EMUNAH Magazine Fall 2013 by Julie Farkas

Fall 2013/5774

EMUNAH OF AMERICA

PERSONAL PLANNER 2013/2014/5774

just in time to start planning your new year!

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cover and ample space to write in appointments

Information on Jewish holidays,

candle lighting times, Parshiot, and more

Best of all, it also helps support EMUNAH’s vital programs throughout Israel

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Please call the EMUNAH Office at 212.564.9045 ext 301 or go to our website www.emunah.org THANK YOU TO MICHELLE SCHWARTZ, CALENDAR CHAIRMAN whose efforts were invaluable in the creation of this Personal Planner.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Tribute to a Volunteer

olunteering in this country and in Israel is so widespread that it often goes unrecognized. Women, especially, can be counted on to provide services where needed without financial compensation. Organizations such as ours, which depend on donor contributions, are blessed with countless numbers of volunteers. In Israel, volunteers provide a myriad of services in our children’s homes, senior citizen programs and after-school programs. Working alongside the professional staff, they provide the “extras” that enrich the children’s lives, the trips, the museum visits, the special events, the summer outings. Volunteers also act as surrogate grandparents on whom the children rely for conversation, empathy and practical assistance. EMUNAH volunteers in this country are the unsung heroes of our organization. They accept leadership roles and hands-on program planning for national campaigns and events; they open their homes for fund raising events; they devote their time, creativity and energy for our cause, which benefit our children and families in all of our 250 projects in Israel. I would like to pay tribute to one extraordinary volunteer — Faye Reichwald. Three times a year for over 20 years, Faye has produced our noteworthy EMUNAH Magazine. Through her creativity, intelligence and commitment, she has presented the beautiful face of EMUNAH to the world. Faye’s vision elevated our magazine from solely an archive of EMUNAH projects to a fascinating publication about Israel and the Jewish world. Along the way, she shared her deep understanding of the organization and introduced readers to EMUNAH projects. Sadly, this issue of our magazine will be the last in which Faye will serve as Editor-in-Chief. Her decision to retire is deeply regretted by us, but she is confident that the foundation that she has laid, the vision she has so well articulated, will continue to flourish. Faye has asked me to express her appreciation for and continuing friendship with her Editorial Assistant, Graphic Artist and the wonderful writers she fostered throughout the years, to thank the EMUNAH National Office staff for their work, and especially to thank Win Robins, our outstanding volunteer photographer. We wish her well and thank her for her years of dedicated service to EMUNAH. Rosh Hashana gives us the opportunity to look to the future and also to reflect on the past. During the last 12 months, I have had the pleasure of meeting many of our wonderful volunteers and professionals across the country. You inspire me with your commitment to EMUNAH and to our children. I also want to thank all of those who have helped support EMUNAH’s programs with their extraordinary generosity. May the New Year bring health and happiness to each and every member of the EMUNAH family. May it be a year of peace in Israel. Shana Tova! Fran Hirmes EMUNAH National President

EMUNAH

7 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10001 212.564.9045 • info@emunah.org www.emunah.org Published by EMUNAH of America, Sister Organization of EMUNAH National Religious Women’s Organization in Israel

Editor-In-Chief Faye Reichwald Art Director Julie Farkas Editorial Assistant Devorah Jacobowitz

President Fran Hirmes Chairman of the Board Mindy Stein Treasurer Heddy Klein Missions Chairman Melanie Oelbaum Missions Co-Chairman Mindy Stein Executive Vice-President Shirley Singer Executive Director Carol Sufian Director of Communications Rita Goldstone Fiscal Officers Gladys Baruch Shirley Billet Charlotte Dachs Bonnie Eizikovitz Marcia Genuth Eve Groyer Stern Executive Officers Gladys Baruch Debbie Bienenfeld Shirley Billet Charlotte Dachs Bonnie Eizikovitz Sondra H. Fisch Marcia Genuth Elizabeth Gindea Helena Goldstein Anne Gontownik Irene Gottesman Esther Heller Shaynee Kessler Heddy Klein Evie Leifer Melanie Oelbaum Mindy Orlinsky Rosalie Reich Sylvia Schonfeld Beverly Segal Suzanne Segal Arlene Silverstein Eve Groyer Stern National Board Rhonda Avner Shelli Dachs Sheryl Elias Miriam Ellenberg Arlene Fox

Honorary Presidents Eva Adelman* Gladys Baruch Dorothy Bernstein* Lila Bernstein* Shirley Billet Ruth Chernofsky* Chana Cohen Rebecca Cooper* Charlotte Dachs Miriam Federbush* Sondra H. Fisch Sylvia Feine Marcia Genuth Blanche S. Gershbaum* Miriam Karlin* Heddy Klein

Renee Greenspan Aviva Gross Johanna Herskowitz Doris Hirsch Greta Hirmes Annette Kaufman Shelli Kuflik Esther Lerer Chani Lichtiger Lynn Mael Fran Mermelstein Naava Parker Carol Pinewski Lisa Reich Michelle Salig Harriet Saperstein Malkie Scharf Barbara Schreck Karen Spitalnik Amy Spivak Rena Steigman Susan Weinstock Charlotte Liechtung Zaslowsky Myrna Zisman Lest We Forget, Editor Sylvia Rosencranz Jossi Berger Holocaust Study Center Rena Quint, President Anna Grosberg* Doris Hirsch Cecelia Margules Young Leadership Board Hila Abenaim Tali Goldberg Susan Nadritch Elianna Sable Daniella Schertz Collegiate Board Aryana Bibi Mikayla Bibi Adina Eizikovitz Lani Lichtiger Tzippy Quint Michael Reidler Ariella Salkin Rebecca Zagha Development Associates Ronnie Faber, Senior Associate Linda Koegel Ayala Naor Pamela Weiss

Esther Maidenbaum Schreiber* Melanie Oelbaum Rosalie Reich Betty Roseman* Sylvia Schonfeld Beverly Segal Mindy Stein Jean Teichman Renee Weiss Toby Willig Honorary Vice Presidents Sunny Alpert* Ruth Aronowitz* Ruth Block* Ruth Cogan Miriam Diskind* Molly Finkel*

Yetta Geisler* Anna Grosberg* Jennie S. Hall* Eleanor Itzkowitz Lillian Kosowsky* Ann Lipmanowicz Helen Marcus Bernice Mermelstein* Helene Pruslin* Sylvia Rosencranz Roslyn Rothblatt* Ruth Schnall Shirley Silverman Giselle Steigman Rose Templeman Yetta Weg* Honey Weiss Irene Zelikow* * Deceased

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EMUNAH Fall 2013/5774

IN THIS ISSUE

The EMUNAH leadership expresses our gratitude to FAYE REICHWALD, our esteemed Magazine editor, for her years of dedication, creativity and brilliance. Her commitment to developing the EMUNAH Magazine into the publication it is today, has been an inspiration to us all.

4 Member of Knesset Shuli Mualem DEPARTMENTS

By Yael Ehrenpreis Meyer

8 A Second Chance at Parenthood Parent-Child Workshops at Achuzat Sarah

1 President’s Message 16 Elevating the Culture of Israel

By Yael Ehrenpreis Meyer

38 Editor’s Choices

39 EMUNAH News

ON THE COVER

Retrospective of EMUNAH Magazines (partial) from 1992 to 2013 under the editorship of Faye Reichwald

Cover art by Win Robins and EMUNAH College students

12 Shofar Secrets By Gil Marks

Fall 2013/5774

18 Humor for Health By Lili Eylon

22 “Empowering Women” EMUNAH Spring Luncheon 24 An Original Play at the Jerusalem Arts Festival By Gail Lichtman

28 Mameloshn in Israel By Lili Eylon 32 Career Choices for Orthodox Women By Marian Stoltz-Loike, PhD 34 Diamonds: Israel’s Best Friend By Mordechai Beck

Some views expressed in this magazine may not necessarily reflect the policy of the organization, nor do the advertisements represent EMUNAH’s endorsement.

EMUNAH of America is a member of World EMUNAH headquartered in Jerusalem with affiliates in Israel, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Guatemala, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia © 2013 EMUNAH. None of the articles or portions thereof contained in this issue may be copied or reprinted in any form without express written authorization from EMUNAH.

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Member of Knesset

Shuli Mualem By Yael Ehrenpreis Meyer

n January 22, 2013, Israelis went to the polls. They voted in a slate of parties which gave the Knesset a number of “highs”: the highest number of first-timer Members of Knesset (48), the highest number of women (27) and the highest number of reli-

gious MKs (nearly one in three). Shuli Mualem qualified as all three. Shuli, who devoted so much of herself to IDF widows

and orphans, gained entry to the Knesset thanks to IDF soldiers — whose votes pushed her past the threshold necessary for her to enter the Knesset as #12 in the Bayit Yehudi national religious party. During her first few months as a Member of Knesset, Shuli has striven to delineate the specific areas in which she hopes to “make a difference.” “You need to strike a balance,” she explained, “between working on behalf of the entire country and defining who you are and the goals you want to achieve.” This is not the first time that Shuli Mualem has chosen to rise to a challenge. Indeed, this is a woman whose response to a lifetime of awesome challenges has been to devote herself to family, community, and the nation as a whole, a woman who, in her own words, when faced with death, opted to “choose life.”

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Shuli was born in Israel, the eighth of nine children. Her mother, who was pregnant with Shuli when the family left Morocco to settle in Haifa, died when Shuli was fourteen. From then on, her father raised the children and it was he who became her “role model for the integration of Torah v’Avodah.” Back in Morocco, he owned a store that was opened only after his morning prayer-and-Torah study routine,

In June of 2013, the very first law passed by the new Knesset was the one proposed by Shuli Mualem and her colleagues. The new law mandates that at least four women be made part of the elevenmember judge selection committee. The origin of the bill goes back to a Supreme Court case filed by EMUNAH in 2011 to rectify the gender composition of the committee that elects rabbinic court judges for Israel’s bet din system. The June vote followed tumultuous sessions in the Knesset, filibustered by ultra-Orthodox parties. The new law ensures that at least four women will sit on the powerful panel.

“Halachic Judaism was, is, and will always be, my guiding light”

Shuli herself will be one of the four women on the newly reformed rabbinic judge selection committee. Historically, the dayan selection committee was designed to include: two chief rabbis, two rabbinical court judges (these 4 members were by definition always men), two ministers (one of whom was always the justice minister), two Knesset members, and two representatives of the Israel Bar Association. In November 2011, the Bar Association

and closed at one in the afternoon so he could return to the beit midrash. His aliyah did not significantly change that schedule; he took a position at the Haifa municipality that enabled him to leave daily at 2 pm. “My father never relied on anyone else to support him and his family — yet Torah was always his clear priority,” Shuli recalled. “And as the rav of a Sefardi beit knesset, he insisted on strict halachic observance while simultaneously making everyone feel welcome.” After serving in the Israel Defense Forces, Shuli went on to become a nurse and, twenty-three years ago, to marry IDF soldier Moshe Mualem. The couple settled in Be’er Sheva, where she worked as a nurse in the Soroka Hospital and he studied electrical engineering under army auspices. They became the proud parents of two girls. Shuli described this city in Israel’s south as a “community that epitomizes true Torah v’Avodah, where we resided amongst academics, intel-

chose its representatives to the current committee. Both were men. Thus, for the first time, the dayanim selection committee did not include even a single woman. EMUNAH responded to this inequality by filing a petition to the Supreme Court demanding that the committee include women. Other women’s groups joined EMUNAH’s cause, suggesting that a specific number of places be set aside for women. Two new members of Knesset seized this opportunity. Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli of Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid’s Aliza Lavie, both observant women, wrote a bill which would mandate that at least one each of the two ministers, MKs, and Bar Association members, be women, thus ensuring that they constitute at least 3 out of the 10 committee members (as well as adding an 11th spot that would be reserved for a to’enet rabbanit, a female advocate in the beit din system). In co-sponsoring the bill, Shuli Mualem emphasized that halachic Judaism was, is, and will always be, her guiding light, and that her goal here was simply to ensure that the judiciary committee mirrored the real face of Israeli society. “Fifty percent of the population is female,” she said at the committee hearing. “With more women involved in the process, the halacha can be more Jewish.”

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lectuals, and industry experts living as models of true humility.” She also found her community to be extremely supportive when Moshe returned to active combat duty as a battalion commander in the elite Golani unit. Meanwhile, Shuli, a proud member of EMUNAH, established an EMUNAH

‘second-time marriage,’ but a ‘secondtime family’.” This blended family, which included Shuli’s two daughters and Eli’s three children, soon went on to encompass two new additions. Meanwhile, Shuli continued working on behalf of “her” IDF widows and orphans, both internally — offering

She established an EMUNAH Women’s Beit Midrash in Be’er Sheva Women’s Beit Midrash in Be’er Sheva, and also served for a year as rakezet of the city’s EMUNAH chapter. On February 4, 1997, two IDF helicopters collided over the rural She’ar Yashuv moshav in Israel’s Galil region. There were no survivors. The highest ranking of the 73 soldiers killed in the crash was Lt.-Col. Moshe Mualem, commander of the Beaufort battalion. He was 31 years old. “On the night of the accident, I realized that I had to make a choice. And I said: I choose to live. There were many components and ramifications of that choice. It meant choosing to go on; choosing to live a life filled with meaning and purpose. Later I realized it also meant: choosing to marry again.” Ten years ago, Shuli married Eli Rafaeli, a resident of Neve Daniel, forming what she called, “not just a 6 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

support and creating modalities for memorializing the soldiers who were killed — and externally — fighting for their rights. “This is how I got so involved with the Knesset,” Shuli explained to me. “We generated a conversation among our country’s lawmakers of ‘what is it to be a widow’.” Shuli accepted the (voluntary) formal position of deputy and then acting chairman of the Organization of IDF Widows and Orphans seven years ago. Under her leadership, the Organization successfully petitioned the Knesset to change a law that had come to Shuli’s attention several years earlier: “I found out that if I were to marry again I would no longer be recognized as an ‘IDF widow’ nor would I continue to receive that category of State benefits… Now, widows of the IDF and of terror attacks continue to be recog-

nized as such even if we remarry. Our status — and our acknowledgement by the State as such — is forever.” It was during the years of pounding the parliamentary pavement that Shuli came to the conclusion that the Knesset is “where the power is.” If she wished to generate real and lasting change in Israeli society, this wife/ mother/widow/nurse/organizational leader decided, she would have to run for office. Shuli’s primary goals are three-fold: First, she would like to work on behalf of the weaker sectors of society; to that end, she asked to be on the Labor, Welfare and Health Committee. “I aim to see all families in Israel receiving equal opportunities to succeed,” she said, starting with one example — ensuring that children on the periphery receive equivalent medical services. Shuli’s second area of emphasis revolves around women’s issues, “seeing women in positions of decision-making, and ensuring the rights of both working and at-home mothers — and the right of every woman to make that choice for herself.” She also supports rights and benefits as they specifically affect the women of Yehuda and the Shomron. Shuli’s final focus is on “Jewish identity,” regarding issues related to the Chief Rabbinate, Har Habayit, conversion, marriage, and “internal hasbara” — connecting the Jewish people to their Judaism and generating positive Jewish identity nationwide. This Knesset neophyte describes her new workplace as a “fascinating, diverse entity, filled with people who wish to make Israel a better place.” She is well aware of the challenges involved in choosing the Knesset as the venue for her societal goals. “To be a member of Knesset,” concludes MK Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli, “is a gift from Hashem. And we must use this gift for the good of the Torah, the nation and the land of Israel!” A

tEAM

rUN for isrAEl

EMUNAH oN tHE MovE to cHANgE tHE lifE of A cHild iN isrAEl run walk port or sup our n childre

InG MIaMI half Marathon sundAy . FebruAry 2 . 2014 aquaphor nyc triathlon* August 3 . 2014 Proceeds to benefit: o EMUNAH’s Achuzat Sarah Children’s Home o EMUNAH Florence & Joseph Appleman College of Arts and Technology o EMUNAH’s Bet Elazraki Children’s Home o EMUNAH’s Neve Michael Children’s Home www.EMUNAH.org/MArATHoN teamemunahusa@gmail.com or contact Ronnie FabeR 201.370.6597 faberronnie4@gmail.com *Limited space avaiLabLe

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Photos by Win Robins

A Second Chance at Parenthood

Parent-Child Workshops AT ACHUZAT SARAH

chuzat Sarah Director Shmuel Ron and his wife Ita, the “parents” of this remarkable EMUNAH Children’s Home, strongly believe that biological parents should continue to play an active role in raising their sons and daughters to adulthood. “We see the relationship as a triangle: child-Home-parents,” Ita Ron explained. “We want to emphasize to parents: we are not here to replace you; we are here to be your partners.” For two decades, Ita has been directing parent-child workshops at Achuzat Sarah. 8 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

By Yael Ehrenpreis Meyer It may seem counterintuitive for children to want a relationship with parents who mistreated them; conversely, it may seem unlikely that these parents would want to bond with their children. But Ellen Toby Kaufman, an EMUNAH volunteer who plays an active role in Achuzat Sarah, explains, “Some say: Why would you encourage an abusive father to see his kid? Of course, their ‘togetherness times’ are conducted with the upmost supervision and care. Children need to resolve family issues within themselves — and if they never saw the parent again it would remain unresolved forever.

While it would often be easier,” she said, “to leave the parents out of their kids’ lives,” that would not be best thing for the children themselves. “By interacting with their parents, the children learn to accept them for who they are, to see that their mother is trying, that their father cares — that their parents love them — even if they rarely successfully express it.” Ita, who, in her decades as “mother” to the Home’s children, has found that nearly every child, even one who has been neglected or abused, yearns for h i s o w n m o t h e r a n d f a t h e r. Paradoxically, they may simultaneously

resent their parents for “abandoning” them, particularly in the case of younger children who often don’t understand why they have been removed from their family. Ita has seen that, when children are not given the opportunity to rebuild a relationship with their parents, their resentment towards their parents, and the resulting self-esteem and trust issues that often develop, are never resolved. So, despite the many practical and emotional challenges involved, Ita and her staff leave no stone unturned in the effort to overcome resistance of either (or both) the child or parents and reengage family members with one another. Parents, too, suffer from a devastating blow to their self-confidence when their children are taken away, explained Ita. They are frequently berated by other family members. “Why did you let them take away your children?” they ask. Is it any surprise that they view themselves as failures! So, the parents also benefit from the

Children need to resolve family issues within themselves

Meirav

eirav arrived at the Achuzat Sarah Children’s Home when she was nine years old. Three years later, her father, Ilan, began to attend the Fathers-Children Work Group, one of the parenting workshops run regularly by Ita Ron for the last twenty-one years. Each time Ilan would come — he rarely missed a session — he and his daughter would sit in the same room engaged in that evening’s “joint” project. But not only did father and daughter not work together, they did not even converse. In fact, they made no contact with each other at all. And when it came time for the fathers to join their children for dinner, Meirav’s father always excused himself, saying he could not stay. Slowly but surely, however, as months turned into years, tiny steps forward began to be evident. Ilan asked to stay to dinner — though he and his daughter never sat together. They began to do the workshop activity together — but without speaking. And then one day, four years after he first began attending the workshops, Ilan arrived at Achuzat Sarah — and ran into his 16-year-old daughter’s welcome embrace. “My father never missed a mifgash (meeting),” Meirav explained to the astonished onlookers. “What does that tell you,” she asked rhetorically. “I came always for my daughter,” Ilan replied. “He never gave up on me!” Merav reiterated, as father and daughter walked into the workshop together. emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 9

workshops; they get a “second chance” to be parents. The parents benefit personally as well, as these groups often provide their first-ever opportunity to deal with their own childhood traumas and adult conflicts. Facing their own issues head-on empowers these men and women to take control of their own lives, both as individuals and as parents. Parents are encouraged to attend workshops consistently and to inform their child personally if they are unable to come — in short, to take parental responsibility. Sometimes parents will not — or cannot — get there; Achuzat Sarah will even send cabs to bring the parents when necessary and the dinner afterwards serves also as a “selling point” for the many disadvantaged individuals who make up the parent body. “This is something that was clearly missing when their child lived at home,” Ita noted. “Now that the child is with us, the parents can take advantage of their depressurized home

Liat

hree years ago, sixteen-year-old Liat came to live in the Home. Her divorced mother remained at home, raising the girl’s younger sister. “Our invitation to the mother to join our Mother-Child workshop met with a great deal of resistance,” said Ita. She told us that, when Liat comes for a weekend at home, she goes straight upstairs and stays in her room, speaking only with her sister but never addressing her mother. Once, the mother got so frustrated that she simply walked out of the house, leaving her two daughters to fend for themselves for the rest of Shabbat. Finally, this year ‘Ima’ was persuaded to attend the group – and she came every single time, even though her daughter would not even look in her direction. At the end of the year, we held our final parent-child get-together of the year in a national park. Lo and behold! ‘Ima’ was sitting on the bench stroking her daughter’s hair, who lay with her head in her mother’s lap. Liat saw that we were stunned, and she explained: “You don’t know how much it meant to me that my mother refused to give up on me even though I would not speak to her. And now, I once again have a mother, and my mother once again has me.” Liat was crying as she spoke. Her mother wept beside her. And, admitted Ita Ron, “I was crying, too.” 10 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

environment — to take a breath and start taking as much responsibility as they can. Nothing makes us happier,” she added, “when parents have enough confidence in themselves — and in us — to criticize us for some aspect of our care for their child. Now they are acting like parents!” The parenting workshops follow a specific routine. A trained parenting counselor, Ita runs the separate mothers and fathers groups with the aid of social workers Gila Cohen and Shmaia Bracher. Each group meets every two weeks. For the first half hour, the parents and children meet over light refreshments. The children then go off

with their counselors, while the parents remain with Ita and the social worker for the next hour-and-a-half. Within the context of a “dynamic group,” the parents are encouraged to raise issues and concerns that they wish to discuss, while the staff facilitates and guides the discussion. They discuss their feelings of failure as parents, the difficulty of giving up their children, family dynamics and their own childhood. The children then rejoin their parents for a joint activity. The goal of this game, craft project or outdoor activity, is to restore trust, to build a connection and to show children how much their parents want to form a relationship

11.16

Parents, too, suffer when their children are taken away

emunah BeneFit dinner

with them. Afterwards, parents and children eat dinner together. “We encourage the parents to use dinnertime to create a new dynamic with their children,” Ita emphasized. Even with the best efforts of the Home staff, the process is a gradual one. There are multiple layers of anguish to uncover: children’s anger at their parents for mistreating them intermingles with pain that their parents were “willing” to give them up and anger at the Home for depriving them of their parents; parents mistrust of the Home for “taking away” their children and their guilt for the poor parenting that ultimately lost them the right to raise their own family. No matter what the challenges, the Home staff is committed to walking the very fine line of bringing the parent back into the child’s life while ensuring that the child’s welfare remains paramount. Their efforts continue to bear fruit, transforming the lives of the Home’s children, and their parents. A

saturday evening at the sheraton ny times square hotel, nyc

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shofar

ews are encouraged to enhance the commandments though hiddur mitzvah (beautifying ritual objects) without passing into excessiveness and pretentiousness: “Make a beautiful sukkah in His honor, a beautiful lulav, a beautiful shofar…” The truly crucial aspect of a shofar (and a human being) is the inside. A shofar is created by extracting the bone core and drilling and shaping the mouthpiece. The Hebrew word for horn, or anything shaped like a horn (i.e. the four corners of the Temple’s altar and the beams of light emanating from Moses’ head), is keren. A shofar is a hollowed-out horn with the tip removed. The word shofar probably derived from the Hebrew shfr (to hollow out). Ramban (Derasha Le-Rosh Hashanah) associates shofar with shipur/shefer (to improve/enhance), connoting its developed status into a musical instrument (and its ability to

Every shofar is unique both in appearance and sound By Gil Marks improve listeners). The Midrash also viewed shofar as meaning “improved.” It is related to shafrah/shafar (beauty/pleasing) and the name Shifra; Rashi explains “because she meshapehret (beautified) the newborn infant.” And indeed a shofar is a hollowed-out, enhanced, and beautified horn. The Mishnah notes: “Whatsoever has horns has hoofs.” Therefore, any animal with true horns capable of being transformed into a shofar is by nature kosher. Horns, affected by hormones, develop in annual cycles. During the late spring and summer, in response to the approaching rut (a recurrent period of sexual excitement in male ruminants in conjunction with oestrus in females), growth once again slows then ceases, while the tissue layer firms. In some species, only males have horns. When females do sprout horns, they are typically smaller and straighter than those of males. Horns are intended in nature for defense and for males to intimidate rivals for females. The strength and prowess of the animal is embodied by the size of its horns. Most horns, following the contour of the inner bone, are curved in shape or coiled into a spiral, but always with pointed tips. Species that headbutt (like sheep and ibexes) have massive curved horns. Those species that horn-wrestle are prone to elegant upward spiraling projections. Short, smooth horns (such as antelopes) are used for stabbing or jousting; these types are not particularly useful for making shofars. To withstand full-force headbutting (20 to 40 m.p.h.) during rutting, horns

S e c r e t s

Gil Marks, a regular contributor to this magazine, is the award-winning author of numerous books, including the new highlyproclaimed Encyclopedia of Jewish Food and Olive Trees and Honey. 12 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

are incredibly hard. Headbutting, however, can result in chipping and cracking, which can lead to unkosher shofars; if a shofar can’t hold water (leaks), it is not acceptable for the Jewish ritual. Ancient humans did not like to waste and tried to find a use for every part of an animal. They discovered that, after Bovidae horns were detached from the skull, the bone core could, with some effort, be removed, leaving a hollow and waterproof shell. Animal horns decay, even more rapidly in the earth, and, therefore, none have survived from biblical times. An 18.5-inch-long ivory horn (see similar Ezekiel 27:15) from the 14th century BCE discovered at Megiddo attests to the presence of horns at that time. The hollowed horns were used to carry liquids (e.g. Samuel I 16:1) or powders. Ancient people also discovered that, if the tip of the hollow horn was cut off and they blew through the small end a certain way, a shrill loud chromatic sound could be produced. This proved incredibly useful at a time when longdistance and mass communication was otherwise limited or non-existent. Once, it could take more than three months to craft a shofar by hand. Today, the general practice is to boil the horn in water for one to five hours to weaken the tissue or to use an electric drill. Any clinging remnants of the connective tissue are removed from the interior, accomplished by scraping

If a shofar can’t hold water, it is not acceptable for the Jewish ritual

and scrubbing. Cleaning out the bone and tissues properly results in improved sound. With modern machinery, a shofar is typically finished in about an hour and a half. The exact nature of the mouthpiece drilled into the tip varies among traditions; in general, the smaller the shofar, the smaller the mouthpiece and the more difficult to play. The Talmud forbids turning a shofar inside out and “even if you widened the narrow part and narrowed the wide part…we require the shofar to be of the shape in which it is “V-ha’avarta [Leviticus 25:9],” ‘carried along’”). The text’s use of v-ha’avarta is considered derekh ha’avatato (the way it is formed) must be in accord with the horn’s original form. Mizrachi communities generally used a ram’s horn, but most forbade changing its shape (based on Siddur Saadia Gaon), which also alters the natural sound of the shofar. On the other hand, some Sefardim use flattened, straight shofars, which were easier to hide during the Inquisition and other persecutions in Spain when shofars were forbidden. Ashkenazim commonly straighten part of a ram’s

horns to more easily drill the hole in the tip to reach the hollow interior, the result resembling the shape of the letter vav — straight shaft with a small curve on top. This expresses the Talmud’s explanation that the shape of the shofar reflects the character of the day: on Rosh Hashanah a person should approach God humbly and with bent posture, while on the Yovel (Jubilee) upright as free men. The finished shofar can be left with a rough, natural exterior, but is usually sanded and polished to a high sheen. Like new cars, a pristine shofar frequently has a distinct “new shofar” smell that fades with time and usage. Every shofar is unique both in appearance and sound. They are dramatically long or concisely short. Although horns for carrying liquids can be patched, those intended for making a shofar cannot be cracked or punctured all the way through or on the inside (where it would affect the sound), rotted, or with the keratin layer too thin. Any imperfection on the outside of a shofar that does not go all the way through is allowable.

Honey Shofars

(about 30 4-inch or 70 2 ½ inch) ½ cup vegetable shortening 2¼ cup all purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup honey 1 tsp baking soda ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the shortening and honey to a boil over medium heat for 1 minute. Let cool. 2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir into honey mixture. Form into a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm for at least 1 hour. 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 4. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into shofar shapes. Place on ungreased baking sheet. 5. Bake until lightly colored about 12 minutes. Let cookies stand until firm for about 1 minute, then remove to a rack and let cool completely.

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Throughout history, domesticated male sheep were generally killed and eaten before or upon reaching full size, furnishing a sizeable supply of shofars. Today, with the breeding of sheep without horns, the frequent removal of those that do have them when young, and the widespread practice of artificial insemination, the supply of sheep horns has become greatly reduced. In Israel, most sheep horns are imported (sometimes with cores intact) from

Morocco and China, while in America the majority come from Jamaican and Hallal butchers. Most shofar makers have a few carefully guarded and passed-down secrets to their craft. A shofar, unlike matzah or tefillin, does not require the manufacturing process to be for the sake of the commandment (lishmah) or for the manufacturer to be Jewish or the animal to be ritually slaughtered. There were times and places in history

when and where shofars were made by non-Jews. Today, Arabs in Morocco still produce some shofars. (Recently, some of the finished shofars from Morocco were found to be glued with polyester, which renders them unacceptable.) There are two main shops in Israel producing most of the world’s finished shofars under rabbinical supervision. A

EMUNAH of AMEricA & the Jossi Berger holocaust study center, invite you to a

K r i s TA L L NA c H T

coMMEMorATioN cErEMoNY Tuesday Evening | November 5 | 7:30 P.M. 5th Avenue synagogue | 5 east 62nd st, nyc

“KEEPiNG THE MEMorY ALiVE” Paying tribute to the memory of

ANNA GrosbErG A”H

co-chair of the Jossi Berger holocaust study center

Featuring sigmund rolat-guest speaker

chairman of the Museum of Polish Jews north american council

Winners of the annual JbHsc essay contest will be announced For more information call 212.564.9045 ext 306 or www.emunah.org cecelia Margules | chairman Doris Hirsch & Mindy stein | co-chairman fran Hirmes | national President shirley singer | executive Vice President Carol Sufian | executive director

14 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

if there is a will there is a way! WILLS & BEQUESTS are greatly appreciated and constitute an extremely important source of support for EMUNAH’s continuing work.

PErPEtUAtE yoUr liFEtiME oF dEvotioN to EMUNAH’s CHildrEN including eMunah in your will is an eternal expression of a lifetime devoted to caring for those in need. future generations will continue to benefit from your devotion and foresight today. a plaque will be erected at an eMunah facility to acknowledge your gift.

To help you in planning your bequesT, we suggesT The following legally accepTable language: “I give and bequeath to EMUNAH of America, 7 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10001, for discretionary use in carrying out its aims and purposes, (the sum of $ ____) OR (a sum equal to ____% of the value of my gross estate at the time of my death under this will or any codicil hereto).” For more information about the EMUNAH Planned Giving Program call 212.564.9045 ext 315

CAll Us AboUt PlANNEd GiviNG, ANNUitiEs, Wills ANd bEqUEsts 212.564.9045 Ext. 315 WWW.EMUNAH.orG FrAN HirMEs, NAtioNAl PrEsidENt | EvE GroyEr stErN, CHAirMAN

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 15

ELEVATING THE CULTURE

For the second consecutive year, a student of the EMUNAH Florence and Joseph Appleman College of Art and Technology Department of Graphic Design won Israel’s national contest for designing the official poster for Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day. Shani Tzadok, the winner, also designed the winning poster for the official celebration of Shaarei Tzedek’s 110th anniversary.

The Hebrew University’s Department of Early Childhood Education has commissioned students of the EMUNAH College to design the posters, web site and animated films for a new campaign they are promoting to encourage young children to eat more fruit and vegetables. The Snonit Foundation was set up by Israel’s Channel 2 TV in order to encourage young film makers. A student of the Department of Graphic Design was the winner in this year’s contest for a film she made on the Jews of the Gerba community in Tunisia.

With a new minister taking his post after the elections, the Ministry of Education decided that this was a good reason to brighten up their offices and redesign the entrance corridor of the Department for Teachers’ Education. They turned to the Department of Graphic Design at the EMUNAH Florence and Joseph Appleman College of Art and Technology and are thrilled with the results; the corridor has become a welcoming and attractive space filled with colorful typography works of the students.

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OF ISRAEL Rachel Tauber, a graduate of the Harry and Bina School of Fine Art at the EMUNAH College, exhibited her work this year at the prestigious Efrat Gallery in Tel Aviv. In a fascinating exhibition called “Altars and People,” Tauber displayed 20 stone sculptures of “altars” she created in recent years. Each altar represents the heart of a person she is close to, and portrays his values, emotions, desires and dreams. In the words of the artist: “You can know who a person is by what he is willing to sacrifice for HaKadosh Baruch Hu.” Tauber, a mother of five and living in the orthodox community of Elad, is careful to create only what is halachically acceptable. In a recent interview in a Haredi newspaper, she praised the EMUNAH College for giving her the opportunity to study sculpture within a Torah framework and under the guidance and supervision of the college Rabbi. Among Tauber’s well-known works is a ceramic sculpture wall in Neve Yaar in Jerusalem, an oil painting that hangs at the Wolfson Judaic Museum, and a 10-foot stone monument, “Honi’s Circle” in the city park of Elad which is a memorial to a soldier from the city who fell in Operation Defensive Shield. By Adele Roffman

The Chief Rabbinate has decided that its Kashrut department is in need of a new look! Their natural partner was the EMUNAH Florence and Joseph Appleman College of Art and Technology whose students have been commissioned to design for them new symbols, hechsher stamps and logos.

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 17

Photo courtesy of Maya Ben David

Humor

The arrival of a good clown exercises a more beneficial influence upon the health of a town than 20 asses laden with drugs.

By Lili Eylon

for Health

— Thomas Sydenham, medieval philosopher

Photo courtesy of Sharei Zedek Medical Center

Photo courtesy of the Alyn Pediatric and Adolescence Rehabilitation Center

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ore recently, Groucho Marx expressed the same sentiment a bit differently: “A clown is like an aspirin, only he works twice as fast.” Israel has taken heed. A new and expanding professional discipline has been introduced in the country’s hospitals medical clowns. Much more than entertainers, these unique clowns, not to be found outside of hospitals — not in a circus nor on the theater stage, ply their trade exclusively for sick people. Most of the medical clowns are products of a project called “Dream Doctors,” launched in Israel in 2002.

Photo courtesy of the Alyn Pediatric and Adolescence Rehabilitation Center

At first, there were only two clowns in one hospital. Today, the number has grown to close to 100 men and women in no fewer than 20 medical institutions throughout the country. They go by names like Cinderella, Marshmallow, Piccolo, Dr. Jacko and similar appellations from Never-Never Land. They are generally mature men and women in their thirties, often with a background in theater or social work. They dress in outlandish clothes and wherever they go, provoke a smile. With their ubiquitous red bulbs of a nose, silly costumes, and a bag of tricks, both visible and hidden, they succeed in distracting patients, mainly children, but also at-risk youths, and adults suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. These medical clowns represent a new profession, and are, in effect, integral members of their institution’s medical teams, accompanying and working closely with doctors, nurses, physical therapists, social workers and parents. Among their skills, they count medical and nursing knowledge as well as artistic and psychological aptitude. Above all, they possess patience and empathy and know how to “put themselves in the patient's shoes.” A number of researchers have delved into the study of the therapeutic influence of laughter. Studies show that by reducing stress hormones, laughter literally lessens patients’ feelings of anxiety, has been shown to reduce pain, and, in effect, actually to increase immunity. At the Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, a team of six doctors and seventeen nurses conducted a 6-month study on the impact of medical clowning on anxiety levels of hospitalized children. They discovered that humor, “that ancient secret weapon,” as delivered by the medical clowns, distracts patients from pain, helps remove barriers and empowers children to deal with pain and fears. A child accompanied by a clown shows fewer post-

The aim is to speed patients’ recovery by making them laugh

PICCOLO AND DR. JACKO Piccolo and Dr. Jacko are a team at Shaarei Zedek Medical Center. Wherever they appear, they generate instant smiles. In one of the wards of the pediatric neurology clinic, Piccolo indicates to a mentally challenged child to give him (Piccolo) a push. The child just touches him and the clown falls back. His clown-partner, Dr. Jacko, tries to pull him up and, to the child's obvious merriment, himself ends up lying on the floor. Not only did the child keep playing this trick and keep giggling, (and feeling powerful), his mother was laughing, with tears running down her cheeks. The husband who had been present, later revealed to the clowns that his wife was a nurse who had worked all night and the clowning caused her a first real release from the tension of being with her own sick child.

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traumatic stress symptoms than one without a clown. Thus, a child can often be discharged from the hospital earlier than originally planned. “We have a new challenge with every case,” says Piccolo, who holds a B.A. in social work and an M.A. in Expressive Therapies from the Lesley College Extension in Israel. “When we walk into a room, we size up the situation and act accordingly. You know,” he smiles, “we have clown power. For instance, we need not depend on language; whether the patient knows only Russian, Arabic or Amharic, we find a way to him.” Actually, much of the time, the clowns use a gibberish which

becomes a “secret language” in his act between himself and his partner, the child. (The gibberish suggests the clown is “not from here” – he is a creature from some other world.) “The idea is to empower the children to let them make their own decisions,” explains Maya who studied games, clowning and theater in the Tel Aviv Seminary for two years. “Don’t forget, the children are fasting; they are hungry and anxious. We medical clowns — there are three of us in this hospital, each giving 3 hours twice a week — try to relax them, make them happy and forget why they are here. I usually put myself in the child's posi-

tion and act out what he feels. I can play anger, being frightened or hurt. We turn it all into a game.” In this kind of atmosphere, the children get the feeling that they are in an active kindergarten rather than in a depressing hospital room. Jacko adds, “The other day I saw one of the doctors singing and blowing bubbles at a child’s bedside. I thought to myself, he is my spiritual companion. Not only do we learn from doctors, but they are learning from us.” He sees medical clowning as a means for crisis intervention. “Some doctors actually depend on us, often call us to come along with them.”

MAYA Dressed in a white and red polka dot outfit, a wide brimmed Mexican straw hat decorated with artificial flowers, one green shoe and one red, Maya is busy plying her craft in the pre-operation waiting room of Hadassah Hospital on Mount Herzl. Four-year-old Talia, her eyes shining with anticipation, wants to know whether Maya has brought a musical instrument. In an instant, Maya retrieves a mini-xylophone, asks Talia which song to play and a chorus of two soon resounds in the room. The child's enthusiasm grows, and she begins to dance. At the other end of the room, little Racheli, aged 5, is getting ready to go up to the operating room. So that there will be no surprises, a nurse brings a pair of pajamas in which she will be dressed upstairs. Racheli turns her head – she does not want them. "I want these pajamas. Could I please have these pajamas?" pipes up Maya. No, she is told, only children get these. Maya's pleading is persistent but does not succeed. She asks the child whether she could have her pajamas. By then, the child sees that the item must be something valuable, desirable, and begins to like the idea that she alone will be clad in these flower-decorated pants and jacket. In the pre-operating room, just before the child will receive her anesthesia, Maya pulls out a mock mask, places it on her own mouth and tries to sing through it, but asks the child for help. The little one puts on a similar mask and the two blend their voices through the plastic mouth coverings. The real mask which will be placed on her will no longer be a strange, fear-generating object. Together with the nurse, Maya accompanies Racheli to the room where she will get her sleep-inducing injection. But before it takes effect, she hears a story and blows bubbles. Only once she is drugged does Maya tiptoe out.

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Photo courtesy of Alyn Center

Photo by Ziv Koren

Photo courtesy of the Alyn Pediatric and Adolesc ence Rehabilitation

A new profession as an official part of the Israel healthcare system Professor Yehiel Schlesinger, head of the pediatric division in Shaare Zedek, agrees, adding, “We are grateful; the clowns have become indispensable. Theirs is a significant modality to help children get over anxiety in various procedures, be it in surgery, dialysis, endoscopy or anesthesia, and many others.” The doctor says that the work of the medical clowns creates better communication between the child and the physician. Cinderella performs her tricks at the Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petach Tikva, where medical clowns are called gelotologists. “The doctors deal with the illness, we deal with the person,” she comments. “While the doctors treat the sick part, we deal with the healthy part. We never ask, ‘how are you?’ or ‘why are you here’? Like so many of her colleagues, she is enthusiastic about what she has chosen to do and she sometimes gives lectures to doctors.

For Sigalit at the Alyn Rehabilitation Center in Jerusalem, work is somewhat different from that of her colleagues. At Alyn, where the young patients sometimes stay for months, mutual strong ties are developed between them. Herself the mother of two children, she also has close ties with the family, the psychologist and the physical therapist. “I work on the trauma of both the child and the family, on both their physical and emotional needs,” Sigalit says. Some of the Israeli clown practitioners are graduates of a Bachelor ’s Degree program (2006-2009) offered by Haifa University’s Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies, the only such academic course offered anywhere. Father of the idea was Ya’acov Shriqui, head of the Dream Doctors’ Project; creator of the unique full-time pilot program was head of the Haifa University’s Theater Department

Professor Atay Citron. Recently, a 6-month, 80-hour course opened at Assaf Harofe Hospital in Tzrifin, near Tel Aviv. Because the academic program was restricted to Hebrew speakers and Israel wanted to interchange ideas with foreign practitioners in the field, Professor Citron organized The First Advanced Medical Clowning International Summer Seminar at the University of Haifa in July 2012, with international participation of medical clowns, doctors and nurses from many countries. Professor Citron and his team are currently preparing the program for a second seminar in the summer of 2014. Israel is not the only country where medical clowning has taken root. Similar programs are in use in a number of European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada and Australia. But Israel is the only country that has raised the discipline to a profession and made it an official part of the health care system. In keeping with its policy of international help wherever needed, medical clowns from Israel volunteered recently, traveling to the disaster zones of Haiti and Thailand to cheer young earthquake and tsunami victims. A emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 21

“Empowering Women” EMUNAH

Spring Luncheon “ A profession, economic independence, broad education – these are the

needs of the hour for the woman in Israel…The days that a woman sat with folded hands and was content with mundane roles have passed.”

— From the diary of Rabbanit Sara Herzog, 5740 (1980) – one of EMUNAH’s founders

MUNAH today represents the new Religious Zionist woman in Israel — the contemporary Eshet Chayil who combines family life, education, career and volunteerism with the goal of strengthening family culture, and advancing the economic status, education and rights of women in Israel. EMUNAH women have the energy and the will to meet the challenges that today’s society presents. As a tribute to six exceptional women in this country who exemplify the values of EMUNAH, the Spring Luncheon was held in their honor. A dynamic crowd filled the ballroom at the Westin Grand Central Hotel in New

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York. The event lauded these women who have achieved noteworthy accomplishments in their chosen fields: Dr. Merryl H. Tisch, Guest of Honor and Speaker; Miriam Arond, Debbie Davidman, Vicky Harari, Miriam Morgenstern and Felicia Zwebner. In welcoming the honorees, National President Fran Hirmes noted that “women like our honorees serve to inspire other women, motivating them to succeed in their chosen fields.” She observed that EMUNAH has been at the forefront, since l935, of empowering women in Israel. “Our honorees today exemplify our mission,” she said. Dr. Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, is the

first woman to hold that position. She reflected on the impact of her background on who she has become. “I was raised in a Jewish home with good Jewish values — a home filled with emunah-faith — and was taught that it is not enough to be successful in your career, but that you have a responsibility to give back as well.” Dr. Tisch has distinguished herself by her leadership of numerous charitable causes, through national policy positions, and in her illustrious career in education. Miriam Arond is Director of Research at Good Housekeeping Institute and former editor-in-chief from 2000 to 2007 of Child Magazine. She serves on the National Board of Trustees of the March of Dimes

Foundation and has been an adjunct professor in magazine publishing at New York University. Debbie Davidman is a Principal of Marks Paneth & Shron LLP (MP&S), a leading national accounting, tax and consulting firm in New York. One of the firm’s first female partners/principals, she holds multiple roles within the firm, all of which focus on the integration of technology and finance. Vicky Harari, a registered nurse and school psychologist, has advanced training in cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnotherapy and EMDR. She has a private practice, working predominantly with the Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jewish communities of

Brooklyn. She is also the rabbanit of Kol Israel Congregation. Miriam Morgenstern is the VP Publisher f o r M . S h a n k e n Communications, publisher of Wine Spectator, issued 15 times a year with 2.8 million readers and reaching business leaders, trendsetters, epicureans and connoisseurs. It offers an insider’s view of the good life — fine dining, wine, travel and entertainment. Felicia Zwebner founded her interior design firm, Art de Triomphe, 15 years ago. She has been featured in such national magazines as Traditional Home, as well as on TV in NBC’s Open House and HGTV’s Selling NY. She is a featured Designer at the 2013 Kips Bay Show House.

Karen Spitalnick and Rena Steigman, Spring Luncheon chairmen, presented the honorees with a magnificent papercut created by renowned artist, Noa Attias, a graduate of the EMUNAH Florence and Joseph Appleman College of Art and Technology in Jerusalem. EMUNAH has grown into a vast network of projects throughout Israel “but we have never lost sight of the fact that this was the result of the work of dynamic women with vision,” said Fran Hirmes, in thanking the honorees. Funding raised at the Luncheon benefits EMUNAH programs which provide vital services to girls, women and families in Israel. A By Rita Goldstone

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 23

An Original Play at the

By Gail Lichtman

or the first time, students from the Sunny and Max Howard Drama Department of the EMUNAH Florence and Joseph Appleman College of Art and Technology in Jerusalem performed in the city-wide Jerusalem Arts Festival alongside professional theater troupes. Third-year students gave two performances of a thought-provoking original play called "Kisufim" (Longing) — a fictionalized account of the Gush Katif eviction — as part of the Festival, and a dozen additional performances at the College. Every performance played to packed audiences and was enthusiastically received.

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Malki (Zonenfeld) Miller, head of the drama department and director of “Kisufim,” explained that, “The Festival organizers approached us and invited us to take part, having verified that we meet their professional standards. They even agreed to a women-only performance — something that is unusual for the Festival. Since the play involves singing and dancing, and we have students who do not perform in front of men, we play to women-only audiences.” A decade-and-a-half ago, such a performance — by religious women — would have been inconceivable. Before the EMUNAH College drama department was established, there had been no framework for religious women to study theater.

“Our drama department is a genuine startup," notes Miller. “We offer total academic and professional education in theater to create an intelligent, creative woman with values. This is our uniqueness. Everything we do has rabbinical approval. Because of our department, the subject of theater has come to life in religious circles. We have brought to the theater new characters and messages that the general Israeli theater usually doesn’t present.” "The producer of ‘Kisufim’ is a recent graduate, the sound-and-light crew, current students and some of our teachers are former students," Miller says with obvious pride. “I integrate our graduates into our productions because they are the very best in their fields.”

Jerusalem Arts Festival The idea for an original play about the Gush Katif eviction began to germinate seven years ago, before the actual eviction. “I became intrigued by the fate of the evacuees,” explains playwright Iris Shavit, who teaches at the College. “I saw something that was not right — what happened during the eviction and afterwards. At first, I thought of writing a documentary about the event. I visited a kibbutz near Haifa where Gush Katif evacuees had gone to live. I am originally from a kibbutz, and I believed that the original kibbutz settlers were similar to today's settlers. Both built their communities for love of Eretz Israel and the value of settling the land. But I found that things were not working out. It was hard

for the kibbutzniks to accept the families from Gush Katif even though the kibbutz was on the verge of falling apart and the new families could have saved it. Today,

kibbutz but not integrating. “The reaction I got from students and teachers was entirely unexpected. They said: ‘We don't want to present it.’ It was just too painful,

The subject of theater has come to life in religious circles kibbutz values and those of the ex-Gush Katif residents are just too far apart.” Shavit then wrote a realistic play depicting the experience of living in a

too close to home for them.” Miller pointed out that two students in the third-year program had lived in Gush Katif. A number of students and staff had emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 25

gone to live there in the final weeks or months in protest against the eviction. “It was just emotionally too much for the performers and, we felt, it would be too much for the audience as well,” she said.

which deals with a refugee family from an unnamed war in an unnamed country. It was decided to move the setting of “Kisufim” to a fictionalized place sometime in the future and focus on the uni-

A universal rather than a specific theme communicates our message to a wide audience Maya Kaufman, a third-year student, recalls the event. “I was 15 at the time and went to Morag to try to prevent the eviction. I went through a real crisis. I truly believed that something would happen to prevent it. The scars from this are still with me.” The students suggested that Shavit create something more universal — more distant — like Brecht's “Mother Courage and Her Children,” 26 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

versal problem of those forced to leave their homes and the longing to return. The characters in the play are refugees, wandering from place to place within their own country. They long to return to their lost communities and to their spiritual Maayan Haim (Spring of Life). They are trying to survive, pitted against a hostile, faceless entity called “the Administration.” Finally, they find

shelter in an old, decaying village and begin to have hope for a life based on their values of spiritual connection to the land and nature. They even have the hope of one day returning to their original villages. “The students and I really enjoyed creating a new culture for the characters,” Shavit notes. “Since the theme was now universal, it could be understood on a number of levels.” To prepare for their roles, the 30 student actors, in two casts of 15 each, interviewed former Gush Katif residents, women soldiers who took part in the eviction and protesters who came to the Gush. Shavit was aided in writing the play by two teachers at the College, Rabbi Yehoshua Wieder and Sara Moraly. Rabbi Wieder, who teaches Judaism and Judaism and Art, explains that, “We want our plays to express our values as Jews. When rewriting the play, the question arose as to why Jews should deal with this topic in a universal, and not a specifically, Jewish way? The reason is that spirituality

The College’s four-year program offers a Bachelor's Degree with theater specialization, as well as a teaching certificate. Students study acting, directing, producing, writing, psychodrama, community theater, critical viewing and choreography, along with lighting, costumes and everything involved in staging productions. At the end of every year, the students stage one production. Third- and fourth-year productions are open to the public. Starting with 12 students 17 years ago, the department has grown to 130 students from a wide range of religious backgrounds, including a few Haredi women.

belongs to all of us. What you have in the play is the quest for Maayan Haim.” Sara Moraly, who teaches Play Analysis and Values Education Through Theater, helped Shavit with structure as well as

decaying village. The play speaks to those concerned about both spirituality and ecology. There are different levels of viewing the message. It becomes not just about left and right. If we made it specifically

We bring new characters and messages usually not present in Israeli theater content. She also contributed an original poem about Gush Katif, which was set to music and was one of the songs performed. “The decision to go for the universal rather than the specific enables the audience to look at the play from different angles,” she relates. “You have the conflict between those who are close to the land and nature, versus those whose lives are materialistic, i.e. the population of the

about the Gush, those who agreed with the eviction would still agree to it and those who didn’t would still oppose it. This way, the audience is being challenged to think about what it means to expel people from their homes.” Part of that challenge was met through taking part in the Festival. This enabled the students to reach a broader audience than those who normally attend perfor-

mances at the College. The moral dilemmas were presented to women not so familiar with the Gush Katif refugees and their problems in a non-political, thought-provoking manner. Working behind the scenes was producer Judit Ouvdel Mangistoo, who graduated last year from the department. "I was responsible for making sure all the ends came together — for translating Iris’ vision into a stage production," she recalls. “We have very real space limitations at the College because we do not have a real theater. At first, I felt limited but found a way to use the small space to help present the ideas. But then we had the performances at the Festival in a real theater. Once again, I had to work out how to transform the production to a larger area, while maintaining its integrity. In the end, I think we succeeded. We communicated our message to a wide audience and we did it well. Two of the stagehands at the Festival told us that ours was the best show they had seen at the Festival in a long time.” A emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 27

Mameloshn

In ISRAEL By Lili Eylon

nce the lingua franca of some 11 million people, and although the Nazis killed the great part of those who spoke it, and UNESCO has categorized it as a “definitely endangered language,” Yiddish nevertheless is very much alive and growing in Israel. Many Israelis today are returning to their roots and Yiddish is experiencing an upswing, both in academic, cultural and government circles. 28 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

Although Yiddish had been the tongue of the early founders of the State, the language was seen as a threat to efforts to meld a motley Jewish population from diverse lands into one Israeli nation. Alliance schools wanted French to be the language of instruction, and the Haifa Technion weighed establishing German as its teaching tool. Yiddish symbolized the Jew of the shtetl, at a time when the ideal was the brawny pioneer, the sunburned defender of the country. As the

language of the Galut, Yiddish competed with the fragile newly-revived Hebrew of the fledgling state. Street posters exhorted citizens to speak Hebrew, Yiddish newspapers and theater were banned, and government representatives were required to Hebraize their surnames. The trial of Adolf Eichmann brought about a new understanding as Israelis listened daily to survivors’ testimonies. They began to grasp the horrors of their European brothers’ fate and

for the first time spoke openly about the Holocaust. The stigma of Yiddish began to fade. Later, in the l970’s, the Black Panthers, a group from Middle Eastern countries, began to demand respect for their heritage and Israeli leaders faced the fact that the country was a multicultural entity, and that, in tandem with “Israeliness” went the unique cultural “baggage” immigrants had brought from their “old countries.” Chava Turniansky, Mexico-born Professor Emerita of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, one of the greatest scholars of Yiddish today, was the recent recipient of the prestigious Israel Prize. She does not call the phenomenon of an intensified interest in Yiddish a “renaissance” because, she says, it would imply that it had been previously dead. Although Yiddish will never be the language of the masses, she says, it never was dead. UltraOrthodox Jews have always used Yiddish as their daily language, she points out, but notes that “except for children’s stories, they do not write books and they do not research the language or create new words.” Professor Turniansky’s doctoral students are researching an interesting variety of topics: One is studying Yiddish as spoken today in Mea Shearim and Bnei Brak. Another is researching Jewish women who wrote in newspapers in the Russian empire, while yet another is studying the revival of Yiddish culture in postWorld War II DP camps. “Imagine,” she exclaims, “three weeks after they were liberated from concentration camps, they had already organized a Yiddish newspaper!” The Professor herself is currently investigating “historical songs,” a special genre of

poems prevalent in l7th and l8th century Poland, Germany, Bohemia and Moravia which, in lieu of newspapers, described events, “usually of the disaster kind, i.e. fire, trials, expulsions.” Bella Bryks-Klein is a passionate Yiddishist and the daughter of renowned Yiddish writer Rachmil Bryks, author of several fictional histories about Auschwitz and the Lodz ghetto w h e re h e h a d spent four years. Speaking Yiddish as a child (“We were not allowed to speak English at home”), she has now set for her goal continuing her father ’s work. Ms. Klein, who grew up in New York, is the Israel representative of The Forward and the Director of the Arbeter-Ring Yiddish Cultural Center and Library in Tel Aviv. A human dynamo, she, in effect, is a one-stop

powerhouse of knowledge on all that is happening in the country in Yiddish. Every month she compiles and distributes to some 600 subscribers information on her e-bulletin, “Vos?” Ven? Vu?” (What?When?Where?), precise news of Yiddish events in the country. While some older Israelis still have feelings of nostalgia about Yiddish and the “old country,” the new interest in the language and culture is not limited to them. Nelly Shub, for example, a housewife whose knowledge of Yiddish stems merely from overhearing snatches of conversations her Vilna-born husband has with his friends, was motivated to deepen her knowledge. She registered for a course of lectures on Yiddish literature given by Dr.Mordechai Yushkovsky and is so committed that she is now in her third semester. Yaad Biran, 36, born in Petach Tivka, is doing his doctorate and working as a tour guide. Along with his work in Hebrew and English, he also conducts Yiddish-speaking

Every town from north to south offers Yiddish courses

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 29

groups on Yiddish-focused city walks in Tel Aviv. Dubbed “between Yiddishland and Altneuland,” the talks feature such writers as Sholem Asch and Haim Nachman Bialik and such organizations as the Bund and Poalei Zion, along with the satiric performances of Dzigan and Schumacher. Young people, including teenagers, are also turning to Yiddish. A recent item in Haaretz reported that 500 high school students this year – an increase of 20 percent over previous years – are taking a matriculation exam in Yiddish! “Yiddish is a real gift for me,” declares 29-year-old Shira Tobiak, a native of Hadera, who is currently working on an MA in comparative literature, comparing Hebrew and Yiddish poetry of the l950’s. Jerusalem-born 24-year-old Ronnie Mazal “so much liked the stories of Peretz and Shalom Aleichem,” (which she had read in Hebrew), that she chose Yiddish instead of French or Arabic in high school. “I see things through a different prism now,“ claims Ronnie, who is soon to receive her BA in Yiddish. She already has a job in her field, compiling for Bet Shalom Aleichem Yiddish newspapers of the last century in the United States. She is currently investigating the socialist monthly Zukunft (Future) from the year 1916, with its articles on politics, workers’ movements, poetry cum commentary and novels in installments. Today, each of the major universities offers Yiddish courses. So does every town, from north to south, in schools, cultural centers or homes. Yiddish festivals, community sing-alongs, standup comedy and concerts can be found in abundance all over the country. At Bet Shalom Aleichem, no fewer than 300 students regularly attend daily Yiddish language and literature classes and group readings from Yiddish literature. Professor Avraham Noverstern, head of the institution named after the famed Yiddish writer, as well as other speakers, regularly participate in its activities. The Arbeter30 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

Ring, Bryks-Klein’s workplace, has a library of 40,000 volumes of Yiddish writing on daily loan. It also produces “Lebns-fragen” (Life Questions), a periodical edited by Itzchok Luden. Bet Leivik, named after a famous Yiddish poet, is home to the Association of Yiddish Writers and Journalists and

Schumacher and Pesach Bursztyn; Pesach’s son Mike and veteran actress Lia Koenig still grace the Yiddish stage. In l996, the Knesset passed the Yiddish and Ladino Heritage Law recognizing the languages’ importance to Jewish culture and the need to preserve them. At the same time, it

“…. a treasure belonging to all of humanity” offers classes, plays and lectures. Its Chairman is Argentine-born violinist and composer Daniel Galay. While most of the Yiddish activities take place in Tel Aviv and north of it, Jerusalem, too, is on the Yiddish map. The Yiddish Culture Society is located on the capital’s Shalom Aleichem Street and recently presented Itzik Manger ’s “Di Megille.” The Jung Yiddish club, created by Belgian-born Mendy Cahan, offers weekly programs of debates, poetry readings and theatrical performances. He has collected books for his Jerusalem and Tel Aviv libraries, produced a CD called “Der Yiddish Express,” and travels to Lithuania and Poland to perform Yiddish plays to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. A major contribution to the Yiddish theater is “Yiddishpiel,” founded in l987 by Shmuel Atzmon, who received an honorary doctorate from Bar Ilan University this year. Together with Shmuel Rudensky and Shmulik Segal (both deceased), the “three Shmuliks” brought pleasure to thousands in Israel with their musicals, comedies and dramas. Some past Yiddish theater stars include the comic team of Dzigan and

established the National Authority for Yiddish and Ladino. In 2002 the postal services issued stamps honoring Yiddish and Ladino. This was a

far cry from the early beginnings of Yiddish in Israel. Today, many agree with Chava Turniansky who notes that “Yiddish and Hebrew are twins; they are both part of the Judaic civilization, which, like the Greek and Roman civilizations, is a treasure belonging to all of humanity.” A

EMunaH of america

Y e s h i va B r e a k F a m i l y va c a t i o n t o i s r a e l

January 16-25, 2014 rabbi Jacob J. schacter Scholar-in-residence

inbal hotel/ Jerusalem, sheraton Tel aviv &Tower & kibbutz Lavi

Mission includes: • r/T transfer with group flights • 6 nights at Inbal hotel Jerusalem Daily breakfast, 2 Friday night dinners & 1 Shabbat lunch • 1 night Sheraton Tel aviv & Tower Includes: Breakfast • 2 nights Kibbutz Lavi Includes: Breakfast & Dinner daily • Mid-week dinner at an EMunaH Children’s Home • Hotel tax • Lectures by rabbi Jacob J. Schacter • a 6 day exciting touring program for the whole family! for itinerary & registration go to www.eMunah.org/schacter

for further inforMation Please call: Emunah Conference Department 212-947-5454 Debbie x321 & haley x320 email Debbie@emunah.org, haley@emunah.org DEPOSIT OF $200 P/PErSOn WILL COnFIrM yOur rESErVaTIOn. $50 IS nOnrEFunDaBLE. PaYMeNT OF 50% is DUe BY sePT 16. FULL PaYMeNT DUe DeCeMBer 1. aFTEr TICKETS arE ISSuED, EL aL CanCELLaTIOn FEES WILL aPPLy. HOTEL CanCELLaTIOn FEES WILL aLSO aPPLy.

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 31

Career Choices

for Orthodox Women By Marian Stoltz-Loike, PhD

“Undecided” is a popular major for college students

ow should young Orthodox career-focused women today choose their majors in college, their career paths, and even how long to remain in school? These are by no means easy decisions and they may have repercussions for many years. One factor that may contribute to decision-making is the pressure on many Orthodox women to complete college quickly. Many young women in the Orthodox community are today marrying young and it is common to find undergraduate married women on college campuses in New York. Some students feel the pressure of time passing and sense that they do not have the luxury of exploring a variety of career paths while in college. Instead, they become task-oriented from the time they enter college. They pursue a course of study, graduate expeditiously, and move on. Ideally, passion should drive the choice of a woman’s career but it is not always her primary determinant.

Marian Stoltz-Loike, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Online Education at Touro College and Dean of the Lander College for Women – the Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School, an undergraduate division of Touro College. She received her Ph. D. in Experimental Psychology from New York University and her BA in Psychology and Social Relations from Harvard University. 32 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

Several years ago, a young woman enrolled in post-baccalaureate courses in the sciences in order to apply to graduate school for occupational therapy. As an undergraduate, she explained, she had majored in accounting because she had been advised that accounting was the right career for her and would serve her well in the future. Her passion had been to become a physician, but she took this advice. “I didn’t get married

Some women across the spectrum of Orthodoxy have, indeed, made diverse and interesting career choices. One can find Chassidic and Beis Yaakov students enrolled at Harvard, Georgetown and other law schools. In seminaries in Israel, students regularly inquire about career paths: biomedical or mechanical engineering, computer science and medicine, along with the more traditional career paths in nursing, accounting, the therapies, and education.

Early career decisions may have repercussions until I was twenty-seven,” she said wistfully. “I could have finished medical school and my internship and been part way through my residency by the time I was married.” Over the past decade, young Orthodox women have been pursuing higher education because they assume that they will work for some time before and after they are married. These expectations are often driven by economic necessity. Today few couples can manage on a single salary, and the economic health of their family will require a dual-career couple. In some cases, husbands will learn in yeshiva for a number of years and their wives will be the primary breadwinners.

Choosing undergraduate majors and making career decisions are challenges for many young women. In the past, college-age students typically spent four years in high school and then four years in college. That model no longer works for many students. Many in yeshiva high schools today take Advanced Placement courses in pursuit of “sophomore” standing when entering college, or take college level courses in their senior year in high school which enable them to fast-track their college education. Many high school graduates go to Israel after high school, studying in seminaries which provide additional college credits. This means that, for many students, four years in college may not be required

for graduation. When students graduate from college in two or three years, they may not feel they have had enough time to explore career options or make decisions on a future career. When students expect to spend thirty years or more in a career, their early decisions may come back to haunt them, as was the case of the above-mentioned student who wished to be a doctor. Obviously, it is fortunate when a student’s self-knowledge enables her to follow her passion, choose a major sensibly, and be frank about goals, as well as her strengths and weaknesses. However, the time spent as an undergraduate may not necessarily prepare a student for such certainty. It is crucial, therefore, that before applying to graduate school, more time be given to exploring her options. By seeking internships in college and employment after college, preferably in the field of her choice, the road to making wise decisions may become clearer. Students with job experience are more attractive candidates for graduate and professional schools, as well as to potential employers. As Orthodox Jewish women, commitment to family values and Torah values will often define how young women pursue their careers. When a young woman has the full picture of her professional strengths, religious needs and a true appreciation of what would be involved in a given career, she can make an insightful, educated and fulfilling decision. A

yeshiva break family mission january 15-25, 2014

with rabbi jacob j. schacter-scholar in residence For reservations and more info call: 212.947.5454 Debbie x321 & Haley x320, F 212.947.5326 debbie@emunah.org haley@emunah.org www.emunah.org EMUNAH- Building a Jewish future in Israel, one child, one family at a time emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 33

D I A M O N D S

 ISRAEL’S BEST FRIEND



By Mordechai Beck

he diamond industry in Israel today directly employs 20,000 people and many thousands more indirectly, such as in tourism, banking, aviation, communications and security. There are also branches of the Israeli industry for polishing in Africa, Russia, China, India and throughout the Far East, and marketing offices in, among other cities, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Antwerp, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Mumbai. This adds another 35,000 people employed by the Israeli industry, with the number growing as more offices and factories are opened.

34 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

although it remains the country’s number one export, topping even the highly prestigious high-tech industries, earning 7.2 billion dollars in



Begun inauspiciously in the l930’s, when two bedraggled refugees from Antwerp arrived in Palestine with bags of rough diamonds in their pockets, they looked for help and found it in Oved Ben Ami, mayor of Netanya, a small city built to prevent Arabs from claiming the land between Tel Aviv and Haifa. All they needed, they said, was “sunlight, labor, and tools.” With the Nazis set to invade Belgium and Holland, wisdom dictated moving the diamond cutting and polishing industry out of Europe. Although only a few merchants made it to Palestine, the pre-State love affair with these precious stones began. Among those who also participated in the early years of the industry were Jews from Central Asia — Bukharans — who, in l938 joined Belgian Jews in the study of diamonds and excelled in diamond cutting and polishing. Under t h e c h a i r m a n s h i p o f Av r a h a m Emunueli, they established their company near an agricultural settlement in Beit Yitzhak, near Netanya. The Bukharans were traditionally urban dwellers and often worked communally, teaching the trade to others of their community until they were eventually integrated into the wider industry. The paradox at the center of the Israeli diamond industry is that,

the country’s number one export is totally bereft of even one natural diamond!

 2011, it is totally bereft of even one natural diamond!! Buying, cutting, selling, polishing and selling diamonds and other precious stones rep-

resent Israel’s contribution to the industry. Although India and China are involved today in cutting and polishing, Israel’s high-tech method using laser and their preference for larger stones puts them at the top of the industry. In the 1960’s, a trade association was established which later evolved into the famous Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE). The first location of the Ramat Gan Diamond Bourse was in the 22-story Shimshon Tower which at the time was one of the tallest buildings in Israel. During the l980’s, the Maccabi Tower and the Noam Tower were constructed, and in 1992, the tallest building in the complex was opened, the 32-story Diamond Tower. Under the presidency of Moshe Schnitzer, between l967 and 1993, the IDE grew rapidly. The IDE, one of the largest and most sophisticated diamond centers in the world, operates under the concept of “all under one roof.” Four interconnected high-rise buildings form a virtually impenetrable fortress. Connected internally by pedestrian bridges and an advanced security system, it is the largest diamond trading floor in the world, housing more than 1,200 private offices and with about 15,000 people each day passing through the complex.

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 35

etter There is no b rate way to celeb h or zva your Bar Mit in Israel Bat Mitzvah NAH U than with EM

36 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org



In explaining Israel’s pre-eminence in the field, Professor Barak Richman has observed that “the diamond industry is based on trust and the dealers have a vested interest in protecting their good name.” Furthermore, he notes, many of the dealers are members of the ultra-Orthodox sects which are known for their close knit ties and their inter-dependence. The desire to advance from their original work as polishers to become diamond dealers added to the impetus to succeed. One success story is that of Lev Leviev who came from Uzbekistan to Israel in 1971 when he was fifteen years old. He worked as an apprentice in a diamond polishing plant and after serving in the Israel Defense Forces, established his own plant. Leviev is a major philanthropist for Jewish causes in Eastern Europe and Israel. Investing also in real estate, he has been chairman of Africa-Israel. Jews have been intimately involved with diamonds for hundreds of years. For many centuries, when India was the only producer of diamonds, Jewish merchants transported them across the Middle East to Europe. Sefardi dealers set up in Lisbon but with the expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492, they emigrated with their goods to, among other places, Amsterdam and Antwerp. Their “portable” baggage could be ready at a moment’s notice to accompany them to safer territory.

The Diamond Center operates “all under one roof"



Although diamonds were traditionally used to adorn aristocrats, their discovery in South Africa in the l860’s opened the field to a wider market. The powerful DeBeers company hired a public relations firm which came up with the slogan: “Diamonds are Forever. They never lose their value.” It became so successful that diamond rings became de rigeur for prospective brides. Among the buildings of the Israel Diamond Exchange is the Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Museum, named in honor of the late head of DeBeers in appreciation for his help in achieving Israel’s immense prestige in the industry. Open to the public, three multi-media presentations explain the world of diamonds — how they are mined and sorted and worked from rough stones into gems and quality diamonds. An exhibition offers brilliant displays of diamonds and gems of all shapes, colors and sizes. Opened in l986, it also serves as an archive of the changes in the industry and the source of interesting information on how prices are decided on and how the names for diamonds were selected. Displayed are polished diamonds of different shapes, colors and sizes, and diamond jewelry. It is a fascinating museum which endorses the view that, for now, diamonds are Israel’s best friend. A

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‫‪ith Emunah‬‬

‫‪& Friends,‬‬

‫מספר שערי דמעה‬

‫יְהִי רָצֹון ִמ ּלְפָנ ֶיָך ה' אֱֹלקֵינּו ו ֵאֹלקֵי אֲבֹותֵינּו‪,‬‬ ‫ׁשֶי ִּהְיּו מְזֹונֹותַי ּופַרְנ ָ ָסתִי ּומְזֹונֹות ּופַרְנָסַת ְּבנ ֵי‬ ‫ׂשרָאֵל‪,‬‬ ‫בֵיתִי עִם מְזֹונֹות ּופַרְנָסַת כָּל ַע ְמָּך ֵבּית יִ ְ‬ ‫תים ּומֻ ְצ ּדָקִים ְבּיָדְָך‪ ,‬וְאַל ַּת ְצרִיכֵנִי‬ ‫מֻכְ ָּתרִים ּו ְמאֻ ָּמ ִ‬ ‫אם‬ ‫לִידֵי ַמ ְּתנ ַת ָּבׂשָר וָדָם ו ְֹלא לִידֵי ַהלְו ָ ָאתָם‪ ,‬כִּי ִ‬ ‫לְיָדְָך ַה ְּמלֵאָה ַהּפְתּוחָה‪ַ ,‬הקְּדֹוׁשָה ו ְ ַהרְ ָחבָה‪ּ .‬ו ְתהֵא‬ ‫ְמלַאכְתִי וְכֹל ֲע ָסקַי לִ ְברָכָה ו ְֹלא לַעֲנִּיּות‪ ,‬לְחַי ִּים‬ ‫ׁשמַיִם עַל י ָדִי‪.‬‬ ‫ו ְֹלא לְמָו ֶת‪ּ ,‬ותְזַכֵּנִי ׁשֶֹּלא י ִ ְת ַחלֵּל ׁשֵם ָ‬ ‫ׁשּפִיעִים טֹוב לְכֹל ָאדָם‬ ‫ו ְ ֶאהְי ֶה ִמן הַּמֹועִילִים ּו ַמ ְ‬ ‫ׂש ְּבעֵנּו מִּטּובֶָך‪ ,‬כְּמֹו‬ ‫ָּתמִיד‪ּ ,‬ו ְת ַמלֵּא יָדִי ִמ ּבִרְכֹותֶיָך ו ְ ַ‬ ‫ׁש ָעׂשִי ָת לְיֹו ְצאֵי ִמ ְצרַיִם‪ ,‬כִּי ַא ָתּה ה' ֵּברַכְ ָּת ּו ְמ ָברְֵך‬ ‫ֶ‬ ‫ׂש ֵבּרּו‪ ,‬ו ְ ַא ָתּה נֹותֵן לָהֶם‬ ‫לְעֹולָם‪ .‬עֵינ ֵי ֹכּל ֵאלֶיָך י ְ ַ‬ ‫ׂשבִּי ַע לְכָל‬ ‫אֶת ָאכְלָם ְּבעִּתֹו‪ּ ,‬פֹו ֵת ַח אֶת יָדֶָך‪ּ ,‬ו ַמ ְ‬ ‫ׁשלְֵך עַל ה' י ְ ָהבְָך ו ְהּוא יְכַלְ ּכְלֶָך‪ֹ ,‬לא‬ ‫חַי רָצֹון‪ַ .‬ה ְ‬ ‫י ִ ֵתּן לְעֹולָם מֹוט לַ ַּצדִּיק‪ .‬ו ְ ַא ֶתּן נְׁשָמֹות ַהקְּדֹוׁשֹות‬ ‫ו ְ ַה ְטּהֹורֹות‪ַ ,‬ה ֲעּתִירּו אֶל ה' ַּב ֲעדִי ּובִגְלָלִי‪ ,‬יָרִים‬ ‫ׁשלֵם‬ ‫קַרְנִי ו ְיַגְבִּי ַּה מַז ָּלִי‪ ,‬לְ ַמעַן אּוכַל לְ ָעבְדֹו ְּבלֵבָב ָ‬ ‫כָּל יָמַי לְעֹולָם‪ָ ,‬אמֵן‪:‬‬

‫‪ve partnered w‬‬

‫‪Dear Family‬‬ ‫ְּתפִילָה עַל ַהּפַרְנָסָה‪:‬‬

‫’‪r wedding, we‬‬

‫‪In honor of ou‬‬

‫מהרב החיד"א זצ"ל‬

‫‪AH Flore‬‬

‫ְּתפִילָה לְ ְברִיאּות‬ ‫רִּבֹונֹו ׁשֶל עֹולָם‪ְּ ,‬ברַ ֲחמֶיָך ּתֵן ּבָנּו ֹּכ ַח ְברִיאּות‬ ‫וִי ֹכלֶת ַמ ְספִּיק‪ ,‬וְחֹז ֶק ו ְ ֹאמֶץ ְּב ֵא ָברֵינּו וְגִידֵנּו ו ְגּופֵנּו‬ ‫ארַע לָנּו ׁשּום מִחּוׁש‬ ‫ׁשמָר‪ ,‬ו ְֹלא י ֶ ֱ‬ ‫לַ ֲעמֹד עַל ַה ִּמ ְ‬ ‫ׂש ֵמחִים ו ְטֹובִים ּו ְברִיאִים‬ ‫ו ְׁשּום ּכְאֵב‪ ,‬ו ְנִהְי ֶה ְ‬ ‫לַעֲבֹודָתֶָך ּולְיִרְ ָאתֶָך‪ .‬ו ְ ַת ִצּילֵנּו ִמכָּל רַע‪ .‬ו ְ ַת ֲארִיְך‬ ‫יָמֵינּו ַבּּטֹוב ּוׁשְנֹותֵינּו ַּבנ ְּעִימִים‪ּ ,‬ו ַמלֵּא ׁשְנֹותֵינּו‪,‬‬ ‫ֹארְֶך יָמִים ּוׁשְנֹות חַי ִּים ּתֹוסִיף לָנּו לַעֲבֹודָתֶָך‪ּ .‬ו ְבצֵל‬ ‫ּכְנָפֶיָך ַּת ְס ִתּירֵנּו‪ .‬ו ְ ַת ִצּילֵנּו לָנּו ּולְכָל ְּבנ ֵי ֵבּיתֵנּו ִמכָּל‬ ‫ׁש ֲאנ ַנִים‪,‬‬ ‫ׁשקֵטִים ו ְ ַ‬ ‫ג ְּז ֵרֹות קָׁשֹות וְרָעֹות‪ .‬ו ְנִהְי ֶה ְ‬ ‫ּדְׁשֵנִים וְרַ ֲענ ַנִים‪ ,‬לַעֲבֹודָתְָך ּולְיִרְ ָאתֶָך‪.‬‬

‫ה ְמצֵא ָת זִּוּוגֹו לְ ָאדָם‬ ‫ׁש ִ‬ ‫אמֶת ו ְיִרְאַת ֵחטְא‪ ,‬כְּמֹו ֶ‬ ‫ו ְ ַאנְׁשֵי ֱ‬ ‫ָהרִאׁשֹון‪ ,‬לְ ַא ְברָהָם ו ְי ִ ְצחָק ו ְי ַ ֲעקֹב ּו ֹמׁשֶה‪ ,‬כָּל ֶאחָד‬ ‫ׁש ַּתמְצִיא לִי לְזִּוּוגִי‬ ‫זִּוּוגֹו ְבּעִּתֹו ּובִזְמַּנֹו‪ .‬ו ְאֹותֹו אִיׁש ֶ‬ ‫יְהֵא‪ :‬אִיׁש‪kf‬‬ ‫‪ֶn‬ה‪ְּ j‬ב ַמ ֲעׂשָיו ַּבעַל ַמ ֲעׂשִים‬ ‫טֹוב‪ֵ,‬ן‪v,‬אא‪ִn‬יׁשִיׁש‪a‬נ ָ ַמא ְ ‪j‬‬ ‫‪i,‬‬ ‫‪f‬ק‪ִk‬ים‪v,‬רֹוד‬ ‫ֵא ‪u‬אֱֹל‬ ‫ׂשכִּיל וִיר‬ ‫טֹובִים‪ַּ ,‬בעַל ח‬ ‫‪ֵuz‬ף‪vf‬‬ ‫ׁשמֶץ פְּסּול ּומּום‬ ‫ְצדָקָה ו ְגֹומֵל ֶחסֶד‪ .‬ו ְֹלא יְהֵא ּבֹו ֶ‬ ‫ּופְג ָם‪ ,‬ו ְֹלא יְהֵא ּכַ ֲעסָן וְרַג ְז ָן‪ ,‬רַק ַּבעַל ֲענָו ָה ּונְמִיכּות‬ ‫רּוחַ‪ָּ ,‬ברִיא ּו ַבעַל ֹּכחַ‪ .‬וְאַל י ְ ַעכֵּב ַאכְזָרִּיּות ַה ְּברִּיֹות‬ ‫ו ְׂשֹונְאִים ּו ַמ ְחׁשְבֹותֵיהֶם ו ְ ַתחְּבּולֹותֵיהֶם לְ ַעכֵּב אֶת‬ ‫הג ְיֹון לִבִּי‬ ‫א ְמרֵי פִי ו ְ ֶ‬ ‫ֶבּן זּוגִי הַהּוכַן לִי‪ .‬יִהְיּו לְרָצֹון ִ‬ ‫לְפָנ ֶיָך‪ ,‬ה' צּורִי ו ְ ֹג ֲאלִי‪:‬‬

‫‪jk‬‬

‫‪,ukue van‬‬

‫תפילה להצלחת הבנים‬ ‫מספר התחינות והבקשות‬

‫אירִים‬ ‫רִּבֹונֹו ׁשֶל עֹולָם‪ :‬זַכֵּנּו שֶי ִּהְיּו ָּבנ ֵינּו ְמ ִ‬ ‫ׂשכְלָם‪ַּ ,‬ב ֲעלֵי מִּדֹות‬ ‫ַבּּתֹורָה‪ ,‬ו ְיִהְיּו ְּברִיאִים ְבּגּופָם ו ְ ִ‬ ‫שמָּה‪ .‬וְתֵן לָהֶם חַי ִּים‬ ‫טֹובֹות‪ ,‬עֹו ְסקִים ַבּּתֹורָה לִ ְ‬ ‫אֲרּוכִּים ו ְטֹובִים‪ ,‬ו ְיִהְיּו מְמּו ּלָאִים ַבּּתֹורָה ּו ְב ָחכְמָה‬ ‫שמַיִם‪ ,‬ו ְיִהְיּו אֲהּובִים לְ ַמעְלָה וְנ ֶ ְחמָדִים‬ ‫ּובְיִרְאַת ָ‬ ‫לְ ַמ ָטּה‪ .‬ו ְ ַתצִילֵם ֵמעַי ִן ָהרַע ּומִי ֵּצֶר ָהרַע ּו ִמכָּל מִינ ֵי‬ ‫ּפּורְעָנּויֹות‪ ,‬ו ְיִהְיּו לָהֶם חּושִים ְּברִיאִים לַעֲבֹודָתְָך‪.‬‬ ‫ש ִתּי וְאֶת ַּב ֲעלִי)‪,‬‬ ‫ו ְזַכֵּנּו ְּברַ ֲחמֶיָך ָהרַבִּים‪( ,‬וְאֶת ִא ְ‬ ‫ׁשנ ָה)‬ ‫ׁש ְבעִים ָ‬ ‫ש ְּת ַמלֵּא ִמ ְספַּר יָמֵינּו (עַד מְלאֹות ִ‬ ‫ֶ‬ ‫ַבּּטֹוב ּו ַבּנְעִימִים‪ ,‬ו ְ ַא ֲהבָה וְשָלֹום‪ ,‬ו ְנִזְכֶּה לְגַדֵּל ָּבנ ֵינּו‬ ‫ּובְנֹותֵינּו לְּתֹורָה‪ ,‬לְחּופָּה ּולְ ַמ ֲעׂשִים טֹובִים‪ .‬וְתַזְמִין‬ ‫לָהֶם זִיּוּוג ֶֶָם ְּבנ ֵיקַל‪ ,‬ו ְֹלא יֻדְּחּו לִפְנ ֵי ֲא ֵחרִים חַס‬ ‫וְשָלֹום‪ּ .‬ו ָברְֵך ַמ ֲעׂשֵה יָדֵינּו לִ ֵתּן לָהֶם ֹמהַר ּו ַמ ָתּן‬ ‫שאָנּו ַמ ְבטִיחִים‬ ‫ְּבעַי ִן יָפָה‪ ,‬ו ְנּוכַל לְקַי ֵּם ּכָל מַה ֶּ‬ ‫לִ ֵתּן לָהֶם ְבֹּלא נֶדֶר‪ּ ,‬ולְ ַהׂשִיאָם עִם זִיּוּוג ָם בִּיְמֵי‬ ‫ׂש ְמחָה‪ ,‬ו ְיֹולִידּו ָּבנ ֵינּו‬ ‫ַהּנ ְעּורִים ְּבנַחַת ּו ְברֶו ַח ּו ְב ִ‬ ‫ּובְנֹותֵינּו ּבָנִים טֹובִים ַצדִּיקִים זֹוכִים ּומְזַכִּים‬ ‫ׂשרָאֵל‪ .‬ו ְיִהְיּו ָּבנ ֵינּו ּובְנֹותֵינּו חַיִים וְקַי ָימִים‬ ‫לְכָל י ִ ְ‬ ‫ְּבעֲבֹודָתֶָך ּובְּתֹורָתֶָך ּובְיִרְ ָאתֶָך לְ ֹארְֶך יָמִים וְׁשָנִים‬ ‫טֹובִים ו ְי ִ ְִתרַּבּו צֶא ָצאֵיהֶם עַד סֹוף ּכָל הַדֹורֹות‬ ‫שמְָך ַהג ָּדֹול עַל יָדֵינּו‪ ,‬ו ְֹלא עַל יְדֵי‬ ‫ֹלא יִ ְת ַחלֵל ִ‬ ‫שאֲלֹות לִ ֵבּנּו לְטֹובָה‬ ‫זַרְעֵנּו חַס וְשָלֹום ּו ַמלֵּא כָּל ִמ ְ‬ ‫ּבִ ְברִיאּות‪ְּ ,‬ב ַה ְצלָחָה וְכָל טּוב‪ ,‬ו ְנִזְּכֶה לְ ַהג ְּדִל כְּבֹוד‬ ‫שמְָך ַהג ָּדֹול וְכְבֹוד ּתֹורָתְָך אָנּו ו ְזַרְעֵנּו ו ְזֶרַע זַרְעֵנּו‬ ‫ִ‬ ‫הג ְיֹון לִבִּי לְפָנ ֶיָך ה'‬ ‫ָּתמִיד‪ .‬יִהְיּו לְרָצֹון ִא ְמרֵי פִי ו ְ ֶ‬ ‫צּורִי ו ְגֹו ֲאלִי‪.‬‬

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‫‪ַ212.564.9045‬זּוג‪Call us now and order yours at:‬‬ ‫‪ext 306‬‬ ‫ְּתפִילָה לִ ְמצִיאַת ּבֶן‪-‬ה‬ ‫‪or visit our shop at www.emunah.org/shop‬‬ ‫מהשל"ה הקדוש‬

‫יְהִי רָצֹון ִמ ּלְפָנ ֶיָך ה' אֱֹלקַי ו ֵאֹלקֵי אֲבֹותַי‪,‬‬ ‫ׁש ַּת ְמצִיא לִי ְּברַ ֲחמֶיָך ָהרַבִּים ּו ַב ֲח ָסדֶיָך ַהג ְּדֹולִים‬ ‫ֶ‬ ‫אֶת זִּוּוגִי ָהרָאּוי לִי בִּזְמַנֹו‪ ,‬זִּוּוג הָגּון ָהרָאּוי לְהֹולִיד‪,‬‬ ‫ַּתלְמִיד ָחכָם ג ָּדֹול ְבּתֹורָה ּוּבְיִרְאָה‪ ,‬מִז ֶּרַע ַצדִּיקִים‬

‫‪emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 37‬‬

EDITOR’S CHOICES

NO JOKE: MAKING JEWISH HUMOR By Ruth R. Wisse Princeton University Press

new book by Ruth Wisse is a cause for celebration. One of the most insightful and readable observers of the Jewish condition, she is the author of the award-winning Modern Jewish Canon: A Journey through Language and Culture; Jews and Power; and The Schlemiel as Modern Hero. Professor of Yiddish Literature and of comparative literature at Harvard, her essays on Holocaust education, anti-Semitism and Jewish self-definition are fresh and innovative.” No Joke: Making Jewish Humor” is occasionally funny, thanks to Wisse’s choice of a few old jokes, but she analyzes the precarious conditions of Jews in each generation that have inspired a humor that Freud called “ a people making fun… of its own character.” Wisse traces and applauds the genius of comic masterworks from Henrich Heine, Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, S.Y. Agnon, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Philip Roth, placing their humor in an historical framework. She analyzes post-Holocaust humor in Israel and episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm by Larry David. Finally, she asks whether extreme Jewish self-ridicule could have negative implications for our future.

DEBUNKING THE BULL: FOR SEEKERS OF ANOTHER TACK By Sarah Honig Gefen Publishing House

ara Honig is a veteran columnist and senior editorial writer for the Jerusalem Post. Born in Israel and brought up in New York and Israel, she was the leading reporter covering Soviet Jewry’s struggles. Sarah’s column “Another Tack”, covering Israel and world affairs, has been a feature of the Jerusalem Post since 1999. She is an often nonconformist political analyst offering unusual perspectives and background behind the headlines. One of her prevailing themes is Israel’s national security and the dangers that might emerge from irresponsible territorial concessions. “Debunking the Bull” is a compilation of some of the best of her columns which cut through propaganda and “debunks the bull.” This collection of columns is the best antidote to world opinion.

38 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

THE JUMP ARTIST By Austin Ratner Bellevue Literary Press

ecently released as a paperback, The Jump Artist is a psychological fiction based on the true story of Philippe Halsman, the famous photographer of celebrities (i.e. Marilyn Monroe) jumping in the air. He relates the little-known case of the “Austrian Dreyfus Affair,” which rocked Europe in the years leading up to WWII. While hiking in the Tyrolean Alps, Philippe’s father was brutally murdered when his son walked ahead on the trail. Philippe, a Jewish 22-year old from Latvia, was charged with the murder and spent several years in an Austrian prison. His trial became a public scandal that pitted prominent intellectuals, i.e. Einstein and Freud, against the rising tide of fascism. Ratner tells the extraordinary tale of a man who transforms himself from a victim of antiSemitism into a famous photographic artist. The author received the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for this novel. He lives in New York.

IN THE COURTYARD OF THE KABBALIST By Ruchama King Feuerman

novel by Ruchama King Feuerman, winner of the 2012 Moment Magazine Short Fiction Prize and the author of the highly acclaimed, Seven Blessings, “ In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist” is at once a thriller, a courtship tale, and a gentle clash between civilizations. Isaac, 43, a haberdasher, leaves the Lower East Side and moves to Jerusalem, where he becomes an assistant to an elderly kabbalist and his wife who daily minister to characters who come from all walks of life. Anxious to marry, but thwarted by his anxieties and memories of past betrayals, he eventually meets Tamar, a beautiful young American searching for a righteous man. Although Tamar becomes electrified with feeling for Isaac, he is too frightened and prudish to respond. Isaac is given an ancient shard by the Moslem Mustafa, whose wounded spirit the haberdasher somehow managed to heal and that gift sets in motion a series of unexpected events that lands Isaac in the company of Israel’s worst criminal riff raff, puts Mustafa in mortal danger and has Tamar struggling to save both men.

THE WANTING By Michael Lavigne Schocken Press

his novel begins with a suicide bombing in which a Russian-born architect is injured, causing his life to swerve into instability and his perceptions to become heightened and disturbed as he embarks on an ill-advised journey into Palestinian territory. The account of his odyssey alternates with the vivacious, bittersweet diary of his thirteen-year-old daughter who is also on a perilous path and with the young Palestinian who “pushed the button” and is now damned to observe the havoc he wrought from a shaky beyond. The Wanting is a study of the costs of extremism and family love in a heartbreakingly complex world.

A JEW AMONG ROMANS: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS By Frederic Raphael Pantheon Books, NY

he history of Joseph ben Mattahias, who transformed himself into Titus Flavius Josephus, historian to the Roman emperor Vespasian, is a gripping story, told by the acclaimed biographer, novelist and classics scholar, Frederic Raphael. He draws Josephus as the prototype for the un-Jewish Jew, the assimilated intellectual, a recurrent figure in the Diaspora (i.e. Spinosa, Disraeli, Hannah Arendt, Freud and Claude Lanzmann, whom he calls a modern Josephus, a mere recorder of painful Jewish memories). The details of the events of Josephus’ life are complex, spanning long years of Roman rule, but, along the way, the author shines a light on the beginnings of antiSemitism, dangerous Jewish divisiveness, and the grief over the loss of the Temple after a war that he had warned against. What strikes us is how familiar these ancient Jews seem to us; the dangers they faced and the depth of their beliefs are still with us, as is our divisiveness. Rafael puts into perspective how our present beliefs are echoes from the past, how we are defined by the same principles that were cherished or demeaned centuries ago. We are left to wonder about the resilience of the Jewish people and how much we should attribute our endurance to our enforced separation.

APPOINTMENT OF DINA HAHN We are proud to announce that World EMUNAH Chairperson Dina Hahn has been appointed to the committee who voted to elect the new Chief Rabbi of Israel. Yasher Koach! ART EXHIBIT AT COLLEGE The EMUNAH Florence and Joseph Appleman College of Art and Technology held their annual Art Exhibition at the College. This exhibition is a highlight for the students and for the Jerusalem community who come to view the fabulous creations of these talented students, many of whom go on to successful careers. The event included paintings, sculpture, works on mixed media, pottery, and digital media. FLATBUSH COUPLES CHESED MISSION Led by Rabbi Naftali and Safreda Besser, the 5th Annual Flatbush Couples Chesed Mission, a group of 48 participants, young couples and singles, spent five intensive days of chesed in Israel. The group visited Achuzat Sarah where they were treated to a performance by the newly-formed talented choir. The dedication of Shmuel Ron, Director of the Home, inspired the Mission participants to donate needed funds to refurbish of one of the girls’ units. This spontaneous act of generosity was met with much joy from the girls who will benefit from this gift. One of the main goals at Achuzat Sarah is to prepare the older girls with life skills. The girls in the Rimon Group are 10th and 11th graders. Shmuel sought to expand their tiny kitchen so that they could learn to cook for themselves. The girls are very excited about this new renovation made possible by the Flatbush Couples Mission, and for the opportunity to become more independent.

emunahnews

ISRAEL

From left: Elliot Tawil, Rabbi and Safreda Besser, Susan Franco, Shmuel Ron, Steven Sasson, Sammy Tawil and Debbie Siman-Tov

The group also visited Bet Elazraki Children's Home. Director Yehuda Kohn and his staff were happy to greet old friends. The reunion with the children was joyous, and new friends were made. The highlight of the visit was the singing and dancing with three chatanim and kallot, graduates of Bet Elazraki, who had come to celebrate their upcoming nuptials with the group. A memorable stop was the day care center in Mevaseret. This is a bi-annual visit for Rabbi Besser’s groups and Flatbush has maintained an eleven-year-old special relationship with director Rivka Shalva and the beautiful Ethiopian children in her care. The last EMUNAH stop for Flatbush was the day care center in Neve Yaakov. This was a first time visit for the Flatbush group and director Batsheva Nasanov, the staff and children were delighted to receive them. They participated in kabbalat Shabbat with the children. Playing outside with the children in the new playground, dedicated by Carol Sufian and family in memory of her mother, a"h, was a moving experience for all. Rabbi Besser and Susan Franco presented an overjoyed Batsheva with a new video camera. EMUNAH of America values the two Flatbush chesed Missions that go to Israel every year and salutes their leader, Rabbi Naftali Besser and the Flatbush community. —By Debbie Siman-Tov

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 39

emunahnews

ISRAEL

From left: Elliot Tawil, Rabbi and Safreda Besser, Susan Franco, Shmuel Ron, Steven Sasson, Sammy Tawil and Debbie Siman-Tov

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 39

emunahnews

PLAYGROUND DEDICATION IN CHEVRON Ira Nosenchuk, EMUNAH leader Toby Willig, accompanied by Debbie Siman-Tov and Rita Goldstone arrived to visit the new outdoor playground at the EMUNAH Day Care and Afternoon Center in Chevron. The playground, donated by Mr. Nosenchuk, is an area of greenery, plants, educational play equipment, a sun-shielding roof and a play-pool. Anat Cohen, director of the Center, gave a tour of this facility, which is so important for the children — and parents — in Chevron. Ira received a warm welcome from the children, followed by song and a cheerful “thank you,” for his gift which is already bringing much joy to the youngsters in this holy city.

UNITED STATES EMUNAH’S BROOKLYN REGION SUPPERETTE A festive Brooklyn Region Supperette was held at The Kings Terrace in Brooklyn. The beautiful event served as an opportunity to pay special tribute to Ruth Stillman with the Keter Shem Tov Award for her deep commitment to the thousands of children in Israel cared for by EMUNAH. Ruth recently dedicated the entrance to the villa at the EMUNAH Florence and Joseph Appleman College of Art and Technology. Also receiving awards were four outstanding women strongly dedicated to working for their respective EMUNAH chapters as well as the Jewish community at large – Doris Adest - Lehava Chapter; Giselle Goldschmidt - Bashy Kimmel Chapter; Hinda Hochman - Chevrona Chapter; Toby Levy - Sarah Herzog Chapter, as well as all the Aliza, Hadara and Yama members. Tributes were also made to Liebe Katz a”h - Ilana Chapter and Toni & Zelig Stadler a”h - Shanona Bet Chapter. The Brooklyn Region Supperette is a highly anticipated annual event, attended by the community and out-oftowners. It is renowned for its celebratory spirit, fabulous boutiques, lavish cocktail hour and sumptuous dinner and a chance to meet and mingle in an enjoyable environment while helping to support our children in Israel. A very moving “Circle of Life” video illustrating how EMUNAH helps the very young, those in-between and senior citizens was followed by Fran Hirmes, EMUNAH’s National President, who very eloquently spoke about EMUNAH and presented the Keter Shem Tov Award to our most deserving honoree, Ruth Stillman. Lovely presentations to our chapter awardees were made by Susan Weinstock, one of Brooklyn Region’s Vice Presidents. Arlene Fox and Doris Hirsch served as Supperette Chairmen; Harriet Saperstein and Susan Weinstock were Reservations and Journal Chairmen. Other committee members most deserving of our thanks include Malkie Dershowitz, Sandy Epstein, Judy Fried, Selma Halper, Esther Kaplan, Mary Ann Shakarchi, Phyllis Tanzer and Eva Palgon Traub. As always, thank you to Shirley Singer and Marcia Genuth for their advice and guidance. Our warmest appreciation to everyone whose efforts contributed to making our Supperette a tremendous success. — By Susan Weinstock

Back row from left: Doris Hirsch, Sondra Fisch, Mindy Stein, Hinda Hochman, Doris Adest, Giselle Goldschmidt, Arlene Fox, Harriet Saperstein, Susan Weinstock, Marcia Genuth. Front row: Carol Sufian, Ruth Stillman, Toby Levy, Shirley Singer and Fran Hirmes 40 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

FIVE TOWNS SHABBAT TEA COMMEMORATES KRISTALLNACHT The Five Towns Chapter of EMUNAH held a successful Shabbat Tea at the beautiful home of Beth & Yehuda Honig, which this year commemorated the 75th Anniversary of Kristallnacht. Featured guest speaker was Fran Laufer, a survivor and author of “A Vow Fulfilled.” Three outstanding members of The Five Towns community, also survivors, were honored at the event; Phyllis Margules, Regina Peterseil and Luba Schulsinger. The 200 guests were moved as Fran Laufer recalled her experiences. Her story reflects the vow she made to her mother—to survive and tell the story of what happened to the family, and to educate the world about the Holocaust. She concluded with a rousing rendition of “Am Yisrael Chai,” toasting the survival of the Jewish people. Elana Oved and Shari Shapiro, departing Presidents of The Five Towns Chapter, were lauded for their years of extraordinary leadership. They will now serve as Chairpersons of the Board. Bini Dachs will remain as Vice President. Cindy Parnes and Leslie Wanderer were welcomed as the incoming Chapter Presidents and Ava Kushner and Tamar Sicklick as the incoming Vice Presidents. Without the hard work of the entire committee, the event could not have been the tremendous success that it was.

ATTENTION NEW CHEFS EMUNAH Young Leadership had a night of fun, food and friends at a cooking demo and food tasting with Chef Elizabeth Kurtz. The event took place at the home of Michelle & Eli Salig in Lawrence. The food was delicious and we learned amazing new recipes. A raffle was offered with a chance to win a gift card to Legacy or Gourmet Glatt. Thank you to Daniella Schertz for coordinating this event and developing our leadership presence in The Five Towns. Special thank you to Gourmet Glatt Emporium for sponsoring the event.

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YAHRZEIT AND CELEBRATION OF LIFE Hundreds of friends and community members gathered at the Young Israel of Woodmere to commemorate the first yahrzeit and to celebrate the life of Rebekah Frucht a”h. Rabbi Hershel Billet of the Young Israel of Woodmere, reflecting on Rebekah’s strength and courage, offered comfort and chizuk to the Frucht family and to the community. A moving shiur was given in her memory by Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, renowned author and lecturer, on the topic, “Nisyonos: Living in a challenging world.” Dena Frucht concluded the program with an emotional message. Rebekah was blessed with insight into humanity and the ability to help others. She had a unique gift that made everyone who met her come away with a special feeling. She would help anyone, at any moment, without ever wanting anything in return. Possessing a tremendous love of life, Rebekah used her G-d given gifts. Among her many talents, she enjoyed creating art, loved to draw and was an ardent animal lover. Rebekah's original art work of nature scenes have been used to create beautiful notecards — with the proceeds to benefit the Rebekah Frucht Memorial Fund for Art and Animal Therapy for the children of EMUNAH's Bet Elazraki Children's Home in Netanya. The Rebekah Frucht Memorial Fund was established by her family to provide the things that Rebekah loved most — art and the love of animals — as a therapy program to help children who would benefit most from this help. We will continue to celebrate the life of Rebekah Frucht by perpetuating her compassion, her artwork, and her desire to help others. You can donate to the Rebekah Frucht Memorial Fund at www.emunah.org/rebekahfruchtfund.

From left: Penina Arbesfeld, Ann Arbesfeld, Daniella Schertz and Michelle Salig

emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 41

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COOKING WITH CHEF ZISSIE IN TEANECK Did you know the best way to get the most juice out of a lime is to stick it in the microwave for 45 seconds? This is one of the many insightful pointers given at Chef Zissie's cooking demonstration, where 30 women gathered in the beautiful kitchen of Amy Gibber in Teaneck for a cooking demonstration and tasting. The Libby Kolb Chapter of EMUNAH presented Chef Zissie, a graduate of Boston University Culinary School where she works as a private chef and a dynamo who gave a hands-on, interactive demonstration.

EMUNAH CIRCLE OF LIFE VIDEO WINS TELLY AWARD EMUNAH’s new video, “the Circle of Life” won the prestigious Telly Award in two categories: Best Editing and Best Organization Video. Produced by BIG Productions, headed by Gi Orman, in collaboration with Rita Goldstone, EMUNAH Director of Communications, the video is a heartwarming visual representation of the work EMUNAH accomplishes for every stage of life in Israel. You can watch the video at www.EMUNAH.org/circleoflifevideo.

SOUTH FLORIDA CIRCLE OF LIFE DINNER The South Florida Annual Gala Dinner at the elegant Miami Beach Resort and Spa honored the memory of Menachem Stern z”l, with a special tribute dedicated by his wife, long time EMUNAH volunteer, Adina Stern. Joshua Dobin, Leah Klein and Sara Shulevitz, three local attorneys and active community members, received the EMUNAH Hakarat Hatov Award for their contributions to EMUNAH. Sara Gottlieb of Miami Beach served admirably as Chairman of the evening, supported by a committee of dynamic volunteers. With Circle of Life as the theme, the Gala Dinner emphasized the life-saving programs EMUNAH provides to young and old alike. A video highlighting the lives touched by EMUNAH’s services was enthusiastically received. Israel’s Consul General to Florida and Puerto Rico, Chaim Shacham, shared a rare “inside” view of the political and social realities facing Israel as she approaches her 65th birthday, describing the Jewish State as “the miracle that is our Homeland.” Rabbi Donald Bixon of Congregation Beth Israel presented the Hakarat Hatov Awards, lauding the three young attorneys for their support for EMUNAH. There was barely a dry eye as Trudy Stern told of the life and accomplishments of her father-in-law, Menachem Stern z”l, a Holocaust survivor. Trudy presented Adina Stern with original artwork by Noa Attias, a renowned artist and graduate of the EMUNAH Florence and Joseph Appleman College of Art and Technology in Jerusalem.

From left: Fran Hirmes, Adina Stern, Sara Shelevitz, Leah Klein and Joshua Dobin

MIAMI FUN DAY Predicted rainfall gave way to sunny skies, and spirits were high as nearly one hundred families streamed into Miami Beach’s Fairway Park for EMUNAH Family Fun Day. Smiles — more than a few in sno-cone blue and pink – and laughter abounded as the kids bounced and slid on the play houses, created art projects, competed at sports and ate their way through a mountain of pizza pies and scores of cotton candy cones. Meanwhile, the adults beat the heat under the lovely park gazebo and “shepped nachas” from their little ones. Kudos to Erica Newman, who conceived the Family Fun Day, and to the entire committee — Alexis Ciment, Heidi Deutsch, Rachel Gdanski, Shira Gluck, Shanyn Meiner, Shoshana Robbin and Rachel Wasserman — who brought this delightful event to fruition. 42 | Fall 2013/5774 | EMUNAH Magazine | emunah.org

From left: Erica Newman, Heidi Deutsch and Daughters

COMEDY NIGHT IN TEANECK The Libby Kolb Chapter gathered for a night of comedy and dinner at the home of Sima and Daniel Weingarten in Teaneck. The event, attended by more than 70 guests, enjoyed the entertainment of acclaimed mentalist Ronnie Baras. He hypnotized two random people from the audience and was able to pick out words from a siddur that they had both secretly chosen. Mindy Stein, Chairman of the Board, addressed the audience. The committee members were Tzippy Cohen, Sharon Herenstein, Aviva Edelstein, Felicia Hoenig, and Shaindy Brothman.

GELA FELDMAN SHABBAT TEA Two long-time active Gela Feldman leaders and devoted supporters Esther Lerer and Careena Parker, were feted at the Englewood Chapter's Annual Shabbat Tea. Held at the beautiful home of Alyson Small, it featured guest speaker Shuli Davidovich, Economic and Social Affairs Minister-Counselor at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, who spoke on, "The Jewish State on the Global Stage" — the view from a member of Israel's Delegation to the United Nations. Mindy Stein, Chairman of the Board, spoke. The success of the event can be attributed to the popularity of the honorees and the hard work of the committee, headed by Cheryl Borenstein and Abby Herschmann.

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LA GIRLS RAISE MONEY FOR BET ELAZRAKI The wonderful girls in sixth grade class in the Yavneh Academy in Los Angeles raised funds in a variety of ways so that the girls at Bet Elazraki could have a Bat Mitzvah celebration of their own. Kol Hakavod to these outstanding girls!

GELA FELDMAN BAKES UP A STORM Talented bakers in Englewood shared their creations with shoppers who attended the Gela Feldman bake sale held at the home of Gila Kolb. It was a feast for the eyes and for the palate. Thanks to the committee, headed by Chapter Presidents Cheryl Borenstein and Abby Herschman, the event was a great success.

Cheryl Borenstein and Abby Herschman

MT. SINAI PRESENTS “LADIES GOT TALENT” Headed by Liz Sinnreich, a committee of women who yearly raise awareness of the plight of children and families living in Sderot and the western Negev, held a “Ladies Got Talent” show at Mt. Sinai in Washington Heights. Liz is a member of the Sunny and Max Howard Family who dedicated the EMUNAH Drama School at the EMUNAH College in Jerusalem. She is committed to ensuring that no one forgets the plight of Israelis living in the line of fire, even when it is not in the news. She chose EMUNAH to be the beneficiary of the talent show because of its ongoing work with the citizens of the Western Negev. Mindy Stein, Chairman of the Board, spoke about EMUNAH's counseling and care of the children in these affected areas and EMUNAH's dedication to their well-being.

The Howard Family with Liz Sinnreich, Mindy Stein and Carol Sufian emunah.org | EMUNAH Magazine | Fall 2013/5774 | 43

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