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2 ELUL 5773 • AUGUST 8, 2013 • VOLUME XXXVII, NUMBER 15 • PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID, SYRACUSE, NY

Save the date for the 14th annual JMAC

By Vicki Feldman The Jewish Music and Cultural Festival will celebrate its 14th year on Sunday, September 20, from noon-6 pm. As in the past, this year’s festival will be held at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse. The event will be free and open to the community.

Among this year’s performers will be

internationally-known artists The Guy Mendilow Ensemble, as well as Zetz!, Farrah, West of Odessa and local musicians Keyna Hora Klezmer Band, Jonathan Dinkin and Klezmercuse, and the Kenesseth Shalom Singers.

Additionally, there will be a selection of Va’ad-supervised kosher foods available for purchase indoors and outside. The

event will also feature a variety of artisans and vendors.

The rabbis’ tent, the Robert Rogers Puppet Theater and the Open Hand Theater will return this year, and there will be activities for children of all ages.

The JMAC sponsors include Price Chopper, Jewish Federation of Central New York, the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Cen-

ter of Syracuse, M&T Bank, Tiffany’s Catering, Eagle Newspapers, Syracuse New Times, Sunny 102, Natur-Tyme, Key Bank, Jewish Observer, Time Warner Cable, WAER, the Paul and Georgina H. Roth Charitable Foundation, Raymour and Flanigan Furniture, CNY Arts and Exhibits and More.

For more information, visit http:// Syracusejewishfestival.com.

Jewish newcomers bring optimism, but can they revive small towns in the South?

By Josh Lipowsky (JTA) – Standing beneath the chuppah during his wedding in May, Doug Friedlander said he felt a “magical moment,” and it wasn’t just because of his blushing bride. Theirs was the first Jewish wedding in Helena, AR, in more than 20 years.

An ailing Mississippi River town of 12,000, Helena once was home to a Jewish community of 150 families. Today, fewer than a dozen Jews remain, most of them 85 or older.

By 2006, the community could no longer support a synagogue, and Temple Beth El was turned over to the state, which remade it as a community center.

Friedlander rented the facility for his wedding, which still has a Star of David on the glass dome above the former sanctuary and Hebrew passages inscribed in the doorways.

“I had a feeling it was the end of young people getting married here,” said Mary Lou Kahn, whose daughter, Caroline, was the last person to be married in the synagogue, in 1989. “It was great that the attendance was so large that many people could see what became of our beautiful temple.”

Helena’s story is a familiar one in the South, where many once-thriving, smalltown Jewish communities have all but disappeared, their young people drawn away

to better opportunities in bigger cities.

But Friedlander’s recent wedding — indeed, his very presence — is among a number of signs of new Jewish life in the South, which, while perhaps not enough to reverse long-term demographic trends, has injected a dose of optimism into towns accustomed to a narrative of decline.

“We understand one family can truly make a difference for the world and certainly for these small towns,” said Rabbi Marshal Klaven, director of rabbinic services at the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which provides resources to small Jewish communities in the region. “If they participate in some sort of communal Jewish existence, then Judaism is still alive.”

In 2010, Klaven was asked to lead a holiday service by members of the Upper Cumberland Jewish Community, a small chavurah of fewer than 20 people in Crossville, TN, a city of about 11,000 people east of Nashville. When Klaven showed up, he was surprised to find 70 people there.

The community now holds Friday night services every other week for about 20 people; up to 75 may show up for holidays services, according to Nort Goodman, the community president. An interfaith Passover seder earlier this year drew about 150.

Upper Cumberland Jewish Community President Nort Goldman, left, Rabbi Marshal Klaven and Becky Ackerman led a Simchat Torah service in Crossville, TN, in October 2010. (Photo courtesy of Institute of Southern Jewish Life) “We don’t have a real synagogue and we don’t have a rabbi,” Goodman said.

“There are probably more Jews than we know of. But for the ones who do it, it’s a way to cling to their faith and socialize with other Jews.”

In Dothan, AL, a program that provides $50,000 grants to young families or retirees willing to stay for three years has attracted six takers since 2008. The program, which drew national headlines when it was first launched, has helped reverse the fortunes of Temple Emanu-El, which by 2008 was down to 50 families from 110 in the 1970s.

“We’ve been able to really help reinvigorate the Jewish community here in Dothan,” said Robert Goldsmith, the temple’s membership chair.

Jewish life in the South has been helped along by a trickle of young, college-educated newcomers drawn to the area by the small-town vibe and the opportunity to do the kind of meaningful work that’s much harder to find in a big city.

One of them is Matty Bengloff, who

grew up in Manhattan, came to the South six years ago, and now owns a frozen yogurt shop in Cleveland, MS, with his fiancée.

He attends a monthly Shabbat service at the small city’s Temple Adath Israel led

by Harry Danziger, a Reform rabbi from Memphis. The synagogue has only about 20 members left, but the monthly gatherings draw about a dozen non-Jews, intrigued by the service and eager to support their Jewish neighbors.

“It’s a little bit more laid back,” Bengloff said. “I definitely enjoy everyone knowing each other here.”

The monthly services include Torah readings, a sermon and a potluck dinner.

Danziger said the community’s commitment to Jewish life, including three bat mitzvahs in recent years, is cause for optimism in the South.

“It really flies in the face of a stereotype that Jews from the South are excluded or outsiders,” he said.

“There’s a great sense that Jews are part of the community.”

See “South” on page 10

C A N D L E L I G H T I N G A N D P A R AS H A The May wedding of Doug Friedlander and Anna Skorupa was the first Jewish nuptials in Helena, AR, since 1989. (Photo courtesy of Doug Friedlander)

August 9...................7:59 pm.............................................................Parasha-Ki Tetze August 16.................7:49 pm..............................................................Parasha-Ki Tavo August 23.................7:38 pm..........................Parasha-Nitzavim-Vayelech (Selichot)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Reconnecting

Electric cars

Beersheva

In Kiev, the website Jewishnet Even though Better Place went Beersheva is hoping to bloom in the reconnects young Jews one post bust, some Israels are still bulish Negev as construction continues on at a time. for electric cars. homes and an amphitheater.

Story on page 6 Story on page 8 Story on page 9

PLUS Home & Real Estate.................. 8 Women in Business................... 9 Calendar Highlights................10 Obituaries.................................. 11

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ august 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773

a matter of opinion Iran-Argentina pact erases idea of justice for AMIA victims

By Eduardo Kohn (JTA)b – On July 18, the victims of the AMIA bombing were killed again. Their families felt the chilly winter and the cold reality of the chain of agreements made between Iran and Argentina that has erased the remote illusion of a true and honest effort to prosecute the perpetrators.

The July 18, 1994, terror attack on the the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building – the heart of the Argentinian Jewish community – killed 85 and wounded 300.

No one has been brought to justice, though Iran’s ties to the attack are well known.

In a 2006 report, Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman detailed how top Iranian leaders – including Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran’s president at the time, and Ahmad Vahidi, who later became minister of defense – ordered Hezbollah to kill Jews in Buenos Aires. Interpol has requested that Iran turn over the officials responsible for the worst terrorist attack ever in Latin America. No arrests have been made.

The latest assault on the victims started last year on Yom Kippur, the most sacred

day for the Jewish people, when the foreign ministers of Iran and Argentina announced in New York that the two countries had agreed “to investigate together” the AMIA bombing. And to deepen the affront, on January 27 – the United Nations’ Holocaust Remembrance Day – Iran and Argentina signed the “agreement” publicly.

On July 18, when the attack survivors and the victims’ families listened to the siren marking the moment of the bombing, their anguish and frustration grew – if there was any more space for so much pain.

Many observers have expressed deep skepticism about the pact between Argentina and Iran to form a “truth commission,” wondering about its true motives. What is clear is that the pact is a sham with no hope of ever bringing to justice the perpetrators.

Here are some points to consider: Iran has yet to send the Argentinian Foreign Ministry the note of ratification of the agreement signed on January 27.

The Argentinian media have reported – and nobody has denied the information – that the Argentinian government has accepted the newly elected president of Iran,

Hasan Rohani, as a “moderate.” What is “moderation” in a theocratic regime that has been accused of violating human rights and where the last word in every decision is not of the “president,” but rather the “Supreme leader of the revolution”?

La Nacion columnist Martin Dinatale, writing in the July 3 edition of the daily Argentinian paper, pointed out that a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that “foreign and Zionist agents are behind the AMIA bombing.” Nisman has issued a legal report accusing Iran of creating an intelligence network to prepare attacks in Latin America.

Dinatale also wrote that on July 1, there were clear signs undermining Nisman from the Argentinian government: Attorney General Alejandra Gils Carbo denied permission for the prosecutor to travel to Washington to explain before the U.S. Congress the results of his investigation. It must be added, he wrote, that the Iranians have not yet helped Nisman in his investigation. According to Dinatale, since the signing of the pact, commerce between Argentina and Iran has skyrocketed. In all of 2012, exports from

Argentina to Iran were $52.1 million. In only the first three months of 2013, they exploded to $76.4 million. Dinatale noted, too, that the prestigious International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance has asked Argentina to distance itself from the organization in light of the pact with Iran.

Though half the country opposed the pact with Iran, Argentina lawmakers still pushed through the deal. In the long run, the lawmakers will have to respond to the people for their decision.

Nineteen years after the AMIA bombing, the survivors and the families of those who perished only know about promises made by the Argentinian government to catch and convict those responsible and the seemingly endless impunity of those responsible.

So on July 18, just before 10 am – when the siren marked the AMIA blast sounds – we remembered the victims and realized that their memory continues to be insulted by a pact whose sole purpose is to keep the existing obstacles to justice in place.

Eduardo Kohn is the director of Latin America affairs for B’nai B’rith International.

a matter of opinion For a former wallflower, a date with her Jewish past

By Alice Feiring (JTA) – When I received the Evite to my yeshiva high school’s 40th reunion, I reverted from an East Village-based traveling wine writer to the awkward, alienated high school student I once was. Back then, the others wanted to go to Israel, but I longed for New York City. They wanted religion, but I longed to drop acid. They wanted to have babies, but I longed for books. I was lonely, rebellious and filled with nearly unbearable needs. Shabbos felt claustrophobic, and so were the rabbis, who couldn’t understand that I wasn’t being rebellious: I simply had goals other than making a good Jewish home for a husband and family.

As I stared at the screen I wondered, did I really have to revisit the witnesses to my torrid discontent? Couldn’t I just go forward without making the mistakes of Lot’s wife, looking back? Like her, curiosity got to me.

I wanted to find out if I had grown out of my shyness and fear enough to assess my past with healthy distance. Weeks later, I responded yes.

I Googled my former classmates: We’d been a Modern Orthodox group, but most of the girls had gone super-frum. The class beauty married a rabbi and birthed 11 children in Israel. The son of a classmate had married Ivanka Trump – of course she converted. There was no mention of Nathan anywhere, the kid who was my only date in high school.

In our senior year, we sparked during lunch one afternoon. I smiled all week when he asked me, the loner wallflower, to a movie. Nathan showed up after Shabbos with a plan: We were to head west to the Green Acres drive-in. I was no dummy. Even though I was inexperienced, I suspected what was on the evening menu.

We rolled into our spot. His hand inched for my face. Our souls didn’t collide, our bodies did, kissing and embracing. He delivered me home a changed girl, lips sore from the workout. “I’ll call you,” he said.

I believed him. But when the phone didn’t ring, I found out that he, like my father, had been two-timing. A friend told me that Nathan’s girlfriend was so religious, even hand holding was off limits. Ah, I understood. I was the “exotic” one, the Modern Orthodox girl who yearned to be a hippie, who wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War,

who read forbidden books like “Catcher in the Rye.” Nathan thought he was going to get lucky.

This was only a few months after my father left home for another woman, a huge shanda in the neighborhood. I kept my parents’ upcoming divorce a secret, but I felt this first rejection by a boy so soon after my father’s more deeply than he could have imagined.

As it turned out, Nathan wasn’t merely my only high school date, but my only Jewish date – ever. Considering my 12 years in yeshiva, being raised by a mother who couldn’t comprehend that I could ever talk with a non-Jewish man let alone be with one, this was profound.

Yet it seemed that as much as I tried, Jewish men and I were treif to each other.

My college boyfriend was a Protestant from the New York City suburb of Islip, Long Island. My first love and the only man to ask me to marry him – a Boston Catholic. But if I did, my mother would sit shiva for me, so I declined. It went on from there. I had love. I had life. I had my independence and happiness.

Or so I thought. As I stood before the Long Island mini-mansion of the reunion hostess, I felt my own Elizabeth Street tub-in-the-kitchen walk-up was dwarfed in comparison – and so was my life. Was I going to be the only pants-wearing, skinshowing single woman with no family pictures on my smartphone? I was also going to be the only one with two books published and a passport crammed with stamps, but reminding myself of this still didn’t help.

I sucked in a breath and passed through the rich, immaculate rooms down to the Formica den, just as if it were a sweet 16. The festivities were well under way.

“Your hair is still red!” “You haven’t changed!” “You’re famous!” Beneath the sheitels and the yarmulkes, they were still the old classmates, lovely people. No one judged me for living the secular life. I surveyed the room, thankful the person I had come to confront was missing.

Sometime after the d’var Torah and kosher sushi, a fit, short, confident man with wiry hair walked in, causing quite the stir. I never realized he had been so liked by all. He wasn’t really handsome, but he had that spark. This was the time for a Bloody Mary, but there was not even

a drop of Manischewitz in sight.

Full of fake confidence, I bounded over to the guy who broke my teen heart.

Instead of asking him why he didn’t call, I went cool and asked, “So what have you turned into?”

Nathan looked at me blankly. Was it possible he didn’t remember me?

“Alice,” I reminded him.

“A father, a husband and a dentist, but not a boring one. And you?” he asked so politely, he clearly still had no idea who I was.

“A wine writer,” and added, “but not a boring one.”

As I was summoning up my nerve to tell him how hurt I was after our date and how he was the last Jew I went out with, he was spirited away. I waved to him on

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my way out and he stunned me with three familiar words: “I’ll call you.”

I stifled a laugh. I wanted to exclaim, “You’re still reading from the same script!”

I understood he wouldn’t call me. And as a married man with a wife and kids, I didn’t want him to call.

I left the mini-mansion eager to head back to the city, where I belonged. I had the chutzpah to look into my past and didn’t turn into a pillar of salt. Finally home, I kissed my mezuzah, walked past my threshold and felt in my bones there were no regrets.

Alice Feiring is a James Beard Awardwinning wine writer, author of the books “Naked Wine” and “The Battle for Wine and Love,” and a newsletter for organic, biodynamic and natural wines.

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AROUND CENTRAL NEW YORK Safe Haven chosen as site for 2014 Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance Ride to Remember

By Judy Coe-Rapaport The Safe Haven Museum and Education Center in Oswego has been chosen as the host site of the 2014 Jewish

Community Garden

By Tiferet Zimmern-Kahan The growing season of the Syracuse Jewish Community Garden, made possible by a Community Program Fund grant from the Jewish Federation of Central New York, has been called “very successful.” With four raised beds, and two more on the way, volunteers have been tending beans, eggplant, basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, carrots, edamame, peppers, squash and more. The group continues to donate produce to PEACE on South Beech St., a community center dedicated to helping people in the community become self-sufficient.

Throughout the past few months, there have been several Community Garden programs and partnerships with others.

Several groups of teenage volunteers helped with bigger projects, such as building new raised beds. The group held a garden program in May to conclude the year of religious school at Temple Adath Yeshurun and prepare for the approaching season. Community educators joined TAY’s adult education program in June and July, allowing two Sunday morning walks to feature Jewish environmental teachings.

Volunteer hours are Mondays and Thursdays from 4:30-6:30 pm and are open to individuals to help water, trellis tomatoes, harvest and pull weeds. To participate in the community project or learn about making a personal garden, visit the site on the grounds of Temple Adath Yeshurun, behind the playground. For more information, contact garden@adath.org.

The garden group will hold events for children from 3-6-years-old on Friday, August 23, from 4-5 pm, when families can begin Shabbat with songs and an exploration and harvesting of the garden. The second event will be held on Tuesday, September 10, from 10-10:45 am, when families with children from 2-5-years-old can visit the garden to learn about and celebrate the Jewish new year and help care for the crops.

Motorcyclists Alliance Ride to Remember. The event will be held Thursday-Saturday, June 19-21. This year’s event was held in Orange County, CA, and in 2012 was held in Toronto, Canada.

The Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance is an umbrella organization consisting of 44 clubs worldwide and has more than 8,000 members. Each year, a site is chosen for the annual Ride to Remember to memorialize the victims of the Holocaust and to raise money for organizations that support and promote Holocaust education and awareness.

In the last nine years, the organization has raised more than $400,000 for Holocaust awareness.

The Safe Haven Museum and Education Center works to remember the stories of the 982 refugees from World War II who were allowed into the United States as “guests” of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to escape the Holocaust.

They were housed at Fort Ontario in Oswego from August 1944-February 1946.

In conjunction with the Ride to Remember event, the museum will commemorate the 70th reunion of refugees and their families. The event will mark the first time some of the refugees will have visited Oswego since leaving in 1946.

For additional information, contact Judy Coe-Rapaport at 591-1050.

The Oaks news Seneca String Quartet The Seneca String Quartet will perform a free concert at The Oaks at Menorah Park, on Wednesday, August 21, at 6 pm. The concert will be held outdoors on the back patio of The Oaks, or inside the atrium in case of rain. Seating and beverages will be provided.

The Seneca String Quartet will play traditional Jewish, klezmer and well-known music by Jewish and JewishAmerican composers. The Seneca String Quartet has provided professional music in a variety of styles for occasions

throughout upstate New York since 1987.

Guests have also been invited to come at 4 pm for a barbecue meal, for which there will be a charge.

“Bone chilling” stories at The Oaks at Menorah Park Author Michael T. Keene visited residents of The Oaks at Menorah Park on July 9, Author Michael T. Keene presenting with “bone-chilling” spoke at The Oaks on See “Oaks” on page 6 July 9.

S E N I L D A DE Deadlines for all articles and photos for the Jewish Observer are as follows. No exceptions will be made.

DEADLINE L-r: Neil Stott (mostly hidden), Helen Sheppard, Jacqueline Mauer, Anne Thorpe, Brenda Lull, Ethyl Fullerbaum, Clair Rudolph, Jane Rodefeld and Marilyn Nord participated in a recent science class at The Oaks.

ISSUE

Wednesday, August 7........................ August 28 Tuesday, August 20, early..............September 5 Tuesday, September 3, early........September 19 Monday, September 16, early............ October 3

Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center senior dining menu August 12-16 Monday – grilled salmon fillet Tuesday – sesame chicken with broccoli Wednesday – lemon-baked haddock Thursday – spaghetti and meatballs Friday – meatloaf with gravy August 19-23 Monday – apricot chicken Tuesday – Caribbean Day – Jamaican jerk chicken Wednesday – grilled cheese and sliced tomato Thursday – birthdays celebration – hot corned beef sandwich Friday – turkey with gravy The Bobbi Epstein Lewis JCC Senior Adult Dining Program, catered by Tiffany’s Catering Company at the Jewish Community Center, offers kosher lunches served TuesdayFriday at noon. On Mondays through September 16, dinner

will be served at 5 pm, with entertainment beginning at 5:15 pm. Reservations are required by noon on the previous business day and there is a suggested contribution per meal.

The menu is subject to change. The program is funded by a grant from the Onondaga County Department of Aging and Youth and the New York State Office for the Aging, with additional funds provided by the JCC and United Way of Central New York. To attend, one need not be Jewish or a member of the JCC. For more information, contact Leesa Paul at 445-2040, ext. 104, or lpaul@jccsyr.org.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ august 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773

congregational notes Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas CBS-CS Sisterhood to visit Everson’s “American Look” exhibit The Congregation Beth SholomChevra Shas Sisterhood will go to the Everson Museum on Wednesday, August 21, for a tour of “An American Look: Fashion, Decorative Arts and Gustave Stickley,” an exhibit that examines the influence of an arts and crafts aesthetic in American fashion during the early 20th century. It includes 34 examples from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection housed at Syracuse University, along with ceramics, Stickley furniture and other decorative art examples from the Everson’s permanent collection.

Participants will meet at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center at 9:30 am to board the bus to the Everson. Participants will be able to have lunch at the JCC upon their return.

To make a reservation, contact the CBSCS office at 446-9570 or office@cbscs.org

by Wednesday, August 14. There will be a group rate for the Everson tour and a small fee for the JCC lunch.

Purim in Israel with CBS-CS Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas is planning its third congregational trip to Israel for this March, coinciding with Purim. An informational meeting will be held on Monday, August 27, at 7 pm. Staff from ITC, the tour company, will be at the

congregation to review the itinerary, address a range of topics and answer questions.

Meeting participants need not be committed to the trip.

Purim in Israel has been compared to Mardi Gras or Carnival in its “scope and spirit.” Children wearing costumes make noise with their groggers (r’ashanim in Hebrew), and celebrations can be found everywhere. Trip participants will have the opportunity to experience the holiday in the one country in the world where the Jewish calendar is the main calendar.

Israel has been described as “full of contradictions, with contemporary Israel set against the backdrop of ancient, biblical, Byzantine and medieval periods

simultaneously.” Trip participants will explore Israel’s high-tech industry and visit a live archeological dig site. They will meet a variety of Israelis, including sabras (native-born Israelis) and recent olim (immigrants), who can share their experiences of moving to Israel from the United States. They will explore well-known locations, as well as those considered to be obscure.

The deadline for signing up will be Yom Kippur, Friday, September 13. The trip will be open to the community. For more information, the full itinerary is available from CBS-CS at 446-9570, or contact Rabbi Andrew Pepperstone at rabbi@cbscs.org or 446-5125.

Temple Adath Yeshurun Picnic at Ryder Park Temple Adath Yeshurun will hold an end-of-summer picnic at Ryder Park in DeWitt on Sunday, August 18, from 4:30-6:30 pm. The park has a playground and nature walks around a pond, and is wheelchair or stroller accessible.

The picnic will be open to the public.

Participants should bring a dairy dinner.

For more information, contact Alicia Cafarchio Gross, director of programming, at alicia@adath.org.

Eric Schultz to speak

By Sonali Eaton Eric Schultz, special assistant to President Barack Obama, will conclude the Temple Adath Yeshurun Shabbat morning speaker series “Why I am Jewish: In Conversation with Rabbi Charles Sherman,” on Saturday, August 24, at 10:30 am. Temple Adath Yeshurun, in conjunction with Temple Society of Concord, has invited the community to

The speaker at the Friday, August 24, Shabbat service will be Eric Schultz, special assistant to President Barack Obama. the event. An extended kiddush will follow the conversation.

Shultz is the son of Judge Jack and Sybil Schultz, of Fayetteville. A Syracuse native, he celebrated his bar mitzvah and confir-

Temple Concord David Nash to speak Temple Concord will present David Nash, a clinical professor of medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University, on Tuesday, August 20, at 6 pm. He will speak about recent breakthroughs on memory loss and maintaining David Nash a healthy life. He is a longtime Temple Concord member. The talk will be open to the community.

Nash received his medical education at New York University. His clinical experiences include assistant resident in medicine at University Hospital, Syracuse; resident in medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City; and medical research fellow in cardiology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School. He is a fellow at the American College of Physicians, the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Nutrition, the Council

on Arteriosclerosis and the Council of Epidemiology of the American Heart Association, and he is a member of the Onondaga County Medical society. Nash has given public presentations at the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, New York Academy of Medicine, Hugh Lofland-Annual Conference on Arterial Wall Metabolism and the Cardiovascular Risk Factor International Meeting.

Shabbat in the Park This summer, Temple Concord has continued its Shabbat in the Park series, despite the weather, which forced the July services indoors. The July 5 service was the annual July 4 celebration and featured American folk songs.

The summer Shabbat in the Park series will continue on Friday, August 16, poolside at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse. Services will begin at 6 pm, followed by dinner Dinner reservations may be made by contacting the synagogue at 475-9952 or office@templeconcord.org. There will be a small fee for dinner.

mation at the synagogue. He was president of the Jamesville DeWitt Class of 1998.

When leaving for college, his father advised him, “Don’t get involved in politics.” He attended Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and was an intern in Senator Charles Schumer’s office. He also worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and was asked to remain with the campaign in a non-volunteer capacity.

After graduating from college, Eric worked as an assistant press secretary to Senator Maria Cantwell, of Washington state, and then to Senator Barbara Mikulski, of TAY teens have been meeting over the summer. During Maryland. He was press sec- the July meet, they were joined by two Israeli Scouts. retary and communications director to Schumer and then became head of monthly at the Panera Bread on Erie Boucommunications at the Democratic Senato- levard from 7-9 pm. The gatherings provide rial Campaign Committee. His work there an opportunity for the group to socialize with was recognized by the White House, and other Jewish teenagers during the summer. he was recruited in May 2011 as associate During the July meet, the participants were communications director. In the beginning joined by two of the visiting Israeli Scouts. of 2013, he was asked to serve as Obama’s Parents may drop their teenagers off or special assistant. His office is close to the stay for the hour and meet with other parOval Office, and he has accompanied the ents in a separate area of the café. The next president on trips to Hawaii and Africa. gathering will be held on Thursday, August For more information, contact the 15, from 7-8 pm. Any Jewish teenagers synagogue at info@adath.org or visit www. in grades nine-12 will be welcome. For adath.org. more information, contact Alicia Cafarchio Gross at alicia@adath.org or 445-0002, TAY Teens at Panera Bread The TAY Teens have been meeting ext. 119.

At right: Jordan Ristau participated in Target Tuesday, archery practice held every week at Camp Rothschild at Temple Adath Yeshurun.

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Members of the TAY Hazak group met at Trapper’s Pizza in DeWitt on July 18. L-r: Murray Gilman, JoAnn Grower, Paul Berman, Lynn Berman, Asher Greenhouse, Joanne Greenhouse, Elaine Meltzer, Sylvia Gilman and Lynn Cohen. Following the annual pizza party, members attended an outdoor concert at Ryder Park.

AUGUST 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773 ■

Jewish Community Center news So Long Summer Vacation Camp and SyraCruisin’ Fair Excursions

By Sue McKenna Every year, the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse offers care for children during the weeks between the end of summer camps and the new school year. “So Long Summer Vacation Camp” features a variety of activities, including themed days, arts and crafts, outdoor games, swimming, sports and several field trips, including bowling, Onondaga Lake Park, Clark Reservation and the State Fair. The

program is for children entering fourth grade and older.

The JCC Director of Children and Camps Amy Bisnett said, “Many area camps end around mid-August, resulting in very few places for working parents to turn to in the final weeks of summer for child care. We not only meet this need, but provide their child with a fun-filled week of activities to end their summer. Another benefit of this program is that those in pre-K who will be entering kindergarten in the fall get to try out the program in anticipation of coming to the after-school program at the JCC in September.”

At left, l-r: Reese Evans, Aryiana Brown and Sarea Campbell swam in the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse pool during free swim, one of the activities offered at So Long Summer Vacation Camp.

So Long Summer Vacation Camp will run August 19-September 4, (except for Monday, September 2). The daily program will run from 9 am-4 pm, with extended care held at 7:30 am and until 6 pm. When available, half days will run from 9 am-noon or 1-4 pm.

For more information or to register a child, call 445-2360, e-mail abisnett@ jccsyr.org or visit www.jccsyr.org.

SyraCruisin’ Fair Excursions SyraCruisin’ Fair Excursions, for children entering seventh-10th grade, will be held on Thursday, August 22, and Monday, August 26. The participants will receive an all-day ride wristband for the midway. The program will run from 9 am-4 pm, from The SPOT at ShoppingTown Mall.

For more information or to register a child, contact Assistant Director of Children

JEWISH OBSERVER

5

and Teen Services Katie Sutliff at 445-2360, ext. 133, or ksutliff@jccsyr.org.

SyraCrusin’ Campers visit The Oaks at Menorah Park Syracrusin’, the JCC’s travel camp for teens, spent July 1 with residents at The Oaks at Menorah Park. The students were involved in various activities, including garden weeding, creating a patriotic banner, playing bingo, having one-on-one discussions and going bowling. They also attended a presentation by Congressman Dan Maffei.

SyraCrusin’ campers take three field trips a week to places that encourage “social and cultural awareness, community service, team building and fun.” The visit to the Menorah Park campus was held to support the ideals of community service and social awareness.

Community arts survey CNY Arts, formerly the Cultural Resources Council, is seeking input from residents in six Central New York counties as part of a new initiative to promote and develop the area’s culture, arts, history and heritage resources for both residents and tourists. Engage CNY will be a yearlong project that will result in “a master cultural plan” for the region, comprised of Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego counties. It is the first regional cultural plan ever developed in New York State.

Leaders representing a cross-section of the community – from business, tourism, youth, history, faith, nonprofit and special needs groups, to agriculture, music, theater, media, education and more – have been recruited to guide the effort. As part of the Engage CNY Leadership Advisory Council, they will oversee an inventory and assessment, conducted by CNY Arts, of what is happening now in arts, culture, history and heritage in communities across the region – in schools, libraries, churches, colleges, parks, neighborhood and senior centers, at festivals, within new immigrant and refugee communities and in government, industry and business.

CNY Arts will use this inventory, along with information obtained through a series of community forums throughout the region, to determine who is being reached, by what

kinds of programming and where and why there are gaps. With this information in hand, the initiative will explore how to invigorate the Central New York economy, neighborhood development, tourism and quality of life through its arts and culture. It will then design a concrete plan to better coordinate arts, culture, history and heritage so offerings will be available to all who are interested, and increase the visibility of Central New York as a cultural destination.

Organizers hope that this will make the region a better place to live, work, play and visit by strengthening the ability of the CNY Arts agency to function as a center for community collaboration and an engine of cultural development.

CNY Arts wants to hear the views of as many Central New York residents as possible. One way to participate is to complete the Engage CNY community survey, available online at www.cnyarts.org. Hard copies will be available at libraries in Onondaga County. The survey is confidential and brief, and will be available August 1-October 1.

Any interested individuals have also been invited to participate in one of the upcoming regional forums. For details or to obtain a survey copy by mail, call CNY Arts at 435-2155. Interested individuals can also receive updates on the initiative by following CNY Arts on Twitter (@CNYArts, #EngageCNY).

Congressman Dan Maffei met with SyraCruisin’ teenagers. L-r: Sean and Ryan King, Logan Allsop, Allison Congelli, Maffei, Heather Lipsky, Emily Morse and Trevor Clark.

Hillel at Syracuse University is seeking a creative and dynamic professional with strong organizational and fundraising skills to serve as its NEW Coordinator for Advancement.

The Hillel program is an exciting and dynamic organization. The dedicated staff work with committed and energetic students and volunteer leaders to create meaningful Jewish experiences on campus.

Get the complete job description and apply at www.hilleljobs.com.

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Ê Visit the JO online at http://jewishfederationcny.org and click on Jewish News

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ august 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773

In Kiev, a website reconnects young Jews one post at a time

By Cnaan Liphshiz KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) – Hours after assailants shot Rabbi Artur Ovadia Isakov on a street in the Russian republic of Dagestan on July 25, mainstream Russian media were still scrambling to ascertain his identity. But Isakov’s name and condition already were known to the readers of Jewishnet. ru, a growing social network with 80,000 daily users that has relied on user participation to cover Jewish news and help connect fast-assimilating Jews across the Russianspeaking world.

The first report about Isakov was posted by a user from Israel, where the rabbi is recovering from what authorities say may have been a hate attack. Other users added new information on Jewishnet’s Facebook page, including details about Isakov’s evacuation to Israel and pictures of the rabbi’s family.

“Traffic on the website usually picks up when something dramatic happens in the Middle East or involving the Jewish community,” said Igor Kozlovskiy, a technology professional and the site’s co-founder.

While English-speaking Jews have a number of social networks to share news and connect around shared interests, Russian-speaking Jewry had none when Kozlovskiy founded Jewishnet with a partner, Roman Gold, in 2011.

The site, which maintains sections devoted to dating, couch surfing and finding travel buddies, is used as well to promote Jewish events in Kiev, home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union and one of the most highly assimilated.

According to 2008 figures from the Jewish Agency, 80 percent of Jewish newlyweds in the former Soviet Union married a non-Jew, a figure dramatically higher than the rate in the United States. The vast majority of Ukraine’s 360,000 Jews are non-observant, and only a small fraction is affiliated with the organized Jewish community, which many young Jews find obsolete and rife with internal discord.

Social networks, Kozlovskiy says, have the potential to keep Jews, intermarried and not, connected to Jewish life. “If we don’t reach out to the unaffiliated, they will assimilate and will be lost to the Jewish people,” Kozlovskiy said. “The fact that our website isn’t affiliated with any denomination or Jewish institution has allowed us to be a portal for any Jew.” Jewishnet functions much like any other social networking platform, allowing users to post news stories, share tips, ask questions, connect with old friends and promote events. But mindful of the limitations of many web-based networking sites, organizers of Jewishnet have taken steps to provide users with opportunities for real-life engagement with the Jewish community.

A platform called Juice, which is run party through Jewishnet, invites young Jews – many of them young and unaffiliated – to meetings with community leaders, Jewish businessmen and journalists. Reports of the events often are published on Jewishnet and users can submit questions online in advance that are asked by moderators during the actual event.

One of the first Juice talks brought dozens of young

L-r: Juice co-organizers Inna Yampolskaya and Igor Kozlovskiy, Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Yaakov Rabbi Bleich and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s Lilya Vendrova at a Juice event in Kiev in November 2012. (Photo courtesy of Juice) Jews last November to a talk with three rabbis, including the chief rabbi of Ukraine, Yaakov Bleich. The goal, according to Juice co-organizer Inna Yampolskaya, was to build bridges between young Jewish professionals and the establishment from which many feel estranged. Those in attendance proceeded to grill the rabbis with questions, asking why synagogue seats are sold and why philanthropists fund projects in Israel when there are so many unaddressed challenges at home. Some questions were submitted anonymously online because participants felt uncomfortable posing them publicly.

“It was a unique experience because it was the first time participants could ask a rabbi anything they wanted,” said Inna Yampolskaya, one of Juice’s volunteer organizers. “Transparency is new in Ukraine, where everything including Jewish life used to work top to bottom, not the other way around.”

The New York-born Bleich addressed the questions that were put to him. But in an interview with JTA, he stressed that the message is less significant than the medium. In a society only recently liberated from the strictures of Communist rule, the discussion helped to erode longstanding cultural taboos on challenging authority and connect otherwise unaffiliated Jews to Jewish life.

Jewish history of Budapest: A day trip to a golden age

By Raphi Bloom JNS.org Originally published by www.Jewish.Travel, the new online travel magazine.

Budapest is the 25th most-visited city in the world and

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Others turn to Jewishnet for functions more typical of social network users the world over. Liliya Vendrova, an employee of the Joint Distribution Committee’s Kiev office, uses the site to find news and make contacts for events she organizes. Ira Philatova, a high-tech professional in her 20s, connects with childhood pals. “It was a pleasant surprise to see old friends on the platform, people I found after years of not speaking to them,” Philatova said.

The site also has enabled Russian-speaking Jews who live abroad to keep abreast of developments at home. But it also functions in reverse, permitting users to connect with wider developments in the Jewish world. “Many people their age are not interested in participating in organized Jewish life and they are reaching out to those people,” Bleich said. “One of the reasons that this is succeeding is the authenticity.”

A mass Jewish grave at the Dohany Synagogue in Budapest. (Photo by Raphi Bloom)

it’s easy to understand why, with its amazing architecture, its enormous World Heritage Site and its therapeutic hot springs. But Jewish travelers also have a captivating Jewish story beckoning them to Budapest.

When I visited with my family, I was determined to get the inside track on that Jewish story. The guidebooks only tell you so much, so I wanted somebody who could help us to really feel the place, as well as see it.

Growing up under Communist rule has made Andrea Medgyesi very proactive in protecting and furthering Jewish life in Budapest and across Hungary. She helps visitors of all Jewish backgrounds, from secular to ultra-Orthodox, to appreciate the city. Medgyesi collected us from our hotel, the Palazzo Zichy, and her insights started there. The hotel, she said, belonged to the same Zichy family that was particularly kind to the Jews in the 18th century.

We drove to the Jewish Quarter and walked through some of the old, narrow streets where Andrea pointed out the multitude of Jewish markings on the buildings – Stars of David and menorahs carved into the brickwork. They immediately gave us a sense of the centuries of Jewish life here.

Medgyesi explained that in Budapest the Jewish people See “Budapest” on page 12

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stories from his latest book, “Mad House,” which provides historical accounts of what happened in 19th century New York insane asylums.

The event ended with a book signing and book sale.

Keene’s other works include “Murder, Mayhem, and Madness: 150 Years of Crime and Punishment in Western New York” and “Folklore and Legends of Rochester: the Mystery of Hoodoo Corner and Other Tales.”

Bubbling experiments Global warming and the string theory will be upcoming topics at The Oaks at Menorah Park’s new, hands-on science class being offered in August. Residents recently experimented with chemical reactions. The class, “Today in Science,” is led by Jacqueline Maure, a middle school science teacher at Fayetteville Manlius.

AUGUST 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773 ■

JEWISH OBSERVER

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ august 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773

Almost two months after Better Place bust, some Israelis still bullish on electric cars

By Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA) – It was perhaps the biggest startup failure in Israel’s history. Five years of bombastic hype. $850 million of funding burned. Networks planned in at least seven countries. A founder who spoke of changing the world.

When the electric car company Better Place declared bankruptcy in May, it marked an unhappy, though perhaps unsurprising setback for those who dreamed of Israel revolutionizing the global auto industry and freeing drivers from the tyranny of volatile oil prices.

After so public a downfall, it was reasonable to wonder if and when Israel’s electric car industry would rise again.

The answer: six weeks later. Two initiatives are now trying to salvage the remains of Better Place and keep batterypowered rubber on Israel’s roads.

The solar energy entrepreneur Yosef Abramowitz, in partnership with the Association for the Advancement of Electric Transport in Israel, recently won a bid to buy Better Place’s Israeli infrastructure and intellectual property for about $11 million. Abramowitz will be the new president of Better Place and Efi Shahak, AAETI’s chairman, will serve as board chairman.

Meanwhile, Electric Vehicle Environments – known by the acronym EVEN – plans to import electric cars and motorcycles to Israel that will be able to use the 2,000 Better Place charging posts already installed around the country. Rather than the single model offered

by Better Place, EVEN will offer seven cars ranging from the luxury American vehicles made by Tesla to

Solar energy entrepreneur Yosef Abramowitz spoke at an event promoting support of electric transportation in Israel on June 7. (Photo by GoElectricIL)

the Indian compact Mahindra Reva.

“The issues that exist in the States don’t exist here,” said Marc Harel, who manages EVEN in Israel. “Vehicles aren’t going more than 125 miles. The one place you might go, Eilat, we can put a charging station in the middle.”

With its innovative solutions to problems that had long confronted electric car makers, Better Place, led by its exuberant and self-promoting CEO Shai Agassi, had raised hopes that a viable alternative to fossil fuel-powered transportation was within reach. But despite its high-profile flop, entrepreneurs continue to put money behind their faith that a small country like Israel is an ideal market for electric cars.

Abramowitz hopes to transform Better Place from a large car retailer to a slim infrastructure operation managing the charging posts and the company’s battery swap stations, where drivers can exchange a spent battery for a fresh one in about the time it takes to fill a gas tank. The company will be run more like a startup, with 50 employees instead of the 300 it had before the bankruptcy. The slimmed-down operation will operate 15 swap stations, down from 30, and have a budget of just $12 million per year.

Better Place “tried to conquer the whole world,” Abramowitz said. “We’re not doing it that way. We’ll serve the Israeli market and grow it organically.”

Both companies have a long way to go, and a lot of skepticism to overcome, to prove that electric cars have a bright future in Israel. Among those obstacles are government regulations that could mean the difference between success and failure for both ventures.

Harel hopes to begin importing Teslas at the end of this year and to start selling Mahindra Revas in Israel a few months later. But in order to import the cars, he’ll have to pay a $2.5 million deposit to the government. “In Israel, it’s one obstacle after another,” Harel said. “This is an extremely challenging market to deal with. The Transit Ministry has put a lot of barriers to entry.”

Abramowitz, meanwhile, will have to prove that investing in a network that failed two months ago isn’t just throwing good money after bad. He is still trying to raise the money to buy Better Place, and said 5,000 electric cars will have to be on the road within two years for the company to break even. Better Place sold only about 1,000 cars.

Harel and Abramowitz are lobbying to extend a tax benefit, due to expire at the end of the year, that offers

A Better Place customer charged his electronic vehicle at the company’s headquarters in Ramat Hasharon, Israel, in February 2010. (Photo by Roni Schutzer/Flash90) electric car importers a vastly lower rate than their gas-fueled competitors. Currently, importers of electric cars pay an 8 percent tax, while gas cars pay 83 percent.

Abramowitz also hopes to convince the government to adopt Better Place’s network as a national infrastructure project, a designation that would provide a range of benefits to help the industry develop, including loan guarantees and a more favorable regulatory environment. Abramowitz and Shahak also want the government to populate its car fleet with electric vehicles and give electric car drivers benefits like free parking.

The government has not agreed to these proposals, telling JTA that the relevant ministries will wait to see what happens before taking a position. But even if they do, skeptics remain unconvinced that either company has hit on the appropriate model.

Haaretz automotive columnist Yoav Kaveh, while conceding that electric cars eventually will be the norm, said the jury is still out on how best to keep the batteries charged.

“We need to see if it’s going to be battery switching, a fuel cell or a smaller battery,” he told JTA. Harel says Mahindra Reva and Zero Motorcycles, a model that can plug into a regular home outlet, solve Kaveh’s problem. And even though another charging method might offer some benefits, the Better Place network has the advantage of already existing.

“This is a national program that could make Israel a leader in electric cars,” Shahak said. “We should take this infrastructure and keep it running. It would be a shame to throw it away.”

Ideas for small spaces (NAPSI) – Living large in a little home may not only simplify life, minimize costs and reduce environmental impact, it can be easier to achieve than many realize. Following these tips from www. homes.com can help make rooms feel bigger and brighter.

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1. Open floor plans and furniture placement that leaves views open make spaces easy to navigate and the room feel bigger.

2. Light colors on walls and furniture help small spaces feel large. Letting in natural light extends the feel of the room beyond its boundaries.

3. Get double-duty furniture: tables and ottomans with hidden storage space. Clean spaces look bigger, so keep clutter out of sight.

4. Store smart and stay organized. Shelving units maximize wall space for storage; add baskets on the bottom shelves for extra capacity. Fill clear containers with seasonal clothing and items and slide them under couches and beds.

5. Convert a closet into a home office by adding a desk and shelves. Hang organizers on the back of the door for extra storage. Close the door and the computer and paperwork are out of sight, instantly opening up the room.

AUGUST 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773 ■

9

JEWISH OBSERVER

Beersheva is hoping to bloom in the Negev

half religious and half secular, and is counting

By Ben Sales on existing infrastructure like the synagogue BEERSHEVA, Israel (JTA) – In four years, attracting prospective buyers. Karmit’s first it’s slated to be bigger than New York’s Central lots won’t be populated until 2016.

Park and consist of open fields, a sports comThe 10-suburb plan has its critics. Ronit plex, and a lake and a river filled with recycled Ze’evi, Beersheva’s district manager for the water. Now, though, Beersheva River Park Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, looks like much of the area surrounding the says she’d prefer that neighborhoods be added desert city of Beersheva: a panorama of sand instead to nearby depressed towns. The new and dirt, with a bit of trash and, on a good day, suburbs, she said, will separate the upper and some dirty water trickling through a gorge. lower classes while costing the government In one patch of empty space, workers in more money in infrastructure development. hard hats walk up and down rows of stadium “They’ll hurt the existing towns,” Ze’evi said. seats covered in plastic. At the bottom is a “If you have communities of villas, the wellround stage with the foundations of a back off population will leave the city and go to wall that is scheduled to open in October as these villas. It’s less socially equitable.” a 12,000-seat amphitheater – Israel’s largest.

Fifty families – a progressive Orthodox comThe cost is $16 million. munity equal parts immigrant and native-born Alongside the park, Beersheva looks like one large construction zone. Cranes towering The amphitheater at Beersheva River Park, set to open this year, will seat up to 12,000 Israeli – has settled in the heart of Beersheva.

Since arriving in 2010, they’ve tried to boost above rising skyscrapers dot the sky. Museums people.(Photo by Ben Sales/JTA) the district socially and religiously, volunteering and restaurants are popping up near a formerly in immigrant absorption centers, hosting lectures and social dilapidated central district. Ten new upscale suburbs are in within two decades, working alongside the Or Movement, the works north of the city. The Israeli Defense Forces is which shares that goal. The Israeli immigration organization events, and founding a liberal Orthodox prayer group. “What building a training complex with seven bases next door.

Nefesh B’Nefesh also has offered incentives to families makes us different is being a progressive religious community,” said Ravit Greenberg, former chairwoman of the community’s On July 14, the Israeli government announced a five- who move to Israel’s South. year initiative to invest nearly $140 million into bringing In past decades, “the state took initiative, but now, as board. “When you go into a school and say pluralism matters new residents and businesses to the Negev Desert. “The we see on Facebook, innovation comes from the people to us, you’re doing something important.”

Beersheva’s biggest boost may come from the new city is waking up,” says Natan Jibli, CEO of Israel’s Negev and the young generation,” said Roni Flamer, CEO of the Development Authority. “There’s culture and things to do Or Movement. “If you know how to create a good model, IDF training base complex, which is set to arrive by 2015, along with the army’s computer unit. The army estimates and students and artists.” the state will see it.”

Israelis long have viewed Beersheva as the country’s To attract residents to Beersheva, the government is that this will streamline its operations and create 10,000 largest “development town,” the first and sometimes only improving its connections to Tel Aviv. A new train track jobs. Ben-Gurion University plans to collaborate with the stop for immigrants from Morocco, Ethiopia, India or will carry passengers between the cities in 50 minutes, army on research and courses, and will encourage soldiers Russia. Squat brown public housing known simply as and the Negev Development Authority is pushing to build to find jobs here after their discharge.

As with many projects, Beersheva residents will have to “residences” crowd neighborhoods devoid of names and Israel’s second international airport in the area even though wait and see what happens. But for Flamer, who noted that the identified only by a series of letters.

Beersheva has few hotels.

In its outer districts, though, Beersheva features rolling Like Beersheva River Park, some of the planned communi- Negev Desert covers most of Israel, a new and improved city green hills – even in July – trees, single-family homes and ties still leave much to the imagination. One planned town, is just on the horizon. “We’re talking about the state’s biggest traffic circles anchored by central fountains. In its Old City, Karmit, has one structure, the synagogue – it was paid for by dream,” Flamer said, “to affect the whole population, to take which dates back to 19th-century Turkish rule, dilapidated American donors. JNF envisions the town with 2,500 families, 60 percent of Israel and make it 100 percent of its future.” buildings are now buffeted by sleek apartments and trendy restaurants opening on the ground levels of many peeling residences. Some of the apartments house students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, a bustling campus in northern Beersheva with smooth concrete buildings.

More than 100 of the students live in apartments subsidized by the school and in return they give eight hours per week to their community in the form of volunteer programs.

University officials hope to engage the students in the city – and keep them there after they graduate. “The university was created with a mandate to bring development to the The future synagogue of Karmit, the only structure built so far in a Beersheva suburb that developers hope will region,” said Faye Bittker, director of the university’s de- one day attract up to 2,500 families. (Photo by Ben Sales/JTA) partment of publications and media relations. “We want to build an ecosystem. You have academia, the army, hightech and a hospital.”

The university boasts a well-regarded computer engineering program and is pinning its hopes on a new high-tech park next door. The first of the park’s 20 planned buildings opened in July and houses seven companies along with two incubators for early-stage startups. When completed, Specialty: Alterations of any clothing the park will house up to 60 companies, bringing 10,000 Location: 511 E. Genesee St. jobs to the area.

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For upper- and middle-class Israelis still wary of BeerCreating personalized memory books; sheva, the government has planned 10 new suburbs to the Specialty: organizing your photos; scrapbooking city’s north: affordable, quiet bedroom communities for classes, workshops, retreats, parties and people working in Beersheva or even Tel Aviv, which is about supplies one hour, 15 minutes away by car and an hour by train.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ august 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773

Calendar Highlights To see a full calendar of community events, visit the Federation's community calendar online at www.jewishfederationcny.org. Please notify jstander@jewishfederationcny.org of any calendar changes.

Monday, August 12 Deadline for the September 6 issue of the Jewish Observer Free legal services clinic at Menorah Park at 3 pm Tuesday, August 20 Temple Adath Yeshurun book discussion at 7:30 pm Tuesday, August 13 TAY Hazak dinner at 5:30 pm Wednesday, August 14 Menorah Park annual golf tournament at

Drumlins at 9:30 am Friday, August 16 TC Shabbat at the Jewish Community Center pool

at 6 pm Sunday, August 18 Barbecue at The Oaks at 4 pm, followed by

Seneca Strings Quartet at 6 pm Saturday, August 24 “Why I am Jewish” at 10:30 am

South

Continued from page 1

It’s hard to imagine that even these bright spots can reverse the long decline of Jewish life in small towns in the South. Even in Helena, which has managed to continue holding prayer services in a private home after giving up the synagogue, it’s unlikely the arrival of a young newcomer is going to restore the community to anything like what existed decades ago.

“I’d like to get more young Jewish people here, but there’s nothing for them to do,” said David Solomon, the 97-year-old patriarch of Helena’s Jewish community.

“Until the economy grows, we’re not going to get the population back.”

Debra Kassoff is a Reform rabbi who traveled regularly to Helena as part of the Institute for Southern Jewish Life from 2003-06 and officiated at Friedlander’s wedding. She now works as a part-time rabbi at a Reform synagogue in Greenville, MI, a 133-year-old congregation with fewer than 50 members.

“When folks from my congregation start bemoaning there aren’t any Jews left, I’m amazed they’re still looking for people to join the congregation because I don’t think that’s terribly realistic,” Kassoff said. “I remind them what a great congregation they’re a part of. And there’s value in that – in the same way people who work with geriatric populations and individuals can find meaning, even though they’re working with people nearing the end.”

A New York native, Friedlander came to Helena in 2004 as a science teacher with Teach For America, the New Yorkbased nonprofit that sends young graduates to teach in lowincome communities across the country. Today, he heads the county’s chamber of commerce, where he is focused on bringing new business and opportunities to Helena, which he believes is ready for its Cinderella moment.

“For me,” Friedlander said, “it’s a place ready to be picked up, dusted off and taken to the ball.”

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Rosh Hashanah

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d’var torah

Adjective-based Judaism

By Rabbi Daniel J. Fellman So much is made of the adjective we place in front of the noun when we use the word “Jew” to describe ourselves.

Whether the adjective is the name of a movement, or an identifier like “cultural” or “ethical” or even about our activities, “observant,” “passive” or even “disaffected,” we seem to be living in times when too often that descriptor has gained far more importance than the word “Jew” itself.

Our emphasis on the adjective can be viewed as a byproduct of freedom. When we are blessed to live in a place such as North America at a time of unrivaled liberty and opportunity, we can afford to focus on all of the nuanced differences. We are able to advance our own individual ideas. But when we are under attack, we are wonderful at putting aside such differences and uniting under one banner.

This adjective-based Judaism, at best, stands as a doubleedged sword. On the one hand, we are able to pursue our own paths, chart our own journeys, craft our own tailor-made brands of Judaism; and at the same time, the opportunity to use the adjective can easily lead to more separation as we focus on the adjective instead of the noun.

Parasha Shoftim offers an interesting opportunity to move beyond the adjectivization of our Jewish world and see that we need to focus on parts, the adjective and the noun, to reach our own Promised Lands.

Early in the parasha, our ancestors are commanded, “Tzeddek tzeddek tirdof,” “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” For centuries, rabbis have argued about the repetition of the word “tzeddek,” trying to find the reason for the duplication.

I believe that we can use the adjective and noun understanding of our world to explain the peculiar language

of the parasha. The first mention of tzeddek teaches us to find justice for ourselves. And the second mention of tzeddek turns us outward to see ourselves in relationship to a larger community.

In addressing this first mention of justice, we pursue our own understanding, our own individual challenges.

One person’s justice might be fully different from another; yet both are in pursuit of truth. This justice is the internal tzeddek, the individual truths we need to live fully and healthfully.

The second justice is the collective justice, the sense of peoplehood that links us in an eternal bond with each other. This second tzeddek calls on us to acknowledge the differences of the first mention, but then move beyond those challenges to craft a new sense of unity, the great joining together begun at Sinai and moving forward through each of us to generations yet to come.

The words “tzeddek tzeddek tirdof” remind us of God’s call to do two things at once. We are charged to pursue our own justice and pursue collective justice at the same time. We are instructed to see ourselves defined by both the noun and the adjective. Both need each other; neither can exist alone. So too with us. We cannot exist merely as “Reform,” “Conservative,” “Orthodox,” “observant” or “cultural.” Nor can we embrace the fullness of our Judaism by calling ourselves “Jews” without allowing for exploration and individuation. Shoftim challenges us to re-imagine ourselves and return to those sacred moments at Sinai when a group of people joined together and gained both individual and collective strength.

Rabbi Daniel Fellman is the rabbi at Temple Concord, the Hillel campus rabbi and Jewish chaplain at Syracuse University.

For extreme kosher couponers, it’s about the money and the thrill

keep kosher. The site has a database

By Yaffa Klugerman of 85,000 names and offers more than SOUTHFIELD, MI (JTA) – Anita 30 deals a month on products and Batt’s weekly grocery shopping goes activities, most of which have Jewsomething like this: First, she checks ish themes. The most popular deals, several online coupon blogs, which Samuels says, are those involving offer guidance about the best sales and charities or food. Such coupons can coupon combinations in stores such as spur hundreds of sales in one day. “The CVS, Kroger and Target. Next, Batt old saying that Jews never pay retail prints the several dozen coupons she is true,” she said. “They are happy to will use and places them in her organizer have a deal.” sorted by store. Then she visits about Batt agreed. “I see more and more of six stores, sometimes performing mul- Extreme couponer Anita Batt showed tiple transactions at the same location off her stockpile. (Photo by Yaffa my friends couponing than they have done in the past,” she said. to maximize savings.

Klugerman) Meanwhile, Orthodox coupon Her purchases are stored in her basebloggers are helping to dispel the notion that keeping ment, where stacks of toilet paper and paper towels are kosher and clipping coupons are mutually exclusive. piled to the ceiling. About 20 shelves hold items like 34 “I hear a lot of incorrect assumptions that there aren’t bottles of barbecue sauce, 18 boxes of coffee packets, 20 bottles of shampoo, 16 bottles of salad dressing and about coupons for the kosher products people use,” said Miriam W. (last name withheld), the 23-year-old founder of a every type of cleaning supply imaginable.

“It looks like I don’t need all that stuff,” acknowledged Philadelphia-based blog, TheKosherCouponLady.com, Batt, 43, who works full-time and keeps kosher. “But I which launched in May and gets about 2,500 views each get it when it’s on sale, so I never have to buy something month. “People just need to know where to look. Even with the biggest food restrictions, you can always focus that’s not on sale.”

When the economic downturn and the success of TLC’s on saving money on non-food products like toiletries “Extreme Couponing” bolstered the popularity of clipping and paper goods.”

Serious couponers say the savings can add up to a lot coupons, many Jewish consumers struggling to cover their more than a few pennies. Miriam, who asked that her last own big-ticket items – like day school tuition or summer camp fees – discovered coupons could help them make name not be printed, recalls with pride the time coupons whittled her $255.88 bill to a mere 11 cents. ends meet, too.

Batt, who buys only items that are on sale and have “There used to be a certain stigma within some circles of Jewish people who would not coupon because there’s coupons, says she typically pays 70 percent to 80 percent a feeling that we shouldn’t have to do that,” said Lesley less for each item – and that’s if she pays for them at all.

Zwick, 36, a self-described shopaholic who lives in Hun- “I never pay for toothpaste and dental floss,” she said. tington Woods, MI, and created her own couponing and Combining coupons and store sales often can yield free bargains blog about a year ago, ShoppingWithLes.com. merchandise – or even a profit.

Batt spends about $100 a week on groceries for her “But I don’t see that so much anymore. Now people think four family members living at home. Before she started differently about couponing.”

Mara Strom says interest in couponing in the Jewish clipping coupons, her typical weekly groceries cost three community is growing. Her blog, KosherOnABudget.com, to four times as much. She said the savings have allowed receives more than 125,000 hits per month, she says. Strom her to dramatically reduce debt and save toward a family hosts online webinars with hundreds of students from all trip to Israel.

The impact of serious couponing can go beyond over the United States and Israel, and has lectured about couponing to Jewish communities throughout the country. one’s own household. Batt’s stockpile, for example, has “While we may not get coupons for our kosher meat and benefitted many members of the Detroit Jewish comcheese, we can save a fortune on the rest of the items in our munity: When a young couple gets married, she invites grocery cart,” said Strom, who lives in Kansas City, MO. them to take what they need from her supplies. “I let “These savings create margin in our total budget, which them take four to five shopping bags full of medicine, means that the $12.99-a-pound cut of kosher brisket is less toothbrushes, sunscreen or whatever they need to help them start their life,” she said. “That’s my favorite part of a financial burden.”

Jodi Samuels, co-creater of the New York-based JDeal. about doing this.”

Miriam does something similar. “Real ‘kosher’ couponcom, also has seen the appeal of coupons throughout the Jewish community – and not just among those who ing,” she said, “is about giving, not about taking.”

AUGUST 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773 ■

obituaries Rudolf “Rudy” H. Grundel

Rudolf “Rudy” H. Grundel, 87, of Syracuse, died on July 24 at Crouse Hospital.

A Holocaust survivor, he lived through events of great turmoil with a belief in caring and respect. He was a tool and die maker for 36 years at General Motors; a member of UAW 854, and a skilled craftsman who could fix almost anything. He was a member of Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse and served for many years on the Board of Directors of Temple Beth El. He was an avid fisherman and gardener. He loved nature, classical music and opera.

He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Edith Grundel; a daughter, Judy (Mel) Oster; two sons, Erich and Ralph Grundel; two grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; his sister, Margot Fineberg, of Epping Forest, England; and many nieces and nephews.

Burial was in Beth El Cemetery. Birnbaum Funeral Service had arrangements.

Contributions may be made to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl. SW, Washington, DC 20024-2126. 

JEWISH OBSERVER

11

NEWS IN bRIEF From JTA

West Bank settlements join Israel’s list of national priority communities

Fifteen West Bank settlements were added to the list of communities approved by Israel’s Cabinet that are entitled to extra government benefits. Some 90 settlements were among the 600 national priority communities on the list that was approved on Aug. 4 by a vote of 15-0 with four abstentions, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel’s lead negotiator in the revived peace talks with the Palestinians. Four of the settlements were legalized this year. Several communities in southern Israel that are home to former residents of the Gaza Strip’s Gush Katif also were approved. The communities on the list receive added benefits in housing, infrastructure, education, culture and security. “There is one community that is always on our priority list, it is always above all of them, and

that community, of course, is our capital, Jerusalem,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, prior to the vote. “Jerusalem receives everything that priority list communities receive and more.” Settlements on the list include Rehelim, Sansana and Bruchin, which were all legalized prior to the last national elections, as well as Nofim, Geva Binyamin, Ma’aleh Michmash and Elon Moreh.

“This is political, not national priority, which goes against efforts to promote peace,” said Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz of Hatnua, another who abstained from the vote. “It’s unacceptable that struggling cities like Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi are out of the list because they’re close to the center, while settlements that were illegal not so long ago are added under the security threat clause.” Several settlements were removed from the list, including the large haredi Orthodox settlement of Beitar Illit, as well as Efrat and Kedar.

Lucille Markson

Lucille Markson, 86, died on July 26 at Menorah Park.

A life resident of Syracuse, she attended Syracuse University and studied art and design. She was a past director of productions at the Landmark Theater, the Actors Workshop, the Jewish Community Center Players and many other regional theaters. She also acted in many of the productions. For many years, she was a private instructor of voice, acting and public speaking. The Post-Standard honored her with a Woman of Achievement Award. She also received a SALT award in recognition of her work in community theater.

She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Edward; their children, Margie (Robert) Johnson, Melissa (Scott) Ellsworth and Jonathan (Samia) Markson; seven grandchildren; and her brother, Bernard (Helene) Reiben.

Burial was in the Temple Concord section of Woodlawn Cemetery. Sisskind Funeral Service had arrangements.

Contributions may be made to Temple Concord, 910 Madison St., Syracuse, NY 13210. 

Sandra Alderman Swartz

Sandra Alderman Swartz, 77, of Dresher, PA, died on July 23.

Born in Syracuse, she attended Nottingham High School and Vermont Junior College.

She was predeceased by her parents, Saul Alderman and Elvira (Vera) Alderman; and her brother Robert Alderman.

She is survived by her husband, Leonard Swartz; her children, Diane Fleischman, Jeffrey Swartz and Deborah Cowan; her brothers, Edward Alderman and Richard Alderman; and seven grandchildren.

The funeral was held in Southampton, PA. Sisskind Funeral Service had arrangements.

Contributions may be made to Camp Healing Hearts, c/o Hospice of Central New York, 990 7th North St., Liverpool, NY 13088. 

NEWS digest From JTA

Hezbollah’s Nasrallah: “Removing” Israel is a Lebanese national interest

In a rare public appearance, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said of Israel, “removing it is a Lebanese national interest.” “Israel poses a danger on all people of this region ... including Lebanon,” Nasrallah said on Aug. 2 in southern Beirut in what the World Bulletin news site said was his first public appearance since last September. Nasrallah has lived in hiding for fear of assassination by Israel since Hezbollah fought a monthlong war with Israel in 2006. Speaking of Palestine, he said Palestinian leaders have no right to compromise on the land. “The Palestine which we mean is a Palestine which stretches from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river and it should return to its rightful owners,” Nasrallah said, the Israeli news site Ynet reported. “No king, president, sheik, state or country has the right to give up even one clod of Palestinian land.” His speech was delivered to an audience at an event marking al-Quds Day – a day devoted to Jerusalem and its extraction from Israeli control that was celebrated originally in 1979 in Iran. Nasrallah usually gives speeches via television screens.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ august 8, 2013/2 ELUL 5773

NEWS IN bRIEF From JTA

Inoculation drive aiming to prevent polio spread in Israel

Israel’s Health Ministry will inoculate about 200,000 children with a weakened, live form of the polio virus in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease after its discovery in wastewater. The announcement of the campaign on Aug. 4 comes in response to the discovery in May of the polio virus in wastewater in Israel’s South that reportedly had been there since February. Children up to age 9 will be inoculated with the vaccine. The children already have been inoculated against polio in their regular childhood vaccinations. The purpose of the extra vaccine is to pass the weakened virus to adults with whom the children come into contact who may not previously have been vaccinated. Israel’s Health Ministry has ordered half a million doses of the live weakened vaccine, and has taken delivery on 200,000 doses, which were distributed on Aug. 4 to clinics in the South. There is a less than one in a million chance that an adult exposed to the vaccine will develop the disease. Across Israel, the vaccination rate against polio is 94 percent, according to the World Health Organization, which is supporting the vaccination campaign and whose representatives reportedly called it “necessary.” After being detected in May, the virus was detected in samples from at least 10 sites in Israel, mostly from the southern part of the country, according to WHO. In July, the virus also was found in sewage systems in Ramle, Lod, Modi’in and communities in the center of the country. It is believed the virus was brought to Israel from Egypt; polio was discovered in sewage in Egypt in December. The same virus also is prevalent in Pakistan. Israel experienced its last case of polio in 1988. WHO sent a delegation to Israel in recent weeks to investigate the situation.

There is concern in Europe that the disease will spread from Israel to other countries.

Interpol alerts nations to watch out for escaped terrorists

An Interpol global alert asked member states to be on the lookout for escaped terrorists from prisons in countries including Iraq, Pakistan and Libya. The alert issued on Aug. 3 came in the wake of a U.S. State Department order to close its Middle East embassies and consulates due to terror alerts. The diplomatic missions were closed on Aug. 4 based on intelligence that a Yemen-based al-Qaida affiliate was planning terror attacks. The Interpol alert comes in light of the escape of terror suspects in several prison breaks over the past month, The New York Times reported. Also on Aug. 3, several European governments ordered their diplomatic missions closed in Yemen and in other Middle Eastern countries. The U.S. State Department on Aug. 3 issued a global travel alert for American citizens. The alert warned of possible terror attacks by al-Qaida operatives and affiliated terror groups from Aug. 4 through the end of August. Senior Obama administration officials met on Aug. 3 to discuss the terror threat. The meeting reportedly was led by National Security Advisor Susan Rice, and included Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel; Secretary of State John Kerry; Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Director of National Intelligence James Clapper; and CIA director John Brennan. “There is a significant threat stream, and we’re reacting to it,” Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who also reportedly attended the meeting, told ABC on Aug. 4. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, in an interview on Aug. 4 on NBC’s “Meet the Press” said the electronic chatter among terror suspects about a possible attack was “very reminiscent of what

we saw pre-9/11.” “This is the most serious threat that I’ve seen in the last several years,” he said. A notice sent to U.S. citizens in Israel over the Aug.3weekend read: “The Department of State has instructed certain U.S. Embassies and Consulates to remain closed or to suspend operations on Sunday, August 4. The Department has been apprised of information that, out of an abundance of caution and care for our employees and others who may be visiting our installations, indicates we should institute these precautionary steps. It is possible we may have additional days of closings as well, depending on our analysis.” Reports on Twitter said similar messages had gone out to Americans in Afghanistan, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan, and NBC also listed Bangladesh, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

Rudd ensures Aussie elections won’t conflict with Yom Kippur

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called new elections for Sept. 7, avoiding a conflict with Yom Kippur. Rudd said on Aug. 4 that the clash with Yom Kippur – Sept.

14, the date set by Julia Gillard, his predecessor – was a “massive inconvenience” to Jews.

Gillard was ousted in late June from the top job. Australia’s elections are always held on Saturdays, so Yom Kippur was not an extra burden for Orthodox Jews, who always pre-poll. Rudd is head of the country’s Labor Party.

House letter queries Qatar on Hamas ties

A bipartisan slate of House members asked Qatar’s ambassador to the United States to explain his country’s ties to Hamas. “We believe that Qatar’s relationship with Hamas empowers, legitimizes, and bolsters an organization committed to violence and hatred,” said the Aug. 2 letter to Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi first reported by the Washington Free Beacon. Of the 24 House of Representatives members to sign, 19 are Republicans and five are Democrats.

The letter, initiated by Reps. Pete Roskam (R-IL), the GOP’s chief deputy whip, and John Barrow (D-GA), urges the country “in the interest of maintaining strong U.S.-Qatari relations” not to expand diplomatic and economic ties with Hamas. The congressmen wrote that they “are disturbed by reports that Qatar pledged over $400 million in funds to Hamas” last year following a visit to the Gaza Strip by Qatar’s emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani. The letter goes on to cite several incidents in which Qatar and Hamas have worked together.

Stoudemire seeking Israeli citizenship

Amar’e Stoudemire, the New York Knicks star who claims Hebrew roots and is currently touring Israel, is seeking Israeli citizenship. Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, told New York magazine that the Knicks’ power forward is in the process of becoming an Israeli. “He’s getting citizenship,” Walters said. “He applied and he’s there now.” Stoudemire went to Israel for the Maccabiah Games as the assistant coach of the Canadian basketball squad. The games ended recently. Stoudemire’s Jewish connections have been the source of much media fascination in recent months. At his wedding last year to Alexis Welch, Stoudemire donned a yarmulke and prayer shawl for the “Hebraic” ceremony. In July, he announced he had become a part owner in the Israeli basketball club Hapoel Jerusalem. And in an exclusive interview in Jerusalem in July with JTA, Stoudemire said he is in regular dialogue with New York rabbis, studies Torah and observes the High Holidays. “I’m not a religious person, I’m more of a spiritual person, so I follow the rules of the Bible that coordinate with and connect with the Hebrew culture,” Stoudemire told JTA.

Budapest live in the “Jewish Quarter,” as opposed to the “Jewish Ghetto,” and that buildings and not walls marked the area’s perimeter. The Ghetto only came into existence and walls were only built when the Nazi occupation began.

We made our way to one of three main synagogues in Budapest, the Kazinczy, and marveled at its beautiful art nouveau. As we sat on the pews, Medgyesi gave us a fascinating talk on the history of Jews in Hungary and Budapest, covering centuries and complete with maps and pictures. Her enthusiasm is spellbinding, and she answered all our questions with ease and knowledge.

From there, we continued walking, making a quick stop at the kosher bakery. Medgyesi then surprised us with a stop at a rundown courtyard where there was a farmers’ market with traditional Hungarian food, drink and entertainment. This gave a glimpse of Hungary you do not see from the modern day The Dohany Synagogue in Budapest. (Photo by Raphi Bloom) international shops lining the streets.

Next was the Dohany Street Synagogue.

Built in the mid-19th century in the Moorish style, this cathedral-like synagogue is the most well-known Jewish site in Budapest. Seating 3,000 people in total, it is the third largest synagogue in the world. The Dohany was built for the Neolog movement – an early non-Orthodox movement. Two of the most obvious deviations from Orthodox synagogues of its time are that the bima is at the front of the synagogue instead of the center, and there is a huge organ.

The synagogue was actually built before such other impressive Budapest landmarks like the Opera House, which underscores the fact that Jewish influence and life in Budapest burgeoned even before the heyday of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

In the grounds of the Dohany Synagogue is a mass Issue Date: September 19 grave of some 2,000 Jewish souls from the time of World Deadline: September 10 War II. There is also a silver weeping willow tree commissioned by Tony Curtis, the Jewish Hollywood actor, For information on advertising, in memory of his parents. By the tree, people can make a please contact us at donation and inscribe the names of family members lost in the Holocaust.

(315)445-2040, ext. 188 or The Hungarian Jewish Museum is located in the synajewishobserversyr@gmail.com gogue complex. It has a sad and fascinating exhibition on Hungary during World War II, and features some of the Gentiles, such as Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews.

Medgyesi told us a very moving story of children who

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were saved or hidden by the church during the war so that the church could convert them later on. After the war, rabbis asked for permission to visit orphanages at bedtime and went into the dormitories and starting saying the Shema prayer. Immediately many children, whose memories were triggered by this universal Jewish bedtime prayer, started crying. The rabbis then knew which children were Jewish and removed them to Jewish homes.

From the Dohany, we walked to the city’s historic Modern Orthodox synagogue, the Rumbach, which is now sadly derelict.

Despite its sad condition, the synagogue, another Moorish building, conveys a sense of the grandeur of Budapest Jewry from a past age.

I found the next site particularly moving.

Located in a quiet back street, you could walk by the Glass House and never have the slightest idea what went on there. Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat, protected and issued Swiss papers to tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from there, saving their lives. Working from a non-descript glass factory owned by a Jewish family, Lutz became of one the true Righteous Among the Nations – non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews. We all know about Wallenberg, but here was a true un-sung hero who saved thousands of our brothers and sisters. How many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Jewish people are alive today because of his selfless acts?

After mid-October 1944, when the Hungarian Arrow Smith Party came into power, the Glass House was the only fragile island of some relative safety during the raging terror for the persecuted in Budapest. The exhibition tells its story.

Our final stop was the Danube River, where we saw the Shoes on the Danube Promenade, a memorial to Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. Shoes on the Danube represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

The tour left us with a huge amount of knowledge about the history of our Hungarian Jewish brothers and sisters, and a feeling of pride at what they had accomplished for themselves over centuries of life there.

Andrea Medgyesi’s website is www.jewishvisitorsservice. com. Raphi Bloom is co-publisher of Jewish.Travel.