Fifth-Graders Can Win Free Trees for their School in Arbor Day Poster Contest Kol HaBirah Staff State Representatives Address Local Concerns at Maryland Jewish Advocacy Day Kol HaBirah Staff 1,15

COMMUNITY NEWS Jewish Community Gathers for Havdalah in Support of Refugees

By Kol HaBirah Staff

WASHINGTON–– More than 600 people attended a special havdalah service organized by HIAS and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington last weekend, demonstrating the powerful Jewish communal support for welcoming refugees. The February 11 event, hosted well after the end of Shabbat by Washington Hebrew Congregation, kicked off a series of 20 events across the country for the National Day of Jewish Action for Refugees.

Led by HIAS, a global Jewish nonprofit that advocates for refugees, the event included a traditional Havdalah service, speakers, readings, and music. Havdalah’s theme of separating the darkness from the light was a thoughtful tie-in to the role of Jewish values and the Jewish experience in influencing responses to the current refugee crisis.

“The Jewish community’s experience as refugees prompts us to help refugees today–– not because they are Jewish, but because we are,” said Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of HIAS.

Additional speakers included Guila Franklin Siegel, associate director of the JCRC of Greater Washington; Rabbi Aaron Alexander of Adas Israel Congregation; Maharat Ruth Balinksy Friedman of Ohev Sholom - The National Synagogue; and Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig, Susan Shankman, and Joseph Skloot of Washington Hebrew Congregation.

The speakers were not limited to members of the Jewish community, however. Oula Alrifai, once a Syrian asylum seeker and now a U.S. citizen, was a member of the first Syrian family to seek political asylum in Washington, D.C. in 2005. She is a Middle East analyst at Navanti Group and the co-founder and executive director of the Syrian-American Network for Aid and Development. Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, outreach director at Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center and a former Muslim chaplain at Howard University, also addressed the group.

The Havdalah event was part of HIAS’ ongoing Welcome Campaign, which has engaged more than 260 synagogues and over 1,900 rabbis in support of refugee advocacy work.

Co-sponsors of the National Day of Jewish Action for Refugees included Jewish rabbinical organizations across the denominational spectrum, as well as Jewish lobbyist groups and humanitarian relief organizations and the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees.

HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield speaks about the refugee crisis.

COURTESY OF HIAS Oula Alrifai, an asylee from Syria, speaks.

COURTESY OF HIAS

At Sunflower Bakery, Cookies Can Lead to Careers for Young Adults with Learning Differences

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presented, the teens chose to fund Sunflower Bakery as their summer mitzvah project. That donation was used to purchase the point of sale equipment for Café Sunflower.

These days, Feivel is in the Pastry Arts Employment Training Program and working towards a very specific goal: working both front and back of the house in the kosher bakery at Costco in Wheaton, Maryland.

Milner said the summer program is also an exploratory class for teens. It’s mostly recreational because there aren’t other cooking classes for people with disabilities. In addition to other schools, the program draws teens with learning disabilities from Sulam, a school-within-a-school at the Berman Hebrew Academy.

The Future

Having a storefront along with production and instruction space is Wexler and Milner’s dream right now. They agree that if they could rent a larger space, they could also expand training opportunities to include bread baking, packing and shipping, skills transferable to other businesses and industries.

Milner wants people to buy from Sunflower Bakery, not just for their mission, but because they think their products are the best. She encourages community members to keep Sunflower Bakery in mind and make them a part of their Shabbat and simchas year-round.

The deadline to order hamantaschen for Purim is March 6 at noon. Go to www.sunflowerbakery.org for more information and to place orders.

Sunflower production kitchen in action.

(PHOTO CREDIT: DEBBIE UNGER PHOTOGRAPHY)

Natasha Nadel is a mom, journalist and author of “The Healthy Mama’s Guide to Feeding Your Family Well – Simply and Sanely!” and “The Healthy Family, Healthy You Cookbook.” She has contributed to over 20 national and regional newspapers, magazines, and blogs, including The Washington Post's “On Faith and On Parenting,” Lilith, JTA, Na’amat Woman, The Jewish Press, Jewish Food Experience and Kveller.com.

State Representatives Address Local Concerns at Maryland Jewish Advocacy Day

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nity. The February 7 event was a joint project of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the Baltimore Jewish Council.

Attendees spanned the broad spectrum of Maryland’s Jewish community, from Leisure World retirees to members of the Berman Hebrew Academy community to Terps for Israel from University of Maryland. Familiar faces included Lew Fontek of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes (JFGH), Benham Dayanim of the Beltway Vaad, and Berman Hebrew Academy Director of Institutional Development Jennifer Zuckerman.

JCRC Director of Maryland Government and Community Relations Meredith Weisel, introduced the various bills that the JCRC is supporting. They include a bill that would support renovations for six of JFGH’s group homes, bullet-resistant street-facing windows at the Bender JCC bullet, and one that would disallow anyone who is convicted of second-degree assault access to firearms.

After Meredith, Delegate Benjamin Kramer (D) of District 19, Montgomery County discussed the bill he is sponsoring that will prevent Maryland state retirement and pension investment in companies that are participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. It would also prohibit those same companies from securing procurement contracts with the state.

“Make sure the state doesn’t use your tax dollars to support companies that support BDS,” said Kramer. He emphasized the urgency of the matter, saying that BDS proponents were active advocates and his colleagues were hearing from them all day. “It can get very lonely here,” he said. He urged people not to “wait the sidelines” while others work to fight for causes that are detrimental to the State of Israel, but take tangible actions such as encouraging friends and families to contact their legislators and let them know they support the bill to

Members of Leisure World, including Fred Shapiro who took the pictures

PHOTO CREDIT: FRED SHAPIRO

fight BDS.

“Let my colleagues hear your voice,” he said.

A few others who spoke included District 19 Delegates Marice Morales (D) and Bonnie Cullison (D). Morales thanked the JCRC for its opposition to the Trump Administration’s stance on immigration, and Cullison affirmed her support for Delegate Kramer’s anti-BDS legislation.

Senator Roger Manno (D), also of District 19, was the final speaker. He also cited his strong support for the anti-BDS legislation, but introduced a bit of tension to the room when he said that he did not support the Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) bill; the bill gave families $4.85 million in scholarships towards tuition relief for non-public schools in 20162017, and the JCRC is hoping to increase that support over the next three years to $10 million.

Senator Manno explained that the budget was very limited this year and that his first priority was making sure that its limited funds focused on closing the achievement gap for public school education. He faced some tough questions from Rabbi Herzel Kranz of the Silver Spring Jewish Center, Behnam Dayanim and others, who mentioned that the funds were not coming from the public school education budget and that a large percentage of the local children are in private schools. Senator Manno ended that discussion by mentioning that he felt it would be difficult politically to support it as its own bill and instead said it would be better if it was included in the overall budget.

There was a large reception afterwards in the Miller Senate Office Building, where a few hundred advocates gathered from various parts of Maryland. The reception included some kosher food and drinks, catered by the Knish Shop in Baltimore.

Another notable individual among the many present was Rabbi Ariel Sadwin, a Silver Spring native living in Baltimore who heads the regional government affairs office of Agudath Israel. For the last decade he has been the Annapolis representative for the Jewish day schools across Maryland and heads the state’s nonpublic school coalition, Maryland CAPE. He is a close ally of both the BJC and JCRC, working together on the issues of interest and concern to the wider Jewish community as well as issues that resonate more among the members of the Orthodox community.

A number of Berman Students who came to advocate on behalf of the community, with Senator Manno Members of UMD Terps for Israel made their presence felt

COMMUNITY NEWS Open Mic Night Opens Hearts

By Sara Levi

The Toyota Sienna was full as we made our way to Berman Hebrew Academy. The typical morning carpool routine, right?

Well, it was Motzei Shabbat, and the six mothers in the car were going to hear our friend perform her farewell song, marking her family’s decision to make aliyah this summer. We were going for her. We didn’t realize the awesome variety of talent from across Maryland we’d get to enjoy at this Women’s Only Open Mic Night sponsored by Beth Joshua Congregation and the Deborah Lerner Gross Jewish Cultural Arts Center.

We arrived early, destined for the front rows seats! After loading up on food–– soup, salad, and (bread)sticks–– we entered the “club.” Columns of blue light illuminated and transformed the the amphitheater-style classroom into a true stage–– another world. Two lamps strategically placed provided just enough glow for performers to see. Clearly someone thought everything through down to the last detail.

Performers Meera Miller (bottom, second from right) and Michelle Penn (top, second from left) smile for the cameras with friends after the show. Author Sara Levi is top, first from left.

(PHOTO CREDIT: SHARI BERGSTEIN) with stand-up comedy and others put their life story to song. With cue cards flying and the audience belting out “It could buy me a boat,” we sand “Try Anything.” A petite performer (not an adult) and her partner shocked all with their chills-inducing duet from Phantom of the Opera. As the ladies on stage opened up, the audience listened, sang along, cheered and cried.

When the real lights came on, everyone blinked back to their alter egos (I mean, real lives). When these diverse women shared some of their inner selves that night, we had traveled with them to another world. Now it was time to return to our regularly scheduled program, hopefully taking some of the night’s spirit along with us.

Awed by some performers, inspired by others, the six tired mothers in the Toyota Sienna recapped the evening on the way home to bed.

Organizer Dahlia Topolosky

(PHOTO CREDIT: SARA LEVI)

The goal of the evening was to create a safe space to share and inspire. Dahlia Topolosky, rebbetzin of Beth Joshua Congregation, served as host; she and her musical chevruta (partner) opened the evening with a Hebrew harmony. There was a little bit of everything: from hip history courtesy of Hamilton to a Barbara Streisand from Baltimore. We heard personal poetry, ponderings and parsha parables. Dancers graced the stage; guitar, drums and piano filled the room.

Our lives are hectic, but it’s important to find the fun in the midst of the fray. Mothers shared the humor of their lives