January 2022

The Voice of Greater Rhode Island’s Jewish Community

JANUARY 2022 | SHEVAT 5782

JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Community roots bear fruit Local congregations mark online successes

These pop culture stories were tops in 2021

J-Fitness trainers offer healthy eating tips

2 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

virtual, $250 for the semester, and the instructor

If you can fit any of the description into it as well, going into the Italian newspaper, so it will need a b

It will also need to include the names (or logos) of partners--right now it looks a little too Alliance-ce Let me know if you have any questions.

JEWS of ITALY PART OF THE VIRTUAL DELVE DEEPER PROGRAM

ROTHSCHILD MISCELLANY, 15TH CENTURY, ITALY

THURSDAYS 7:30–9:30PM — JAN 20, 27 | FEB 3, 10, 17, 24 | MAR 3, 10, 17, 24 With its diverse populations and cultures, the Italian peninsula is home to many of the most ancient Diaspora Jewish communities. In this course we examine the very special position of Jews in Italy from the Roman Empire until the Holocaust.

MORE INFO AT:

www.teprov.org/form/DelveDeeperS22.html

INSTRUCTOR

DANA W. FISHKIN Ph.D., Associate Professor of History & Humanities at Touro’s Graduate School of Jewish Studies in New York City. $250 to attend the entire semester.

Tuition scholarships available.

JANUARY 2022 | 3

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Launching into an exciting 2022 PUTTING TOGETHER the January newspaper presents a time to look back and think ahead.

What a year it was. What a year we hope it will be!

In 2021, we had a roller-coaster of ups and downs. That new year brought the promise of vaccines to make COVID19 less lethal. We were snug in our homes, still working remotely, with dreams of getting children back into classrooms and of overcoming the virus.

That January, we talked to area Jewish leaders about what they had missed during eight months of pandemic and what their hopes were for the new year. The d’var Torah included a discussion of blessings to say when getting the COVID-19 vaccine. And we reported on the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s fundraising efforts to help those in need during the pandemic.

As the months passed, both the Jewish community and the wider community got better at going virtual. As I looked through last year’s papers month by month, I noticed a more and more robust lineup of online programming from our synagogues and institutions.

When the virus finally started to wane, in the summer, and we could finally go back to at least some in-person programming and worship, the online component of our lives didn’t entirely disappear.

Late this fall, with a new variant sending people back to their homes, that virtual programming is ramping up again. But this time the technology is not scary or new to most of us.

Just weeks ago, Jewish Rhode Island talked to a number of leaders about their plans for fully reopening. Now, with the omicron variant exploding, some of those plans will be put on hold.

But the common sentiment is that if we have to go back online, it will be an easy pivot.

Technologically, at least. Emotionally, it will be tougher. We are all sick and tired of masks, distancing and staying home.

Jewish Rhode Island never stopped publication during 2021, as you probably know. In fact, we expanded, with the debut of Jewish Rhody

Media. Throughout the year, we introduced you to several of the new Alliance staffers making our online coverage possible.

First, we introduced Baking with Lisa, a cooking lesson in print and an online video featuring Alliance Adult Programming Manager Lisa Maybruch, who just happens to be a baker extraordinaire. Keep watching for her cooking lessons for new and old favorites. (If you have trouble accessing the video, contact me and I’ll help!)

And while you are looking for Lisa’s videos at www.jewishrhody. org, be sure to check out our other videos that bring stories to life. Some of our Up Front interviews include video coverage, and there will be more to come.

In the fall, the podcast series Chutzpah! debuted. Adam Greenman, president and CEO of the Alliance and the publisher of Jewish Rhode Island, sits down with local business leaders who are Jewish to discuss the personal side of leadership. In addition to listening at jewishrhody.org, you can tune in to Chutzpah! on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Other exciting podcasts will debut throughout 2022. We are also trying to make this new digital content more accessible through our expanding newsletter and website posts.

Throughout last year, we brought you stories of interesting people and programs in our Jewish community. Whether online or in person, it takes a village to keep those stories and the news coverage coming, and I’m grateful to my co-workers, as well as you in the community, who sent us photos and ideas and kept us informed about the interesting things going on around us.

We can’t be everywhere – we really realized this during closures and openings – so keep the ideas and information coming. I will read your messages whether you send them by email (editor@jewishallianceri.org); post news at jewishrhody.org; call the office (401-4214111); or use snail mail (401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906).

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

JEWISH POP CULTURE YEAR REVIEW 14 | COMMUNITY 16 | BUSINESS 22 FOOD 24 | OBITUARIES 26

RHODE ISL AND

EDITOR Fran Ostendorf DESIGN & LAYOUT Alex Foster

VOLUME XXIX, ISSUE I JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

(ISSN number 1539-2104, USPS #465-710) is published monthly except twice in May, August and September.

PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID at Providence, R.I. POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Jewish

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Peter Zeldin | 401-421-4111, ext. 160 pzeldin@jewishallianceri.org

Rhode Island, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

CONTRIBUTORS Cynthia Benjamin, Larry Kessler, Robert Isenberg, Emma Newbery

The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, President/CEO Adam Greenman, Chair James Pious, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

401-421-4111; Fax 401-331-7961

COLUMNISTS Michael Fink, Patricia Raskin, Rabbi James Rosenberg, Daniel Stieglitz

Area synagogues and day schools are seeking SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS for Judaic and secular subjects Sundays and mid-week

For more information contact Larry Katz at the Jewish Alliance at 401.421.4111 ext. 179 or lkatz@jewishallianceri.org

A happy, healthy 2022 to all!

D'VAR TORAH 5 | CALENDAR 6 | OPINION 8 | COMMUNITY VOICES 10

JEWISH

MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

PUBLISHER

THE MISSION OF JEWISH RHODE ISLAND 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.

COPY DEADLINES: All news releases, photographs, etc., must be received

on the Wednesday 10 days 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 advertisers’ claims.

ALL SUBMITTED CONTENT becomes the property of Jewish Rhode Is-

land. Announcements and opinions contained in these pages are published as a service to the community and do not necessarily represent the views of Jewish Rhode Island or its publisher, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. We reserve the right to refuse publication and edit submitted content.

ON THE COVER: The tree sculpture with its glass gems is on display in the entryway of the Dwares JCC in Providence.

PHOTO | ROBERT ISENBERG

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

UP FRONT

Neal Drobnis in the kitchen at the JCC, left, and at work in his glass studio, right.

PHOTOS | ROBERT ISENBERG

For Kosher Café manager Neal Drobnis, life is the greatest art form

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

“Oh, Neal? He’s a really nice guy.”

T

hat’s what everybody says about Neal Drobnis, a soft-spoken 64-year-old with wavy hair and

conspicuous height – and it only takes about five seconds in his company to see why. Niceness seems to emanate from Drobnis, along with pleasantries and avuncular chuckles.

MOST MORNINGS, you can spot Drobnis at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence, moving between the kitchen and social hall as he manages the Kosher Senior Café.

He is the Kosher nutrition coordinator for Jewish

Collaborative Services (JCS), supervising food preparation and tending to his guests.

“I serve lunch,” Drobnis says simply. “But mostly, I entertain. I’ve become a program director, kind of. I create programs for the seniors. I try to engage

them.”

But there’s more to Drobnis than can be seen at the JCC. He is a seasoned alpinist and a veteran lead inspector. He has a Masters in Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design. And he’s a well-known and prolific glass artist.

In the autumn and spring, when the weather is neither too hot nor too cold, Drobnis fires up an industrial-scale furnace in his house in Scituate and transforms molten sand into glass sculptures.

From 2,000-degree globules, he creates a range of shapes, including birds and vessels, orbs and medallions.

“It’s like magic,” he

says. “It’s this alchemy of transforming a hard material into a soft material, which then becomes a hard material again.”

Drobnis grew up in a Jewish family in Newton, Massachusetts.

His parents eventually stopped going to services, and Drobnis himself was ambivalent about organized religion. Instead, he was drawn to clay: He spent much of his adolescence at a potter’s wheel.

After creating a variety of clay vessels, he would set up shop on the city’s green and sell his pieces to passersby.

“I like to say that I majored in ceramics in high school,” Drobnis says with an impish chuckle.

Post-graduation, Drobnis headed out west to climb mountains. He bounced around the Rockies for three years, ascending one peak after another.

But this freewheeling lifestyle came to an end in Yellowstone National Park, when bitter cold and an ill-advised campsite left Drobnis with life-threatening frostbite.

Drobnis retired his hiking boots and enrolled at the University of Massachusetts to study ceramics. But one day, he walked into a student glass studio – and was enchanted.

“The material was so enthralling,” he said.

“Glass is more of an instantaneous process CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

The lessons of Egypt redemption as well! country, how will we treat Redemption is the real the new immigrants who foundation for Judaism. will inevitably come? Will When Abraham and Sarah we remember that Abraham first make the journey to was an immigrant? Or will Canaan, they are not ready we echo Pharaoh’s words to inherit the Promised to the Egyptians: We need Land. Their followers are to persecute the swarming still only a family, not yet a Israelite newcomers lest they people. It is in Egypt that we replace us. become the people of Israel.

When the Israelites left In Egypt, under the hand Egypt as a free people, of Pharaoh, they took we witnessed them Redemption is the with how easy it the bones is to mistreat of Joseph. real foundation people who They did not are differforget Joseph. for Judaism. ent from They carried ourselves; with them it was simple for Pharaoh their past and the lessons to convince the Egyptians of Egypt. They also put on to persecute, enslave, even their shoulders matzah, to murder, the neighbors who acknowledge that redempthey perceived as different. tion is possible and that it is We needed to experience slavery before settling in the Promised Land. The prelude to a people having their own January 2022 country is to see how easy it is to discriminate against Candle lighting times others.

What will happen in Canaan to the indigenous people who are already living there? Should we pretend they don’t exist, like the new Pharaoh, who forgot about Joseph?

When we establish our

to be shared, not hoarded.

To walk in God’s ways is to spread freedom wherever we go.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

natives. I felt there was an opportunity to give back.”

Drobnis tried substitute teaching, and he considered pursuing a master’s degree in education. He liked engaging with students, but found that the classroom environ-

at the Jewish Community Center. It really has been an amazing experience, and it allows me to do my artwork as well.”

Go to JewishRhody.org to see a video of Drobnis in his glass studio, where he now produces mostly functional pieces, such as drinking glasses, lawn ornaments and award trophies.

D' VA

AS A YOUNG TEEN, I rememof that experience, we must ber asking my teachers why care for other people, espethe Jewish people needed cially those on the margins to be enslaved in Egypt for of society. hundreds of years. Now, as The commandment to our cycle of Torah remember that we were readings has strangers or slaves in us once again Egypt is repeated 36 focusing on times in the Torah, Egypt, the easily the most same quesrepeated comtion arises mandment in our once again: tradition. It is an Was there a essential, perhaps purpose to our the essential, slavery?

Jewish value: RABBI The answer found ALAN FLAM Jews are to work in many classical Jewish for justice at all commentaries is that the times on behalf of oppressed basis for the covenant at people, based on the awareSinai is the redemption ness that we were once from Egypt. God could say: slaves.

“I freed you from slavery, But I want to suggest a thereby proving that I have third explanation, one that already fulfilled my part combines elements of the of the covenant – to take first two. This interpretacare of the Jewish people. tion is hinted at when we Knowing this, you, Israel, recite Kiddush, ushering in should readily agree to enter every Shabbat and yom tov. into this covenant, which As we hold our cups aloft, entails having no other gods we say the words “zecher and obeying my commandle’yetziat Mitzrayim,” which ments.” reminds us to “remember Another explanation, one our going out from Egypt.” that is commonly found in We sanctify our Shabbat and both classical and contempo- Holy Days by remembering rary Torah interpretations, when and how we left the is the imperative that we bondage of Egypt. remember that we were And it is not just slavery slaves in Egypt, and because that we are to remember, but

R

TO R A H

[than clay]. I was more interested in the expressionist part of what glass could be.”

Drobnis then moved to Rhode Island to pursue a Master’s in Fine Arts in Glass and Sculpture at RISD. After graduation, he remained in the state, first working at the arts co-op The Foundry. In 1992, he bought a house in Scituate.

“I was always into cutting costs,” he says. “I built the studio myself. I was always into finding and using old materials and collecting whatever I could. I used to collect bed frames and cut them and ground the paint off, in order to weld it together to build the studio.

It was a gum-and-shoestrings kind of approach.”

Drobnis and his wife, Margaret, have two grown children. Margaret, who is better known as Peggy, is also a fine artist, and when the kids were young, the couple would “tag-team” parental duties, allowing Peggy to do studio work in the mornings and Drobnis in

the afternoons.

Drobnis describes himself as an “expressionist,” and he identifies strongly with the abstract painter Jackson Pollock.

For nearly a decade, Drobnis specialized in individual glass pieces, many of them large and elaborate, which were best suited for decoration. Some of his pieces were used on the set of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” among other high-profile placements.

This lifestyle changed in 2001, after the Sept. 11 attacks. Drobnis realized how much time he spent alone in his studio, and he wondered whether he should connect more directly with other people.

“I was making a decent living as an artist,” he says.

“But 9/11 really made me reconsider what I was doing.

Making things is something I can’t prevent myself from doing. Life is obviously the greatest art form, and we need to be creative in everything that we do. But I was always looking for alter-

Service, the precursor to JCS. Although Drobnis didn’t have a nutrition background, his first interview for the position turned into a full – and fulfilling – hourlong chat. Drobnis has worked for JCS ever since,

“This community is what I was looking for.

I was looking for some involvement, and I found it at the Jewish Community Center.” ment could be confrontational.

Then, he attended a class called Whole House Health and Energy Auditing, hosted by the now-defunct Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living, and he became a lead inspector. He conducted lead inspections for 10 years, while his studio became quieter and quieter. During the Great Recession, demand for his glassworks all but dried up.

In 2009, a neighbor told Drobnis about the nutritionist position at Jewish Family

spending 32 hours a week running the Kosher Senior Café at the Dwares JCC. Working for JCS has been something of a revelation, Drobnis said. He now feels a stronger connection to his heritage and the many ways Judaism is expressed, as well as a tangible purpose and connection to the Jewish community.

“It’s just great to be part of this community,” Drobnis said. “This community is what I was looking for.

I was looking for some involvement, and I found it

RABBI ALAN FRAM is retired.

He serves on the Steering Committee of the Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty and is the organizer and rabbi for Soulful Shabbat, a Saturday morning service that emphasizes silence, chanting, gentle stretching and meditation, along with traditional davening and Torah study. He can be reached at alan.flam@gmail. com.

Greater Rhode Island Jan. 7

4:11 pm

Jan. 14

4:19 pm

Jan. 21

4:27 pm

Jan. 28 4:36 pm

The Kosher Senior Café provides in-person lunches and programming from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday – Thursday at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Friday meals are served at Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston.

For information contact Neal Drobnis at neal@jfsri.org.

ROBERT ISENBERG (risenberg@jewishallianceri.org) is the multimedia producer for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode

6 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS FOR COMPLETE MONTHLY LISTINGS, VISIT JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Ongoing

Kosher Senior Café and Programming. In-person lunches 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday – Thursday at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence; Friday at Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston.

In-person and Zoom programming includes “Exercise for Everyone” with exercise science professional Laura Goodwin on Monday and Wednesday from 11-11:45 a.m. and chair yoga on Tuesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-noon followed

by lunch and a guest speaker or discussion from noon-1 p.m. The second Tuesday of the month is “Susie’s Corner” with Susie Adler from noon-1 p.m. The third Thursday of the month is a book chat with Neal Drobnis from noon-1 p.m. Sug-

Our Mission: To improve the quality of life for those we serve.

Let us help you . . .

• Navigate the challenging process of providing care for a loved one.

(401) 383-1950 www.rahri.com

• From companionship and a little help around the house to 24/7 personal care.

Elder Care Services Providing care all over Rhode Island Call to schedule a free, non-salesy and no obligation family consultation.

We’ll help you create a care plan tailored to your unique needs.

gested donation: $3 per lunch for those age 60 and older as well as for younger adults with a disability.

Other adults may purchase a meal for $6.50. Information and RSVP, Neal Drobnis at neal@jfsri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 107.

Project Shoresh Ladies Partners in Torah Night. Sundays 7:45-8:45 p.m. Providence Hebrew Day School, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Partner-based study group. On-site facilitators available.

Free. Information, Naftali Karp at naftalikarp@gmail.com or 401-6323165.

Advanced Beginner and Intermediate Conversational Hebrew Classes. Mondays 7-8 p.m. 1/10 – 3/7; no class 1/17. Improve your speaking skills. Sponsored by Temple Emanu-El and the Jewish Alliance. Offered via Zoom; Intermediate also offered in-person at the Dwares JCC (401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence). Cost: $100 per person. Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Temple Torat Yisrael Men’s Club Game Night. Mondays 6-8 p.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Table tennis and card games. Information, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

NEW 2021 RANGE ROVER EVOQUE

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Starting at $43,300* The continuation of our design philosophy. With its distinctive coupe-like silhouette, the Range Rover Evoque is a compelling successor to the vehicle that captured hearts all over the world.

Land Rover Warwick 1346 Bald Hill Rd, Warwick, RI 02886 www.landroverwarwick.com Vehicle shown: 2021 Range Rover Evoque *Price shown is Base Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for 2021 Range Rover Evoque, MSRP $43,300. Retailer price, terms and vehicle availability may vary. †These systems are not a substitute for driving safely with due care and attention and will not function under all circumstances, speeds, weather and road conditions, etc. Driver should not assume that these systems will correct errors of judgment in driving. ‡ Do not use Land Rover InControl® or Pivi Pro features under conditions that will affect your safety or the safety of others. Drzziving while distracted can result in loss of vehicle control. Land Rover InControl has a number of purchasing options available. As we systematically roll out the Land Rover InControl suite of products, specific features, options and availability remain market dependent. Certain Pivi Pro features use an embedded SIM card, and may require a data plan with separate terms and conditions and an additional subscription after an initial term. Mobile connectivity cannot be guaranteed in all locations. The Land Rover InControl Apps™ and Land Rover Remote™ smartphone apps will work with Android™ devices from version 4.1 and Apple® devices from iOS 7.0 and must be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Please see your local authorized Land Rover Retailer for more details, visit LANDROVERUSA.COM or call 1-800-FIND-4WD / 1-800-346-3493. © 2021 Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC

Beginner and Advanced Conversational Hebrew Classes. Tuesdays 7-8 p.m. 1/11 – 3/8; no class 1/18. Improve your speaking skills.

Sponsored by Temple Emanu-El and the Jewish Alliance. Offered via Zoom; Beginner also offered in-person at the Dwares JCC (401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence). Cost: $100 per person. Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Project Shoresh Men’s Partners in Torah Night. Wednesdays 7:45-8:45 p.m. Providence Hebrew Day School, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Partner-based study group. On-site facilitators available.

Free. Information, Naftali Karp at naftalikarp@gmail.com or 401-6323165.

Delve Deeper: “The Jews of Italy.” Thursdays 7:30-9:30 p.m.

1/20 – 3/24. Using primary and secondary sources, explore via Zoom the special position of Jews in Italy from the Roman Empire until the Holocaust. Instructor: Professor Dana W. Fishkin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History & Humanities at Touro’s Graduate School of Jewish Studies in NYC. Cost: $250.

Information, Morty Miller at mortymiller1945@gmail.com.

JANUARY 2022 | 7

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

CALENDAR Temple Habonim Lunch and Learn via Zoom. Thursdays noon-1:30 p.m. Weekly Torah discussion with Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman. No Hebrew fluency or background in Jewish textual analysis needed.

Free. Information, Adina Davies at office@templehabonim.org or 401245-6536.

Music with Raymond Buttero via Zoom. Fridays 3 p.m. Temple Sinai’s pianist performs. Link at templesinairi.org. Information, dottie@ templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Services.

Fridays 6 p.m. 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Song, prayer and reflection offered in-person or on Zoom.

With Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser and Cantor Deborah Johnson. Zoom link at templesinairi.org. Information, dottie@templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Project Shoresh Lively Kabbalat Shabbat. Fridays. Services will begin at the commencement of Shabbat. Be in touch for exact timing each week. Providence Hebrew Day School (side entrance), 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Welcome Shabbat with a few inspiring words, melodious songs and traditional services. Open to all.

Information, Naftali Karp at naftalikarp@gmail.com or 401-632-3165.

Cape Cod Synagogue Shabbat Services. Fridays 7 p.m., except second Friday of the month 6:30 p.m., when Family Shabbat Services take place. 145 Winter St., Hyannis, Mass. With Rabbi David Freelund. In-person and livestreamed on multiple platforms (website, Facebook, Cape Media, YouTube and Community Television Comcast channel 99).

Everyone must wear a mask; proof of vaccination needed for 12 and older. Information, 508-775-2988 or capecodsynagogue.org.

Temple Beth-El Torah Study.

Saturdays 9-10:30 a.m. (No torah study second Saturday of the month.) 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Delve into the weekly portion with Rabbi Sarah Mack and Rabbi Preston Neimeiser. In-person. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Morning Service. Second Saturday of the month 9-10:30 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Shabbat morning minyan with lay participation incorporating study, Torah and Haftarah readings. Multi-access: in-person or livestream through webpage or on Facebook. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@

temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual and In-Person Shabbat Services. Saturdays 9:30-10:30 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Led by Rabbi Aaron Philmus. Information or Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael. org.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Breakfast & Torah Study In-person and via Zoom. Saturdays 9:30-11 a.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Breakfast followed by interactive discussion with Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser or others in our community. Zoom link at templesinairi.org. Information, dottie@ templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Temple Habonim Torah Study.

Saturdays 10-11 a.m. Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman leads weekly Torah study on current portion. Via Zoom.

On 1/29, in-person. Information, Adina Davies at office@templehabonim.org or 401-245-6536.

Cape Cod Synagogue Shabbat Services. Saturdays 10:30 a.m. 145 Winter Street, Hyannis, Mass. With Rabbi David Freelund.

In-person and live-streamed on multiple platforms. Services are in-person with proof of vaccination; must wear a mask. Services also available on our website, Facebook and YouTube. Information, Cape Cod Synagogue at 508-775-2988 or capecodsynagogue.org.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Morning Service In-person and via Zoom.

Saturdays 11 a.m. (10:30 a.m. when celebrating a Bar or Bat Mitzvah)-noon. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Information, templesinairi.org or Dottie at 401942-8350.

Friday | January 7

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. Led by Rabbi Aaron Philmus. For information or Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Service.

7-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Multi-access: in-person or via Zoom or Facebook Live.

Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | January 8

Temple Beth-El K’tantan Pajama Havdalah with PJ Library. 5-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. End Shabbat with Temple Beth-El friends and family at a family-friendly service and yummy dinner with friends from PJ Library.

Information, Rachel Mersky Woda at rmerskywoda@temple-beth-el. org or 401-331-6070, ext. 107.

Sunday | January 9

Temple Torat Yisrael Men’s Club Breakfast with Guest Speaker Ken Schneider. 9:10 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Ken leads the Jewish Motorcycle Alliance, which raises money for Holocaust Centers; volunteers for the IDF; is on the Board of the R.I. Coalition for Israel; is an organizer of the boycott of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream; and owns ice cream franchises. Information, temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Congregation Beth David Story Time and Crafts with PJ Library.

9:45 a.m. 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Explore a variety of PJ Library books and participate in crafts and games. Free. Synagogue membership not required. For ages 2-8. Information, Amanda Stevens at greenspan.amanda@gmail.com.

Tuesday | January 11

Graphic Novel Club for Teens: “Whistle” by E. Lockhart. 6 p.m.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. New York Times bestselling author E. Lockhart will discuss her new DC Comics graphic novel “Whistle” over snacks. Masks required. This group will meet the 2nd Tuesday of each month through May. Information, Amit Oren at aoren@jewishallianceri.org or 401864-3786.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Hallelu Service. 6:30-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Hors d’oeuvres followed by a musical Shabbat featuring Temple Beth-El musicians and a short d’var Torah. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Saturday | January 15

Project Shoresh Chizuk Melava Malka. 8 p.m. 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Celebrate the expansion of Project Shoresh. $18 per person | $25 per couple. Information, Naftali Karp at naftalikarp@ gmail.com or 401-632-3165.

Sunday | January 16

Temple Torat Yisrael Sprouts Program: Tu Bishvat and MLK Tzedakah. 9:30-10:30 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Active program to learn about Jewish culture and holidays with Rabbi Aaron and Morah Leah.

For children ages 3-5 and their parents. Open to the community.

Cost: $10. COVID precautions will be taken. Activities will be outside, weather permitting. Dress accordingly. Information, temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Temple Emanu-El Tu B’shvat Seder. 7 p.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence. Festive Tu B’shvat celebration. Information, Shoshana Jacob at shosh@teprov.org or 401-3311616.

Israeli Culture Series presents: Shemitah and Environmental Justice. 6-7:30 p.m. Rabbi Gideon Shloush will discuss the ancient practice called shemitah and how it’s carried out today in Israel today.

Via Zoom. Free. Information, Amit Oren at aoren@jewishallianceri. org.

Project Shoresh Ladies presents Cook and Enjoy Tu B’shvat Event.

7:30 p.m. Location TBD. Create and eat delicious dishes composed of the seven special fruits of the Land of Israel during this hands-on event.

Musical presentation by local vocalist and musicians Bella Miller and Adena Malka Yudkowsky. Cost: $5.

Information and RSVP, shoreshladiesevents@gmail.com.

Friday | January 14

Thursday | January 20

Wednesday | January 12

Temple Torat Yisrael Friday Night Live. 5:45 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Musical Shabbat service with Rabbi Aaron Philmus and the TTY Band. In-person with Zoom available. Service followed by in-person dinner with takeout option. Adult dinner: $26.95 | Kid’s meal: $14.95. Information, dinner RSVP or Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org, 401-885-6600 or www. toratyisrael.org.

Temple Emanu-El Shabbat Chai.

6-7 p.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence.

Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service and dinner. Information, Shoshana Jacob at shosh@teprov.org or 401331-1616.

Temple Beth-El Lunch & Learn: Inspiring Texts. Noon-1 p.m. Delve into inspiring texts with Rabbis Sarah Mack and Preston Neimeiser.

Via Zoom. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el. org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Temple Torat Yisrael “Mind Your Own Business with the Sisterhood” – Introduction to Mindfulness. 7-8:30 p.m. Via Zoom. Yoga and mindfulness practice from Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course. Neither flexibility nor physical mobility required. Facilitator Shara Plynton is a certified yoga instructor and qualified facilitator of the Brown University Center for Mindfulness

program. $10. Open to all. RSVP, ttysisterhood@gmail.com.

Friday | January 21

Temple Torat Yisrael TGIS Musical Family Shabbat. 5-5:30 p.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Musical service led by Rabbi Aaron Philmus. In person with Zoom available. Information, Temple@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Service.

7-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Multi-access: in-person or via Zoom or Facebook Live.

Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | January 22

Temple Emanu-El Family First Havdalah. 5:45-6:30 p.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence. Celebrate a new week with Havdalah and organized playtime in the gym. Information, Shoshana Jacob at shosh@teprov. org or 401-331-1616.

Sunday | January 23

LimmudBoston Festival of Jewish Learning. Noon-4:30 p.m. Online.

At the 12th annual event, choose from five local and internationally recognized presenters, who will be delivering one-hour sessions on such topics as: Jewish culture, art, music, literature, spirituality, Israel, community, environment, food, philosophy, education, history, politics, medical & mental health, social activism, Tikkun Olam, and women’s issues. $25. Register at limmudboston.org/limmudfest-2022/. Information, info@limmudBoston.org.

Friday | January 28

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs and Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m.

Led by Rabbi Aaron Philmus. For information or Zoom link, Temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Service.

7-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Multi-access: in-person or via Zoom or Facebook Live.

Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | January 29

Camp JORI and PJ Library Circus Havdalah. 4-6 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

PJ Library, PJ Our Way and Camp JORI host a circus-themed Havdalah. Games, crafts, snacks and more. Mingle with friends, and learn more about RI’s only Jewish overnight camp. Information and RSVP, Lyndsey Ursillo at lursillo@ jewishallianceri.org or Kara Liberman at kara@campjori.org.

8 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES | OPINION Israel to reduce travel restrictions; US travelers still barred

FOR MANY OF US, this past Thanksgiving was a world apart from the Thanksgiving we celebrated – or failed to celebrate – a year ago.

On Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, my wife Sandy and I sat safely and securely at our dining-room table in our Providence East Side condo, feasting on one well-seasoned turkey leg each, some savory stuffing, cranberry sauce and a modest dessert of pumpkin bread. What was missing, of course, were all the people.

By way of contrast, this year’s Thanksgiving marked a return to normal, or almost normal. As has been our custom for many years, Sandy and I drove to Natick, Massachusetts, to share the holiday with our son and daughter, their spouses and our five grandchildren, now ranging in age from 9 to 17.

As always, my daughter-inlaw’s festive meal featured a large Kosher turkey and a wide variety of vegetables and other trimmings, as well as a ton of diet-destroying desserts.

What made our meal so special, however, was not the food – as delicious as

EM

it was – but the physical presence of family, three generations of us crowded around one large dining-room table. Family!

Family members whose presence we could physically feel, whose bodies we could hug, whose eyes we could peer into, whose voices we could hear even when we couldn’t quite catch what RABBI JAMES everyone ROSENBERG was saying, because we were all talking at once and competing with the loud chirping of Duke, the family parakeet – such loud singing from such a small creature!

Gone were our face masks. Gone was any pretense of the social distancing we had been practicing in the earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic. All 11 of us were vaccinated!

At least for that one day, lingering concerns about the delta variant were suppressed, while the word “omicron” had not yet entered our vocabulary.

This past Thanksgiving, the 11 people in our extended family were learning, quite literally, how to get back in touch; it was the diminution of our

S TO M

E

(JTA) – Israel announced Monday [Jan. 3] that it would reduce its restrictions on travel that were first put in place in November to delay the spread of the Omicron variant, but visitors from the United States are still barred from entering.

Starting Jan. 9, many fully vaccinated foreign travelers will be allowed to enter the country again. But visitors from a number of countries deemed “red” due to high infection rates, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are still not allowed.

Israel recorded 6,562 new COVID cases on Sunday, the highest number recorded since September. The United States is experiencing a surge of hundreds of thousands of new cases per day.

The ban on foreign travelers has been a controversial issue in Israel in recent weeks. American immigrants to Israel have been especially vocal about the bans, which have kept their family members out of the country, even for lifecycle events such as weddings or the birth of a grandchild.

Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai said in a tweet Sunday that he raised the issue at a cabinet meeting and said Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett committed to an imminent “easing of policies.”

The government has sent mixed messages. Israel’s Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz suggested that the spread of the Omicron variant should lead to an easing of travel restrictions.

“The moment infections are spreading, there is no point in stopping entry from abroad,” he told Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, according to The Times of Israel.

Other countries that will continue to be designated as “red” include the United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mexico, Switzerland and Turkey. Canada, France and South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first detected and where the wave of infections caused by the variant has eased, have been removed from the list.

The importance of touch

IT S E

LETTER

experience of touch that plagued all of us during the worst of our lockdown days.

In her Opinion column in the Nov. 27 issue of The New York Times, JoAnne Novak draws attention to how essential our sense of touch, our experience of touch, is to our physical, psychological and spiritual well-being. Novak’s essay carries a headline that is unusually long for any newspaper, let alone the Times: “We’re Longing for the One Thing the Metaverse Can’t Give Us.” Novak begins her column with a reference to Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to change the name of Facebook to Meta, while promising to enhance its users’ experience “[t]hrough virtual and augmented reality ... to change how we live, how we connect with friends and family. … Except for all its patter about bringing people together, Meta enhances a fundamental disconnection: It removes our bodies from the equation.”

That is to say, Meta will wind up reducing our opportunities to satisfy our essential need for human touch. Hours spent in front of a computer screen, no matter how sophisticated the programming, no matter how lifelike the

“virtual and augmented reality,” can never replace time spent in the physical presence of family and friends – being together so that we may look at each other, hear the voices of each other, even smell the subtle and unique odors of our living bodies.

Of all our physical senses, as Novak reminds us, “Touch is central to our humanity, the first sense we develop.”

Touching, hugging, even shaking hands – sometimes referred to as “pressing the flesh” – are as important to our daily nourishment as the food we eat.

This past Thanksgiving, in the comforting womb of my extended family, all three generations of us, I was made acutely aware of how much we had lost during those days of confinement during the worst of the pandemic – and I realized how much we had regained by the simple but sacred act of coming together to celebrate what JoAnne Novak calls “the tactile joys of being alive.”

JAMES B. ROSENBERG is a rabbi emeritus at Temple Habonim, in Barrington.

Contact him at rabbiemeritus@templehabonim.org.

Mezuzot available to any Jewish home in Rhode Island A GROUP OF JEWISH organizations from across Rhode Island are offering a free Mezuzah to any Jewish home in need of one. All you have to do is sign-up, and a member of one of the organizations will come to your home and, in a Covid friendly fashion, help you put up the Mezuzah.

So what is a Mezuzah and why do I want/need it?

Since the times of the Exodus from Egypt the Mezuzah has protected, connected and been a symbol of peace for every Jewish home and community across the world. The Mezuzah is a small scroll of parchment placed in a case or tube and attached to the doorpost of one's home. An ordained scribe writes upon the parchment, the sections

from the book of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-31, which teach that Jews should “write these words [the Shema statement that there is but one, unique God] on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.”

This program is being sponsored by local families who recently lost loved ones. By putting up a Mezuzah in their memory, you will be part

of the everlasting legacy of these amazing Jewish men and women.

Project Shoresh of RI, Providence Community Kollel, Chabad of RI will distribute the mezuzot.

For questions or to sign up for a Mezuzah please email: rnoachkarp@gmail.com.

Submitted by the sponsoring organizations

Jewish Rhode Island publishes thoughtful and informative contributors’ columns (op-eds of 500 – 800 words) and letters to the editor

(300 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 Jewish Rhode Island or the Alliance.

JANUARY 2022 | 9

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES | OPINION

A good thing going: Remembering Stephen Sondheim

BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ PORSCHE VOLKSWAGEN MINI COOPER

“EXCELLENT CARE”

BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ PORSCHE VOLKSWAGEN MINI COOPER

MANY YEARS AGO, I saw Stephen Sondheim in person.

Granted, my view was from the very last row of the Westport Country Playhouse, in Westport, Connecticut. He was a tiny figure who briefly waved into the spotlight. I don’t remember him making a curtain speech, or saying anything at all, really. But for those brief seconds, I observed the mythic Broadway composer with my own eyes, and that fact alone made me giddy.

All of this was an accident of fate. The concert was “The Ladies Who Sing Sondheim,” a one-night fundraiser gala in support of the playhouse.

As a 26-year-old freelance writer, I could never have afforded a ticket. But a friend of mine worked for the playhouse, and he invited me to volunteer as an usher; in exchange, I could watch the show for free.

I knew nothing about the concert, much less that Sondheim himself would be in attendance. As it happens, the playhouse had personal significance to him: Sondheim had interned in that very theater back in 1950.

I grew up in a theatrical household. My parents began their courtship in their high school auditorium. My childhood was peppered with plays and musicals, from amateur revues to the Broadway revival of “She Loves Me.” One year, my whole family auditioned for a community production of Sondheim’s “Follies,” and we all landed parts. This experience helped shape the years to come: My brother studied acting at a respected conservatory, and I have authored more than a dozen stage plays (so far).

Such childhoods are rare, I know. My parents know almost nothing about Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones, but they have an encyclopedic knowledge of classic show tunes. Critical

to that canon, of course, mentor Oscar Hammerstein is Stephen Sondheim, the II, director Hal Prince, lyricist and composer who playwright James Goldman, radically expanded the poscomposer Jules Styne, actor sibilities of musical storyZero Mostel, dramatist telling, and who died on Nov. James Lapine, and so on.

26, 2021, at the age of 91.

These are some of the most For every chapter of my influential names in modern life, there was a correspondtheatrical history, who took ing Sondheim creation. On the torch from Vaudeville – a childhood road trips, we vital safe space for Jewlistened to “Into the Woods” ish-American immigrants over and over, until the – and helped it burn all the audiocassette started to brighter. warp. In adolescence, I relOn that very special night ished the raging nihilism of years ago when I attended “Sweeney Todd.” In college, “The Ladies Who Sing I unearthed “Pacific OverSondheim,” I had several tures” and “Sunday in the other celebrity encounters Park with George,” experas well. The lineup included imental works that helped Patti LuPone and Kristin enrich my own writing.

Chenoweth, among other To me, Sondheim’s work Broadway legends. And, was poetry, clever and as I stumbled through my mind-bending and wise. ushering duties, I accidenThese days, I barely tally stepped on Christopher follow musical theater. But Plummer’s foot. hardly a day goes by that I But the crowning moment don’t find myself humming was spotting Sondheim, “Being Alive” or “Send in occupying the same room, the Clowns.” Or, as I drive and spending 90 minutes around Providence, a Mandy listening to the same music.

Patinkin album will pop up The man is gone now. The on my Pandora playlist, and curtain has closed on his I’ll lose myself in Sondlife. But his work lives on, heim’s layered rhymes, his and it will merrily roll along. rule-damning melodies.

I love the existential ponROBERT ISENBERG (risendering of his characters, like berg@jewishallianceri.org) Fay Apple singing “Anyone is the multimedia producer Can Whistle,” or George for the Jewish Alliance of Seurat belting out “FinishGreater Rhode Island and ing the Hat.” It’s hard to a writer for Jewish Rhode believe that so many iconic Island. ballads poured out of one BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI man.

For such an expressive artist, Sondheim led a private life, and he was particularly quiet about “The German Motors Team his Judaism. None of was very professional, courteous and great to work with. Issue was his best-known characdiagnosed perfectly and repair was ters are overtly Jewish. quick and cost was very reasonable.”

Musicals that are overtly – Steve M., Providence, Jewish, like “Fiddler on Mercedes-Benz GL-Class the Roof,” or “The Rothschilds,” were created by “Safety is our number one priority. We are capable of providing service without customer contact.” other people. For all his – Gerry and Denis Moreau satirical numbers, Sondheim never had fun with G E R M A N M O T O R S INC Jewish references, as one Sales & Service finds in “Spamalot” or “The Producers.”

879 North Main Street, Providence, RI 02904 Still, Sondheim’s 401-272-4266 community was filled Email us at: germanmotorshelp@gmail.com with Jewish creatives: MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI PORSCHE

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

Call to action

On Jan. 4, the 14th annual Fighting Poverty With Faith Vigil was held outside the Rhode Island State House in Providence.

Sponsored by the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty, the event coincides with the first session of the 2022 RI General Assembly and features faith leaders from around Rhode Island reminding legislators to continue to fight issues surrounding poverty. The event begins with a march from Gloria Dei Church to the State House. Led by drummer Saye Sendolo, of Providence, above, the group, below, marched from Gloria Dei Church to the State House.

PHOTOS | GLENN OSMUNDSON

Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman, of Temple Habonim in Barrington, was the keynote speaker.

Rabbi Preston Neimeiser, of Temple Beth-El in Providence, blows the shofar.

10 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES

Gifts come in all shapes and sizes SPE A

K IN

later.

I received such a “gift” at the age of 8 while climbing on old-fashioned metal monkey bars on a hardtop playground in Franklin Field, in Dorchester, Massachusetts. In hindsight, knowing what a clumsy oaf I was – I was a certifiable klutz, a trait that would regrettably follow me into adulthood – I shouldn’t have been engaging in this activity, because someLARRY thing was bound KESSLER to happen.

And it did: I slipped, banging my front tooth on a metal bar and chipping it.

Naturally, it was a permanent tooth.

My dentist filed it down, but he didn’t see anything else wrong with it at the time.

That’s the way it stood until the day after Labor Day in 1987, when I woke up early, writhing in pain.

G OU

T

MANY GIFTS were exchanged during this past Hanukkah and holiday season, but not all gifts are created equal.

For instance, gifts of food, such as gelt and baked goods, don’t usually last longer than a few days. Toys are often broken or left unused after the initial fascination with them fades. Clothes and shoes will either wear out or the recipient will outgrow them or tire of them. (The exception is older men like myself, who tend to leave new clothing unused until being forced to wear something new when an old shirt or pair of socks becomes too tattered to be salvaged.)

Books either get put on a shelf for future reading or are read and then passed on to libraries for their book fairs, or sold to used bookstores, or lent to friends.

But some gifts keep on giving – even dozens of years

“Bizarrely brilliant.

Extraordinary.”

THE GUARDIAN

I’ll spare you the details, the dentist two days before with my friends even more, but a trip to the dentist the first day of Hanukkah and it transformed the usual revealed that the tooth had to have a small cavity filled. sending of holiday and New become abscessed and would That went smoothly, but Year greetings into an urgent require a root canal, a procebefore the dentist began drillyear-end ritual. dure that to this day people ing, she dropped a bombshell And all this is, of course, on dread so much that they on me: the tooth adjacent to top of the constant fear and routinely say things like: “I’d the one that had required a anxiety that we’re all continurather (fill in the blank) ing to feel – even the My tumble on the monkey bars fully vaccinated and than have a root canal.”

That wasn’t an option, boosted – because of and I had the root canal. at age 8 became the ultimate the endless coronaviPerhaps owing to my rus pandemic and the klutziness, it didn’t go incessant warnings gift that keeps on giving. smoothly. about omicron and root canal in 1987 had become other variants.

Being young and foolish (35 infected to the point that is young compared to 69), I The only good news in these another root canal would be worked my night shift a few tumultuous and thoroughly hours after the procedure and needed. depressing times is that we’ve How was that possible, I then ran a hilly 20K (12.4learned to appreciate our mile) race two days later with- asked. The dentist said she families and loved ones far always tells kids whose teeth out problems – and I thought I more than ever. have sustained trauma that was home free.

That’s why it was an absoWrong! A few days later, the they shouldn’t be too surlute blessing to have both of prised if they have to deal pain returned, and a second my daughters home for the with the consequences 60 procedure was needed before sixth night of Hanukkah. years later. that chapter of my life could Their presence at the dinner In other words, my tumble be closed out. That went well table was the ultimate gift, on the monkey bars at age enough that I was able to run and it made the blintz souffle 8 became the ultimate gift my third New York City Marand latkes that my wife Lynne that keeps on giving. That athon three weeks later. made for dinner taste even meant enduring the pure joy I had no other dental issues more heavenly. (sarcasm intended) of a root for 34 years, until I went to These all-too-extremelycanal, which causes even rare moments of peace and more pain in your wallet than spiritual healing are helping your tooth since most dental to keep me from truly feeling insurance covers only a small my age – even as I’m still paypercentage of the cost. ing for the “gift” I received six I was fortunate that the pro- decades ago. cedure went much better than I expected, but being forced LARRY KESSLER (larrythek65@ to get another root canal was gmail.com) is a freelance one more thing that made writer based in North Attleme aware of my mortality. It boro. He blogs at larrythekalso made me want to keep up lineup.blogspot.com.

DIRECTED BY JOE WILSON, JR.

JAN 27 - FEB 20

JANUARY 2022 | 11

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES

The beauty of small, natural things

SKE

T

ONCE UPON A LONG TIME AGO, in my boyhood, we burned firewood on our hearth here at home. Especially on Sunday evenings.

We boys gathered sticks as kindling from the fallen branches of the city’s maple trees. Then we took our weekly bath in the upstairs tub and came down the steps to listen to the crackling of the logs and our mom, who read us tales from among the storybooks in the bookcases surrounding the parlor bricks and grate.

By the time we were warmed up, we were eager to listen to the FDR chat on the large floor-model radio.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave reassuring but also challenging reports on the world beyond our mohair drapes and cobbled driveway.

Our famous “rendezvous with destiny.”

In Torah, our spiritual Tree of Life, divinity has a voice and holds forth with Moses, in Exodus, guiding him to seek the painful pathway to freedom.

To little me, the burning bush meant not only the red leaves outdoors, but the crimson flames indoors, and the voices of my personal Moses: Moe, my dad.

On the walls surrounding the mantel, there was a letter he had written titled, “Save the Food,” which had been read aloud in Congress!

(No, not in World War II, but in World War I, the “Great War,” which had been fought tragically when he was a lad.)

I am composing this bit of

CH

nostalgia to suit, I hope, the upcoming Jewish holiday of Tu b’Shevat, the “New Year for the Trees.”

My theory is that all religions have a special connection with trees. Trees in Eden – some for good, some not so much. Trees for papyrus to record history.

Trees for fruit, for shade, for wood to make furniture.

Trees as blessings with a kind of wisdom, with roots, twigs for bird nests MIKE FINK and leaves that silently serve as artistic shapes and poetic messages.

A “tree-hugger” is sometimes a term of respect and sometimes disdain, but I learned all the verses about trees by rote and recited them on the stages of all the public schools I attended.

Tu b’Shevat, which this year starts on Jan. 27, is not all about the fruit, but rather the sermons regarding respect for Genesis. A reminder that everything is sacred and worthy to be respected, not merely exploited for gain.

My family recently spent a few days at Frenchman’s Creek, in West Palm Beach, Florida, and y’know what were my favorite moments?

One was when my granddaughter Eleanor and I collected seashells on the beach: the shore was kind of rough, but we gathered the treasure to share as souvenirs.

Eleanor is a witty and humorous child, always game for whatever comes or goes, and she even saved the

BOOK

white hairs from my beard after her mom, Emily, shaved me during the COVID-19 ban on barbershops. Eleanor put that “treasure” in a saucer, and sought some more, but I preferred the mollusks.

I can say anything to Eleanor, and she is quick to catch my drift. And my nonsense.

Her sister, Daphne, found a fallen coconut shell with wee eggs inside and researched what they might be. Too bad, they were not bird eggs, but lizard eggs that didn’t need their mom.

And these were, for me, the high points of the preview of the winter of 2022: their concern for the The writer with his granddaughter at the beach beauty of little things, little There are many Jews from fry to discover the sacred creatures, not the grown-up Rhode Island who spend time secrets of the daily details. taste for golf or commerce or outdoors in the land fabled Scripture in nature! A ease and comfort, but appreas having the Fountain of burning bush of inspiration. ciation of the quiet voice Youth. They drive in their from Nature that teaches us carts among the paths with MIKE FINK (mfink33@aol.com) different lessons that each verdant, but artificial, landteaches at the Rhode Island generation must learn, baby scapes – but it takes the small School of Design. step by baby step.

Visit JewishRhody.org to hear the latest episode or to catch up on a favorite Join host Adam Greenman and guests, Jeremy Isenberg, president of Chex Finer Foods and Cortney Nicolato, President and CEO of United Way of Rhode Island.

Explore strengths, challenges and favorite moments as they discuss the ways human connection interplays with the titles we hold.

CHUTZPAH! IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY AND APPLE PODCASTS

New episodes drop every two weeks.

12 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES

Aaron Feuerstein and Young Israel of Brookline

BY GEORGE M. GOODWIN

READERS OF JEWISH Rhode Island might have noticed Aaron Feuerstein’s obituary, published in the New York Times and other newspapers on Nov. 6. The former owner of Malden Mills was portrayed as a corporate leader who refused to leave Massachusetts or abandon his workers after a fire destroyed his Lawrence plant in 1995.

In some sense a national hero, Feuerstein was invited to sit next to First Lady Hillary Clinton at the 1996 State of the Union address.

The obituary in the Times also mentioned Feuerstein’s lifelong affiliation with Young Israel of Brookline, an Orthodox congregation whose synagogue was destroyed by fire only a year before the textile factory burned.

I interviewed Feuerstein at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, in July 1998 regarding his leadership of Young Israel. The new synagogue, which was built on the same site as the old one, on Green Street, near Coolidge Corner, was among the most architecturally distinguished of the late 20th century.

Indeed, it endures as one of the most impressive of the past 40 years.

In addition to Feuerstein, I interviewed his late sister-inlaw, Shirley; Young Israel’s rabbi, Gershon Gewirtz; several lay leaders; and, in great depth, the Boston architect who received the challenging commission.

Although I soon wrote a lengthy article about the won-

derful new synagogue, it has not yet been published in a national journal on American Jewish history.

Assuming that the depth of my research and the quality of my writing were at least satisfactory, what was the problem? Editors told me that my topic was too fresh. Perhaps after 30 or 40 years, my subject would merit historical interpretation!

AARON FEUERSTEIN’S grandfather, Henry, who had emigrated from Hungary to New York City in about 1890, at 15 years of age, became a peddler and then a real estate investor. In 1906, he purchased Malden Knitting Mills for $30,000, and moved his young family to that city.

Eventually, Henry’s son, Samuel, succeeded him, and in 1924 he moved with his family to Brookline. Aaron, born the following year, lived most of his life there.

Jews had begun settling in Brookline in about 1915.

Ohabei Shalom, a Reform congregation founded in Boston in 1842, relocated there in 1928. Kehillath Israel, an Orthodox congregation, was organized in Brookline in 1925. Henry Feuerstein became a member, but when it affiliated with the Conservative movement a year later, he decided to help found an Orthodox congregation, Sons of Israel.

A home at 67 Fuller St. was used as a synagogue until 1953, when another residence was purchased, at 62 Green St., and the congregation was reorganized as Young Israel

of Brookline. Within a few years, membership grew to 100 families, so a wing was added to the remodeled structure.

By the early 1960s, following further growth and a fundraising goal of $250,000, the congregation demolished its former home to build a larger and more suitable structure on the same site on Green Street. Congregational leaders did not yet sense, however, that architectural quality was a high priority.

IF CONSIDERING ONLY local architects, they might have sought out Samuel Glaser, an accomplished modernist who designed the magnificent Congregation B’nai Israel synagogue, in Woonsocket, which was dedicated in 1962.

Instead, they hired another MIT alumnus, Sanford Greenfield, who built a synagogue for 500 congregants on two levels. Sadly, this structure, and most its Torahs, were destroyed by a fire on Jan. 11, 1994.

The Feuerstein family, which guided the rebuilding effort and made the largest monetary gift, truly deferred to “Young Israel,” letting younger congregational leaders consider many architectural questions.

Norman Kram, a New York native and a civil and structural engineer who had a graduate degree in engineering from MIT and another in business from Harvard, led the architecture committee.

Another key member was David Kahan, a Brooklyn, New York, native and Yale

Law graduate, who practiced in Boston. Still another was Fay Grajower, a native New Yorker with a master’s degree from Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts, who sought a creative challenge.

But these young and adventurous leaders, whom I interviewed, did not yet know where to turn to conceptualize or fashion their building.

(This seems astonishing in retrospect because many of North America’s leading architects, including Peter Eisenman, Maurine Finegold, James Freed, Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, James Polshek, Robert Stern and Moshe Safdie, were at least nominally Jews.)

The Young Israel leaders contacted 77 architects, mostly in Massachusetts.

More than 30 were not available or interested. A modest budget, of no more than $4 million, may have been a factor. Also, the building’s proposed occupancy date of August 1995 may have seemed too soon.

Fortunately, an ideal architect was identified, and he soon expressed extraordinary interest in the project.

Graham Gund had never designed a synagogue, perhaps had visited only a few, and was not an Orthodox Jew. Indeed, he was an Episcopalian and had never built a house of worship. Yet this architect was so curious about, and eager for, Young Israel’s commission that, soon after receiving it, he traveled to Israel, at his own expense, to learn as much as possible about synagogues and possi-

bly Jews!

Perhaps I should also mention that Gund, a native of Cleveland, has a Rhode Island connection. After graduating from Kenyon College and before entering Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, he briefly studied at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Indeed, at one point during his career, he unsuccessfully sought a RISD commission.

Too bad for Little Rhody!

THE TALENTED GUND soon became one of the most accomplished young architects in New England, and soon accepted commissions for a rich variety of structures – primarily cultural and academic – in numerous states. He and his sister, Agnes, are also renowned art collectors and philanthropists, and have been especially generous to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Modern Art, respectively.

There isn’t sufficient space here to explain why Gund’s interpretation of synagogue architecture – functional, beautiful and modest – is so compelling. But Aaron Feuerstein, along with many other Young Israel congregants, was deeply moved by the architect’s artistry and humility.

Please do yourself a favor, and go have a look or attend a service.

GEORGE M. GOODWIN of Providence, is the editor of Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes.

Program to examine Israel’s outsized leadership in tech

BY LARRY KATZ TINY ISRAEL has become known as a leader in innovation and start-ups. For decades, just about everyone with a cellphone has benefited from technology developed in Israel – and now millions are benefiting from a vaccine that Israelis helped develop. Yet, those are just the tip of the iceberg on how Israeli innovation and entrepreneurship touches our lives.

In a Zoom program on Feb. 9, Nadav Kidron will discuss Israeli innovation in general, as well as Israeli research on COVID-19. Kidron, who cofounded Oramed Pharmaceuticals in 2006, will use his personal journey to illustrate how Israel earned a reputation as the “Start-up Nation.”

Kidron is an entrepreneur whose experience includes senior executive roles in a wide range of industries. Currently,

he is chief executive officer and director of Oramed.

The free Zoom program, on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m., is part of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s Israeli Culture Series, which takes place on the second Wednesday of each month. For more information, contact Amit Moshe Oren at 401-421-4111 or AOren@jewishallianceri.org.

The program is co-sponsored

by The Rhode Island Israel Col-

laborative. The collaborative is a not-for-profit organization that fosters and strengthens trade, business, academic exchanges and research between Rhode Island and Israel to benefit the people and economy of both.

LARRY KATZ (lkatz@jewishallianceri.org) is the director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Nadav Kidron

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COMMUNITY VOICES

Faith and self-care can see us through tough times

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IN

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PATRICIA RASKIN, owner of Raskin Resources Productions, is a media host, coach and award-winning radio producer and business owner. She is on the board of directors of Temple Emanu-El, in Providence. She is a recipient of the Providence Business News 2020 Leaders and Achievers award.

ONLINE

Contact us to learn more

401.421.4111

JewishAllianceRI.org 401 ELMGROVE AVENUE | PROVIDENCE, RI 02906

is a major theme in Judaism.

But the screen that hides God can be pierced by the simple act of talking directly to God. That’s why all blessings in the Jewish liturgy start by addressing God in the second person, ‘Blessed are You.’ “Especially in these times of quarantine, isolation, and loneliness, the truth that God is always present and always listening can be life-saving.”

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nected and safe.

In his book “Prayer is Good Medicine,” physician and researcher Larry Dossey writes that praying for oneself and others can have a scientifically measurable healing effect on illness and trauma.

Rigler wrote another article at Aish.com, “Feeling God’s Presence During COVID-19,” about rebbetzin Henny Machlis, who passed away five years ago without ever having heard of COVID-19.

Rigler writes, “But she left us a recipe for dealing with this difficult period. Her recipe has two ingredients: Emunah (faith in God) and personal prayer, and that the truth is that God is present always and everywhere ….

“The ‘hiddenness of God’

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Exercise is especially essential since it releases serotonin into the brain, giving us a natural high, an emotional boost and energy for both our body and brain.

Having a healthy diet is also a crucial component to keeping your energy levels high, improving brain function and warding off diseases.

Sleep is another key factor in health and wellness. It allows your body and mind to recharge, helps the body remain healthy, and helps the brain to function properly.

Deep breathing is another strategy for wellness, relaxation and stress relief. It has been scientifically proven to affect the heart, brain, digestion and immune system.

Prayer can also be part of self-care – it helps us stay con-

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demic is accelerating the speed of humanity’s train.

We, all of us, are barreling toward the Complete Redemption.

Whether we will reach the destination next week, next month, next year, or in a decade, no one knows. But the only way to be is to yearn PATRICIA ready for that period of RASKIN peace, harmony, and universal God-consciousness, so we will recognize it when it – when we – arrive.”

Self-care, especially during this time of uncertainty, can help us feel connected, safe and hopeful as we wait for better times.

NG

WE ARE STARTING the new year of 2022 with an acceleration of COVID-19, specifically the omicron variant.

Many of us thought we would be further along in subduing this virus at this point, especially with vaccines and boosters available to most. But we should not despair, because we are not helpless.

In her article “COVID19 and the Messiah,” on Aish. com, Sara Yoheved Rigler writes, “Judaism’s response is always hope, because we are assured that all roads, however rough, lead to the Complete Redemption .…

“The coronavirus pan-

14 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

The top Jewish pop culture stories of 2021

BY ANDREW LAPIN JTA

J

ewish pop-culture had quite the “Unorthodox” year. A new reality-TV sensation, a raunchy indie-film spin on shivas and a rare glimpse into Turkey’s Jewish community made a big splash in 2021, while elsewhere, old favorites (“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Jeopardy!,” “West

Side Story”) made big impacts in the Jewish world. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency covered every twist and turn that kept us entertained and enlightened during this difficult year.

Movies A BOLD NEW VOICE in Jewish filmmaking emerged this spring: Emma Seligman’s independent dark comedy “Shiva Baby” follows a drifting college student who attends a shiva along with her clueless family, disapproving strangers, bitter ex-girlfriend … and sugar daddy. The future cult hit has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for best microbudget feature of the year, and successfully launched the career of its 26-year-old writer-director. Our sister site Hey Alma interviewed Seligman about the film last year. She was also one of The New York Jewish Week’s 36 Under 36 for 2021.

“Minyan,” directed by Eric Steel, was another fresh take on a Jewish story: a queer coming-of-age tale set among the Soviet Jewish refugee communities of 1980s Brighton Beach.

Starring Broadway star Samuel H. Levine, it was – in my estimation – the best Jewish movie of the year.

Three major Oscar contenders this year have Jewish ties: Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner’s remake of “West Side Story” once again poses the question of who should make the musical; “Licorice Pizza” stars Jewish rock musician Alana Haim as a young Jewish aspiring actress in the 1970s; and “The Tragedy of Macbeth” marks the solo directing debut for Joel Coen, one-half of the greatest Jewish filmmaking duo of the modern era.

Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” a celebration of midcentury print journalism and Francophilia rendered in the filmmaker’s distinctive style, included its fair share of nods to real-life Jewish intellectuals – and an explicitly Jewish character.

“The Vigil” is a horror movie set in the Orthodox community, focusing on the mazzik, a Biblical demon. Direc-

tor Keith Thomas spoke to JTA about how the film’s Talmudic terrors came together.

A filmed version of the smashhit Broadway musical “Come From Away,” a September 11 story created

by Jews and featuring Jewish themes, premiered on Apple TV+ for the 20-year-anniversary of the attacks.

their country has historically treated Jews.

Israeli film imports to the U.S. shone brightly this year, with the disability family dramas “Asia” and “Here We Are”; melancholy comedy “Golden Voices”; and intergenerational, cross-continental LGBT+ drama “Sublet.”

Fashion mogul Julia Haart, top center, and her c interviewed elderly former Nazis about their memories of the Third Reich; the documentary “Love It Was Not” depicted the unsettling relationship between a Jewish prisoner of Auschwitz and her SS guard; the Slovakian drama “The Auschwitz Report” told the story of two camp escapees who tried to warn the world about the horrors inside; the documentary “The Meaning Of Hitler” tried to break down fascism’s appeal in the modern age; and the documentary “Speer Goes To Hollywood” explored the lifelong denialism of Hitler’s architect (though its methods have been criticized).

The summer musical “In The Heights” told the stories of Dominican residents of a historically Jewish New York neighborhood.

TV

Benicio del Toro, center, as Moses Rosenthaler, and Lea Seydoux, right, as Simone in "The French Dispatch."

A real-life Jewish gangster gets his due – and is played by Harvey Keitel – in “Lansky.”

The top prize-winner at this year’s Berlin Film Festival was an angry satire about sex tapes, COVID, history education and antisemitism. “Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn” depicts Romanian citizens angry over a teacher’s private transgressions, but blind to their own ignorance about how

PHOTO | SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

As Israel and Gaza burned this summer and national dialogue around the conflict turned ugly, Israeli filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s documentary “The Viewing Booth” explored how one American Jew’s preconceived views about the conflict impacted her interpretation of video footage from the region.

In the world of Holocaust cinema, the documentary “Final Account”

THE BIGGEST Jewish TV phenomenon of the year was the Netflix reality series “My Unorthodox Life,” following the controversial exploits of “ex-Orthodox” fashion designer Julia Haart and her family; Haart pushed back against her critics in our interview with her. The show spawned a new tabloid feeding frenzy; one of Haart’s daughters split from her husband, starting an internet obsession.

The year was also dominated by “Jeopardy!” hosting drama, with Jewish actress/presenter Mayim Bialik eventually being crowned co-host of the long-running quiz show through 2022… after a former executive producer’s attempts to finagle the job for himself blew up in his face. (Among would-be host Mike Richards’ myriad troubles: he made antisemitic remarks on a podcast.)

The HBO phenomenon “Succession” introduced a Jewish character (played

by Adrian Brody) who causes business trouble for the beleaguered Roy family.

The mansion Brody’s character lives in is actually owned by a Jewish billionaire.

A smash-hit podcast about a therapist’s obsession with his troubled client inspired the Apple TV+ miniseries “The Shrink Next Door,” starring

JANUARY 2022 | 15

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

children are featured in the Netflix reality series "My Unorthodox Life."

Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell.

The show has deep New York Jewish roots; a Brooklyn politician even had something to say about sharing a name with the real-life patient.

“The Club,” a surprise-hit Turkish drama series from Netflix, explores Istanbul’s Sephardic Jewish community of the 1950s, and features a surprisingly large amount of spoken Ladino.

The very Jewy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” returned to HBO for its 11th (and, some might say, Jewiest) season of Larry David’s legendary complaints.

Plotlines this season included Larry fending off a Klansman with a shofar, and Jon Hamm learning Yiddish so he could deliver a fake eulogy for Albert Brooks.

“Curb” co-star Jeff Garlin got into some hot water at his long-running ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs,” about a Jewish family in the 1980s; he’s exiting the show midway through its ninth season following an investigation into allegations of on-set misconduct.

“Shtisel,” the slow-burn drama about Israeli haredi Orthodox Jews, released a long-awaited third season, to familiar acclaim. And it was announced that respected director Kenneth Lonergan will helm an American remake of the series.

The second season of “Dave,” the heady sitcom from Jewish rapper Lil Dicky (Dave Burd), aired on FX and established its creator as a new force in TV comedy. It contained plenty of Jewish jokes, and an entire Bar mitzvah episode.

Israeli TV showrunner Hagai Levi resurrected the Ingmar Bergman classic

“Scenes From a Marriage” for an HBO miniseries starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, in which Judaism played a significant part of the story.

“Foundation,” a big-budget science-fiction series on Apple TV+, sparked renewed interest in author Isaac Asimov – whose relationship to Judaism was complicated.

The hosts of Showtime’s “Desus & Mero” visited a New York synagogue and, with the help of Jewish actor Eric Andre and a rabbi, had a Bar mitzvah of sorts.

Netflix’s academia satire “The Chair” featured a professor who causes controversy by jokingly performing a Nazi salute in class – an incident possibly based on real life.

The PBS geneology show “Finding Your Roots” welcomed Mandy Patinkin, and revealed that he had lost family in the Holocaust.

New Jewish faces abounded on small-screen comedies.

Celebrated alt-comedian Sarah Sherman joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live”; HBO’s “Hacks,” based loosely on the career of Jewish comedian Joan Rivers, features a star-making turn from Hannah Einbender; “Ted Lasso” features the work of Haitian Canadian Jew Moe Jeudy-Lamour and Emmy winner Brett Goldstein; and “Reservation Dogs,” a sitcom set on a Native American reservation, features a breakout performance by Jewish Indigenous actress Sarah Podemski.

In the world of food, Padma Lakshmi explored the Jewish culinary traditions of the Lower East Side in her Hulu series “Taste the Nation,” while the latest season of “The

PHOTO | NETFLIX

Ezra Furman performs at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London, Nov. 14, 2019.

Great British Baking Show” featured fan-favorite contestant Jürgen, whose recipes are frequently inspired by his Jewish wife.

“American Ninja Warrior” featured a contestant, Liba Yoffe, who is an Orthodox mom.

And on “South Park,” proud antisemite Eric Cartman did the unthinkable – he converted to Judaism.

Sydney Taylor, are lovingly profiled in the biography “From Sarah to Sydney: The Woman Behind ‘All-of-a-Kind Family’,” by Jane Cummins and Alexandra Dunietz.

“Morningside Heights,” Joshua Henkin’s very Jewish New York novel, chronicles a marriage challenged by Alzheimer’s and the cultural divide between Orthodox and secular Jews.

PHOTO | ROBIN LITTLE/ REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES

In a first, an EthiopianIsrael represented Israel at the Eurovision international pop song contest. Eden Alene, who became a sensation in her home country for winning the Israeli version of “The X-Factor,” didn’t win — but she became a symbol of representation, and her song had lyrics in four different languages.

Jack Antonoff, the Jewishday-school-grad-turned-in-demand-pop-producer, won a Grammy for his work with NOVELIST DARA Taylor Swift on her Horn’s essay collecacclaimed “Folktion, “People Love lore” album, and Dead Jews,” probed was nominated in the ways in which the fall for more, for murdered Jews have subsequent work been fetishized in with Swift. global culture – and Hanukkah provoked months brought us more of discussion and than eight days’ debate. worth of musical Mark Oppenjoy: Jewish a capheimer delved into pella group Six13 “Squirrel Hill,” the produced a “West Pittsburgh Jewish Side Story” inspired Author Mark Oppenheimer profiled the Squirrel Hill community’s efforts Hanukkah parody; neighborhood of Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the to heal in the afterJewish pop rock Tree of Life synagogue shooting for his new book. math of the Tree group Haim updated of Life synagogue PHOTO | LOTTA STUDIO Adam Sandler’s shooting, for his iconic “Chanukah acclaimed nonfiction “Plunder,” a memoir by Song” with some new names book.

Menachem Kaiser, chroniand fun facts; the song also Whistle, Gotham City’s cles his efforts to reclaim his got remixed by Jewish hipnewest superhero, is Jewish, grandfather’s property in prehop stars Nissim Black and and her secret identity is war Poland – and his run-ins Kosha Dillz; the Foo Fighters’ Willow Zimmerman – courwith Nazi-obsessed treanon-Jewish frontman Dave tesy of her creator, secular sure-hunters along the way.

Grohl, along with his Jewish Jewish comic-book artist E. producer friend Greg Kurstin, Lockhart. brought back their “HanukSatirical Jewish novelist EZRA FURMAN, acclaimed kah Sessions” series of fun Joshua Cohen took a big trans Jewish punk rocker, cover songs by Jewish artists; swing at Israel’s most powerentered rabbinical school this and previously disbanded ful family with “The Netanyayear. pop group Cobra Starship, hus,” a fictionalized account Black and Jewish rapper led by Jewish frontman Gabe of Bibi’s father’s attempts to Doja Cat became one of the Saporta, returned for the holbreak into American acaworld’s most-streamed artists iday with a bop titled “Party demia. with the release of her GramWith Jews.”

The beloved Jewish chilmy-nominated third album, dren’s-book series “All-of-a“Planet Her.” Kind Family” and its author,

Books

Music

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

BUSINESS 22 | OBITUARIES 26

For world traveler Alana Deluty, R.I. is still home sweet home

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

I

f life were a test, Alana Deluty would be acing it. She works remotely as a data science analyst. She’s a veteran researcher for a

major Providence hospital and an Ivy League university. She volunteers all over Providence, and she gets around almost entirely by bicycle. Most eye-opening, Deluty has lived in three different countries – India, Malaysia and Israel – and traveled to more than 30. She became a Fulbright fellow in 2016 and is currently the president of Rhode Island’s Fulbright Association. All this at the age of 28.

BUT IT WASN’T always this way. If you had told a teenage Alana Deluty that she would become a globe-trotting community-builder, she would have been skeptical.

“No one in my family had ever traveled before,” says Deluty, who grew up in Cranston. “I never knew anyone who had been to another country. It felt like something that was impossible.”

Deluty’s first foray into international travel was a month-long stay in Israel, hosted by NFTY, the Reform Jewish Youth Movement.

The program was geared toward high school students and heavily structured.

Today, Deluty dismisses the experience as an early blip, but she says it did help her adapt to different time zones and culture shock.

When she enrolled at the College of Wooster, in Ohio, Deluty decided she would study abroad – not in a familiar place like England, as she’d once considered, but in urban India.

When Deluty arrived in Pune, India, in 2013, she tried palak paneer for the first time. The spinach-based gravy with cheese cubes was more than just her first taste of Indian cuisine – it was the first time she’d ever tasted some of the spices.

“That was a very intense experience,” Deluty recalls.

“I was tasting a spicy food in a foreign country and committing to live there for four months.”

After a semester of classes and negotiating Indian life, Deluty spent a month visiting friends in Europe.

PHOTO | ALANA DELUTY

She was a rookie solo backaltogether: She entered the looked grim, she set her packer and felt awkward at world of clinical research. sights on Israel, and became first.

She first worked for Hasa “social change fellow” “I didn’t know what I was bro Children’s Hospital, through the Yahel program. doing at all, but I figured it in Providence, where she Deluty’s parents volunout,” she remembers. “After helped with research in teered to keep an eye on her that, I was really addicted to pediatric oncology. In 2019, house, and Deluty packed travel.” she became a project coordi- her bags. This is Deluty graduated from nator at the Brown Univerhow she found herself in Wooster in 2015 with a Lod, an unglamorB.A. in philosophy. From suburb of Tel “Being part of a community ous there, she was awarded Aviv with a long a prestigious Fulbright history of ethnic is really important to me.” scholarship from the tensions.

U.S. Department of Soon Deluty State, and spent a year was busy with sity School of Public Health, in Malaysia. While teaching service-leaning roles; where she researched adult English to Malaysian youth, neuroscience at the Mindshe volunteered for local Deluty also explored nations fulness Center. organizations, taught at a across Southeast Asia and high school, wrote grants, With a steady job, Deluty helped spearhead an edutended a community garden, was able to purchase a cation program about open helped with web design and house in Providence. Life burning, a common problem felt stable – until March helped plan events. She also in the region. volunteered for Na’am, an 2020, when Brown laid her Deluty returned to the Arab women’s organization off.

U.S. in 2017, when her As the pandemic took career took a different turn hold and Deluty’s prospects CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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COMMUNITY

Attendance at B’nai Israel’s services zooms up

BY CYNTHIA BENJAMIN

“People are longing for contact,” he said. “The homeliness, the hamishness of the way we do the services.”

Tedeschi also credits Cornblatt with excellent instincts about online viewers.

FOR WOONSOCKET’S struggling Congregation B’nai Israel, online services have turned into somewhat of a phenomenon, with attendance at Shabbat services up 10-fold – at least.

That means, instead “We have picked up of having difficulty even getting a minyan on a lot of new people Shabbat, people from all over the country are who have no particular tuning in to Cantor Jeff Cornblatt’s Saturday connection to our shul.” morning services.

“Sometimes we get 20 “People just can’t sit in or 30 views during services front of a screen for hours [on Facebook], but more and hours,” Tedeschi said, people find it later on Saturand Cornblatt has shortened day, and even more during his service accordingly, to an the week,” said CBI board hour and 15 or 20 minutes, member Peter Tedeschi. while still hitting all the “Typically, it’s about 100, but essentials. as low as 45 and as high as And then there is Corn250.” blatt’s rich and trained But why, with all the online Conservative services tenor-baritone, his vast knowledge, and his folksy, out there, are people findwelcoming and inclusive ing their way to this cashstyle. strapped shul whose total “Jeff always chooses production values amounts melodies that everyone can to a laptop? sing along with. He doesn’t Cornblatt thinks that’s put his ego or his voice first,” actually part of the draw: Tedeschi said. the services might have Oddly enough, it’s Cornbeen glitchy way back in the blatt’s penchant for “bad beginning, in March 2020, jokes” that really seems to but they were never glitzy. resonate.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 that aids victims of domestic violence and advocates for feminist policy.

“When I would tell Israelis that I lived in Lod, they would say, ‘Why on Earth are you there?’ There’s a lot of violence and a lot of crime. But it was a very interesting place …. I feel like I really got to understand Lod,” Deluty said.

Deluty found additional fulfillment in her many pastimes. She got around Lod by bicycle, navigating the city’s breakneck traffic patterns.

She joined Holy Local Aliens, an intentionally inclusive hiking club that helped Jews, Arabs and any other participants find common ground in Area C, a mutually accessible part of the West Bank. She took classes at Mazat Latin Dance, where diverse people bonded on the floor.

But once again, Deluty was

uprooted, this time by armed conflict. When violence rocked Israel in May 2021, riots broke out in the streets of Lod, and many residents were killed. Deluty was evacuated from the city.

When the crisis calmed down, Deluty was surprised to find her apartment undamaged. However, the fighting put a strain on her relationships.

“It definitely fueled some hard conversations,” she said.

In the end, the nine-month sojourn was shortened to eight.

Deluty returned to Rhode Island at the end of August 2021, when she started a new position as a data science analyst, working entirely from home for a California company. She likes the stability of a salaried job, which she feels strengthens her service work.

“We have picked up a lot of new people who have no particular connection to our shul. The thing they tell me they like, strangely enough, is my bad jokes … and they find it to be a nice service,” Cornblatt says.

This is confirmed by comments on the Facebook posts, such as thank-yous and “You’re an excellent teacher,” as well as an array of clapping emojis, emoji hearts and praying hands.

Tedeschi said the boost in viewership began when the congregation started posting the Shabbat services on its Facebook page, @ shalom.cbi, in addition to the invitation-only Zooms. First, he said, a few CBI members switched from the Zoom to Facebook, and they were soon followed by former members. Then the services began to get a few “shares,” and soon people with no connection to CBI started tuning in.

The metrics are continuing to trend up, and for now the congregation has no plans for ending the online services. And in-person services are not possible anyway – pandemic or not – because the synagogue’s fire-alert system is in need of

She is now settled in her house once again and has resumed volunteering at a variety of local organizations, including the local chapter of Food Not Bombs. She still gets around on one of her three bicycles.

But global connections are still an essential part of Deluty’s life. She has plans to visit Israel soon, along with Puerto Rico. As president of Rhode Island’s Fulbright Association, she organizes events for past fellows and current grantees, including lectures, mixers and even a snow-tubing event at the Yawgoo Valley Ski Area, in Exeter. Deluty likes to foster an exchange between veteran fellows and Fulbright guests from other countries as they adapt to life in the U.S. “I was really happy to come home,” she says. “Being part of a community is really

an expensive repair.

Reflecting on the past two years, Cornblatt said, “I privately was afraid it would be the end of the synagogue when we had Congregation B’nai Israel Cantor Jeff Cornto go online. blatt has his own unique style. “I don’t fit into Many of our anything – not my pants, not any social design,” congregants Cornblatt says, illustrating his affinity for what are quite he calls “bad jokes.” elderly, and I thought they wouldn’t pandemic, pointing to the want to fool around with this Shabbat services but also to crazy tech. But, to my surspecial online events like a prise, it has blossomed.”

Hanukkah candle-lighting Cornblatt said he invites ceremony attended by Woonany and all viewers to get in socket Mayor Lisa Baldeltouch with him, and some li-Hunt and U.S. Sen. David have.

Cicilline, and an entertain“There are people who ing Purim-spiel. come from the area but “Anything that stems from no longer live here, and the pandemic is ultimately this [online service] gave tragic,” he said. “But I think them the opportunity to go we have certainly made the to services in their home best of a terrible situation in synagogue. They say they the world.” expected to do it once, but now say, ‘I find myself going CYNTHIA BENJAMIN is a board to shul every week,’ ” he member of Congregation said.

B’nai Israel and the copy ediTedeschi is proud of tor for Jewish Rhode Island.

CBI’s resilience during the

important to me. As much as I love traveling and I love adventure, it’s more important to me to be rooted someplace.

“I think I was able to do a lot [in Israel], but I also saw how useless I was, being an outsider. I know this space. I know Rhode Island. I know Providence really, really well. I’m part of the community I want to serve. I’m always going to be able to

dedicate my life to helping others, but I’ll never be able to do that better than in the place I know best.”

ROBERT ISENBERG (risenberg@jewishallianceri.org) is the multimedia producer for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and a writer for Jewish Rhode Island.

Business Disputes

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COMMUNITY

Online services, events here to stay Survey of area temples finds most will keep Zooming even as they cautiously restore in-person services

BY SETH CHITWOOD AFTER ALMOST two years of adapting to the pandemic, congregations in the greater Rhode Island area are still putting together new plans on holding services, programs and classes as COVID-19 continues along its unpredictable path.

Jewish Rhode Island received seven responses to a questionnaire recently sent to congregations statewide and in nearby Massachusetts asking about their plans for in-person and virtual services and programming.

“From the beginning of the pandemic, we have been convinced that internet-connected video services are here to stay,” Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser of Temple Sinai, in Cranston, said in his response.

“Online religious services are now a permanent feature of the American synagogue.

It was inevitable that this would happen once the technology existed … the pandemic just speeded up the process,” he said.

“I think this [virtual programming] will probably remain a regular feature,” echoed Rabbi Mark Elber, of Temple Beth El, in Fall River, Massachusetts.

In July, Beth El restored in-person services, while keeping online services too.

“During Friday evening and Shabbat morning services, the attendance is pretty fairly split between in-person and on Zoom,” Elber said.

“The online presence has remained quite consistent over these many months.”

At Temple Emanu-El, in Providence, there is a minyan seven days a week both in person and on Zoom, said Senior Rabbi Michael Fel. Recently it was moved exclusively to Zoom.

At Providence’s Temple

Beth-El, Executive Director Judy Moseley said their daily minyan is online only, while Shabbat services are now offered both online and in person. Moseley said online attendance initially decreased once Beth-El returned to in-person Shabbat services, but is now growing again as the omicron variant spreads.

Online services remain popular with people who cannot make it to temple because of safety concerns or for other reasons, such as being out of town, said Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue, in Newport.

“I believe some online services will remain. The transition helped us stay in touch with our members,” he said.

But other rabbis and temple leaders are less enthusiastic about Zoom services.

“I don’t know if we’ve figured out how to fully pray, and feel spiritually and socially connected, through the digital experience,” said Rabbi Alex Weissman of Congregation Agudas Achim, in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Moseley agreed, saying, “We know that bridging the gap between in-person and remote participants is hard, and remote congregants can feel frustrated and unable to participate equally, becoming less engaged.”

She added, “The solution is to integrate physical spaces and technology, providing your congregation the opportunity to communicate well.”

During the summer months, some temples saw a rise in attendance for in-person services held outside.

At Congregation Sons and Daughters of Ruth, on Block Island, all services were held on its deck from Memorial Day to Yom Kippur.

“We had larger minyans on Friday evenings,” Cantor

Elliot Taubman noted.

For in-person indoor services, all the temples said they have strict safety protocols, includTemple Beth El in Fall River. ing being fully masked and socially distanced, programming, with some and presenting proof of vacclasses in person and some cination. online.

“Our priority is to keep At Congregation Agueveryone safe while keeping das Achim, Sunday school our community together returned to in-person only, through the pandemic,” said with very good attendance, Goldwasser, adding that he according to Rabbi Weissrecommends that congreman. gants get COVID-19 vaccines “It’s such a delight to be and boosters. with the kids in person,” he At United Brothers Synasaid. gogue, in Bristol, Cantor Joel Touro Synagogue and TemGluck said they keep a record ple Sinai also offer in-person of vaccination cards. Moseclasses only – along with a ley said Temple Beth-El also strong recommendation that keeps a vaccination-status list, as well as information for students be vaccinated.

“We do not Zoom our Relicontact tracing. gious School because we have At Temple Emanu-El, found that students learn spiritual leaders are the only so much better in person,” ones allowed to remove their Goldwasser said. “We want masks, if socially distanced, to encourage that best Jewduring services. ish learning experience we But even at shuls that hold can offer.” in-person services, many He also noted that attenevents and programs have dance at Temple Sinai’s reliremained online.

At Temple Sinai, baby-nam- gious school is higher than it was before the pandemic. ings, B’nai Mitzvah, funerals Providence’s Temple and shivahs are still on Zoom Beth-El only offers in-person only. religious school, but there is “We have done a number an online option for Hebrew of adult-education programs school and Bar/Bat Mitzvah that actually do better on tutoring.

Zoom than they did in perAt Temple Emanu-El, son,” Goldwasser said, adding religious programming is that Temple Sinai is offering in person on Sundays, but a virtual Jewish film and an online version is offered book club this year. on Tuesdays. At Fall River’s Other synagogues have Temple Beth El, all three of reinstated, or continued, their adult-ed Hebrew classes some in-person events. have remained online.

United Brothers Synagogue Almost all the temples offers mahjong on Tuesday reported that they offer Bar/ evenings, and Fall River’s Bat Mitzvah and Hebrew Temple Beth El hosts Jewish classes online to anyone who movie nights. requests it.

But, “We haven’t regained “It’s a mix” now, Weissman our pre-pandemic levels of said.

“There’s a wide range of attendance,” Elber said. what people are comfortable Pandemic work-arounds with right now, so we’re doing are just as diverse for reliour best to meet people in gious schools and education

that wide range.”

And now, with the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, it’s possible that services could return to virtual-only, the rabbis acknowledged.

But they expect a smoother transition if that becomes necessary.

“I feel confident that we can transition much more quickly now when changes come,” Goldwasser said. “We could go back to doing virtual-only services and other programs with just a few hours’ notice, if we needed to do that.”

United Brothers’ Gluck said much the same thing.

“How long this will go on for is unknown. But we will continue to be flexible and as accommodating as possible in these difficult times,” he said.

This was echoed at other temples, including Emanu-El and Agudas Achim, which also said that switching to Zoom exclusively would be an easier transition the second time around.

“Many people told us that it helped them feel less isolated than they would have had we not offered Zoom services and classes,” Rabbi Elber said.

“My sense of the future is that this technological/virtual component of synagogue life will remain as an option, even if not the optimal form of participation.”

SETH CHITWOOD (www.sethchitwood.com), of Barrington, is a features reporter for The Standard-Times, in New Bedford. He is also the creative director of the award-winning Angelwood Pictures production company.

JANUARY 2022 | 19

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Beth-El’s teens learn about the past in ‘Edible Shtetl’ program

The teens and their shtetl.

BY CARL SHULMAN PROVIDENCE – When you think of the “Old World,” what comes to mind? Cobblestone streets and ornate stone buildings?

Castles and grand balls?

Sometimes we forget about a dire situation that existed in the Pale of Settlement: shtetl life. In the Russian Empire, Jews were generally forced to live outside of society, in desperately poor villages. They were financially and physically targeted and harassed by governmental and non-governmental forces. They were peasants who were used as human shields for the Russian Empire, which supported the violence and pogroms.

Temple Beth-El’s teens recently learned about this life through an award-winning program called Edible Shtetl.

Written and taught by Jeanette Laser and Rachel Alemany, Edible Shtetl brings this history to students through storytelling, primary-source materials, and discussion, and then ends with the students building a tabletop shtetl from graham crackers, candy and plenty of frosting.

The program began with many students recounting some of what they know regarding their family’s journey to New England. Many came through New York’s Ellis Island, Boston, other East Coast cities, and Canada, from countries in the Russian

Empire, Germany and Eastern Europe. Many spent years and all their resources in arranging to make the journey.

The teens then viewed picture books that showed what shtetl life physically looked like, and how, even through hardship, there was joy in the small things and the support of the community.

The teens were then shown historical pictures of shtetls in the Pale of Settlement, specifically parts of what is now modern Poland. They saw town squares, synagogues, homes, market days, the town well, cemeteries and an abundance of mud. Poverty is in evidence in the photos, but pride too; pride in a culture, a people and a place.

Once the students saw what shtetls actually looked like, they mapped out their own, and began to build it out of graham crackers, wafers, marshmallows, other candy, frosting, pretzels, etc. In just one hour, they built a synagogue with an attached cemetery, a town square with a community well surrounded by shops, destroyed buildings, multifloor homes, and a bridge over a river to fields.

CARL SHULMAN is the assistant director of youth and family engagement at Temple Beth-El, in Providence.

Super Sunday was truly super: Alliance far exceeds fundraising goal

BY ABI WEINER SUPER SUNDAY is the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s biggest fundraising day of the year – and this year’s event proved to be a tremendous success!

The Alliance had set a fundraising goal of $30,000 for the Dec. 5 event, as well as a goal of connecting with 360 donors. But volunteers went above and beyond, raising more than $80,000, including a generous $5,000 match from the Bazarsky family for all new and increased gifts. The volunteers also connected with over 500 donors through phone calls or thank-you notes.

Twenty Super Sunday volunteers made phone

calls from the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence.

Twenty more volunteered from remote locations, either making calls from home or from satellite locations at the University of Rhode Island Hillel and Temple Shalom, in Middletown. Also at Temple Shalom, an additional 30 community members wrote thank-you cards to donors. Co-chairs Brauna Doidge and Abigail Anthony worked tirelessly to get the word out to the community and recruit volunteers.

In 2020, Super Sunday was conducted remotely.

This year’s arrangement was an attempt to get volunteers safely back into the JCC. And taking the

fundraiser to locations around Rhode Island allowed new volunteers to participate.

Anthony, who is also the president of Temple Shalom, said, “The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island connects our congregation to the state’s Jewish community and makes us feel less isolated.

This support is possible because of generous donors, and it is our honor to spend a few joyful hours together saying thank you.”

ABI WEINER (aweiner@ jewishallianceri.org) is the development officer for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Virtual Hebrew Conversation sessions begin this month

BY LARRY KATZ TEMPLE EMANU-EL and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island are offering four levels of Hebrew Conversation in virtual sessions that begin in January.

The eight-session classes are suitable for those who want to learn spoken Hebrew, or learn more Hebrew, want to exercise their brains, or just want a fun, challenging evening.

Instructors include Israelis Amit Moshe Oren, community shaliach/emissary from Israel, and Ofir Segal, and veteran Hebrew teachers Janice Kaidan and Toby Liebowitz.

Segal writes, “For the past year and a half, I’ve been living here in the U.S. due to my husband’s work.

After serving as a combat officer in an Iron Dome battery, I completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations.

“I have a rich background in coaching and mentoring, both from my

experience as a chapter coordinator in the Israeli scouts and from being an educational instructor in different nonprofit organizations, as well as multiple volunteer projects that I have taken part in.

“Living far from Israel made me appreciate my culture, language, and my country even more, and I’m privileged to contribute my knowledge as an Israeli to the amazing Jewish-American community.”

Kaidan writes, “I have been teaching Hebrew for over two and a half decades, both in the classroom and privately.

I am fascinated by the language and thoroughly enjoy sharing its singular qualities with others.”

All classes are available on Zoom. As of late December, the beginners and intermediate classes were scheduled to be available in-person at the Dwares Jewish Community Center in Providence.

The advanced beginners

and intermediate groups meet from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the following Mondays: Jan. 10, 24, 31, Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28, and March 7.

The beginners and advanced groups meet from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the following Tuesdays: Jan. 11, 25, Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22, and March 1, 8.

The cost is $100 for every eight sessions. Some financial aid is available.

Links to the Zoom will be forwarded after registration.

Register for Hebrew Conversation at teprov. org/form/hebrewconversationwinter2022. For more information and to determine which level class you should register for, email Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

LARRY KATZ, (lkatz@ jewishallianceri.org) is director of Jewish Life and Learning for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

20 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

Jewish Roots sculpture on display at JCC

BY ROBERT ISENBERG PROVIDENCE – Two years after the idea was conceived, the Jewish Roots Project is now complete. The sculpture, shaped like a tree and encrusted in glass “gems,” now hangs prominently in the entryway of the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center. Each gem is unique, the creation of a Rhode Islander sometime during the pandemic.

“Every gem has a story,” says Nancy Katz, the Cranston-based artist who spearheaded the Jewish Roots Project. “Because things played out the way that they did in terms of the pandemic, I think it captured a time that … we’re living through right now.”

More than 238 adults participated in the project, representing about 48 “geographic areas” across the state. Organizers estimate that some 250 students also contributed to Jewish Roots, most of them from J-Camp and J-Cation Camp, at the Dwares JCC. Together, they submitted

more than 1,000 gems, most of which were then arranged and pasted onto the tree.

Katz is a Worcester, Massachusetts, native who spent much of her life away from New England, first working as an occupational therapist and then as a full-time visual artist and arts educator.

In the 1980s, Katz was an early participant in the NAMES Project AIDS Quilt, putting her skilled needlework and concern for others to work. Since then, she has built a reputation for her community workshops and art projects, many of them grounded in Jewish themes.

One of those projects was a similar tree, created for Temple Sinai, in Sandy Springs, Georgia. The tree was one of the finishing touches for a major renovation, at the behest of synagogue educator Marisa Kaiser.

“It was really a collaboration,” recalls Katz. “They wanted something to engage their religious school students, and they needed to beautify, or personalize, this

new space that they were creating.”

Katz and her husband, stained glass artist Mark Liebowitz, moved to Rhode Island in 2019, and soon connected with the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. They had previously lived in rural Massachusetts, where Jewish residents were scattered, and the Alliance gave them a chance to quickly connect with Rhode Island’s more robust Jewish community.

Here, Katz met Lisa Maybruch, the Alliance’s man-

ager of adult programs, who Participants could decowas fascinated by the newly rate the gems however they completed Temple Sinai wanted, including with sculpture. They discussed pictures, photos or written trying a similar project at the messages. The submissions Dwares JCC. ran the gamut of words and But within months, the images, from the phrase “We world went into COVID-19 will hug again” to a picture lockdown, and of a dog wearing the Jewish a yarmulke.

Roots Project Each piece of took on new artwork was significance: then encased Instead of a in round glass typical commupieces. nity-building Area woodexercise, the worker Aaron sculpture was Guttin cut a chance to the tree out of connect sequeswood, and Katz tered individuand Maybruch als across the pasted the hunstate. dreds of gems Katz and to its trunk and Listen to Nancy Katz disMaybruch branches. cuss the project and watch put together The display the tree being constructed was completed project kits for at jewishrhody.com/stoparticipants, on Dec. 22, and which included ries/jewish-roots-projcan be viewed a visual temat the Alliect,14003? plate, tea bags ance’s Dwares for enjoying at home, and Jewish Community Center, images of the Temple Sinai 401 Elmgrove Ave., Proviproject. dence, whenever the JCC is “We had to look at this as a open. Visitors must follow nurturing device, some way mandatory COVID-19 safety to help people during this measures when entering the crazy time,” says Katz. “They building. could see what the end result could look like. They knew ROBERT ISENBERG (risenthat, ultimately, you’re going berg@jewishallianceri.org) is to create something, and it’s the multimedia producer for going to be part of this tree the Jewish Alliance of Greater that’s in the lobby. And this is Rhode Island and a writer for a way for you to connect with Jewish Rhode Island. other people and the community at large.”

JANUARY 2022 | 21

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

The Alliance’s Community Microgrants Initiative funds 6 projects

BY EMMA NEWBERY THE JEWISH ALLIANCE of Greater Rhode Island’s Community Microgrants Initiative has funded two individual and four collaborative projects during its first round.

Felice Winograd and Amy Gaddes lead the individual projects, which focus on improving relationships with ourselves and the communities around us through a Jewish lens.

The four collaborative projects will bring new perspectives, new opportunities for reflection and some exciting new guests to the Rhode Island Jewish community in the new year. Collaborative grant recipients are Providence’s Temple Beth-El; Mitzvah Matzos; the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, Alexis Dorfman (through Brown/ RISD Hillel); Providence’s Congregation Beth Sholom, Shai Afsai in partnership with Core Connects Rhode Island and local temples; and Jewish Collaborative Services. (Some of these recipients are working on multiple projects.)

After extensive community outreach in the fall of 2019, the Alliance created a strategic plan for the next three years and beyond.

One of the plan’s primary goals is to enhance Jewish life and connections for all by creating conditions to help Rhode Island’s Jews connect with one another and with Jewish life more deeply.

One way to do this was to create grants to encourage Jews in Rhode Island to come together, on their own terms, by supporting and offering opportunities to grow groups within the Jewish community, including multi-faith families, LGBTQ+ Jews, Jews of color, Jews by choice and Jews with special needs and abilities.

To this end, the Alliance created the Community

Microgrant Initiative to support new and meaningful projects that bring the different corners of the community together.

The grants are supported by the Bernhardt Foundation and grant awards are determined by a lay-led committee of four community members.

As the committee heads into its second round of review, members of the community, particularly those who are traditionally underserved or underrepresented, are encouraged to apply for a grant. The Community Microgrants Initiative is an opportunity to bring an idea or exciting kernel of a “what-if” into being.

Individual grants are up to $500. Collaborative grants are up to $5,000.

The committee is open to workshopping projects and helping applicants to fully realize the scope and possibilities of a given project. What’s more, with a generous, additional gift, the pool of funding has increased, allowing the initiative to diversify and expand in the coming months.

If you have submitted an application and have yet to hear back, rest assured that your application is now under review as part of the second round of committee meetings.

To learn more about the application process, go to jewishallianceri.org/ microgrants. For questions about the process or for the committee, email Emma Newbery, at enewbery@ jewishallianceri.org, or Lisa Maybruch, at lmaybruch@ jewishallianceri.org.

EMMA NEWBERY (enewbery@jewishallianceri. org) writes for Jewish Rhode Island and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

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JANUARY 2022 | 23

BUSINESS

Secure your legacy with a planned gift to our Jewish community

BY CLAIRE UZIEL ARE YOU LOOKING for a way to support the local Jewish community in perpetuity, to create a legacy in a place you care so much about?

As you think about your hopes for the future, consider creating a planned gift with the Jewish Federation Foundation. A planned gift is one that is deferred until the donor’s passing, and it can be arranged through estate plans or by making the JFF the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement account.

When you make a planned gift to the JFF, which is the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s endowment, you ensure that your generosity and vision will have an impact on future generations. Endowment funds that were established decades ago are now providing important support to Rhode Island community.

The JFF has a 70-year history as a trusted custodian of the Jewish community’s philanthropic capital.

And now that JFF funds are invested with the Rhode Island Foundation, the portfolio is stronger than ever.

In partnership with the RIF, the JFF oversees nearly $77 million in assets.

You can have confidence in the JFF’s knowledge and expertise to help you design a planned gift that will perpetuate your giving goals into the future. The JFF will use your planned gift in strict accordance with your wishes, allowing you to leave a lasting legacy.

You can make the JFF your partner in philanthropy the following ways:

BEQUESTS: Work with the

JFF and your advisers to create a bequest through your will or trust that clearly reflects and honors your philanthropic values.

Alternatively, you may opt to add your gift to the JFF’s unrestricted endowment, allowing it to be used as needed.

RETIREMENT ACCOUNT:

Name the JFF as the beneficiary of all or a percentage of your IRA or work retirement plan.

Because the JFF is taxexempt, it can withdraw the assets from your retirement account after your death without having to pay income taxes.

Additionally, any money left to a charity at death would receive an estatetax charitable deduction, reducing applicable federal estate taxes.

LIFE INSURANCE: Purchase

a life insurance policy that names the JFF as both the owner and beneficiary.

After you pass, the JFF will redeem the policy, and the proceeds will support the JFF’s endowment in a way you have arranged.

Your planned gift makes you eligible for membership in the JFF’s Dor L’Dor Society, which honors individuals who have created a permanent endowment fund or informed the JFF of their intention to make a planned gift.

Dor L’Dor Society members are celebrated in the Alliance’s annual Donor Report, which both honors their foresight and inspires others to emulate their generous example.

Special events are also held for Dor L’Dor members, to honor their commitment to sustaining the Jewish community.

To discuss setting up a planned gift, or if you have already done so and would like to be included in the Dor L’Dor Society, contact Sara Masri, the Alliance’s chief development officer, at endowment@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 223.

CLAIRE UZIEL (cuziel@ jewishallianceri.org) is the endowment/campaign operations manager for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Community Microgrant Initiative The Jewish Alliance encourages Jewish individuals to explore opportunities to come together on their own terms... with funding provided by the Jewish Alliance.

Individual Grants (Up to $500) These grants are intended for individuals in the community to offer their own programming and content that is uniquely relevant to them, their interests, and their immediate community. This can be in the form of a Shabbat dinner, a park meet-up, a Jewish learning group, a holiday gathering, or something more creative and innovative.

Traditionally under-served or under-acknowledged populations are strongly encouraged to apply.

For more information, including applications and timeline, visit www.jewishallianceri.org/MicroGrants/

JEWISH ALLIANCE of Greater Rhode Island

401 Elmgrove Avenue | Providence, RI 02906 | 401.421.4111 | jewishallianceri.org

24 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

FOOD

J-Fitness experts offer tips, recipes for a healthy new year

BY FRAN OSTENDORF HELLO 2022! To help you with your new year’s resolutions, Jewish Rhode Island asked the folks at J-Fitness, at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence, to share tips for better health and wellness and eating more healthfully.

And we asked them to throw in a healthy recipe as well.

Always interested in promoting health and fitness, Rob Castellucci, Allie Tetreault and Nikki Long were happy to give advice to help you on your health and fitness journey.

Castellucci, director of Personal Training and Recreational Sports, offers this advice for healthy eating: “The three big things I always think of that help me stay balanced and on a healthy path with my nutrition are to eat as many whole foods as possible, limit snacking and focus on portion size or overall moderation.”

He went on to explain that whole foods are unprocessed foods, such as whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables.

“Staying away from processed foods is probably the biggest key to healthy nutritional habits,” Castellucci said. “I keep mostly healthy snacks in the house, like nuts, fruits, almond/peanut butter, etc.

I always say, ‘you can’t eat it if you don’t have it.’ ” Castellucci said he also focuses on portion size, especially at dinner, and limiting treats.

“We want to enjoy what we eat and have some treats here and there, but staying focused on some of these aspects of our diets can really make a big difference in the long run,” he said.

Tetreault, director of Wellness & Member Experience, and Long, director of Group Exercise & Fitness Center Operations, both gave tips for better health and wellness and healthier eating in the new year. In their emails, they start with the same advice:

Eat mindfully.

“With the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, eating can become almost an after-thought. Try to slow down, set aside quiet time for eating, and really enjoy your food,” Long wrote.

“Chew slowly and focus on the experience. As a result, you’ll eat less food overall and have fewer stomachaches from overconsumption,” Tetreault wrote. “It takes at least 20 minutes for your brain to realize you’re full.”

Their other tips include drinking water, focusing on fruits and vegetables, using smaller plates and watching your weight and exercising.

Tetreault says being active is a “secret weapon.”

“Get moving with friends and family, such as taking a walk after a meal, or exercising here at the J! Consuming more calories than you’re burning will lead to storage of energy as body fat. So the other side of energy balance – physical activity – needs to be on the list,” she says.

If you take the time to listen to your body, you can learn your hunger and fullness cues, Long said.

“By getting in tune with your body, you will be able to fuel your body properly without overeating or undereating,” she says.

Tetreault is an advocate of using smaller plates for portion control, especially at a buffet, which she called “a recipe for overindulgence.”

“And smaller portions means you’re more likely to finish what’s on your plate, which means less food waste,” she said.

Finally, the J-Fitness experts said to plan your meals in advance. That way, Long said, “You’ll always have healthy options available, you’ll save money by not grabbing fast food, and you’ll feel better too.”

FRAN OSTENDORF (fostendorf@jewishallianceri. org) is the editor of Jewish Rhode Island.

Rob’s sausage and peppers One of Castellucci’s favorite recipes:

INGREDIENTS 2 packages turkey/chicken sausage of choice (I always use sweet Italian turkey sausage) 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 2 bags frozen sweet pepper strips, with or without onions (I usually grab the bag with the chopped onions included) Olive oil Generous dash of salt, garlic powder Small dash of pepper, onion powder Small chunked potatoes, optional

DIRECTIONS Chop the turkey sausage into bite-sized pieces. If you want to, brown the sausage in a pan with olive oil, but browning is not necessary. Put everything into a slow cooker.

Cook on high for 3-5 hours or low for 5-7 hours (decrease time by at least an hour if you have browned the sausage first). Enjoy!

Creamy coconut and red lentil curry Recipe from frommybowl.com — Provided by Nikki Long

INGREDIENTS 1 small yellow onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon ginger, finely minced 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped; stems and leaves divided 1 tablespoon salt-free curry powder 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) 1 1/2 cups (309g) dry red lentils 1 13.5 ounce (398 ml) can fullfat coconut milk 2 cups (470 ml) low-sodium vegetable broth + 2 cups water Serving suggestions: cooked basmati or jasmine rice, naan or roti

DIRECTIONS Bring a large saucepan to medium heat and add a splash of vegetable broth or neutral cooking oil. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes Add the garlic, ginger, and chopped cilantro stems to the pan and sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes, then stir in the curry powder and cayenne

pepper, if using, and cook for an additional minute. Rinse the lentils briefly, then add them to the saucepan with the coconut milk and vegetable broth and water, and stir to combine.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 18-20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Stir occasionally to ensure even cooking and flavor distribution. Garnish with the cilantro leaves.

Serve warm with rice, or as desired; leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days or can be frozen for up to one month.

INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS: select the “Sauté” setting on your pressure cooker and follow steps 1-2 as written.

After you add the lentils and liquids, press “Cancel” to stop sautéing, and seal the Instant Pot with the lid. Cook on manual high-pressure for 4 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before covering the vent with a kitchen towel and manually releasing the remaining pressure.

ADD-INS AND VARIATIONS: this recipe is a great “base” for a lot of add-ins, like spicy peppers, carrots, potatoes, spinach, and mustard greens.

I recommend adding the veggies along with the garlic and ginger, and stirring in any fresh greens just before the curry finishes simmering.

Mediterranean bean, quinoa and kale stew Recipe from PKNewby.com (Dr. PK Newby) — Offered by Allie Tetreault

INGREDIENTS 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 yellow onion, chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt 8 ounces chopped cremini mushrooms 2 celery stalks, chopped 2 medium carrots, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 teaspoons dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 cup white wine 1 (14 ounces) can diced tomatoes

4 cups vegetable broth 1/2 cup quinoa 1 (14 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 5 cups torn kale leaves 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 cup parsley

DIRECTIONS Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and salt; heat 6 minutes or until onion is soft and darkened. Add mushrooms, celery, carrots and garlic to pan;

heat 3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, dried thyme, chili flakes and black pepper; heat 30 seconds.

Pour wine in pan, raise heat to medium-high and simmer for 2 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes and quinoa to pan.

Return to a boil, lower heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Stir in beans, kale and red wine vinegar; heat 1 minute. Ladle stew into serving bowls and serve garnished with parsley.

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

JANUARY 2022 | 25

We’re moving to the neighborhood because we care about the neighborhood.

For starters, we’re giving $10,000 to local charities.

We’re giving $10,000 to local charities, so come in, say hi, and vote for your favorite. The top vote getters will receive $5,000, $3,000, and $1,000 respectively. Happy New Year.

Now open in Wayland Square at 457 Angell Street, Providence

26 | JANUARY 2022

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

OBITUARIES Harriet Baron, 98 PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Harriet (Smith) Baron passed away Nov. 18, 2021.

She was the wife of the late Dr. Philip Baron.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, she was the eldest child of the late Sidney and Helen (Rosenbluth) Smith. She was a devoted sister to her younger siblings, Ruthie, Sammy and Jay. Harriet was a graduate of Erasmus Hall High School, Class of 1941.

She met the love of her life, Philip, when she was 16 years old. They were married for 47 years until his sudden passing in 1991. During that time, in addition to rearing three children, they traveled to North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Harriet was a longtime resident of Providence, arriving with her husband, a 4-year-old son and an infant son in 1952. She soon made friends and established herself in the community. An avid reader, she also enjoyed traveling, cooking, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Trinity Repertory Theater and opera.

She was a member of Temple Emanu-El, Hadassah and the Miriam Hospital Women’s

Association.

She is survived by two sons, Dr. Jeffrey F. Baron and his wife Jaqueline of Providence and Dr. Steven H. Baron and his wife Nelia of Newhall, California; one daughter, Dr. Shari Sokol and her husband, Dr. Michael Sokol of Leawood, Kansas; one sister, Ruth Margolies; one brother, Jay Smith; seven grandchildren, Brian Baron, Justin Baron, Alexander Sokol, Felicia Sokol, Amanda Sokol, Veronica Baron and Gabriela Baron; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents Sidney and Helen, her beloved husband Philip, her brother Samuel Smith and her many friends.

Contributions to honor her memory may be made to Hadassah (hadassah.org) or the American Parkinson Disease Association (apdaparkinson.org).

Philip Borish, 94 CHEVY CHASE, MD. – Philip Borish, of Chevy Chase, died on Dec. 18, 2021. He was the husband of Hope Fain Borish for 67 years. Born in New York City, he was the son of the late Michael and Fannye (Miner) Borish. Philip was a WWII and Korean Conflict Navy veteran, serving in the Atlantic theater.

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He was a graduate of Yale, Class of ’49 and was active with his class council. Philip earned a master's degree from Harvard Business School and was a member of the Harvard Business School Club of Greater Washington and the Harvard Club of DC. He was a member of Congregation Beth-El of Montgomery County, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, American Jewish Committee, AIPAC, the Holocaust Museum, Financial Executives International (FEI) and Robin Hood Foundation.

Philip was the father of Marilyn Siegel (Ralph) of Skokie, Illinois, Ellen Goldring (late Shmuel) of Nashville, Tennessee, Peter Borish (Julie) of New York, New York, and twins Anne Borish ( Barbara Auerbach) of Evanston, Illinois and Linda Borish of Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was the brother of the late Muriel Miller and Joyce Jaffe. He was the grandfather of Moshe Siegel (Katie), Micha Siegel (Susie), Noam Siegel (Amy), Ariel Goldring (Lisa), Oren Goldring, Isabel Borish (Zach Grant), Harley Borish, and Eliza Borish. He was the great-grandfather of Annie, Maddie and Jacob Siegel, Sarah and Hannah Siegel, Isla and Henry Siegel, and Mia Goldring.

Contributions may be made to Congregation Beth-El of Montgomery County, Morning Minyan Fund, 8215 Old Georgetown Rd. Bethesda, MD. 20814, https://www. bethelmc.org/give/

Stanley Charren, 97 DEDHAM, MASS. – Stanley Charren, mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, inventor, and wind energy pioneer, died Dec. 31, 2021, of COVID-19.

Stanley was born on June 5, 1924, in Providence to Harry and Gertrude (Katz) Charren.

After high school, Stanley enrolled at Brown University, graduating in 1945 with a degree in mechanical engineering and completing an M.S., in 1946, in mechanical engineering at Harvard University.

In 1958, Stanley co-founded Bytrex Corporation, which merged with Kulite.

Kulite-Bytrex became the first company in the world to make a commercially marketed semiconductor strain gauge with an output almost 100 times larger than conventional gauges.

Stanley next co-founded Pandel-Bradford in Lowell to manufacture synthetic leathers and suedes for shoe uppers, including the white Go-Go boot material worn

by Goldie Hawn on “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.” Pandel-Bradford also developed a vinyl-backed carpet tile for commercial offices, selected by architect I.M. Pei for installation in the first office building in the U.S. to use carpet tiles, which Pei designed.

During the 1970s energy crisis, Stanley became interested in wind energy and played a key role in the development of the modern wind power industry. In 1974, Stanley

and partner, Russell Wolfe, started U.S. Windpower, which became the first major U.S. wind turbine manufacturer, and the largest wind energy firm in the world. U.S. Windpower’s innovation was to build groups of intermediate sized windmills and link them into a single power plant tied to the grid. U.S. Windpower built the world’s first ‘wind farm,’ a term Stanley coined, in 1978.

Stanley was predeceased by his wife, Peggy, and brother, Burton Charren.

He is survived by daughters Deborah Charren (Timothy Diehl) of Northampton and Sandi Moquin (Kyle Moquin) of Feeding Hills; sister-inlaw Barbara Korstvedt of California; grandchildren Hannah (David Pakman) and Zachary Charren-Diehl, Corey (Amanda) and Veronica (Keven Brown) Moquin, Matthew (Amy Quinn) Diehl, and Andrew (Michelle) Diehl; eight great-grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren, four nieces and a nephew.

Stanley Kanter, 77 BARRINGTON, R.I. – Stanley Joel Kanter died on Dec. 29, 2021, at home surrounded by his loving family. He was born on March 1, 1944, in Providence to Herbert and Mae (Kasdan) Kanter.

He attended Boston University where he graduated cum laude with a degree in business administration in 1965. He received a JD from Cornell University in 1968. It was there that he met the love of his life, Madeline, to whom he was married for 54 years.

He worked in real estate law for over 50 years. He received numerous honors, including being named Best Lawyer’s Lawyer of the Year in Real Estate in Providence and was a member of multiple professional organizations.

He was a wonderful and dedicated husband, father and grandfather, a role he cherished more than anything. He will be remembered for his witty sense of humor, gift for storytelling and crazy socks.

He loved to read anything and everything, traveling, and also enjoyed taking glass-blowing classes at RISD. He was actively involved in the Jewish community as well as matters of conservation, serving as director then director emeritus at Grow Smart Rhode Island.

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OBITUARIES He is survived by his wife, Madeline Daub Kanter, his sons and their spouses, David Kanter and Peggy Wu, and Joshua and Sarah Kanter, and two grandchildren Natalie and Gabriel Kanter.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Dr. Stephen Kanter and parents Herbert and Mae Kanter.

Donations can be made to the Thoracic Oncology Research Fund at the Lifespan Cancer Institute, 139 Point St., Providence, RI 02903.

Rachel Marchionne, 66 CRANSTON, R.I. – Rachel Marchionne died Dec. 25, 2021, at Kent Hospital. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, a daughter of the late Meyer and Fibi (Sibony) Azran, she had lived in Rhode Island for 31 years, previously living in New Jersey. Rachel was a graduate of the Community College of Rhode Island.

She was the mother of Filippo Marchionne and his wife, Roberta, of Westerly.

She was the sister of Jeannette Calat and her husband, George, of Providence, Albert Azran of Jerusalem, Israel, Marc Azran of Haifa, Israel, Jackie Azran of Paris, France, and Yvonne Puustinen of Amsterdam, Netherlands. She was the grandmother of Luigi, Luciana and Valentina.

Contributions in her memory may be made to your favorite charity.

Susannah Mellion, 75 EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Susannah Tresette Mellion passed away on Dec. 27, 2021, at her residence, after a long illness. Born in Providence, she was the daughter of the late Frank and Yvette (Shaset) Mellion.

A graduate of the Sawyer Business School in Providence, Susannah made use of her business and marketing skills. At Parts Plus Auto, she introduced and implemented one of the first computer systems within the automotive parts industry. For Frank J. Russo, longtime concert promoter, Susannah served as personal assistant. Throughout the 1980s, she booked, produced and provided logistics for many performances

enjoyed by people throughout southern New England.

Susannah worked behind the scenes with performers ranging from William Earl “Bootsy” Collins to Frank Zappa. Her passion for people and adventure eventually led to market research.

As an independent market research specialist, Susannah was sought after by firms across New England. People still talk about how she convinced the former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell to take a survey.

In retirement, Susannah’s favorite pleasures were family and friends. She often spent summers in Teton Valley and frequently journeyed to Reno, Nevada, and Northern California. Susannah’s joy was sharing her life experiences with friends. Her greatest treasure was her grandchildren Esther and Hannah.

Survivors include her son, Robert Mellion, Esq. and his wife Dr. Michelle Mellion of South Easton, Massachusetts; brother, Dr. Morris Mellion and his wife Irene of Jackson Hole, Wyoming; two granddaughters Esther and Hannah Mellion and niece Rosie Mellion, and nephew Frank Mellion.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 7023, Merrifield, VA 22116-7023

Allen Ross, 80 SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Allen C. Ross passed away on Dec. 9, 2021, at Rhode Island Hospital. He was the husband of Sandra (Meyer) Ross for 56 years. Born in Providence, a son of the late Martin and Sadie (Garber) Ross, he had lived in Smithfield for 22 years, previously living in Pawtucket. He was an independent sales representative for multiple manufacturing companies, retiring over 15 years ago. Allen was a Navy veteran, serving in Cuba.

He was a member of Temple Emanu-El and the Smithfield Elks. Allen enjoyed volunteering at the VA and at the airport.

He was the father of Nancy Bloch (Jeremy) of Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Martin Ross (Sheri Katz Ross) of North Attleboro, Massachusetts. He was the brother of the late Harie Raisman.

He was the grandfather of Samuel, Jameson, Ethan and Jacob. He was the uncle of many nieces and nephews. He was the lifelong

friend of Naomi and Bob Halpert and Ann and Phil Brown.

Contributions may be made to Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence, RI 02906 or the charity of your choice.

Myrna Ross, 89 WARWICK, R.I. – Myrna P. Ross passed away Dec. 8, 2021, at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston.

Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a daughter of the late Alan and Charlotte (Feinstein) Pekow, she recently moved to Boston, previously living in Warwick, Pawtucket and Providence.

She was a graduate of Endicott College and the University of Rhode Island. Myrna was a real estate agent for Statewide Multiple Listings in Warwick for 20 years and was previously an administrative assistant for the American Heart Association in Pawtucket for 10 years.

She was the mother of Philip Ross of Boston, Massachusetts; Evan Ross of Boca Raton, Florida; Laurence Ross of Washington, D.C.; and Elizabeth Ross of Los Angeles, California. She was the grandmother of Spencer, Emma and Lily.

Contributions may be made to Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, 1200 Centre St., Boston, MA 02131.

Vitaly Sorkin, 50 LINCOLN, R.I. – Vitaly M. Sorkin died on Nov. 22, 2021, following a debilitating illness. He was born in 1971 in Gomel, Belarus, to a family of an engineer and a teacher. Early in his childhood, Vitaly developed an interest in mathematics and science as well as intellectual games, becoming a nationally ranked player in international draughts by the age of 15.

Vitaly enrolled in the University of Gomel, majoring in physics. However, after moving to the U.S. with his family in 1990 and settling in Rhode Island, Vitaly chose to pursue the occupation of accountant.

In 1994, he graduated from Bryant College summa cum laude, then passed the twoday CPA exam, achieving the highest score in the nation among 69,000 peers. Vitaly was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Institute of

Certified Public Accountants – the first and only Rhode Islander to achieve this honor since the inception of CPA exam scores in 1923. To commemorate this achievement, the RI Governor proclaimed one of the days in 1995 a Vitaly Sorkin Day in the state.

For almost two decades, Vitaly worked for KPMG Peat Marwick and then Iron Mountain. In 2013, however, he opted to leave the accounting profession and follow his passion for math and teaching.

Vitaly opened the Squared School Academy of Mathematics, a very popular and successful school on the East Side of Providence, where, in addition to supervising all the school operations, he developed curriculum and taught gifted K-12 children.

Vitaly will be dearly missed by his parents, Mark and Inna, his brother Gary and daughter Emily as well as his extended family, friends, colleagues and students.

Lawrence Wacks, 72 CRANSTON, R.I. – Lawrence “Larry” D. Wacks passed away Jan. 1 at home. He was the husband of Joyce (Grueneberg) Wacks for 36 years. Born in Bronx, New York, a son of the late Moe and Rosalyn (Kaplan) Wacks, he was a longtime resident of Rhode Island, most recently residing in Cranston.

Larry attended the University of Hartford. He was a salesman for the former CJ Fox in Providence, retiring in 2018. Larry was a member of Temple Emanu-El and enjoyed bowling, volunteer-

ing as a basketball coach for various junior high school and high school and leagues.

He was also a fan of watching and discussing all things football and basketball.

He was the father of Jill Weintraub (Benjamin) of Brookline, Massachusetts, and Marlene Schlesinger (Joseph) of Needham, Massachusetts. Larry had three grandchildren, Nathan Weintraub and Evan and Sophie Schlesinger, who brought a big smile to his face and brought joy to his life. He was the brother of Helene Rodway.

He was the uncle of Michael and Marc Rodway and Daniel Seltzer.

Contributions may be made to American Parkinson Disease Association, P.O. Box 41659, Providence, RI 02940 or Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

Joyce Woll, 75 CRANSTON, R.I. – Joyce A. Woll died Dec. 24, 2021, at Rhode Island Hospital. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Harry and Pearl (Silverman) Sandler, she had lived in Cranston for 55 years, previously living in Providence.

She was the mother of Renee Stanley and her husband, Robert, of Cranston.

She was the sister of the late Norman Sandler. She was the grandmother of Jacob.

Joyce was always happy and smiling and loved by all who knew her.

Contributions may be made to the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

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