Oregon Jewish Life March 2019 Vol 8/Issue-2

MARCH 2019

WANDER NO MORE

NEW YORK TIMES'

BARI WEISS

In a polarized world, moderate voice rings true CAMPS A wonderful place for kids to grow VISUALLY IMPAIRED? JBI offers free Haggadah PURIM Hamantaschen go gourmet!

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 1

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JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 3

WANDER NO MORE

CO N TE N TS March 2019 | Adar I-II 5779 | Volume 8/Issue 2

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SUMMER CAMP

COVER STORY Bari Weiss stays centered in extreme world

Impact May 6

34 36

FEATURES

26

30

10

BUSINESS Ins & Outs Israelis head for TechFest main stage Shaliach takes Israel to high school

12 14 15

PURIM Hamantaschen go gourmet

Divisive politics affect families, offices 50 Previews 51 FACES & PLACES 52 Calendar 54

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COLUMNS

HEALTH Visually impaired? Call JBI 32 Parkinson’s clinical trial seeks Ashkenazi 33

FRONT & CENTER Play explores discrimination, connections

Romanian Jewish pianist’s Brazilian music

The Arts in brief Mel Bochner – Enough Said ACTIVELY SENIOR Still building community at 97 Jack Heims surreal year

48 50 42 4 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

16 18 20 24 25 26 28 29

JEWS WITH ATTITUDE Rabbi Posen’s eye-opening Guatemala journey

PURIM NW NOSH: Breakfast sandwiches

34

BB Camp surfs into summer

OJCF’s commitment to camp

Programs grow at Solomon Schechter Teen & kid calendar

Gaga for ga-ga

Camp for young adults

The X-factor of Jewish camp

Day camp benefits

ON THE COVER: Bari Weiss PHOTO BY SAM BLOOM

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42 43 44 45

46 48

JLIVING

NW Nosh by Kerry Politzer Ask Helen by Helen Rosenau

40 50

Home is  Where Your Friends Are! Just one of the many reasons people choose Cedar Sinai Park.

 Call 503-535-4000 for a tour and see what residents          lo e a out ose hnit er anor         Â

Founded in on core Je%ish $alues. i$in them out each and e$ery day.

Many Branches, One Tree.

For 30 years, OJCF has partnered with individuals and families to help them achieve their philanthropic goals. We offer a range of charitable strategies that empower people to make the world a better place.

Donor Advised Funds l Endowment Funds Planned Giving l Supporting Foundations Youth Philanthropy l Collaborative Giving 503.248.9328 l ojcf.org

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 5

WANDER NO MORE

MARCH 2019 Oregon Jewish life | Adar I-II 5779 | Volume 8/Issue 2

PU B LI S H E R

H OW T O R E AC H U S

Cindy Salt zman

503- 892-7402

A DV E R TI S I N G A N D E D ITO R I A L D I R EC TO R

EDITORIAL: 503- 892-7402 or editor @ojlife.com

Cindy Salt zman

E D ITO R- I N - C H I E F Deborah Moon

ART DIREC TOR Philip Nerat

GR APHIC DE SIGNER Tamara Kopper

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Mala Blomquis t

COLUMNIS TS Kerr y Polit zer Helen Rosenau

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jane L arkin Gail Mandel Lindsey Silken Jenni Zef tel

SALE S Erika Harrison Waters 971-570-3937

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erika@jewishlifemagazines.com 6 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

ADVERTISING SALES: adver tise@ojlife.com E VENTS: editor @ojlife.com SUBSCRIPTIONS: orjewishlife.com/magazine-subscription BUSINESS: publisher @ojlife.com S U B S C R I P TI O N S A N D D I S TR I B U TI O N Home deliver y of Oregon Jewish Life Magazine is $12 for an annual subscription or $20 for two years. Subscribe online at orjewishlife.com/magazine-subscription.

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PU B L I C ATI O N A N D D E A D L I N E S Oregon Jewish Life magazine is dis tributed on the fir s t of the month.

Stor y ideas for features and special sec tions are due 45 - 60 days prior to public ation.

BIZ INS & OUTS: Busines s news is due about 25 days before public ation.

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E VENTS: Information about upcoming event s is due about 20 days prior to public ation.

C ALENDAR: Please pos t event s on our online c alendar. Relevant event s that are pos ted by the 10 th of the month before public ation will be included in the magazine. To reques t fir s t-time authorization to pos t event s online, go to orjewishlife.com and scroll down to the “c alendar acces s reques t ” link under “quick links” on the right. Af ter you submit the form, you’ ll receive an email with ins truc tions for pos ting future event s.

A Prince Hal Produc t ion ( TGMR18)

2016-2017 MediaPort LLC All rights reserved The content and opinions in Oregon Jewish Life do not necessarily reflec t those of the publishers, staf f or contrac tors. Ar ticles and columns are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Although ever y ef for t is made to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, Oregon Jewish Life, and its agents, publishers, employees and contrac tors will not be held responsible for the misuse of any information contained herein. The publishers reser ve the right to refuse any adver tisement. Publication of adver tisements does not constitute endorsement of produc ts or ser vices.

Blue

A colorful evening of fundraising in celebration of BB Camp

BB CAMP BASH APRIL 13, 2019 Portland Hilton Downtown Featuring Renowned Illusionist Shimshi $85 per person

Register at bbcamp.org/bash For sponsorship opportunities please contact Marisa Reby 503.345.9464 mreby@bbcamp.org

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JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 7

PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

CINDY SALTZMAN Publisher

WANDER NO MORE

Results are in

It was very clear that 100% of the respondents

Before we put out our survey on anti-

Semitism – whether in public forums,

Semitism, I was secretly hoping that maybe,

online groups or spearheading actionable

since we are in Jewish media, we have an

responses. According to their answers, it was

exaggerated viewpoint on the rise of anti-

clear people do not want to sit on the sidelines;

Semitism. I hoped that we think it is more

they want to get involved. It was also evident

prevalent than the norm because we are

that many, many people suffer in silence or

bombarded daily with stories and videos about

don’t know where to turn.

want to help find solutions to fight anti-

anti-Semitism and other forms of hate. Maybe just maybe, the results of the survey would

We will be introducing some informal

surprise us and show us that many in our

initiatives and ideas over the next year so

community don’t think anti-Semitism is on the

people who want to get involved, can. We will

rise. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

also be writing about inspiring people who are making a difference already.

One thing that did surprise us is the number of people who took the time to respond. People

We will be posting the results on our

from all age groups, as well as from across all

website, so please go to orjewishlife.com/

religious and political affiliations responded.

results.

The vast majority – 93.5% of the respondents – felt that anti-Semitism is on the rise. And 100%

Thank you to everyone who did respond. And

of the respondents wanted to participate in

thank you to everyone who knows that if we

further discussions, meetings and action plans.

work together, what we can achieve is limitless.

The answers that people gave were thoughtful.

Many wrote about their own, or members of their families, experiences with antiSemitism. A sizable number of people had not experienced anti-Semitism personally, but knew of someone who had.

Subscriptions: orjewishlife.com/magazine-subscription Newsletter: orjewishlife.com, click on“Subscribe Now!” Facebook: @ojlife Twitter: @JewishLifeNow Instagram: JEWISHLIFENOW Call: 503-892-7402 8 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Email us: publisher@ojlife.com advertise@ojlife.com distribution@ojlife.com editor@ojlife.com subscriptions@ojlife.com

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JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 9

Jewswith

Attitude

Portland Rabbi Eve Posen, center, spent six days in Guatemala as part of the Global Justice Fellowship run by American Jewish World Service.

Rabbi Posen’s eye-opening, heartbreaking trip to Guatemala

By Deborah Moon

Listening to one Guatemalan after another tell stories of a

Rabbi Posen says the entire journey was “heartbreaking,

wife, mother or sister who “disappeared” or was raped, Rabbi

eye-opening, life-changing and inspiring.” But three moments,

said, ‘I’m so sad to bring you all this sadness.’ This man, whose

The second experience that touched her deeply was a visit

Eve Posen felt tears in her eyes. “One man saw the tears and

life hangs in the balance for the work he does, was apologizing for making me sad,” she says.

Rabbi Posen of Congregation Neveh Shalom traveled to

Guatemala Jan. 13-19 as part of the prestigious Global Justice Fellowship run by American Jewish World Service. AJWS

Global Ambassador Ruth Messinger accompanied the fellows on the trip. In addition to traveling to Guatemala, each rabbi in the fellowship engages in six months of human rights

including the one shared above, were especially meaningful. to a birthing center run by a midwives’ organization. The

government health system is only able to handle about the 40% of the births in Guatemala; the rest are delivered by midwives, though the government frowns on the practice.

“They (midwives) will only do births they know will succeed

– others they take to the hospital,” says Rabbi Posen. “If a mother or baby dies, they know they will also die.”

The third memorable moment was during a meeting with

education and action. AJWS is the leading Jewish organization

an organization fighting for gender equality. Most women in

world.

they are sent to work in the fields. Women are fighting for

working to pursue justice and fight poverty in the developing 10 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Guatemala do not stay in school beyond fourth grade, when

GUATEMALA BLOG EXCERPTS their right to sit on city

DAY 2: Because of the political unrest and because the people we’re meeting with are often working against the corruption and impunity in government, we have been asked not to name them or their organizations.

councils and for more education.

That day Rabbi

Posen was particularly proud of the makeup

DAY 5: Our upbeat conversations were quickly halted when we learned about the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, as the genocide is being committed against them in Burma/Myanmar. Once again I’m reminded that “never again” is sadly still a slogan and not a reality. We’ll be learning more about this genocide and the work we can do to raise awareness and mitigate it as we prepare for our advocacy day in D.C. in March.

of their group – eight

women and seven men, including people who identify as part of the LGBT community.

“One (Guatemalan)

woman looked around and said to me, 'to

see men and women working together as

Rabbi Posen and Ruth Messenger

At a time when human rights in Guatemala are

under attack and hard-working residents are

fleeing the country and seeking a new life in the

DAY 6: Thoughts and prayers are so easily shared in our world today at every tragedy, from gun violence to natural disasters. Ours is not to sit and pray, it is to get up and act with moral courage.

Read the full blog at: rabbieve.com/tag/guatemala

United States, it is crucial that these influential

Jewish leaders learn firsthand from courageous

advocates.”

– Robert Bank,

President and CEO of AJWS

their message when they head to the U.S. Capitol later this

month. The fellows will travel to Washington, D.C., to educate members of Congress and other government officials about pressing international human rights issues.

“Before listening to these human rights defenders and

equals gives me hope it can happen here,'” says Rabbi Posen.

community leaders, I didn’t have a story to tell,” says Rabbi

is not that great, but when you look at Guatemala, it gives you

new way of doing advocacy and tackling social justice issues.”

She adds it changed her outlook: “Gender balance in America some perspective.”

The fellowship program empowers leading American rabbis

to advocate in support of international policies that advance the human rights and well-being of some of the world’s

Posen. “Now I want to focus on their story. I want to inspire a In addition to learning about the Mayan genocide in

Guatemala from 1960-1996, the fellows also studied the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya.

“I’ll talk about this trip and connect the genocide and use

poorest and most oppressed communities.

the stories from Guatemala to show what is happening to the

attack and hard-working residents are fleeing the country

have the duty to stand up, raise our voices and do what we can

“At a time when human rights in Guatemala are under

and seeking a new life in the United States, it is crucial

that these influential Jewish leaders learn firsthand from

courageous advocates,” said Robert Bank, president and CEO

of AJWS.“You have to see it to understand,” says Rabbi Posen.

Rohingya,” she says. “As Jews, every time we see genocide we to end it.”

Information on the fellowship and AJWS provided by AJWS.

AJWS.org

“The best way to support somebody is to actually listen to what they need.”

The fellows’ experiences in Guatemala will be central to JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 11

BIZ Jemi Kostiner Mansfield

INS & OUTS

Noah Bernstein

Shaarie Torah hires executive director

Jemi Kostiner Mansfield is Congregation Shaarie Torah’s executive director effective March 1. Shaarie Torah’s board of directors selected Jemi following a national search that attracted a pool of some 30 talented applicants.

Jemi has more than two decades of work experience and a lifetime of personal involvement in the Portland Jewish community. Since 2015, Jemi has been the director of spiritual life at Cedar Sinai Park. From 1992 to 2015, she served in a variety of roles at Congregation Beth Israel, most recently as congregational affairs director and, prior to that, as education and life cycle administrator. She grew up in Portland and graduated from Hillel Academy (the predecessor to Portland Jewish Academy), then housed at Shaarie Torah. Jemi has a bachelor of arts in theater from the University of California, Los Angeles.

"I am honored and excited to begin work as the executive director of Congregation Shaarie Torah,” Jemi says.

“It really feels like, well, a match made in Heaven,” says Rabbi Josh Rose. “Everyone who knows Jemi is aware of the great warmth, smarts and competence that she brings to everything she does. … Jemi has what it takes to really help us take our next steps forward.”

503-226-6131, ext. 105 | shaarietorah.org

Bernstein’s Bagels opens second store

Following the overnight success of their hole-in-the-wall cult favorite Bernstein’s Bagels in St. Johns, Noah Bernstein and Peter Hurteau bring their hand-rolled, boiled-in-house hot bagels to a second, more central location.

Bernstein’s Albina features a large dining area in a historic brick building at 816 N Russell St. The new shop is five times the size of the original. Bernstein’s Albina remains bagelcentric and presents as an enlarged version of its older sibling; it features walls adorned with hand-painted “wall paper” from local artist Lonesome Pictopia and an open kitchen layout.

The menu is the same as the original store and hours are 7:30 am-1:30 pm weekdays, 8:30 am-1:30 pm weekends. Bernstein and Hurteau may expand their food offerings down the road to include more classics from East Coast bagel shops and delis.

Bernstein’s Bagels quickly became a favorite among New York transplants and Portland natives alike upon opening their first location in May 2017. It has recently been labeled the city’s best bagel by both Portland Monthly and Eater PDX. bernsteinsbagels.com

12 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Michelle Danzig-Crandall

Solomon Schechter hires camper care director

Michelle Danzig-Crandall is the new director of camper care at Camp Solomon Schechter. This head staff position oversees the social and emotional well-being of the campers.

Michelle is a longtime Schechter staff member and alumna.

“I’m looking forward to spending another summer at Camp Solomon Schechter,” says Michelle. “Every summer of my youth was spent at CSS. I have very fond memories of and adoration for camp. I would have to say my top three best memories are Ga-Ga, rafting and Shabbat … evening programs are up there too! I’ve been on the CSS Camper Care Team in previous years, and I’m excited to be coming back!”

Michelle earned a master’s in education from Gonzaga University. As an undergrad, she studied psychology with an emphasis on adolescence. She served as a synagogue co-education director and has led youth as a Kadima and USY advisor. She taught in Spokane Public Schools and worked for the Hawaii Department of Education. When not at camp, she lives on Maui.

“I am looking forward to the opportunity to reunite with the Schechter community, new and old, and help facilitate an amazing 2019 season,” says Michelle. info@campschechter.org | campschechter.org

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JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 13

BUSINESS

Israelis take center stage at TechFestNW

By Deborah Moon

TechFest NW will feature Israeli speakers on the main stage for the first time when the eighth annual conference convenes at Portland State University April 4-5.

Founded by Willamette Week Publisher Mark Zusman, TechFestNW has the tagline “Where startups are celebrated, partnerships are ignited, innovation rules and business gets done.”

“There are few countries in the world that have the spirit of entrepreneurship and the innovation that Israel is doing,” says Mark. “To put on a technology/entrepreneurial event and not have Israel is a handicap.”

So as a tech event organizer and a Jew, Mark says he is very pleased to have Israeli participation at this year’s TechFest.

Israelis will present two of the keynote addresses on the TechFest main stage. Tel Aviv Chief Knowledge Officer Zohar Sharon will speak about smart cities, one of four conference themes this year.

Gadi Singer, Intel artificial intelligence products vice president and a graduate of Technion in Israel, will speak on the theme the “Future of Work.”

Last year the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland sponsored the first Israeli involvement at TechFest. Twistlock, an Israeli-founded firm, presented a workshop on technology and cybersecurity. This year the federation is sponsoring Zohar’s participation on the main stage.

About three years ago, Skip Newberry, CEO of the Technology Association of Oregon, and Steve “Rosy” Rosenberg, founder of the Oregon Israel Business Alliance and a past president of JFGP, met Zohar while leading cybersecurity and biotech executives on a trade mission to Israel. Skip was also doing federal work on smart cities and was aware Tel Aviv had been named the world’s smartest city in 2014, so he connected with Zohar.

Zohar founded DigiTel, which connects Tel Aviv residents with city information, cultural events and discounts. A key lesson from the Tel Aviv experience, says Skip, is the need to engage people before implementing technology.

After a study showed residents thought Tel Aviv was wonderful and the government terrible, the municipality set out to improve trust and make residents aware of what the government does.

“What Zohar and his team did is a great example,” says Skip. “They asked people why and what they wanted of the city they live in.”

“Through sharing information, people became more trusting of the government’s ability to improve their lives,” says Skip. When the city launched DigiTel, 60% of the residents opted in. “The government has 14 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Gadi Singer Zohar Sharon Main stage: Smart Cities Zohar is the chief knowledge officer of the municipality of Tel Aviv., Israel. Zohar founded DigiTel Residents Club, which helped Tel Aviv receive the 2014 World’s Smartest City Award at Barcelona Smart City Expo World Congress. DigiTel is a comprehensive project that enhances civic engagement and makes municipality services more accessible. Zohar lectures around the globe, helping cities focus on practical ways to implement smart cities programs

.

an amazing database … and trust.”

Skip says the cultural similarities between Tel Aviv and Portland make a similar grassroots approach applicable here.

Following Zohar’s presentation, Skip will join him along with several other smart city experts for a panel discussion on the main stage.

In addition, OurCrowd Investor Relations Director Rafi Schraer will help judge PitchFest, a competition for startups to pitch to investors. Recently named Israel’s leading venture capital firm, OurCrowd builds businesses, raises capital, and invests in Israeli and global startups.

Mark says PitchFest accepted 72 startups in the first round of applications.

With last year’s move to PSU and its large event center, Viking Pavilion, the festival has room to grow. Last year about 1,500 people attended the festival, and Mark expects more this year. In addition to main-stage presentations and three pitch rooms, the fest also includes “workshops, a huge networking area and lots of parties.”

TechFestNW.com

Main stage: Future of Work Gadi is vice president of the Artificial Intelligence Products Group and general manager of architecture at Intel Corporation. He is responsible for the architecture of future products and technologies in the AI space, including dedicated Deep Learning ASICs such as the Intel Nervana Neural Network Processor.

Singer received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Technion University, Israel, where he also pursued graduate studies.

Rafi Schraer PitchFest Judge Rafi is director of investor relations for OurCrowd, a venture capital firm founded in Israel. Rafi helps family offices, institutional clients and wealth managers access and understand OurCrowd.

His work has brought access to the startup investment asset class to many previously shut out of the industry. After leading a successful recruitment and influencer campaign for Hillel International, Rafi now focuses on building and funding startups in Israel and all over the world.

By Deborah Moon

Eitan gives students a personal look at Israel

After hosting an exciting Israeli speaker for two years, high school social studies teacher Matt Unis intends to continue the visits every year.

Eitan Teiger, this year’s Israeli shaliach (emissary/educator) for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and StandWithUs Northwest, spoke to Matt’s freshman current world studies classes at Tualatin High School Feb. 11 and 12. Matt says the program is a great fit for his classes during this quarter’s study of the modern Middle East.

Eitan spends one week a month in Oregon and is available to speak to classes and other groups about a variety of topics related to Israeli society, culture and history. For Matt’s classes, Eitan, 26, shared his personal experiences growing up in Israel, his family’s story and some history to provide context.

He spoke about the people, culture and challenges of the modern nation.

“Israel is 3,000 years old and 70 years young,” Eitan told the class.

He traced Israel’s 3,000-year age to Bible stories about the Jewish people thousands of years ago. Eitan explained that after the Roman Empire forced the Jews to leave their homeland came the 1,900-year Diaspora, during which Jews were often an oppressed minority culminating in the Holocaust.

“Nearly a third of my people were murdered just because they were Jewish, just because of hatred,” he said, adding society today needs to eliminate hate. “Hate is a bad thing.”

When he asked if the students had studied the Holocaust, most raised their hands, nodded or murmured “a little.”

“Israel is 70 years young because we got to return to our homeland and build the thriving democracy we know today,” said Eitan, who then asked what the word “homeland” meant to the students. One teen, who had moved from Hawaii to Oregon at age 14, said with a smile that he felt a sense of belonging in Hawaii.

“I cherish my homeland,” Eitan replied.

“Israel and the U.S. are close allies … we are very similar,” he said.

“There’s a long list of values we share” – liberal economy, liberal values, cherishing democracy.

He spoke briefly of the five large Arab nations that declared war “on our tiny Jewish country” in 1948 after Israel accepted and the Palestinians rejected the United Nations plan to partition the land into two states.

“Danger is close,” he said. “We feel in danger.”

The Second Intifada arose after Palestinian Authority leader Yasser

Arafat rejected the 1999 agreement that U.S. President Bill Clinton had brokered and called “a fair peace proposal.”

Eitan shared his personal experiences during the Intifada, which resulted in more than 1,000 casualties in bombings in restaurants, buses, malls and other public places. The Intifada ended in 2005 – but not before it touched Eitan’s family. As family members returned to their homes after a bar mitzvah, Eitan’s oldest cousin was killed in a bus bombing – one of the last terror attacks of the Intifada.

“He was just 23,” Eitan said softly.

As he promised at the beginning of his talk, Eitan ended on a posi-

Israeli shaliach Eitan Teiger speaks students at Tualatin High School.

Photo by Deborah Moon

tive note, saying that peace agreements with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 have been followed recently by shifts in other Arab countries.

“Now we are starting to see a change from other Arab countries … that Israel has the right to stay and exist,” he said. “It’s baby steps, but in the right direction.”

When they weren’t asking or answering questions, the students sat quietly and attentively for the entire hour and a half class.

When the bell rang, some students lingered to thank Eitan.

As they left, Matt told Eitan, “If I gave the same presentation, they would fall asleep. When I bring somebody from outside, they’re more engaged. People remember personal stories. These kids will remember your story of your cousin.”

Eitan has limited availability to speak in Oregon and Southwest Washington through the end of May. Teachers can request a free visit by emailing oregon@standwithus.com or calling 206-801-0902.

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 15

BB CAMP

surfs into water sports specialty track this summer

SUMMER CAMP ALTHOUGH WE ARE JUST HEADING into the spring season, working parents are already thinking of summer – and how they will keep their children entertained during the months off from school.

But summer camp is about so much more than keeping children safe and happy. It is an opportunity for them to grow in so many ways: creating and nourishing friendships, learning new skills, building confidence and discovering new passions.

Our camp section explores the options and benefits of day camps, sleep-away camps and specialty camps.

INSIDE 16 Surfs up

25 Ga-ga: A history

18 Supporting camp

26 Young adult camp

20 New programs

28 Shabbat is cool at camp

24 Kids Calendar

29 Day camp facts

16 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

EVERY SUMMER B’nai B’rith Camp brings more than 600 overnight campers to enjoy programs near the Pacific Ocean.

As BB Camp continues to grow, it regularly creates new ways to use this stunning coastal location and expand its offerings.

“We are always pursuing innovation at BB Camp, enabling us to provide even more youth with impactful experiences” says Michelle Koplan, BB Camp executive director.

When the Foundation for Jewish Camp announced The Competitive Edge program, funded by the Gottesman Fund, Michelle knew it was exactly the opportunity BB Camp was searching for. “With so many children seeking specialized activities, it is important that we start providing specialization as an option at BB Camp,” she says.

The Competitive Edge program is based on the success of the Jewish specialty camp programs that FJC has helped to establish and seeks to expand that model to traditional Jewish camps. The goal is to help Jewish overnight camps increase their competitiveness.

When applications for The Competitive Edge opened, BB Camp staff and lay leadership examined a wide array of specialty programs to offer, but it quickly became clear which avenue to pursue.

“Our access to both Devil’s Lake and the Pacific Ocean puts us in a unique position to create an intensive water-sports Campers enjoy the boat dock on Devil's Lake, where BB Camp is located.

program” says Ben Charlton, BB Camp director of program development. With aquatic sports frequently among BB Camp’s most beloved activities, increasing the offerings combined with a higher level of instruction was a sure winner.

FJC awarded the Competitive Edge Grant to BB Camp just before the 2018 summer, and the journey to launch “BB Surfs” in 2019 became a reality.

BB Surfs will offer campers a new opportunity for growth and exploration within the Jewish community at BB Camp. BB Camp has contracted Cascadia SUP to provide surf, standup paddleboard and wakeboard instruction.

Instruction will be tailored to each camper, so campers do not need prior experience. Each individual will learn skills to facilitate growth.

The program will use both Devil’s Lake and the Pacific Ocean as experiential classrooms for learning and self-discovery.

Under BB’s integrated curriculum, campers will participate in specialized activity and instruction around surfing while enjoying the core elements of a summer at BB Camp.

Campers will spend portions of each day participating in traditional camp activities and will take part in the camp’s offsite unit rafting trip and other special camp programming. Over the course of the three-week session, campers will spend half of their day at the beach or on the lake learning and advancing their skills. For the other half of the day, campers will be with their cabinmates participating in traditional camp programming.

“It is critical to us that every camper is integrated into our inclusive Jewish community at BB Camp,” says Ben of BB Surfs’ balanced schedule. “We were very intentional in designing a program that promoted this value.”

The primary values for the seventh- and eighthgrade program at BB Camp are shalom (peace) and ometz lev (courage). Both values will be immersed deeply into the BB Surfs curriculum, encouraging campers to grow outside of their comfort zone and finding wholeness on the water. Tikkun olam (repairing the world) will also be a focus of the BB Surfs curriculum, with a beach cleanup project and education around water conservation and cleanliness.

Funding from FJC’s Competitive Edge

With the Pacific Ocean within 2 miles of BB Camp, a camper jumps for joy on the beach.

program will also afford BB Camp the opportunity to build a new structure to house a new amphitheater and a substantial staging and storage area for BB Surfs. Relocation of the existing amphitheater structure will make about 150 feet of previously inaccessible lakefront available for use. In addition, funds will go to develop a new small boat launch facility.

BB Surfs will launch this summer at BB Camp, starting June 25, 2019.

Find out more at bbcamp.org/bbsurfs.

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 17

OJCF’s enduring commitment to camp

By Gail Mandel

KNOWING THAT Jewish overnight camp plays a big role in kids’ and teens’ Jewish identity, the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation and our youth foundation consistently support our local camps – B’nai B’rith Camp and Camp Solomon Schechter.

This support is varied but with the common goal to enable more kids to experience Jewish overnight camp and to benefit from all the programming and environment has to offer.

For more than 20 years, the Albert J. Kailes Fund has offered

of OJCYF to camp,” says Leikam. “It’s really rewarding to see the reach of OJCYF extend beyond the Portland metropolitan area.

Campers who participate in the summer philanthropy program come from cities and towns all around Oregon and Washington, and it feels really good that OJCYF’s curriculum is impacting these teens, even if only for a week.”

The bonds between OJCF, OJCYF and camp run deeper still.

Over the years the OJCYF teens have supported programming

OJCYF’S ANNUAL BENEFIT DINNER

Casino Royale: All in On Our Youth THURSDAY, MARCH 14 5:30-8:30 PM Mittleman Jewish Community Center 6651 SW Capitol Highway, Portland $54 per adult and $36 per youth Tickets available at ojcf.org

financial support to Oregon residents who wish to attend a Jewish overnight camp in the United States. Given the strong ties between the Oregon Jewish community and its local camps, a significant amount of this financial support goes to kids attending BB Camp and Camp Solomon Schechter.

Since 2015 the OJCF has contributed $14,000 to help increase the granting impact of the teen philanthropy programs at BB Camp and Camp Solomon Schechter. These camp programs have enabled rising 10th graders to learn about philanthropy and responsible grant making. After learning about philanthropy, the teens then make grants to support needs in the communities near their camps – Lincoln City, OR, and Tumwater, WA, respectively.

“Helping the community where BB Camp is located has brought me joy and self-worth,” says Morgan Glickman. “I am thankful for this experience, and it has sparked my interest in philanthropy.”

In addition, Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation facilitator Sonia Marie Leikam visits both camps during the summer to provide instruction and curriculum support when needed.

“We are grateful for our partnership with BB Camp and Camp Solomon Schechter in that the foundation can bring a little bit 18 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

OJCYF teens participate in a philanthropy exercise similar to the work they do in the summer philanthropy program at BB Camp. at BB Camp through their annual grant cycle that follows their fund-raising dinner. OJCYF has made grants to both BB Camp’s Kehila Inclusion program and its day camp for Lincoln City kids.

This season OJCYF’s learning theme is caring for the vulnerable among us. At this year’s annual OJCYF dinner on March 14, the teen board members will spotlight three local nonprofits serving populations in need: BB Camp, Cedar Sinai Park and Jewish Family & Child Service. Representatives of each organization will speak about their deep commitment to supporting needy populations as well as their relationship with OJCYF. “Camp is one of the few places on the planet where you can rejuvenate and find your true self,” says OJCYF board member Sam Blauer. “We do everything from color wars to teen philanthropy. It always exceeds my expectations. Camp is my sanctuary.”

Gail Mandel is the director of philanthropy at the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation.

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 19

Campers leap from the dock into the camp’s private lake. This summer campers will have a new aqua park on the lake giving them more options for water fun.

Solomon Schechter has growth spurt of programs and campers

By Deborah Moon

20 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

LAST SUMMER under new Executive Director Zach Duitch,

Camp Solomon Schechter swelled by 60 campers, bringing more than 460 campers to the Jewish camp near Olympia, WA. This summer Zach expects tremendous growth again with new programs, expanded outreach to families and communities (see box), and a new multi-age schedule.

“This year we are moving away from age-based sessions to multi-age sessions, so first- to 10th-graders can come for the full summer,” says Zach. “That’s common in our field but new to our camp. It allows flexibility for families and also gives older campers opportunities for leadership and role modeling. Now campers can come from one to six weeks.”

The camp is also rolling out a new aqua park on the camp’s private lake, a stable of mountain bikes, a new culinary program in the new kitchen that opened last year, and a rabbi or Jewish educator on staff to enrich the Jewish content of all programs.

Portland’s Stern family funded the aqua park, an inflatable, floating water park featuring monkey bars, rope swings, trampoline, catapult and other fun ways to launch into the lake.

The 50 new mountain bikes will expand the camp’s use of its wooded facility. The main camp facilities sit on just 10 acres of Solomon Schechter’s 175-acre site. Campers will learn mountain biking skills and explore the woods that surround the main campground.

“The majority of camp is backcountry,” says Zach. “We have miles of trails we will take campers on.”

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 21

CAMP SOLOMON SCHECHTER EVENTS IN PORTLAND

CUPCAKES & HAVDALAH Join Camp Solomon Schechter, Portland Jewish Academy and Congregation Neveh Shalom for a pizza dinner, song session, games, cupcake decorating and a camp-style Havdalah service.

WHERE: Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland WHEN: 5:30-7:30 pm, Saturday, March 9 COST: $5 per person (18 and under free) REGISTER: campschechter.org/cupcakes-havdalah

CSS INFO PARTIES

Come learn about camp, speak with camp staff, nosh on snacks, and of course, win lots of camp SWAG!

CSS Westside Info Party 12:30-2 pm, Sunday, March 10 RSVP for address: jniehaus@campschechter.org CSS Eastside Info Party 5-6:30 pm, Sunday, March 10 RSVP for address: jniehaus@campschechter.org

Last year a new kitchen and a new chef brought fantastic kosher meals to camp. This year campers will be able to learn cooking skills in a specially designed teaching area in the kitchen.

While Schechter has been steeped in Jewish values and traditions since its founding in 1954, Zach says they plan to deepen those connections this year.

“We are bringing on a Jewish educator, so we can infuse Jewish life into all our curriculum and programs with great intention,” he says.

He says the essence of Camp Solomon Schechter is “building lifelong friendships, new skills and a commitment to living Jewishly. We want campers to be compassionate, courageous, curious and creative.”

To help the camp recruit new participants, the Garry and Judith Kahn Campership fund gives new campers from Oregon and Southwest Washington a $250 discount.

Though the camp was founded by three Conservative rabbis, it is not affiliated with a synagogue, JCC or movement.

“It is a home for Conservative, unaffiliated and other affiliated campers to learn and live Jewish lives,” says Zach. “It’s an opportunity to come and learn and fall in love with everything Jewish.”

In addition to learning skills in arts, sports and teva (nature), campers also gain “Jewish wisdom … so they feel comfortable to participate in Jewish life.”

For more information, visit campschechter.org.

Camp Solomon Schechter Executive Director Zach Duitch visits with Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, who cofounded the camp 65 years ago. Rabbi Stampfer is now rabbi emeritus of Portland’s Congregation Neveh Shalom.

22 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

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24 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Everyone’s gaga for ga-ga

By Mala Blomquist GA-GA HAS BEEN a favorite game at Jewish summer camps for decades. Recently, the game has gained mainstream popularity and can be found at camps and playgrounds around the world.

Deemed a “gentler version of dodgeball” the game is played in a ga-ga pit. The ga-ga pit is usually shaped like an octagon or hexagon with short walls atop a smooth surface.

The rules are simple and easy to follow, which makes the game ideal for even the youngest of players. The game begins with a referee throwing the ball into the center of the pit.

The players will scream “Ga!” for two bounces and then play begins.

A player can hit the ball with their hands, but picking up the ball and throwing it at another player B'nai B'rith Campers play ga-ga. is prohibited. A player is “out” when a ball hits them at or below the knee. A player who knocks the ball out of the pit is out. If a player catches the ball in the air, the last person to hit the ball is out. The last player standing is the winner.

A second ball can be added to speed up the elimination of players. Once the game ends, everyone is back in for the next round. Those are the basics, but rules, ball types, pit surfaces and sizes can vary widely.

The prevailing thought is that ga-ga originated in Israel and was brought to Jewish day camps by Israeli youth working as counselors. The name ga-ga translates from Hebrew to “touchtouch.”

Another theory says that the game originated at Camp Idylwold in upstate New York. John Crosley was the owner of the camp and a similar game called “Crosleyball” was played at that camp from the late ’50s until it closed in the late ’80s.

But in 2017, Stephen Silver wrote an update to an article he wrote in 2016 seeking the true origin of the game. He debunked theories that ga-ga started in the Israeli Defense Forces and that Sacha Baron Cohen had played it at a

championship level.

Stephen did unearth a theory that holds merit. A man from Maryland named Steven Steinberg said he invented both the game and the name.

In the article Stephen Silver writes: Steinberg was a counselor at Camp Milldale, then a JCC camp in the Baltimore area, as a 17-year-old in the summer of 1975, where his charges were a group of 6-year-old boys. He says he started the game for the same reason it’s still played today at countless summer camps: to keep campers busy on rainy days.

The game, Sternberg says, began when he would take the kids to a covered, wallless shelter near the woods.

They liked to play with a bouncing ball, and in order to keep it from rolling down a nearby hill, Steinberg would place benches on their sides, which kept the ball bouncing back. This led him to develop “a form of dodgeball,” in which the boys would hit the ball and knock out opponents by hitting them below the knee – the idea being that the kids’ shins were about the size of the ball.

As for the name? Steinberg says that during a moment of frustration, he told his campers that they “all look like a bunch of babies” – at which point some of the kids began chanting “goo-goo, ga-ga,” which soon became the name of the game. When Steinberg had to fit the name on a written activity schedule, it was shortened to ga-ga.

How to explain the theories that place the origin of the game prior to 1975? Steinberg says he doesn’t doubt that similar games may have been developed independently of his version, like the Crosleyball that was played as far back as the 1950s – “it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with a game like this,” he says – but he’s adamant that the name ga-ga was definitely his invention.

Steinberg’s story was also published in the Baltimore Jewish Times in July of 1992, long before the game gained the popularity it is enjoying today.

So, when you drop your child off at camp this year, and they tell you about the game they played with a funny name that was so much fun, you can smile and say, “Have I got a story for you.”

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 25

Above: Bubble soccer at Camp Nai Nai Nai. Right: Zipline, one of the many activities.

Far right: Shayna Sigman was a counselor at the inaugural West Coast camp.

Young adults can play at

By Deborah Moon WHO SAYS SUMMER CAMP IS JUST FOR KIDS?

Now young adults can relive (or discover) the unwired fun, creativity and friendship of Jewish summer camp.

Presented by Moishe House, Camp Nai Nai Nai offers a weekend of adventure for young adults in their 20s and 30s.

(Minimum age 21 since alcohol will be served.)

The camp debuted on the East Coast two years ago and returns there for Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-27, at Capital Camps in Waynesboro, PA. Last year Camp Nai Nai Nai added a West Coast location. This year’s West Coast camp will be Aug. 23-25 at Kennolyn Camps in Santa Cruz, CA. Last year the average age at the West Coast camp was 30, with most being single.

Publicity for the camp promises the Shabbat experience of a lifetime among free-spirited friends (new and old) from around the country and against a picturesque backdrop of a campfire, lake and sprawling night sky full of stars. Campers are encouraged to make the most of their getaway weekend with creative Playshops (there is no “work” at Camp Nai Nai Nai), refreshing dips in the lake, spirited song sessions, color wars, cozy all-camp meals and more.

During every activity block there are 10 to 15 activities to choose from including yoga, bubble soccer, archery, Jewish text 26 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

study, sports, art and hikes.

Like the young adult events created by Moishe House residents around the globe, Camp Nai Nai Nai is open to all young adults whether they are affiliated, just Jewish or “Jew-ish.”

“It’s a really diverse crowd,” says Camp Nai Nai Nai Director Lisa Klig. “We run the gamut of religious observance and sexual and gender identity.”

“You can be the best Jewish version of yourself at camp in a way you can’t do in your day-to-day life,” she says.

A COUNSELOR’S EXPERIENCE Last year Shayna Sigman worked as a camp counselor at Camp Nai Nai Nai in California. As an inclusion coordinator at B’nai B’rith Camp on the Oregon coast, Shayna has plenty of experience working with campers. She also has lots of experience planning events for young adults since she lived in Portland’s Moishe House for two years. Residents of Moishe Houses in 27 countries get subsidized housing and a programming budget to host events for other young adults.

Of her experience last year, Shayna says: I really love the Moishe House professional staff, and it was great to have a chance to work with them. A great part of Camp Nai Nai Nai (and Moishe House in general) is how intentional they are about everything. The staff were very focused on helping

Far left: Participants at last year’s camp for young adults.

PHOTO BY YOAV MAGID

Left: Adam Dobrusin hangs out in a hammock with his girlfriend Anna Kernus at Camp Nai Nai Nai last year.

Above: Color war, à la Nai Nai Nai.

camp for long weekend create a warm welcoming environment for everyone.

We didn’t have cell service at camp, so it was really great seeing everyone connect without technology and without having to worry about work emails or whatever was waiting for them back at home. We see the same mental health benefits with our kids at BB Camp, who get to connect with each other over arts and crafts or playing soccer together instead of over video games or social media.

One of the most interesting parts of camp for me was that I had so many deep, personal conversations with people over the course of the weekend and yet, when I got home, I realized that we had never discussed what we did for work, our degrees or other topics that seem to come up in other settings where you meet adults for the first time. Being in a space where you can connect through play and shared experiences creates really amazing friendships.

Shayna says she would love to return this year, but isn’t sure her BB Camp schedule will give her enough time.

Pearlstein (now Camp Stein) and was on staff at Camp Newman for one summer. He attended Nai Nai Nai on the East Coast two years ago and was at last year’s West Coast inaugural camp.

Following are some of his experiences as a camper: The team putting together Camp Nai Nai Nai tapped into many of our nostalgic camp memories like color wars, bug juice and even Shabbat-o-grams from my counselor.

There was never a shortage of fun things going on at any time.

Running around in nature and making new friends from all over the country will bring out the best in anyone. Some of the highlights for me were riding the mechanical shark, mud-obstacle course, co-ed cabins, an aquatic spin class, live band karaoke, knockerball and a ’90s bar mitzvah-style party. There was even a flash mob!

The last two times I’ve been (to camp) have been some of the best weekends of my life.

Adam says he “most definitely” plans to return to camp this summer.

A CAMPER’S EXPERIENCE Adam Dobrusin started the Phoenix Moishe House with a couple of friends in 2013, and he lived there for two and a half years. Until last year, he worked for Moishe House as the national director of expansion. As a youth he spent summers at Camp

Registration for Camp Nai Nai Nai opens March 1. Fees are $375 to stay in a cabin of eight to 10 people (girls, boys or coed) or $525 for a private, hotel-type room. Early bird registration for the West Coast camp is $315 until June 9. First-time campers can sign up for $300. campnainainai.org | seeyou@campnainainai.org | 858-367-3684 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 27

Jewish summer camp’s X factor

By Jane Larkin SHABBAT AT CAMP is “cool” and adds a sense of

when we see or experience it, but can’t easily describe.

My husband thinks what makes Jewish camp different is personality and soul. He sees the experience that Sammy is having as one imbued with life and character beyond the rahrah kind of spirit depicted in shots of color war competitions and heard in the lyrics of official camp anthems.

An acquaintance of mine thinks the uniqueness comes from the experience of being with all Jewish kids, regardless of whether or not their parents are both Jewish, and engaging with Judaism in a way that makes being Jewish cool.

I think the specialness comes from the incredible sense of community that is embodied in the phrase “Welcome to camp” that greets you as your car enters the gates and is repeated

sacredness to the camp experience.

My son just returned from his second summer spent at the Union for Reform Judaism’s Greene Family Camp. While Sammy is glad to be reunited with his puppy, he misses his other home.

I know how Sammy feels. I was a diehard camper too, and I’m so happy that he thinks camp is as magical as I did many years ago. But having a deep attachment to camp is not unique to campers attending Jewish institutions.

I spent my summers at a YMCA camp, and as I watch the videos for religious and secular institutions alike I consistently hear children describe what makes their camp stand out with the same words I used almost 30 years In Jewish camps around the country, campers enjoy ago – lasting challah each week as Shabbat begins. friendships, PHOTO COURTESY OF B'NAI B'RITH CAMP great activities and a place to forget your worries.

All of these endorsements are of course tied to images of beautiful settings and examples of camp spirit.

But even though there are universal aspects to camp, I always suspected that there was something continuously by staff and campers alike. Immediately you special about Jewish camp. know that you are part of the larger camp family. You belong.

As a teen, I envied my fellow youth groupers who spent Curious to get a camper’s perspective, I asked Sammy what their summers at the URJ’s Camp Harlem not only because he thinks makes camp special. He replied, “It just is. It’s I longed for a Jewish camp experience, but also because their sacred ground.” camp connection seemed richer in a way that I could not Maybe that’s the best description of all. What do you think? explain.

Now that I’m seeing Jewish camp through adult eyes, I feel that there is truth to my teenage suspicions – there is This article is reprinted with permission from InterfaithFamily, something special, something different about Jewish camp. supporting Jewish interfaith couples and families. Learn more at Call it an X factor, an indefinable quality that we recognize interfaithfamily.com.

28 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Top 5 things to know about Jewish day camp

By Lindsey Silken & Jenni Zeftel

YOU’RE STARTING

to think about summertime and what on earth you’re going to do with the kids for two months – err – we mean, how to provide your darlings with a meaningful and fun summer experience.

And if it gets them out of the house? Win-win. Maybe you’ve only heard about Jewish summer camp in passing. Maybe you or your partner already think it’s a great idea but one of you isn’t quite sold.

Here’s what you need to know about how Jewish day camp can be an especially good fit for interfaith families. That’s not to say that camp is right for every kid or that every camp is right for every family.

InterfaithFamily – the experts on, well, interfaith families, and Foundation for Jewish Camp – the experts on, you guessed it, Jewish camp, have teamed up to give you the best tips, tools and resources for making this decision for your family. Here are the top five things we think you should know.

Jenni Zeftel (jenni@jewishcamp. org) is director of day camp and strategic programs at Foundation for Jewish Camp.

Lindsey Silken is the editorial director of InterfaithFamily based in Newton, MA. She can be reached at lindseys@ interfaithfamily.com.

This article is reprinted with permission from InterfaithFamily, supporting Jewish interfaith couples and families.

Learn more at interfaithfamily.com.

1. LOCAL EXPERIENCES = LOCAL FRIENDSHIPS. Because Jewish day camps are located much closer to home than Jewish overnight camps, the friends your child makes at camp are also close to home, making it that much easier for Jewish day camp friendships to last throughout the year. Likewise, because many Jewish day camps are tied to host organizations like JCCs, you may find your family invited to different program offerings at a conveniently located host organization throughout the year. These events can offer you and your family an entry portal into Jewish life and a Jewish community that aligns with your family’s priorities.

2. YOU HAVE OPTIONS. When it comes to Jewish day camps, there is a diverse spectrum of choices. There are Chabad camps, JCC camps, Conservative and Reform movement camps, independent camps and synagogue camps. Jewish day camps range in size, program, facility and mission. You might be thinking, great, more options. Where do I begin? Check out websites for Foundation for Jewish Camp (jewishcamp.org), the American Camp Association (find.acacamps.org) and the Jewish Community Center Association (jcccamps.org/jcc-day-camp) to learn more about the different kinds of Jewish day camp options available to you and your family.

3. TEST THE WATERS ON YOUR OWN TIMELINE. Many Jewish day camps offer short (one or two weeks) and flexible (all different points throughout the summer) sessions so that your child can try out the experience without a serious time or monetary commitment. You could even try multiple camp programs in one summer. You might quickly find, however, that you’ve found the right fit for your family, and you’ll want to stay put.

4. JEWISH DAY CAMP IS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY. When you send a child to overnight camp, you say goodbye at the bus stop and don’t necessarily see them again until visiting day, but day campers come home every day. You’ll get to hear what they’re actually doing on a daily basis – not just when that weekly postcard comes in the mail. You’ll also see the same group of parents at pick-up and drop-off. In this way, the Jewish day camp experience impacts the whole family, and often, the grown-ups make friends just as easily as the campers do.

5. IT WILL HELP PREPARE YOU FOR OVERNIGHT CAMP. Many Jewish day camps have ties to Jewish overnight camps such as the new B’nai B’rith Day Camp in Portland, OR. The day camp opened last summer after the years of success and meaningful Jewish summers provided by the overnight camp widely known as BB Camp.

Older day campers are often provided “dip-your-toes-in” experiences at partnering overnight camps.

Liz Broberg, day camp and youth engagement director at BB Camp says that day camp offers a very easy entry point for Jewish interfaith families “because the ‘Jewishness’ is more integrated through the values practiced than a study of Torah or a celebration of a specific holiday.”

She explains that the Jewish values curriculum, which both the overnight and day camp use, “is accessible and relatable to everyone, whatever your faith or affiliation. It infuses Jewish values like tikkun olam (repairing the world), kehillah (community), simcha (joy), manhigut (leadership) and more into the everyday camp culture. These are values that many parents agree are important for their children to learn and practice. This makes it very easy for interfaith families to connect with the content and feel comfortable in a Jewish environment.”

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 29

Purim

On Purim people gather to hear “the Megillah,” also known as the Book of Esther, which tells how the Jews in ancient Persia were saved from the wicked Haman through the leadership of Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai. The book is rather long, hence the phrase “the whole megillah” is humorously applied to situations that are longer and more involved than expected.

It is, however, one the mitzvot of Purim to be sure to listen to the entire text. When the name of Haman is read, people stomp their feet, hiss, boo or shake noisemakers called groggers to obliterate his name.

The holiday takes on a carnival-like atmosphere with many dressing in costumes.

The most well-known Purim treat is Hamantaschen, possibly named for its resemblance to Haman’s tri-cornered hat. In an article in Time, Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, of American Jewish University, says naming a pastry for someone “wicked” can “turn it into something sweet.”

Hamantaschen go gourmet

Purim is one of the most exciting holidays on the Jewish calendar, yet its signature food hamantaschen is not. Triangle shaped and traditionally filled with uninspired flavors, it’s no wonder this pastry is frequently disappointing.

Fortunately, pastry Chef Paula Shoyer is on a mission to transform hamantaschen from bland and boring to tasty and tantalizing.

This year Paula will tickle Purim taste buds with recipes for a vibrant selection of colorful and, at times, exotic hamantaschen.

“I want Jews to celebrate holidays with the desserts their ancestors ate, yet improve upon the traditional recipes,” says Paula. “Thanks to social media, bakers often showcase their creations, and hamantaschen have become an Instagram hit.”

She studied at the elite Ritz Escoffier School in Paris, which she attended for fun while her husband was serving as the legal advisor to the U.S. Mission to the World Trade Organization from 1993 to 1997. “I thought I’d go back to law,” says Paula, who was an attorney in Washington, D.C., before the family’s move. “But people kept asking me to cook for them.”

Paula is the author of Healthy Jewish Kitchen (Sterling Epicure 2017), The New Passover Menu (Sterling 2015), The Holiday Kosher Baker (Sterling Press 2013) and The Kosher Baker: Over 160 Dairy-free Desserts from Traditional to Trendy (Brandeis 2010).

“I take traditional recipes and make them easier, more modern and natural,” says Paula. “I write cookbooks so that I can bring my recipes into your kitchen

30 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

to inspire you to try something new, to cook from scratch and enjoy eating with the people you love while creating food memories that you can remember for the rest of your lives.”

A self-described “healthy chef, with a passion for pastries,” Paula says “healthy” and “pastry” aren’t mutually exclusive.

Understanding that a family cannot survive on chocolate babka alone, Paula expanded her repertoire into the savory arena, with an emphasis on easy and healthy dishes that don’t sacrifice on tradition or flair.

Paula offers several tips to customize hamantaschen: • Find a recipe for the dough you and your family will love. Check out Paula’s recipes, including one for gluten-free dough, in The Holiday Kosher Baker.

• Add an extract or flavoring from high-quality liquors, coffee syrups or food coloring.

• Knead seeds, chopped nuts, sprinkles or nonpareils into the dough.

• Experiment with new and trendy fillings or those from your favorite desserts. Pies, sandwich cookies and almost any cream-filled dessert can provide inspiration.

For Purim, Paula has shared a variety of sweet and savory hamantaschen, including salted caramel, granola, vanilla bean and spanakopita. Following are the recipes for spanakopita and vanilla bean hamantaschen. You can see the other recipes on the online version of this article at orjewishlife.com and azjewishlife.com.

SPANAKOPITA HAMANTASCHEN Purchased puff pastry (freezer aisle of the supermarket) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 10 ounces baby spinach leaves 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 teaspoon Za’atar spice 3 tablespoons soy cream cheese Salt and pepper 1 large egg, beaten Sesame seeds Thaw puff pastry according to package directions. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cover two cookie sheets or pans with parchment paper.

Bring a large saucepan of water to boil and add some salt. Add the spinach leaves and cook for 30 seconds. Drain. Once the spinach cools, squeeze out as much water as you can.

To prepare the filling, place the spinach on a cutting board and chop roughly. Place into a medium bowl. Add the chopped onion, lemon juice, oil, and Za’atar and mix well with a fork. Add the cream cheese and mash into the spinach. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

When the pastry is thawed, sprinkle a little flour on the parchment and unroll the pastry on top. Use a rolling pin to roll the pastry to smooth out the creases. Every few rolls, lift up the dough and sprinkle a little flour underneath.

Use a 3-inch drinking glass or round cookie to cut the dough into circles. Use a metal flatblade spatula to lift the circle and place on another spot on the parchment. Brush the circle with the beaten egg. Place a generous teaspoon of filling in the center and then fold in the three sides toward the middle to form a triangle, leaving a small opening in the center. Pinch the three sides together very tightly. Place on the prepared cookie sheets.

When all of the pastries are shaped, pinch the corners tightly a second time. Brush pastries with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top and on the sides.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

May be made 4 days in advance. Store in the fridge; reheat in the oven until crisp.

VANILLA BEAN HAMANTASCHEN This is a variation on a recipe from my husband Andy’s grandmother, Celia Shoyer, from Romania. I like to fill this dough with raspberry jam, but feel free to use any filling you like.

Dough 3 large eggs 1 cup sugar ½ cup canola or vegetable oil Seeds of one vanilla bean 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting 1 teaspoon baking powder Dash salt Filling 1 cup raspberry or other jam In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla bean seeds and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix until the dough comes together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for one hour to firm up. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two or three large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, or bake in batches. Divide the dough in half.

Take two pieces of parchment and sprinkle flour on one, place one dough half on top and then sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough. Place the second piece of parchment on top of the dough and roll on top of the parchment until the dough is about ¼-inch thick. Every few rolls, peel back the top parchment and sprinkle a little more flour on the dough.

Use a 2- to 3-inch drinking glass or round cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. Use a metal flat-blade spatula to lift up the circle of dough and place it on another part of the flour-sprinkled parchment paper. Place up to 1 teaspoon of jam in the center of the dough circle and then fold the three sides in toward the middle to form a triangle, leaving a small opening in the center.

Pinch the three sides together very tightly. Place the triangle on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and scraps, making sure to sprinkle a little flour under and over the dough before you roll.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned but the tops are still light. Slide the parchment paper onto wire racks to cool the cookies. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days or freeze for up to three months.

Recipes courtesy of The Holiday Kosher Baker, By Paula Shoyer JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 31

JBI offers free braille, large print and audio books

By Deborah Moon

Since 1931 the Jewish Braille Institute has provided free books and magazines to the visually impaired and reading disabled.

While the mission hasn’t changed, the format of the reading material has shifted. Initially the JBI offered many materials in braille, with raised dots representing letters that enable the blind to read by touch. Now about 80% of JBI’s patrons request one of the free library’s 13,000 Talking Books, which play on a free playback machine provided by the Library of Congress at JBI’s request. Large print books and magazines are second in popularity with braille requested by less than 9% of patrons.

The shift is the result of changing demographics explains JBI President and CEO Dr. Ellen Isler. “Due to medical advances, fewer children are born blind or become blind early,” she says.

“The older population who are visually impaired use talking books and large print.”

“New people are being diagnosed every day with macular degeneration, cataracts, etcetera,” says Ellen.

An estimated 20% of the American Jewish population aged 65 and older is dealing with vision problems caused by cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration or other age-related vision problems. The National Eye Institute recently reported that more than 3.6 million Americans over 40 are visually impaired.

“We want the library to be as widely used as possible,” says Inna Suholutsky, JBI outreach assistant/Russian liaison. “That is why we are reaching out.”

Some 35,000 individuals are using the free services. Library materials are mailed from JBI’s New York office to patrons across North America, the United Kingdom and Australia. In Russia and the Ukraine, materials are distributed through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as JDC. In addition to the lending library, JBI provides liturgical materials and special publications such as annual calendars as permanent gifts.

“The Haggadah is a perennial hot item,” says Arlene Arfe, JBI’s head librarian. “We hear from people who don’t do anything else all year, but they do Passover.” To meet that need, JBI gives each client a braille or large print Haggadah. Clients can choose a Reform, traditional, Sephardic or other type of Haggadah. “We try to give people what they need to enjoy the holiday.”

Other frequently requested liturgical materials including a siddur (prayer book), machzor (High Holiday prayer book), Bible, Yizkor service and more are available in large print, braille and audio.

32 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Recently JBI finished braille and audio editions of the new Reform movement machzor.

“It was a huge task,” says Arlene. “Now we are getting ready to do the new Conservative siddur and machzor.”

The JBI does custom translations to enable blind, visually impaired and learning disabled children to participate in Jewish life. Every year parents contact JBI to turn Jewish textbooks, Jewish summer camp songbooks, bar and bat mitzvah materials, and other resources into braille, audio or large print formats for students who cannot read standard print.

“The custom projects are only 2% of our work, but in terms of labor and cost, they are about 20% of our budget,” says Ellen.

Arlene adds, “We use the latest technology, but there is still a lot of human involvement and time to produce every braille item. Hebrew braille has to be typed into the computer; it can’t be scanned.”

Once the text is entered in the computer, it is printed on a special printer that creates the raised dots and is then embossed.

“We can print one text for a student or produce 50 Haggadot – we just send the file to a braille printer,” says Ellen.

In the early years of JBI, braille books had to be created by hand. Many Reform movement sisterhoods had volunteer brigades to help in the work.

To learn more about JBI or to obtain services, call 800-4331531 or visit jbilibrary.org.

SISTERHOOD BRAILLERS

Women of Reform Judaism (formerly the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods) helped found the Jewish Braille Institute, and sisterhood women around the country volunteered to transcribe books into braille and record books on tape. The Reform movement took on serving the blind as part of its social action mission after Rabbi Michael Aaronsohn was blinded in World War I. NFTS created the Committee on Jewish Literature for the Sightless in 1927. When JBI was founded in 1931 to create a national library of braille books, two NFTS officers were among the representatives of all major Jewish denominations on the JBI board. According to Sisterhood: A Centennial History of Women of Reform Judaism, “Memoirs of sisterhood women recount their work in transcribing braille, and synagogue histories mention their braille committees through the 1970s.”

Wanted: Ashkenazi Parkinson’s patients for clinical trial

By Deborah Moon

A study targeting a type of Parkinson’s disease more prevalent among those of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry seeks study participants in Portland.

“The new drug study is to treat Parkinson’s disease in people with a mutant GBA gene, which is particularly common in Ashkenazim and is also prevalent in Gaucher patients,” says neurologist Dr. Richard Rosenbaum, who has focused much of his practice and teaching on Parkinson’s disease since he realized his father had Parkinson’s in 1993.

Now Dr. Rosenbaum is leading a new clinical study in Portland that will look at a drug that might delay and prevent progression of the disease for those with specific mutations on one of the GBA pair of genes.

The link between the GBA gene and Parkinson’s was discovered when researchers noticed that Gaucher’s patients and their relatives were more likely to develop Parkinson’s than the general population. The risk of carrying a single GBA mutation is less than 1 in 100 for non-Jewish populations, but about 1 in 18 for those of Jewish descent.

Mutations on the LRRK2 gene, also more common in Ashkenazim, are also linked to increased Parkinson’s risk, but that gene is not part of this clinical study.

“This is a gene-specific therapy,” says Dr. Rosenbaum.

More than 380 mutations in the GBA gene have been identified in people with Gaucher’s disease. A mutation on one of the pair puts individuals at increased risk of Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s patients with a mutation on one of the GBA pair of genes are eligible for this study.

Sanofi US Services is conducting this Phase 2 clinical trial known as MOVES-PD. “This is cutting-edge medicine,” says Dr. Charles A. Pignataro, medical director/advisor-NA Clinical Study Unit, Rare Disease for Sanofi US. “Patients are not guinea pigs. We are trying to make people aware there is possibly an option available for them – this is a pioneering option.”

Dr. Pignataro explains that Parkinson’s patients with a GBA mutation tend to have earlier onset PD and more rapidly progressing symptoms.

GBA mutation-related Parkinson’s “is considered rare,” says Dr. Pignataro. “We are trying to fill the void and have treatment for these patients.”

Parkinson’s and Gaucher have a similar biochemistry.

“This specific mutation causes an enzyme that usually breaks down a certain compound or substance to be deficient,” he explains. “As a result, this substance accumulates and causes the clinical presentation of the patient.

“That is the biochemical pathway we are trying to address,” says Dr. Pignataro.

“The standard of care that is used today is providing somewhat of a ‘Band-Aid’ approach that alleviates symptoms for some patients, but not others,” he adds. “We are developing alternative approaches to address these challenges.”

Having worked as a researcher for more than 25 years, Dr. Pignataro says finding treatments for rare diseases or rare forms of a disease is very rewarding. The letters of gratitude from patients and their families he has received over the years “warms your heart.”

Enrollment in this Phase 2 study is under way this month.

Since doctors do not routinely screen Parkinson’s patients for genetic mutations, Dr. Pignataro encourages anyone with Parkinson’s who is of Ashkenazi descent or who has relatives with Gaucher disease to consider participating in the study.

Applicants will receive a genetic screen as part of the process to see if they are eligible to participate. See the accompanying information box on requirements and how to get more information.

PARKINSON’S STUDY PARTICIPANTS To be eligible to participate in this study, patients must meet several criteria including the following: • Ages 18 to 80 years old • Has had symptoms of Parkinson’s disease for more than 2 years • Has been diagnosed with PD and is a heterozygous carrier of a GBA mutation • If taking Levodopa or any other PD medication, has been on a stable dose for at least 30 days.

All study participants will receive, at no charge, the investigational study medication and all study-related exams, procedures, laboratory tests and services throughout the study.

To learn more about the MOVES-PD study, or to see if you or someone you know may qualify for participation, visit clinicaltrials.gov or michaeljfox.org.

In Portland, potential study participants can contact: Tamara Mayfield, clinical research coordinator for Legacy Health: 503-413-7945, tmayfiel@lhs.org Dr. Richard Rosenbaum: 503-413-6166, rbrosenb@lhs.org Maggie Flood, OHSU coordinator: 503-494-7245, floodma@ohsu.edu JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 33

Bari Weiss guest apperance on Real Time with Bill Maher.

PHOTO BY HBO/JANET VAN HAM

34 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

COVER STORY

BARI WEISS: A MODERATE IN AN ERA OF EXTREMES

BY DEBORAH MOON

Daniel Ziblatt, who will deliver the Sarah Glasgow Cogan Memorial Lecture this year, has known Nathan Cogan his entire life. Nathan and Daniel's father attended Reed College together.

PHOTO BY SAM BLOOM

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 35

IN

an increasingly polarized world, New York Times Opinion Editor Bari Weiss stays unflinchingly moderate.

In the face of a radicalized right and left, Bari attributes her outspoken centrism to “stubbornness and the deep belief that for healthy politics, we need a robust center.”

“My fate at the moment is to get criticized from both sides – as I am daily,” she said in a telephone interview in late January. “I think there are very many more people in the center, but because things are so amped up politically, they are keeping their heads down.”

In May Bari will be in Portland (see box) to speak at the women’s Impact event. Originally planned for March 18, Impact was rescheduled due to a conflict with a reporting assignment.

Ilene Safyan, who is on the Impact committee bringing Bari to Portland, shared a conversation she had with her 24-year-old niece in Pittsburgh that reflected that increased visibility: “She told me that Bari had just been on Joe Rogan’s podcast, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’; it was a three-hour interview. And then she said, ‘Being interviewed on Joe Rogan’s podcast really means that Bari Weiss is truly becoming a real voice of our generation.’ ” Bari has dozens of talks to Jewish and non-Jewish groups scheduled around the country in the next two months, with some European talks in the works for late spring.

“I’ve done some speaking to Jewish groups over the years, but this year the demand is really unlike other years,” she says.

She attributes the rise to a few things: the shooting in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people in the synagogue where she grew up and where family and friends still attend; her recent writing about anti-Semitism and Israel; and her increased visibility with multiple appearances on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “Morning Joe” and other media.

Her first appearance on Bill Maher in February 2018 unleashed a viral social media attack when she said the #MeToo movement went too far when it equated Aziz Ansari with Harvey Weinstein. In her Jan. 15, 2018, NYT column Bari shared a text message from the woman who wrote an expose of her date with Ansari: “You ignored clear nonverbal cues; you kept going with advances. You had to have noticed I was uncomfortable.”

He replied with an apology. In her column, Bari wrote: “It transforms what ought to be a movement for women’s empowerment into an emblem for female helplessness.”

A Twitter storm erupted after her column and her Bill Maher appearance. But Bari thinks public opinion (and Twitter) have shifted closer to her view.

“If it (the Ansari column) was published today, it would not have gone viral,” says Bari. “Most people have woken up to the reasonableness of that position.”

Public speaking and television appearances are part of Bari’s job description at the New York Times.

An op-ed and book review editor at the Wall Street

36 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

IMPACT 2019 FEATURING New York Times Opinion Writer and Editor Bari Weiss

PRESENTED BY Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland WHEN 5:30- 8:30 pm Monday, May 6, 2019 WHERE MJCC 6651 SW Capitol Hwy TICKETS $54; $36 for 30 and under; includes cocktail hour and dinner jewishportland.org/ IMPACT

BARI WEISS

Bari Weiss interviews Yuval Noah Harari during a Times Talk.

Bari Weiss with Bill Maher.

PHOTO BY HBO/ JANET VAN HAM.

Journal from 2013-17, Bari was hired by the Times to help diversify the paper’s op-eds. She says she works to “bring people into the Times who wouldn’t think of this as their natural home.”

“I’ve brought a lot of young women, libertarians and center-right writers … to bring more diversity to our op-eds,” she says.

Bari is no stranger to diverse viewpoints and political debates.

She grew up as the oldest sister in a family of four girls. “My dad is conservative, my mom liberal,” she says. “We were always debating politics in our home.”

The family also belonged to three synagogues – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. She says that was a reflection of the beauty of Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill Jewish neighborhood, where people don’t stay in their own lanes.

“My sisters and I were among the youngest Torah readers at our Conservative synagogue,” she says. She became a bat mitzvah at the Tree of Life synagogue, where an active shooter massacred 11 people during Shabbat services October 27, 2018.

“The Pittsburgh the world saw after the massacre was maybe a surprise to (many in) the country, but not surprising to me – this is how the neighborhood is,” says Bari. She adds that ahavat Israel, loving fellow Jews, is truly practiced in Squirrel Hill, which was Mr. Rogers’ real neighborhood. (His home was three blocks from Tree of Life, she wrote in one of two columns she wrote after the massacre.)

“I’m really proud to be from Pittsburgh,” she says.

During her appearances since then, Bari says she has focused her comments about the shooting on the antiSemitism that inspired the shooter.

“It seems there are two strains of anti-Semitism in the United States and across the West,” she says. “AntiSemitism of the far right comes from blood and soil nativism and focuses on our globalist sympathies,” she says, noting that was the motivation of the Pittsburgh shooter, who railed against HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) helping refugees of all faiths come to America.

On the other end of the spectrum, she says, “AntiSemitism from the left demonizes Jews for ... our relationship with the Jewish state.”

At the Times, Bari’s columns about Israel have raised the ire of both ardent Zionists and Palestinian supporters – yet another area where her centrist opinions are attacked in this polarized climate.

She describes herself as “a liberal Zionist with a deep belief in the right of self-determination of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland; and belief in the self-determination of the Palestinian people; and the belief Israel should be criticized when it does not reflect Jewish and democratic values.”

“People take my criticism seriously because they know the criticism is coming from a place of love,” she adds.

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 37

BARI WEISS That has been a challenge for the media, which has been under attack from the White House for “fake news.”

“Having a strong, independent press is essential for democracy,” says Bari. “The fact that the President of the United States is demonizing that independence is really disturbing to me.”

The 2016 election offers an important lesson for journalists.

“In every newsroom, people thought Hillary Clinton would win,” says Bari. “It was a lesson for journalists. We need to get out of our political ideological bubble.”

Social media has created a third challenge for journalists in today’s divisive world.

“I see a lot of columnists become a brand unto themselves … chasing applause,” she says. “It is important to think independently and not be captured by your audience, even if that means sometimes pissing them off.”

Social media such as Twitter is deepening the divide between people. Bari reflected on that trend in an article she co-authored with her “Twitter enemy,” Eve Peyser – “Can You Like the Person You Love to Hate?”

Bari writes she cut back on her Twitter use after reading Jaron Lanier’s book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. “Was social media, as Mr. Lanier’s book suggested, creating a sense of intense conflict where there might be intense conversation?”

When the two women met in person at a conference, they connected, as Eve writes, “over our Jewish upbringings, being women writers and finding common ground over the absurd aspects of internet outrage culture.”

The two women also agreed on the importance of engaging with those with whom you disagree.

Bari engages with many people through Times Talks including philosopher Yuval Noah Harari and University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer. Times Talks are among many public events that the Times hosts in the event space of the Times Building.

Bari edited the news and politics section of the online Jewish magazine Tablet from 2011 to 2013. She continued contributing to Tablet while working as associate book review editor and opinion writer and editor at the Wall Street Journal from 2013 to 2017.

She moderated the Jewish Book Council’s “Unpacking the Book: Jewish Writers in Conversation” series from its debut Feb. 24, 2015, through season three’s first two conversations in 2017. “Unpacking the Book” brings together noted writers for conversations on a specific Jewish theme at each program.

For a 2016 talk “Gefilte Fish on Fleek: The New Jewish Cuisine,” Bari interviewed Chef Rossi, Michael Solomonov, Michael W. Twitty and Niki Russ Federman.

38 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Bari is also the winner of the Reason Foundation’s 2018 Bastiat Prize, which annually honors writing that “best demonstrates the importance of freedom with originality, wit and eloquence.”

The prize is named after Frédéric Bastiat, whose brilliant, witty essays explained, “The solution to the problems of human relationships is to be found in liberty.”

Julian Morris, a senior fellow at Reason Foundation and founder of the Bastiat Prize, said, “Bari Weiss’s brilliant, incisive journalism defends that cornerstone of individual liberty and civil society: freedom of speech. Against a maelstrom of politically motivated activists seeking to silence opponents with absurd accusations, Weiss reminds us, again and again, that ‘the battle against genuine authoritarian threats needs to be waged consistently, credibly and persuasively.’ ”

Bari Weiss interviewed 2012 gold medal- gymnast Aly Raisman, left, at International Lion of Judah Conference in Florida in January. Last year Aly rose to a different kind of prominence – this time as part of the #MeToo movement – after she testified in the sexual abuse trial against the former U.S. Olympics gymanastics team physician Larry Nassar. At the Lion’s conference, Aly told Bari and the audience that she was shaken by the anti-Semitic attacks on social media after her testimony. “A lot of people don’t realize the pressure I feel all the time, and I’ve learned to take a step back and learn that I can’t fix everything,” she said. “I had never experienced anti-Semitism until the past year, which is really devastating.”

Bari graduated from Columbia University in 2007. She was a Bartley Fellow at the Wall Street Journal in 2007 and a Dorot Fellow from 2007 to 2008 in Jerusalem.

While a student at Columbia, she cofounded two student groups: The Columbia Coalition for Sudan, in response to the genocide in Darfur, and Columbians for Academic Freedom. When the latter group was founded in 2005, Bari was quoted in the Village Voice: “We are doing this because we believe in the right of all Columbia students to dissent without fear of abuse. Yes this means for conservative students as well as left-wingers, for Zionists as well as anti-Zionists … Criticism of professors does not violate their academic freedom or stifle debate. It only adds to it.”

During her junior year at Columbia, she also founded The Current, a journal of contemporary politics, culture and Jewish affairs. Of the things she launched as a student, she is proudest of The Current, which is still publishing.

“Many talented journalists have come out of there,” she says.

Bari Weiss herself was the first.

One of Bari Weiss’ proudest launches at Columbia: The Current.

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 39

NW NOSH

Skip long wait and grab a breakfast sandwich

Lovejoy Bakers: Egg and tapenade with tomato and avocado

By Kerry Politzer

Portland is famous for its breakfast and brunch. Diners often wait for hours outside Screen Door, Broder, Jam on Hawthorne and Slappy Cakes. But for those who can’t wait in line, a breakfast sandwich at one of Portland’s bakeries is a terrific morning alternative. Vegetarian, and even vegan, sandwiches abound in our town.

BOWERY BAGELS Portland State University got a real breakfast boost when Bowery Bagels opened up shop in the Smith building. It’s much easier to attend (or teach) class when you’ve stocked up on kosher bagels or have stacked your “everything” bagel with egg, cheese and vegan sausage. (As an aside, this is a great place to get a potato-and-onion knish.) The Old Town location has veggie sandwich options like the Oliver Lent (caramelized onion, Gruyere and egg).

Bowery Bagels: 1825 SW Broadway and 310 NW Broadway, 503-227-NOSH FRIED EGG I’M IN LOVE This popular food cart just opened a brick-and-mortar location on Hawthorne. Vegetarians love the Free-Range Against the Machine sandwich, a savory combination of fried egg, avo40 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

cado, tomato and Havarti. There’s also the Vegan ’Rito, a veggie burrito with a housemade vegan patty, black beans, avocado, tomato and pico de gallo. Fried Egg can substitute any meat with vegan sausage, and sandwiches can be made gluten-free or vegetarian. And if you eat a strict vegetarian diet, you can order a sandwich with “Just Egg,” a plant-based egg substitute. Don’t forget to try the hash browns (Hawthorne location)!

Fried Egg I’m In Love: 3549 SE Hawthorne Blvd. and Pioneer Courthouse Square, 780 SW Broadway, 503-704-FELT LITTLE T AMERICAN BAKER We regularly try to hurry over to this topnotch bakery before 11 am, when breakfast turns to lunch. It’s operated by Pearl Bakery alumnus Tim Healea, who bakes some of the yummiest bread in town. “We try to match our breads with complementary ingredients to build breakfast sandwiches and hearty toasts,” says Tim. “For instance, we bake a whole spelt bread that is fantastic toasted, topped with either an avocado and goat cheese smash or our housemade lox.” This is Little T’s most popular breakfast item save for the individual baguette served with salted butter and local jam.

Our favorite breakfast dish is the Italian scrambled egg sandwich on ciabatta with Pecorino cheese, pesto and marinated sun-dried tomatoes. There’s also a great whole-wheat croissant

Fried Egg I’m in Love: Free-Range Against the Machine sandwich.

Photo by Lauren Simpson

Fried Egg I’m in Love: Vegan ’Rito. Photo by Lauren Simpson

breakfast sandwich (just ask them to leave out the bacon).

Little T American Baker: 2600 SE Division St., 503-238-3458 LOVEJOY BAKERS At Lovejoy’s two locations, vegetarians can order the scrambled eggs and butter on a toothsome ciabatta roll and can add either melted Fontina cheese or salty black olive tapenade. (If you happen to eat fish, get the scrambled eggs and lox with red onion and buttered challah.)

Lovejoy Bakers: 939 NW 10th Ave., 503-208-3113 and 33 NW 23rd Pl., 503-467-4067 TABOR BREAD People go nuts for the biscuit sandwiches at this wholegrain, artisanal bakery at the foot of Mt. Tabor. Owner Tissa Stein says her scrumptious vegetarian sandwich is “very popular. It starts with our housemade biscuit made with housemilled whole grain flour. We then braise organic kale lightly with garlic and a pinch of chili flake. We chose Swiss cheese for the flavor it would bring to the kale and the egg. It also has a drizzle of housemade garlic aioli.” During the summer, the sandwich might incorporate a seasonal veggie like ripe red tomato.

Tabor Bread: 5051 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 971-279-5530

Tabor Bread: Biscuit sandwich with heirloom tomato

Little T American Baker: Italian Egg Sandwich

Lovejoy Bakers: Egg and Fontina JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 41

FRONT & CENTER Cultural connections explored in play of discrimination

By Deborah Moon Two Jewish actors explore the meaning of tolerance in “The No Play,” set in the racially divided world of Halifax, NC, in 1949 during the apex of the Jim Crow era.

PassinArt: A Theatre Company presents this exploration of deep family bonds, profound love and cultural connections. The title is derived from the many “No” signs that dotted the southern landscape at that time.

Andrea White is Mattie Cheeks, an African-American woman struggling to raise her two daughters and protect her marriage – all while Andrea White surviving the seemingly insurmountable effects of racism and bigotry. She finds an ally in Yaveni Founded in 1982 as an African-American theater Aaronsohn, played by David Meyers. The Jewish company, PassinArt’s mission is to entertain, eduscholar must endure and overcome the reality of cate, and inspire artists and diverse audiences while racial intolerance of the era. Yaveni is researching addressing critical issues facing our community and a book on the similarities and differences between to celebrate our history and culture. the prejudice and victimization experienced by David Meyers The play has certainly inspired David. He says blacks and Jews. that the differences between Black, Jew, Hispanic, The topic resonates with Andrea in real life.

Asian, Indigenous American and other peoples have faded away as he Andrea shared stories of her dual heritage growing up Jewish and reflects on the play and the climate today. black in Oregon Jewish Life’s October 2015 cover story (orjewishlife.

“The drumbeat of hatred, sounding so strongly, creates a daycom/andrea-white-brings-dual-perspective-to-racially-tense-play/). “I to-day reality in which all must dwell and find a way to cope and have been straddling two worlds all my life,” said the Portland native. survive,” says David. “This shows me so clearly that hate is indeed “I grew up here with my mom’s side of the family and was taught to color blind. And that past is indeed prologue.” walk into any situation with an open mind and the thought, the gift, Written by John Henry Redwood III (1942-2003), “The No Play” that it could be changed. When I’d visit my dad, I tried to understand opened in 2000 in Philadelphia and was nominated for a Barrymore the way society saw me as a black or brown person.”

Award for the best new play.

David is a veteran of many professional repertory theaters, having Ticket prices range from $18.50 to $28. Post-show discussions performed at the Cincinnati Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old with the cast, director and community thought leaders are scheduled Globe Theater, San Diego Repertory, North Coast Repertory, Porton Sundays, March 24 and April 7. land Repertory, Portland Center Stage, Portland Playhouse, Artists Repertory, Southwest Repertory, Perseverance Theater and many others.

“This play is looming large in my consciousness right now,” says WHEN: March 14-April 14, 3 pm Sundays; 7:30 pm Fridays and Saturdays David. “From the time I first read it last summer, it has gripped my WHERE: Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 340 N Interstate Ave., Portland heart and my mind. The racist themes examined here, playing out cirDIRECTED BY: William Earl Ray ca 1949, reflect us so accurately as peoples today. Yaveni Aaronsohn, PRESENTED BY: PassinArt: A Theatre Company whom I play, embodies so much in common with me as a Jew that I TICKETS: passinart.org simply cannot disengage.”

THE NO PLAY

42 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Romanian Jewish pianist to perform at Brazilian concert

By Deborah Moon

‘homework’ to learn a Brazilian piece. I did, and then he slowly kept introducing me to more and more Brazilian composers, until one day we decided to form a duo, piano and acoustic guitar – Duo Becar.”

“I feel happy and honored to play this type of music now,” says Florence.

Duo Becar will be one of three acts performing at the 4 pm, March 31, concert at Classic Pianos Recital Hall in Portland. The concert also will feature Choro Da Alegria, a Portland ensemble dedicated to melodies of Brazilian composers, and Rio Con Brio, a mandolin/guitar duo that presents an intersection of Brazilian rhythm, classical technique and jazz improvisation.

Tickets are available at choropdx2019.brownpapertickets.com.

Jewish classical pianist Florence Deutsch began playing piano in her native Romania at age 6. Raised in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, Sergio Botelho has been playing the guitar since age 10. As Duo Becar, the musicians will perform at the 11th annual Sounds of Brazil PDX March 31.

Florence followed an international path to Brazilian music.

The daughter of a child survivor of the Holocaust, Florence grew up in Communist Romania, where the family had to practice Judaism in secret.

“I grew up in Transylvania surrounded by German and Hungarian minorities, and I attended a total immersion German school in Romania all through high school,” says Florence. “I felt like Kafka, exposed to so many cultures yet not belonging anywhere.”

“But my parents did instill a sense of Jewish identity in my brother and me,” she adds. “My brother had his bar mitzvah done secretly at the temple in my hometown Sibiu, in Transylvania, Romania.”

Last year, Florence’s son had a very public bar mitzvah celebration at Havurah Shalom.

Florence hadn’t planned to move to the United States. She planned to make aliyah to Israel. But in college she won a scholarship to study at the University of Missouri. She met her (now-ex) husband, who decided to move to Portland.

“I love it here,” says Florence. “I think Portland has a European vibe that I would miss otherwise.”

With master’s degrees in English and German, she now teaches German and ESL at Portland Community College.

One of her coworkers, and now best friend, is a Brazilian woman married to musician Sergio Botelho.

“I mentioned one day that I used to play the piano in Romania (classically trained for about 12 years, but I had stopped playing for many years once I moved to the States),” says Florence. “She invited me to come over to their house and play. Sergio then gave me

presents

TICKETS: JP's Framing and Gallery 418 N.E. Killingsworth Portland, Oregon or passinart.org Ronni Lacroute

For information call 503.235.8079 or email passinart@yahoo.com PassinArt.org PassinArt TheatreCompany JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 43

Isaac Mizrahi in concert March 20

Fashion icon, singer and raconteur Isaac Mizrahi will bring his singular talent, humor and charm to Revolution Hall (1300 SE Stark St., Portland) at 8 pm March 20 as he kicks off a national tour with a brand new show, “I&ME,” in conjunction with the release of his memoir I.M. Mizrahi will be accompanied on stage by the dazzling Ben Waltzer Jazz Quartet, a combo that has backed up the fashion designer in recent years as he has turned to performing cabaret shows in New York City and across the country. The New York Times has called Mizrahi a “founding father of Alt Cabaret.”

“I&ME” is a cabaret revue including stories, songs and even a very comical, audience participation re-gift segment. The show is a fun, casual and meaningful look at life through Isaac’s eyes, from growing up gay in a small Jewish community in Brooklyn to scaling the heights of fashion as one of the world’s most popular and beloved designers.

Tickets to “I&ME” at Revolution Hall can be purchased online at helloisaac.com.

FRONT & CENTER

MJCC hosts three authors in March

Portland’s Jewish Book celebration continues in March with three authors speaking on Tuesday evenings at the Mittleman Jewish Community

Complain, by Mel Bochner. 2007

international bestselling novel The Oracle of Stamboul, which was a finalist for the California Book Award, the NCIBA Book of the Year Award and the Harold U. Ribalow Prize and has been published in 15 languages.

Single event tickets are $8, member $5. A series pass is $20, or $12 for members. oregonjcc.org

Center. All talks begin at 6:30 pm.

On March 12 award-winning novelist and memoirist Mary Morris shares Gateway to the Moon, the story of a sleepy New Mexican community that must come to grips with a religious and political inheritance they never expected. Morris is the author of numerous works including the novels The Jazz Palace, A Mother’s Love and House Arrest, and the travel memoir Isaac Mizrahi Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in literature and the 2016 Anisfield-Wolf Award for Fiction.

Mark Sarvas will share his novel Memento Park March 19. A son learns more about his father than he ever could have imagined when a mysterious piece of art is unexpectedly restored to him. The novel’s central, unanswerable predicament lingers: How do we move forward when the past looms unreasonably large? Sarvas is the author of Memento Park and Harry, Revised, which was published in more than a dozen countries. His book reviews and criticism have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Threepenny Review, Bookforum and many others.

On March 26, Michael David Lukas shares his page-turner novel The Last Watchman of Old Hayley Rouselle as Anne Frank Cairo. This tightly woven multigenerational tale illuminates the tensions that have torn communities apart, and the unlikely forces – potent magic, forbidden love – that boldly attempt to bridge that divide. Lukas is the author of the 44 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Beaverton presents Anne Frank production

Beaverton Civic Theatre presents “The Diary of Anne Frank,” March 1-16.

For nearly two years, Anne, her father, mother and sister joined with the Van Daan family to hide in a secret annex space above her father’s former office in Amsterdam, as the Nazis deported the Jews of Holland to their deaths. In her secret attic, Anne comes of age: she laughs, plays, fights with her mother and falls in love for the first time. In spite of her oppressive circumstances and the horrors that surround her, Anne’s spirit transcends, as she voices her belief, “in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.”

The play by Wendy Kesselman is presented through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm.

On Sunday, March 10, immediately following the 2 pm performance experience a brief talkback with the cast and crew and engage in an informal, moderated discussion about the production design, rehearsal process, creating characters and more.

Beaverton Civic Theatre is located inside the ​ Beaverton City Library Auditorium, 12375 SW 5th St., Beaverton.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students/ seniors/groups of 10+, $5 for youth 10 and under.

Reservations can be made at beavertoncivictheatre. org or by calling the box office at 503-754-9866.

OJMCHE presents Mel Bochner

A musical revue with over 30 treasured Rodgers & Hammerstein hits from shows such as THE SOUND OF MUSIC THE KING AND I SOUTH PACIFIC OKLAHOMA!

Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer

The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education presents “Mel Bochner - Enough Said” March 7-May 26.

From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundations, this body of recent works, 2007-2018, challenge audiences to reflect on the nature and structure of everyday language.

Curated by Bruce Guenther, adjunct curator for special exhibitions, the exhibition explores language as image and idea through Bochner’s long-held interest in complex printmaking techniques.

“Bochner's historic use of language and words as both a linguistic

CAROUSEL and more!

MAR. 28 - APR. 28

Language is not transparent, by Mel Bochner 2017.

system of inquiry and as a formal visual vocabulary of his painting practice has found new focus in the last decade through the artist’s intense engagement with printmaking and his exploration of the relationships of words as image, text, voice and thinking,” says Guenther.

“He plumbs English and Yiddish for language's power to establish identity, to command respect, or to attack in works of unpredictable emotionality and humor.”

“Mel Bochner is one of the most important conceptual artists of our time. His word art makes us smile, laugh, frown and jeer – but always forces us to think,” says Jordan D. Schnitzer. “He seduces us with emotions, words and phrases that we all have used. Whether we laugh or frown experiencing his art, we are forever moved.”

Born in 1940 to an Orthodox family in Pittsburgh, the artist attended Hebrew school and was exposed to art early through his father, who was a sign painter with a workshop in the family’s basement. Displaying an early talent for drawing, Bochner participated in the Carnegie Museum of Art’s innovative children’s art classes, eventually winning a scholarship to Carnegie Melon University. ojmche.org

Stephen Sondheim’s witty, powerful score and James Lapine’s imaginative, darkly humorous book combine to make the Tony Award-winning Into The Woods a favorite among musical lovers and a timeless masterpiece.

MAY 30 - JUN. 30

Celebrate the spirit and optimism of young people fighting for change backed by a soundtrack of ‘80s pop anthems in this stage adaptation of the hit film, featuring explosive choreography and invigorating songs.

AUG. 1 - SEP. 1 TICKETS 503.620.5262 •

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JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 45

ACTIVELY SENIOR

At 97, Rabbi Stampfer keeps building community

By Deborah Moon Shortly after he arrived in Portland in 1953, Rabbi Joshua Stampfer founded a synagogue nursery school; the next year he cofounded a Jewish summer camp. He’s been creating organizations that foster formal or informal education ever since.

Next month Congregation Neveh Shalom will honor their 97-year-old rabbi emeritus (see box).

A panel discussion on what it means to be a rabbi will feature three rabbis from the range of religious traditions – Rabbi Michael Cahana of Congregation Beth Israel, current Neveh Shalom Senior Rabbi David Kosak and Rabbi Tzvi Fischer of the Portland Kollel.

“I have been thinking a lot about what has been my role as a rabbi,” says Rabbi Stampfer. “Every rabbi starts with a mission to teach. The only issue is, how he is going to do his teaching.”

For the Conservative rabbi, that has meant not only teaching directly but also creating teaching institutions.

“I don’t have to be a teacher anymore,” says Rabbi Stampfer, though this year his yearlong Bible Class is his largest ever with 81 students. But he has also “created the tools by which teaching happens.”

The nursery school he created when he arrived has grown into the popular Foundation School, serving children from 12 months to pre-kindergarten. Camp Solomon Schechter, founded in 1954, has grown steadily, last year serving 460 campers (see related story, page 20).

“Early on I started a USY chapter, Rishonim, which means the first,” he says. “It was the first Conservative youth movement in the whole Northwest.”

Like summer camp, the youth movement provides “informal education, which is very important to Jewish identity,” he says.

Other programs he has created include Weekend in Quest, which still brings together about 60 people every year for an intensive study and experiential weekend with a scholar in residence; the Portland Jewish Film Festival, still showing more than a dozen films at the NW Film Center every June; and a Writers and Scholars Lecture series, which for many years brought prominent scholars such as Rabbi Harold Kushner to Portland.

Major institutions he helped create include the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Ho46 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

TOP: Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, right, and Rodney Page, former executive director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, are planning a new interfaith effort to combat hatred, poverty and other injustices. Photo by Deborah Moon LEFT: Rabbi Joshua Stampfer at the Great Wall of China c. 1985. Courtesy of OJMCHE: OJM11417 RIGHT: Rabbi Joshua Stampfer at Congregation Neveh Shalom c. 1960. Courtesy of Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education: OJM09392

Joshua and Goldie Stampfer wedding portrait 1944.

Courtesy of OJMCHE: OJM09903

locaust Education, the Institute for Judaic Studies, the Oregon Board of Rabbis and Neveh Shalom’s Library, which now houses the largest Judaica collection in the Pacific Northwest.

He also cofounded two international organizations – the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies and the Sino Judaic Institute. He founded the first after a visit to Portugal, where he visited a hidden synagogue.

His interest in Chinese Jews began when he was researching his book First Rabbi of the West about Rabbi Julius Eckman, who in the mid1800s studied that population while serving as a Beth Israel rabbi.

Rabbi Stampfer visited Kaifeng in 1983 and worked with several international scholars to launch the institute at Stanford University.

Universities are another area where he has had a strong impact.

In addition to teaching Judaic studies for nearly 40 years at Portland State University, he was also instrumental in creating Judaic studies programs at three Portland universities – PSU, Reed College and Lewis & Clark College. The programs arose out of a meeting he held with the presidents of the three colleges, as well as Pacific University.

“Not a bad batting average,” says Rabbi Stampfer of having three of the four adopt programs.

The rabbi also has focused on peace and interfaith programs.

“The advance of peace is really a process of education,” he says.

He was instrumental in the creation of the Interfaith Committee for Peace in the Middle East and Educating for Peace. Rabbi Stampfer and the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon former Executive Director Rodney Page teamed up to create ICPME and lead interfaith trips to Israel. Now the two, along with EMO’s current director, are spearheading an effort to create Common Table, “a group for Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and ‘others of good will’ to address problems such as racism, homophobia, poverty and hate crimes,” says Page.

Of his long-time friend and colleague, Page says, “His sense of justice and compassion have so enriched and enhanced the quality of life in Oregon and around the world.”

SEVEN DECADES OF RABBINIC IMPACT

WHAT: Honoring Rabbi Joshua Stampfer: His Life and Legacy – Mincha service, sermon, panel discussion, reception WHEN: 3 pm, April 6 WHERE: Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland RSVP: Free but RSVP for reception to 503-246-8831 or programs@nevehshalom.org MEMORY BOOK: To contribute to the memory book for rabbi, send 200 words or fewer by March 20 to Membership Director Lindsay von Colditz at Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland, OR 97239 or programs@nevehshalom.org.

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ACTIVELY SENIOR

A surreal year

By Deborah Moon

“I’m so lucky,” says Jack Heims, 69. An odd statement from a man diagnosed with a rare cancer with a five-year survival rate of only 24%.

Yet just over a year after he was diagnosed with Acute Myloid Leukemia, Jack has returned to his active life of cooking, entertaining, cycling, weightlifting, tennis, golf, yoga, skiing and volunteering at Community Warehouse. He also has met with other AML patients to buoy their spirits and outlook.

“AML is very deadly,” says Jack. “For them to see a survivor with normalcy in his life is huge. Because the doctor comes in and says 40% of people (may) die within two weeks of starting heavy chemo.

They talk about leukemia cells and chemo. … They keep throwing statistics at you.”

Now Jack shares with other recently diagnosed AML patients the themes that got him through what he calls a surreal year.

With tests showing no cancer one year after receiving a stem cell transplant after successful chemo, Jack says his doctors “would be flabbergasted if I didn’t make it.” So the patients Jack meets with see the possibilities and listen to Jack’s optimistic themes. “I tell them you can get through this.”

“It’s not my time … and statistics don’t matter,” says Jack of his two mantras. “It’s me I’m talking about. If you don’t separate yourself from the masses, you can get overwhelmed. … You always want hope when you are in the hospital that long.”

Jack says he has connected with four people with AML. Three of the patients received transplants and are doing OK. The fourth, a Samoan woman for whom a match could not be found, has died.

So Jack encourages everyone ages 18-44 to join the bone marrow donor registry. The test, a simple cheek swab, is free; being a donor is also free. You can find a local drive or join the registry online at bethematch.org. About 1 of 430 people who join the registry match a patient in need and become donors. Bethematch.org notes: “Adding more members who increase the ethnic diversity of the registry increases the variety of tissue types available, helping more patients find the match they need.”

Since many Jews have joined the registry, being 100% Ashkenazi made it easier for him to find a match, says Jack.

Jack’s surreal year began in September 2017 when he felt like he had the flu. A week later he was admitted to a hospital intensive care 48 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

unit, where he spent 12 days. He recovered rapidly and went home with no diagnosis. Two weeks later when he felt “subdued,” a blood test showed AML. He spent a month in the hospital getting chemo to kill all the leukemia cells. After another month waiting, a match was found in the international donor registry. In January 2018 he says doctors “blowtorched my bone marrow, killing my immune system and my blood-making machine (bone marrow) with chemo. They immediately gave me an IV with stem cells from my donor.”

Initially, Jack did not know who his donor was, so he called her Miriam “because Miriam saved Moses, brought water to the desert, brought life as a midwife, and is the name both of a friend who has recovered from cancer and my great-grandmother.”

On Jan. 29, 2019, Jack learned his donor’s name. Liza is 25 and grew up in the Las Vegas Jewish community. Now she is a student in Houston and works for Hillel.

In an emotional hour-long phone conversation, “She was very poised, bright and articulate. I was more emotional,” says Jack. “I have called many aspects of this process surreal.

Talking to the person who gave you another chance at life is no exception.”

Liza and her fiancé will visit Portland later this month. Jack

has planned a reception at the Community Warehouse in Tualatin so his family, friends and Community Warehouse colleagues can meet and thank Liza. Jack spends most of his volunteer hours at the main location of Community Warehouse on Martin Luther King Boulevard in North Portland, but since Tualatin has more parking, he’s holding the party there.

Even before he retired from his job as a hospital administrator, Jack volunteered at Community Warehouse. He grew up at Congregation Beth Israel along with Roz Babener, who founded the furniture bank to collect donations to furnish apartments for Jews arriving from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s’ Operation Exodus. Even as refugee arrivals diminished, donations of household furnishings kept pouring in. In 2001 Roz and other volunteers created a nonprofit that

now serves more than 7,600 individuals from more than 200 partner agencies each year.

“I was working at the VA and was aware of the work they (Community Warehouse) were doing with homeless vets,” says Jack. “So I started volunteering eight years ago.”

The first person Jack helped at the warehouse was a client of the West Women’s Shelter, where he had served on the board for 30 years.

In fact the shelter has named a forest in Jack’s honor.

“My first client here was from the shelter,” says Jack. “They come into an emergency shelter and then into tiny apartments upstairs.

When they feel secure, they move to their own apartments. They use this (the warehouse) to furnish their homes. That reaffirmed this is the place for me to be.” bethematch.org | communitywarehouse.org

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ABOVE: Jack learned “Miriam’s” real name is Liza. Liza and her fiancé will visit Jack in Portland this month.

TOP RIGHT: As a Community Warehouse volunteer, Jack helps clients get the cooking equipment and dishes they need to make the kind of food they want to prepare in their own apartments.

LEFT: Jack rides his bike to the warehouse to volunteer. He asked a neighbor who has a manufacturing business if he had any spare materials Jack could use to build a bike shelter for all the Community Warehouse staff and volunteers who ride to the warehouse. Instead the neighbor built this bicycle shelter – and 300 dressers for warehouse clients (ABOVE RIGHT).

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J

ask helen

Divisive politics affect families and offices A Nosh of Jewish Wisdom: Truth lives long and does not grow old.

L iving

Dear Helen:

We’re a pretty liberal family except for one loud, curmudgeon uncle who seeks out ways to annoy everyone. For Hanukkah he sent us a box of bright red slogan hats; I’ll let you fill in the details. We opened it and looked at one another in frustration and anger. I’m trying to raise my kids to be polite and honor the relatives but also stick to their convictions. His birthday is coming up; the family table has been raucous with suggestions. How to respond?

Horrified

Dear Horrified:

Hold a special night of celebration. You can call it a liberation evening, freedom evening, etc. Use the time to bond and to talk about how you can each contribute to your community to counteract what the hats originally represented. Talk about what each of you thinks makes America the country that our ancestors came to in times of despair and to which current immigrants look for help and safety. Then find words that summarize those values, and use them to redecorate the hats. Think about slogans like Make America Kind Again, Make America Wise Again and Make America Safe Again. Have art supplies on hand: stickers, sew-on badges, fabric markers. Take a picture of your assembled group wearing the redecorated hats, and send it as a collective thank you note to the uncle. Then donate the hats to a group for some future fund-raising raffle.

Accompany the photo with a letter saying that his gift was both a blessing and a curse. The curse has been removed by your family’s fun remaking the hats. Tell him you also want to share the blessing: letting him know that in honor of his birthday, you have contributed to the fact-based, fake-news-busting organization of your choice. End by saying that you pray regularly for America to return to a level of civility where you and he can talk reasonably about issues on which you disagree, and that free and fair elections are possible to elect candidates who care more about helping people than enriching themselves.

Dear Helen:

I work in an office with several blatantly right-wing conservatives who talk in vague but menacing generalities about anyone who doesn’t fit their stereotype of “a real American.” They know I am Jewish but wisely keep anti-Semitism out of my hearing range. I’m looking for a simple way to respond to them when I hear them disparaging others. I get enough of this crap on the news; I don’t want it in my head 24/7.

Going to Human Resources is futile, for reasons too complex to go into. Have any snappy comebacks?

Time to Go?

Dear Time to Go:

It may be time to float your resume. But don’t naively think you’ll avoid this elsewhere. The snappiest answer I have is this one: Everyone in America is a descendant either of Native Americans, immigrants, refugees or slaves. Which were your people? Note: It’s OK to make them squirm.

In The Messy Joys of Being Human, I tell this story: The other day I had a new sofa delivered. The driver, Luis, asked me about a framed picture of Anne Frank I keep on a wall. I told him her story, all new to him. He told me how his parents came to America, and that he would tell his daughter about Anne Frank, because she could read the famous diary as a break from her dental studies. I reflected on what a wonderful American moment it was: two children of immigrants sharing their origin stories.

In the worlds of us vs. them, blue states and red, bickering races, nations and religions, the world gets harsh much too quickly and stays there much too angrily. What if we were all part of us? And how the @#$%& do we get there? Part of the answer is kindness. Part of it is calling out bigotry and fake news for exactly what it is. That takes courage. I hope you can find it, and allies. If not, go.

HELEN

50 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

A resident of Eugene since 1981, Helen Rosenau is a member of Temple Beth Israel. She’s a student of Torah and an artist (kabbalahglass.com), a writer (yourjewishfairygodmother.com) and now the author of The Messy Joys of Being Human: A Guide to Risking Change and Becoming Happier.

L iving

J

PREVIEWS

Hamantaschen time in Portland and Salem

Two Oregon congregations have long histories of baking hamantaschen for Purim as fundraisers.

In Portland the Shaarie Torah Sisterhood has been baking the three-cornered holiday treat since the 1950s. The first year, the sisterhood sold 100 dozen. Last year the sisterhood made more than 2,500 dozen with the help of 100+ volunteers.

Shaarie Torah makes fruit, moen (poppy seed) and apricot filled hamantaschen. Order one dozen for $12 or three dozen for $33.

Single cookies are $1. Orders can be picked up through March 13.

Shipping is available for an additional cost. Fill out the order form at shaarietorah.org or call Barbara with questions: 971-249-2658.

In Salem, Temple Beth Sholom is celebrating its 22nd year of “dough raising.” TBS is now taking orders for hamantaschen, in honor of the holiday of Purim, which celebrates the story of the Book of Esther. This year Purim starts the evening of Wednesday, March 20. The annual hamantaschen sale supports Temple Beth Sholom's many programs. TBS members and friends throughout the community make the cookies each year.

TBS bakes apricot, poppy seed and raspberry filled cookies.

A mixed dozen (four of each) is $18; $15/dozen for three dozen or more. All one flavor are $20/dozen or $18/dozen for three or more dozen.

Orders will be ready for pick up at the synagogue Monday, March 18, 9 am-3 pm.

To order, contact Sherry Dunning at 503-364-1372 or dunning3@comcast.net; the TBS office at 503-362-5004 or office@tbsholom.org; or online at tbsholom.org.

StandWithUs brings Bassem Eid to Oregon The next StandWithUs speaker tour features Bassem Eid, a Jerusalem-based political analyst, human rights pioneer and expert commentator on Arab and Palestinian affairs.

Eid was born in the Jordanian-occupied Old City in East Jerusalem, whose place of residence became the United Nations Refugee Works Agency refugee camp of Shuafat. He spent the first 33 years of his life in Shuafat.

He rose to prominence during the first Intifada, the Palestinian Bassem Eid uprising and was a senior field researcher for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. In 1996, he founded the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group. In 2016, Eid assumed the role of chairman of the Center for Near East Policy Research.

Eid has spent 26 years researching UNRWA policies and has written extensively on the subject of UNRWA reform. He also is

an outspoken critic of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Eid begins his Oregon tour speaking to classes at Lewis & Clark University on March 11.

On March 12 he will present a public program as part of the Israel360 program at Congregation Neveh Shalom. The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is co-sponsoring this 7 pm talk on "Internal Palestinian Politics and Conflict: An Insider's View on the Palestinian leadership and the prospects for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

On March 13, he will speak at 6:30 pm on "Where Are We Now? Prospects for Peace and the Two-State Solution?" at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene.

On March 14, he will speak on "The Real Effects of BDS" at Oregon State University, in the evening. For time and place contact northwest@standwithus.com.

PJA/MJCC used book sale Don’t miss one of the best and biggest Southwest Portland book events! The Portland Jewish Academy and the Mittleman Jewish Community Center host their annual used book sale March 31-April 2 (Sunday 10 am -5 pm; Monday and Tuesday 8 am-7 pm).

Thousands of books of all genres are available, and the price cannot be beat: $2 per book, and only $1 for children’s books.

The annual, family-friendly sale is well attended each year. PJA students voted this book sale as their favorite school tradition.

The event is in the Stern Family Ballroom of the MJCC at 6651 SW Capitol Highway, Portland, OR. For more information email pjabooksale@gmail.com or find information on Facebook at facebook.com/pjaubs.

Proceeds support the school’s library and family facilities of the MJCC.

Middle East lecture series Tuesdays Cedar Sinai Park’s Life Enrichment Department has challenged, entertained and amused residents with diverse lectures, musical performances and presentations for 20 years. Now the senior living campus is hosting a Tuesday evening lecture series open to the community.

The free lectures begin at 7 pm in Zidell Hall. The current series, which began in February, deals with the Middle East. Lectures continue through April 2.

On March 5 Cyrus Partovi, of Lewis and Clark College, will speak on “U.S. Interest in the Middle East.”

Robert Asaadi will speak about “State-Society Relations in Iran” on March 12.

On March 19 Addie Byrum, Lewis and Clark College, will discuss “Arabic (Script, Structure and Basic Expressions) and Arab Culture.”

Rabbi Joshua Stampfer will talk about “How Israel Was Created” on March 26.

The series concludes April 2 with a talk on Iraqi culture by Baher Butti.

For more information on the series, call CSP Life Enrichment Director Nathan Gregg at 503-522-2116.

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 51

L iving

J

FACES & PLACES

SWEETHEARTS’ DANCE – A lively gathering of romantics, including Elaine and Earl Mooso, danced the evening away to the peppy beat of Taska’s Party Band at Rose Schnitzer Manor's annual Sweethearts' Dance, Feb. 12. Pairs and singles, many decked out in red, toasted Valentine's Day – and lives well lived – with themed cocktails and treats. The annual resident celebration was open to the community FITNESS PALOZZA – About 200 people turned

this year as are numerous other events hosted by Cedar Sinai Park's suburban Southwest Portland

out to explore the Mittleman Jewish Community

assisted living community.

Center’s fitness offerings at the eighth annual

/

MILT CARL WAY AWARD – More than

Fitness Palozza. Attendees were able to explore

180 people gathered at Congregation

group exercise classes, wellness classes, personal

Shaarie Torah on Jan. 13 to remember

training and the J’s small group training studio.

Milt Carl and honor the first three

Top, Payton Janssen shows Angie Fisher how to do

recipients of the Milt Carl Way Award:

an exercise.

Jen Levison Feldman, Kyle Rotenberg and Jordan Schnitzer. Funds raised at the event will establish a Milt Carl Way Scholarship Endowment at B’nai B’rith Camp and support youth education programs at Shaarie Torah.

TIVNU GRATITUDE – Tivnu: Building Justice participants spent Martin Luther King Day

TORAH FAIR – Maayan Torah kindergarteners

with Reconstructing Judaism President

explain how the way a tree grows will determine

Deborah Waxman, who led the gap year

if the Bracha of its fruit is Ha'etz. The Jewish day

participants in a gratitude practice.

school uses project based learning. Students

Her recent work focuses on developing

planned, researched, designed, created, and

religious rituals to further the longevity

presented magnificent Torah Fair projects. Classes

and viability of Jewish activism, and Tivnu

learned about Brachot, Shabbat, the 10 makkot,

experienced a taste of it.

the miracles of our bodies, and the Mishkan.

52 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

FACES & PLACES

PARTNERS PORTLAND – Portland Kollel presents Partners Portland each Monday evening at 7:45 at the MJCC for an open Torah study in a havruta, study partner, format. Participants are paired with a study partner or can request one, and bring along study material or chose from an available selection. Those gathered enjoy hot drinks and home baked snacks. About 40 partners have participate each Monday so far. /

BEIT AM RAINBOW – In late December, a beautiful rainbow arched over the building site of Beit Am’s 6,700-square-foot synagogue, located on a 5-acre parcel in Corvallis. The new building committee took it as a sign of good fortune for the project, and Rabbi Phil Bressler shared the bracha recited upon seeing a rainbow. Beit Am Mid-Willamette Jewish Community’s new synagogue will serve Jews living in Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties.

Below, construction made visible progress in January as walls went up. This

SHISHI SHABBAT – More than 180

photo shows a view from the bima through the social hall to the west.

people attended the first "Shishi Israeli" (Israeli-style Shabbat dinner) in Portland. The event was planned by volunteers to introduce the Israeli American Council to Portland. The IAC, which already has 20 locations in the United States, is establishing a Portland office to help the community build a strong unified foundation for an Israeli-American community. Kiddush was led by Kobi Magnezi and Estee Raviv emceed the evening.

ROLLER FUN – Tivnuniks, including roommates Zoe and Aliza, enjoy roller skating at Oaks Park.

COSMIC HAVDALLAH – As part of the MJCC's "J without Walls" initiative, 25 young adults headed to Mount Hood to experience Havdalah Jan. 19. After Havdallah they enjoyed the great outdoors with cosmic tubing at Mount Hood Adventure Park at Ski Bowl.

JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019 53

MARCH CALENDAR

SEE KIDS CALENDAR PAGE 24

Through March 15

March 7

March 19

Book Collection Drive. Drop off books at the MJCC front desk. For pickup, email pjabooksale@gmail.com

OJMCHE (Prospective) Docent Open House.

5:30-7 pm. Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education wants more trained volunteer educators. You can expand your knowledge and give back to the community.

RSVP: docent@ojmche.org

Everything you wanted to know about the Middle East: 7-8:30 pm at Rose Schnitzer Manor, CSP. Rabbi Joshua Stampfer on How Israel Was Created. 503-522-2116

Through March 29 Jewish Arts Month. At the MJCC

Monthly Mitzvah Project: PJA and MJCC are collecting Pillows for Purim for Community Warehouse. 503-535-3555

Wikipedia edit-a-thon: 4-7 pm at OJMCHE. Social practice artist Shoshana Gugenheim leads session to create and/or edit Wiki pages for Jewish women artists. 503-226-3600

Story Swap: Stories of Resistance. 7 pm at OJMCHE. Stories by Mike Murawski, Portland Art Museum, Judy Margles, OJMCHE, Bobbin Singh, the Oregon Justice Resource Center, and Erin McKee, OJRC and co-director of Immigrant Rights Project. 503-226-3600

March 1-16

March 9

MJCC author talk. See page 44

March 1-31

“The Diary of Anne Frank.” See page 44

Cupcakes & Havdallah. See page 22

March 1

March 10

Lunch conversation on Jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker. Noon-1 pm, OJMCHE. ojmche.org

March 3 Friends of Center Brunch with Michael Twitty. 10 am-noon at the MJCC. oregonjcc.org/brunch TelAviv-NYC-PDX: Eli Degibri Quartet at the Jack London Review, 529 SW 4th Ave., Portland. pdxjazz.com/events

March 3-May 26 Tradition and Change: Neveh Shalom Turns 150 Years. East Gallery, OJMCHE. ojmche.org

March 4 Cancer and Jewish Genetics: Creating a Caring Community. 11:30 am-1:30 pm at Congregation Neveh Shalom. Learn how to support loved ones facing difficult diagnoses. Kosher lunch provided.

Free. RSVP: Jewishportland.org/sharsheret Cancer and Jewish Genetics: What’s Jewish About Breast and Ovarian Cancer. 6 pm at MJCC. The latest in genetic testing, cancer prevention and how it impacts you and your family.

Jewishportland.org/sharsheret Partners Portland. 7:45-8:40 pm, every Monday, at the MJCC. Study Torah and Jewish traditions with a study partner. portlandkollel.org/partners/

Workshop: “Entering Poems Inspired by Biblical Texts.” 2-4 pm, MJCC. Join Willa Schneberg, to contemplate poets inspired by biblical texts and draft a response. Cost $18. oregonjcc.org/artspirit

Everything you wanted to know about the Middle East: A free lecture series. 7-8:30 pm at Rose Schnitzer Manor, Cedar Sinai Park. Lewis & Clark College Professor Cyrus Partovi on U.S. interests in the Middle East. 503-522-2116

March 7-May 26 Exhibit: Mel Bochner - Enough Said From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. OJMCHE. See page 45 54 JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2019

Brown Bag Lunch with Edward Hershey. Noon-1 pm at OJMCHE. Retired journalist and author reflects on the lofty aspirations and sobering limitations of Jewish-American life in the 1950s and ’60s. 503-226-3600

Camp Solomon Schechter Info Parties.

See page 22

Purim Carnival and Celebration. 5-9 pm, at P’nai Or, 9750 SW Terwilliger, Portland. Carnival, puppet show, finger food and potluck, purimspiel, megillah, songs. 503-248-4500

March 11-14

Isaac Mizrahi in concert. See page 44

SWU speaker Eid Bassem in Oregon. See page 51

March 12 Everything you wanted to know about the Middle East: 7-8:30 pm, Rose Schnitzer Manor, CSP. Lewis & Clark College Professor Robert Asaadi on State-Society Relations in Iran. 503-522-2116

March 21 Purim at the Hillsboro Airport. 5:15 pm, 3355 NE Cornell Road, Hillsboro. Purim buffet, hamantaschen, airplane craft, “in-flight” Purim entertainment, megillah reading, Ambacht Brewery beer bar. Chabadh.com, 503-747-5363

Sephardic Film Fest: A Woman Called Golda, part 2. 7 pm at Congregation Ahavath Achim, 3225 SW Barbur Blvd. Film, discussion and Sephardic dessert free. 503-750-0888

March 26

MJCC author talk. See page 44

Author Rosellen Brown introduced by Elinor Langer. 7 pm at OJMCHE. Brown will read and talk about her latest book, The Lake on Fire. 503-2263600

March 14 Casino Royale: All In on Our Youth. See page 15.

March 15 Purim in The Circus. 4:30-6 pm at Chabad

Center for Jewish Life-SW Portland, 6612 SW March 5

March 20

Capitol Hwy. A creative twist to commemorate the Jewish people’s salvation in Persia of old. RSVP: JPortland.com

March 17 A Night on Broadway: Neveh Shalom Auction. 5-9 pm at Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane.

Tickets: nevehshalom.org/auction2019 Oregon Botanical Artists opening reception. 6-8 pm at Rose Schnitzer Manor. Cedar Sinai Park hosts exhibit of works created by our state’s botanical artists. 503-228-0706

MJCC author talk. See page 44

March 27

March 28-April 28 Grand Night for Singing: A musical review of Rodgers & Hammerstein hits. Broadway Rose Theatre Co. 503-620-5262, broadwayrose.org

March 29 North Coast Shabbat. 8 pm at the Senior Center, 1225 Avenue A., Seaside. Rabbi Josh Rose to lead service. Meets last Friday of May-October.

503-244-7060

March 31 A Jewish Studies Sampler. 1-2:30 pm at the MJCC. With Rabbi Jonathan Seidel.

Register: oregonjcc.org/jewishlearning

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