Volume XX, Issue XLIV | www.thejewishvoice.org Serving Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts
GENERATIONS
27 Kislev 5775 | December 19, 2014
Rhode Island’s National Council of Jewish Women at a crossroads BY FRAN OSTENDORF fostendorf@jewishallianceri.org The National Council of Jewish Women, a nationwide organization with a proud history of social action, advocacy, volunteerism and philanthropy, is at a crossroads in Rhode Island. On Dec. 11, the leadership of the Rhode Island Section mailed a letter to the membership asking them to vote on whether or not to end the group’s 106 years of advocacy for women, children and fami-
lies in Rhode Island. The letter reads, in part, “…we are saddened to inform you that at this time we do not
have members who are willing to assume the responsibility of leading this Rhode Island Section. Therefore, with deep
regret, the board has voted to disband the Rhode Island Section.” Nan Levine and Ellie Elbaum, co-presidents since 2008, say they can no longer lead the group. Elbaum and Levine say they want the community to know they are not happy about this outcome. Both women have been active members of NCJW for many, many years, serving in numerous capacities. “It was a tough call,” says Levine. NCJW | 17
PHOTO | ANDRE BLAIS
Joshua Malina speaks to The Alliance crowd.
JOSH MALINA: The man,
the myth, the mensch – and a great evening for all BY JENNIFER ZWIRN jzwirn@jewishallianceri.org On Dec. 7, approximately 250 enthusiastic community members gathered at Temple Emanu-El to celebrate the success of the Jewish Alliance’s 2015 Annual Campaign. Susan and Ed Odessa and Judy and Mayer Levitt co-chaired the event. Judy Levitt announced she just happens to be a distant cousin of Joshua Malina, the evening’s keynote speaker. A Hollywood actor and passionate advocate for the Jewish
community, Malina shared his experiences on how to remain a mensch in Hollywood and entertained an admiring audience with stories about his Jewish upbringing, his career as an actor and the intersection of his personal and professional lives. His stories ranged from funny (he credits performing the Heimlich maneuver on Aaron Sorkin for kick-starting his acting career) to inspirational (he begins each day reciting the Modeh Ani with his family), and he addressed everything from his education at Westchester MALINA | 18
PHOTO | JEWISH VOICE STAFF
Winners of the Hanukkah Art and Writing Contest, left to right, Front, Rivkah Taitelbaum, Esther Taitelbaum, Yael Bulley; Back, Sarah Peckman, Alexander Orth. Not pictured Sarah Brosofsky. More on the contest and winners on page 3.
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INSIDE Business 28-29 Calendar 10 Classified 29 Community 2-4, 6-7, 11, 16-19, 32-33 Food 14-15 Generations 20-25 Nation 13, 31 Obituaries 30-31 Opinion 8-9, 26 Seniors 27 Simcha | We Are Read 34 World 12, 26
COURTESY | BROWN RISD HILLEL
Filming the video at Brown.
Brown student’s Hanukkah idea goes viral BY ALISA KOTLER-BERKOWITZ
THIS ISSUE’S QUOTABLE QUOTE “It can be very lonely trying to support Israel in Hollywood.”
Marli Scharlin, Brown ’16, had an idea. Actually, she had a lot of ideas. When we fi rst met on the steps by the Main Green in early September, she shared all of her creative, out-of-the-box, innovative ideas. As a new Engagement Intern through Brown RISD Hillel, she partnered with Hillel to make her ideas a reality. The Engagement Internship through Brown RISD Hillel offers students the opportunity to create a project with a Jewish connection that will engage their greater networks on campus. Throughout the year, the 10 Engagement Interns meet weekly with staff and students to participate in project management, group support and Jewish learning.
Next semester, Marli will focus on creating a Storytelling Slam based on issues of identity. In the meantime, she found herself wanting to connect students (at Brown and RISD, in Providence and beyond) with Hanukkah in a creative way, and she wanted to engage the wider Brown community to do it. Marli partnered with a popular a cappella group, the Jabberwocks of Brown University, to create a video celebrating Hanukkah and using a song she wrote based on a popular Kanye West song. The video, created on the East Side, celebrates the joy of the holiday and of “all of the lights” (the name of the original song). Within the fi rst 12 hours of the video’s premiere at Brown RISD Hillel’s Hanukkah Bash on Dec. 7, there were more than 1,000 views on YouTube. At the 24-hour mark,
over 2,000. And by the morning of Dec. 10, views numbered 3,000. With Brown University reaching out to share the video on their YouTube channel and website, the numbers will continue to soar. One viewer commented: “I’m feeling excited for Hanukkah – and I’m not even Jewish!” Join the fun by watching the video that’s sweeping the country, made right here in Providence with students at Brown (and a cameo from two Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island fourth graders): h t t p s : // w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=kTM2ICt09HU ALISA KOTLER-BERKOWITZ is director of engagement at Brown RISD Hillel.
חג אורים שמח Wishing you and your family warmth, light, and miracles. Happy Hanukkah! Board Chair
President & CEO
Eco-friendly artwork courtesy of:
David C. Isenberg Family
Early Childhood Center
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What does Hanukkah mean? Our contest winners can show you BY FRAN OSTENDORF fostendorf@jewishallianceri.org Students in grades 1-8 stepped up to the challenge this year: Let us know what Hanukkah means to you and your family. A panel of judges examined each of the 90 entries we received in the 2014 Hanukkah Art and Writing Contest, sponsored by The Jewish Voice and Touro Fraternal Association. They chose what they thought best represented Hanukkah this year. Art was judged on creativity. Writing – on what got the message of Hanukkah across. Judges were Fran Ostendorf, editor of The Voice, Tricia Stearly, advertising sales manager of the Voice, Irina Missiuro, writer and editorial consultant for The Voice and Steve White from Touro Fraternal. The judges did not know whose drawing or essay they were examining. That’s how two siblings ended up winning in the art category. The Taitelbaum family from Providence certainly has some young artistic talent! And the winning essay was penned by a fifth grader who managed
orful dreidel with all her favorite things inside and the candles on top, using crayons.
Writing contest for grades 5-8:
Jed Brandes, Stevan Labush of Touro Fraternal and Fran Ostendorf of The Voice join the winners. to hit on all the elements of what you might expect Hanukkah to mean. Well, done, Alexander! We hear that your classmates at Temple Beth-El’s religious school thought you’d win after you read your essay aloud. Everyone who entered the contest should consider themselves a winner. The drawings and essays were all wonderful, making the
choice of first, second and thirdplace winners a difficult one. We look forward to next year’s entries. We really do have a creative community!
The winners: Art contest for grades 1-4:
First place: Rivkah Taitelbaum, of Providence, grade 4 at Providence Hebrew Day School. A whimsical picture of eight
dancing latkes, using construction paper. Second place: Esther Taitelbaum, of Providence, grade 2 at Providence Hebrew Day School. A drawing of a father and two sons lighting a menorah, using crayons. Third place: Yael Bulley, of Providence, grade 4 at Providence Hebrew Day School. A col-
First place: Alexander Orth, of Providence, grade 5 at Temple Beth-El. Essay on how Hanukkah means happiness, joy, presents and helping others. In the essay, he talks about donating presents to the kids in the hospital. Second place: Sarah Brosofsky, of Providence, grade 8 at Temple Beth-El. Her essay is about how Hanukkah is a time to believe in miracles. Third place: Sarah Peckman, of Taunton, Mass., Grade 7 at Congregation Agudath Achim in Taunton. Her essay discusses how Hanukkah means being together with the people she loves. First-place winners received $108. Second-place winners received $72. Third-place winners received $36. In addition, the firstplace winners’ school received a grant of $720 to use for technology. Thanks to Touro Fraternal for supplying these prizes. FRAN OSTENDORF is editor of The Jewish Voice.
First place: Rivkah Taitelbaum – eight dancing latkes.
Second place: Esther Taitelbaum – A drawing of a father and two sons lighting a menorah.
The big reveal: Winners announced.
Third place: Yael Bulley – A colorful dreidel with all her favorite things inside and the candles on top.
When Jehan Berman saved the lives of his loved ones, we helped ensure he didn’t lose his own life in the process. Jehan Berman was shielding his wife and son during a mortar attack in southern Israel in August, when he was critically injured by a piece of shrapnel. But thanks to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical response agency, Jehan got the lifesaving care he needed. “If it weren’t for MDA,” he says, “I don’t think I’d be here today.” As we celebrate the miracles of Chanukah, please join us in our Eight Days of Giving Campaign to help make more miracles possible in Israel. Visit www.afmda.org/year-end-2014 to watch a video about Jehan and make a gift to MDA. Please donate today. AFMDA New England PO Box 600714, Newton, MA 02460 Tel 617.916.1827 new-england@afmda.org www.afmda.org l
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BY LINDSAY CHANCELLOR On Dec. 7, the women of Temple Beth-El’s Sisterhood, along with members of the Providence community, gathered to enjoy an afternoon of fashion, food and philanthropy at the first ever Right Off the Runway event. Co-chaired by Cheryl Greenfield and Joie Magnone, the donor event aimed to raise funds for congregational and community programs including the Religious School, the Ronald McDonald “make a meal” event and scholarships for youth leadership and outreach. Additionally, a portion of the funds will be put toward a special project at the temple. Magnone says: “First and foremost we hoped that people would come and have a really great time, but we’re also looking to raise as much money as possible so we can put it all back into the community.” Greenfield, who also acts as the Sisterhood’s co-president, felt compelled to coordinate the unique fundraising event after a chance meeting in March with Yemi Sekoni, artistic director of Lights Fashion Philanthropy. Headquartered in Cranston, Lights Fashion Philanthropy is a fashion-driven event and entertainment company that helps charitable organizations increase fundraising efforts while promoting local boutiques and up-and-coming designers. As guests entered the building, they were welcomed with a glass of Prosecco and were invited to peruse a number of pop-up boutiques displaying jewelry, handcrafted items of clothing and gifts for children before moving into the Silverstein Meeting Hall for the runway show and silent auction that featured donations from Seven Stars Bakery, The Butcher Shop and Alex and Ani. Once inside they enjoyed hors d’oeuvres from local businesses including Duck and Bunny and Chex Finer Foods. In the days leading up to the event, a raffle was held offering a complete head-to-toe makeover for the winner, courtesy of Easton, Massachusetts-based Makeovers Salon. It was Judy Mosely, executive director of Temple Beth-El, who won the
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An afternoon spent right off the runway
PHOTOS | LINDSAY CHANCELLOR
raffle and opened the runway show. One of the designers showcasing her collection at the event was Martha Jackson of Restored by Design, an eco-fashion boutique located in downtown Providence. She says her unique design aesthetic is inspired by castaway treasures and vintage fabrics, often found at Goodwill or Savers. “I look for flowers, botanical elements and lace in the items I source. Then I like to incorporate colors and a mix of patterns and textures.” Rimma Zaika-Veksler, the knitting mastermind behind Wearable Art by Rimma, also participated in the fashion show.
Once named one of Boston’s 100 most interesting women by Boston Woman Magazine, she recently returned to the design scene after a 10-year hiatus to care for her ailing parents and young daughter, Katya. Originally from Russia, she says her designs are crafted using almost-forgotten techniques and are made for the independent artsy woman. Another designer displaying items at Right Off the Runway was Nitza Attali, the Judaic studies educator at Temple BethEl’s religious school. Her Exit by Nitza collection of handcrafted metal jewelry is a reflection of
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Tricia Stearly tstearly@jewishallianceri.org 401-421-4111, ext. 160 EDITOR Fran Ostendorf CONTRIBUTING WRITER Irina Missiuro
Martha Jackson’s “Restored by Design” makes a statement on the runway.
A model twirls in a Catrina Nebo “Catrina Village” design.
Karen Borger ksborger@gmail.com 401-529-2538
EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS Irina Missiuro | Judith Romney Wegner
COLUMNISTS Dr. Stanley Aronson, Michael Fink, Rabbi James Rosenberg and Daniel Stieglitz
DESIGN & LAYOUT Leah Camara
MEMBER of the Rhode Island Press Association
her life while growing up in Israel and often incorporates natural elements like stones. She says: “Right Off the Runway is important because it’s fun, and it’s a great way to support the Sisterhood.” While the group expected to raise approximately $2,000 from the donor event, Greenfield says: “At the end of the day the purpose of the event is twofold. It’s not only to bring money in but to bring together members of the community. Everything from the food, to the décor, to the invitations and to the programs, was done by talented sisterhood women. Through this experi-
THE JEWISH VOICE (ISSN number 15392104, USPS #465-710) is published bi-weekly, except in July, when it does not publish. PERIODICALS Postage paid at Providence, R.I. POSTMASTER Send address changes to: The Jewish Voice, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906. PUBLISHER The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, Chair Sharon Gaines, President/CEO Jeffrey K. Savit, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906. Phone: 401-421-4111 • Fax 401-331-7961
ence we were able to strengthen our relationships, and I believe that’s as important as the money that we earn.” For those interested in joining Temple Beth-El’s 100-year-old Sisterhood, contact the synagogue at 401-331-6070 or visit their website: temple-beth-el. org/community/sisterhood/joinsisterhood. To learn more about Lights Fashion Philanthropy, visit lightsfashionphilanthropy. com. LINDSAY R. CHANCELLOR is a freelance writer based in Riverside and is currently working in marketing and digital media.
COPY DEADLINES: All news releases, photographs, etc., must be received on the Wednesday two weeks prior to publication. Submissions may be sent to: editor@jewishallianceri.org. ADVERTISING: We do not accept advertisements for pork or shellfish. We do not attest to the kashrut of any product or the legitimacy of our advertisers’ claims. All submitted content becomes the property of The Voice. Announcements and opinions contained in these pages are published as a service to the community and do not necessarily represent the views of The Voice or its publisher, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.
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#HanukkahBashRI a big hit with teens BY JEWISH VOICE STAFF The dream of a communitywide Jewish teen event came true Dec. 14 when more than 30 teens gathered at the Dwares JCC to enjoy fun and food. They spent a few hours with activities such as a gaga pit, games with prizes and a photo booth. The $10 admission included food from the Chubby Chickpea food truck. Fun and friendship was the name of the game, all in a relaxed atmosphere. Everything was designed to help all the groups get to know one another. “It was a great event. Teens were tweeting from the event,” said Jana Brenman, director of teen engagement at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. The teen and adult representatives are working hard to establish a more unified and vibrant community, and expect this will be the first of many events. With broad involvement, they hope to build up teen participation and activism within the community, setting the foundation for Jewish involvement as adults. As Penina Satlow, one of the teens organizing the event, pointed out, “We’re also hoping to reduce the segregation of the local Jewish community as a whole.” Jewish teens in greater Rhode Island have a number of social groups to join. Synagogue-based groups include the NCSY (Orthodox), USY (Conservative), and PROVTY and CRAFTY (Reform). Others are BBYO (non-denominational and the oldest teen group in the country), Camp JORI (which holds periodic gatherings during the year) and the athletics-oriented Maccabi. Up
Julia Keizler, Amy Vogel and Roxane Robin enjoy themselves at the Hanukkah party. At right are photos from the photo booth. to now, these groups have had little contact and association with one another, especially in Providence. Recent drops in membership and attendance rates at nearly all the youth groups have emphasized this separation, and many groups have struggled to keep a critical mass of teens involved. This past summer, Brenman led an effort to change that with events open to all local teens regardless of affiliation. In September, teen and adult representatives of all the groups met and decided to start with a Hanukkah party. “The teens made all the decisions about food and activities for this event,” she said. “Teens are looking forward to planning more communitywide events.” With reports from PENINA SATLOW.
Ronen Kadmon, Nicholas Mendolia, Jacob Hammarstrom and Akiva Rosenbaum take a break from playing gaga.
David Schudrich, Sadie Gaffin and Eli Forstadt show off prizes.
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It’s that time of year: Considering your year-end charitable gift options BY JENNIFER ZWIRN jzwirn@jewishallianceri.org By year’s end, many of us look to combine our desire to do good with our desire to save. And guess what? According to the Jewish Alliance philanthropy team, there are easy ways to do both:
Give appreciated stocks
While giving in the form of cash or check is the most common way to give charitably, they are not generally the most tax efficient. Contributing stocks, bonds or mutual funds that have appreciated over time has become increasingly popular in recent years and for good reasons. Why? Most publicly traded securities with unrealized long-term gains (meaning they were purchased over a year ago and have increased in value) may be donated to a public charity, and the donor may claim the fair market value as an itemized deduction on the federal tax return — up to 30 percent of the donor’s adjusted gross income (should you donate more than you can deduct in one year, there is a 5-year carry-forward available). Other types of securities, such as restricted or privately traded securities and donations to non-public charities, may also be deductible though additional requirements and limitations may apply. No capital gains taxes are owed because the securities are donated, not sold. The greater the appreciation, the bigger your tax savings.
Establish a donor-advised fund
With charities that have donor-advised fund (DAF) programs, such as the Jewish Alliance’s Jewish Federation Foundation, you can make irrevocable contributions to the charity, which then establishes a DAF on your behalf. Establishing a donor-advised fund can be a particularly useful strategy at the end of the year because it allows you to make a gift and take the tax deduction immediately. Take your time when deciding where the dollars will go, however. It can be a great way to offset a year with unexpectedly high earnings or address the tax implications of yearend bonuses. Use a charitable donation to offset tax costs of converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Even with higher top income tax rates, many investors are considering converting from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. The key difference between traditional retirement savings options (whether IRAs or workplace plans) and Roth versions is that with the former contributions are usually tax deductible in the year they are made and can grow tax deferred within the account; the contributions and earnings are then taxed at “the back end” (upon withdrawal). With a Roth, contributions are not tax deductible. They are included as income and subject to income taxes but withdrawals are tax free. Roth accounts make sense if your current
tax rate is lower than the one in the years you’ll be making withdrawals. Any time you convert a traditional retirement savings account into a Roth, you will owe taxes on any pretax monies converted. Depending on the amount converted and your tax rate, the taxes on the conversion can be significant. It’s generally unwise to pay these taxes out of the retirement account being converted, as doing so would reduce your retirement savings and the account’s growth potential. Converting in a year in which you can claim a large tax deduction, such as a charitable deduction, can be helpful in offsetting the conversion taxes.
Consider donating complex assets
Donors may also contribute complex assets such as private company stock, real estate or other personal property directly to a charitable organization. These types of assets often have a relatively low cost basis. In cases where these assets have been held for at least a year, the outright sale of the asset would result in a large capital gains tax for the owner. If, however, the asset is donated directly to a charity and the charity then sells the asset, the original owner is often able to eliminate capital gains taxes while potentially receiving a charitable donation deduction as well.
Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island among top 10 best JCC websites The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island is among the top 10 best JCC websites, according to Accrinet, a North Carolinabased web design and internet marketing company. The Alliance website, which was redesigned last year, allows users to access detailed, up-to-date information on all aspects of the Jewish Alliance, including programs and services, event information, the history of the organization and a comprehensive listing of community partners. New features include pages for specific groups such as families with children, young adults and seniors. “This website has a beautiful design,” said Accrinet President Jeff Kline. “But what we really love about the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island website is how the different age groups are displayed at the bottom of each page.” Additionally, more detailed information, including fitness class schedules, leadership and upcoming events is available and presented in an easily
Help available.
The Jewish Alliance’s Jewish Federation Foundation offers a variety of opportunities to make informed charitable contributions since tzedakah comes in many forms. From donor-advised funds to bequests and outright gifts, Alliance professionals can support you as you determine your end of year gifts and donations. Please consult your own financial adviser for specific decisions and further guidance. FOR MORE INFORMATION on your Jewish Alliance year-end giving options, please contact Trine Lustig, vice president of philanthropy, at 401-421-4111, ext. 223 or tlustig@jewishallianceri.org.
The D’var Torah is on a brief hiatus and will return soon. Candle Lighting Times
Greater Rhode Island Dec. 19 ............................. 3:57 Dec. 26 ............................. 4:01 Jan. 2, 2015.............4:07 Jan. 9 ................................. 4:13
celebrations 2015 January 25, 2015
navigable and fully searchable interface. Accrinet asserts that the key to successful web design is a well-organized layout; plenty of white space; large, high-
quality images; user-friendly navigation; and a simple color scheme – all of which the Alliance website has achieved.
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OPINION
Lila Sapinsley was a role model for woman leaders I wasn’t fortunate enough to have known Lila Sapinsley. But I wish I had. Certainly the tributes that I’ve heard in the last week have painted a picture of a strong advocate for EDITOR women, a caring mentor FRAN for girls and OSTENDORF a wonderful member of our community. She is probably best known for her service to the state of Rhode Island, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican. She was a state senator and rose to be minority leader, the first woman to hold a leadership position in the Rhode Island General Assembly. She served on various other public committees and boards. All the while, she was a strong advocate for women’s causes. Later in life, she focused on mentoring girls letting them know they could do anything they set their minds to do. Here is a sampling of what people from all reaches of the community are saying about her: Rabbi Leslie Y. Gutterman, of Temple Beth-El in Providence, said, “Lila Sapinsley had a regal presence and a common touch. She was at home in the halls of power and influenced civic leaders. But she could also be found picking up a lemon cake treat for a homebound friend and tutoring a fifth-grade girl at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, telling her that she could be anything in life that she wanted to be. Lila grew older with increasing radiance even as the Hanukkah menorah continues to grow ever brighter. She will be dearly missed.” Charlie Bakst wrote about politics for The Providence
Journal. He called Sapinsley one of the very finest public servants he’d ever covered. “She was the leading Senate Republican (of the liberal kind we seldom see these days) amid a sea of often hostile Democrats – tough sledding but she was the picture of perseverance.” Sapinsley remained active. Says Bakst, “I ran into her this past October at a fundraiser for GOP lieutenant governor nominee Catherine Taylor. We chatted and she told me she was to be among the evening’s speakers, and she asserted she had no idea of what she was going to say. But when her turn came, she spontaneously and flawlessly delivered a rousing speech in support of Taylor.” Carol Young, deputy executive editor of The Providence Journal when she retired in 2010, remembers first encountering Sapinsley in the late 1960s as a young reporter. Sapinsley was chair of the Board of Trustees of State Colleges. She was inspiring as “a woman of influence among a sea of male leaders.” Now on the board of Inspiring Minds, a Providence nonprofit that sends tutors into public schools, Young continued, “I always had her on a pedestal but nothing amazed me more than when she, at 90, said she wanted to be a volunteer for Inspiring Minds. “It wasn’t long before she was organizing a special career program for a group of fifth-grade girls at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School. She brought in a diverse group of women from a variety of professions to talk to the girls and answer questions. She wanted to raise expectations and expand the possibilities for these girls. And I am confident that she succeeded.” Sapinsley was more than a leader. She was more than a volunteer. She was someone special and will be missed.
Do you have a story to tell? We’re looking for wedding stories. Funny. Sweet. Old. New. Are you willing to talk to a reporter and be a voice in the newspaper? Send us a paragraph or two outlining your story. Include your name and a phone number so we can reach you. And you may just get a call. Or
perhaps an email. We look forward to hearing from you. Email editor@jewishallianceri.org. If a computer doesn’t suit you, send your information to Editor, The Jewish Voice, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, R.I. 02906.
OUR MISSION The mission of The Jewish Voice is to communicate Jewish news, ideas and ideals by connecting and giving voice to the diverse views of the Jewish community in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, while adhering to Jewish values and the professional standards of journalism.
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Remember we all were strangers They came from Jamaica, Namibia, Brazil, England, Peru, Ecuador, Germany, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Thailand, India, The Philippines and Korea; and they are all proud and accomplished Rhode Islanders. Once they strugIT SEEMS were gling immiTO ME grants and refugees facing the multiple RABBI JIM challenges of ROSENBERG adjusting to a new language, a new climate, a new culture. On Dec. 5, these 13 men and women were honored at a reception at the Smith Center for the Arts at Providence College. They were honored for their achievements, for what they have given back through their hard work and their vibrant families to the country and the state that has given so much to them. As one of the honorees put it, “This is a country where everything is possible!” The program at PC, “My Story, Our Community,” was the culmination of an oral history project that grew out of the combined efforts of Welcoming Rhode Island, one of the 20 affiliates of Welcoming America, and PC’s Global Studies program. On Dec. 5, Providence College students in groups of two or three – primarily freshmen and sophomores – stood with the honorees whom they had visited and interviewed and told their stories, after which many of the honorees themselves offered brief but poignant comments. What was striking to all in attendance was how far these immigrants have traveled from their humble beginnings to become such successful citizens in the worlds of business, health care, community service and the arts. The stories told at the Providence College reception are among the many inspiring stories lived every day by the more than 140,000 Rhode Islanders who are foreign-born. According to the 2012 American Community Survey, our state’s immigrant population in that year totaled 13.3 percent of our population; a little more than half were naturalized American citizens, while the remainder
were in various phases of the immigration process. Not surprisingly, in 2012, roughly 4 in 10 foreign-born Rhode Islanders came from the Caribbean, Central America or South America. Southern Europe, Western Africa and Southeastern Asia are also major contributors to our state’s salad bowl of ethnic identities. As one would suspect, the most widely spoken language brought to our state by our immigrants is Spanish or Spanish Creole. In addition, in descending order of prevalence, Portuguese or Portuguese Creole, Italian, French (including Patois and Cajun), Chinese, French Creole, Arabic, Laotian, African languages and Mon-Khmer/Cambodian are all spoken in a sizable number of Rhode Island homes. Our local Jewish community should be particularly sensitive to the challenges and opportunities facing Rhode Island’s immigrants; it is certainly not easy being strangers in a strange land where the native language seems incomprehensible. Some readers of The Jewish Voice are immigrants. Many, if not most, of us have parents or grandparents or great-grandparents who were among the tired, the poor, the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” who passed through Ellis Island – their difficult but courageous lives made immortal by the words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. I hold vivid memories of numerous childhood visits to my Grandma Ida, who lived in a crowded, overheated apartment on East 184th Street in the Bronx. Grandma Ida was from the “Old Country;” her barley and vegetable soup smelled of Lithuania. She lived in that apartment for many years along with my Aunt Ann, Uncle Frank and bachelor Uncle Sam, all of whom spoke fluent English; but to her dying day, Grandma Ida’s language was Yiddish. Issues of the Forverts, the once ubiquitous New York Yiddish newspaper, added to the general clutter. Over the long arc of history, we Jews, always on the move, have again and again found ourselves strangers in a strange land – from Judea to Babylonia, from Spain to Holland, from Central Europe to the Russian Pale of Settlement. Back in ancient Biblical days, our Torah commanded us, as it continues to command us: “You shall love
(the stranger) as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:34) Today, in the aftermath of President Obama’s Nov. 20 speech on immigration, Rhode Island’s organizations serving immigrant populations are facing unprecedented pressures as more and more of the undocumented are coming out of the shadows in a courageous effort to normalize their lives. One of our state’s most effective organizations working with the foreign-born is Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island (DIIRI); on Dec. 31, 2012, Dorcas Place (founded in 1981) and the International Institute of Rhode Island (founded in 1921) merged so that they could most effectively ensure the success of their closely allied missions to help our state’s most vulnerable individuals. At the moment, DIIRI is serving more than 10,000 low-income clients every year. Welcoming Rhode Island, an arm of DIIRI and one of the sponsors of the Dec. 5 event at PC, continues to provide a wide range of services in resettling our state’s newest immigrants and refugees from around the world. The most important question for those of us who want to help these residents from other countries is: How can we help? Like all nonprofits, Dorcas International Institute needs monetary contributions. In addition, it welcomes donations of household goods, workplace attire and/or donations of volunteer time. Tax deductible contributions can be sent to Jessica Barry, director of development, Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, 645 Elmwood Ave., Providence, R.I. 02907; or contact her at jbarry@diiri.org, or 401-784-8619. You can obtain detailed information as to how to become more involved by clicking HOW YOU CAN HELP on the home page of their website, www.diiri.org. Remember we were strangers! We are therefore commanded to love the stranger. Please join me in supporting our state’s immigrants and refugees by contributing to such worthy organizations as Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island. JAMES B, ROSENBERG is rabbi emeritus at Temple Habonim in Barrington. Contact him at rabbiemeritus@templehabonim.org.
COLUMNS | LETTERS POLICY The Jewish Voice publishes thoughtful and informative contributors’ columns (op-eds of 500 – 800 words) and letters to the editor (250 words, maximum) on issues of interest to our Jewish community. At our discretion, we may edit pieces for
publication or refuse publication. Letters and columns, whether from our regular contributors or from guest columnists, represent the views of the authors; they do not represent the views of The Jewish Voice or the Alliance.
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OPINION
thejewishvoice.org
Sadness prevails during troubling times BY DANIEL STIEGLITZ I began writing this article a few weeks ago, when Arab terrorists burst into a Jerusalem synagogue and murdered four Jewish men in the middle of
LETTERS HOME DANIEL STIEGLITZ morning prayers as well as one non-Jewish police officer, who is being lauded as a hero. And what is the primary emotion I feel when hearing about such incidents against Jews? No, not anger – it’s sadness, and it comes from more than one factor. The first of those factors are the victims of the Jerusalem attack. Seeing the blood-stained images of the men, still garbed in their tallitot (prayer shawls) and tefillin (phylacteries), items I don on a regular basis myself for morning prayers, broke my heart. Hearing how the Druze police officer ran toward the danger, rather than away from it, leaving behind a wife and four-month-old daughter, also broke my heart. I always try to look for a silver lining and hearing how thousands of Jews and non-Jews attended the officer’s funeral warmed my heart. In addition to that, on the eve of the first Shabbat since the murders took place, the grieving wives of the victims asked everyone to make it a Shabbat of peace and love. Another factor that saddened me was how the rest of
the world reported the news. This is a topic in itself, but those who were quick to demonize Israel for defending itself against the terrorist organization of Hamas just a few short months ago seemed to go out of their way to misconstrue what happened at the Jerusalem synagogue. It saddens me to see how quick the world is to hate us, especially when there are true villains who are far worse and get much less attention than we do. Also a few weeks ago, an Arab-Israeli bus driver hung himself inside his bus. The Arab community instantly dubbed this as a murder perpetrated by radical Israelis and encouraged the Arab-Israeli bus drivers to strike. My nightly commute home went from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
“Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.” A few months back, shortly after it was discovered that the three Israeli teens had been murdered, an A rab -Israel i teenager was also murdered. Israel was quick to admit that it was foul-play, denounce the act, and track down and apprehend the Jewish murderers. At least a few hundred Israelis went to pay their respects to the victim’s family. His killers were universally condemned. Unlike Arab martyrdom, no streets in Israel will be named after them, and their families will not be given a monetary reward. So, when a medical examiner declares an Arab-Israeli bus driver’s death to be a sui-
cide, it saddens me that his fellow Arab-Israelis, with whom I share this city, do not give us Jews the benefit of the doubt. And among all of this we have Arabs stabbing unsuspecting civilians in the street, and Arab drivers intentionally running down pedestrians. One of the victims of these hit-and-run attacks was a three-month-old baby girl. The most circulated image of her showed the girl in front of the Western Wall, where her parents took her for the first, and tragically last time, just before she was intentionally murdered for being a Jew. Her innocent face on the news was perhaps the saddest image of all. At the end of the day, I’d rather feel sadness over anger. Feeling sadness over the loss of innocent life, rather than anger and rage, is what separates Israel from its enemies. We don’t rejoice over the deaths of our enemies. Relief, perhaps, at the fact that the world is safer each time a terrorist leaves it but not joy. Golda Meir alluded to this best in her famous quote, “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” Even when I see innocent victims on the news, there’s no room in my life for hate. DANIEL STIEGLITZ (dstieglitz@gmail.com), a Providence native, made aliyah in 2007. He holds a master’s degree in creative writing from Bar Ilan University; works as a trip coordinator at Sachlav/Israelonthehouse, a Taglit-Birthright Israel trip organizer; does freelance content writing; and lives in Jerusalem. His short story “End” was just published in FictionMagazines. com’s magazine, New Realm.
Call for yahrzeit notices Dear Members and good friends and the Jewish community, The synagogue is updating yahrzeit notices. This is a complimentary service of the Congregation Sons of Jacob. If you would like to be notified by post card one week before the yahrzeit date, please call the synagogue at 401274-5260, write to 24 Douglas Ave., Providence, R.I. 02908, or email congsons@hotmail.com with the following: Your beloved’s English name(s). Your beloved’s Hebrew name(s) (if possible). The father’s English name, and Hebrew name if possible.
English month and date of passing. Hebrew month and date of passing, if possible. Relationship. A healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year 5775, and beyond, to you and yours. Peace and security in Israel! Listen for the footsteps of Moshiach! Harold Silverman President Congregation Sons of Jacob Providence, R.I.
WE HAVE A VOICE – YOU HAVE A VOICE You have a voice … and The Jewish Voice wants to hear it. This paper is only as vibrant and robust as our readers make it, with kudos, comments, criticisms and other contributions such as: online comments, letters to the editor and op-ed submissions. Letters to the editor: 250 words or fewer and must be signed. Op-ed essays: 500 – 800 words and must be signed. Send to fostendorf@jewishallianceri.org, subject line: OPINIONS. Remember, The Jewish Voice is your voice. Write to us and be heard.
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Local community worked to release Alan Gross BY MARTY COOPER mcooper@jewishallianceri.org A Hanukkah miracle took place the morning of Dec. 17. Alan Gross, who had been incarcerated in a Cuban cell for more than five years, was released. Almost immediately after his arrest in Cuba on espionage charges, the Jewish community in our country advocated for his release. This effort was led by Ron Habler, the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, D.C. Ron, who knew Alan Gross, contacted colleagues in the Jewish community, including all of the Community Relations Councils (CRCs) as well as national organizations like the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a leading advocate for social justice issues. Like most CRCs nationwide, the Alliance CRC made phone calls and wrote letters asking our government officials to work toward Gross’ release. This included a series of emails and letters, phone calls and meetings with the Rhode Island congressional delegation. As the years passed, the Rhode Island CRC sent emails and signed petitions to the president of the United States asking him to help to get Alan Gross out of Cuba. The CRC also sent emails to
the Rhode Island community and used social media, such as Facebook, to bring attention to this issue. Jeffrey Savit, president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, also provided a statement in his weekly email to the community that asked us to contact our elected officials to advocate for Gross’ release. In October, while at a Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) Task Force meeting, I spoke with Habler about Gross’ imprisonment. He told me Gross was becoming despondent and spoke of suicide. He said that Gross could not envision another year in a Cuban cell. Upon my return, I sent one more email to the community on behalf of the Rhode Island CRC requesting that people again contact our delegation in Washington. Many of you did. In addition to Gross’ release, there are now reports that the U.S. and Cuba will begin talks on normalizing relations. Perhaps, Gross’ time in a cell will bring positive results. Today, the Jewish community worldwide is hailing the release of Alan Gross. Happy Hanukkah to Alan Gross and his family. MARTY COOPER is the Community Relations director for the Jewish Alliance.
Gross’ release, and changes in diplomatic ties, signals new day for Cuban Jews BY RON KAMPEAS
LETTER
December 19, 2014 |
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Alan Gross was imprisoned while trying to connect Cuba’s isolated Jewish community to the wider world. The deal that got him released five years later may do just that and much more. Gross’ flight home to suburban Washington on Dec. 17 with his wife, Judy, was part of a historic deal that overturns over five decades of U.S. policy isolating the Communist island nation helmed by the Castro brothers. “We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries,” President Obama said in announcing Gross’ release and radical changes in U.S.-Cuba policy. U.S. officials in a conference call outlined sweeping changes, including the resumption of full diplomatic relations,
the opening of an embassy in Havana, and a loosening of trade and travel restrictions. Dina Siegel Vann, the director of the American Jewish Committee’s Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs, said Gross’ release and the opening of ties with Cuba is a twofer for the Jews: In addition to the benefits accrued to all Cubans from open relations, she said, Cuban Jews “will have stronger ties to Jewish organizations, they will be much more in the open.” An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 Jews live in Cuba. Gross, who is now 65, was arrested in 2009 after setting up Internet access for the Cuban Jewish community while working as a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Never formally charged with espionage, Gross was convicted in 2009 for “crimes against the state.” ALAN GROSS | 26
10 | December 19, 2014
Ongoing Alliance Kosher Senior Café. Kosher lunch and program every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Noon lunch; 1 p.m. program. $3 lunch donation from individuals 60+ or under 60 with disabilities. Hanukkah Party, Dec. 19. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Festive meal; Jewish and Israeli folk music by Hava Galinah. Neal or Elaine, 401-421-4111, ext. 107. Am David Kosher Senior Café. Kosher lunch and program every weekday. Temple Am David, 40 Gardiner St., Warwick. 11:15 a.m. program; Noon lunch. $3 lunch donation from individuals 60+ or under 60 with disabilities. Elaine or Steve 401-732-0047.
Through Dec. 26 Holiday Children’s Art Show. Gallery (401). Includes selections from The Jewish Voice/Touro Fraternal Association Hanukkah Art and Writing Contest, David C. Isenberg Early Childhood Center and J Space. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.
Through Jan. 8
Encaustics, Prints and Photography. Temple Habonim Gallery. Works by three artists in a variety of mediums. Felicia Touhey, encaustic painter and printmaker, uses materials and manipulation in her creations. Brian Larkin, artist, musician and historian, has perfected the white (or black) line woodblock printing technique used by Provincetown artists in the early 20th century. Richard Jacobs has a passion for travel photography. 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. Hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and by appointment. Information, call 401-245-6536, or email gallery@ templehabonim.org.
Friday | Dec. 19 Shalom Friends – Hanukkah! A music and movement class at the Jewish Community Day School of RI. 10-11 a.m. Shalom Friends is a monthly Jewish music and movement class geared toward children from birth to 5 years and their families. Sing, play with instruments, dance with scarves all while learning basic Jewish concepts. JCDSRI Library. Free. Information, 401751-2470. Friday Services. Shireinu, the community chorus of Temple Sinai, will participate in Friday night services during Hanukkah. Services are open to the public. 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston.
Saturday | Dec. 20
Grand Chabad Hanukkah Café – Melave Malke. 7:30 p.m. Prominent immigration attorney will speak on “Immigration for the Nation” Lessons we can learn. There will be latkes. Chabad House, 360
CALENDAR Hope St., Providence.
Sunday | Dec. 21
Children’s Gala and Hanukkah Pizza Party. Noon. Dreidel tournaments, arts and crafts, decorate your own window decal, raffles and prizes. Chabad House, 360 Hope St., Providence. Hanukkah on Ice. 5-7 p.m. Skate to Hanukkah music. Enjoy sufganyiot, latkes and more. Food for sale by Chubby Chickpea food truck. $8 skate rental and ice time. Kennedy Plaza Ice Rink. A program of Congregation Beth Sholom. Information wizardhanna@ gmail.com or bethsholom-ri.org.
Tuesday | Dec. 23
Temple Torat Yisrael’s Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Philmus. Noon. Each participant orders from the menu and the group studies Jewish sources addressing current issues. Topic: “From Macabees to Christmas trees: Assimilation and the Miracle of Jews.” T’s Restaurant, 5600 Post Road, East Greenwich. Everyone is welcome, bring a friend!
Wednesday | Dec. 24 Singles Hanukkah Party. 7:30-11 p.m For ages 45+ Light the Hanukkah candles, music, dancing, raffles, dessert. $15 at the door. Ahavath Torah Congregation, 1179 Central St., Stoughton, Mass. Information and RSVP to Barry at datemeimjewish.com or 508-333-1466.
Saturday | Jan. 3 Concert by pianist Lisa Caliri. 2 p.m. Selections from Chopin and Barber. Caliri is an acclaimed international soloist and recording artist who has performed at Carnegie Hall as well as throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. She is on the piano faculty at the New England Conservatory at the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Mass. Part of the the “Orchard Cove Invite” series. To register, call 781-821-1730. “Orchard Cove Invites” is an ongoing bimonthly program at Orchard Cove on wide-ranging topics. Additional programs are planned for March, May, July, September and November of 2015. Details for the next program in March will be announced in February. One Del Pond Drive off of Route 138 in Canton, Mass. Orchardcove.org or hebrewseniorlife.org.
Thursday | Jan. 8
Gallery Opening Reception: “Alive” by Liliana Fijman. 7-9 p.m. gallery (401) at the Dwares JCC. Exhibit dates: Jan. 8 – Feb. 20. What can plant fiber do? Liliana Fijman has a fascination with plant textures and their forms. When plants die, nothing is lost. Rather they are transformed into visual expressions. Wine and light snacks will be served. 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. For more information, contact Erin Moseley,
Calendar Submissions Jan. 2, 2015 issue, HEALTH & WELLNESS – must be received by DEC. 24. Jan. 16, 2015 issue, BRIDAL – must be received by JAN. 7.
SEND ALL CALENDAR ITEMS TO: editor@jewishallianceri.org with the subject line “CALENDAR.” Calendar entries may be edited for content, length and relevance. Please submit two weeks prior to issue of publication.
The Jewish Voice director of Arts & Culture, at 401-4214111, ext. 108 or emoseley@jewishallianceri.org
Wednesday | Jan. 10 Drop-in Crafting. 4-5 p.m. Parenting Center at Dwares JCC. Drop in to create a special craft. Member price of $1 per child and nonmember price of $3 per child to help cover the cost of materials. 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. RSVP to Michelle Cicchitelli at 401-421-4111, ext. 178 or mcicchitelli@jewishallianceri.org to ensure enough supplies.
Sunday | Jan. 11 Alliance JCC Open House. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dwares JCC. Come see our facility which houses an Early Childhood Center, Art Gallery, Family Room Parenting Center, recently upgraded Fitness Center with an indoor pool, gymnasium, yoga studio and more. Open House activities include Open Swim Time, Fitness Classes, Gallery Exhibit, Drop-in Playtime, Crafts, Facility Tours and more! 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence Super Sunday. 9:30 a.m-5 p.m. Dwares JCC. Super Sunday is a one-day fundraising phone-a-thon when the community comes together to raise money to help those in need. Join us and make a difference. Volunteer to make calls with us if only for an hour. If you can’t volunteer, answer the call. For more information about becoming a Super Sunday volunteer, contact Michele Gallagher at 401-421-4111, ext. 165 or mgallagher@jewishallianceri.org. Agency teams are encouraged to register. Scholastic Book Fair Clifford Night. 3-6 p.m. Dwares JCC. This is a fun event for the entire family! 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence Meet the Consul General of Israel to New England. 2 p.m. Dwares JCC Social Hall. The Jewish community welcomes Consul General Yehuda Yaakov to Greater Rhode Island. He will provide an update on the Middle East, including Iran. Free and open to the public. 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.
Monday | Jan. 12 Jewish Alliance Phone-a-thon. 6:308:30 p.m. Dwares JCC. Join the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and help raise money for the Annual Campaign! Learn about partner agencies and their positive impact on our Jewish community and abroad. RSVP to Michele Gallagher at mgallagher@ jewishallianceri.org. 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.
Wednesday | Jan. 14 Russ & Daughters Fish Tasting. 5:30-7 p.m. Dwares JCC. Join Mark Russ Federman for an intimate tasting that will span 100 years of appetizing. From humble herring to luscious lox, Mark will dish out a generous side dish of stories, history, and information behind this New York food tradition and landmark store. Russ & Daughters food is kosher style only. Food will be brought in from NYC. Price: $25; Members: $18. 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Pre-registration required. Fish tasting price includes admission to film “The Sturgeon Queens” at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Erin Moseley at 401-421-4111, ext. 108 or emose-
ley@jewishallianceri.org. Jewish Culture through Film: “The Sturgeon Queens.” Hosted by Israeli Shaliach Gilor Meshulam. 7 p.m. Dwares JCC. Four generations of a Jewish immigrant family created Russ & Daughters, a Lower East Side lox and herring emporium that thrives to this day. Produced to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the store, this documentary features extensive interviews with two of the daughters for whom the store was named, now 100 and 92 years old, and prominent enthusiasts of the shop including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mario Batali and Morley Safer. Admission $5; Members $3. For more information or to RSVP, contact Erin Moseley at 401421-4111, ext. 108 or emoseley@ jewishallianceri.org.
Tuesday | Jan. 20
TNT! (Tuesday Night Talmud). 8-9 p.m. Open to men, women and teens of all levels and backgrounds. This is a collaborative group study of the first chapter of Masechet Berachot, tractate dealing with blessings. Meets weekly in the rabbi’s study at Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. For information, 401-621-9393.
Wednesday | Jan. 21
Mothers Circle. 7-9 p.m. Dwares JCC. Join the Mothers Circle to learn about Jewish rituals, holidays, ethics and how to create Jewish family life at home. This free 15-session course runs through May 13. No experience necessary. Mothers in all family constellations are welcome, and participants do not have to be affiliated with a Jewish institution. For more information, contact Sara Foster at 401-421-4111, ext. 184 or
sfoster@jewishallianceri.org.
Thursday | Jan. 22
Suminagashi Workshop. 7-8:30 p.m. gallery (401) | Dwares JCC. Suminagashi or “floating ink” is the process of marbling plain paper with water and ink to transform it into something vibrant and colorful. It originated in Japan as early as the 12th century. Join artistin-residence Liliana Fijman and gallery (401) for this hands-on workshop. Price: $25; Members: $18. Includes all supplies. Pre-registration required. Limited enrollment. Information, contact Erin Moseley, director of Arts & Culture at 401-421-4111, ext. 108 or emoseley@jewishallianceri.org.
Friday | Jan. 23
PJ Library Tu B’Shevat Storytime. 10-11 a.m. Dwares JCC. Enjoy a PJ Library story, songs, movement, crafts and a holiday-themed snack. All children ages 5 and under are welcome. RSVP or more information, contact Michelle Cicchitelli at 401-421-4111, ext. 178 or mcicchitelli@jewishallianceri.org.
Tuesday | Jan. 27
Parenting in the Present Moment Workshop. 7 p.m. Dwares JCC. Join Shalom Family and author Carla Naumberg, Ph.D., in a discussion about her book “Parenting in the Present Moment: How to Stay Focused on What Really Matters.” This workshop will include practical tips to use in your own personal situations and is also sponsored by the Isenberg Early Childhood Center Parent Committee, Jewish Community Day School, and Camp JORI. For more information, contact Michelle Cicchitelli at 401-421-4111, ext. 178 or mcicchitelli@jewishallianceri.org.
Consul General to speak at Dwares JCC BY MARTY COOPER mcooper@jewishallianceri. org Consul General Yehuda Yaakov is no stranger to diplomacy. In fact the consul general is well regarded and respected in diplomacy circles worldwide. On Jan. 11, at 2 p.m., Yaakov, the Consul General of Israel to New England officially will be welcomed by the Rhode Island community. The program will be held at the Dwares JCC in Providence. The consul general has more than two decades of diplomatic and strategic affairs experience. This includes more than five years he dedicated to virtually all aspects of the Iranian crises. Yaakov will discuss a number of issues relating to the Middle East and Israel. This will include an update on the Middle East situation as it relates to Israel and the United States, the issue of Iran and nuclear capability and the election process in Israel.
Yehuda Yaakov The program is sponsored by the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. MARTY COOPER is the Community Relations director for the Jewish Alliance.
COMMUNITY
thejewishvoice.org
December 19, 2014 |
11
CRAFTY members at a recent event.
CRAFTY enjoys fall social action projects
BY ADAM COHEN
In Hebrew, the words tikkun olam translate to repairing the world. When the members of CRAFTY were asked for their interpretation of what repairing the world meant, many responded. Some thought it was giving money to those in need; others felt that it was feeding the hungry. After the High Holy days, and in the lead up to Thanksgiving, CRAFTY members thought it would be fun to participate in social action projects. And boy, they did just that! CRAFTY juniors participated in a social action project on Nov. 9. Prior to the program, the groups of students were asked what types of projects they would enjoy. The members decided to package lunches for the men of Harrington Hall in Cranston. Throughout the afternoon, teens assembled 200 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Other teens packed the sandwich bags with the sandwiches and a banana. Following the program, the lunches were delivered to Harrington Hall. Members of the hall were extremely appreciative for the donation. CRAFTY is Temple Sinai of Cranston’s Jewish youth group.
Select Sundays during each month, students in CRAFTY participate in a variety of activities based on their interests. The youth group, under the umbrella of the National Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY), is comprised of two groups: CRAFTY Jr. and CRAFTY Sr. The junior group is comprised of students in grades six through eight. The senior youth group is formed with students in grades nine through 12. Activities range from edible sukkah making for the juniors to overnight NFTY retreats for the seniors. Perhaps the most fun for the students is taking part in social action projects. CRAFTY has many upcoming activities and welcomes all Jewish teens. For more information about future programs, please visit Temple Sinai’s website (templesinairi.org) and view the “youth groups” page. The page lists general information about the youth group and has membership forms. Also, anyone may contact the youth group advisor at crafty@templesinairi.org ADAM COHEN is CRAFTY adviser at Temple Sinai in Cranston. He can be contacted at crafty@templesinairi.org
Attending the event were, left to right, Elaine Shapiro, Anita Olinsky, Bruce Weisman, Anthony Edwards, Andy Sholes, Linda Weisman, Susan Smoller, Event Chair Sheila Malatt, Sharon Field and Eddie Edwards.
The Edwards Twins make their impressions at Temple Torat Yisrael event More than 200 people gathered at Temple Torat Yisrael in East Greenwich on Oct. 25 to attend an evening featuring The Edwards Twins. “Direct from Las Vegas The Edwards Twins” features Anthony and Eddie Edwards, twin brothers who dress and perform as many favorite singing legends with flawless live vo-
cals. At this performance they featured Sonny & Cher, Celine Dion, Ray Charles, Barbara Streisand among others. The evening was a success on all levels. Temple Torat Yisrael president Andy Sholes praised the cadre of volunteers who made the event such a success: “Our event chair, Sheila Malatt. led an extraordinary
group of volunteers who devoted months of time, energy and skill to making our fundraiser a great success. We appreciate so many Temple Torat Yisrael friends who joined our members for this major fundraising event.” This event was open to the general public as well as the membership.
12 | December 19, 2014
WORLD
The Jewish Voice
In Lugansk, an icy Ukraine winter tests a war-torn community BY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ LUGANSK, Ukraine (JTA) – In an unheated synagogue with no running water, a dozen Jews are trying to keep warm as temperatures here veer toward the single digits. Not moving too much helps keep the warmth under their thick coats, they say, a technique developed as the group gathered at least once a week to maintain a sense of community in a city torn by ongoing conflict between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army. “We usually stay for about two hours,” says Igor Leonidovich, the synagogue’s gabbai, or caretaker. “We pray for peace. In this cold, two hours is enough.” Half of Lugansk’s population of 425,000 has fled since July, when the fighting that claimed some 4,500 lives erupted in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Among those who fled were two-thirds of the city’s nurses and doctors, according to the World Health Organization, rendering medical services almost nonexistent. Earlier this month, a psychiatric institution in the Lugansk suburb of Slavyanoserbsk reported that 50 of its patients died from cold and exhaustion. Like many parts of Lugansk and the surrounding area, the hospital had no electricity, heat or water. About 2,000 Jews remain – a fifth of the Lugansk prewar community – but even that de-
termined group is struggling now that the winter cold has arrived. “We stay because it’s our birthplace, our land,” says Leonidovich, who draws encouragement from the fact that fighting in Lugansk proper has largely died down in recent weeks after a truce went into effect in September. “We don’t want to leave, but it’s getting harder to stay because of winter.” Near the synagogue, a few elderly people rummage for blankets in heaps of uncollected garbage on a street scarred by mortar craters and littered with the carcasses of abandoned pets. In the distance, explosions can be heard echoing from the suburbs. As they face these hardships, Lugansk Jews have received assistance from international Jewish groups, including food from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, or JDC, and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, or IFCJ. The distribution of the packages has been coordinated in part by the Lugansk Chabad emissary in exile, Rabbi Shalom Gopin, who is in Israel. Earlier this month, some 300 people gathered at the synagogue to receive food packages from the IFCJ, the second such distribution in recent weeks. The donation of a generator last month provided the synagogue with lights for the first time since the power went out in August.
tells JTA, “There is no racism here. If a person, Jewish or Christian, is law-abiding, they will not be harmed.” Even without being specifically targeted, the dangers in Lugansk are evident. In July, the Jewish community lost two of its members, Svetlana and Anna Sitnikov, in the fighting. The mother and daughter died when a mortar round exploded outside a grocery where they had gone to fetch food for Anna’s 5-yearold son. Like many septuagenarians here, Ernst Kuperman, one of the synagogue Rabbi Shalom Gopin, left, head of the regulars, has not Jewish community of Lugansk been able to collect his pension Being openly Jewish in Lu- for months. He gets by thanks gansk is not particularly dan- to JDC’s Hesed program, which gerous because the rebels who provides the needy with food control the city generally do not and medical services. display anti-Semitic attitudes, Others, like Anna Sosnova, Leonidovich says. who was wounded over the sumAsked whether Lugansk was mer by an explosion near her in any way extra dangerous for home, would have left but stayed Jews, a rebel officer who identi- because of family obligations. fied himself only as Vladimir Sosnova’s house has electricity,
but she still had to get a generator to administer drugs to her mother, a bedridden diabetic with one leg. “There is no way currently to safely get her out,” Sosnova says. Across the city, many buildings carry similar scars from the shelling that brought life here to a halt this summer. The situation is even worse in the outskirts, where vast sunflower fields that should have been harvested in the fall are withering in the snow along roads dotted with burned-out tanks that lead to shelled ghost towns. Before the fighting, the Beit Menachem Jewish school here had more than 150 students. But they never returned to school after the summer vacation and now are scattered across Russia, Israel and Ukraine, according to Sergei Kreidun, the principal. Although the school is empty, Kreidun still arrives daily to deter looters. He shows off the spacious campus, which has a small Holocaust museum and kosher kitchen, with a mix of pride and melancholy. Pride for what he has helped build over the past 15 years with funding from the Ohr Avner Foundation, melancholy over what became of the school. “As you can see, we’re ready for the kids here,” he says, gesturing toward a locker containing a former student’s books and hairbrush. “Now all we need is the peace that will bring them back.”
NATION
thejewishvoice.org
At 98, Kirk Douglas finds his poetic muse BY TOM TUGEND LOS ANGELES (JTA) – Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch, the son of an immigrant Russian Jewish ragman, marked his 98th birthday on Dec. 9 by launching his 11th book. The legendary star of 87 movies (who can forget “Spartacus”?) can look back, in happiness and grief, on countless one-night stands with filmdom’s most beautiful women, a helicopter crash in which he was the only survivor, a stroke, two bar mitzvahs and the death of a son. He has written about these and many other parts of his life in previous works. But there is something special about his latest, “Life Could Be Verse.” “I have expressed my personal feelings and emotions more than in any other of my books,” said Douglas, sitting in his art-filled Beverly Hills home. In the slim volume of poems, photos and anecdotes, Douglas is no longer the swaggering Hollywood star Kirk Doublas in his 1960 role of Spartacus. and serial philanderer of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. His trademark dimpled chin crets to hide./ Tell me, Eric, hometown of Amsterdam, and bright blue eyes are still what did I do wrong?/ What N.Y., and his second at 83, there, but his blond hair is should I have done to make after the traditional biblical now fastened into a gray po- you strong?/ Now I sit here lifespan of 70 years, at Sinai nytail, and he walks care- and cry,/ Waiting to be with Temple in West Los Angeles. fully and speaks with a slur, you when I die. He skipped his third bar mitza legacy of his stroke. Neither Anne nor Doug- vah at 96, and plans to do the What he has not lost is his las’ first wife, actress Diana same at 109, when he would sharp sense of humor, his Dills, are of Jewish descent. be entitled to his fourth bar pride as a Jew and his love But Anne converted to Juda- mitzvah. “That would be showing for Anne, his wife of 60 years. ism 10 years ago, explaining, The cover of “Life Could Be “Kirk has been married to off,” he said. “I’m an actor, so Verse” shows an early photo two shiksas, it’s time he mar- I have already been showing of Douglas and Anne fondly ried a nice Jewish girl.” The off all my life.” On attracting women: kissing and the subtitle “Re- conversion did not change flections on love, loss and the couple’s relationship ex- “When I was courting Anne what really matters.” in Paris, I couldn’t get In his previous 10 books, through to her,” Douglas Douglas’ prose is marked said. “One day she agreed to by the artlessness of a man go to the circus with me, and whose casual conversation when the circus performers has been surreptitiously recognized me, they insisted taped, and his poetry as well that I participate in the show. makes no pretensions to I had no idea what I was supposed to do, but as a string of Shakespearean loftiness. But circus elephants trotted out, there is no doubt of his deep I followed them in my tuxedo devotion when he serenades with a shovel and broom and his wife on their 50th wedding anniversary in “Please started to clean up what the Stay in Love With Me.” elephants had left behind.” Does fifty years together/ Anne was still laughing seem so long to you?/ The oldwhen Douglas took her home er the violin, the sweeter the cept for one ritual: Anne has and she bestowed her first music/ It is often said, and taken over the Shabbat can- goodnight kiss on him. The it’s true./ To me, it seems like dle lighting on Friday nights poet in him celebrated the yesterday/ We met in gay Pa- that Kirk handled in their triumph by noting: “Anne ree./ Now Paris is sad, but I first 50 years together. thought I was a big hit, As she am glad/ You chose to marry During an hour-long con- saw me shoveling s***.” versation, Douglas looked me. After the interview, DougA lesser-known side of back on the lessons of a full las emailed a final thought on a more serious topic. Douglas is expressed in “For and long life. “In the Jewish tradition, a On God and religion: “I Eric,” an elegy for the youngest of his four sons from two grew up praying in the morn- birthday gives a person spemarriages, whose drug-in- ing and laying tefillin. I gave cial power,” he wrote. “And duced death still haunts his up much of the formal aspect if he issues a blessing, this father. of religion … I don’t think blessing becomes true. So I sit by your grave and God wants compliments. God on my 98th birthday, I bless weep,/ Silently, not to dis- wants you to do something all people in the Land of Isturb your sleep./ Rest in with your life and to help oth- rael that the current conflict peace my beautiful son/ It ers.” resolves itself, that no more Douglas celebrated his first people die or are hurt and won’t be long before we are one,/ While I lie down by bar mitzvah at the Sons of that you can continue your your side./ And talk, no se- Israel congregation in his lives in peace.”
“In the Jewish tradition, a birthday gives a person special power, and if he issues a blessing, this blessing becomes true.”
December 19, 2014 |
13
Rabbi David Saperstein wins Senate nod for religious freedom post WASHINGTON (JTA) – The U.S. Senate confirmed Rabbi David Saperstein, a Reform movement leader, for a State Department post. On Dec. 12, Saperstein, in a 61-35 vote, won confirmation as ambassador at large for international religious freedom. He will be the fourth person and the first non-Christian to serve in the post. The ambassador travels the world making the case for minorities facing persecution or discrimination. In recent years, ambassadors have taken up the causes of Muslims in Burma and Christians in China and Sudan, among other cases. Saperstein, a veteran civil rights activist, had served as director and counsel of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism since 1974. “David’s clear and powerful voice has been the voice of our movement for 40 years,” Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said in a statement released on the day Saperstein was confirmed. “More than that, it has been the voice of the all-toomany among us who are often
voiceless.” National communal umbrellas, including the Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, welcomed Saperstein’s confirmation. They were joined by the Interfaith Alliance, a religious freedom lobbying group that has 75 affiliates including all four major Jewish streams, and the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly. Saperstein was a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships from 2010 to 2011. He also was a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from 1999 to 2001. Also on Dec. 12, the Senate confirmed two new members to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the body that supervises U.S. government underwritten media, including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. They are Leon Aron, a Russian affairs scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and Michael Kempner, a New Jersey-based public relations executive and philanthropist.
Congressional spending bill OKs Israel defense aid, Iran and P.A. oversight WASHINGTON (JTA) – The massive spending bill passed by Congress includes defense assistance for Israel along with tightened oversight of Palestinian funding and Iran nuclear talks. Included in the $1.1 trillion omnibus bill passed in the Senate by a 56-40 vote on Dec. 13 was the $3.1 billion in annual defense spending for Israel under a 2007 memorandum of understanding between the United States and Israel. An additional $620 million in joint U.S.-Israel missile defense programs also was part of the measure. Passed in the waning days of the congressional session, the bill also includes provisions requiring the White House to report to Congress every 30 days on Iran’s compliance with the terms governing nuclear talks between Iran and major powers. In a statement praising passage of the measure, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee noted that it “also reiterates that it is the policy of the United States to seek to prevent Iran from achieving the capability to produce or
otherwise manufacture nuclear weapons.” Keeping Iran from obtaining “nuclear weapons capability” has been a key point of contention between the Israeli and U.S. governments. Israel and some lawmakers in Congress want any deal to end Iranian uranium enrichment; the Obama administration has said that a final deal likely will allow for a minimal enrichment capability. New strictures in the spending bill would reduce or eliminate funding for the Palestinian Authority should it not combat incitement to violence; should Hamas have “undue influence” over its workings; and should Palestinian representatives gain statehood recognition in international forums outside of the context of talks with Israel. The omnibus bill was the result of contentious negotiations between the White House and both houses of Congress on the eve of the Senate’s transfer of leadership from Democrats to Republicans. The U.S. House of Representatives had passed its version of the bill the previous week.
14 | December 19, 2014
FOOD
The Jewish Voice
Wintertime farmers market offers a bounty of veggies for your table BY CYNTHIA BENJAMIN PAWTUCKET – Farm-fresh Brussels sprouts, beets, spaghetti squash, rutabagas, celeriac, greens, radishes, leeks, potatoes and parsnips, oh my! Summer is over, it’s true, but that’s no reason to settle for less-than-fresh, canned or frozen vegetables, because you live in Rhode Island, home of the largest winter market in New England. The Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers Market, in the Hope Artiste Village, is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. all winter long. The market is fairly bursting with more than 70 vendors and their locally sourced produce, meats, seafood, eggs, dairy products, honeys, syrups, oils, herbs, baked goods, coffees, flowers, wools and cosmetics. Grab breakfast at one of the market’s many restaurants, food trucks or food stands, or just a cup of coffee from The Coffee Guy or New Harvest Coffee Roasters, and you’re ready to browse among the sights and scents of the season’s bounty. Sniff, poke, squeeze, sample and ogle to your heart’s delight. And if you see something unfamiliar but intriguing, ask the farmers – they’re happy to introduce you to the exotic joys of kohlrabi and celeriac, mustard greens and cremini mushrooms. Silas Peckham-Paul, of Wishing Stone Farm in Little Compton, says Brussels sprouts on the stalk are one of their most popular items. “Everyone starts asking
about them after the fi rst cold night of the year. They buy them and then walk around with the stalk sticking out of their bags – it’s a great advertisement.” Further along, past the vegan pastries, the gluten-free pastries, the wheat-free pastries and the baked doggie treats, Ziggy Goldfarb is selling pickles. Goldfarb, who is the owner and “head pickleteer” of the Fox Point Pickling Co., says he developed his crunchy garlic dill pickles and spicy dill pickles after “a lot of hits and misses.” Business is brisk, he says, adding, “Have a sample.” Past heaping mounds of shiny apples, ruby cranberries and golden quinces, Harvest Kitchen is selling applesauce made by students in a culinary and job-readiness training program for at-risk youth, and the Providence Granola Project is selling organic, artisanal granola prepared in the kitchen of the Amos House by recently arrived refugees. Naturally, I want to buy, and cook, everything. But fi nally I settle on the ingredients for three hearty and simply delicious recipes.
Potato-Leek Soup
6 ounces leeks (just the white part) 6 ounces butter, preferably clarified 6 ounces potatoes, washed, peeled and thinly sliced 20 ounces chicken stock Salt White pepper 4 ounces heavy cream Remove the tops of the leeks (the green part) and trim the
move as much water as possible. Heat a sauté pan until very hot, add olive oil and heat until very hot. Add sprouts and quickly toss so they are coated with oil. Cook on medium high heat until the sprouts are browned or, if you prefer, blackened. Remove from heat, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and serve.
Everything Cookies
PHOTOS | CYNTHIA BENJAMIN
A large selection of produce at the Winter Farmer’s Market. bottom. Wash the white part, cut in half lengthwise, place the flat sides on a cutting board and thinly slice from the narrow end. Sauté the sliced leeks in the butter in a deep pan on medium heat — do not allow them to brown. Add the potatoes and chicken stock and simmer until the vegetables are tender. If foam forms on top of the liquid (this depends on your stock, which can be homemade or from the store), skim it with a spoon. Strain the soup, reserving the liquid. Purée the vegetables and mix them back into the liquid. If the soup is too thick, add a little more chicken stock until it’s the
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DRASH dessert
Elu v'Elu:
Save the Date Navigating difference while building community.
February 7, 2015 | 7 pm Dwares JCC | 401 Elmgrove Avenue, Providence There is much conflict in the world and a decreasing opportunity for civil discourse, both in America as a whole and specifically in relation to how Jews talk about Israel. Join us for a look at how Jewish tradition treats disagreements and arguments and holds out the possibility of respectful, yet passionately engaged argumentation. There is no cost associated with this event and dessert will be provided. For more information contact the Alliance Member Services team at 401.421.4111.
desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper (use white pepper, if you have it, to preserve the soup’s creamy white appearance). Just before serving, add the cream and swirl to incorporate. Serves 4. Note: When served cold, this soup is called Vichyssoise
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts Brussels sprouts (about 1/4 pound per serving) Olive oil (choose a high-quality one with a flavor you enjoy) Kosher salt Black pepper, freshly ground Trim Brussels sprouts, removing yellowed or withered leaves and a thin slice from the bottom. Rinse thoroughly. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add sprouts and reduce heat to simmer sprouts for about 5 minutes or until barely tender (test with a fork). Remove sprouts and immediately plunge into ice water, to stop the cooking process. When sprouts are cool, place in strainer to re-
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened 3/4 cup fi rmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 cups oats (quick or old-fashioned) 1 cup granola (break up chunks, if they are large) or trail mix; any types, flavors, ingredients Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips or peanuts Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour mixture and mix well. Gently and thoroughly stir in oats, granola/trail mix, and optional ingredients, if desired. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 9 minutes for a chewy cookie or 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Store tightly covered. Makes 35-40 cookies. CYNTHIA BENJAMIN is a chef and an editor at The Providence Journal. She is a member of Congregation B’nai Israel in Woonsocket.
FOOD
thejewishvoice.org
December 19, 2014 |
15
Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s ‘lower guilt’ latkes BY GABRIELLE BIRKNER JTA – Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz — South Florida congresswoman, chair of the Democratic National Committee, mother of three school-age children – is also, apparently, something of maven in the kitchen. Wasserman Schultz (aka @ cleancookingcongresswoman) maintains an Instagram account devoted to her culinary
So we decided to ask Wasserman Schultz for her formula for the perfect latke. Explaining her decision to include grated sweet potato and parsnip, in addition to traditional baking potatoes, she told JTA via email: “My New Year’s resolution last year was to eat healthier without giving up my favorite ‘Jewish soul foods’! So, throughout the year, I set out to adapt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
PREPARATION:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 2. Place fi rst 3 ingredients on paper towels; squeeze until barely moist. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cumin, 1/4 teaspoon salt, eggs, and onion in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Add potato mixture; beat with a mixer at low speed until combined.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Tips for perfectly fried latkes
Throughout Hanukkah, Yahoo Food has promised to post a series of recipes and tips to make the best latkes, jelly doughnuts, and other Hanukkah treats. To Healthy Root Vegetable kick off the celebration, they Latke Recipe posted an interview with food 2 cups grated peeled sweet po- writer Leah Koenig. She offered the folks at Yahoo the following tato 2 cups grated peeled baking tips to avoid mistakes when frying latkes: potato Be sure to drain those taters 1 cup grated peeled parsnip 3 ounces all-purpose flour When water hits bubbling oil, the latter begins to pop and sputter (about 2/3 cup) and that can be dangerous. She 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, di- suggests bundling grated ingredients in a paper towel or clean vided dish cloth, then squeezing to re2 large eggs lease the liquids within, before 1 cup grated onion 2 tablespoons olive oil, divid- adding them to oil. Do this two or three times. “There’s a surprised 1 tablespoon chopped dill (op- ing amount of liquid in potatoes tional) JVH_12/5/2014_Layout 1 11/24/14 6:03and PM onions,” Page 1 she said. “It’s a little extra work, but it really does 3 tablespoons water
It is possible – and here’s the recipe, which Wasserman Schultz adapted from MyRecipes.com.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s healthy latkes. adventures, and was tweeting Dec. 13 and 14 about, what else, latkes. “Was fl ipping through old recipes and came across this – only 3 days to Hanukkah and more of these!” she tweeted, along with a photo of golden brown potato pancakes. Getting latkes just right can present something of a challenge: forget to squeeze the water out of the potatoes and you’re likely to get a patty that’s heavier than it is crispy; fail to fl ip at precisely the right time, and the product may be more burnt than golden.
THE WARRIOR
THE INVENTOR
THE TRICKSTER
our favorite traditional Jewish recipes to a ‘clean cooking,’ healthier version. During Passover I made pizza with a matzo farfel crust, and I didn’t want to give up latkes at Hanukkah, so I found this root vegetable recipe, which I adapted a bit for my family’s tastes”. But because latkes are a favorite in the Wasserman Schultz household, she’ll be serving up traditional ones in addition to the “lower guilt” option. “Less guilt in a Jewish household, who knew it was possible!” the congresswoman told us.
THE THE ANTI-CONJUROR ESCAPOLOGIST
THE FUTURIST
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil; swirl. Heap 3 tablespoons potato mixture into pan to form a patty; flatten slightly. Repeat procedure 5 times to form 6 patties. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 6 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Place latkes on a baking sheet; keep warm in oven. Repeat procedure twice with remaining oil and potato mixture to yield 18 latkes total. Sprinkle latkes with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Garnish with dill, if desired.
make a big difference.” Make sure the oil is hot enough - “The whole purpose of deep or shallow frying is to sear the outside so that the food cooks all the way through, but it doesn’t soak up a lot of oil,” Koenig explained. If you have a thermometer, check that the oil temperature is between 325 and 375 degrees. “Keep adjusting the heat until you notice that the latke is browning pretty quickly,” she said. “If it’s not bubbling furiously, you want to start over.” Use the right oil - Keep olive oil far away from your latkes. “Olive oil has a low smoke point, which means that it starts to smoke pretty quickly when you put it on high heat,” Koenig said. Instead, choose a mild-flavored vegetable oil such as sunflower, peanut, vegetable or safflower oil.
THE MANIPULATOR
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16 | December 19, 2014
COMMUNITY
The Jewish Voice
JCDSRI Double Chai event celebrates anniversary, benefits Fund for Excellence BY JEWISH COMMUNITY DAY SCHOOL STAFF
Current parents and alumni parents, from left to right, Deborah Skolnick Einhorn, Rachel Friedberg Weil, Debra Herman, Alisa Kotler-Berkowitz and Bonnie Steinberg Jennis.
January 11, 2015
Super Sunday
Honoring the first graduating class and their families, left to right, Penny Stein, Dianne and Martin Newman, Lucy Brown, Allen Metnick, Rabbi Alvin Kaunfer. Marcia Kaunfer, Rachel Levy, Saul Metnick, Sheila and Paul Alexander.
Volunteer.
On Nov. 16, 200 guests gathered at the Brown RISD Hillel to celebrate the 36th year of the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island (JCDSRI). The Double Chai Benefit brought together current parents, alumni parents and community supporters from many different eras of the school. “The evening was fi lled with fond memories of parents who helped build the school, the students that thrived during those years and the buzz about the school’s bright future,” said Alison Walter, the development director at JCDSRI. More than $70,000 was raised for the JCDSRI Fund for Excellence, which will provide new and exciting programs at JCDS. “We have helped create incredible menshes and scholars over our last 36 years,” stated Adam Tilove, the head of school, “But our best days are still ahead of us! We are thrilled to have brought the community together to remind them of the beautiful and important work Jewish day schools are doing.”
PHOTOS | STEVE PEISER
Heads of School Adam Tilove and Rabbi Alvin Kaunfer
Support.
Let’s change the world... Together.
Get Involved.
Event Co-Chairs Deb Salinger & Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz invite you to Super Sunday.
How can you help on Super Sunday?
Share your time: volunteer to make calls with us to support our Jewish community. Can’t volunteer? Answer the call. Whatever you can do, however you decide to help, let’s change the world... Together.
What makes Super Sunday so super?
You do! Come by for an hour or for the whole day. In addition to volunteer opportunities, we have great activities planned like PJ Library Story Hour, J-Space Sample Day, JCC and J-Fitness Class Demos, as well as an Art Exhibit in gallery (401), Scholastic Book Fair and more! For more information about Super Sunday visit jewishallianceri.org or contact Michele Gallagher at 401.421.4111 ext. 165 or mgallagher@jewishallianceri.org.
Sponsored by
Join us at 2:00pm
Consul General of Israel to New England Yehuda Yaakov
COMMUNITY
thejewishvoice.org
jewish voice 12_5_Layout 1 11/25/14 11:42 AM Page 1
December 19, 2014 |
ROW LIKE A GIRL COURTESY | RI JEWISH HISTORICAL ASSN.
Providence celebration of national NCJW centennial. FROM PAGE 1
NCJW
“I’m very sad. I love this organization.” So the membership faces a decision. Members are being asked to vote to disband or vote to remain open and assume leadership positions; and also volunteer to support the State Policy Advocate (SPA) . The SPA office, so critical to the mission of the organization, will remain in place. Maxine Richman, current SPA, says she is happy to continue to advocate for many of the progressive issues important to NCJW that affect women, children and families with guidance from the organization’s Washington office that coordinates other SPAs around the United States. Each local unit has at least one state policy advocate. “This is a critical time [for the NCJW],” said Levine. “We are a known product at the State House, in D.C. and in Israel. But we’re not asking for an opinion. The only way for this section to remain viable is if some people step forward. We know this is the right thing to do.” And the national leadership has supported the local leadership in this decision. According to Levine, if several people want to take over the leadership and continue the heritage, she and Elbaum would be happy to teach them the ropes. Leadership of the local NCJW section takes stamina and interest, she says. Some of the many tasks facing the leadership would include advocacy, program planning, follow-up calls to action, communication, support and education. A little fundraising doesn’t hurt either. Like many members, Levine has a deep affection for NCJW, which she fi rst joined as a young person in New York. “I started as a teenager in Councilettes.” Councilettes offered teens an opportunity for community service. No longer in existence in Rhode Island, at one time there were more than 100 Councilettes here who went on to enjoy adult membership in NCJW. At one time, Levine was the adult adviser to the Councilettes here. But everyone agrees that it’s a different time now. And
organizations have to change with the times. Jobs and families place different demands on women who may no longer have time to attend meetings. Other groups and organizations face the same challenges. Rhode Island is not the fi rst NCJW section to close. The Boston section closed 10 years ago. In fact, only New Bedford continues to have a viable section in the area. NCJW has about 250 annual and life members in Rhode Island. Should the membership agree to dissolve the Rhode Island unit, current members would become national members. Funds attached to the Rhode Island group, including an endowment, would transfer to the national organization. The leadership is passionate about the ongoing importance of NCJW’s role nationally and in Rhode Island. NCJW has been active in Rhode Island advocating for women, children and families on issues such as human trafficking as well as domestic violence, teen dating and bullying. In recent years, they’ve run community programming on all these issues. Both Elbaum and Levine call domestic violence and human trafficking the “hot button” issues right now. “There is a great deal to be done on human trafficking,” said Elbaum. “This is a critical time.” According to Richman, it is critical to retain the SPA office because “It is important that the SPA’s voice be heard on behalf of NCJW here in R.I. … on issues important to women and children and families especially as a voice … with our elected officials and with our state officials and certainly as a voice to speak with our national officials on national issues.” She’s hoping that the next generation of advocates will step up to help out with the SPA function. The membership votes are due by Dec. 20. FRAN OSTENDORF is the editor of The Jewish Voice.
CODE LIKE A GIRL
OPeN HOuSe • SATuRDAY, JANuARY 10, 2015 • 1-3 P.m. RSVP: www.lincolnschool.org/openhouse 301 Butler Avenue, Providence, RI Co-ed: N-K; All-girls: Grades 1-12
#onlyatlincolnschool
Jboost.org—the crowdfunding website that supports local projects that improve the lives of those in need throughout Greater Rhode Island’s Jewish community.
The need is real—one out of every two Jewish households in Rhode Island is identified as economically vulnerable. With the imminent rise in heating costs, and the harsh winter forecasted for our area, already struggling families are forced to choose how to spend what little “extra” money they have. We have already identified 15 children and we’re discovering more and more each day.
Keep a child warm Be a source of warmth for families in need of winter apparel for their children.
UPDATE: Thank you to everyone that has helped push this project over its goal! The more money we raise, the more children we can help. Visit Jboost.org to help keep a child warm.
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www.jvhri.org Visit it often.
17
18 | December 19, 2014
COMMUNITY
The Jewish Voice
A ‘Boost’ to the community
FROM PAGE 1
MALINA
Ways crowdfunding has helped those in need BY KARA MARZIALI kmarziali@jewishallianceri.org Jboost.org, our community’s crowdfunding platform and one of the Living on the Edge initia-
tives, is designed to support local projects and better the lives of the economically vulnerable in our community. The following illustrates the effect crowdfunding has had
over the past few months. Look for a detailed article in an upcoming issue for more information on Jboost and other Living on the Edge initiatives.
KEEP A CHILD WARM
(Project closes December 26) The Need: Families can’t bear the added expense of winter clothing for their children Team: Shalom Family in coordination with its partners (synagogues, day schools, and agencies) Raised: more than $1,200* Funders: 20 “boosters”* plus an anonymous donor offering to match each donation with a pair of gloves and a hat Our Impact: Provide warm coats, boots, hats, scarves and gloves to nearly 30 local children
Robert and Lesley Landau and Nathan and Karen Beraha
*statistics as of December 10
PROVIDE A BOUNTIFUL THANKSGIVING DINNER The Need: Families couldn’t afford a Thanksgiving meal Team: Jewish Family Service & Jewish Seniors Agency Raised: $505 Funders: 20 “boosters” Our Impact: Provided a variety of Thanksgiving-related foods to 40 local families
Jay and Judy Rosenstein with Joshua Malina
BACK-TO-SCHOOL BACKPACK BUNDLES The Need: Parents struggled to outfit their children with supplies that were required for the start of school Team: Shalom Family Raised: $124 Funders: 5 “boosters” Our Impact: Provided a variety of school supplies, including backpacks, notebooks, binders, pens, pencils, crayons and other select items for 10 students
SHABBAT DINNER FOR THOSE IN NEED The Need: Vulnerable populations face food insecurity and can’t afford a Shabbat dinner Team: Jewish Seniors Agency Raised: $538 Funders: 14 “boosters” Our Impact: Supplied complete Shabbat meals for families and at-risk individuals FILL-A-TRUNK FOR A CAMP JORI CAMPER The Need: Families couldn’t afford the basic supplies needed for a successful camp experience Team: Camp JORI Raised: $750 Funders: 21 “boosters” Our Impact: Helped 15 campers with camp essentials, including water shoes, insect repellant, bedding, towels and more KARA MARZIALI is director of Communications for the Jewish Alliance and is actively involved with Access Jewish Rhode Island.
David Lewis, Vince Mor, Margaret Wool and Elly Lewis Day School and Yale University ing and Resource Development to his career in Hollywood. He at the Jewish Agency for Israel also discussed the important (JAFI), who shared informalife lessons and Jewish values tion about the impact and imhe learned from his parents that portance of personal contribuhave built the foundation for his tions to programs and services successes and have contributed overseas. Neuman shared stoto his advocacy for the Jewish ries from around the world community. where JAFI Malina also is the Jewish touched on world’s first his experir e s p o n d e r, ence being prepared the enterto address id you miss the opportainment inemergentunity to celebrate our dustry’s lone cies while community with Joshua r epr e s e nt a connecting Malina? Join us on Jan. 11, tive at a 2001 the global 2015, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for rally for IsJewish famSuper Sunday! There will be rael’s right ily through prizes and an opportunity to to exist. He me a n i n g f u l hear the Israeli Consul Gensaid he does engagement. eral to New England speak! not underPrior to the For more information, constand why main event, tact Hillary Schulman at Israel has two recephschulman@jewishallianclittle celebtions were eri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. rity backing. held for Pace“ C e r t a i n ly, setter donors 127. it’s OK to be and younger critical of leadership. Israel though Israel most defiRon Markoff and Ralph Posner nitely has a right to exist. But it co-chaired the Pacesetter can be very lonely work trying reception, which honors to support Israel in Hollywood,” donors who contribute $10,000 he stated. or more to the Campaign. In addition to Malina, the At the reception, Vice Chair community listened to a pre- of Philanthropy Mitzi sentation by Danyelle Neuman, Berkelhammer told attendees, managing director of FundraisMALINA | 19
D
Super Sunday is coming
COMMUNITY
thejewishvoice.org
PHOTO | BRIAN SULLIVAN
Alliance Chair of the Board Sharon Gaines, 2015 Campaign Chair Mitzi Berkelhammer, and Joshua Malina
Arthur and Judy Robbins
FROM PAGE 18
MALINA
“Your generous support at the Pacesetter level enables us to create positive, life-changing results for people in need, to strengthen Jewish identity and to ensure the future of the Jewish community.” Markoff wrapped up the reception with a poem addressing the evening’s main goal, “…The Alliance cannot operate without your gift / We cannot afford to have a rift / So when Ralph and Ron ask you for money / Remember it is for the Land of Milk and Honey.”
Just across the hall was the young leadership reception, where co-chairs Steven and Emily Shalansky introduced the Jewish Alliance’s newest level of giving known as the Young Leaders Double Chai Society. This group will seek to create a more committed, more engaged group of philanthropically inclined NextGeners. The main event was kicked off by Board Chair Sharon Gaines: “We are part of 150 Federations in North America that raise and distribute over $3 billion
19
PHOTOS | ANDRE BLAIS
Alliance President and CEO Jeffrey Savit, Event Co-Chairs Susan Odessa and Judy Levitt with Joshua Malina
Dan Gamm and Marisa Garber
Oswald Schwartz, Emily Shalansky and Susan Gertsacov
December 19, 2014 |
Barbara and Ed Feldstein
Harris Rosen, Sally Lapides and Mindy Wachtenheim
annually for social welfare, social services and educational needs. The Federation movement, collectively among the top 10 charities on the continent, protects and enhances the well-being of Jews worldwide. We have a thriving JCC with a state-of-the-art health club, an early childhood center with a waiting list, and excellent arts and cultural programs. Our (401)j group draws young adults from across the state. And our Living on the Edge initiative has raised over $1.2 million to directly assist people in our community who are financially
vulnerable. We have a $58 million Foundation that is rapidly growing, and I’m pleased to announce that as of this week, the annual campaign has surpassed $2 million. Now I invite you to get involved!” This event celebrates the greater Rhode Island community’s 2015 Annual Campaign, which provides financial resources to support local and overseas programs and services for the most vulnerable populations and sustains Jewish life. Government representatives at the gathering were Congress-
man David Cicilline, State Representative Aaron Regunberg, State Representative Mia Ackerman, State Senator Joshua Miller and Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh Clements Jr. Passionate and uplifting, Malina closed his remarks with a call to the community, “Hazak Hazak V’nitkhazek! Be strong! Be strong! And may we be strengthened.” JENNIFER ZWIRN is in Grants and Philanthropy at the Jewish Alliance.
20 | December 19, 2014
GENERATIONS
The Jewish Voice
Abraham Zeltzer, a soldier of life BY IRINA MISSIURO imissiuro@jewishallianceri.org Abraham Zeltzer is 93 years old. He espouses the wisdom of old age, but many of the insights he lives by have been in his arsenal since his 20s. The unpredictability of life is a lesson he learned while serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces, where he stayed throughout WWII. In 1941, he was a student at the New England Aircraft School at Logan Airport in East Boston. As soon as the war broke out, Zeltzer enlisted, becoming a crew chief and working on fighters and bombers for four years. Once, when he was eating lunch in the mess hall, he heard a huge explosion. A B-24 airplane had caught on fire, and the fire department, unaware that the plane was loaded with bombs, arrived to extinguish it. All the men died. Looking into space, Zeltzer says, “I still remember a GI’s shoes – neatly tied and nobody in them. I think back about all these people blown to bits. You couldn’t even send anything to their families.” Later, when one of his three sons died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 45, Zeltzer again experienced the helplessness and anger at the cruelty and volatility of life. He kept busy with work. Unlike many of his generation, who held the same jobs throughout their lifetimes, Zeltzer tried various positions, the last of which, Citrus Fruit Inspector for the Florida Department of Agriculture, was a job he held in his 80s. His career history started when, at the end of the war, he found a job at Logan Airport. After flying in lobsters from Canada and Nova Scotia for a couple of years, Zeltzer applied to serve as a mechanic for the Navy’s Aircraft Overhaul Repair Base.
Sixteen years later, he went to school – within the Navy – and became an instructor, teaching Israelis, Iraqis and Syrians how to test, overhaul and repair planes for the next six years. When an opportunity presented itself, Zeltzer decided to try his hand as an entrepreneur. He and his sons bought some land and opened a garden center in Seekonk, offering planting, cutting and lawn maintenance services to businesses and residences. At one point, he says, the business had 400 customers and three crews in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Zeltzer says their chance at the American dream came to an end when a giant competitor moved in next door, forcing them to sell their landscaping company that went bankrupt a year later. Zeltzer is still upset about the predominance of enormous corporations that, he believes, monopolize business, “They do a lot of harm.” Zeltzer’s stories confirm that much of what happens to a person in life is outside his control. After his wife, Betty died, he remarried. His second wife, Pat, a dedicated ballroom dancer, recently tripped on her oxygen tank, fell and broke her hip. Currently, she’s in a hospital in Florida, where they live, while Zeltzer is in Barrington at his son’s house, recovering from his second stroke. He talks about the handsful of pills he has to take three times a day, about the strain his ill health puts on his family, about the peace and quiet he craves. With old age comes the time to contemplate life’s choices. Zeltzer says he is no longer as observant as he used to be. Back in the day, he didn’t miss one holiday and ate only kosher meals. He wanted to carry on his dedication to Judaism in the Air Force. His first morning there, he put on his te-
Abraham Zeltzer fillin and his tallit and began to pray. After some mocking (“People thought I was a nutcase.”), he not only stopped praying, but also started eating non-kosher food since choices were scarce. After the war, he rededicated himself to religion, becoming the treasurer of Congregation Sons of Zion, a synagogue on Orms Street in Providence, where he stayed until it merged with Congregation Beth Sholom and the property was sold to the Marriott Corp. There, Zeltzer handled the synagogue’s books and made Minyan many mornings. After services, he’d join his fellow worshippers in a modest meal of boiled potatoes, herring and a shot of whiskey. Zeltzer also was the chairman of the Providence Hebrew Day School board. His son, Barry Zeltzer, recalls, “I used to go door to door with my father on Sunday mornings, asking for donations for the school. I can remember people clos-
ing the door on our faces, but my father never gave up and kept going until he made enough donations that day for the school.” In addition, Zeltzer often performed various custodial jobs and helped maintain the grounds. Zeltzer reminisces about raising money with Louis Korn, Joe Dubin and Tom Perlman. He met the latter while playing handball at the South Providence YMCA. Zeltzer’s assurance to Perlman, the man Barry Zeltzer calls “a financial anchor of the school,” that his kids were very happy at the PHDS inspired Perlman to bring his own children there. The two joined forces in helping the school move. The elder Zeltzer explains that the East Side residents hesitated to donate funds out of fear that the religious school wouldn’t fit in the neighborhood. Barry Zeltzer says, “The school was very fortunate to have my father on their board.” Now, Zeltzer’s great-grandson, Binyamin Cohen, is attending PHDS, a third-generation student following in the footsteps of Zeltzer’s daughter, Roberta Winkleman, and Zeltzer’s granddaughter, Abby Cohen. Thanks to the dedication and devotion of Zeltzer and other volunteers, many children can enjoy religious education in their neighborhood. Editor’s Note: Several weeks after this interview was conducted, Abraham Zeltzer returned to Florida. He died on Dec. 2. His obituary appears on page 31. We are grateful to the family for encouraging us to run this interview. May his memory be a blessing. IRINA MISSIURO is a writer and editorial consultant for The Jewish Voice.
GENERATONS
thejewishvoice.org
December 19, 2014 |
21
Shirley Koller does it her way: Laurelmead’s distinguished resident stimulates thought with art BY IRINA MISSIURO imissiuro@jewishallianceri.org Shirley Koller – artist, curator, educator – is at a point in her life when she no longer has to do something she doesn’t like. And, having lived a full life, she knows what appeals to her and what does not. Among her dislikes are: dry chicken, gossip, cliques and artificial flowers. The latter are a particular bane of her existence. As we settle down on a comfortable couch inside one of Laurelmead’s gorgeous rooms with Victorian dimensions, she points to one of the two vases on nearby end tables, “These were everywhere!” Koller is referring to the time when she entered the senior retirement community 2 1/2 years ago. Since then, she’s volunteered to transform the room we are sitting in, and some others, with artworks she considers to be more fitting for the space. Koller dispensed with the still lifes and the bouquets and hung some reproductions of wellknown masterpieces that feature people enjoying life. She points to the painting above the mantelpiece. It’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” Studying it, you notice that Georges Seurat used different applications of brush strokes – small horizontal ones and dots, never sticking to a specific technique, despite working under the umbrella of Pointillism. Perhaps, it’s the slight rebelliousness of the artist that appeals to Koller, who seems to relish the unexpected. Or, maybe, she – a sculptor as
well as a painter – is drawn to the statuesque manner in which Seurat depicts his subjects. The people in the painting resemble toy figurines placed onto the grass with a child’s nimble fingers. Yet, however stiff they look, most are moving about, engaged in a full appreciation of the glorious sunny day. Koller says, “Art should show people doing things.” A believer in action in life as well as in art, Koller didn’t
“… she enjoys portraying wounded trees – those that have healed after their branches have been sawed off.” lose any time when she arrived at her new home a couple of years ago, “I walked in here and said, ‘This place needs some new art!’ ” A longtime curator, she launched right into her beloved specialty. Besides cataloging all the works that hang on Laurelmead’s walls, ensuring that every piece has a proper label, and purchasing some new reproductions from the Internet (she has been entrusted with an art budget), Koller attempts to stir people’s thoughts. Sometimes, she tries to involve other in-house artists, including Ruth Samdperil, Margaret McGowan, Diane Goldman and Sam Bender, by featuring them as Artists of
PHOTO | IRINA MISSIURO
Shirley Koller next to Seurat’s masterpiece. the Month. She says that her goal is to have the residents notice their surroundings, ask questions, become aware of the changes that are happening in
their environment. “Otherwise, everything is very dull,” she sighs. To start the conversation, she gave a talk about the new
Let’s talk Let’s talk
acquisitions. To keep residents talking, she frequently moves art around. If she feels a certain piece doesn’t work in its space or if she simply wants to “keep [the residents’] brains working,” she’ll introduce changes. Koller has devised a tactful response to criticism, “Occasionally, someone will say they don’t like something. I reply, ‘I’m glad you noticed.’ ” She has a tendency to favor unexpected pairings. For instance, she hung an abstract piece in the game room among mostly Impressionist paintings. Under that Seurat stands a collie – a small dog she purchased in an antique store for $19. Some people were perplexed by the juxtaposition, while others understood the reasoning behind it. Koller was glad when Ron, the manager of dining services, told her he figured out why she placed the figurine near the painting – because there’s a dog within Sunday Afternoon as well. This is exactly the type of a reaction Koller is looking for – a stimulated thought process. She says, referring to her work as a teacher and curator, “It’s a continuation of what I’ve been doing.” Koller is one of the lucky people who have always known their destiny. She describes an image that’s burned into her consciousness. Koller is 4 years old. She’s sitting on the floor of her family’s Cleveland apartment and drawing with some crayons her mother has proKOLLER | 24
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22 | December 19, 2014
GENERATIONS
The Jewish Voice
When Sandy met Sarah – again BY JENNIFER FELDMAN, SALLY CARVER and DIANNE GIAMMARCO Some may consider this story a very small flash in the realm of time. Others may consider it destiny or bashert, as it is referred to in Yiddish. It is about a small moment of fate – an encounter that took six decades to occur. This is a true story that allows one to believe that the world we live in is, indeed, very small. On June 6, 1944, Canadian, British and American soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy. Under the code name Operation Overlord, more than 150,000 troops stormed the coast to take back Western Europe from Nazi control. Many casualties ensued. Because of the heroism of the soldiers, physicians and nurses, this battle marked the beginning of the end of World War II. Two of these heroes, Sarah Brody and Sandy Cotton, now live at The Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence in Warwick. And as proof of what a small world it is, the former nurse and soldier first met during the Normandy invasion before reconnecting many years later at Tamarisk. While at lunch one day, Brody said to Cotton’s wife Marion, “Your husband looks familiar. Was he in the army?” When Marion replied that he
Sarah Brody and Sandy Cotton at The Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence. was in Patton’s Third Army, Brody said, “That’s it! I remember being his nurse.” Sarah Brody grew up in Connecticut, went to nursing school and graduated in the 1930s. When President Roosevelt declared war in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he called on American citizens, especially nurses and
doctors, to help. Brody jumped at the chance to help in the war effort. So she signed up and was shipped out that same night. Brody was stationed at the 103rd evacuation hospital in Europe. She said those who were wounded “right from the field came to us.” One of those wounded was Sandy Cotton.
She remembered he had a bullet wound in his arm, and she was his nurse. Cotton, who grew up in Greenfield, Massachusetts, was stationed in Italy in the Third Infantry Division. While in a vehicle with other soldiers trying to escape from Nazi fire, Cotton extended his arm to help a friend running
Let them be the
reason
alongside and was shot in the arm. He spent 11 months recuperating in the hospital before being honorably discharged in 1943. After two years of service, Cotton earned two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his heroic efforts. The soldiers under Patton’s rule experienced a lot but found ways to get through the hard days. Brody said, “GIs were wonderful. They always had a sense of humor.” She was protective of them especially because most of them were young. “I loved them all,” she stated with fond memory. Even with the strenuous and emotional toll it took on her, Brody stayed in the army for 2 1/2 years. On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2014, Tamarisk honored Sarah Brody and Sandy Cotton along with other men and women who heroically served in the military and fought for our freedom. A special “Wall of Heroes” was unveiled and dedicated to Tamarisk residents past and present. This wall will serve as a memorial to all who served and call Tamarisk home. JENNIFER FELDMAN is marketing assistant, Sally Carver is a resident and Dianne Giammarco is the marketing director at Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living.
Some things never change. Like the way each generation plans and builds for the next, ensuring that the foundation of Jewish life remains strong. When you leave a bequest or a planned gift at the Jewish Federation Foundation, you touch each one of us. You leave your children and grandchildren a precious inheritance and a lasting testimony to your love and values.
For more information on establishing your Jewish legacy, please contact Trine Lustig, Vice President of Philanthropy at 401.421.4111 ext. 223 or tlustig@jewishallianceri.org.
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GENERATIONS
thejewishvoice.org
December 19, 2014 |
23
Memoir writing helps seniors preserve family history Tapping memories and recounting stories is one way area seniors are connecting with their loved ones. BY MELISSA BROOKS In a new memoir writing group, residents at EPOCH on the East Side are recalling faded memories to write prose under the guidance of Rita Watson, a PsychologyToday.com and Providence Journal columnist. In April she joined EPOCH on the East Side as a part-time receptionist, after cutting back on academic work to begin writing books. Watson, who has a master’s degree in public health, previously served as education and policy director at Yale and later for a group with the Harvard Consortium of teaching hospitals. Initially, many of the residents and staff didn’t realize Watson was a professional writer, but when they started seeing her name in the paper, they put two and two together. Watson had been writing memoirs about her grandparents for The Journal; EPOCH’s Life Enrichment Director Karen Ferranti asked, “Will you do something like this for us? We would love it.” Watson happily agreed, excited to help residents write memoirs so they could pass them down to their children and grandchildren. Since it first began earlier this summer, the memoir group has been well received by the residents. One of the first participants was Sylvia Denhoff who continues to attend memoir group meetings. “I tried it and was inspired,” Denhoff said. “Rita brings out the memories we have forgotten about. There are things I remember in her class that I really should have written down long ago.” For example, memories of her late husband inspired her first piece in the class. “I had a fabulous husband. He was a pediatrician but he loved to cook Chinese food. And we’d have dinner parties where people would leave and say, ‘when are you cooking again?’ Because of Rita, that came back to me and I wrote about it,” Denhoff said. The memoir class has become a wonderful way not just for the residents to resurrect cherished memories, but also to connect with loved ones and create a legacy. Watson and Ferranti began
PHOTO | KAREN FERRANTI
Memoir group participants Morton Paige and Lillian Siegel. framing the stories and hanging them up on one of the community’s walls, which helped spur conversations about family history. “My granddaughter was here from Boston, and I showed her the articles on the wall,” Denhoff said. “She was fascinated to know about her grandfather’s cooking. Somehow we had never discussed it.” But thanks to the stories inspired by the memoir group, Denhoff ’s granddaughter now knows more about her grandfather. Another regular of the memoir group, Mort Paige, finds similar value in the group’s potential to preserve family history. “I like to write down memories because I want my children to know things that I’ve forgotten or never told them. When I’m not here, they’ll know what actually happened to me and all the things that I thought were important,” Paige said. Watson coaxes these kinds of cherished memories out through creative writing prompts. She might share a few stories of her own or provide topics to inspire. She’s asked people to share stories about their summers growing up as well as the things they’re grateful for – a theme she frequently covers for PsychologyToday.com. Sometimes, those prompts make people think outside the box. For example, when she asked, “What do you love about freedom,” Paige was reminded of
a time when he lost his voice for nine months, motivating him to write about the freedom to talk
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and sing. Another young woman was inspired to write about her June wedding when Watson asked about summer stories. “She wrote the most beautiful story about her wedding, and described in detail the gown,” Watson said. The seniors handwrite their memories then share them with Watson, who types and edits them as needed. But, she says, the latter is rarely necessary: “I’m so impressed. Once a story is finished, Watson finds a photo to accompany it, frames it and hangs the finished product in what’s become the memoir gallery. Eventually, Watson and the burgeoning writers may compile the stories into a book. “Everybody has written something meaningful,” she said. “I have to give [Executive
Director] Jean Costa so much credit for letting us do this project because people have such wonderful stories to share.” Memoir writing can be a fruitful practice – it helps awaken precious memories, preserve family history and connect you with loved ones. Additionally, writing helps stimulate the brain, which can improve focus, help aging adults maintain reasoning skills and, ultimately, hold onto their independence longer. If you’re a senior living in the area and are interested in trying Watson’s memoir group, call Life Enrichment Director Karen Ferranti: 401-275-0682. MELISSA BROOKS is a writer who frequently covers senior activities, issues and events.
Happy Hanukkah
24 | December 19, 2014
GENERATIONS
The Jewish Voice
FROM PAGE 21
KOLLER
vided to occupy her while the older siblings are at school. As early as elementary school, Koller had been recognized as a gifted painter. She says that her pictures often ended up decorating the principal’s office. In high school, she chose to take an extra period of art instead of a foreign language. It was then that her work began to be featured in exhibitions. Teachers started to encourage her to apply to Cleveland School (now Institute) of Art. Since she had skipped a grade, Koller was young and had to ask her parents’ permission to apply. She used public transportation to get to her classes on drawing, painting and composition. After Koller discovered that the school had an arrangement with Western Reserve (currently Case Western Reserve) University, she took some courses there. In addition to offering her an opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree, the school also played another major role in Koller’s life – it was there that she met her husband, Herbert Koller. They were married at 22 and soon moved to Virginia, where her husband had a job at a patent office. Years flew by as Koller had three children in quick succession, volunteered making art posters and took night courses while her husband tended to the brood. By the time he decided to take some night classes at Washington College of Law (now part of American University), the kids were older, and Koller had the freedom to be involved with art
activities. She knew she wanted to teach, so that’s what she did, becoming an early childhood educator. She went on to further her studies at American University, taking so
“A true artist, she sees ‘a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower.’ as William Blake painted with his words.” many classes that the head of the department suggested she register for an MFA in painting. Gladly, she did, “Washington, D.C., was the best place to study art!” After Koller earned her degree, she began entering art shows and teaching Color Theory, Drawing and Two- and Three-Dimensional Design at Northern Virginia Community College, where she stayed for roughly 14 years. Following her husband’s death at 67 in the late 1980s, Koller stopped teaching, focusing on curating exhibitions of various groups, such as Tri-State Sculptors of North Carolina, and of her own work. When she received a phone call from The American Association for the Advancement of Science about organizing a show, she accepted the prestigious position, and ended up working there for another 14 years, retiring in 2011. Two and a half years ago, she arrived in Providence to be closer to her daughters, who live near Rhode Island. Koller continues her involve-
ment in the art world. Every Monday, she can be found in Laurelmead’s art room, preferring that to playing bridge or bingo. The only game she’s passionate about is Scrabble; she plays it at Temple Beth-El on Tuesdays. She has taken the Plein Air summer art class and The Nature of Spirituality class at the Lifelong Learning Collaborative at Brown University. Koller has even taught one session for the latter class, illustrating art’s relation to spirituality. Her latest forays into teaching included a class called “So You Think You Can’t Draw,” offered at the Martin Luther King Elementary School and at Arts on the Rhode, another LLC course. Creativity and the art world continue to pull Koller through good times and bad. Having recently lost a close friend, Koller says, “It [the death] was a real blow.” She’s carrying on, though, painting and being creative. Drawn to nature, she enjoys portraying wounded trees – those that have healed after their branches have been sawed off. A member of the Providence Art Club, she participated in its “110th Annual Little Pictures Show and Sale” in November. While Koller herself couldn’t be there because she attended an out-of-state wedding that weekend, her daughter represented her series, “America the Beautiful,” on her behalf. The six paintings she contributed to the show are a testament to Koller’s strength, resilience and stability. A true artist, she sees “a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower,” as William Blake painted with his words. IRINA MISSIURO is a writer and editorial consultant for The Jewish Voice.
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GENERATIONS
thejewishvoice.org
Mother calls daughter a family hero The Voice asked you to tell us about your family hero
Here’s what Elissa Arffa wrote: “My hero is my daughter Phyllis Arffa. She works very hard running and cooking at BLAZE, a Hope street restaurant on the East Side of Providence. She learned about hard work and giving to others while she spent her junior year of high school at an agricultural school in Israel. “She gives to the community in many ways. This is the fourth year she has provided 100 Thanksgiving meals to homebound elderly through the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association. She also donates her time and food to many other community organizations such as: AIDS Care of RI, Southside Community Land Trust and various woman’s groups such as those that help women who have been trafficked for sex or slavery. “She recently started a vegan food truck called Ooh-Mommi; the name is derived from the word Umami which means the fifth taste which is the thing in food that makes it irresistible. She wanted to introduce people in Rhode Island to healthier food choices that are also delicious. “When my father was in hospice and was hardly eating, she made chicken soup with matzah balls which he loved. When my daughter-in-law was pregnant
Phyllis Arffa at work. and on bed rest Phyllis made meals for her and her family and delivered them to Massachusetts. “Phyllis and her wife Christine have helped raise a nephew, niece and cousins. Since I
COURTESY | ELISSA ARFFA
live alone she has helped me fix things in my condo. “She is a most loving and caring person in my family and she is my hero.”
Tips to prevent slips in the bathroom
From left: Shirley Kirsh, George and Judy Cohen.
Gifts for Hanukkah Temple Sinai Seniors are packing food and other items for Hanukkah to be given to Jewish families in need in the community.
STATEPOINT – Roughly 234,000 injuries occur in the bathroom annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And while children and adults over 70 are most at risk, more than half of all injuries involve people between ages 25 and 64. A few safety prevention measures can make your bathroom safer: • Grab bars: Gripping things like shower doors or towel bars can lead to injury. Reduce your risk of failing in the tub or shower by installing a grab bar. • Seats: For those with balance concerns, a seat, chair or bench in the shower can be a good idea, as shower floors can become particularly slick. Also, remember to use a shower mat. • Toilet safety: Elevated toilet seats can help those with mobility issues ease onto the seat. Safety bars are another smart addition. If aesthetics are a priority, check out manufacturers who put a premium on design, and whose products meet American with Disability Act safety requirements.
December 19, 2014 |
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26 | December 19, 2014
OPINION | WORLD
The Jewish Voice
Ominous clouds over French Jewry BY BEN COHEN/JNS.ORG It’s an article that’s more than 10 years old now, but I still maintain that anyone who wants to get an insight into the dynamics of anti-Semitism in France would do well to consult “France’s Scarlet Letter,” published by the journalist Marie Brenner in the June 2003 edition of Vanity Fair. In that superlative piece, which had at its core a profile of Sammy Ghozlan, the Jewish excop who started his own agency to monitor and expose anti-Semitic incidents, Brenner provided fascinating insight into the class divisions that streak the French Jewish community. Among her cast of characters there was the working class, Algerian-born Ghozlan, who spent his career fighting criminals in the bleak outskirts of Paris; there was the aristocrat David de Rothschild, a banker with a haute-bourgeois lifestyle who gave Brenner the impression that Jews would do well not to “throw oil on the fire” of antiSemitism that was starting to engulf the poor Sephardic communities in the suburbs; and there was Roger Cukierman, a former chairman of the Rothschild bank and the president of CRIF, the representative body of French Jewry, who, Brenner
FROM PAGE 9
said, “had the sharpest insights into the anti-Semitic problem, but was cautious by nature.” Toward the end of the piece, Brenner recounted a conversation with Cukierman in which he “snapped” that Ghozlan played a “totally negative function… Whatever the subject, he jumps on it to get his own publicity.” Part of the problem for Cukierman was Ghozlan’s tendency, based on his family’s experiences as Jews in Muslim Algeria, to regard Jews under threat as compelled to choose between le cercueil ou la valise (the coffin or the suitcase). Moreover, in Brenner’s judgement, “Cukierman put the highest premium on respectability and did not want to be considered pro-Zionist.” Today, as back then, Cukierman remains a respectable, sober figure, but his view of the situation in France has changed so radically that, were Brenner to return to the subject of French anti-Semitism now, she would end up with a dramatically different article. Here’s why. Cukierman recently addressed a rally in the Paris suburb of Creteil, called to protest the brutal assault on a young Jewish couple whose home was invaded by three anti-Semitic thugs. Appallingly, the female was raped,
ALAN GROSS
Back in the United States on Dec. 17, Gross held a news conference, which he began with the greeting Chag sameach, noting that his release coincided with the first day of Hanukkah. He thanked political leaders, the Washington Jewish community, the local Jewish Community Relations Council and other faith groups that pressed for his release. “But ultimately – ultimately – the decision to arrange for and secure my release was made in the Oval Office,” said Gross, reserving special praise for President Obama and his National Security Council. Vann said improved U.S.-Cuba relations would have a rollover effect, removing obstacles to U.S. ties with other Latin American countries – and this in turn would remove tensions that have affected Jewish communities.
the male was held hostage, and their debit cards were used at a local ATM to drain their bank accounts—because, as the assailants told them, “Jews have money.” French Jews were outraged, not the least because the atrocity in Creteil brought back painful memories of the 2006 kidnapping, torture and excruciating death of Ilan Halimi, the young Jewish salesman abducted by a vicious gang that also chose its target on the grounds that “Jews have money.” At the Creteil rally, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that the fight against anti-Semitism was as a consequence a “national cause,” but the import of that remark paled in comparison to what Cukierman said. “Jews will leave in large numbers and France will fall into the hands of either Shari’a Law or the Front National,” Cukierman declared to applause. I almost fell off my chair when I read those words, for here was a resolutely establishment figure, who has led CRIF since 2001, publicly saying that French Jews are sandwiched between the creeping radicalization of the Muslim community, now almost 10 percent of the population, and the right-wing extremism of the Front National,
a party with indubitably fascist origins even if its new leader, Marine Le Pen, wants us to believe that it is kinder and gentler these days. I relate all this not to argue that Ghozlan was right and Cukierman wrong, more than a decade ago. For one thing, I had the honor of interviewing Cukierman back in May, and he was forthright and honest about the dangers that French Jews face. But more importantly, he has done the serious work of persuading French leaders that anti-Semitism is a civilizational threat to France. It wasn’t always that way; as Marie Brenner reported, in 2003 Cukierman wrote an open letter to then President Jacques Chirac bemoaning the fact that the “leaders of the country like to play down anti-Jewish acts. They prefer to see these as ordinary violence. We are deluged with statistics designed to show that an attack against a synagogue is an act of violence and not anti-Semitism.” As the recent comments against antiSemitism of Cazeneuve, Prime Minister Manuel Valls, and President Francois Hollande all demonstrate, that is manifestly no longer the case. The harsh truth – and this is something that has major implications for the debate about
“Cuba and Venezuela have a very interdependent relationship,” she said. “Anti-Semitism and anti-American rhetoric are being used by the regime in Venezuela, and with this that’s being undermined.” Daniel Mariaschin, who directs B’nai B’rith International, a group with a strong Latin American presence, said a new era of ties “will raise the profile of Latin American communities and interest in those communities.” In a deal American officials said was technically separate from the Gross release, the United States and Cuba agreed to exchange the three remaining incarcerated members of the “Cuban Five,” a Florida-based spy ring, for an American spy held in Cuba for 20 years and whose identity remains a secret. Obama insisted that Gross was not part of the spy exchange and that, in fact, his imprisonment held up changes to the U.S.-Cuba relationship he had intended on initiating years ago. “While I’ve been prepared to take additional steps for some time, a major obstacle stood in our way,” the president said, referring to Gross’ “wrongful imprisonment.” Republicans who have op-
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whether Jews should leave France en masse, a decision that could well trigger similar exoduses elsewhere in Europe – is that there is a limit to what governments can do. When I met with Cukierman in May, I also had the opportunity to speak with one of his young aides, Yonatan Arfi. Arfi made the pivotal point that, whereas anti-Semitism was once regarded as a “vertical” problem, and therefore one that could be dealt with effectively by government agencies, these days it’s “horizontal” and requires advocates to engage in the tricky work of unraveling the myths, slanders, and social norms that constitute anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in our time. Cukierman is now insinuating that we are losing this battle. The coming months will be decisive in determining whether the stark choice between Shari’a, or fascism, or aliyah to Israel, is upon us. I still dare to hope that a fourth option—integrated, successful Diaspora Jewish communities who proudly identify with Israel without fear—hasn’t entirely disappeared. BEN COHEN is the Shillman Analyst for JNS.org.
posed easing the Cuba embargo blasted the deal. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the son of Cuban immigrants, told Fox News that Obama was “the worst negotiator since at least Jimmy Carter, and maybe in the history of this country.” Many Jewish groups welcomed the deal, however, and noted the political difficulties it must have created for the Obama administration. “We know the decision to release the Cuban three was not an easy one,” the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said in a statement. “We appreciate the efforts of President Obama and Vice President Biden in bringing this about.” Gross is in ill health. He has lost more than 100 pounds since his incarceration and suffered from painful arthritis. A senior administration official who spoke to reporters before Obama’s announcement said the Vatican played a key role in negotiating the deal, in part through Pope Francis’ pleas to Cuba to release Gross as a humanitarian gesture. The official, however, also noted the significance of the Jewish holiday season of freedom. “We believe that Alan was wrongfully imprisoned and overjoyed that Alan will be reunited with his family in this holiday season of Hanukkah,” the official said.
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Rita Schwerner waiting by the phone Mickey Schwerner’s wife a civil rights worker, too
The Poe statue.
Pondering Poe and more “It was in the bleak December and each separate dying ember cast its spell” … Edgar Allan
SKETCHBOOK MIKE FINK
Poe described the 12th month in such phrases. His elaborate verse has been recognized in France especially. He was translated by none other than the poet Charles Baudelaire, and Parisians like “The Raven” better in his rendition than the original poet’s American English. I studied Poe at the Sorbonne in its Institut Brittanique. We read Poe in his admirer Baudelaire’s version for one semester. You see, I was an English major and a sort of French “minor.” In those days, so many decades ago, I was something of a traveler, a wandering minstrel. Nowadays, not so much. I like to sit by my hearth throughout the bleak December and stare at each separate dying ember at my own grate. I can make my pilgrimage to the poet Poe just around the corner at the Athenaeum on Benefit and College streets: My students declare that Edgar’s ghost haunts the stacks there! I did, though, stretch over the borders of our little world (the map makes our colony look like an oblong chip) to Boston, the writer’s birthplace. Of course, he spurned the culture of Boston, even of all Massachusetts Bay, and pronounced their output more sermon than art. Nevertheless, as you must have noted, his memorial statue was dedicated recently, and that was my purpose in taking the Peter Pan bus to South Station. What a treat to be met there by my son Reuben, who took me via that new-fangled “Uber” cab service to the Commons. But where is Poe? Oh yeah, ever the outsider, his figure with the familiar crow somehow emerging from his briefcase – two flying creatures on a windy and chilly December afternoon
– simply stands on a street paved with sidewalk bricks. We snapped a few shots and then made our way back to Reuben’s region of Bean Town. We dined on soup, wine and espresso by a warm fire, headed back to the bus station, and I brooded upon my journey, pleasant and poignant, a brief encounter and a timely retreat back to my familiar neighborhood. In my cellar, I hoard VHS and DVD translations of classic movies, among which I keep “Man with a Cloak” – starring Barbara Stanwyck, Leslie Caron, Joseph Cotten, and Louis Calhern; directed by Fletcher Markle and especially with an inventive musical score by David Raksin. It is the tale of the plight of the poet Edgar Allan Poe. Although it mostly slipped by the attention of critics, audiences and historians, it held my interest. It explores the desperate search of this gallant and romantic artist: I thought of him recently because of the statue, because of the impact of the bird that quotes the fatalistic word “Nevermore!” and because his griefs and regrets that haunt so many of our cities from Boston to Providence, from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and contribute a touch of class to our culture. Poe’s reputation lies in the fact that he published his short pieces in commercial magazines and sought what Baudelaire called “beauty” rather than moral platitudes. Perhaps that is why and how I think of him as an influence upon the entrance of Jewish writers and artists upon the American scene. With the establishment shutting out immigrants from mainstream institutions, it was the popular media – the funnies and the movies – that translated the hopes and dreams of the refugees and created opportunities for Jewish makers of stories, crafts, songs and shows. Poe was a kind of urban street artist seeking “balm in Gilead” (a line from his “Raven”), and for me his iconic bird resembles Bernard Malamud’s “Jewbird.” MIKE FINK (mfink33@aol. com) teaches at RISD.
BY TOBY ROSSNER On Nov. 24, the nation’s first African-American president awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian award, to three civil rights workers who were murdered in 1964: Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney. Many are not aware that Rita Schwerner, wife of Mickey Schwerner, had been in Mississippi in 1964 for the six months prior to the brutal murder of the three men. Why did she go? What did she do? Rita is one of the most visible of the Jewish women civil rights workers who went south from 1960 to 1966 as part of established civil rights organizations. Their mission was to integrate public facilities; teach in freedom schools and adult literacy classes; participate in sit-ins, in freedom rides, in voter registration drives; and, as writer Debra L. Schultz notes, “get arrested.” Most were well-educated northern students who chose this path because of the values that their Jewish upbringing instilled. Their parents “exposed them to the concepts of social justice, going so far as to include explicit injunctions against racism.” They were also motivated by a comparison of the violence in the south to the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. “What it meant to be a Jew was ‘never again,’ and what ‘never again’ meant was not only ‘never again’ to Jews,
Rita Schwerner but ‘never again’ to stand by and let things like that happen.” But they were also motivated by the need to have a more interesting life than that of the stereotypical housewife. Rita Schwerner remarked, “I did not see myself as saving anyone. But I did have a view of saving myself from a splitlevel house [in the suburbs].” Rita worked in a small Mississippi town organizing the blacks to register to vote. Even in her grief, she had the presence to point out to the media, “I personally suspect that if Mr. Chaney, who is a
native Mississippian Negro, had been alone at the time of the disappearance, that this case, like so many others that have come before, would have gone completely unnoticed.” Editor’s Notes: Source for quotes is Schultz, Debra L. “Our Unsung Civil Rights Movement Heroines,” Lilleth, Fall, 1999. TOBY ROSSNER (tobyross@cox.net) was the director of media services at the Bureau of Jewish Education from 1978 to 2002.
Local Realtor helps seniors in need of home repairs BY JEWISH VOICE STAFF Cranston – The Senior Real Estate Solutions Good Deeds Program is seeking applications from eligible seniors in need of home repair or maintenance. The Good Deeds Program was developed by Bruce Lane, a local Realtor with Williams and Stuart Real Estate in Cranston and founder of Senior Real Estate Solutions. Noting that some seniors could not afford the services needed for proper maintenance of their homes, Lane established a grant for seniors with limited financial means through Senior Real Estate Solutions, a free referral
source for seniors looking for home maintenance and repair professionals. “I founded Senior Real Es-
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would see homes that had been neglected simply because people didn’t know where to turn for trustworthy service professionals. The Good Deeds Program is a logical extension of that service. Repair needs that go unattended because of an inability to pay generally makes a problem worse and more costly in the long run. We’re pleased to be able to provide a service that is able to help some of the thousands of people on fixed incomes for whom home repair services are too expensive,” said Lane. Those interested in receiving a Good Deeds grant should contact Senior Real Estate Solutions at 401-228-7800 or through the website at seniorrealestatesolutionsri. com. Eligibility rules apply.
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I’m getting remarried. If you’re a widow(er) under age 60, or you’re disabled but under age 50, remarriage ends any benefits based on the record of your deceased spouse. However, if you remarry after age 60 (or after 50 and are disabled), those benefits remain intact, unless you get spousal benefits through your new spouse (at age 62 or older) if those benefits are higher. If your second marriage ends as a result of death, divorce, or annulment in less than 10 years, you will again be eligible to collect benefits on your first spouse’s record. Benefits paid to a disabled widow(er) are unaffected by remarriage.
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Early detection of uterine and colon cancers possible JNS.org – A recent discovery in a study by Israeli researchers might allow for the early detection and possible prevention of colon and uterine cancers. Among populations of different backgrounds in Israel, the study – conducted by researchers at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva, and Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv – identified a
genetic mutation related to Lynch syndrome that increases the risk of colon and uterine cancers. The populations affected by the mutation include Jews of European, Iranian, Afghan and Georgian descent. Being able to detect a mutation that is characteristic of a certain population makes identifying the syndrome much simpler and cheaper.
“The study is of immense importance in the prevention and early treatment of cancer,” said Prof. Tamar Peretz, the senior oncologist and acting directorgeneral of Hadassah Hospital, according to Israel Hayom. “Identifying the genetic mutation allows us to find subsets of healthy people who carry that mutation, and put them on an early prevention and observation program.
Israeli hospital performs first single-incision lung surgery JNS.org – A malignant lung tumor was removed with just one incision for the first time in Israeli history by doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. In an operation that usually requires multiple incisions, Drs. Danny Fink and Faras Abu Acher recently managed to
excise the tumor with a single four-centimeter incision in the lower lobe between the ribs, the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center said in a news release. The procedure, called “thoracoscopy,” involves a tiny video camera and surgical instruments being inserted through the lung. The patient
was discharged from Shaare Zedek four days later. A year ago, Spanish surgeon Dr. Diego Gonzales visited Shaare Zedek to teach the thoracoscopy technique to Fink and Abu Acher. According to Fink, completing the surgery with a single incision decreases pain, scarring and recovery time.
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30 | December 19, 2014 Marshall M. Eisenberg, 87
CRANSTON, R.I. – Marshall M. Eisenberg was the beloved husband of Ruth (Horvitz) Eisenberg. They were married for 60 years. He was the son of the late Henry and Gertrude (Darhansoff) Eisenberg. He was the father of Glenna Eisenberg of North Providence and Henry C. Eisenberg and his wife, Monica, of McLean, Va. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Meals on Wheels, 70 Bath St., Providence, R.I. 02908.
Joan E. Goldstein, 84
CRANSTON, R.I. – Joan (Efros) Goldstein passed away on Dec. 9. She was the wife of Gerald S. Goldstein for 66 years, and the mother of Jill Allyn. She was a gentle person. She was a loving, devoted wife and mother. She was an outstanding cook and an avid bridge player and reader. In her early years, she was employed by Sterling Shoes. She worked at Peoples Bank and was a hospital volunteer for many years. She was the original bookkeeper for Kent/Town & Country Cleansers, the family businesses and retired as vice president. She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.
Selma Hanna, 89
PROVIDENCE – Selma (Hamer) Hanna died on Dec. 3. She was the wife of the late Levy Hanna. Born in Providence, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Bessie (Gordon) Hamer. A member of Temple EmanuEl, she is survived by her son Elliot Hanna, daughter-in-law Nanette Pastor-Hanna, sistersin-law Ileane Hamer and Jenny Spater, brother-in-law Al Spater, nieces Susan Kaplan, Maureen Krensky, and Shirley Spater-Freedman, nephew Ed Spater and numerous grand-
OBITUARIES nieces and one grandnephew. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Jewish Seniors Agency of Rhode Island, 100 Niantic Ave., Providence, R.I. 02907.
Anthony R. Motta, 85
CRANSTON, R.I. – Anthony R. Motta passed away on Nov. 5 at the Philip Hulitar Hospice Inpatient Center, Providence. He was the beloved husband of Sandra (Rosenfield) M o t t a . T h e y were married for 44 years. He was a retired Rhode Island State Deputy Fire Marshal. Besides his wife, he is survived by his son, retired Fire Chief Stephen A. Motta, and his son’s wife SaraLou of Westport, Mass., two grandchildren, three greatgrandchildren and many nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Home and Hospice Care of R.I., 1085 North Main St., Providence, R.I. 02904.
Dorothy Markoff Nelson, 100
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Dorothy (Dotty) Markoff Nelson passed away peacefully at her home with her family by her side on Dec. 13. She would have celebrated her 101st birthday on Dec. 28. She was the wife of the late Dr. Walter J. Nelson and the daughter of the late Samuel and Ruth (Urdang) Markoff. She was the devoted mother of Sheila Greenbaum and her husband, Bob, of Providence and Deborah Nelson and her husband, Jim Pratt, of Rockport, Mass. She is also survived by her daughter-in-law Susan Nelson of Bainbridge Island, Wash. She was the proud grandmother of Todd Greenbaum (As-
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sia), Wensday Greenbaum, and Stephanie Goldenberg (Todd); Zachary and Sophie Nelson, Nicholas and Cara Pratt, and g reat-g ra ndch i ld ren, Skye, Amaya, Kenzo and Summer. She was pre-deceased by her son Bruce Nelson and grandson Jacob Nelson. She is also survived by her sisters Bernice Gourse (Samuel) and Gloria Winston and many beloved nieces and nephews. She was loved and will be missed by all who knew her. She was a graduate of Brown University, class of 1935. She worked at Paramount Greeting Cards as an editor and executive vice president. She was past president of Jewish Family Service and active in many boards and organizations, including Temple Beth-El and National Council of Jewish Women. She was an avid bridge player, great supporter of the arts, world traveler, lifelong learner and loyal friend to many. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Dorothy Nelson Fund at Jewish Family Service, 959 North Main St., Providence, R.I. 02904 or Greenlock Therapeutic Riding Center, 55 Summer St., Rehoboth, Mass. 02769.
Barbara F. Rosen, 87
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Barbara F. Rosen (Feital) died on Dec. 10. She was the wife of the late Herbert L. Rosen. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Gates and Sarah (Kaplan) Feital, she was a lifelong resident of Providence and Pawtucket. She was a member of Temple Emanu-El, a life member of Hadassah and a member of the Miriam Hospital Women’s Association, through which she was a lifelong volunteer for more than 50 years. She is survived by her son, Max Rosen, his wife Jeanne Ackman of Weston, Mass., and her grandchildren, Sam Rosen and Andrew and Claudia Haimovici. She was the sister of the late Charlotte Feital and
the former mother-in-law of Judith Edersheim. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to the Barbara Rosen Music Fund, 164 Summit Ave., Providence, R.I. 02906.
Lila Manfield Sapinsley, 92
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Lila Manfield Sapinsley, former R.I. Senate minority leader, public utilities commissioner, chairwoman of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation and an early champion of women’s issues and transparency in government, died suddenly at home Dec. 9. Vigorous until the end, she tutored and mentored children, and had recently weighed in on local politics by both public debate and the written word. As a legacy, she leaves an entire generation of women politicians in R.I. She was active in countless organizations that served her community, including Trinity Repertory Company, Butler Hospital, Providence Public Library, RI Board of Regents, Dorcas’ Place, American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood of RI and Wellesley College. She was predeceased by her husband of 69 years, John M. Sapinsley, and she is survived by four daughters, Jill Mooney (James), Carol Rubenstein (Alan), Joan Sapinsley (Richard Lewis) and Pat Sapinsley (Harold Levy) and nine beloved grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Lila Sapinsley Fund at Inspiring Minds, 763 Westminster St., Providence, R.I. 02903 or inspiringmindsri.org for the purpose of continuing her work to mentor young girls.
Muriel Port Stevens
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Muriel Stevens, the wife of the late Stanford S. Stevens and a lifelong Rhode Island resident, died Dec. 7. Born in Providence, she attended Classical High
School and Pembroke College and went on to receive a master’s of music in piano from the Yale School of Music. She taught piano at Yale and privately, and worked at Brown University as an assistant in the Music Department, where she became acquainted with Francis Madeira, founder of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Muriel began her affiliation with the Philharmonic in 1948 when, as a musician and the mother of two young children, she saw a need for the fledgling orchestra to provide concerts for local schools. She worked as a volunteer with the Philharmonic and helped establish its Educational Concerts Program, which, with the help of the Providence School Department, The Providence Journal, Almacs and the Outlet Company, took off and eventually included all of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns. She became a member of the Board, and was eventually elected president of the Philharmonic in 1962 and manager in 1964. At the Philharmonic, Muriel worked under eight presidents and five conductors, and supervised 22 annual funds, two major endowment fund campaigns and numerous special projects before her retirement in 1987. After retirement, she was an active volunteer and Honorary Director with the Philharmonic. She received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Rhode Island College in 1981 and a citation from the state upon her retirement in 1987. In 2003 she received the John Hazen White, Sr. leadership award from the Philharmonic and OBITUARIES | 31
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APPRECIATION
Award-winning yet humble, Jewish culinary expert Gil Marks nourished food lovers BY HILLEL KUTTLER BALTIMORE (JTA) – Gil Marks baked. He cooked. He authoritatively discussed culinary traditions – traditions, period – of Jews from seemingly every culture. Trained as a rabbi and social worker, he earned prestigious awards for writing cookbooks yet remained supremely humble. He had a slightly high-pitched voice. I knew none of this five years ago when I came upon his name, overwhelmed like a pinch of salt in a bowlful of ingredients, amid the prodigious clan produced by Harold and Beverly Marks. “Gilbert Stanley Marks, born in 1952 in Charleston, W.Va., unmarried, no children” was his oneline entry on a 19-page family tree prepared by our cousin in Washington state. His brother, a Baltimorean, referred me to Gil, a resident of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, when I sought information for research on our extended family. That led to our long conversation that night, two meetings when Gil visited Baltimore, occasional phone calls, periodic emails and multiple Facebook messages. Many people consider fourth cousins – our common greatgreat-great-grandfather, Zeev Alkovitzky, of Lithuania was born in about the 1830s – distant relatives. But Gil and I connected immediately. We reveled in genealogy and Jewish history. We emailed our articles to each other. We both enjoyed cooking, I deign to state in the manner of someone painting by numbers proclaiming that he, like Monet, is an artist. Gil won the James Beard Foundation Award, for goodness sake, for authoring “Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World,” and contended for a second with “The
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Gil Marks Encyclopedia of Jewish Food,” a masterpiece. “There were so many books in him and a lot more he could’ve contributed to the world,” said Rita Rosenkranz, his agent of more than a decade. Gil’s death Dec. 5 at 62 hardly shocked those who knew him, given his three-year fight with lung cancer and his public sharing of the ordeal. While not a smoker, he didn’t bemoan his affliction, just presented
OBITUARIES
a citation from the city of Providence acknowledging her contributions to the orchestra. She is survived by her daughter Ruth (David Olson), son Peter (Joan Lovell), grandchildren Amanda Souna (Hassan Souna) and Jake Olson (Luciana Olson), and great-grandson Kamal Souna. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, 667 Waterman Ave., East Providence, R.I. 02914.
Abraham Zeltzer, 93
DELRAY BEACH, FLA. – Abraham Zeltzer died Dec. 2. He was the husband of Patricia Silva and the late Bessie Zeltzer. Born in Boston, he was a son of the late Benjamin and Fannie (Kimmel) Zeltzer. Zeltzer served in the 331st
Squadron of the Army Air Corp during WWII. He worked for many years as an aircraft engineer at Quonset Point and was the owner of the former Zeltzer Landscape. Besides his wife, he is survived by his children, Roberta (Joseph) Winkleman, Eric Zeltzer and Barry (Karen) Zeltzer; his sister Betty Gray; his brother Dr. Harry Zeltzer; his daughter-in-law Jami Star Zeltzer; 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He was the father of the late Dr. Gerald Zeltzer. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to The Louis and Goldie Full Plate Kosher Food Pantry, 100 Niantic Ave., Providence, R.I. 02907.
it matter-of-factly. Numerous Facebook posts on his medical treatment or pharmaceutical regimen all began thus: “The Saga Continues.” Far more posts kvelled over his beloved nieces and nephews regularly visiting Alon Shvut, where Gil lived in an apartment at his parents’ home during extended stays in Israel. So many more posts covered food: the Shabbat dinner menu he’d just prepared, Passover desserts he baked,
magazine articles, cooking lessons given as bat mitzvah presents. Last summer, as Gil’s condition worsened, some posts overlapped. On Sept. 1, he began taking medical marijuana: dissolved in olive oil in the afternoon, in a capsule at bedtime. “For weeks before starting the marijuana, I was unable to eat or function. Overnight – with a single drop – my condition changed and subsequently I have been able to eat and actually enjoy food. … The improvements in my life since I was introduced to marijuana cannot be overstated,” he wrote. An ailing foodie appreciating taste once more, dayenu – that would’ve sufficed. But Gil couldn’t resist shifting to culinary-educator mode. “By the way, for those of you who asked about marijuana brownies, here is the story” – he began in a fascinating paragraph covering Alice Toklas and a Peter Sellers film involving pot brownies. About the only thing missing was the baking temperature. Gil enthralled, too, during a weekend’s scholar-in-residence stint at my synagogue in June 2012, highlighted by a Saturday-night tasting that paired chocolates and wines. Los Angeles-based food writer Tori Avey, whose website includes recipes inspired by the past, enticed Gil to contribute monthly columns. He wrote on American cakes and their background – the subject of his last book, which Rosenkranz is shopping to publishers. “I thought it was a fantastic idea, and my readers agreed,” Avey said of Gil’s cake columns, the last two of which (on Black Forest Cherry Cake and on Molten Chocolate Cake) will run in January. “They brought up a lot of nostalgic feelings for people who have grown up cooking and eating these
treats.” Somehow, Gil performed his culinary magic on a tiny stove in a small kitchen “where you couldn’t sit down,” said Barry List, a longtime friend, who saw pots stored in the living room and platters cooling on the couch in Gil’s Manhattan apartment. In a telephone conversation last spring, Gil told me he’d begun giving away choice cookware to New York-area nieces and nephews. He understood that experimental drugs were a long shot and said, convincingly, “I’m not afraid of dying.” He seemed gratified that loved ones desired the tools of his trade. Last week, a friend visited Gil at a Jerusalem hospice and had him autograph her “Olive” and “Encyclopedia” books. She posted a photo showing Gil signing while in bed wearing a hospital gown and a skullencompassing kipah. The autograph request pleased him, she wrote. As I penned this article, a pot of soup bubbled on my stove. There was no recipe – just flanken bones, chopped carrots, green beans, onions and potatoes; and lentils, barley, peas and beans, a winter’s staple my mom used to make. I lowered the flame, and as it simmered I discovered some old emails from Gil. One carried the subject line “Hillel’s soup question” – about this very soup. I’d asked what spices would provide richer flavor. Gil offered a paragraph each of suggestions for Italian mixed-herb, Yemenite, basic and sweet-spiced flavors. “I hope,” he wrote, “this has been of help.” The soup, Gil, is comfort food. HILLEL KUTTLER in 2011 launched “Seeking Kin,” his now-thrice-monthly column on people searching for long-lost relatives and friends.
Phil Stern, photographer to the stars, dies JTA – Photographer Phil Stern, known for his candid shots of Hollywood stars and jazz musicians, has died. Stern died Dec. 13 in Los Angeles after an extended hospital stay. He was 95. Stern worked as a combat photographer for the Army newspaper Stars and Stripes during World War II, where he served as a U.S. Army Ranger in the North African and Italian campaigns. He settled in Los Angeles after the war and became a staff photographer for Look magazine. He also worked as one of Life maga-
Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, James Dean and John Wayne. He also shot album covers for Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, among others. Stern, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States, grew up in New York. He did not believe that he or other photographers should be considered artists. “Matisse I ain’t,” Stern was widely quoted as sayPHOTO | DAN DOPERALSKI FOR VARIETY ing. Phil Stern His work has been diszine’s top Hollywood photogra- played for decades at the Faphers. Among the iconic stars hey/Klein Gallery in Los Anhe photographed were Mar- geles. lon Brando, Marilyn Monroe,
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Seen at the Hope Street Stroll This wandering dreidel stopped for a photo in front of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s booth at the recent Hope Street Stroll. Sascha Keizler had the honor of wearing the costume. Also during the stroll, homemade oil burning menorahs were on display at Olive del Mondo. The menorahs were made under the supervision of Professor Gizmo during J Space at the Dwares JCC.
This wandering dreidel
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Shopping is easy at The Miriam Hospital gift shop Since 1953, The Gift and Coffee Shop at The Miriam Hospital, conceived and run by The Miriam Hospital Women’s Association, has been a major fundraiser for the hospital – the direct recipient of all its profits. Through the years the shop has undergone several transformations, changing its appearance as the hospital has grown. Today’s gift shop carries high quality leath-
er goods, jewelry, glass, pottery and artistic Judaica items for the discriminating buyer as well as the latest in toys, books, handmade sweaters for kids and gifts for infants. This is the perfect place for holiday shopping as well as that special birthday or anniversary gift. Baked goods, soups and sandwiches are available at the coffee shop.
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SIMCHAS | WE ARE READ
TRAVELS – Outside of Dubrovnik, this is one of the many beautiful scenic views enjoyed by Mort and Joan Gray from Cranston on their two-week tour of Croatia in October. Along with the Jewish Voice, they traveled by boat in the Adriatic Sea and up the Dalmation Coast by motor coach.
The Jewish Voice
WE ARE READ – Sandra and Fred Brown of Boynton Beach, Florida, formerly of Rhode Island, celebrated Fred’s 80th birthday by taking a 15-day cruise to Hawaii. This picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day at the top of a crater, 10,000 ft. above sea level in Maui. The Voice was there.
WEDDING – Risa Shuman and Peter Gerard were married on Nov. 26 at The Duke Golf & Country Club in Maricopa, Arizona. The bride is the daughter of Roberta Shuman of Lake Suzy, Florida (formerly of Warwick), and the late Salomon Shuman. The groom is the son of Aileen Gerard and the late Gerald Gerard of West Warwick. She is a granddaughter of the late Rose and Paul Goldstein of Warwick and Fanny Shuchman of Bell, California. Risa graduated from Pilgrim High School and is employed as a manager in the UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at the Ak-Chin Indian Reservation in Maricopa, Arizona. Peter graduated from the University of Rhode Island and is employed by INTEL in Chandler, Arizona. They formerly resided in Burrillville. They will reside in their home in Maricopa.
ENGAGED – Meital Cafri and Yehuda Fishhaut announced their engagement Dec. 2 in Providence. Originally from Los Angeles, Meital graduated in November with an M.B.A. in hospitality from Johnson & Wales University. She continues to work for Temple Emanu-El as their Advancement & Membership Coordinator. Yehuda, who made aliyah with his family in 1997, grew up in Israel and completed his army service about two years ago. Yehuda teaches Judaic studies at The Wheeler School and Temple Emanu-El, and is also studying industrial psychology.
RI student wins award in national Siemens Competition BY IRINA MISSIURO imissiuro@jewishallianceri. org On Nov. 21 and 22, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) scholars headed to Atlanta, Georgia, to participate in the 2014 Siemens Competition Regional Finals, a prestigious research competition. Joseph Zurier, a Providence resident, was one of four students named National Finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. Besides earning top honors, Zurier was awarded a $3,000 individual scholarship for his project, “Generalizations of the Joints Problem.” On Dec. 9, Zurier won second place in the national competition, which came with a $50,000 college scholarship. He is the first Rhode Island student ever to qualify for the national level of the Siemens Competition, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. In 2014, a record 4,428 students registered and submitted 1,784 projects for consideration. Renowned scientists from six leading research universities judged the entries. A senior at Classical High School in Providence, Zurier says he loves science because of its ability to improve the human condition. He thinks that “we’ve advanced tremendously in just centuries, decades even, on the back of technology.” Mentored by Ben Yang, a Ph.D. student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Zurier solved an open problem in counting the number of intersections of lines and planes in space. In addition, he showed that a certain number of lines
Joseph Zurier cannot create too many joints. Zurier’s findings will affect digital image processing in general computer science and medical imaging. Zurier has been admitted early action to Harvard University, and he’s also applying to Stanford University and MIT. Currently, he leads his school’s math team and is captain of the state American Regions Mathematics League. While math is his favorite subject because it’s creative and philosophically universal, he also enjoys sports, including running and playing tennis. This summer, Zurier plans to give back to the community by becoming a junior counselor at the Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists. Like his father, who fostered his love of math and science at a young age by teaching him tricks and problems, Zurier will inspire future mathematicians.
December 19, 2014 |
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