Patrick Fleming makes an art of the vegetarian ramen broth. “I have a caramelized fennel broth; it’s vegan

and gluten-free. I take a lot of fennel, using a San Francisco chef ’s technique, kind of like you would caramelize an apple.

I cook slowly over medium-high heat, and then put in anise, juniper and Szechwan peppercorns. Then I deglaze with sake and end with a bunch more fresh veggies like celery, onions and fresh fennel. So there’s a couple different layers of fennel. Then I season with tamari and cook it down with mirin and sake.”

Ramen isn’t the only treat that Patrick has in store for his diners. Surprisingly, one of his most popular items is the Brussels sprouts salad. “It’s flash-fried Brussels sprouts with house-

Boke Bowl: 503-719-5698 | 1200 NW 18th St. & 1028 SE Water Ave. Boke Dokie: SW 10th & Alder food pod.

46 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

brined smoked tofu and a Thai fish vinaigrette… it doesn’t have any shellfish, maybe anchovy. Even people who don’t like Brussels sprouts like that salad.”

Customers at Boke Bowl can “accessorize” any soup or salad with add-ons like fried chicken or slow-poached eggs.

Another popular menu item is the house-smoked brisket steamed buns. Explains Patrick, “I really like comfort food.

There’s a reason why American barbecue is so popular – it’s smoky, sweet and a little spicy. I think of that when I am creating something.”

Patrick thinks about the commonalities of various flavor profiles when brainstorming a new dish. “The Carolinas and Korea always have … salty, sweet, smoky, spicy. It’s interesting on the palate.”

He uses a Chinese mustard base with sugar and apple cider vinegar on his brisket steamed buns.

The weekend dim sum brunch at Patrick’s Northwest location is especially friendly to special diets. Those who find it frustrating to wade through all the pork dumplings and buns at some places will have no issues at Boke Bowl. “That’s what’s great about our dim sum; it’s really unique, with a lot of vegetarian and vegan items, non-pork based items. Jewish customers come and they love it. And we have a lot of offerings for young and old people; our food is not too spicy.”

Patrick’s latest project is Boke Dokie, a food cart that features

his Korean fried chicken and fried tofu sandwiches. He’s especially proud of his tofu. “Tofu is something I enjoy, but (I felt like) no one could season it well enough. We get locally made tofu and brine it in a salt, sugar, anise and juniper mixture for a couple days, and then cold-smoke it. We fry it to order; it is tasty and flavorful.”

Boke Bowl provides catering services both on- and off-site, and delivery is available through various services such as Caviar and Delivery Dudes.

Boke Bowl Chef Patrick Fleming, right, with his business partner Brannon Riceci

Asian Chicken and Waffle: Gluten free fried chicken, steamed rice cake and sweet and sour tamari sauce

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 47

Home & ifestyle L

BEFORE 48 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Update your kitchen with minimal time, money and skill

By Deborah Moon

travels the country leading do-it-yourself workshops and training retailers to teach their customers how to use those products to update the look of their home on a budget.

Her September workshop at the Ace Hardware in Newberg sold out quickly. But thanks to the regional training class offered the next day, other Oregonian DIYers will be able to learn how to update their kitchen for less than $250.

Amy walked me through the kitchen remodel shown in the pictures accompanying this article. This project cost a bit more because she purchased the cabinets – from Habitat for Humanity, which she says provides great value for old kitchen cabinets like these.

The cabinets were very utilitarian, dark wood and not desirable, she says, noting that many people no longer want dark cabinets in their kitchen – “They want bright colors.”

Amy’s One Step Paint makes that transition easy. All you have to do is clean grease and dirt off the surface, shake the can

Shortly before coming to Oregon to train people to use her refinishing products, DIY maven Amy Howard consulted with a man lamenting that his two kitchens wouldn’t help sell his home.

Amy Howard opened up this kitchen by “This could be for a Jewish family,” removing one cabinet (next to window), Amy told him. “This is something painting the cabinets a lighter color with her a lot of people would look for or one step paint and replacing the light fixture. custom build.”

When she returns to Memphis, she plans to show him how to use her Amy Howard at Home One Step Paint and other products to update the kitchens to attract buyers when he puts the home on the market later this year.

Kitchens are just part of Amy’s story – she also has a fix for old furniture. In 2009 the Environmental Protection Agency reported that furniture is the number one least-recycled item in a household and accounted for 9.8 million tons of household waste. “As we are increasingly persuaded by TV shows to remodel our homes and to replace old furniture, we are also adding more to the landfill in record numbers,” according to a planetsave.com story on the EPA report.

Amy says the staggering amount of discarded furniture inspired her to help people rescue their furniture and cabinets instead of taking them to the landfill.

“I was an interior designer,” says Amy. “I took the processes I developed in designing and manufacturing furniture and packaged it to rescue furniture.”

Last year Amy Howard at Home products went national, and her products are now sold in nearly 2,500 retail locations including all Ace Hardware stores. Now Amy

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 49

OJMCHE re-opens in our new home in June 2017.

Until then watch for our collaborative programming all around Portland.

LECTURE

CHRISTOPHER BROWNING

“From humanitarian relief to Holocaust rescue: Tracy Strong Jr. and the fate of Jewish refugees in southern France”

NOVEMBER 10

Smith Ballroom, PSU, 7pm free and open to the public The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education and the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project at PSU invite you to a talk with renowned Holocaust historian, Christopher Browning, HGS and OJMCHE’s theme for the 2016-2017 partnership is global migrations and refugees historically and in the present day.

and paint with a nylon brush or sprayer.

“You don’t have to prime, sand or strip the old finish or go into shut-down mode in your kitchen,” says Amy. “So a lot of people who never thought of do-it-yourself think, ‘I might try this.’ ” In addition to refinishing the wood on the old cabinets, Amy also removed a couple of the doors to give the space a more open feel and then painted the inside with an accent color.

Since cabinets purchased at restoration stores or Habitat generally don’t include countertops, Amy offers tips for an inexpensive, trendy topper.

“I put plywood on the counter and had a sheet metal top made rolling the edge on top of the plywood,” she explains.

Then she cleans the metal and applies her zinc antiquing solution and varnish. “It’s very much on trend. You get updated looks for very little cost.”

503-226-3600 | info@ojmche.org | www.ojmche.org

Amy Howard leads a DIY workshop at the Newberg Ace Hardware. She spent three days in Oregon leading workshops for the public and Ace staff in the region. Photo by Allison Ernst

She also has a low-cost option for a backsplash behind a sink, noting many people don’t want the time or expense involved in tile or granite but still want to protect the wall.

Amy had her local Ace Hardware cut a piece of glass to fit the space between the countertop and the cabinets. “I use a stencil and my lacquer then glue that side of the glass to the wall. It took 15 minutes to do. I used one aerosol can of white and one of silver.” Her lacquering technique (as well as other tips) can be viewed on her blog at amyhowardhome.com.

She also created an inexpensive throw rug to add more color to the kitchen using a piece of canvas floor cloth painted with her One Step Paint. “You can use One Step Paint on concrete, canvas, wood and even fabric instead of reupholstering – you just thin it down for fabric,” she explains.

For people who don’t want to redo their whole kitchen but who still want to change things up, Amy has an easy idea.

Simply painting the kitchen island a contrasting color can make a major difference in the whole kitchen, she says.

Amy is pleased she is helping save the planet from swimming in a sea of discarded furniture while helping non-handy homeowners on a budget update a kitchen or bathroom they love and are proud of.

50 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Conquer misconceptions to organize home No Time (Like the Present)

By Sherri Becker Curley

From time to time, we all get stuck. Lifestyles are chaotic and living spaces are mired in stuff we no longer need. Frantic mornings are impeded by misplaced keys or cell phones. School forms requiring signatures are presented while the school bus waits at the curb. Tax time is a nightmare because receipts are scattered in envelopes.

Embarrassment, guilt and frustration are palpable, yet the road to organization is blocked by anxiety, hesitation and questions. “Where do I begin?” “What if I fail?” “How can I think about organizing when I have no time or space?”

These feelings are common misconceptions about organizing.

Our perceptions guide our actions. If we transform the way we perceive a situation, our approach should change as well. Following are practical suggestions to tackle each misconception so you can overcome roadblocks and enjoy the home and lifestyle you crave.

BEFORE

We’re all pressed for time. And when there is time to spare, most of us want to spend it having fun not fiddling with stuff.

Yet disorganization, wasteful spending, disarray, looking for lost items, shuffling stuff to clean under and around items all eat up time. Getting control pays huge dividends into your time bank.

Carve out a few hours or look for gaps where you can squeeze in a task or two. Pay bills online while waiting to pick up your child from soccer practice, sort the mail while dinner is simmering, dust when you’re placed on hold, wipe down counters as you prep so cleanup is a breeze. Organization frees up time in the long run. Leaving the house is less challenging when your keys are on the peg by the door, those permission slips are signed and nestled in the backpacks, and receipts are filed and ready for tax time.

AFTER OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 51

Perfectionism

We all fall prey to unrealistic expectations. Your home does not need to be perpetually camera-ready. If you are at peace in your space, can easily find what you are looking for and accomplish tasks at a reasonable pace, then you’re golden. Leave the perfectionism to magazine covers.

Pinterest Competition

Not a Pinterest Queen or King? No problem. Simplicity is the key to getting started. Leave the crafty storage bins and labels to those who have the time, talent and inclination.

Only One Right Way

A myriad of books, magazine articles, blogs and videos offer organizational tips. Why are there so many resources? Because there are an infinite number of methods and perspectives.

Explore your unique style. Pay attention to daily routines over

House the dishes there. The result is a few extra steps at dinnertime, and unloading the dishwasher goes faster with less strain on your back.

More Stuff

What you need to get organized is minimal. Search basements and attics for container options. A thorough clean out frees up containers and spaces for repurposing – and voila!

– you saved money and time by avoiding a trip to the store.

An occasional purchase might be needed for bins, file folders, labels, shelves or a shredder. If so, Office Depot/Office Max, Storables, The Container Store, Ikea, Target and Home Depot are hubs for organizing products.

All or Nothing

A popular organizing book series purports that the entire organization project must be done all at once. That works for people living in small spaces with few possessions. The author’s

BEFORE a week or more. What flows smoothly? What causes hitches?

Relocating items may save steps and time. As there is no correct way to arrange your possessions, you cannot do it wrong.

Following someone else’s prescription may or may not work for you. For a system to be sustainable, it must suit the users. If you are struggling to find your way, professional organizers are available to guide you.

Failure

There is no failure and no one is judging you. Organizing is an experiment. After you rearrange, give it a go for a few days or weeks. Not satisfied? Assess the hiccup and change things up again. Nothing is set in stone. Let’s say your dishes reside in a cupboard near your dining table. While setting the table is a snap, you cart heavy stacks across the kitchen after unloading the dishwasher. This process is unwieldy, bad for your back and time consuming. Is there a cabinet above the dishwasher?

52 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

AFTER advice would send a number of my clients into a frenzy. Baby steps will ease you into the process. Start small and see how it feels. Tackle one area or room for a rapid sense of gratification.

Your success will invigorate your self-confidence and eagerness to take on the next space.

Out of Space

No space to store what you have typically indicates that it is time for a heart to heart with your possessions. Look at each item you have or wish to buy and ask yourself: Do I need or love it? Will I use it and how often? Could I borrow or rent it if it will only be used once or twice? Would I pay a mover to move it? Would I get rid of something to make room for it?

Americans own more stuff than is necessary. Be mindful about every one of your possessions.

That said, on occasion we become custodians of others’ belongings. Independent children move back home, seniors

transition into assisted living and we temporarily house their furniture. Life throws us curve balls. If the situation is temporary, you might have to make do. For the long term, carefully consider clearing out what you can. If the furniture belongs to your children, assess the quality. By the time they move out again, they will be ready for something better than milk crates.

Farm out some of your parents’ possessions to siblings, if possible. If there is no chance that they will return home, pass along their things for consignment or donation for another family to appreciate.

We all have episodes in our lives when circumstances surpass our control. Babies, new careers, heavy workloads, divorces, senior care and deaths can bamboozle the best working systems. During those times, put out an SOS. Call upon a spouse, children who are old enough to help out, a roommate, friends or other family members to step in until you get back in the groove. Professional organizers are available to get you started or back on course. Contact the National Association of Professional Organizers at napo.net/search for assistance in finding an organizer in your area.

Now that the barriers have been jettisoned, it’s time to get to work. Grab those free minutes to examine, sort, rearrange, release and restore order in your life. You will love your newfound freedom.

Who do

professionals call when selling or buying a home?

Joe made my transition to Portland from Seattle much easier than I had expected. Joe is well liked and trusted by everyone. Joe’s integrity, knowledge and resources was a true benefit. His service after the sale does not stop. To this day he continues to make my life easier by referring good contractors to me for projects big and small.

Jay Holzman

JOE MENASHE Principal Broker Serving Portland Metro area buyers and sellers for 25 years.

503-784-1855

JoeMenashe@RealtyTrust.com

Sherri Becker Curley owns The Practical Sort Eco-Organizing Solutions. For more time and organizing tips and resources, visit thepracticalsort.com.

It begins with a ripple November 2016

Charitable Giving Issue To advertise, contact Debbie Taylor 503-892-7403 debbie.t@ojlife.com

TM

WANDER NO MORE

orjewishlife.com OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 53

[To Life]

Finding joy and wonder from a seat on the porch

By Amy Hirshberg Lederman

I have become aware of many things since my husband Ray died. At first, it had to do with the content of my dreams – visual images and messages that brought me closer to feeling his presence in my non-waking hours. As time went on, that closeness has come through beautiful images I see in the natural world – on hikes in the mountains, in the sky at sunset and often in my own back yard, mostly through visits from hummingbirds.

For many years, we both witnessed the beauty of these tiny but determined creatures as they drank from feeders on our back porch. But now, I feel an almost intimate connection with them as they have made their home in nests in both my front and back yards.

I am not a “woo-woo” kind of gal, but I knew something significant was going on when I noticed a nest no bigger than a half of a walnut shell on the tiny twinkle light suspended over the seat where Ray often sat when we ate dinner outdoors.

I couldn’t be on my porch for more than a minute without the hummer hovering overhead. I began to wonder: Is this a

messenger from the “other side” wanting to tell me something?

Should I do anything about it? Put up extra feeders? Talk to the tiny glittering creature as it whizzed overhead?

I started reading books about the meaning of the hummingbird. I learned that it is the tiniest of all birds and the only creature that can stop while traveling at full speed. It can hover or fly forward, backward, up or down, its wings moving in the configuration of an eight, the sign for infinity.

In many traditional cultures of the Western world, the hummingbird has powerful religious and spiritual significance. In the high Andes of South America, the hummingbird is a symbol of resurrection. Hopi and Zuni legends tell of hummingbirds intervening on behalf of humans, convincing the gods to bring rain. Other mystical traditions believe it represents the past and the future and opens up the heart center, bringing joy, happiness and love into the world. And there is a belief that the hummingbird represents a messenger between the worlds. One

There is something so precious about this experience that I can’t stop thinking about how these mommy hummers have given me an opportunity to experience both awe and compassion in viewing their maternal process.

54 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

A mother hummingbird minds her tiny nest next to Amy Hirshberg Lederman’s porch.

thing was certain: anyway I looked at it, having a hummer on my back porch was a good thing.

But one morning everything changed. As I was drinking my coffee on my front porch, I noticed something that resembled a feathered tiny tea cup on a branch of the potted ficus tree next to our front door. There, camouflaged amidst the leaves, was the tiniest, most compact nest I have ever seen. The nest was home to two tiny hummer eggs no bigger than the tip of my pinkie on the same porch where I had created a meditation garden to honor Ray after he died.

The magic and miracle of having hummingbird nests on my front and back porches continues to overwhelm me. I stop several times each day to watch the mommy birds, whose wings normally flap 50 times per second, sit perfectly still atop their nest. I marvel at the complexity of the home they have constructed for their babies, made of moss, fiber and plant down, and how smart they are to choose secure, shaded spots on the porch for their babies. I feel like I am living on the Disney Nature Channel as I watch this unfold: first eggs and now babies the size of my thumbnail, peeking out from tiny nests.

I have always loved animals, but there is something so precious about this experience that I can’t stop thinking about how these mommy hummers have given me an opportunity to experience both awe and compassion in viewing their maternal process.

The Jewish commandment to treat animals with compassion is mentioned on numerous occasions throughout the Torah and the Talmud. In the book of Deuteronomy, we are commanded not to work on the Sabbath and likewise, must not require our animals to do so. We are told how to avoid causing suffering (“tza’ar ba’alei chayim” in Hebrew) by not muzzling an animal when it is working (so that it can eat when it needs to) or plowing with an ox and mule together (because their unequal size and strength will cause them both to suffer). But what I love most is the prohibition of taking baby birds from the nest while the mother is present because of the pain that she would experience. How amazing to think that more than 2,500 years ago, our Jewish ancestors were concerned with protecting the feelings of a momma bird!

Hummingbirds often return to the same location to build a new nest on top of the old one. I look forward to next spring when I hope to be blessed again with the joy and wonder that these little hummers have given me.

Amy Hirshberg Lederman has written more than 300 columns and essays that have been published nationwide. amyhirshberglederman.com

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 55

[Young Adult]

Emerson Fellows learn to support Israel on campus

By Shuly Wasserstrom

Contention on college campuses over Israel is not unusual, which is why StandWithUs, a pro-Israel nonprofit, has granted fellowships to three Oregon college students to help bring positivity and education about Israel to campuses around the state. Emerson Fellows are selected to train as student leaders to create programming and confront anti-Israel rhetoric for an academic year on their respective campuses.

The three Oregon fellowship recipients, along with 74 other college students from the United States and Canada, participated in the program’s training conference in Oxnard, CA, Aug. 21-25.

Natalie Engler, a Los Angeles native, was chosen to represent StandWithUs at the University of Oregon. Natalie is a sophomore on the Eugene campus and is excited about the opportunity to bring pro-Israel awareness to her fellow students.

Natalie says she was involved throughout her youth in her Jewish community, but it wasn’t until she started at UO that she was given the opportunity to immerse herself in proIsrael activities. When she found out about the Emerson Fellowship, she was quick to apply and thrilled when she was accepted.

The training conference was mindopening, she says. “Personally I have never been given the opportunity to Zohar Hoter is the have this much education about Israel Emerson Fellow at Oregon activism,” she says. “I learned a lot and State University. was very inspired. I’m excited to bring those ideas back to campus.”

Natalie says she plans on expanding the connection between the different Israel groups on campus by creating a coalition of them.

She says that the University of Oregon is not currently fighting a Boycott, Divest, Sanction resolution like other campuses in Oregon, but she wants to be prepared if it does happen. “If it does come to University of Oregon, I want to make sure we have a large pro-Israel presence ready,” she says.

Zohar Hoter, a Portland native, is this year’s fellow from Oregon State University. He is starting his sophomore year at the Corvallis campus. Raised by Israeli parents, he says he has always had a strong connection to Israel.

“It’s important people do their part to support Israel and combat anti-Semitism,” he says. “To have the opportunity to 56 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

StandWithUs Emerson Fellows 2016-17 Brennan Thorpe of Portland State University and Natalie Engler of the University of Oregon flank Noa Raman, SWU Pacific-Northwest Campus Coordinator. Photo courtesy StandWithUs

make a big impact on campus and be able to support Israel is very meaningful for me.”

Zohar plans on using tools and materials given to him through StandWithUs to bring fun events to campus that inspire other students to get involved.

Brennan Thorpe is entering his senior year at Portland State University and is excited to celebrate Israel on campus this year through his fellowship. Last year, Brennan was part of the fight against a BDS resolution at PSU and relied on StandWithUs for support.

“Last year StandWithUs supported us in the fight against BDS. Emotionally and strategically, we couldn’t have done it without them. To be able to stand up against hate and antiSemitism on campus is very important,” Brennan says.

Brennan is an evangelical Christian from Portland. He says Judaism is close to his heart, and he grew up learning about Israel. He says he first decided to get involved in the pro-Israel movement on campus after his first class at PSU, when he heard his professor making anti-Israel statements.

“More and more I noticed anti-Israel and anti-Semitic things professors were saying,” he says.

Although the majority of Emerson Fellows who participated in the August training conference were Jewish, Brennan says he felt welcome. “It’s a familiar and comfortable environment for me,” he says. “Being able to collaborate and hear completely different perspectives was very refreshing and reminded me why I am doing this.”

StandWithUs Pacific Northwest/Northern California Campus Coordinator Noa Raman says the Emerson Fellows chosen this year will have a positive impact on their respective campuses.

“SWU is fortunate that in its tenth year, the Emerson Fellowship is highly sought after and we have many qualified candidates. The students selected showed their desire to advocate for Israel, even though it is not always popular to do so. They also exhibited outstanding leadership skills in the community and a strong work ethic,” she says.

“I hope that the 2016-2017 Emersons will gain more confidence in speaking openly about their love for Israel and continuing their education on the pathway to peace.”

[Young Adult]

Min’s legacy cooks up “Jewish penicillin”

By Andrew Goldberg

If there’s one thing Jewish parents are known for, it’s worrying. All parents worry, of course, but according to the cliché, Jewish parents worry more.

It’s an expression of love. Many parents are anxious about sending their kids off to college, on their own for the first time. Parents wonder, “Is my kid going to thrive on their own? Will they keep up with their University of Oregon students make a fresh batch of matzah ball soup from schoolwork? What happens if they get sick?” Jewish scratch to refill reserves for the Min Zidell Matzah Ball Soup Hotline. parents add another question: “Will my child remain connected with the Jewish community?” now and then, order them some soup,” he says.

At the University of Oregon, parents can rest a little easier – He also understands that parents are often torn between Oregon Hillel is there to help. wanting to give their kids independence and wanting them to Oregon Hillel offers all the things one would expect: get involved in the Jewish community. When a parent orders engaging programs, meaningful services, delicious (not to soup for their uninvolved child, it is a chance for Hillel to get a mention free) Shabbat meals and a welcoming community. But foot in the door. “Just like in a class or a fraternity, if someone it also offers the Min Zidell Matzah Ball Soup Hotline. The comes up and reaches out to you, shakes your hand and says hotline is just what it sounds like: Call the number to have free, ‘hello,’ it’s an icebreaker, right? And it creates an opportunity,” homemade matzah ball soup delivered right to a student’s door. says Andy.

Students can call themselves, or parents can order for their kids.

Of course, that opportunity would not even exist without It is a perfect way for students to get a little “Jewish penicillin” the woman for whom the hotline is named, Min Zidell, z”l. when they feel sick, or cold or just want some homemade When the program first started, her daughter, Charlene, was Jewish cuisine. on the allocations committee for Hillel and was impressed with The brainchild of Oregon Hillel Director Andy Gitelson, the work Andy was doing. “I think in one of my conversations the hotline has been around for about four years. He brought with Andy, he was telling me about when they first started (the the idea from his previous job at the Indiana University Hillel. hotline). So when I was discussing that with my mother, she Beyond the inherent mitzvah of bringing food to the sick, the thought it was a great program and had some interest helping program is a way to enhance the Jewish community on campus. fund that,” Charlene says. Min Zidell provided a $100,000 “We were hearing the same thing from families. ‘My kid’s endowment for the hotline. Hillel takes about 4% annually of not involved,’ and some kids didn’t even know we existed,” that balance, which is invested so that it will continue to grow, says Andy. “This is a really good thing for us to put into place essentially funding the hotline in perpetuity. because it’ll help let the community know that we’re here and Min Zidell passed away in May at the age of 92, and the available.” He says that thanks to the hotline, “Your kid doesn’t matzah ball soup hotline is just one of many meaningful have to come to High Holidays ...Your kid never has to step legacies she left behind through Jewish philanthropy. In foot through Hillel’s doors to be connected with the Jewish addition to the hotline, she donated extensively to B’nai B’rith community.”

Camp, a Jewish summer camp near Lincoln City, and provided Ordering soup does not just benefit students – it’s also a an endowment for Hesed Shel Emet, which helps provide comfort for parents. Beyond knowing their child will have soup Jewish burials for those who don’t have the means. when he or she is sick, it allows them to have Andy check in on “I didn’t really know what was driving that in her,” says their kids without appearing overbearing.

Charlene. “She told me that when she was young, her brother “We tell parents, if you want to check in on your kid every passed away and they did not have enough money to bury him.”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 57

things, meeting students where they are. I “It was just like I had been punched think that’s what the University of Oregon in the stomach,” Charlene says, adding Hillel is really good at – reaching out to it made her “realize the pleasure she that student and finding a comfortable got knowing that forever, at least in way to bring them in so that they have the Portland, no Jewish family would have opportunity to have the experience and to live with that ... struggle.” then decide what they want to do,” says She says her mother’s endowment to Charlene.

Hillel stems from that same principle.

Andy and his staff recently started a “I think in terms of the matzah ball Hillel at Oregon State University, and the soup hotline, again it was ... just coming endowment will allow the same program to from deep inside of her ... for her exist there, as soon as they have a place to to be able to endow something that store the soup. would give students forever just that Whether it is connecting young people to little touch that they might need at Min Zidell, z”l, at the 2013 annual the Jewish community, giving parents some any given moment, that would make a meeting of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation. peace of mind, or just giving a sick kid a hot huge difference – that was incredibly important to her.” meal, there is no doubt that Min Zidell’s Her mother recognized that college is gift has touched so many lives in ways large “the critical time in young people’s lives, when having a Jewish and small. Whether her gift makes a big or little difference in a student’s life, there is no doubt it is a meaningful difference. influence when they’re away at school can be very important, The hotline will be Min’s legacy for generations to come, a and because we knew (Hillel) was an incredibly well-run legacy that she made for no other reasons than kindness and organization,” Charlene says. “I think every Jewish student on campus should have the opportunity of having a Hillel available compassion. She left the world better than she found it.

If you want to take part in that legacy, call 541-343-8920. to them … particularly a Hillel that’s progressive in their approach ... doing some innovative, nontraditional kinds of

Moishe House

marks decade of redefining post-college Jewish life Ninety-two Moishe Houses in 21 countries marked the organization’s 10th anniversary of re-defining Jewish life for young adults by celebrating Shabbat together Sept. 23.

Moishe House, the largest organization in the world serving post-college Jewish young adults, celebrated its first decade with thousands of Moishe House residents, local community members, family members and donors in Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, North and South America, and Israel. The celebration brought together the global Moishe House community to rejoice and reflect on the last 10 years of creating meaningful and intentional communities for young Jewish adults around the world.

Since its founding with a single house and four people who hosted Shabbat dinners in Oakland, CA, in 2006, the number of Moishe Houses have multiplied. In its first decade, Moishe House has hosted more than 600,000 young adults attending more than 35,000 programs worldwide.

Portland Moishe House opened Jan. 1, 2008. Now five Moishe House Portland residents give young adults a place to explore Jewish life with their peers. In August Portland’s residents hosted a Moishe House Without Walls training to empower any interested non-resident young adult to build Jewish community by hosting programs beyond the walls of a Moishe House.

58 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Moishe House Portland residents organize a peer-led retreat.

Each Moishe House enables three to five post-college Jewish 20-something professionals to live in a rent-subsidized home while dedicating free time each month to hosting a handful of meaningful Jewish experiences for their peers, or about 60 programs annually.

“After an amazing and inspiring decade, today we have a wonderful opportunity to continue to grow for the future, to expand our reach, to continue to say ‘yes’ to the growing network of incredible young leaders who want to open up their homes and redefine Jewish community to meet their needs and the needs of their peers,” says David Cygielman, Moishe House founder and CEO. Moishe House will also hold three special 10th anniversary celebrations – in London on Oct. 20, New York on Nov. 17 and San Francisco on Nov. 29.

[seniors]

Artist Arne Westerman plays his trumpet on the lawn near Rose Schnitzer Manor.

The Mystery Trumpeter of Rose Schnitzer Manor

By Liz Rabiner Lippoff

Parents, confess: when you encourage your kids to take up an instrument, you are hoping – praying! – they don’t choose the trumpet (OK, drums neither.) The flute is good: it takes a long time to even get any sound out. A violin does sound horrible in the hands of an amateur, but if he closes his bedroom door, you don’t have to hear it. But a trumpet? There is no escape.

So, I was on my way to an appointment at the Rose Schnitzer Manor in Portland … and I heard someone playing a trumpet. Rose Schnitzer Manor, for our non-Portland audience, is an assisted-living residence and an unexpected place to hear a trumpet. But residents were gathered around the May Library, listening. Others were paused in the hall, smiling. Nobody had their hands over their ears. This was beautiful music, a haunting melody played with tone and feeling.

“Who is playing the trumpet?” I asked my companions, but nobody knew. We had to move on to our meeting, but I knew I had to find the mystery trumpet player of RSM. Eventually I found him, and a warm thank you to Jen, Jemi and Nate for helping me track him down. His name is Arne Westerman, and I recognized the name right away because we bought one of his paintings at an Oregon Jewish Museum event years ago. I see it every day. It’s gorgeous. Arne Westerman, famous artist and

author, is the mystery trumpet player!

His apartment is more art studio than apartment, complete with paintings stacked everywhere and a student working quietly in the corner. I was a little star struck. I always wanted to take drawing lessons, I confessed. I did one drawing a few months ago, and I really enjoyed it. “Switch to paint,” he said right away. “It helps you think in terms of shapes, not lines.

And use acrylic: it dries fast. If you don’t like it, put another color on top. If you don’t like that, put another color on top of that.” That simple!

“It’s natural,” Arne says. “Everyone can draw.” The problem, he believes, is that people think too much. “I tell my students: ‘I don’t want you to think. I want you to just draw what you see.’

“Jerry Stern (z”l) was my oldest friend, and he had purchased some of my paintings. Once we were at a restaurant, and I asked him why he doesn’t paint something himself. He said, ‘I can’t draw a straight line.’ I said, ‘I look in the want ads, and there aren’t ads for someone who can draw a straight line.’ ” Arne pointed to a chair, and Jerry said he could never draw that. “I don’t want you to draw a chair,” Arne told him. “I want you to draw what’s there that looks like a chair. Go down on the ground where it starts, follow the leg; everywhere it goes, you go with it. He drew a gorgeous chair because he wasn’t thinking ‘chair.’ He was drawing what he could see.”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 59

An Arne Westerman painting purchased by the author several years ago.

l’sHana

tovaH

As the High Holy days draw near, all of us at Rose Schnitzer Manor send you wishes for a healthy and happy new year.

Please be our guest (503) 535-4004 www.cedarsinaipark.org

ACTIVE ASSISTED LIVING

Arne actually quit a successful career in advertising at the age of 50 to pursue his art. He didn’t want to die, he said, and he figured he could live forever in the canvases he left behind.

It turned out to be his calling. He has taught all over the world and published several books. Even now, at 89, he paints every single day. But the trumpet, I asked, what’s that story? Trumpet music is over when it’s over, unless one lands a recording contract or goes on YouTube.

Art and music, Arne replied, are both “an expression of joy, a celebration of life.”

Arne played in the Portland Junior Symphony in high school and then later in an Army band. When he got out of the Army in 1946, he saw the movie “The Front Page” and got bitten by the writing bug. He boxed up his trumpet and didn’t pick it up again for 60 years. He believes, though, that the music was in his head all that time, just waiting to be played.

Now it seems to be the perfect counterpoint to his painting.

He plays in the RSM dining rooms and in the auditorium.

He doesn’t play every day, but when he does, he sees the notes in his head, puts the trumpet to his mouth and the music just comes out. One resident complained once, so he quit, but others ask him to please play, so he does, but he is respectful of those around him.

His apartment opens onto a patio, with a lawn surrounding it and a wall of trees separating it from the street. It forms what feels like a natural amphitheater, Hollywood Bowl on Boundary Street. We stepped out there so he could play a little impromptu concert for me, first something I didn’t recognize, then a Gershwin I did know, and I quietly sang along. He told me about a woman at RSM who requested he play "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem, and she sang alongside him in French. “I couldn’t see her, but I could feel her beside me, gesturing, singing.”

Nature was all around us that afternoon on Arne’s patio.

“What do the birds think of this,” I asked.

“The crows like it,” he said with a laugh.

Liz Rabiner Lippoff is a marketing consultant, freelance writer and serves on the board of directors of Cedar Sinai Park. LizInk.biz

60 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Brain's prefrontal lobe is major player in Parkinson's Gait Courtesy of American Friends of Tel Aviv University

A new study by Tel Aviv University researchers demonstrates that the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with cognitive functions, plays a major role in “Parkinson’s Gait.”

It suggests a radically new understanding of the mechanism underlying gait difficulties in people with Parkinson’s disease and may lead to new therapeutic approaches.

The study was led by TAU Sackler School of Medicine Professor Jeffery Hausdorff and Dr. Anat Mirelman, co-directors of the Center for the Study of Movement, Cognition and Mobility at the Tel Aviv Medical Center; and conducted in large part by Dr. Inbal Maidan of Tel Aviv Medical Center.

More than motor deficits involved

The ability to walk safely and independently is central to functional independence and quality of life. That ability is impaired in people with PD, rendering the most basic and commonplace tasks nearly impossible.

Researchers had previously theorized that motor deficits impaired walking and caused the dangerous falls associated with the disease.

However, when TAU researchers asked patients to walk and complete another task – e.g., a verbal fluency task such as naming fruits or simple serial subtractions – at the same time, the gait pattern of patients with PD became worse. During “dual tasking,” they walked slower and with less stability. This suggested that cognitive resources were being used as they walked.

“Work by our group has demonstrated that cognitive control deficits play an active role in the walking difficulties experienced by many people with Parkinson’s,” said Professor Hausdorff.

New pictures of the problem

The team used functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy to show that cognitive resources are utilized by PD patients much more often than by healthy individuals. “The advantage of fNIRS is that we can measure brain activation during actual walking,” said Dr. Mirelman.

“The overactivation of the prefrontal cortex has a two-pronged effect in Parkinson’s patients,” Dr. Mirelman continued. “Because the prefrontal cortex is ‘saturated,’ it is unable to perform other tasks, impairing gait and creating cognitive deficits. The debilitation is two-fold.”

“The increased activation during normal walking curtails the ability of Parkinson’s patients to recruit further cognitive resources during other challenging tasks,” said Professor Hausdorff. “It may even exacerbate the high risk of falling in these patients.”

The team is now conducting research to better understand the underlying mechanisms of the brain activation pattern and therapeutic approaches that may improve gait and reduce the risk of falls. The information is critical to the design of appropriate therapies such as virtual reality or noninvasive brain stimulation to improve neural efficiency.

Ultimately, it’s your experience that matters.

To be sure, we’re proud of our 28 years of experience in senior living. But, to us, what really matters is your experience at our communities. We invite you to experience NorthWest Place for yourself at a complimentary lunch and tour. Please call now to schedule.

I n de p e n de n t L i v i ng R e s i de nc e s

2420 NW Marshall Street • Portland, OR SRGseniorliving.com • 503.388.5417 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 61

Coral Pagano’s accepts the Torah scroll to carry through her congregation in Ashland.

JKids & Teens too SPECIAL

BAR/BAT MITZVAH

A child-friendly resource for parents

SECTION

Nathan Rosenfeld braids a challah under the direction of Temple Beth Israel Rabbi Ruhi that will be served at his sister’s bat mitzvah Kiddush lunch the next day.

INSIDE 62 Memorable Moments 65 Exotic Settings 66 Mysterious Parties 68 Speak Kindly 70 Mitzvah Showcase 73 Family Time 74 Kids & Teen Calendar

62 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Hannah Rosenfeld learns to braid challah from Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein, who has introduced this pre-b’nai mitzvah family ritual to Eugene.

Little things make b’nai mitzvah special

By Shuly Wasserstrom

For many Jews, a bar or bat mitzvah is one of the most significant and fundamental ceremonies in the religion. The coming-of-age ceremony marks a time in youth when one accepts Judaism as their own and becomes recognized as an adult by the community.

In today’s modern world, the ceremony has evolved and taken on new meaning. New practices, in various forms, have entered traditions and been adapted to personalize the experience for each b’nai mitzvah. One’s learning and connection to Judaism no longer must follow a rigid path, and many rabbis welcome the idea of customizing the event so the b’nai mitzvah feels it’s their own and is able to connect on a deeper level.

In communities around Oregon, these special ceremonies are cherished and embraced.

The unique elements help mark the b’nai mitzvah’s entrance into their communities as adults.

Adult bat mitzvah passes it on

Lesley Wojick Raphel’s upcoming bat mitzvah, at the age of 34 and eight years after her conversion to Judaism, is especially meaningful to her at this time in her life. Lesley converted in 2008 before marrying her husband, David, in Baltimore, MD. The couple moved to Portland in 2010 and life for them has been nothing short of busy ever since – she has given birth to two sons, Jack and Charlie, who are 2½ and 1½ years old.

This, along with finishing her medical residency, has left little time for her to stay connected to the religion she chose to join, leaving a feeling of disconnect. She chose to reconnect to Judaism and establish herself in Portland’s Congregation Shaarie Torah by becoming a bat mitzvah in October. “I really missed the continuing education,” Lesley says. “With my bat mitzvah, I wanted to reaffirm my commitment and cement my learning.”

The Parsha for her bat mitzvah is especially fitting – Beresheet, the first Parsha in the Torah. “It definitely seems appropriate for my bat mitzvah, as it is a new phase in life for me,” she says.

Lesley plans to stay connected to Jewish learning after her bat mitzvah by tutoring b’nai mitzvah students ahead of their own ceremonies at the congregation. She says it’s her way of giving back.

“As a mentor, I’ll be able to continue my own learning. It will be mutually beneficial – I’ll be able to keep up with my own learning and contribute to somebody else's learning as well.”

Lesley also plans on contributing to developing a curriculum for other adults who want to study for a bar or bat mitzvah. “An adult b’nai mitzvah is a different way of approaching it,” she

says. She looks forward to drawing on her own experience to help others.

The mitzvah of challah

Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein, who joined Temple Beth Israel in Eugene last summer, says a b’nai mitzvah is seen as a time when a young person steps forward to take their place in the Jewish community. This can also be a stressful time in one’s life, and she looks to make the experience a little easier. She invites the b’nai mitzvah and their family over to her home the Friday before the ceremony to bake challah together.

Rabbi Ruhi Sophia says the tradition was started by her father, himself a rabbi, with members of his congregation in upstate New York.

“It’s supposed to be a casual time-out for everyone, during a time of stress and chaos before the big day. It’s a great opportunity to remind everyone what this is about,” says Rabbi Ruhi Sophia.

Hannah Rosenfeld, who had a bat mitzvah at Temple Beth Israel last August, was one of the first to experience challah baking at Rabbi Ruhi Sophia’s house the day before her ceremony.

Her mother, Karen, says the tradition brought the family together and made them feel especially comfortable with Rabbi Ruhi Sophia, who last summer was still new to the congregation.

“Having a brand new rabbi open her home to our family, the day before our daughter was to be a bat mitzvah, was wonderfully heartwarming and really solidified her importance in our

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 63

Jewish community,” Karen says.

The family gathered and baked the challah, blessing each strand as it was braided. Hannah’s siblings and extended family attended and were able to take part. “The challah was touched and blessed by the most important people in our lives, (and) was then served to the entire community of people who attended Hannah’s bat mitzvah, Jewish and otherwise,” Karen says.

“It was a symbolic way for Hannah to begin her transition into Jewish adulthood.”

Immediate and extended family are always welcome to take part in the braiding and extend their blessings to the b’nai mitzvah. “It’s a moment of mindfulness before the ceremony,” says the rabbi.

Hannah says the opportunity to be blessed by family and eat the challah together the next day at her bat mitzvah Kiddush luncheon was especially meaningful. “It was a great experience.

I’d never made challah that way before, not with rabbi and not with all the blessings,” Hannah says.

Remember Us

For many families, the b’nai mitzvah also serves as a reminder to be thankful for religious freedom and to be living in a time and place when Jews are free to express their beliefs. For Coral Pagano, at Havurah Shir Hadash in Ashland, becoming a bat mitzvah was a time to reclaim her Jewish ancestry; shortly after Coral’s birth, she and her mom converted back to her great-grandmother’s religion.

Coral went through the Remember Us Foundation for her bat mitzvah project, an organization that gives b’nai mitzvah students an opportunity to remember a child who was lost in the Holocaust.

Coral became a bat mitzvah in June 2016 and dedicated her Torah reading to Henny, a 7-year-old girl who died in Auschwitz in 1943. She will continue to remember Henny every year by lighting a yahrzeit candle for her each year, saying Kaddish for her and doing mitzvot in her name.

Coral says she was touched by the idea of remembering a child who had no one else to remember her. “It made me sad to think about kids who had never been thought about and don’t have anyone to remember them, and I thought it would be nice, the biggest mitzvah I could do, to make sure one of them is remembered,” Coral says.

Coral’s mother, Emily, says she thinks the idea of remembering a child lost in the Holocaust especially resonated with Coral because of her Jewish upbringing, in which she was immersed in Jewish learning and activities. The idea that Henny never had the opportunity to grow up in a Jewish community as Coral did made it especially important to her.

“Coral’s connection to Judaism is from her childhood, and that there were so many children who were victimized really resonated with her because she sees Judaism within children as so normal, innocent and pure,” Emily says.

Coral says the yahrzeit candle will be lit on the day of her bat mitzvah, because the exact date Henny died is unknown, as well as on Yom Kippur and Yom HaShoah. “It means the world to me to be able to light a yahrzeit candle for her every year,” Coral says.

64 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

BAR/BAT MITZVAH

Get away from home for idyllic bar or bat mitzvah

A family celebrates their son’s bar mitzvah in the rain forests of Costa Rica.

Historic synagogues also offer meaningful settings for b’nai mitzvah celebrations.

By Deborah Moon

Taking b’nai mitzvah celebrations on the road can relieve mental and financial stress, promote family bonding and create a double set of memories to last a lifetime.

A destination bar or bat mitzvah can be the ideal solution for a family facing special needs – either in terms of family dynamics or a child with learning or developmental differences.

More than a decade ago, Ellen Paderson began planning destination bar and bat mitzvahs. With more than a hundred such celebrations under her belt, she realized how well they would fit the needs of children with anxiety or developmental issues as well as families’ special needs.

“Many children are shy and don’t want to get up in front of the whole congregation, but they can do it in front of 20,” says Ellen.

Through her 22-year-old travel company Smiles & Miles Travel, Ellen not only handles all travel arrangements, she has connections with synagogues throughout the world.

They include Prague and Italy as well as at historic American synagogues in St. Thomas and Curaçao. For celebrations on cruises or in the rainforest or other exotic locations, she has a cantor willing to join the trip to officiate and bring a Torah and prayer books.

While some families have the education piece in hand, Ellen can arrange tutors, who work via Skype or FaceTime, to prepare the child for the service.

She shares a story from one of her tutors who worked with twins, one of whom had autism: “We began our lessons about

six months before the trip, and we focused on having each child accomplish prayers and blessings that were age and skill appropriate. We created a teaching/learning experience that was challenging without pressure or stress. We adapt our lesson for the individual student.”

She says another tutor explains, “Our goal is to make it easy for the child to participate as much as possible in the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony, to make them feel good about being Jewish and to appreciate their rich heritage, their roots and who they are.”

When picking a destination, Ellen says she reminds the parents to consider the child’s interests. For a child who likes nature and adventure, planning a trip to visit the art museums in Italy is not going to be a hit.

Though an exotic family vacation might sound expensive, Ellen says for many families it is actually cheaper than throwing a big party for everyone in the congregation – a party where the bar mitzvah will spend little time with relatives who travelled across the country to see them. Conversely, on a cruise or at a resort, the extended family will often have several days to bond over shared meals and excursions. The service, family and vacation will combine to create lifelong memories.

“Sometimes divorced families find it easier to be in a destination and can share the joy,” says Ellen. Depending on whether the divorce was friendly, she notes, parents in different states might come together in one destination, or a father might plan a destination bar mitzvah after the mother hosted a celebration in the synagogue.

barmitzvahvacations.com OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 65

Youth do yoga in public to win the Mystery Trip scavenger hunt.

This bat mitzvah party is a big mystery

The rambunctiousness is palpable as dozens of 12- and 13-year- olds pile onto the school bus for Sarah’s bat mitzvah party.

“Where are we going?” “Why do I need this beach towel?”

“How long until we get to our first stop?” The questions come rapid fire, repeating over and over, as if the guy in charge will break down and give any sort of clue as to what’s about to happen.

That guy in charge is Dave Green, the Chief Mysterious Officer of Mystery Trip, and he parries their inquisition with ease: “Not telling.” “You’ll see.” “I forget.” They stomp off, smiling. They’ll find out soon enough.

Although specializing in corporate team bonding events, Mystery Trip has become one of the hottest alternative bar mitzvah events in Los Angeles over the last 18 months as parents look to move beyond the typical parties into something more experiential and memorable for their b’nai mitzvot.

“We figured by the end of the school year, everyone would be tired of the standard bat mitzvah party,” Wendi Levy, the bat mitzvah girl’s mother, explains. “We wanted to do something that would be unique and memorable.”

What started as a side project for Green in 2011 became a full-time endeavor in January 2015. The company has since expanded to accommodate trips nationwide, including in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, getmysterious.com | saul@getmysterious.com 310-701-5208 66 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Pittsburgh and Sonoma. Upcoming events are slated for Portland, Seattle, Austin, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Drawing from an enormous (and ever-growing) database, Green creates the personalized, all-inclusive events for his clients based on what they want to do, and is quick to mention he’s never done the same trip twice. “Each trip is custom-made for the client to ensure they have an experience that resonates with them personally, which makes it all the more special and memorable.”

After a massive scavenger hunt in Little Tokyo, a kosher lunch on a hidden patio downtown with a New York feel and an escape room adventure, the kids are tuckered out, but happy after their six-hour adventure. They are even happier when the bus pulls back into the meeting spot where there is an ice cream truck waiting for them.

Eating their soft serve together, mother and daughter are all smiles. “Dave nailed it,” says Wendi. “He spent a lot of time on the phone with me and David, my husband, to get it right. I was surprised he wanted speak with Sarah, too.”

Green walks by and Sarah – who is already wearing the custom-made shirt she helped design – gives him a big hug.

“Thanks for making this a really memorable day for me! Seriously, that was amazing!” she says, before running over to hang with friends and take more selfies.

Wendi adds, “To me the best part is that Dave acted as our concierge to book everything for the event. All we did was show up! How great is that?”

Let’s Celebrate!

Lunch Brunch Dinner Sightseeing Groups Charters

503-224-3900 Portlandspirit.com 503-224-3900 Local family ownedPortlandSpirit.com since 1994

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 67

ASK HELEN

Speak kindly at b’nai mitzvah – parents’ words can last a lifetime

Dear Helen:

My daughter is becoming a bat mitzvah very soon. I am looking for inspiration for my talk to her on the bimah. Problem A: I’m a poor writer and scared of getting tongue-tied.

Problem B: My parents want to bring a bottle of booze to her Kiddush lunch, but the site only allows for prayer wine. How do I get my parents their booze that day? They’re worse sober, sigh.

Stressed

Dear Stressed:

If your parents are so permanently pickled they cannot survive from breakfast until mid-afternoon without booze, you have a problem that’ll last long after the big event. Counsel them to coast through on Manischewitz. No matter what you say, they’ll probably pack a flask. You can only hope they’ll be discreet. In addition to everything you’re already juggling on your do-not-forget list, add identifying a babysitter/designated driver for the proud grandparents. Put a trustworthy friend without a drinking problem on that duty and concentrate on your daughter. They're less likely to brush off advice from a friend than a child/sib.

68 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

You don't have to be a good writer for this. Just be willing to speak from your heart. Honor the aspects of your daughter that you genuinely admire and also those you wish to inspire. Don’t be afraid to have a small cheat sheet with you. Then speak sincerely. Tell her what makes you proud, your hopes for her and simply of your love. Be specific and be general. Include a cute story or two. End with a loving hug. Be sure to thank your parents for being there; talk about how each of you serves as a role model for the others. This is a chance to deliver a message to all three generations, with the congregation as witness. If you can influence the readings for the service, try to lace them with messages that’ll inspire everyone’s behavior, at lunch and beyond.

Dear Helen:

I’ve never felt comfortable dancing in public. When I was a teenager, a superb but mean dancer called me a clod and a klutz. At my own bat mitzvah my mother told me “We don’t dance.” Both stuck hard in my throat. The only time I really enjoyed dancing was when I was very, very drunk at a fraternity party. I’ve managed to avoid dancing at social engagements much of my life. But I don’t want to hide any more. At 50 I am finally ready. Home alone, with a glass of wine, I can feel like

Tina Turner. But in public, no matter the music, I feel like a wooden board. I am so jealous of people who move easily. Do I go to my grave feeling …

Frozen?

Dear Frozen:

Any issue that’s lasted this long will not be solved overnight.

Increasing your sense of competence and grace will mitigate some, though not all, of the fear. The simplest and most reliable solution would be dancing lessons, privately at first and then in a class. The benefit of a class is that no one is meant to be an expert. The private lessons should give you enough confidence to get to the class and stay there. You can always practice more with the teacher on the side. Stick to dances with regular beats and moves until you find your legs.

After that, start slowly in public. Attend the kind of venues with free bands where people mill around, not serious partner dancing. Try big concerts where people stand up in their seats and boogie. A glass of wine is OK to get you going. Have a friend you trust be your partner, one who’ll stop when you want and not pressure you beyond your limits. Practice at home, with or without wine, to various kinds of music. The more like Tina Turner you feel, the sooner you’ll become a public dancer in addition to a private one.

A resident of Eugene since 1981, Helen is a member of Temple Beth Israel, where she studies and speaks on Torah. She claims to have black belts in schmoozing, problem solving and chutzpah. She’s a writer and an artist (kabbalahglass.com). Please email your questions to helen@yourjewishfairygodmother.com

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 69

BAR/BAT MITZVAH

Showcase tel’s preferred caterer, though offsite catering is permitted for a fee. You also can arrange a block of guest rooms for out-of-town guests.

VENUES The Benson Hotel

309 SW Broadway Portland, OR 97205 503-219-6708 bensonhotel.com The Benson Hotel’s event spaces are perfect for bar/bat mitzvahs, meetings and celebrations of all kinds for up to 400. On the National Register of Historic Places, named The Oregonian’s 2012 Best Hotel-Staff Pick and awarded TripAdvisor 2014 Certificate of Excellence, this is the ideal setting for your next event.

Mittleman Jewish Community Center

6651 SW Capitol Highway Portland, OR 97219 Contact: Bethany West bwest@oregonjcc.org 503-244-0111 oregonjcc.org “The living room of the Jewish community” is a popular venue for bar and bat mitzvah celebrations. From services to pool parties and dance parties, the MJCC provides a versatile space, catering and access to everything necessary to create an amazingly memorable experience for the bar/ bat mitzvah.

B’nai B’rith Camp

Mark Spencer Hotel

409 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205 503-224-3293 markspencer.com The Mark Spencer’s desirable downtown location on the streetcar line can accommodate up to 200 guests in the new Nortonia Ballroom. Catering is provided by the ho70 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Lincoln City, OR Max Barenberg, Rentals and Retreats Manager mbarenberg@bbcamp.org 503-319-9126 bbcamp.org/rentals B’nai mitzvot at BB Camp are special. Our lake-front amphitheater is perfect for your morning service. The Dining Hall and Mercaz Center are perfect for a dance party. Lodging options ensure all your guests are comfortable, and our kosher catering hits the spot. Enjoy a pool, canoeing and zip line.

Opal 28

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Vacations

Contact: Ellen Paderson ellenp1@comcast.net 508-238-4088 barmitzvahvacations.com Destination bar or bat mitzvahs fit the needs for many families. Celebrate in a historic synagogue, on a cruise or in an exotic location. We handle travel arrangements; coordinate arrangements for the service including a Torah, prayer books and officiant; and can arrange tutors who work through Skype or FaceTime.

510 NE 28th Ave. Portland, OR 97232 Contact: Margot Feves 971-544-7324 opal28.com This intimate venue featuring modern charm inside a vintage building has a 125-person capacity with two main rooms, bar, outside patio and guestrooms. Catering, rentals and dĂŠcor; outside vendors welcome. Party options include DJ dances, popcorn bars, photo booths, food carts, seated or buffet dinners, sushi rolling and dessert stations.

VENDORS

Hilton Portland

921 SW Sixth Ave. Portland, OR 97204 Contact: Amy Baldwin PDXPH-weddings@hilton.com 503-721-2893 portland.hilton.com Invite as many guests as you would like to your bar or bat mitzvah. Highly regarded as the showcase space, the octagonal Pavilion Ballroom provides a beautiful setting for services and parties. Trust our full-service banquet team to create menus catered to your taste for as many as 4,000 guests.

Rob Pro Photo

3760 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Portland, OR 97214 Rob Lindemann Rob@RobProPhoto.com 503-679-6412 RobProPhoto.com Professional Photography and Custom Print Services: Serving all types of clients. No job too big or too small.

Contact Rob Pro Photo today!

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 71

ecutive chef who sources local NW cuisine. We have a variety of menu options to choose from.

Providence Park Portland Spirit Cruises & Events

110 SE Caruthers Portland, OR 97214 Contact: Morgan Knorr mknorr@portlandspirit.com 503-224-3900 800-224-3901 PortlandSpirit.com Portland Spirit vessels are a uniquely impressive venue to celebrate a bar/bat mitzvah. We can host from 1 to 400 guests. All our vessels have an onboard galley with an ex-

72 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

1844 SW Morrison Portland, OR 97205 503-553-5429 providenceparkpdx.com Providence Park offers a unique and exciting venue to host your next private event! Don’t let the Oregon weather deter you; the stadium is an indoor and outdoor facility for events throughout the year. We offer professional and experienced event managers to help make your event special and memorable!

[Family Time]

Walk between the raindrops

By Debra Rich Gettleman

I’m sitting at my computer, writing. It’s 3:30 in the afternoon and there is a sudden and torrential downpour that seems to appear out of nowhere. I’ve just poured a cup of tea and for a moment I’m enjoying the beauty of the rain and the wet wind that brought it in as I sip on my Earl Grey. Then suddenly it dawns on me that Eli, my 12-year-old, is getting off the bus from school right about now and will be drenched to the bone after running the three blocks from the bus stop to our house. OMG, this is a job for Super Mom! I bolt away from the computer, grab my keys, wallet and rain boots and run out to the car to save my son. Sure there have been numerous rainy days when I’ve been at work or in meetings at this exact hour. Granted he has managed to run home in the rain on multiple occasions and not met with any serious harm. But it is this moment, I convince myself, that is the make or break moment of motherhood. “A good mother,” I think to myself, “Will race to her son and whisk him out of the elements and into her warm, dry, yellow Fiat.”

I speed to the bus stop like an expectant father whose wife is about to give birth. I will get there before my poor helpless little boy has to step into the cold, harsh rainy reality that awaits him. As I pull around the corner, I see the bright yellow school bus approaching. “Yes,” I think with great pride in myself and awe in my maternal instincts. My son steps slowly, cautiously off the bus. The other children follow him close behind. Surely he will see my yellow and black bumble bee vehicle stopped right next to the school bus. He looks at me and I think I see the deep disappointment in his eyes. “But I’m here,” I want to say to him. “I got here just in the nick of time.”

Then like a flash he is off, racing away from me towards home. I honk. He continues to run, as if he is literally trying to avoid me. “I’m faster than him,” I think, and I speed up to catch him. I roll down the window. “You don’t want a ride home?” I ask pleadingly. “Nah, mom. I want to run in the rain with my friends. See ya at home,” he says, and I watch him as he laughs and dances under the big wet droplets of rain with his pals.

I think I’ve forgotten what it feels like to dance in the rain, to appreciate the adversity of inclement weather, to know that it’s okay to get wet sometimes because you are going to dry off in the end and the sheer act of getting wet can be fun and satisfying in and of itself. Sometimes we grown-ups worry too much about frizzy hair and drenched sneakers. As famed greeting card mogul Vivian Greene once said, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Thanks for reminding me, Eli. I love you to Pluto and back.

Debra Rich Gettleman is a mother, blogger, actor and playwright. For more of her work, visit unmotherlyinsights.com

Inspiring passionate learners PreK-12 Join us to learn more about our schools.

Grades 9-12 • Info Day, Nov. 6 Grades PreK-8 • Tours through February Find more details and RSVP on our website.

Deadline for non-resident enrollment requests is Feb. 17.

Teaching students to be thoughtful in their education, about each other, and for their community.

503-262-4847 • www.riverdaleschool.com Grade School • 11733 SW Breyman Ave., Portland High School • 9727 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 73

Kids & Teen

EVENTS

Oct. 21-23

SUKKOT FAMILY CAMP AT B’NAI B’RITH CAMP. Enjoy the weekend at B’nai B’rith Camp on the Oregon coast with your family.

Activities include fun-filled Shabbat and Sukkot celebrations, arts & crafts, athletics, canoeing, swimming and much more. Includes six meals, two nights’ stay and great activities. Co-sponsored by PJ Library Adults: $118, Kids ages 3 and older: $85, Kids 2 and under: Free. Contact Ben at bcharlton@bbcamp.org or 503-452-3443 for more info. Register at bbcamp.org/events/familycamp/

October Oct. 9

YOUNG READERS’ FORUM WITH AUTHOR STEVE SHEINKIN. Host your neighbors for this 2 pm video chat with this PJ

Our Way Author. Join our online forum with Steve Sheinkin, author of the Rabbi Harvey series, Most Dangerous, Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon and many other books.

RSVP required to ensure tech compatibility. Free. RSVP to bcharlton@ bbcamp.org or online at tinyurl.com/rabbiharvey

Oct. 13-Dec. 8

IMPROV COMEDY CLUB FOR 3RD-5TH GRADERS.

Thursdays 3:45-4:45 pm (no class Nov. 24) at Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy. Learn the basics of Improv Theater! Students will learn short-form games that teach the skills of listening and responding, working together as a group to create a story on the spot, and building self-confidence. The class will be working towards a demo that showcases their favorite improv games, and shows off their new comedy chops. In partnership with PJA and the NW Children’s Theater and School. $95. 503-535-3555

RECURRING: PJ STORY HOUR YAD B'YAD: 9:30-10:15 am Fridays at Rose Schnitzer Manor, 6140 SW Boundary St., Portland. Share in a weekly story hour for young families with music and PJ Library books with the residents of Cedar Sinai Park. rachelr@jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415 SHABBAT STORYTIME: 9:45-10:15 am, second Saturdays, at Congregation Shir Tikvah 7550 NE Irving St., Portland. Free. Shabbat gathering of toddlers and their caregivers. Best for kids up to age 5, although older siblings are welcome.

Enjoy stories, songs and crafts that celebrate holidays and Jewish values.

Stay afterwards for bagels and coffee with Rabbi Ariel Stone. 503-4738227 NORTHEAST STORY HOUR WITH PJ LIBRARY: 9:30-10:15 am Sundays at New Seasons, 3445 N Williams Ave., Portland. Share in a weekly story hour for families with music and PJ Library Books. rachelr@ jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415

MONTHLY HEBREW STORY HOUR WITH PJ LIBRARY:

2:30 pm every second Sunday at the Hillsboro Public Library, 2850 NE Brookwood Pkwy., Hillsboro. rachelr@jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415

BETH ISRAEL PRESCHOOL Jewish educators * joyful community Shabbat & holiday celebrations rolling enrollment * convenient NW location play-based learning * small classes arts-integrated curriculum * ages 2 to pre-k 1972 NW Flanders Street (971) 339-2084 Portland, Oregon 97209 www.bethisrael-pdx.org

74 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Ben Sandler, Education Director Ben@bethisrael-pdx.org Sarah Reiter, Education Administrator Sarah@bethisrael-pdx.org

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Community Enrichment honorees Carolyn and Gary Weinstein flank Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, for whom the award is named.

Enriching the community Rabbi Joshua Stampfer Award

g n i v i L

INSIDE

75 COMMUNITY ENRICHMENT AWARD 77 JEWISH BOOK CELEBRATION 78 FACES & PLACES 80 PREVIEWS 82 CALENDAR

Seventeen years ago, Dr. Merritt Linn created an award to honor Rabbi Stampfer on the 50th anniversary of his ordination. This year, Gary and Carolyn Weinstein will receive the Joshua Stampfer Community Enrichment Award.

For the first several years, the dinner event was held at outside venues; but in 2014, the celebration was permanently moved to Congregation Neveh Shalom, the congregation the rabbi emeritus has called home for more than 60 years.

The Community Enrichment Award wouldn’t exist without the support of the organizations that Rabbi Stampfer helped found. They are the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies at Portland State University; Camp Solomon Schechter; the Institute for Judaic Studies; the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education; and, of course, Neveh Shalom.

The purpose of the award is to honor an individual or organization that has enriched Jewish culture, education and community life with the dedication exemplified by Rabbi Stampfer. The awardees – chosen by representatives of the five local organizations the rabbi helped to establish and by previous honorees – can be Jewish or non-Jewish, living or deceased, and may be recognized for a lifetime achievement or a specific project.

The award is one of three that will be presented annually at a non-fundraising dinner at the synagogue.

This year the committee added an interfaith award. The Rev. Dr. Rodney Page, retired executive director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, will be the first recipient of the Joshua Stampfer Interfaith Community Enrichment Award.

In 2006 a youth recognition award was created to give a moment in the spotlight to our outstanding Jewish youth who have demonstrated exceptional devotion to advancing Jewish learning, creating a more ethical and peaceful world through Jewish values and the exercise of tikkun olam. By recognizing their early accomplishments and witnessing the high esteem shown for the evening’s honorees for OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 75

their lifetime of achievements, and for those who preceded them, the committee hopes that our young people will be encouraged to continue down the path they’ve already begun to forge. This year the award will have a new name, “The Merritt Linn Youth Award,” honoring the man who helped create the community enrichment event and saw it through until his passing last year.

The name of the youth honoree was not available at press time.

The centerpiece of the evening will be the presentation of the 2016 RSCE Award to Gary and Carolyn.

Gary was born in Portland, grew up in Astoria and returned to Portland as a teen. Carolyn was born in Minot, ND, grew up in Spokane and arrived here as a teenager. They met through BBYO at the Jewish Community Center’s former location.

Following college studies in Oregon and Washington, they married in 1956. Throughout their 60 years of married life, they have exemplified leadership, involvement and volunteerism in the Portland Jewish community and the Portland community at large.

Gary is well known for his dedicated service on many boards, having begun his organizational activities while in high school as president of his AZA City of Roses BBYO chapter. He has served on a variety of boards including Congregation Neveh Shalom (two years as treasurer), Jewish Family & Child Service and Store to Door. He served as chairman of the Oregon Bankers’ Association Consumer Credit Committee as well as the Portland Agenda Club. He is currently volunteering with Sinai In-Home Care, Start Making A Reader Today and the Jewish Free Loan Committee. He and Carolyn twice co-chaired Super

Sunday for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. Together they have been volunteer cooks at the Goose Hollow Family Shelter for the past seven years. Gary retired in 2007 after 47 years of work in the field of banking. His main forte was as a “creative thinker” in developing the content for programming for banks.

Carolyn has lent her talents and skills to more than 25 organizations, taking leadership roles in all. She is a recent recipient of the Good Neighbor Award, presented by the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors, as well as the Kipnis-Wilson/ Friedland National Lion of Judah Award, presented by the Jewish Federations of North America. Carolyn was featured in the March 2016 issue of Oregon Jewish Life in connection with this award.

As a couple, Carolyn and Gary truly personify a “dynamic duo” who give unstintingly in their support of the community.

2016 Stampfer Community Enrichment Award Dinner WHEN: 6 pm, Thursday, Nov. 3 WHERE: Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland TICKETS: $60 per person; no fundraising RESERVATIONS: Marg Everett at 503-293-7318 or meverett@nevehshalom.org

PA SSPO RT TO D N A L T R O P H JEWIS

EAR S OLD Y 0 3 2 2 S T ADUL FO R JEWIS H

Find you r path to Jewish community with a single $ 360 annual pass ...

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THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.

76 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

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Portland Jewish Book Celebration begins Nov. 8

The 6th annual Many Stories, One Community: Portland Jewish Book Celebration will focus on one book in November – The Marriage of Opposites by best-selling author Alice Hoffman – and three books in March when the Mittleman Jewish Community Center presents three authors at its annual authors’ series.

Hoffman’s The Marriage of Opposites explores growing up on St. Thomas in the early 1800s in a Jewish refugee community.

Rachel dreams of a life in Paris, but instead she is married off to save her father’s business. When her husband dies and his nephew arrives from France, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France, Camille Pissarro.

The November celebration of that story features five public events.

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 6:30-8:30 pm: Ahava Reads at Sip d’Vine, 7829 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland. Discuss the book The Marriage of Opposites at this event sponsored by Congregation Shaarie Torah.

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 6:30-7:30 pm: Pageturners discuss The Marriage of Opposites at the Hillsdale branch of the Multnomah Public Library, 1525 SW Sunset Blvd., Portland. Sponsored by Friends of the Library.

Sunday, Nov. 13, 11 am: Mirabella Retirement Complex, 3550 SW Bond Ave., Portland, hosts these salty tales. When Spain launched the Inquisition, it got something completely unexpected – Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean. Join Ron Silver and Eric Kimmel for salty tales of the Jewish pirates who found revenge, and a whole lot of booty, as they raised havoc in the Spanish New World. Light refreshments will be served. Parking is available in the adjacent OHSU parking lot for a small

fee. This event is sponsored by Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Neveh Shalom and the MJCC. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 7-9:30 pm: The MJCC, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland, hosts Pissarro, Pinot & Palette: Impressionism and Beyond. Local artist Jeffery Hall will talk briefly about how his work relates to The Marriage of Opposites. Following the discussion, participate in a twohour creative art instruction session led

by Hall. He will guide you to explore your inner artist in an informal, no-pressure environment. Transform a blank canvas into a finished representation to take home with you at the end of the night. There will be a $36 charge with reservations required.

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 7 pm: Havurah Shalom, 824 NW 18th Ave., Portland, hosts a film evening exploring the future of the Caribbean Jewish community. The film “A Kippah in the Caribbean” (2015, Dutch with English subtitles) traces the culture of Caribbean Jews from Portugal, The Netherlands and Brazil, to Curaçao, Suriname, Aruba and the Dutch island of Saint Eustatius. Young Jews explore their lifestyle, including "Jewish Caribbean rap.” Great for all ages. Sponsored by the Institute for Judaic Studies, Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, and Havurah Shalom. Tickets are $8 general admission; $5 OJMCHE members; $5 students; and free for youth groups.

In March, the MJCC Authors’ Series features three authors on March 7, 14 and 21. Two of the speakers have been confirmed. Janis Cook Newman, author of A Master Plan for Rescue, and Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, author of Seinfeldia, will be the first two speakers.

Please join us for these creative and thought-provoking events to explore the ideas, themes and information in The Marriage of Opposites. For more information on all events or to register for Pissarro, Pinot & Palette see oregonjcc.org/arts-culture/jewish-book-celebration.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 77

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Living

FACES & PLACES

REED CHABAD – The orientation pre-Shabbat dinner attracted 60 students to the Chabad Student Center at Reed College, at right. The delicious, traditional pre-Shabbat dinner was a fun celebration of Jewish life at Reed. Nearly all the students stayed until the end of the dinner to welcome in the Shabbat with the Shabbat candles.

BIG TRUCKS, ROOTS & RAFTERS – Close to 600 people filled the Mittleman Jewish Community Center parking lot Sept. 5 to attend Big Truck Day and celebrate the completion of the J’s Roots & Rafters Campaign. Families experienced first-hand what it’s like to be behind the wheel of some of the biggest vehicles out there, enjoyed great food and live music to make for a fantastic way to spend Labor Day together.

Photos by Naim Hasan Photography

78 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

SHOPPING FOR SHUT-INS – Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum spent the morning of Aug. 25 grocery shopping for shut-in seniors and people with disabilities along with approximately 35 other Store to Door volunteers. Store to Door is a nonprofit organization that supports independent living for Portland area seniors and people with disabilities by providing a low-cost, volunteer-based grocery shopping and delivery service. StoretoDooroforegon.org

CAMPERS AGAIN – On the weekend of Aug. 26-28, more than 80 young Jewish adults between the ages of 23-35 joined friends old and new to celebrate their love of B’nai B’rith Camp. They got to be kids again celebrating Shabbat, making friendship bracelets and tie-dye, participating in their own Maccabiah games and reliving other favorite camp activities.

TEAM OREGON – The Mittleman Jewish Community Center took 20 teens to the 2016 Maccabi Games in St. Louis in August. The athletes participated in basketball, soccer and track. A multi-state girls soccer team that included one Oregonian brought home a gold medal. In track, Tal Cohen brought home gold in the 200 and 400 meter races and long jump, and silver in the 100M race, while Rafi Sibony won silver in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 meter races.

MUSICAL SHABBAT - “Shabbat Unplugged” on the Plaza at Congregation Neveh Shalom with Cantor Deborah Bletstein, local singer/songwriter Beth Hamon, Sharon Fendrich and Steven Skolnik.

SIMCHA CYCLATHON – More than 50 riders (including The Woodbury Family Pictured) took to the trails Sept. 11 for Congregation Shir Tikvah's third annual Simcha-Cyclathon and Shofar Blowing Clinic (Matthew Rolland, pictured). The ride not only raised money for Shir Tikvah, but also paid tribute to Gino Bartali, the Italian cyclist who saved more than 800 Jews from the Nazis by smuggling forged exit visas while on his training rides.

BACK TO SHUL – Gil Benedek with Ayelet, Roni and Noga enjoy the barbecue lunch at Congregation Neveh Shalom’s Back to Shul celebration Sept.

4. The day featured music, food and fun on the Conservative congregation’s outdoor plaza.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 79

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Living

THE WOMEN’S EVENT BRUNCH

PREVIEWS

Jewish Federation of Greater Portland presents The Women’s Event featuring Jane Weitzman at 11 am, Oct. 16. Join women of our community for a festive brunch with passionate philanthropist and author, Jane Weitzman. A minimum gift of $360 to the Annual Campaign is requested.

You will have the opportunity to make your Campaign 2017 commitment at this event.

Jane was featured in an April 2016 article in Oregon Jewish Life (see orjewishlife.com/jane-weitzman-puts-her-best-foot-forward-for-womensphilanthropy/).

Jane was the executive vice president of Stuart Weitzman and the founding vice president of Stuart Weitzman Retail. She spearheaded philanthropy at the company by generating funds for breast and ovarian cancer research. Jane is also the author of Art & Sole, featuring images of spectacular fantasy art shoes. Books will be available for purchase and signing at this event.

Tickets are $40, which includes a festive brunch.

RSVP by Oct. 7 to 503-892-7413 or jewishportland.org/thewomensevent for details and location.

CELEBRATE SUKKOT, AID AFFORDABLE HOUSING

On Sukkot we are commanded to live in temporary shelter for seven days. Among other things, this helps to remind us that after the exodus from Egypt our ancestors wandered, without a home. And while we have the opportunity to return to our own homes, Sukkot also reminds us that not all people have homes they can return to; some of our neighbors are homeless or close to homeless, living in unsafe and/or unstable conditions.

Celebrating Jewish Life in Southwest Washington

Previews

Tivnu: Building Justice and other sponsors in the Jewish community have created an opportunity for you to help address this issue. On the last day of Sukkot, Oct. 23, we will gather in Northeast Portland at 9:30 am for bagels and coffee and to learn about Yes for Affordable Homes and the Portland Ballot Measure 26-179. Then we will knock on doors, sharing information about this historic opportunity to invest in affordable housing. End our time together with a potluck lunch, in a sukkah of course.

If you are interested, email steve@tivnu.org for more information.

10TH SEPHARDIC WINTER FILM SERIES

Congregation Ahavath Achim, in cooperation with the Sephardic Cultural Center of Oregon, will present the 10th Annual Sephardic Winter Film Series, a compilation of six films with Sephardic content. Films will be shown at 7 pm on the first Tuesday of each month from November 2016 through April 2017.

All films will be shown at Congregation Ahavath Achim synagogue, 3225 SW Barbur Blvd., Portland. The screenings of the films will be free (a modest voluntary donation is suggested but not required). After each film is screened, a discussion period will follow with a prominent local personality to lead the discussion. Sephardic dessert and tea will be provided during the discussion period.

The series begins Nov. 1 with "Above and Beyond." This first film will be of universal interest to both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, as it deals with the formation of the Israeli Air Force during the 1948 War of Independence.

Above and Beyond is a 2014 documentary film about Mahal (Israel), produced by Nancy Spielberg, the youngest sister of Steven Spielberg. It is the story of the American, foreign and Israeli pilots who flew warplanes to help defend the new state of Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War against Arab armies that sought to destroy the new country.

With no air force or aircraft, Israel called for volunteers from America and the world, to start a nascent military air force. The first planes were purchased from massive U.S. government surplus stock from World War II. Facing restrictions from belligerent nations and the U.S. government, Israel found methods to recruit pilots, ground crews and mechanics to launch its rag-tag air force, even using Messerschmitt aircraft, among other war planes.

The film highlights interviews with the volunteer pilots, ground crews and organizers who created the new air force.

Directed by Roberta Grossman, Released July 15, 2014, 90 minutes, English language.

For more information on the series, call David Tver 503-892-6634.

CHRISTOPHER BROWNING LECTURES ON HOLOCAUST RESCUE

Let us welcome you to all of our High Holy Day services bit.ly/highholydays5777

80 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

On Nov. 10 The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education and the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project at Portland State University will present a talk with renowned Holocaust historian, Christopher Browning, titled "From humanitarian relief to Holocaust rescue: Tracy Strong Jr. and the fate of Jewish refugees in southern France.”

This talk ties into the theme for the 2016-2017 HGS and OJMCHE partnership on global migrations and refugees historically and in the present day. This talk begins at 7 pm in the Smith Ballroom at PSU. Admission is free.

Browning was the Frank Porter Graham Professor of History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill until his retirement in May 2014.

Before taking up this position in the fall of 1999, he taught for 25 years at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA. He is the author of eight books including The Final Solution and the German Foreign Office (1978), Ordinary Men: Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland (1992), The Path to Genocide (1992), Collected Memories: Holocaust History and Postwar Testimony (2003) and Remembering Survival: Inside a Nazi Slave Labor

whose works will be featured at 7:30 pm, Oct. 17 and 18, at the Alder Stage at Artists Repertory Theatre, 1516 SW Alder St. Rubin founded LineStorm Playwrights, a collective of accomplished playwrights in Portland creating new works for the stage. For Portland in Play, he presents “Stark Naked” inspired by the annual Naked Bike Ride in the Lloyd District. “Biking au naturel the PDX way.”

A couple of dudes ponder life, love and blisters during Portland’s annual naked bike ride.

Feder contributes “Your Upturned Breasts Light the World,” inspired by the Kvinneakt statue downtown. “If I only had a muse...” A sculptor hopes for inspiration from the Kvinneakt statue, who comes alive at his touch.

Other plays (and locations that inspired them) are: The Edge of Ross Island ( Ross Island Bridge) by E.M. Lewis; Jordan’s Wisdom (a homeless camp in SE Portland) by Josie Seid; Lunch Date (a sidewalk cafe on Foster Road) by Naga Nataka; MISS (the Q Center on Mississippi Ave.) by Brianna Barrett; Mushroom Roulette (Forest Park) by Lolly Ward; PDX (Portland International Airport) by Audrey Block; Round Trip (Aerial Tram) by Susan Faust; and A Science Thing (OMSI) by Sara Jean Accuardi.

For information and reservations, contact reserve@linestormplaywrights.com.

Camp (2010).

He is a three-time recipient of the Jewish National Book Award – Holocaust Category, for Ordinary Men, The Origins of the Final Solution and Remembering Survival. Ordinary Men provides a shocking look at the normal people who were commissioned to carry out horrific deeds in the most notorious mass killing in modern history. Browning explores how ordinary middle-aged Germans became the cold-blooded killers of the Holocaust.

Browning has served as an expert witness in “war crimes” trials in Australia, Canada, and Great Britain. He has also served as an expert witness in two “Holocaust denial” cases: the second Zündel trial in Toronto in 1988 and in David Irving’s libel suit against Deborah Lipstadt in London in 2000.

PORTLAND SITES INSPIRE 10 10-MINUTE PLAYS

In association with Artists Repertory Theatre, LineStorm Playwrights presents Portland in Play, staged readings of 10 new plays inspired by different locations throughout Portland. Portland in Play is directed by Debbie Lamedman.

Jewish playwrights Rich Rubin and Miriam Feder are among 10 writers

Looking to make a difference this holiday season?

Support

JFCS

Thanksgiving Food Boxes

Mitzvah Menorah Adopt-a-Family

NOVEMBER 20

DECEMBER 18

ASSEMBLY & DELIVERY

WRAPPING & DELIVERY

To volunteer, donate, or learn more, contact Carrie Kaufman at 503-226-7079, ext. 118 or ckaufman@jfcs-portland.org jfcs-portland.org

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 81

Oct. 1-Nov. 13

OCTOBER CALENDAR

Hold These Truths presented by Portland Center Stage at the Armory. pcs.org

Oct. 2-4 Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset Oct. 2 and continues through nightfall Oct. 4.

For times and locations for services in Oregon and SW Washington, visit orjewishlife.com/calendar

Oct. 3 Prayer, Meditation and Shofar. 10 am-noon at Portland Kollel, 6688 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland.

503-245-5420 or ryg@portlandkollel.org

Oct. 6 The Rock in the Red Zone, part of the third annual Israeli Film Series. For the past 14 years, the Israeli town of Sderot has been bombarded with rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, yet Sderot has become an epicenter for rock music in Israel.

Director Laura Bialis participates in Skype discussion following film. 7 pm at the MJCC, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy. The series concludes Oct. 13 (Film TBA). 1 film $8; member $5; series $20; member series: $12. 503-244-0111 O-Vary Funny! Ovarian Cancer Alliance fundraiser.

See page 33 The Rye Baker author Stanley Ginsberg, who also wrote Inside the Jewish Bakery, will be at a book signing (free) from 2-4 pm and will teach a rye master bread class ($75) at 6 pm at Tabor Bread, 5051 SE Hawthorne Blvd. taborbread.com/ classes

Bake. 7:30-9:30 pm. Free. 503-245-5420 or eve@portlandkollel.org

Oct. 11- 12 Yom Kippur begins at sunset Oct. 11 and concludes at nightfall Oct. 12.

The Day of Atonement is a solemn fast day.

For times and locations for services and breakthe-fast meals in Oregon and SW Washington, visit orjewishlife.com/calendar

Simchat Torah. These holidays formally end the season of the High Holy Days.

For times and locations for services in Oregon and SW Washington, visit orjewishlife.com/calendar

Oct. 26 2016 Election Edition, Jewish Federation of Greater Portland annual gala featuring awardwinning journalist Jeffrey Goldberg. 7 pm at the MJCC. See page 10

Oct. 16

Nov. 1

The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Women’s Event featuring Jane Weitzman. See page 80

Sephardic Winter Film Series begins with “Above and Beyond.” See page 80

Oct. 16-24

Aweseome ladies night out with your friends.

7:30-9 pm. Free. 503-245-5420 or eve@ portlandkollel.org

Sukkot begins at sunset Oct. 16 and concludes at nightfall Oct. 24. This seven-day festival (eight days in the Diaspora) celebrates the abundance of the fall harvest and commemorates the 40 years the Jewish people wandered in the desert after the exodus from slavery.

For times and locations for services and meals in sukkahs in Oregon and SW Washington, visit orjewishlife.com/calendar

Oct. 17-18 Portland in Play staged readings. See page 81

Oct. 18 Deadline to apply for Pacific Northwest Hadassah Mission Leadership Awards including free Hadassah mission in Israel. Hadassah.org/ regions/pacific-northwest/application-2016mission.pdf Itzhak Perlman Recital presented by Oregon Symphony. 7:30 pm at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. 503-228-1353 orsymphony.org

Nov. 2

Nov. 3 Stampfer Community Enrichment Award Dinner.

See page 75

Nov. 4-6 2016 Levy Event. Edges of Identity: Jews, Punk, Poetry – A weekend of music and learning featuring Alicia Jo Rabins and Golem. Brunch, panels and performances. 503-725-8449 or pdx.edu/judaic

Nov. 5 Complementary Medicine Seminar form the Ovarian Cancer Alliance. See page 33

Nov. 5-6 Taste of Oregon: Jewish art, Portland food and live music. Two-day celebration presented by ORA Northwest Jewish Artists. 7-9:30 pm Saturday, 10:30 am-4:30 pm Sunday, at MJCC. 503-2440111

Nov. 6

Oct. 8-15

Oct. 20

Info Day at Riverdale. Riverdaleschool.com

Oregon Ballet Theatre presents Giants at Keller Auditorium. 503-222-5538 or obt.org

Breast Friends/SHOC Girls’ Nite Out. See page 33

Nov. 7

Oct. 20-22

Oct. 9

Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollak Dance Company presents Wallflower, an ode to color, space and sound. 8 pm at Lincoln Hall, PSU. 503-245-1600 or whitebird.org

Join Eve Levy for a three part mini-series. Topic to be announced. 11 am-noon Nov. 7, 14 and 21.

Free. 503-245-5420 or eve@portlandkollel.org

Help! Thanks! Wow! The Power of Prayer. A Ladies Night Out with Shine! 7-9 pm at Collection Agency, 322 NW 6th Ave. Ste. 200, Portland.

503-245-5420 or eve@portlandkollel.org Concert: Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom. See page 42

Oct. 10 Join the International Shabbat Project Challah 82 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016

Oct. 23 Celebrate Sukkot and Canvas for Affordable Housing. See page 80

Oct. 24-25 Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah.

The days immediately following Sukkot are the semi-independent holidays Shemini Atzeret and

Nov. 8 Portland Jewish Book Celebration begins. See page 77

Nov. 10 Holocaust historian Christopher Browning speaks on “From humanitarian relief to Holocaust rescue.” See page 80

SUKKOT fun 5777 WORD FIND

Sukkot is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei for 7 days inside the Land of Israel and 8 days outside the land. During the time of the Holy Temple it was one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals.

Sukkot literally means Feast of Booths as Jews are commanded to live in a Sukkah, a temporary walled structure, covered with schach (branches), which is similar to what the Jews lived in while traveling in the desert. Just as HaShem provided the Jews protection in the desert with the Clouds of Glory, He is always our ultimate protector. On Sukkot, we are also commanded to shake the four species - an etrog (citron), a lulav (palm frond), three hadassim (myrtle twigs) and two aravot (willow twigs). On each day of the festival (excepting Shabbat), we take the four species, recite a blessing over them, and wave them in all six directions.

The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabbah ("Great Salvation") which closes the period of Divine judgment begun on Rosh Hashanah. A special observance is the aravah--the taking of a bundle of willow branches. The Torah is read every day during Sukkot.

spot the difference Which one is different?

Hint: Sukkah

3 WALLS

4 WALLS

9 DAYS

TEMPORARY

EAT

SLEEP

CROSSWORD Complete the crossword by translating each Hebrew word into English. Use the reference from Parsha Emor, read on first day Sukkot, for help.

1

2

ACROSS

3

4

5

6 7 8

1. ‫( חדש‬23:6) 4. ‫( כבש‬23:12) 6. ‫( אחד‬22:28) 7. ‫( ששה‬23:3) 8. ‫( ארץ‬22:33)

DOWN

2. ‫( קרבן‬22:27) 3. ‫( קדש‬22:32) 5. ‫( לחם‬23:14)

Can you discover the Secret Message? Find and circle the bold, italicized words from the Sukkot summary in the Word Find. Write the unused Word Find letters in the spaces below to spell the Secret Message.

Have Fun!

S H A K E M T G R E H S U K K O T T

D V

T W A T

S R H

I

I

A A D G E R L L

E

F

I

A A O H

T M K D R A E

T

E C W A V

Y O D A A Y O

S U K

C

H G

E H H E

V R S

S U S U E R

E R Y

V

R O S H N S D U O L

E W T O R

Y

E

A T

E K O T

R

E O

I

F

T

L O H

Y

SECRET MESSAGE

___ _____ __ ____ _____ ___ __ ______

gematria

Hint: The Sukkah reminds us of the Clouds

‫ו‬ -‫ב‬

‫ס‬ ÷‫י‬

‫ל‬ - ‫כח‬

‫ה‬ x‫ד‬

‫ק‬

÷‫כ‬ ‫ה‬

‫א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת‬ 400 300 200 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

9

WORD CMRLESAB ERPSAI ______ SUTD ____

ISGNRI ______ HMEROT ______

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

(scramble)

EYNDE _____ HNICDRLE ________

Hint: Hallel - Psalm 113

CANDLELIGHTING IN JERUSALEM 5:26 P.M. weekly chinuch podcast - over 150 posted! parsha + chinuch < 5 minutes www.thefamousabba.com/podcasts

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Check your answers at: www.thefamousabba.com/sukkot

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | OCTOBER 2016 83

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