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27 CHESHVAN 5774 • OCTOBER 31, 2013 • VOLUME XXXVII, NUMBER 21 • PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID, SYRACUSE, NY

Israeli deputy consul visits Syracuse

By Judith L. Stander Israeli Deputy Consul Shlomi Kofman made his first visit to Central New York, from October 16-17, since his appointment to the Israeli consulate in New York City, the largest Israeli consulate in the world.

During his visit, the Jewish Federation of Central New York hosted a dinner at The Oaks on October 16 and a community leaders breakfast at Menorah Park the following day. During the trip, Federation

leaders and Kofman participated in meetings with Onondaga County Executive Joanne Mahoney, City of Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and the Post-Standard Editorial Board.

Kofman functions as the liaison with the local and national leadership of the Jewish community and coordinates interfaith dialogue and outreach nationally for the Israel Foreign Ministry and its missions in the United States. He formerly headed the Knesset’s Department of Foreign Affairs

and served as chief of staff to Israeli ambassadors to the United States Sallai Meridor and Danny Ayalon.

Kofman was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and moved to Israel with his parents when

he was 9 years old. He holds a master’s of business administration from Webster University, a bachelor’s in international and East Asian studies, and an associate in science in electronic engineering.

Israeli group quietly feeding Syrian refugees in Jordan

By Ben Sales MAFRAQ, Jordan (JTA) – The purple plastic sacks fill two rooms in the otherwise sparsely furnished headquarters of a Jordanian NGO, awaiting distribution to Syrian refugees already lined up on the sidewalk.

They contain an array of staple dry goods – lentils, pasta, powdered milk, tea – as well as a range of hygiene products like soap and detergent, enough for 250 refugee families.

But before the goods are handed out, one thing will be removed – the word “Jewish.”

Going sack by sack with a pair of scissors, an aid worker begins to cut.

“We don’t announce with trumpets that we’re Israeli,” the worker says. “There’s no need for that. Once you let that cat out of the bag, everything starts to blow up.”

The sacks are paid for by IsraAid, an Israeli nonprofit that provides disaster relief and humanitarian aid across the world. The group has provided medical care and psychological services following earthquakes in Japan and Haiti, and supplies food and other materials to refugees at two camps in Kenya.

IsraAid began working in Jordan early this year. Since then, the organization says it has provided approximately $100,000 worth of supplies to refugees who have escaped Syria’s brutal civil war.

But because Syria and Israel technically have been at war for four decades, discretion and security are paramount in IsraAid’s Jordanian operation. Most aid workers interviewed requested anonymity, as did the Jordanian nongovernmental organization that is IsraAid’s partner on the ground. Working with Israelis, they say, could endanger their work and the lives of the refugees they help.

Israelis may travel freely to Jordan, but when the IsraAid delegation crossed the border recently, it brought a letter from the Jordanian NGO that would facilitate the distribution, as well as a list of individuals in its party.

A police escort joined the group’s bumpy ride through northern Jordan, past small villages of flat-roofed houses, lemon groves and vegetable fields. In the distance were the mountains of southern Syria.

“We try to work by the book and not go under the radar,” says Shachar Zahavi, IsraAid’s founding director, who explains that

other countries also require extended security checks. “The Jordanians are open to it.”

After 90 minutes, the delegation arrives at the Jordanian NGO’s headquarters, next to an empty lot filled with trash on a side street in this city. The capital city of a region of the same name, half of Mafraq’s 100,000 residents are refugees from the conflict next door.

In total, half a million Syrians have taken refuge in Jordan. Most of them are here, in the border region, and most arrived this year.

Directed by a soft-spoken, gray-haired retiree working without pay, the Jordanian NGO focuses on aiding the 200,000 local refugees not living in Zaatri, the massive United Nations refugee camp nearby. The director keeps meticulous records of the constantly growing number of aid recipients, registering every new arrival, noting the size of their family and when they last received aid. Seventy volunteers help purchase and package supplies with funds from groups like IsraAid. With the word “Jewish” removed, the purple bags begin to travel in a human chain down a tight stairwell to the refugees below, almost all of them women wearing long black dresses and matching hijabs. Bags are loaded onto trucks or carried in hand back to wherever they are staying.

One woman approaches a volunteer to explain, through basic Arabic and hand motions, that a relative has cancer. Where, she asks, can she find medicine?

“We’re still at this beginning stage,” the aid worker later tells JTA. “You’re still being inundated with refugees. They’re always going to need food until the situation is stable.”

The next stop for the IsraAid workers is Hamra, an impromptu refugee camp set up a month ago 20 minutes outside Mafraq. Situated under power lines, surrounded by desert and about to be clouded by a suffocating sandstorm, the camp is home to 25 families from a Damascus suburb who had walked 60 miles to the Jordanian border to escape the fighting.

Now they share space in 10 tents with dirty, beige flaps featuring the block letters U.N.H.C.R. – for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – in faded blue.

Inside one, seven thin mattresses sit in a square on a tattered rug. A second room, See “Refugees” on page 11

Israeli Deputy Consul Shlomi Kofman recently visited Syracuse, including a group of Jewish leaders at The Oaks. L-r: Neil and Robin Goldberg, Federation Chair of Communications Michael Balanoff, Sheldon Kall, David Hootnick, Kofman, political advisor from the consulate Andrew Gross, Federation Chair of the Board Cantor Francine Berg and Federation President/CEO Linda Alexander.

Bread and Torah

Rabbis Linda Motzkin and Jonathan Rubenstein from Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs, NY, will be in Syracuse the weekend of November 2-3, when they will present their program “Bread and Torah” to the community.

SyraJews, an affiliate of the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse, received a Community Fund Grant from the Jewish Federation of Central New York to bring “Bread and Torah” to Syracuse. SyraJews’ mission is to create a social network for young Jewish adults, professionals and graduate students in the Syracuse and Central New York area by providing social, cultural and Jewish programming and events in the hope that those in their 20s and 30s will find a way to connect to the SyraJews community and the Greater Syracuse Jewish community.

This will be the first time that SyraJews has initiated an activity of this kind for the community-at-large. Syracuse Area Jewish Educators is partnering with SyraJews for the event by having a similar event for the religious school children at Temple Adath Yeshurun that morning.

Adults ages 18 and older will have the opportunity to learn to bake challah and make parchment from a deer hide on Saturday, November 2, from 7-10 pm, at the

Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse.

Sixth and seventh grade religious and day school students, as well as students from the Rabbi Jacob Epstein High School for Jewish Studies, will visit the JCC with their parents and other adults on Sunday, from 9:30 am-noon, to learn how to make challah, how the Torah is made and how challah and Torah go together.

Students in pre-kindergarten-fifth grade from the religious schools of Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas, Temple Adath Yeshurun and Temple Concord, as well as the students of the Syracuse Hebrew Day School, will attend a similar all-school community event at the same time on Sunday at Temple Adath Yeshurun.

This day of learning at Temple Adath Yeshurun is organized by SAJE and sponsored by a Community Fund Grant from the Jewish Federation of Central New York.

The Sunday morning events will be considered a regular day of religious school at all of the synagogues.

For more information about the religious school event, contact Julie Tornberg at 7012685, Shannon Small at ssmall@adath.org or Stephanie Marshall at 475-9952.

C A N D L E L I G H T I N G A N D P A R AS H A November 1.............5:40 pm................................................................ Parasha-Toldot November 8.............4:31 pm..............................................................Parasha-Vayetze November 15...........4:24 pm.........................................................Parasha-Vayishlach

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Congregational notes

Giving back

Research on aging

Youth activities, adult programs, Teens from the JCC’s The SPOT will IMPARA has a new research director book discussions, concerts and more volunteer at the V.A. hospital; a coat and will co-host a public forum on are announced by area shuls. and blanket drive for refugees. geriatric mental illness.

Stories on page 4 Stories on page 5 Story on page 7

PLUS Wedding Planning..................6-8 Calendar Highlights................10 B’nai Mitzvah............................10 Obituaries.................................. 11

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774

OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774 ■

a matter of opinion From Syracuse to Jerusalem – a soccer adventure

By Roy S. Gutterman Seven soccer games in two weeks is a tall order, even for professional soccer players, but for the Maccabiah Games this summer, that was the assignment. The players were a group of 18 guys between the ages of 35-45 from across the United States– a teacher, filmmaker, sales rep, lawyers, businessmen – and me, from Syracuse.

The opponents were some of the world’s soccer powers – Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Great Britain, Chile and Israel. This year’s Maccabiah Games drew nearly 8,000 Jewish athletes from around the world to compete in dozens of sporting events, from the traditional Olympic sports to the game near and dear to me, soccer.

Growing up as a competitive soccer player in New Jersey, I always wanted to play in the Maccabiah Games, but a combination of age restrictions and scheduling conflicts kept that from happening. Although I could have played in college, I gave up the game I played year-round upon entering as a freshman. I returned to the soccer field about seven years ago to play on a campus intramural team with my graduate students, who heard I played. I’ve continued the team and play in a couple of leagues.

Last year, after I saw a Maccabi USA poster at my old JCC in New Jersey, I learned that there are competitions for older athletes, with the dignified term “masters” teams. I inquired and found out that the 35-and-older team was not going to enter the tournament because there was no one to chair the team due to a falling out between the organization and a group of guys who had played before. Thus, they needed some-

Roy S. Gutterman walked on the soccer field during a break in play in USA versus Israel in Jerusalem at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem. one to assume the position, and at the same time, another guy in Dallas was talking with Maccabi USA. They put me and this guy together on the phone, and we became the co-chairs of the team, charged with putting together a team, organizing tryouts, training camps, fund-raising and other logistical issues. My co-chair, Avi, was also a Maccabi neophyte, but we put it together, with a lot of assistance from the leadership of the 45-and-older team.

We organized two national tryouts in New Jersey and Phoenix, and a training camp in May in New York City. More than 60 guys showed up for our tryout, along with the older team’s sessions. Seeing that many quality Jewish athletes from around

the world was even more impressive – and that was only during the tryouts.

From the opening ceremonies at Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium to the soccer fields themselves, it was amazing to see the competition and then remember that everyone there was Jewish. However, once the whistle blew, there was no brotherhood among teams. Nobody on our team had any previous Maccabiah experience, either in the youth, open or masters levels. These were competitive soccer games with FIFA licensed referees on full fields. The fields were actually practice facilities for some professional Israeli teams.

The games were intense, with physical and emotional play. These were the most competitive games I had played in for more than 20 years since my final state cup game that ended with me going to the hospital.

Add to the equation Israeli weather, with game-time temperatures well into the upper 90s, as well as age, and this was not high school.

Unlike our opponents, we would play together as a team for the first time when we took the field in Jerusalem. We had players from New York City, New Jersey, Texas, California and me from Syracuse.

Some of our opponents had played together through several Maccabiah tournaments and some regularly play together because the Jewish communities in other countries are concentrated in only a few cities and even neighborhoods. For a game like soccer, that sort of continuity and chemistry matters.

On the field, we were competitive. We were only really blown out by the Israeli team, which was rumored to be staffed by

former professional players. We took leads against Great Britain, Argentina, Mexico and Chile, but were not able to hold onto our leads, except against Mexico. We were tied with Brazil for three-quarters of the game until a series of defensive lapses cost us the game.

As much as we were there to play competitive soccer and try to win, there were also plenty of other aspects of this twoweek trip. For a number of guys, this was their first trip to Israel. For me, it was my third. Though there was not a lot of time for sightseeing, and physically, many of us had difficulty walking around after playing 80-minute games, we tried to make the most of our time. I took walking tours of the Old City, visited the Western Wall, took a private tour of an archeological site underneath the base of the Wall, had lunch at the beach in Tel Aviv and spent an afternoon at the Dead Sea. We had Shabbat dinners, complete with Maccabiah siddurim and kippot, and tried to soak in as much of Israel as we could.

Though we were in every game, we ended up only beating the team from Mexico.

Perhaps with more time to train together and develop a more textured style of organization, we would have fared better on the field. Nevertheless, to hit the field in real uniforms and the Maccabi USA crest, we were representing the USA on the field.

While all our muscles and injuries healed, we forged connections to a new group of teammates and Israel.

Roy S. Gutterman is a professor at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

He was national co-chair of the Maccabi USA Men’s 35 and older soccer team.

a matter of opinion An Israeli soldier to American Jews: Wake up!

By Hen Mazzig This article appeared in the October 10 issue of The Times of Israel and is reprinted with its permission, www. timesofisrael.com.

As a young Israeli who had just completed five years of service in the IDF, I looked forward to my new job educating people in the Pacific Northwest about Israel. I was shocked, however, by the anti-Israel bigotry and hostility I encountered, especially in the Greater Seattle area, Oregon and Berkeley. I had been very liberal, a member of the leftist Zionist party, Meretz, but the antisemitism and hatred for Israel that I have seen in the U.S. has changed my outlook personally and politically.

This year, from January-May, I went to college campuses, high schools and churches to tell people about the history of modern Israel, about my experience growing up in the Jewish state and about my family. I also always spoke about my military service as an officer in an IDF COGAT unit that attends to the needs of Palestinian civilians who are not involved in the conflict and promotes Palestinian civil society. Each time I would speak and take questions for an hour or more. I have shared my personal story with more than 16,000 people at many, many college campuses and high schools, including UC Berkeley, Stanford, the University of Washington, Seattle University and many others. Many of those to whom I spoke were supportive, friendly and open to hearing about my Israel.

But, sadly, far too many were not.

When I served as a soldier in the West Bank, I got used to having ugly things said to me, but nothing prepared me for the misinformation, demonization of Israel and the gut-wrenching, anti-Israel, antisemitic hostility expressed by many students, professors, church members and even some high school students right here in the Pacific Northwest.

I was further shocked by how unaware

the organized Jewish community is and how little they are actually doing to counter this rising antisemitism, which motivated me to write this article.

This new form of bigotry against Israel has been called the “new antisemitism,” with “Israel” replacing “Jew” in traditional antisemitic imagery and canards, singling out and discriminating against the Jewish state, and denying the Jewish people alone the right to self-determination. The new antisemitism is packaged in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign that claims to champion Palestinian rights though its real goal is to erode American support for Israel, discredit Jews who support Israel and pave the way for eliminating the Jewish state. One of BDS’ central demands is the “complete right of return” for all the descendants of the original Palestinian refugees, subtle language that means the end of Israel as the Jewish homeland because it would turn Israel into a Palestinian-Arab majority state.

It is surprising that an extremist group like BDS is ever taken seriously, but BDS advocates have found receptive audiences in some circles. Their campaigns are wellorganized and, in many cases, well-financed.

They have lobbied universities, corporations, food co-ops, churches, performing artists, labor unions and other organizations to boycott Israel and companies that do business with Israel. But even if these groups don’t agree to treat Israel as a pariah state, the BDS activists manage to spread their anti-Israel misinformation, lies and prejudice simply by forcing a debate based on their false claims about Israel.

To give you a taste of the viciousness of the BDS attacks, let me cite just a few of the many shocking experiences I have had.

At a BDS event in Portland, a professor from a Seattle university told the assembled crowd that the Jews of Israel have no national rights and should be forced out of the country. When I asked, “Where do you

want them to go?” she calmly answered, “I don’t care. I don’t care if they don’t have any place else to go. They should not be there.”

When I responded that she was calling for ethnic cleansing, both she and her supporters denied it. And during a presentation in Seattle, I spoke about my longing for peace

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between Israel and the Palestinians. When I was done, a woman in her 60s stood up and yelled at me, “You are worse than the Nazis. You are just like the Nazi youth!” A number of times I was repeatedly accused of being a killer, though I have never hurt See “Soldier” on page 11

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AROUND CENTRAL NEW YORK SU Regional Holocaust and Genocide Initiative Workshop Syracuse University School of Education’s Regional Holocaust and Genocide Initiative will present a workshop for teachers on using “Echoes and Reflections: A Multimedia Curriculum on the Holocaust” on Thursday, November 21, from 4-8 pm, at the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life. Those attending the workshop will receive a free copy of the award-winning “Echoes and Rochester Center Reflections” curriculum. for Holocaust The Anti-Defamation League, Aw a re n e s s a n d the U.S. Shoah Foundation and I n f o r m a t i o n Yad Vashem developed the awardDirector Bonnie winning curriculum, including the Abrams primary source material, a DVD of visual history survivor testimony and a comprehensive website with supporting material and “I Witness,” a program that allows teachers and students to explore and design classroom programs around 1,000 video testimonies from Holocaust survivors and other witnesses.

Workshop facilitator Bonnie Abrams is the director of the Rochester Center for Holocaust Awareness and Information, and the daughter of two survivors. She created the musical program “Voices of the Second Generation,” which is based on her parents’ stories.

The workshop will be part of the School of Education’s Continuing Education Certificate Program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and will be

Oaks Thanksgiving-Chanukah party

By Stewart Koenig The Oaks at Menorah Park will hold a combination Thanksgiving and Chanukah gathering for young, Jewish adults with developmental disabilities on Sunday, November 17, at 2 pm. Holiday foods will be served and Cantor Paula Pepperstone will perform holiday music. The gathering will be underwritten by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Endowment.

The holiday event will be another in a series of free social and educational programs for Jewish adults with

Seniors Reaching Out to perform at the JCC Performers from Seniors Reaching Out will appear in a program at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse on Sunday, November 17, at 2 pm. The program will be free to the public.

SRO is co-sponsored by the JCC and Salt City Center for the Performing Arts. JCC Executive Director Marci Erlbacher said, “This program is a celebration of SRO’s accomplishments since its inception in 2011 and an opportunity to encourage new memberships.”

SRO is composed of men and women ages 50 and older, and was created by its director, Shirley Reidenbaugh, especially for assisted living centers, senior

centers and other senior-related facilities. The November program will present its newest offering, “Readers and Singers.” The performers will include Marilyn Capizzi, Lee Chalek, Al Heyman, Nancy Mitchell, Terry Mitchell, Elly Pearlman, John Traeger, Theresa Vuillemot and Daniel White.

SRO has appeared at the Veterans Hospital, Westcott Community Senior Center, Camillus Ridge Terrace, Fayetteville Senior Center, St. Stephen’s Church, R. J. Barrot Manor, the Oaks, Maple Downs, Syracuse Women’s Social Club, Van Duyne Hospital, Manlius Senior Center and DeFrancisco Senior Center.

Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center senior dining menu November 4-8 Monday – vegetable lasagna Tuesday – stuffed cabbage Wednesday – honey mustard chicken Thursday – chicken chow mein Friday – beef brisket November 11-15 Monday – beef stew Tuesday – open-faced turkey with gravy Wednesday – pasta primavera Alfredo Thursday – barbecue beef sandwich Friday – baked lemon haddock The Bobbi Epstein Lewis JCC Senior Adult Dining Program, catered by Tiffany’s Catering Company at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center, offers kosher lunches served Monday-Friday at noon. 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

funded by Marilyn Ziering and the Ziering Family Foundation.

Although the program will be free and open to the public, registration will be required by Monday, November 11, and can be done online at www.teachingtheholocaust.org. For additional information, contact Professor Alan D. Goldberg at agoldbe1@twcny.rr.com.

developmental disabilities by the Friends of Beit Tikvah, a group home started by Menorah Park of Central New York in 2004. Since then, Chanukah and Passover have been celebrated, as well as frequent summer outings, through the years. The programs have been recognized by the Spirit Project.

Director of The Oaks Jan Edwards said, “We’re so pleased to offer the opportunity for these young adults to get together, make new friends, celebrate Jewish holidays and enjoy good times. With Chanukah and Thanksgiving occurring at the same time this year, the gathering will be lots of fun.”

Edwards added that the Friends of Beit Tikvah Planning Committee, which includes Sally Ullman, Elizabeth Binder and Janis Martin, has done “a wonderful job” coordinating and planning the event.

Reservations will be accepted until Monday, November 11. For more information on the event, call Edwards at 449-3309.

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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 or to make a reservation, contact Leesa Paul at 445-2360, ext. 104, or lpaul@jccsyr.org.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774

OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774 ■

JCC The SPOT Veterans Day

congregational notes Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas Youth-led services The Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas youth will lead Friday night and Shabbat morning services during the weekend of November 1-2.

The congregation’s Friday night Shabbat Hadorot will have students in third-seventh grade leading individual prayers, while a post-b’nai mitzvah student will lead Ma’ariv. The younger children will have the opportunity to practice their synagogue skills in front of the congregation, while the older students will provide an example for continued involvement in synagogue life.

Dinner will follow services. Those planning to stay for the dinner should make a reservation by contacting the CBS-CS office at 446-9570.

This program year’s first “It’s Cool to

Daven in Shul” service will be held on Saturday, November 2. Post-b’nai mitzvah students will lead most of the service, from Shacharit to haftarah and Musaf, as well as Torah reading. Other students will be given various honors, such as opening the ark, carrying the Torah and having an aliyah.

The congregation’s philosophy includes “involving its students in the life of the congregation in many ways,” including leading prayer services. For more information, contact the CBS-CS office at 446-9570.

Rummage sale The Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas Sisterhood will hold its semi-annual rummage sale on Sunday, November 3, from 10:15 am-4 pm, with a “bag sale” from 3-4 pm. Proceeds from the sale help support scholarships for Jewish summer camping

Temple Adath Yeshurun Celebration Jewish Book Month

By Sonali Eaton Temple Adath Yeshurun will celebrate Jewish Book Month on Saturday, November 9, during Shabbat morning services, with a brief talk by Carol Lipson, professor emerita of writing and rhetoric at Syracuse University. She will discuss what makes a book Jewish.

During the service, the TAY library will be named the Muriel and Avron Spector

Library. TAY President Howard Weinstein said, “A Shabbat celebrating Jewish Book Month is a most appropriate time to acknowledge the naming of the library.” An extended kiddush will follow.

Lipson will also lead a book discussion of “The Sandcastle Girls” by Chris Bohjalian on Sunday, November 10, at 9:30 am. The book discussion will be an initiative of the TAY Sisterhood. The community has been invited to participate.

At left: Sanford Sternlicht, Ph.D., spoke about Isaac Bashevis Singer on October 13 as part of Temple Adath Yeshurun’s adult education chavurah speaker series.

Sternlicht stood with Bonnie Wolf, a member of TAY and the adult education chavurah group, who helped set up the Sternlicht lecture at the synagogue.

At right (far right, backfront): Dean Bratslavsky, Amyah Bullock and Gino Bullock listened to Carolyn Weinberg (left) read the story of Noah’s Ark at TAY’s Storah Time, which is held every Tuesday at 10 am.

Mitchell Parsons held candle art he made during the Congregation Beth SholomChevra Shas Kadima event. experiences, gifts for b’nai mitzvah students and synagogue needs not included in the synagogue’s budget.

CBS-CS also collects toiletries for Vera House and Operation Soap Dish, the latter collecting toiletries and household products for clients of St. Lucy’s Food Pantry.

For more information, contact Steffi Bergman at 632-4905, 243-4009 or steffibergman@gmail.com.

Hazak concert CBS-CS Hazak will present a concert, “Muzic for Hazak,” on Sunday, November 10, at 2 pm, in the CBS-CS social hall.

The concert of Jewish music, including Yiddish, Hebrew and show tunes, will feature the Keyna Hora Klezmer Band under the leadership of Mimi Weiner. Cantor Marvin Moskowitz will participate in the program and will be accompanied by violinist Sue Jacobs. His repertoire will include an original song he composed. Aveeya Dinkin, accompanied by Jonathan Dinkin, will sing a version of “Sim Shalom” composed by Jonathan. A trio will sing “Tumbalalaika” as it was sung by three famous cantors in the Portuguese-Sephardic Synagogue in Amsterdam. Other CBS-CS performers include Carrie Berse, Hanita Blair, Tony Kenneston-Adams, Marty Miller, Harry Sommer, Lois Weiner and Cheryl and Mark Wolfe. The program will end with a Chanukah sing-along led by Cheryl.

There will be a short intermission during the concert, with refreshments available. The concert will be free and open to the public.

For more information, contact the CBS-CS office at 446-9570 or office@cbscs.org.

Temple Concord Opportunities for young families

By Cheri Lass A Shabbat celebration for toddlers and young children will be held at the Temple Concord Tot Shabbat on Saturday, November 2, at 10 am. The program will include songs, prayers, movement, a Shabbat story and a small snack. Temple Concord offers Tot Shabbat on the first Shabbat of the month, alternating between Fridays at 6 pm and Saturdays at 10 am. Director of Congregational Learning Stephanie Marshall said, “The children are always fully engaged at Tot Shabbat!”

Toddlers and preschool children can prepare for Chanukah with “Chanukah Lights!” at Gan, the monthly preschool program, on Sunday, November 10, from 10:30 am-noon.

Parents have been encouraged to stay. No registration will be required.

Katan-Con, a social group for families with children ranging in age from toddlerfirst grade, will hold its annual candlemaking party on Sunday, November 24, at 3 pm, at the synagogue. The event will include stories and Chanukah “treats.”

There will be a fee for the program. To make a reservation or for more informa-

JEWISH OBSERVER

tion, contact Aaron Spitzer at Judahs_dad@ twcny.rr.com.

TYCon TYCon, the high school youth group, and the Junior Youth Group gather at Wegmans in DeWitt every year for a shopping challenge.

The youths, ranging from fifth-12th grade, donate money to participate in the event.

The group members will get together this year on Sunday, November 3, from 12:15-2 pm, starting with lunch before separating into groups to shop.

After discussing healthy food choices and what would be most helpful, the donated funds are divided equally for each group. The challenge is to buy as many grocery items as possible with the money allotted. The groups debate choices and look for bargains.

Once all of the food has been purchased, the winner is declared. Regardless of who wins, the event benefits the customers who visit the Temple Concord food pantry. All of the purchased food is donated to the food pantry in time for Thanksgiving. Last year, the groups collected three full carts of groceries, and are looking to increase that amount this year.

See “TC” on page 12

By Nick Finlayson The Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse’s Syracuse Project 4 Our Teens will volunteer at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Syracuse on Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, from 9 am-4pm.

Teenagers and pre-teens have been invited to join The SPOT in “giving back” to armed forces veterans. The group will travel to the V.A. hospital to spend the morning socializing with the residents. Volunteers will participate in crafts, activities and conversation with the veterans.

The teenagers will also help with the Veterans Day pizza party by passing out lunch and cards, activities that will be intended to “make the day memorable and rewarding” for all participants. Participants in the event will receive a certification upon completion of volunteering.

JCC Director of Children and Teen Services Amy Bisnett said, “We know that many teens need a variety of volunteer

hours for classes, college, sports and more. This is a great opportunity to complete hours and help our community, all while having fun.”

Upon completion of the program, the group will return to The SPOT at ShoppingTown Mall to finish the day with a ping pong tournament and prizes. Pre-registration will be required.

For more information, contact Katie Sutliff, assistant director of children and teen services at the JCC, at 4452360 or ksutliff@jccsyr.org.

In 2010, The SPOT was founded on four fundamentals: entertainment, recreation, education and volunteerism for teenagers. By providing volunteer opportunities, this allows the JCC to help the community.

JCC New American Coat and Blanket Drive The Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse Director of Children and Teen Services Amy Bisnett recently began attending monthly meetings with InterFaith Works, the Center for New Americans and other area groups. They have formed a partnership to address the needs of new Americans in the Syracuse area.

“Refuge” the movie

By Lisa Pevtzow WCNY-TV will present the award winning one-hour documentary, “Refuge: Stories of the Selfhelp Home” on Sunday, November 17, at 2 pm, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938.

The film chronicles the lives of six refugees in context of the Nazis and documents how a small number worked to create a community that has sheltered more than 1,000 victims of Nazi persecution from Central Europe. It portrays the world of Central European Jewry prior to World War II – the middle class, educated and cultured – and the character of its final generation at the Selfhelp Home in Chicago. The film is presented by WOUB Public Media and is distributed to public television stations by American Public Television.

The film’s director, Ethan Bensinger, who lives in Chicago, comes from a German Jewish family who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s and settled in Chicago in 1958. The documentary grew out of a project to interview the last remaining survivors and refugees at the Selfhelp Home.

Bensinger said, “Our film explores a community that will not exist for much longer. Many of the stories are heartbreaking, and speak of loss of family, of place, of separation. But they also tell of renewal, of resilience, of finding love and creating new families, of starting again in a new land.”

Since its premiere at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in June 2012, “Refuge” has been screened at various film festivals, museums, schools, libraries and synagogues. It received the top award for excellence at the recent Beloit Film International Festival, as well as Best Documentary and “Best in Fest” awards at the Sycamore Film Festival, as well as the Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award at the Geneva Film Festival.

“Refuge” was recently featured in a project by Germany’s

national broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, to trace the remnants of Germany’s Jewish community around the world.

The refugees and survivors in the film speak of the loss of their families and homes, as well as making life and death decisions. Several of the elderly survivors witnessed Kristallnacht, the coordinated attack by the Nazis against Jewish communities throughout Germany andAustria. Others speak of finding refuge in England through the Kindertransport; escaping to the United States and Shanghai; hiding on estates and in castles in France; and being deported to the Theresienstadt and Auschwitz concentration camps.

Selfhelp was founded in Chicago in the late 1930s by young Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany. Through “pooled resources, prescience and a strong spirit of volunteerism,” Selfhelp provided housing, food, English classes and job placement services to other displaced Jewish émigrés and, later, after the war, to Holocaust survivors. They volunteered their own homes and finances to give those who arrived with nothing the basics needed to start new lives in a new country.

In 1950, Selfhelp opened a residential home for the oldest refugees and survivors, whose atmosphere reproduced some of the home life and cultural experiences that they had lost. To date, more than 1,000 refugees and survivors have spent their last years at the Selfhelp homes in Chicago’s Hyde Park and Edgewater communities.

Out of the 30 refugees and survivors Bensinger originally interviewed, fewer than a dozen are still alive today. He said, “Within 10 years if or so, there will be no Jewish victims of Nazi persecution living at Selfhelp. As a filmmaker, I feel obligated to give a voice to these last eyewitnesses to life as it was before, during and after the war, so that future generations understand the consequences of intolerance, injustice and unmitigated hatred.”

For more information, visit www.refugestories.com.

Invest in our Experience!

Refugees in search of a new home that is safe and comfortable come mostly from warmer climates around the world, including countries such as Cuba, Rwanda and Sudan. In a combined effort to assist the Center for New Americans, the JCC will be another site for a gently used coats and blankets drive. When a refugee family arrives at Hancock Airport during the fall and winter months, the Center will provide the family with items to help keep warm throughout the winter.

Bisnett said, “This is a great event to help new members of our community. Most people take for granted that they can stay warm throughout the winter with their own personal coats and blankets. These families sometimes come to Syracuse with nothing, and are always appreciative of any assistance they can get.”

In many cases, the refugees’ first winter since arriving is their first encounter with snow. The drive will accept all sizes of gently-used winter gear. Donations may be brought to the foyer of the JCC before Saturday, November 30.

For more information, contact Bisnett at 445-2360.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774

OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774 ■

Kids’ night out

By Nick Finlayson Children in kindergarten-sixth grade can attend Kids’ Night Out at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center of Syracuse on Saturday, November 16, from 7-11 pm.

The evening’s theme will be “Fall Fun.”Among the evening’s activities will be pumpkin decorating, basketball, a movie and eating snacks. The program will be open to all children within the age group, but pre-registration will be required.

Jamesville DeWitt Middle School sixth grade student

Selena Relihan said, “I want to go to Kids’ Night Out because all my friends are there, and I can hang out with them outside of school.”

Director of Children and Teen Services Amy Bisnett said, “The children especially like this event because they can choose what they want to do for the evening. As the days get shorter and the temperature begins to drop, there is generally less time for kids to get together and play.

They tend to get stir crazy when the weather outside is not

inviting. Kids’ Night Out gives them a chance to exert their energy, while giving the parents a night off.”

There will be a cost to attend, with a discount if registration is made by Monday, November 11. There will also be a maximum price per family.

For more information, contact the JCC Children’s Department at 445-2360. For a registration form, visit www.jccsyr.org.

Syracuse Na’amat USA to host “No Bones about It” with Arnold Moses, MD

The Syracuse area chapter of Na’amat USA will host a women’s health presentation on Sunday, November 17, at 10:15 am, at Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas.

The free event will be open to the public.

Endocrinologist Arnold Moses, MD, will provide osteoporosis-related information, including the value of various supplements taken by women to prevent or delay

the condition. He recommends that participants bring their Vitamin D and calcium supplements so he can review the various types with the group. Individuals who wish to privately discuss bone density reports with him after the presentation may bring those as well.

For more information, contact chapter Co-president Karen Roberts at 446-2306 or karher5757@aol.com.

Lillian Patterson, Kaden Clark and Lucy Patterson made leaf wreaths in the children’s room at the Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center at a JCC Kids’ Night Out.

Your wedding checklist

6-12 MONTHS BEFORE WEDDING ❑ Determine budget ❑ Visit rabbi (ceremony variations) ❑ Set day, time and location of ceremony, rehearsal and

reception ❑ Select a caterer ❑ Choose wedding photographer and/or videographer ❑ Draw up guest list ❑ Obtain floral/rental/music estimates ❑ Invite attendants ❑ Discuss honeymoon and new home ❑ Select gown and headpiece ❑ Select music for ceremony and reception ❑ Register with bridal gift registry

4 MONTHS BEFORE WEDDING ❑ Order invitations and personal stationery ❑ Plan reception ❑ Plan ceremony and reception music ❑ Choose florist ❑ Mothers choose gowns ❑ Men choose attire ❑ Make honeymoon reservations ❑ Begin trousseau shopping ❑ Arrange motel accommodations for out-of-town guests 3 MONTHS BEFORE WEDDING ❑ Make an appointment with gynecologist to discuss birth control, etc.

2 MONTHS BEFORE WEDDING ❑ Order wedding cake ❑ Select attendants’ gifts

❑ Plan to keep gift record ❑ Acknowledge gifts as they arrive ❑ Finish invitations -- Mail them 6 weeks before wedding ❑ Plan rehearsal dinner ❑ Check on marriage license ❑ Get rings engraved ❑ Plan luncheon for bridesmaids ❑ Select gift for groom ❑ Go over wedding ceremony details ❑ Gown fitting ❑ Bridal portrait sitting ❑ Arrange for limousine service ❑ Make hairdresser appointment 1 MONTH BEFORE WEDDING ❑ Make up reception seating charts ❑ Check wedding party apparel ❑ Final gown fitting ❑ Get blood tests for marriage license 2 WEEKS BEFORE WEDDING ❑ Make final check on bridal-party clothes and catering ❑ Arrange name changes/get marriage license ❑ Arrange transportation from reception to airport or wherever you are leaving from for the honeymoon 1 WEEK BEFORE WEDDING ❑ Wrap attendants’ gifts ❑ Give final count to caterer ❑ Confirm music arrangements and check selections ❑ Arrange to move belongings to new home ❑ Check that your hairstyle complements your headpiece ❑ Final instructions to photographer and videographer ❑ Final instructions to ushers for special seating ❑ Give clergy fee to best man in sealed envelope (He will deliver it.) ❑ Begin packing for honeymoon 1 DAY BEFORE WEDDING ❑ Give ushers guest list ❑ Do something relaxing and pamper yourself!

JEWISH OBSERVER

7

Dr. Nanette M. Dowling named research director for Rodney S. and Marjorie Fink Institute of Research on Aging Dowling noted that among the many colBy Stewart Koenig laborations that will help advance the Institute’s The Rodney S. and Marjorie Fink Institute of goals, the presence of Syracuse Jewish Family Research on Aging has appointed geriatric psyService, also located at Menorah Park, will chiatrist Nanette M. Dowling, D.O., M.H.P.A., provide the field team needed to reach out to the as its first research director. Focusing on geriatric community. She said, “Field study is crucial to mental health, Dowling will assume responsibility our success and SJFS is well-equipped to work for the applied research agenda of the Institute, with and help our older citizens.” She also said which is housed at Menorah Park of Central she is looking forward to facilitating an “even New York. closer relationship” between the Institute, SJFS Dowling is also an attending psychiatrist and and Upstate’s Department of Psychiatry, among associate professor at SUNY Upstate Medical other regional community institutions.

University in the Department of Psychiatry. She is Preliminary data will be presented by the board-certified in psychiatry, with a sub-specialty Dr. Nanette M. Institute, SUNY Oswego and SUNY Upstate at in geriatric psychiatry. She did her psychiatry resiDowling a community forum on Tuesday, November 12, dency at SUNY-Upstate and a geriatric fellowship at Columbia University and the Greater Binghamton Health Center. She also holds a master’s degree in health policy and administration, and received a doctor of osteopathy degree from Touro University.

She said, “I’m ecstatic for this opportunity to lead the The public has been invited to the public forum “Aging in charge in research on geriatric mental health at the Fink Institute of Research on Aging. Issues of depression and Focus: Geriatric Mental Health” on Tuesday, November 12, anxiety in the elderly have largely been undiagnosed and from 8:30-11:30 am, at the Syracuse Crowne Plaza Hotel. under-treated. The Institute will distinguish itself through The forum is part of the Geriatric Mental Health Community research that considers real people and their unique chal- Action Initiative presented by the Rodney S. and Marjorie lenges. We will develop best practices from numerous Fink Institute of Research on Aging at Menorah Park and perspectives, including technological advances and spe- the State University of New York Oswego Metro Center cialized geriatric mental health care, to meet the complex Active Aging and Community Engagement Center.

National geriatric expert Dr. Stephen Bartels from needs of our aging population.”

of the Geriatric Mental Health Community Action Initiative, which was recently launched by SUNY Oswego and the Institute, with funding from the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York. The forum will feature national geriatric expert Dr. Stephen Bartels from Dartmouth University, as well as a panel of local stakeholders and experts who will reunite in the spring for a consensus conference and action plan. Dowling said, “This public event will fuel the development of collaborative strategies for meeting regional geriatric mental health care needs. We are excited about the upcoming symposium and launch of several projects which aim to have an immediate impact in our community and beyond.”

Warren Wolfson, board chair for the Menorah Park See “Dowling” on page 10

Fink Institute and SUNY Oswego to hold public forum on geriatric mental illness

Dartmouth University will be the keynote speaker.

IMPARA Research Director Dr. Nanette Dowling will join Bartels, Onondaga County Mental Health Commissioner Robert Long, National Alliance on Mental Health Syracuse President Judy Bliss Ridgeway and others in a panel discussion.

For more information or to register for the free event, contact Judith Huober at 446-9111, ext. 236, or jhuober@ menorahparkcny.com.

Pre-wedding beauty tips for the bride (NewsUSA) – You want ever ything to be picture perfect for your wedding, including your smile. But like everything else about your big day, that perfect smile could require some work ahead of time. In fact, experts suggest starting your entire beauty regimen six months before the wedding.

Here’s a pre-wedding beauty checklist.

Lips: Get soft, kissable lips by brushing away flakes of dry skin with an infant toothbrush soaked in baking soda and water. Apply healing ointment, and in no time, your lips will be ready for that “kiss the bride” kiss.

Teeth: A cosmetic dentist can often correct an imperfect

smile with veneers. But if spending painful hours in the dentist’s chair getting your teeth ground down sounds like it See “Bride” on page 8

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774

OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774 ■

To Brighten the Festival of Lights

NCJW Hannah Solomon luncheon

By Vicki Feldman At the 41st annual Hannah G. Solomon Award luncheon on October 7, Elaine Rubenstein received the National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Syracuse Section’s Hannah G. Solomon Award, a national award presented by individual sections of NCJW. The award is named for the founder of NCJW. It is given to women who have dem-

onstrated “exceptional service” to the Jewish community and the community-at-large.

NCJW Greater Syracuse Section-at-Large President Cantor Francine Berg welcomed the guests and Rabbi Daniel Fellman delivered the invocation. Luncheon chairs and 2012 award co-recipients Randi Bregman and Ona Cohn Bregman introduced the attending dignitaries. Rabbi

Charles Sherman gave the benediction.

For the past several years, the event has sponsored a mitzvah project chaired by Robin Goldberg to collect items for children in need. This year, guests were asked to bring items to be given to donate to McCarthy@ Beard, a program run by the Syracuse City School District. In addition, NCJW received a grant from the Sam Pomeranz Trust to purchase necessities for foster children of Child Protective Services in Onondaga County’s Children’s Division.

To donate, contact Goldberg at 952-8059 or radshesh@ gmail.com.

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Recipients of the Hannah G. Solomon Award given by National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Syracuse Section, assembled at the recent luncheon honoring Elaine Rubenstein (seated, third from the right).

The Memory Man Videography Harry Gnacik Weddings - Bar & Bat Mitzvahs Anniversaries - Birthday Parties Photo Montages - Autobiographies Over 20 Years of Experience You Make the Memories, I Preserve Them. www.MemoryManVideo.com HGnacik@yahoo.com (315)637-3547

Magnificent Continued from page 7 Thousand Islands Weddings Hair: If you’re planning to change your hairstyle or color, would put a damper on all the joyful planning, here’s good

news: Lumineers are now used by thousands of dentists experiment several months before the wedding so you have nationwide, can be applied in two short appointments and time to correct any mistakes.

Personalized Ceremonies Nails: If you’re a nail-biter, get weekly manicures to keep don’t require removal of sensitive tooth structure.

Makeup: Women with warm sk in tones lookCreating best your nails healthy. Plan your last manicure a couple of days in makeup with pink, coral, peach, amber, brown and before the big day. Choose a pretty pale pink or splurge on a French manicure, not just because it looks great, but red with yellow undertones. If you haveLifetime a cool sk inMemories tone, choose pink, berr y, lilac, mauve or red with blue because the chips won’t show as much and are easy to fix.

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NCJW members donated items for the McCarthy@Beard program run by the Syracuse City School District in addition to items for the Onondaga County Department of Child Protective Services, money for the latter coming from a grant from the Sam Pomeranz Trust.

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10

JEWISH OBSERVER ■ OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774

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.

Saturday, November 2 TAY musical Shabbat at 9:15 am SyraJews presents communitywide workshop, Bread and Torah, at the JCC from 7-10 pm Sunday, November 3 SyraJews presents communitywide workshop for all religious school students, Bread and Torah, at the JCC from 9:30 am-12:30 pm Tuesday, November 5 Federation Board of Directors meeting at the JCC at 5:30 pm Temple Concord presents Dolce Flutes at 7 pm Wednesday, November 6 Temple Adath Yeshurun Hazak meeting at 8:45 am Sunday, November 10 TAY book discussion at 9:30 am TAY Hazak program at 1 pm Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas Hazak musical program at 2 pm Monday, November 11 The SPOT activities for children in seventh 12 grade from 9 am-4 pm TC scholars program at 6 pm Wednesday, November 13 Deadline for the November 28 issue of the Jewish Observer Saturday, November 16 JCC fall kids night out from 7-11 pm

b’nai mitzvah Rachel Leah Elman

Rachel Leah Elman, daughter of Miriam and Colin Elman, of Fayetteville, became bat mitzvah at Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse on October 6.

She is a student at Manlius Pebble Hill School and is a graduate of the Syracuse Hebrew Day School. She has opened a b’nai mitzvah fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Central New York, and will be able to make recommendations for Rachel Leah grants from a pooled fund to support Elman both local charities and not-for-profit organizations in Israel.

She enjoys science, reading, writing and travel.

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OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774 ■

d’var torah

obituaries

The blame game

By Alan Sukert This week’s sedrah, Toldot, focuses on the relationship between two brothers – Jacob and Esau. There are so many ways of dissecting their relationship that one could write dozens of d’vrei Torah. In fact, looking through my archives, I found that I wrote a d’var Torah on this topic in 2009. Back then, it focused on the parent-child relationship among Yitzchak, Rebecca, Jacob and Esau.

This time, I want to focus on something that has considerable relevance to the events going on in Washington.

The good news was that there was a deal to get the U.S. government back working and avoiding defaulting on our loans. However, the process of getting to that agreement was tortuous, to say the least, and ripe with one important word – blame. Democrats blamed the Tea Party and Conservative Republicans for holding the government hostage to scuttle “Obamacare.” Republicans blamed Democrats for using the crisis to their political advantage and for passing Obamacare in the first place. Everyone else blamed Congress for the partisanship that has led to crises like this and for the lack of action on the key issues facing this country today.

It turns out that there is a blame game going on in this week’s sedrah as well. In the beginning of the sedrah, we see how Esau sold his birthright for food because he was “at the point to die; and what profit shall the birthright” (Bereshit 25:32) do to him? At the time, Esau didn’t care about the birthright; immediate materialistic personal gratification was worth more to him than the importance of his spiritual heritage. Some 50 years later, Rebecca and Jacob fool a dying Yitzchak into giving Jacob the blessing that should have gone to Esau, again as the rabbis pointed out, because Rebecca rightly (in their view) understood that Esau wasn’t worthy of receiving the right to carry on the traditions started by Abraham and Yitzchak.

I am not judging whether Jacob and Rebecca were morally right or wrong; that’s a discussion for another time. What is of interest to me here is Esau’s reaction at the time he sold his birthright and then, about 50 years later, when Jacob stole Esau’s blessing. As I stated earlier, Esau’s reaction at the time he sold his birthright to Jacob was one of indifference; he just didn’t think his birthright was important enough to be of concern. Esau didn’t appear angry when he sold his birthright. In fact, Esau made an oath with Jacob to bind the selling of his birthright and as the Torah says, “Esau despised his birthright,” i.e. it wasn’t of any value to him.

Fifty years later, Yitzchak is near death and wants to

Dowling

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Foundation, said, “With Dr. Nanette Dowling at the research helm, the Institute for Applied Research on Aging starts its climb to world-class standing. The Institute will bring clarity to these monumentally important issues affecting our older citizens, their families and caregivers.

The Foundation is proud to support it and looks forward to others lending their support as well.”

The Rodney S. and Marjorie Fink Institute of Research on Aging is located at 4101 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

For more information, contact Victoria Kohl, Menorah Park Foundation vice president, at 446-9111 or vkohl@ menorahparkcny.com.

Joseph “Jerry” H. Ettinger

bless his sons. Esau’s reaction to Jacob’s subterfuge and “stealing” of the first blessing that should have been his as the oldest was much different from before: no indifference now. In fact, Esau now blames Jacob for obtaining Esau’s birthright – “Is he not rightly named Jacob? Since he hath gone behind me these two times, he took my birthright and see now he took away my blessing....” (Bereshit 27:36) Why blame Jacob all of a sudden, when it didn’t seem to matter to Esau 50 years earlier?

What we see here is the anatomy of the blame game in a micro version. The rabbis comment that during the 50 years between the selling of his birthright and having his blessing “stolen” by Jacob, Esau believed he was a victim of Jacob’s actions, even though he conveniently ignores the fact that he willingly sold his birthright. Now that he views himself as a victim a second time, he can no longer stay silent. He hates Jacob, but instead of anger, his reaction is to blame Jacob for his troubles. “You did this to me,” he is telling Jacob. “I had nothing to do with it.”

I am not a psychologist, but it seems to me that what Esau is doing is avoiding facing his own complicity in these events and transferring his anger to Jacob. Esau never understood what the birthright really meant, but that was no longer important. The only thing important was that he was wronged and it was all Jacob’s fault. That seems to be the key to the “blame game” – avoid your involvement and talk yourself into believing that it’s all the other guy’s fault. Maybe Jacob and Esau would have had a better relationship if Esau had at least admitted to himself that he was just as involved in selling the birthright as Jacob was.

Maybe if he had been angry at the time, instead of harboring blame, he might have been able to eventually forgive Jacob and maybe even understand what the birthright and the blessings really meant to Jacob.

I have been in the quality field for more than 40 years, and early in my career, I took a course on why the Japanese in the late 1970s and ‘80s had supplanted the U.S. in terms of the quality of their products. The instructor pointed out something that has stuck with me to this day: the biggest difference between the U.S. and Japan that led to the latter’s success was that when a problem occurred, the U.S. looked for someone to blame; the Japanese didn’t point blame, they fixed the problem.

The “blame game” – we all do it when something goes wrong. “Whose fault was it? Whom can I blame for it?” rather than “What was my involvement? What could I have done to prevent or minimize the problem, and what can I do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?” We are seeing it all over politics at the national, state and local levels. This blame game brought us to the brink of a serious national economic crisis. Only we can know what our individual blame of others has done to our relationships with friends and relatives. It hasn’t been that long since Yom Kippur.

Maybe it would be better if all of us, especially Congress, stopped pointing fingers and continued the spirit of introspection and change we went through during the High Holidays. It is time to start recognizing our own complicity in our problems and look at ways we can fix them rather than blame someone else for them. I’m tired of the “blame game” and I hope everyone finally is as well.

Alan Sukert is an engineer with Xerox Corporation in Rochester and a member of Temple Adath Yeshurun.

Jewish Student of the Month Julian David-Drori is a founder. At the Syracuse Hebrew Day School, he founded d the Mitzvah Detective Agency Agency, a club which did “nice things for nice people.” At Jamesville-Dewitt High School, where re he is a junior, Julian is the founder and d a talent for sharing his fascination of them current president of the Civil War Re-Enactors Club. He has many interests and with others. His love of Civil War history took him to Gettysburg this summer for or the 150th anniversary of the famous battle. He also has a clever sense of humor. His motivation for creating the Re-Enactors -Enactors E t Club, Cl b ffor which hi h he h had h d to t petition titi the J-D school board for funding, was “to educate people about history - and because it is fun wearing the uniforms.”

An SHDS graduate, he has returned for two months every year for the past five yyears to serve as stage manager for the SHDS spring musical. He is greatly admired by the younger students and has attracted a cadre of children who vie for positions on the technica technical crew nvention this – known as Julian’s Tech Nation. His leadership skills were evident at Camp Invention past summer at the JCC, and he also volunteers at community events such as the Israeli ks.

Independence Day Celebration and at The Oaks.

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Julian David-Drori in Gettysburg at the Union General's camp, with ith a Zouave Z captain. t i

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Joseph H. Ettinger, 92, died at the Nottingham Residential Health Care Facility on October 11.

Born in The Bronx, NY, he graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1939, earning honors in mathematics and running track. He graduated from City College of New York with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering in 1954. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II from 1944-46 and was awarded Battle Stars for the Battles of France and Germany. He was also awarded the Good Conduct Medal, which he issued to himself when he became first sergeant. He was employed as an engineer in the aerospace industry, working for many years on defense systems at Bendix Corporation, Sperry Gyroscope and Loral Electronics. He enjoyed playing bridge, golf and tennis well into his 80s.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Celia; his daughter, Deborah (Duane) Cramer, of Cazenovia, NY; two grandchildren; and his daughter, Helaine Ettinger (Jeffrey Stein), of Seattle, WA. Burial was in Cedar Park Cemetery, NJ. Sisskind Funeral Service had arrangements. 

Barbara Gordon LeFevre

Barbara Gordon LeFevre, 68, of Camillus, died unexpectedly on September 23 at Crouse Hospital.

A graduate of Nottingham High School, she was a buyer for Dey Brothers and Chappell’s for years. She was employed with Pottery Barn Kids at the time of her death and recently received an award for the highest hourly sales within the U.S. She volunteered with Make-A-Wish and was an integral part of the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York for 13 years, raising thousands of dollars for research. She was an avid reader and enjoyed word games.

She was predeceased by her parents, Samuel and Anna Gordon, and a sister, Arlene Mintz.

She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Peter; daughters, Kimberly (Robert) Kovacs, of Cicero, and Jacki Bolton, of Camillus; son, Jason Bolton, of Syracuse; sisters, Ruth Golden, of Manlius, Rosalie Battaglia, of Florida, and Lynne Bartosch, of Clay; brother, Norman Gordon, of Syracuse; three grandsons; several nieces and nephews; and many friends.

The burial was private. Buranich Funeral Home had arrangements.

Contributions may be made to the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York, P.O. Box 356, Camillus, NY 13031. 

Ethel Meltzer Sall Rothfeld

Ethel Sall Rothfeld, 91, died on October 11 at Crouse Hospital.

A life resident of Syracuse, she was a graduate of Central High School, a member of Congregation Beth SholomChevra Shas and Temple Adath Yeshurun, and was active in their Sisterhoods.

She was predeceased by her husbands, Max Sall and Arthur Rothfeld. She is survived by her daughters, Tara Cornell and Bennye Taylor; two grandchildren; and a large family.

Burial was in Adath Yeshurun Cemetery. Sisskind Funeral Service had arrangements.

Contributions in Ethel’s memory may be made to Temple Adath Yeshurun, 450 Kimber Rd., Syracuse, NY 13224. 

Refugees

Continued from page 1

with a small burner and piles of pots and pans, serves as the tent kitchen.

Although they eagerly crowd the distribution truck, most refugees appear healthy, if needy. While the distribution goes on, one resident insists that the workers sit for some coffee.

But an elderly woman shakes as she pulls a deformed hand out of her robe, her two fingers wrapped backwards and melded into what was left of her palm. After the bombing that caused her injury, she joined her children and grandchildren on the 60-mile trek. Now she says nothing, her wrinkled face and sunken eyes conveying a resigned helplessness.

Zahavi hopes that within a month, IsraAid can bring social workers to Mafraq to help refugees cope with the psychological trauma. Israelis, Zahavi says, are experts in trauma care after decades of dealing with terror attacks.

“My main agenda is to put Israelis on the ground around the world and show the world that Israel cares about them,” he says.

IsraAid receives support from several foundations, but the organization says some of its donors initially were reluctant to fund its work in Jordan for fear of becoming involved in the Syria-Israel conflict. But the aid worker says that when refugees discover the Israeli connection, they are still grateful for the help – no matter its political implications.

JEWISH OBSERVER

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anyone in my life. On other occasions, anti-Israel activists called me a rapist. The claims go beyond being absurd – in one case, a professor asked me if I knew how many Palestinians have been raped by IDF forces. I answered that as far as I knew, none. She triumphantly responded that I was right, because, she said, “You IDF soldiers don’t rape Palestinians because Israelis are so racist and disgusted by them that you won’t touch them.”

Such irrational accusations are symptomatic of dangerous antisemitism. Yet, alarmingly, most mainstream American Jews are completely oblivious to this ugly movement and the threat it poses. They seem to be asleep, unaware that this anti-Jewish bigotry is peddled on campuses, by speakers in high schools, churches and communities, and is often deceptively camouflaged in the rhetoric of human rights.

The American Jewish community and its leaders are not providing a united front to combat this latest threat.

Unfortunately, this repeats a pattern of Jewish communal groups failing to unite in a timely way to counter threats against us individually and as a community.

Shockingly, a small but very vocal number of Jews actively support BDS. They often belong to organizations that prominently include “Jewish” in their names, like Jewish Voice for Peace, to give cover to BDS and the antisemitism that animates it. A question that we, as a Jew-

ish community, must ask ourselves, is whether it is ever appropriate to include and accept Jews who support BDS and directly or indirectly advocate the ultimate elimination of the Jewish state of Israel.

I think it is not.

My experiences in America have changed me. I never expected to encounter such hatred and lies. I never believed that such antisemitism still existed, especially in the U.S. I never knew that the battlefield was not just Gaza, the West Bank and hostile Middle Eastern countries wanting to destroy Israel and kill our citizens and soldiers. It is also here in America, where a battle must be waged against prejudice and lies.

I implore American Jews: do more.

Israel cannot fight this big battle alone. If you are affiliated with a Jewish organization, let it know you want it to actively, openly and unequivocally oppose the BDS campaign and those who support it. Inform yourself, your friends and families, by visiting websites of organizations like StandWithUs, Jewish Virtual Library, AIPAC, AJC and others that will update you and provide information about BDS and antisemitism.

I urge the organized Jewish community and its members to wake up and stand up for the Jewish state of Israel, and for all it represents, and for all it works to achieve.

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JEWISH OBSERVER ■ OCTOBER 31, 2013/27 CHESHVAN 5774

Syracuse Jewish Cemeteries Association (SJCA) Appeal for the Continuing Repair of the SJCA-Administered Cemeteries Contributions received as of October 10, 2013

Anonymous $16,879 Elaine Abrams $36 Esther Adelson $118 Mark Adler $360 Richard and Maxine Alderman $50 Ellen Andrews $25 Sidney and Shirley Ashkin $54 Peter and Barbara Baum $54 George and Miriam Barrows $118 Helene and Gary Becker $36 Stanley Becker $36 William and Phyllis Berinstein $500 Bruce and Gail Berlin $18 Christopher Skeval and Carrie Berse $36 Shirley Berson $18 Ivy Besdin $118 Bet Havarim $640.60 Birnbaum Funeral Service $250 Dr. and Mrs. James Brodsky $118 Suggie Brumberger $54 Robert Buck $10 Jeanette Buff $20 Gary and Bonnie Carney $360 Jayne and Larry Charlamb $118 Loren Cohn $118 Stuart Cohen $300 Barbara and Leslie Davis $36 Gary and Arlene Davis $118 Arthur Diamond $54 Diamond Dolores $18 Jonathan and Aveeya Dinkin $360 Lewis and Elaine Dubroff $250 Kevin Dushay $200 Jane Elkin $18 Lawrence Ellison $100 Margret Ksander and Richard Ellison $54 Robert Ellison $36 Mark and Marci Erlebacher $118 Iris Evans $36

Betty Feinberg $36 Florence Feldman $54 Mark and Sue Field $54 Robert Finkelstein $36 Harley and Nadzieja Finkelstein $118 Sandra Rappaport Fiske and Jordan Fiske $36 Evelyn Fox $18 Heidi and David Francey $118 Judith Franklin $360 Howard Friedman $118 Pauline Friedman $36 Linda Fuhrman $36 Boris and Yelena Geyman $36 Victor and Harlene Gilels $36 Rosalind Gingold $54 Sandra K. Gingold $360 Seymour and Anne Ginsburg $10 Victor and Carol Ginsky $118 Marvin Goldenberg $500 Lois Goldberg $360 Norma Goldberg $118 Ellen Golden $36 Harry Goldman $54 Dr. David Grass $54 Asher and Joanne Greenhouse $36 Hannah Groskin $36 Norma Groskin $54 Sylvia Groskin $20 Victor and Celaine Hershdorfer $300 Carol Davis Hershman $118 Yaacov and Sharon Glazier Hochstein $54 Alex and Chuckie Holstein $360 Sara Isgur $18 Jewish Federation of CNY $10,000 Lee and Lori, and Rose Kalin/Franklin $270 Sheldon and Mateele Kall $1,000 Louise Koppelman $36 Tess and Allen Kosoff $118 David and Betty Kravetz $18

Judy Laffer $36 Adrienne LeBlang $118 Elliott Lessen $118 Mark and Jeannette Levinsohn $36 Marilyn Levy $54 Larry Liberman $25 Marilyn Lipsy $36 Robin and Bud London $500 Ronald and Heidi Lowenstein $360 Elinor Lynne $36 Howard and Margo Lynne $36 Bobbi and Cliff Malzman $36 Arnold and Marilyn Manheim $118 Martin and Ruth Mann $100 Stan and Helen Marcum $36 Julia Hafftka Marshall and David Marshall $54 Shush Martin $36 Peter and Nancy Matlow $100 Meryl Novor-Meadvin and Michael Meadvin $118 Regina Meadvin $54 Stephen and Elaine Meltzer $118 Judi and Larry Metzger $36 Daniel Miller $36 Robert and Carole Millstein $36 Randie Mosenthal $18 Marilyn Novins $118 Eileen Phillips $500 Todd and Sarah Pinsky $500 Marilyn Pinsky $118 Stephanie Pinsky $118 Lynn Raichelson $100 Joseph and Dale Roth $36 Sandra and Eli Roth $36 David and Susan Rothenberg $180 Larry Rothenberg $118 Ada Rothschild $36 Ellen Rothschild $118 Mel and Madeline Rubenstein $54 Richard Rudolph $36

Sharon Schloss $54 In memory of Elaine Schwartz $118 Sandra and Phillip Schwartz $54 Steven and Laurie Segal $54 Bertram C. Serling $36 Marla and Steve Share $36 Michael and Amy Shaw $36 Melvyn Shindler $360 Bette and Don Siegel $36 David and Barbara Simon $54 Robert and Harriet Silverman $54 Paul Silverstein $136 Steven and Robin Sisskind $500 Malcolm and Sandra Smith $36 Sally Sokolsky $54 Murray and Carole Solomon $25 Estate of Avron Spector $10,000 Seymour Spevak $54 Judith Stander $36 Arthur and Dorothy Steinberg $36 Carol and Peter Steinberg Yaffe $54 Richard and Pamela Strauss $36 Barbara Sutton $36 Syracuse Jewish Children’s Foundation $1,000 Reva Tankle $118 Sandy and Delia Temes $108 Louis Orbach and Anastasia Urtz $54 Greta Vogel $118 Steve and Fran Volinsky $100 Irving Wagner $54 Larry and Lynn Wallace $118 Ruth Wandner $36 Anita and Howard Weinberger $100 Allan Weinreb $54 Roslyn Wilkins $36 Milton and Shir-Lee Ziegler $54 Sandra Ziegler $100 Marsha and Aaron Zimmerman $100

For more information or to make a donation, contact Bill Berinstein at 472-6341 or williamberinstein@hotmail.com

Yes, I want to support the SJCA and help preserve these sacred spaces by making a donation today.

Enclosed is our tax-deductible contribution to the SJCA: ¨ $36 ¨ $54 ¨ $118 ¨ $360 ¨ $500 ¨ $1,000 ¨ $5,000 ¨ $ OTHER Name:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ Email:__________________________________________________________________ ¨ Mark here if you want your contribution to remain anonymous and do not want your name and donation to appear in The Jewish Observer of Central New York. * Your personal information will not be distributed to third parties for marketing purposes.

Please mail to: Syracuse Jewish Cemeteries Association, Inc., PO Box 741, DeWitt, NY 13214

Burial of ritual items

Books and ritual items will be buried in the upper parking lot of Beth El Cemetery on Monday, November 4, at 8 am.

Syracuse Hebrew Day School fifth and sixth grade students will participate in the ritual burial. Anyone with ritual books or other ritual items needing burial should bring them to the cemetery that morning.

For more information, contact Steven Sisskind at 4464848.

NEWS IN bRIEF From JTA

It’s official: Flug is first female to head Bank of Israel

Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved the appointment of Karnit Flug as Bank of Israel governor, making her the first woman in the post. The Cabinet on Oct. 27 gave its support to the nomination by Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Several days earlier, an advisory panel chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel backed Flug for the position. The deputy governor since July 2011, Flug has been serving as acting governor since Stanley Fischer stepped down on June 30.

Fischer recommended Flug to be his replacement. “Karnit Flug has the appropriate background and experience, and she has fulfilled her position in recent months very well,” Netanyahu said in a statement following the approval. “In addition to the fact that we are successfully navigating the Israeli economy in the face of the global crisis, Israel’s economic leadership must continue to advance growth and employment, increase exports and lower housing prices.”

Her appointment comes after two would-be appointees withdrew their names from the nomination after embarrassing personal information came to light. Lawrence Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary and president of Harvard University, also reportedly turned down the post earlier in October. Flug had resigned from her position after being passed over to replace Fischer.

TC

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Scholar Series Louis Kriesberg will speak on Monday, November 11, at 6 pm, about the “Implications for American Foreign Policy of the Constructive Conflict Approach” as part of the Temple Concord Scholar Series, which presents free, one-hour programs featuring professors from Syracuse University and other schools who are experts on politics, health, science and culture. Donations will be appreciated.

His approach purports that conflicts are “inevitable and often beneficial.” He argues that they can be waged “constructively, because they can be conducted non-coercively to a large degree” and that they are “socially constructed and are subject to transformation.” The ideas and practices of the constructive conflict approach have been increasingly applied, contributing to reducing violence and injustice globally. The implications of these developments will be discussed in the context of considering aspects of American policy in ending the Cold War, and of considering less destructive ways of fighting terrorism and better mediation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Kriesberg, who received his Ph.D. in 1953 at the University of Chicago, is professor emeritus of sociology, Maxwell professor emeritus of social conflict studies and founding director of the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts (1986-94), all at Syracuse University.

While usually held on Tuesdays, the November scholar program will be held on a Monday. The event will be open to the public.

Regina F. Goldenberg Cultural Series to present Dolce Flutes

By Stephanie Marshall The Regina F. Goldenberg Cultural Series will present Dolce Flutes, a professional flute quartet, on Tuesday, November 5, at 7 pm.

Series Chair Vicki Feldman said, “If you have not been to an evening of the Goldenberg Series yet, you don’t know what you are missing.”

The quartet’s performances cover baroque to contemporary musical styles. Goldenberg performances are free of charge, although donations will be appreciated.

Seasoned Citizens Temple Concord seniors will get together on Tuesday, November 19, for the monthly Seasoned Citizens program, coordinated by Janis Martin. They will gather at 2 pm at The Oaks for a program about “Scams to Seniors.”

A representative from the New York State Attorney General’s office will discuss the most recent scams directed toward senior citizens. The public has been invited to attend.

For more information, contact Martin at jmmartin@ twcny.rr.com.