February 2023

Yes, ‘Fran was at camp’ – with no regrets

THERE’S A JOKE in my family.

Whenever something happens that I can’t remember or wasn’t a participant in, I must have been at camp.

Bad stuff happened?

Couldn’t have been Fran’s fault. She was at camp.

That family road trip to Florida and the newly opened Disney World that Fran doesn’t remember? She must have been at camp.

And wasn’t that a really fun trip to Martha’s Vineyard the year the film “Jaws” came out? Fran doesn’t remember the beach? She must have been at camp.

Baby brother got hit with a brick in the backyard. The culprit couldn’t have been Fran. She was at camp.

Why the good-natured teasing? Because I went to sleepaway camp for much of each summer. My sister and brother are much younger, so they were at home when I was at camp.

Were they jealous of my experience? That’s a complicated question. Did they try to make me feel like I missed out? Also complicated.

I used to feel left out. Now, not so much – whatever I missed at home was overshadowed by the experience of those days and nights in the Maine woods.

For me, camp was a transformative experience. A summer spent with girls from all over the country. A chance to play sports, even if I didn’t play very well (and I didn’t). An opportunity to hike and explore the outdoors. Room for creative arts and drama.

Even if I didn’t appreciate it at the time, it was a pretty remarkable experience for a small timid kid from the suburbs.

And then there was the start of my lifelong career – a stint as co-editor of the camp newspaper led me to where I am today.

After my summers in Maine, I attended URJ Camp Kutz, in Warwick, New York.

The summer Leadership Institute at the Reform movement’s camp, which closed after the summer of 2019, was an amazing experience for those of us active in the National Federation of Temple Youth. And again, in a roundabout way, that contributed to my future career choice here at Jewish Rhode Island. (Don’t miss reading about Rabbi Andrew Klein’s experience at Camp Kutz, on Page 5.)

My point here is that camp, in whatever form you might choose, from a few days a week for a young child to a longer, overnight stint for a preteen or teen, does make a difference. And it’s not just the memories. You learn to get along with others. You get an opportunity to try new things. You get a break from your parents and caregivers (and they from you). You find activities where you excel. You start on the road to self-sufficiency and self-confidence.

In my case, I didn’t attend Jewish camp until my teens.

But since this column is in a Jewish newspaper, I’m going to give you a few facts about attending Jewish camp. These are according to research by One Happy Camper, a program from the Foundation for Jewish Camp that targets first-time campers and their families. OHC offers incentive grants so that more children can experience camp.

According to OHC’s research: 96% of parents agree that Jewish camp makes their child proud to be Jewish; 87% of OHC campers return to camp for a second summer; 95% of Jewish camp families are likely to recommend their Jewish camp; and 79% said OHC positively affected their family’s connection to the overall Jewish community.

Also, according to a Camp Works study adults who went to Jewish camp as kids are 37% more likely to light candles regularly for Shabbat, 55% more likely to feel very emotionally attached to Israel and 45% more likely to attend synagogue at least once a month.

If you haven’t thought about the benefits of summer camp for your children, maybe you should. There are plenty of nearby camps; some are advertising in this issue of Jewish Rhode Island. And if you are looking for a camp for your child or grandchild, the Foundation for Jewish Camps has a camp finder to help, at https://jewishcamp. org/one-happy-camper/finda-camp.

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

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.

EDITOR F ran Ostendorf

DESIGN & LAYOUT Alex Foster

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CONTRIBUTORS Cynthia Benjamin, Sarah Greenleaf, Robert Isenberg, Emma Newbery

COLUMNISTS Michael Fink, George M. Goodwin, Larry Kessler, Patricia Raskin, Rabbi James Rosenberg, Daniel Stieglitz

VOLUME XXX, ISSUE II

JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

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

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ON THE COVER : Logan Reitman and Spencer Hernandez kayak on Worden's Pond at Camp JORI in Wakefield during Summer 2022.

PHOTO BY GLENN OSMUNDSON.

UP FRONT

R.I.’s shaliach is making connections throughout the Jewish diaspora

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

At age 23, Elihay Skital already has a wide range of interests. He loves to sing. He loves working with kids. He is fluent in Hebrew and English, and he’s learning Spanish. He loves to cook – give him any excuse, and he’ll fry up bimuelos (fritters), with a side of sour cream.

THIS IS ONE REASON Skital has embraced his new role as Rhode Island’s shaliach, or emissary, from Israel: There are so many opportunities to use his dazzling array of skills.

“I feel that at the Jewish Alliance, I bring my ideas, and people listen to me,” Skital said during a recent interview. “People act [like I am] an adult. People act [like I am] someone who actually wants to bring something to the table, and we can do some amazing stuff together.”

Skital grew up in the Israeli seaside city of Ash-

kelon. His father was an elementary school vice principal before retiring and his mother still works as an accountant for a manufacturer of automotive parts.

Starting in middle school, Skital volunteered to work with children. He was an active member of his local youth council, which was designed to boost both child development and national identity.

“This started my interest in working with kids and teenagers,” Skital recalled.

Growing up in a musical family, Skital was naturally

drawn to singing. In ninth grade, he seized the chance to visit New York City with the international teen choir HaZamir. This was Skital’s first visit to the United States. He met scores of teenaged singers from HaZamir chapters across the U.S., which bolstered his interest in the country and the Jewish diaspora.

“I met these Americans that I knew nothing about,” Skital recalled. “And they didn’t know a lot about Israel. I realized how it’s so important to have these connections. It’s so important to build and strengthen this connection. So, I decided to come back again and again, for four years.”

Skital is cheerful and sociable, and it’s easy to imagine him singing bass in a choir or leading art projects for children. But Skital has a serious side; the good humor can quickly vanish from his face, replaced by sharp focus. This ability

was an asset in the Israeli military, where he served as a “psychotechnics officer.” Skital interviewed new recruits, helping to determine whether they were suited for combat training.

Following his discharge, he spent six months backpacking through Latin America.

Skital has packed a great deal of life experience into his 23 years. So far, he has stayed in the United States 10 different times, usually serving as a shaliach

The shlichim program, organized by the Jewish Agency for Israel, connects young emissaries with organizations in the United States. Skital is one of between 1,500 and 1,750 shlichim currently working in the U.S., selected from more than 10,000 applicants. Before coming to Rhode Island, his most recent posting was at Camp Havaya, in eastern Pennsylvania, one of many counselor positions

that Skital has filled.

After his stint in the Poconos, Skital began his Rhode Island ambassadorship in earnest, in the fall of 2022. He will serve as the state’s shaliach until late 2024.

“I had never been to Rhode Island before,” Skital said with a laugh. “I didn’t know Rhode Island was a state until I came here. But I’m so glad that I came to this community. I feel that I say that all the time to every person that I meet. I feel this community here is just so welcoming, which is so, so important to me.”

Skital has quickly fallen into the breakneck rhythm of his new work. Each day takes him somewhere new: to a Sunday School to cook traditional dishes, to a Hillel to talk about Israeli life and culture, to a synagogue to sing. In December, he helped Israeli designer Liraz Cohen produce a fashion show at

PHOTO | ROBERT ISENBERG

Elihay Skital

Finding my spiritual home at Jewish camp

June 1967

Dear Mom and Dad, Camp is FABULOUS! Actually, my amazing journey started before I even got here.

The plane from San Antonio made a stop in New Orleans and blew a tire while landing. The whole plane shook and wobbled; people screamed. It was super exciting. Since I had never flown on a plane before, I was calm; I just thought it was a normal landing.

Then there was the cab ride from JFK to Port Authority. Such big buildings, and so much traffic. The meter read $6.90; I followed your directions for the driver’s tip. I raised the amount to the next dollar. When I gave the cab driver $7.00 and told him to keep the change, he threw a dime at me, said words I can’t repeat, and then sped off.

The bus to Warwick, NY, took me through beautiful rolling hills filled with tall green trees; there were clear brooks running by the side of the road all along the way. In just a couple of hours we arrived, and I saw the big painted sign, UAHC [Union of American Hebrew Congregations] Kutz Camp. I am attending this summer’s first session of the Reform Movement’s Leadership Institute to train kids like me how to take leadership roles in the Jewish community. Honestly, this whole adventure takes my breath away!

The camp is rustic, just as

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

I had imagined it would be. OY! There’s no air-conditioning. Can you imagine? There are eight guys in my bunk, and they all seem really nice.

That’s all for now; I’ll write more when I have time.

A whole week has passed. The theme for this Institute is “Tear Down the Walls.”

Through different programs and inner explorations, I have begun to tear down many walls and open new doors.

I have been introduced to the idea of serious Jewish study, and I am surrounded by people who share my values and cultural history. The community is so welcoming and accepting; I feel completely free to express myself about everything.

As you know, ten days before camp began, the Six Day War had just ended. The level of Jewish pride and excitement is palpable; it can be felt in everything we do. Some nights we sing and dance in front of the fireplace in the main living room; the positive energy is contagious, even when I’m tired and cranky. The counselors want each of us to develop our own unique Jewish identity and figure out what kind of Jewish leaders we want to become.

In the teyatron, the covered pavilion that extends out over the lake, we worship, study, think, create, and connect with Jewish teens

the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence. Come June, Skital will become a leading mentor at Camp JORI, in Wakefield.

“I feel like every day is very, very different,” he said. “I don’t know what my days are, the day before. My schedule has never been this busy. I love that, because I’m working on stuff that I really like to do.”

Skital is also a fountain of original ideas. One of his specialties is “camp dancing,” a kind of aerobics session set to Israeli pop music. What began as a one-off here and there has become a pilot class at the Dwares JCC fitness center, where students bob, kick and punch to a driving Mediterranean beat.

Skital also teaches advanced Hebrew to students who want

from across the country. The power of worshipping outdoors helps me feel connected to God in a way I have never known before. On Shabbat, we all dress in white, and our prayers aren’t filled with all the stuffy Thee’s, Thy’s, and Thou’s from our Union Prayer Book at home. Services here are really FUN, and worship is so meaningful.

I am meeting so many young rabbis; who knew that rabbis can be young? One of my favorite rabbis on staff is a guy named Larry Kushner. Actually, he’s not a rabbi yet; he’s currently a rabbinical student at HUC [Hebrew Union College]. Another one of my favorite staff members is Rabbi Lenny Kravitz. He’s really smart. I can’t understand a lot of what he says, but I can tell it’s important.

SAFTY (San Antonio Federation of Temple Youth) is great, and so are all my regional TOFTY (Texas Oklahoma Federation of Temple Youth) events, but now I’ve experienced what it’s like to be a NFTY kid (National Federation of Temple Youth). I am loving every minute here.

I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am to Aunt Jane (my SAFTY advisor), Mr. Bendiner (my Religious School Director), and Temple Beth-El’s Sisterhood for awarding me this scholarship to Kutz Camp. I’m also grateful to both of you for encouraging me to attend Kutz Camp. Thank you.

Oh, and by the way, one more thing. I have decided

to brush up on their language skills. And after so many culinary demonstrations, Skital hopes to put together an actual cooking class for the community.

“Every place where I go,” Skital said, “I feel that people want to come, people want to learn, people want to meet with me and ask me questions about Israel, ask me questions about my family, and my history and my heritage. All of that is important to me, because that is what I came for.”

Listen to Skital talk about his experiences in Rhode Island and watch him in action at jewishrhody.org.

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

that I want to go to rabbinical school and become a rabbi! I think that I have a lot to offer the Jewish people; being a rabbi will be a perfect fit for me.

I’ll be seeing you very soon.

Lotsa love, Andy

MY INSTINCTS all those years ago, as a 15-year-old, was spot on; I did indeed become a rabbi. But it took a while. When I realized that I was gay, in the early ’70s, I also realized that the rabbinate was off limits to me. It was not until 1991 that HUC began to accept openly gay and lesbian students. I began my five-year rabbinical school program in 1996, spending my first year in Israel and the next four years at HUC’s New York campus, where I studied Kabbalah with Rabbi Larry Kushner and Jewish Medieval Philosophy with Rabbi Lenny Kravitz. Yes – the very same staff members who had inspired me at Kutz

Reform Judaism (URJ), said at the time, “For 54 years, Kutz has been the laboratory of Reform Judaism. Generations of teen leaders came to Warwick, New York, to experiment with religious practice, write the music that inspires us today, and learn to act justly and to lead our communities.”

For so many of us young, seeking Jews, it was our first spiritual home. My summer at Kutz Camp truly changed my life forever.

ANDREW F. KLEIN is a rabbi emeritus at Temple Habonim, in Barrington. You can reach him at rabbiklein@ templehabonim.org.

Candle lighting times

February 2023

Greater Rhode Island

Feb. 3 4:43pm

Camp 30 years earlier. I was ordained in the spring of 2001.

Kutz Camp closed in 2019. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for

SIMCHAS

MAZAL TOV - Judith and Barry Rubenstein of Coventry announce the engagement of their daughter Sarah to Adam Aroesty, son of Adam Cohen and the late Hannah Aroesty of Newton, Massachusetts.

A graduate of Coventry High School, Sarah received a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design from Lesley University College of Art and Design. She is the co-founder of Artsnacks, an online art supply store and subscription service.

Adam, a graduate of the Maimonides School, received a bachelor of science degree in communication in 2009 at Boston University. He is a real estate professional in Boston/Brookline/ Newton.

The couple celebrated their engagement in Newburyport, Massachusetts, with their cocker spaniel, Michael “Jackson” Pollock, and plan to wed in 2024.

Feb. 10 4:52pm

Feb. 17 5:01pm

Feb. 24 5:10pm

RABBI ANDREW KLEIN

‘For so many of us young, seeking Jews, it was our first spiritual home.’

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. No Café 2/20. In-person and Zoom programming from 11 a.m.-noon followed by lunch and guest speaker or discussion noon-1 p.m. The second Tuesday of the month is “Susie’s Corner” with Susie Adler. The third Thursday of the month is a book chat with Neal Drobnis. Suggested donation: $3 per lunch age 60 and older as well as younger adults with a disability. Others may purchase a meal for $6.50. The Kosher Senior Café is a program of Jewish Collaborative Services and is supported by the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI and Blackstone Health. Information and RSVP, Neal Drobnis at neal@jfsri.org or Elaine at elaine@jfsri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 107.

Temple Torat Yisrael Jewish Literacy and Culture. Sundays

10:30-11:15 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Taught by Rabbi David Barnett. Based on the idea that there are a certain number of informational items necessary for functional and cultural literacy, Joseph Telushkin put together a curriculum to apply this approach to the Jewish world. Individual class sessions will be distinct. Information and RSVP, deanna@ toratyisrael.org.

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

Let’s Talk Hebrew Winter Session. Mondays and Tuesdays. Mondays thru 2/20; Tuesdays thru 2/7. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Three levels offered

in person at Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence; other levels offered virtually. Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail. com.

Project Shoresh: For Young Professionals – A Walk through Torah. Tuesdays 7-8 p.m. 132 Lancaster St., Providence. Explore the Five Books of Moses with Rabbi Chaim Yehuda and Mrs. Guta Shaps. RSVP (requested) or information, text or call Rabbi Shaps at 732-822-0028.

Temple Habonim “The Wisdom’s Literature.” Wednesdays 11 a.m.noon. Study the texts found in the Writings, the final section of the Hebrew Bible. These texts offer perspectives on our relationship with God and the meaning and purpose of our lives. Via Zoom. Information, Adina Davies at office@ templehabonim.org or 401-2456536.

Temple Sinai “Big Issues of Our Time.” Fourth Wednesday of each month 7-8 p.m. Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser leads this adult education course on Zoom. Each class will tackle an issue in society and probe Jewish perspectives and impact on the Jewish community. Zoom link found on templesinairi.org.

Temple Habonim Lunch and Learn. Thursdays noon-1:15 p.m. 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. Join Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman in person for weekly Torah Study on Pirke Avot: A Modern Commentary on Jewish Ethics. Free. Information, Adina Davies at office@templehabonim.org or 401-245-6536.

Temple Sinai “Talking about G-d.” Thursdays thru 2/16. 7-8 p.m.

Four-week adult education course taught by Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser. Judaism has allowed many different ways of understanding G-d to flourish, creating a Jewish notion of divinity that allows us to see G-d simultaneously in contradictory ways. Via Zoom. Information, dottie@templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Delve Deeper: Adam & Eve in the Jewish Tradition. Thursdays 7:30-9:30 p.m. thru 3/23. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Taught by Michael Satlow, Ph.D., Brown University Professor of Religious Studies and Judaic Studies, this course will focus on how Jews and Christians have interpreted this story. Presented in cooperation with the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI and area synagogues including Congregation Beth Sholom, Temple Beth-El, Temple Emanu-El, Temple Habonim, Temple Sinai and Temple Torat Yisrael. Information, Morty Miller at

mortymiller1945@gmail.com.

Project Shoresh presents “Jew in 2022: Exploring a Meaningful Life” with Rabbi Eli Kasirer.

Thursdays 8-9 p.m. Providence

Hebrew Day School, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Rabbi Moshe Don Kestenbaum’s book “Olam Ha’avodah – A guide to understanding and achieving our purpose in this world” will be the basis for discussions. To confirm time and place for each class, Naftali Karp at naftalikarp@gmail.com or 401-6323165.

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.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Evening Service. 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.

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 website, Facebook, Cape Media, YouTube and Community Television Comcast channel 99. Services are in person with proof of vaccination; masks optional. Information, 508775-2988 or capecodsynagogue. org.

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

Temple Beth-El Torah Study. Saturdays except second Saturday of the month 9-10:30 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Delve into the weekly portion with Rabbi Sarah Mack and Rabbi Preston Neimeiser. In person only. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Temple Torat Yisrael Shabbat Services. Saturdays 9:30-10:30 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Green-

wich. Both virtual and in person. Led by Rabbi David Barnett. Information, 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 at 10 a.m. with Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser or others in our community. Zoom link at templesinairi.org. Information, dottie@templesinairi.org or 401942-8350.

Temple Habonim Torah Study. Saturdays (no Torah Study when there is a Bar or Bat Mitzvah) 10-11 a.m. Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman leads weekly Torah study on current portion. Via Zoom. Information, Adina Davies at office@templehabonim.org or 401-245-6536.

Cape Cod Synagogue Shabbat Services. Saturdays 10:30 a.m. 145 Winter St., Hyannis, Mass. With Rabbi David Freelund. In-person and livestreamed on website, Facebook and YouTube. Services are in-person with proof of vaccination; masks optional. 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). 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Information, templesinairi.org or Dottie at 401-942-8350.

Friday | February 3

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. Led by Rabbi David Barnett. Information and Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Tu B’Shevat Seder. 6-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Celebrate the “birthday of the trees” at this integrated meal and service led by clergy and students. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100

Sunday | February 5

Temple Habonim’s Shoreshim Roots Pre-K Program: Tu B’Shevat. 10:15-11:15 a.m. 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. Introduce your child to the sounds, sights and traditions of Judaism with a focus on Jewish holidays. An adult must stay with child. Led by Temple Habonim’s Educational Director David Perolman. Information and registration, Adina at office@templehabonim.org or David at eddirector@templehabonim.org.

Temple Torat Yisrael Kids Tu B’Shevat Seder. Noon-1:30 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Parent-led seder with traditional fruits and nuts. Pizza will also be served. Information, Temple@ toratyisrael.org.

PJ Library/J-Camp/Camp JORI Winter Party. 1-3 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Games, crafts, snacks and more as you mingle with new and old camp and PJ Library friends. Learn more about RI’s only Jewish day and overnight camps. Free. Information and RSVP, Lyndsey Ursillo at lursillo@jewishallianceri. org or Kara Liberman at kara@ campjori.com.

Temple Emanu-El’s TEQ Presents: Movie and Discussion. 2-4 p.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence. Watch the Israeli film “Out in the Dark” with Temple Emanu-El’s newest affinity group, TEQ (LGBTQ+). Discussion follows. The movie is in Hebrew with English subtitles. Free. Information, Shoshana Jacob at shosh@ teprov.org or 401-331-1616.

Core Connects RI Poetry Night in Honor of Tu B’Shevat. 5 p.m. Share a poem that you have written or that you love on the theme of trees and the environment. Via Zoom. Information, Elissa Felder at CoreConnectsRI@gmail.com.

Project Shoresh Ladies Presents Tu B’Shevat Culinary Event. 7:30 p.m. Cook some delicious Tu B’Shevat delicacies. For women and girls in 4th grade and up. $5. Information (including location), Avigayil Rauch at avigayilps@gmail.com.

Monday | February 6

Israeli Culture Series presents: Who are We, the “Non-Jewish” Communities in Israel? 7 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. The Jewish Agency for Israel’s first Druze emissary to the United States and the first Druze woman to get elected to the Knesset, Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh will discuss minorities in Israel. Free. Co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel to New England and by the Jewish Agency for Israel. Information or RSVP, Elihay Skital at eskital@jewishalliancri.org.

Tuesday | February 7

A Jewish Response to Climate Change. 6:30-8 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Community discussion on building Jewish community guided by shared values of a sustainable future. With Jakir Manela and Rachel Siegal, of Hazon, and the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI. Chaired by Mitzi Berkelhammer. Free. Open to all. RSVP, events.idonate.com/climatechange. Information, Emma Newbery at enewbery@ jewishallianceri.org.

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Thursday | February 9

Touro Synagogue Foundation: “Picturing Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews in 17th & 18th Century Amsterdam.” 6-7 p.m. Distinguished Professor of Art History at Cleveland State University Dr. Samantha Baskind will present the work of Rembrandt, Bernard Picart and other artists who drew and painted the Jewish residents of Amsterdam. Free. Via Zoom. Information, Meryle Cawley at meryle@tourosynagogue.org or 401-847-4794, ext. 207.

Temple Torat Yisrael Men’s Club Lox-Making. 6 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Make your own cured salmon using salt, sugar and lemon. Salmon will be left to cure overnight and then drained, dried and sliced to be ready to eat at the Men’s Club breakfast on Sunday. Information, Lary at 401524-1356.

Friday | February 10

Temple Beth-El K’tantan with PJ Library. 5:30-7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Worship service and dinner designed for families with very young children. In partnership with PJ Library. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Temple Torat Yisrael Youth Shabbat Service and Potluck Dairy Dinner. 5:30-7:30 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Family-led service followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. For families with children of Hebrew-school age. Information and to RSVP for food planning purposes, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Service. 5:45-6:30 p.m. Led by Rabbi David Barnett. Information and Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Emanu-El Shabbat Chai. 6-8 p.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence. Musical Shabbat service followed by dinner. Information, Shoshana Jacob at shosh@teprov.org or 401331-1616.

Temple Beth-El Scout Shabbat Service. 7-8:30 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Special ser -

vice celebrating scouts. Attend in uniform. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | February 11

Kids’ Night Out – Tropical Paradise. 6-10 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Kids have fun while parents have the night off. Activities include gym games/sports, art, board games, free play and a movie. Dinner and popcorn included. Cost: $40 members | $50 nonmembers. Siblings: $20 members | $25 nonmembers. Information and registration (required), Jimmy Rawl at jrawl@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-4214111, ext. 140.

Sunday | February 12

Temple Emanu-El Brotherhood

Worldwide Wrap and Breakfast.

8:30 a.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence. Join Temple Emanu-El’s Brotherhood for a worldwide program of putting on Tefilin and davening together as a community followed by breakfast. Information, Shoshana Jacob at shosh@teprov. org or 401-331-1616.

Temple Torat Yisrael Men’s Club

Breakfast and Worldwide Wrap.

9 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Club provides bagels, cream cheese, onions, tomatoes, home fries, eggs (frittatas, omelets, etc.) and coffee. You buy the lox, if desired. Will incorporate Worldwide Wrap of Tefilin and davening together. Members: free | Others: $10. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Congregation Beth David Story

Time and Crafts with PJ Library.

9:45-10:30 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. In partnership with PJ Library. Information, Amanda Stevens at greenspan. amanda@gmail.com.

Fighting Fear with Kindness. 2 p.m. Learn about an Israeli organization that drives Palestinians to medical care in Israel. Via Zoom.

Sponsored by the Jewish Alliance. Information, Elihay Skital at eskital@

jewishallianceri.org.

Wednesday | February 15

Temple Torat Yisrael Men’s Club Game Night with Fish Dinner. 6-9 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Play table tennis, and enjoy a Black Sea bass fish dinner. Accompaniments include green beans, rice and coleslaw. $20 per person. RSVP, Lary Norin at 401-524-1356 for food planning purposes.

Hadassah RI Presents “Let's Talk.” 7 p.m. Current topic is Rising Antisemitism. Everyone welcome to participate in this monthly series of virtual discussions. Free. You do not have to be a member of our chapter or Hadassah. Information or RSVP, chapri@Hadassah.org.

Friday | February 17

Temple Torat Yisrael Friday Night Live. 6 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Musical service led by Rabbi David Barnett with the help of the TTY band. Service will also be livestreamed. Dinner to follow at 7 p.m. Adults (full chicken meal): $24.95 | Kids (chicken nuggets): $12. Free. Information and RSVP (by noon 2/15), Temple office at 401-885-6600 or Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Hallelu Shabbat Service. 6:30-8:30 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Hors d’oeuvres followed by musical service featuring Temple Beth-El musicians and a short D’var Torah. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Wednesday | February 22

Behind the Book: “Diary of a Black Jewish Messiah: The Sixteenth-Century Journey of David Reubeni through Africa, the Middle East, and Europe” with author Alan Verskin. 7 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. In 1524, David Reubeni claimed to be the ambassador of a powerful Jewish kingdom in the heart of Arabia. Free. Information, Larry Katz at lkatz@jewishallianceri.org.

Friday | February 24

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Service. 5:45-6:30 p.m. Led by Rabbi David Barnett. Information and Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Saturday | February 25

Congregation Beth Sholom Annual Gala Celebration. 7:30-10 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Honors Will and Aliza Krieger, and Fred Adler, and pays tribute to outgoing office manager Jessica Berndt. Tickets: $80. Sponsorships available. Information, bethsholom-ri.org or office@ bethsholom-ri.org.

Sunday | February 26

Day-at-the-J. 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Activities will include bounce house, Israeli films, video game tournament, free play open gym, group exercise classes and family swim. Free. In addition, Spina-Thon fundraiser. For all ages. Hosted by the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI. Information, Michelle Cicchitelli at mcicchitelli@jewishallianceri.org.

Temple Torat Yisrael Sisterhood Book Review. 9:30-10:30 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Discussion of “Once We Were Brothers” by Ronald Balson. Light refreshments and hot beverages will be served. Information, ttysisterhood@gmail.com.

COMMUNITY VOICES

My Pakistani Muslim friend was right

So when did I become a bibliophile? Long before I learned the meaning of that word!

T hough always curious, I’m certain that my evolution as a reader had nothing to do with a little monkey who stole my name.

I IMAGINE THAT my lifelong enjoyment of stories has had something to do with religious school, or “Sunday School,” as we called it. My twin brother, Teddy, and I began our studies there in kindergarten. In the first scrapbook that our mother compiled, some drawings show our fascination with biblical heroes.

I remember both our grandmothers reading stories to Teddy and me, and later to our younger sister, Betty. A great-aunt and a great-uncle, with out children of their own, taught us the pleasure of browsing in bookstores.

I think, however, that Mom and Dad were somewhat less flexible or adventurous. Yet, in addition to practicing our musical instruments and taking painting lessons, we were always expected to be reading – not only for school assignments, but for

our own enjoyment. This frequently included the Los Angeles Times, Sunday’s New York Times and such magazines as Life, Look and Holiday.

Needless to say, time spent watching our clunky black-and-white TV, located in “the study,” was considered a distraction or a waste of time.

In elementary school, while much enjoying biographies, I became smitten with mysteries. But I also remember that my sixth-grade teacher, Miss Kivel, reprimanded me for reading Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason novels. It seemed to me more than a goofy pastime, however, because all we knew about Dad’s law practice was that he worked long hours, wore nice clothes and carried a heavy briefcase. (Indeed, by the second grade of Sunday School, Theo and I, dressed

as miniature lawyers, schlepped our own leather briefcases!)

Dad belonged to the Book-of-the-Month Club, and I have saved a few of these volumes (along with other relatives’ high school and college yearbooks). But the oldest book of my own, which occupies a place of honor in my collection, was an introduction to art.

Thomas Craven’s “Rainbow Book of Art,” published in 1956, included a photo of Eric Mendelsohn’s design of B’nai Amoona Temple, in St. Louis, which I visited a half-century later.

Craven’s book was prophetic, for I majored in art history and earned graduate degrees. Indeed, in 1987, I organized the only American celebration of Mendelsohn’s centenary, at his Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul, Minnesota, where Betsey and I were members.

I taught art and architectural history for several years, but I have never ceased teaching myself, especially through travel. In addition to works of art, our home in Providence is overflowing with beautiful books. Betsey and I are contemplating the construction of an additional room, which would be used primarily as – what else? – a library.

As readers of Jewish Rhode Island may already

know, my book collection includes more than 100 photo albums. They form far more than a documentary record: the images of people, places, things and events often reveal what I treasure.

I still harbor a deep love of fiction. It surely accelerated in junior high school, when I was introduced to, among others, Conan Doyle, Dickens, Hemingway and Steinbeck. And my embrace of fiction gained further momentum in high school; in addition to my U.S. history and art history textbooks, I still own the thousand-page anthology, “Man and His Measure,” that was assigned reading in 11th grade.

I regret, however, that none of my teachers ever acknowledged, let alone proclaimed, that literature wasn’t all from the past. Indeed, the future will inevitably bring forth new generations of masters. And some of these writers might even be Jews, as well as authors who write in many languages.

Did I ever think of myself as an author? No, not even in 1975, after completing my dissertation. But I did become responsible for the creation of about two-dozen volumes. These were edited and bound transcripts of lengthy interviews that I conducted with artists, art collectors and museums officials for UCLA’s Oral History Program. In some sense, perhaps, these manuscripts were “talking” books.

Nearly a decade after completing my doctorate, while enrolled at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, I wrote a master’s thesis, partially based on interviews, that was as lengthy and perhaps more accomplished than my dissertation. HUC’s Henry-Francis Library also astonished me.

Over the past eight years, feeling perhaps that I could help gather and protect similar treasures, I have chaired Temple Beth-El’s library committee. The Providence temple’s Braude Library is one of the best congregational libraries in New England, and probably beyond. Accordingly, Betsey and I were proud

to establish a book fund to benefit future generations of readers, on the assumption that books and bibliophiles will never disappear.

In other ways, the Ocean State has enriched and facilitated my love of reading and, to a lesser extent, my enjoyment of writing. I have written for some local and national academic journals, and a few articles for The Encyclopedia Judaica, but in 2003, while president of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association, I hatched an idea that led to the publication of an anthology, “The Jews of Rhode Island” (University Press of New England and Brandeis University Press, 2004).

After serving as its co-editor, I was asked to edit RIJHA’s annual journal, Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes, upon which the anthology was based.

Though I initially felt unqualified to assume such a leadership role, I recently completed my 19th annual issue of Notes, or more than 4,000 pages of texts and photos. Thanks to so many writers and supporters, there is no other state in New England – and few in the entire country – where so much has been published about its Jewish history.

Over the past eight years, while Fran Ostendorf has been the editor, I have also been pleased to write about 50 articles for Jewish Rhode Island. Readers beware, for I am now looking forward to writing more frequently.

While studying at HUC, I was required to earn another master’s degree, at the neighboring University of Southern California. I remain astonished by what a fellow graduate student once said to me. This Pakistani Muslim, who became a friend, told me, “You Jews are the People of the Book.” Amazingly, I had never heard such an utterance. But through my small and continuing efforts, I hope to honor and help fulfill such a bibliographic mandate and accolade.

GEORGE M. GOODWIN , of Providence, has edited Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes for 19 years.

The treasures of my home, cellar to attic

We Rhode Islanders revere the reverie of piracy. The dream of adventure and romance on the high seas, with a focus on the concept of buried treasure chests just beneath the sandbars at our nearest beach.

WELL, MY LAST AND YOUNGEST uncle, at the age of 16, transformed the cellar of my then-brand-new house into a den of such thieves and villains. He depicted on the basement walls an image of me (or maybe either of my older brothers) reading “Treasure Island,” with my head resting against the big oak tree that is still standing there despite the cobblestones, and falling asleep as the book slips into dreamland.

The rest of the dungeon is depicted through images, or a Purim play, with Haman villains and a Mordecai mentor and a lovely siren Esther, like a movie version starring a glamorous star. In

grown-up artist, as well as a soldier in World War II. He was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, and, like many a veteran, hobbled on crutches as he recovered, more or less, from the scars. He sought solace in his studio. This uncle graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design on the GI bill, and brought me, his young nephew, there some six decades ago and more.

I have inher ited those illustrations on the base ment walls of what is now, and has long been, my own residence. And now, it is my time to reclaim that pirate realm in what I call my “id.”

and converse as intelligently as possible. But below stairs, where the coal bin, the oil tank, shoot their raw energy upward to furnish the family with its basic needs, that is like your id.

Now, the time has come for me, as it does for most of us, to dismantle my office, my workplace, and I must either toss out my treasures or find a room to store my past, my souvenirs, the tools of my trade.

So I have spent some serious time carting and hauling books, papers, keepsakes, small gifts left by models, disciples, guests and visitors, and endeavoring to find a shelf or a nook or cranny where I can more or less keep these tokens safe and secure.

I acknowledge that wives do not welcome their husbands’ habits of bringing

have had to sneak my stuff down those steep steps only on days when my wife is not at home. (But, of course, she is wise to my efforts and my evasions.)

Anyway, to me, this has been a genuine challenge: how to be neat, not overly obsessive, and discreet throughout this adventure. Growing up, we had a secret “pantry,” where my mother used to keep jars full of the jellies and preserves she concocted from apples or cucumbers, such treasures as might please her three finicky sons. It turned out that this space was perfect for me to stack books, papers and mementos of one kind or another.

It is the metaphor, the poetry of this adventure, that has taken up my time. Pirates are independent souls, good or bad, roman-

cheekbones, hands pointing in judgment.

I may keep the compliments from my students, or a dissatisfied disciple, for balance, and in fact I have been known to declare in class, “You need a teacher who looks down on your work, and also another one who admires and encourages you, both!”

So there, for now, I will leave it, and hope that a photography major can snap a few shots to illustrate, amuse and connect the boyhood of a nephew and the adult adventures of a professor emeritus in the month that recalls the fantasy of Purim, with its good guys plus a lovely and heroic lady and dreadful demons who get what they deserve. How come Jewish kids enjoy dressing up as the bad guy?

my uncle’s version, a pirate points a pistol, setting fire to another ship, or counts contraband coins.

This extensive mural was written up in the Providence Journal, and I have saved it, lo, these many decades, loyally and fondly.

This uncle, Herbert L. Fink, became a successful

An undergrad professor of mine compared the concept of the human personality to a house. Your superego is the attic, where you keep tokens of your family’s past, such souvenirs as suit the pride of your clan. The parlor is your ego, where, by the hearth, you receive guests

MIKE FINK

IntentionalDiscovery.com contact@intentionaldiscovery.com | 401-200-8335 We're here for you. Life & Relationship Coaching

so much conflict in political negotiations lately that I wondered if there

I first looked to the Hebrew Bible for some perspective on

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks wrote an extensive article, posted at Chabad.org, titled “Conflict Resolution.” He writes about two of the 12 tribes, Reuben and Gad, who both had large herds of cattle.

“They felt that the land they were currently on was ideal for their purposes. It was good grazing country. So they approached Moses and asked for permission to stay there rather than take up their share in the land of Israel. They said: ‘If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.’ ”

Rabbi Sacks then discusses the solution to the request, which had led to conflict.

“The Reubenites and Gadites recognized the claims of the people as a whole and the justice of Moses’ concerns. They propose a compromise. Let us make provisions for our cattle and our families, they say, and the men will then accompany the other tribes across the Jordan. They will fight alongside them. They will even go ahead of them. They will not return to their cattle and families until all the battles have been fought, the land has been conquered, and the other tribes have received their inheritance.

(Counselor

cessful negotiations:

First, realize that healthy conflict requires excellent verbal communication and listening skills –and can result in better communication and improved relationships.

Before you negotiate, ask yourself:

• What is the issue?

• Is the issue negotiable?

• What are the views on each side of the issue?

• What questions can I ask to gather information and understand the other side?

• How can I explore possible solutions with the other party that align with both our goals?

• What steps can we take to test the solution?

• How and when do we follow-up and evaluate?

“Essentially they invoke what would later become a principle of Jewish law: zeh neheneh ve-zeh lo chaser, meaning an act is permissible if ‘one side gains and the other side does not lose.’ ”

The negotiations between Moses and the two tribes closely follow the principles enumerated, much later, in the Harvard Negotiation Project. Here are my additional suggestions for suc -

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To sum up, the main points for successful negotiation are to be proactive, communicate with openness, keep the conversation going, stick to a model/process for managing conflict, and focus on winwin solutions and practices. Conflict doesn’t go away on its own, but using a methodical process for negotiations and conflict resolution can go a long way toward solving problems with win-win solutions.

PATRICIA RASKIN

PATRICIA RASKIN , owner of Raskin Resources Productions, is an awardwinning radio producer, business owner and leader. She is on the board of directors of Temple Emanu-El, in Providence, and is a recipient of the Providence Business News 2020 Leaders and Achievers award. Her new “Positive Aging with Patricia Raskin” podcast is broadcast on the Rhode Island PBS website, ripbs.org/ positiveaging.

If you’re seeking better understanding and communication to help strengthen your relationship, then we encourage you to contact us. Our unique couple-to-couple approach combines Angel’s skills as a Certified Coach with those of her husband, Charles Granoff, a licensed Therapist.

Tips to thwart those despicable scammers

Every time someone’s email or phone gets hacked or a senior citizen falls victim to phishing or another scam, the perpetrators are not only treating their victims with extreme disdain and callousness, but they’re also violating two of the Ten Commandments: “Though shalt not steal” and “Thou shalt not bear false witness.”

BUT THAT’S NOT THE ONLY reason why I advocate stiff sentences for those who prey on the most vulnerable people in society; I want the book – and more – thrown at those despicable individuals because of all the post-scam time that’s spent trying to fix the damage they caused.

After my email account was hacked three years ago, and my wife’s email was hacked during the past holiday season, considerable time had to be spent on the phone with our internet provider’s tech support.

We also had to reassure dozens of contacts – friends, relatives and colleagues –that we were neither stuck in a foreign nation nor in such dire straits that we were reduced to asking for gift cards from Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target. (Anyone who receives such a message should exercise common sense and immediately identify it as being bogus, because no one you know who’s in trouble would ask you to send gift cards. Never click on it and immediately delete it.)

The only positive about being hacked is that I’ve learned a few things about dealing with hacks, and trying to prevent them, tips that I’m sharing with you:

Don’t respond to emails slugged “package tracking information” because those emails are often sent from bogus accounts. Most delivery services will text you either before or right after they’ve delivered your package.

a scammer, hang up immediately and report the call to your local police department. Many departments are proactive and might be able to track down the perpetrators, or, at the very least, warn others before the scammer hurts someone else.

If you’re hacked, check your settings to make sure that the hacker didn’t add a bogus email address under the “email forwarding” option, which automatically sends your incoming emails to the hacker. Erase that and make other changes to your settings that the hacker might have made. Your provider’s techsupport person can walk you through them.

LARRY KESSLER

Change your passwords.

Check to see whether your credit cards or bank account were compromised.

Try to avoid using an address book, and if you do, only include minimal information. Hackers will often steal your address book and target everyone on them; by not using one, you make it tougher on them.

Move incoming emails marked “payment confirmation wanted,” “payment due,” “renewal due” and other such suspicious subject lines to your spam folder, and then promptly delete them. Hackers and scammers often imitate company logos on bogus emails to entice you to give out your account information.

Never give out your account information to anyone via email or over the phone. Credit card companies and banks are never going to ask you for information that they already have. Even if an incoming unidentified call on your cellphone indicates “number verified,” don’t answer it; chances are it’s either a telemarketer, charity solicitor or scammer. In general, avoid answering calls that aren’t from your regular contacts. For those of you who still have landlines, add caller ID and call-blocking features. With the latter,

only numbers that you specifically plug in will get through unless the callers identify themselves. Legitimate callers, such as a relative or doctor’s office, will identify themselves; others will usually hang up. You’ve heard this advice from other sources, but it bears repeating: Government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, Medicare and the Social Security Administration, will never email, text or call you about your account. All of them send letters to correspond with you – and they’ll never call or email to threaten you or ask for money or gift cards.

Hackers and scammers unfortunately aren’t going away, but you can reduce their damage by never responding to suspicious emails.

In addition, if you find yourself on the phone with

LARRY KESSLER

(larrythek65@gmail.com)

is a freelance writer based in North Attleboro. He blogs at https://larrytheklineup. blogspot.com.

www.jewishallianceri.org/report-it/

At the Jewish Alliance, we believe all people should be treated fairly and justly. If you have experienced or witnessed an incident of anti-Semitism or extremism, please report it. Anti-Semitic activity includes overt acts or expressions of anti-Jewish bigotry and hostility. Many incidents are not crimes but are still considered anti-Semitic and should be reported.

This initiative is meant to help track anti-Semitic incidents in the state of Rhode Island. Experiencing any type of anti-Semitism may be traumatic for you or your loved ones. If you need additional support, please contact Jewish Collaborative Services at 401.331.1244 for guidance.

www.jewishallianceri.org/report-it/

OPINION

The beauty in our quest for God IN THE NEWS

French students will visit sites of antisemitic attacks

(JTA) – The French government updated its plan for fighting antisemitism and racism, which will require teachers to receive training on the topic and all French schoolchildren to visit the site of an antisemitic or racist incident.

Those visits could include Holocaust sites, and roving exhibitions about antisemitism and racism will also be set up in schools, France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced Monday.

The plan was first adopted in 2015 but is required to be updated every three years. In addition to the educational additions, French law will be adapted to make charges of serious antisemitic or racist offenses enough to stop the accused from fleeing the country.

The plan was put together by the Interministerial Delegation for the Fight Against Racism and Antisemitism, or DILCRAH, as it is known by its French initials, with advisory input from the American Jewish Committee.

“DILCRAH has long recognized that antisemitism endangers all of French society, not only Jews. It is essential for the government to have a robust strategy dedicated to confronting antisemitism in all its forms,” said Anne Sophie-Sebban, director of AJC Paris. “Significantly, for the first time, the plan includes an AJC recommendation to create indicators to measure how each component of the government’s strategy plan is working.”

Overall, the plan contains 80 different action points across five different categories, which include measuring the reality of racism, antisemitism and discrimination.

ON THE MORNING of Sept. 15, 2021, members of Barrington’s Temple Habonim gathered together to celebrate Yom Kippur, 5782. All of us, having recently tested negative for COVID, and wearing approved masks, and in greatly reduced numbers, felt fortunate to be in one another’s presence, to form at last a physical in-person community.

We were cautiously hopeful that the worst of the COVID pandemic was behind us.

When Dr. Ivan Wolfson, at that time president of the synagogue, came up to the bimah to address the congregation, he said, “No one could have imagined what our lives would be like 18 months into a pandemic.” Then he went on to encourage us by saying, “Yes, things are getting better – the fact that I’m not speaking to an empty room is evidence of that.”

Wolfson then transitioned into the world of art, displaying on an easel on the bimah two poster-board prints of two highly abstract 20th-century paintings by Mark Rothko (1903-1970). According to Wolfson, Rothko refused to comment on his canvases; instead, he encouraged viewers to “interpret each painting on their own, seeing in them what they wanted or, perhaps, needed to see.”

Moving from the work of a single artist, Wolfson went on to make a more general point: “Just like the need for social connection, the need for art and beauty … is as integral a part of the human condition as the need for food and water.

“Not because art allows us a temporary distraction from the sometimes harsh realities of our lives,

though it may. But, at its best, art can be a tonic that gives us perspective and insight into the human condition and can be a powerful force in healing a broken soul.”

As he concluded his remarks on the power of art to heal the broken soul, Wolfson moved from the art of painting to the art of poetry. He read a lengthy poem written by a close friend of his from Columbus, Ohio, Beth Weinstock, a practicing physician who also teaches poetry and creative writing.

of her being the cold sterility of outer space in contrast to the warm living complexity of her earthly home: “Out here, we have no rain, / no tilt of plane’s wings over Manhattan, / no whine of a missing dog by the back door.”

As is appropriate for a poem read during the course of Yom Kippur worship, Weinstock’s words carry with them both some pain and an abundance of gratitude.

The British Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) concludes his widely acclaimed “Ode on a Grecian Urn” with the words, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all / Ye know on earth and all ye need to know.”

While Keats’ words chime their own beauty, they represent but a partial truth – certainly not the whole truth. Parallel to our human search for beauty, we strive for moral goodness and for intellectual integrity.

RABBI JAMES ROSENBERG

It has been frequently noted that art can alter our perspective, can help us experience the world with renewed intensity. In her poem, “First Poet on the International Space Station,” Weinstock achieves this radical change in perspective; she imagines herself to have been selected to be the first human being to write a poem in outer space and send it home to Mother Earth.

At first, she chooses to celebrate what she sees from the “windowed cupola” of the space station: while “the scientists tinker and turn their dials,” the poet places herself “between rainbows rocketing off solar arrays, / and I’ve gasped as angels of light rushed at me / as if they were flushed like doves from the black thickets / of untrimmed air.”

But, ultimately, the poet’s focus shifts from what she sees in the world surrounding the space station to how she sees Mother Earth with new eyes. She marvels at our planet’s “blue orb collared in uneven lace / her land mass swallowed by the oceans .…” And she feels in the depth

As a man who sees himself as fundamentally religious, my personal searches for beauty and for goodness and for scientific truth each contributes to my ongoing quest for the ever-elusive God, whose self-definition is ehyeh asher ehyeh, I shall be Who I shall be. (Exodus 3.14).

During that Yom Kippur service back in September of 2021, Ivan Wolfson, along with the poetic voice of his friend, Beth Weinstock, brought to all of us who had the privilege of being in that place at that time a powerful lesson on the healing power of beauty, a power that is essential – but a power that is only partial – in our ongoing quest for God.

JAMES B. ROSENBERG is a rabbi emeritus at Temple Habonim, in Barrington. Contact him at rabbiemeritus@templehabonim.org.

What American Jews fight about when they fight about Israel

BY ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL

(JTA) – Eric Alterman, born in 1960, says the view of Israel he absorbed growing up in a Jewish family in suburban Scarsdale, New York, was decidedly one-sided.

“I went on this nerdy presidential classroom thing when I was in high school,” he recalls, “and some Christian kid from the South raised his hand and said to the rabbi, ‘I don’t get it, if the Jews could

have a state, why can’t the Palestinians?’ And I was like, ‘How dare you?’ ”

Alterman would go on to attend Cornell University, where he wrote his honors thesis on Israel, Vietnam and neoconservatism; spend a semester abroad at Tel Aviv University; study Israeli military history while earning his master’s degree in international relations at Yale, and research a dissertation on American liberalism and

the founding of Israel as a doctoral student at Stanford.

Although he frequently writes about Israel as a contributing writer at the Nation and the American Prospect, Alterman is best known for his liberal analysis of the media and U.S. politics. He’s written 11 previous books, including one on Bruce Springsteen.

Yet he never stopped thinking about the widening gap between the idealized Israel

of his youth and the reality of its relations with the Palestinians, its Arab neighbors and the West. Even when Israel’s revisionist historians were uncovering evidence of massacres and forced expulsions of Palestinians during the War of Independence, and Israeli politicians and intellectuals began asking why, indeed, the Palestinians didn’t deserve a state of their own, he saw that such discussions were considered

blasphemous in most American Jewish circles.

Alterman, now a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English at Brooklyn College, explores that gap in his latest book, “We Are Not One: A History of America’s Fight Over Israel.” The book surveys U.S.-Israel relations, but with a focus on the ways defending Israel have shaped public discourse. It’s a book

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

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.

OPINION

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

about arguments: within the administrations of 14 presidents, between Washington and Jerusalem, and mostly among Jews themselves.

Earlier in January, we spoke about how the pro-Israel lobby became a powerful political force, the Jewish organizations and pundits who fight to limit the range of debate over Israel and what he thinks is the high price American Jews have paid for tying their identities so closely to Israel.

“I try to take on shibboleths that in the past have shut down conversation and take them apart and sympathetically show the complexity of the actual situation that lies beneath – so that [criticism and disagreement] over Israel can be understood rather than whisked away by changing the subject, or whataboutism, or by demonizing the person who is raising them,” said Alterman.

Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY: Let me start by congratulating you: It’s the first book about U.S.-Israel relations with a chapter named after a Bruce Springsteen album: “Working on a Dream.”

ERIC ALTERMAN: Nobody else has caught that. But it’s not about U.S.-Israel relations. It’s the first book about the debate over Israel in the United States. There’s a million books on U.S.-Israel relations.

JTA: So let’s define that more narrowly. The title reminds me of the United Jewish Appeal slogan over the years, “We Are One,” which was about American Jewish solidarity. So who is the “we” in your title, “We Are Not One”?

ALTERMAN: There are three or four different meanings. The “we” in this book are obviously the United States and Israel. An awful lot of people argue that the United States and Israel have identical interests in the world and that’s crazy, because Israel is this tiny little country in the Middle East, and we’re a global superpower thousands of miles away. So obviously, we’re going to have differences. Number two, American Jews and Israeli Jews are very different people. They have very different life experiences. And they see things quite differently as evidenced by the political split between them. The title also refers specifically just to Ameri-

cans, because we can’t even discuss most things anymore. The pro-Israel community, such as it ever was, is enormously split. and it’s split in angry ways.

JTA: Much of your book is about what happens to American Jews when the idealized portrait of Israel’s founding and its presumed blamelessness in its actions toward the Palestinians comes up against reality. In that context, tell me a little about your choice to devote a chapter to the Leon Uris novel “Exodus,” an extremely sanitized version of Israel’s founding, and the 1960 movie based on it.

ALTERMAN: The influence of “Exodus” is something I didn’t understand until I wrote the book. It’s crazy, because Leon Uris was this egomaniac who wrote kind of a shitty book and said that he wanted to add a new chapter to the Bible, and he kind of succeeded. I was born in 1960. When I was growing up in suburban New York, every single family had “Exodus” on their shelves. When the movie came out Israelis understood this. They said, “We can just shut down our public relations office now.” And from the standpoint of reality the movie is worse than the book because it has Nazis – the Arabs in the book are working with Nazism. Uris didn’t have the nerve to do that. So the book created this idealized Israel and this idea of [Palestinians as] evil, subhuman Nazis.

What most Americans don’t understand, or choose not to understand, is that before the 1940s most Jews were anti-Zionist, or non-Zionist. This changed in the 1940s, when, as a result in part of the Holocaust, and the reaction to that, and the triumph of Zionists, they became intensely pro-Zionist, leading up to the creation of Israel. But after that, they kind of forgot about Israel. One might have given their children JNF boxes to carry on Halloween instead of UNICEF boxes, or maybe they paid to plant trees. But Israel doesn’t show up in the American Jewish Committee’s 1966 annual report until page 35 or 36, and Nathan Glazer’s 1957 book “American Judaism” says that the creation of the Jewish state has had “remarkably slight effects on the inner life of American Jewry.”

With the events of 1967, Uris’ idealized notion of Israel came together with this terrible fear of a second Holocaust, and the terror

and shame and frightening nature of that combined to transform American Judaism overnight to an enormous degree.

JTA: You are referring to Israel’s lightning victory in the Six-Day War, which even non-religious Jews saw as a kind of miracle, and redemption two decades after the Holocaust. And that transformation, you argue, put defense of Israel, combined with Holocaust consciousness, at the center of Jewish identity.

ALTERMAN: More than just the center, it basically comprised almost all of it, for many secular Jews. I quote the neoconservative Irving Kristol in the book saying in 1976 that “the Holocaust and the founding of the state of Israel” was 100% of what Judaism means. Which in turn led to the tremendous pro-Israel lobbying efforts, political activism and punditry.

The budgets of American Jewish organizations overnight went from social services and liberal social justice causes to defense of Israel. And rabbis were replaced at the center of public discourse by the heads of these organizations – most of whom had no religious training or knowledge of history or Judaism.

JTA: One distinction you repeatedly make is between what most Jews believe compared to the Jewish organizations that claim to represent them. Surveys show the rank and file is consistently more liberal on Israel and less hawkish than the big organizations – a gap that showed up markedly around the Iraq War and the Iran nuclear deal.

ALTERMAN: Right. The big mistake that so many in the media make is that they go to the heads of these organizations who pretend to speak for American Jews when they

don’t speak for American Jews. They speak for their boards and their donors.

JTA: The shift to Jewish lobbying on behalf of Israel coincides with an era in which there is seldom daylight between what Israel wants and what the United States wants or agrees to – often to the frustration of presidents. You are critical of those who exaggerate the pro-Israel lobby’s influence – folks like Stephen Walt and John J. Mearsheimer, authors of the 2007 book

“The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” – but, at the same time, you write, referring to the Israel debate in America, about “the continued stranglehold that money, power, organizational structure, and clearly defined paths to personal career advancement continue to hold over the shape of foreign policy.”

How will you respond to critics who will say your book is trafficking in the myth of Jewish power and its conspiracy-minded hold over American policy?

ALTERMAN: The short answer is, that’s why I wrote a 500-page book – basically, for two reasons: One, everything is incredibly complicated. And some of those complications are consistent with antisemitic myths, and therefore they have to be teased out and broken down in such a way that you’re telling the truth rather than portraying the myth.

If you say things without context, they sound antisemitic. I say that yes, Jews are very powerful in the media and many use that power on or about Israel. But I think if you lay out the examples that I use, if you look at them and examine them, I don’t see how you can conclude otherwise. The people I describe often say that about themselves – how much power and influence they yield.

Secondly, I’ve always found it just about impossible to discuss Israel with anyone, because you have to share exactly the same assumptions with that person. And if you don’t, then they take it personally, or you’re an antisemite, or, at best, you’re insufficiently sensitive to how important antisemitism is. And if you describe ways in which American Jews act in ways that are consistent with antisemitic myth, it has a way of shutting down the conversation.

Undoubtedly there’s some criticism of Israel that is motivated by antisemitism, but there’s an awful lot of reasons to be critical of Israel, particularly if you are a Palestinian or care about Palestinians. This accusation [antisemitism] has shut down the discourse and part of my hopes in demonstrating the complexities of this history is to open this up.

JTA: So let me ask about your own stake in this. Your educational background and relationship to Israel are similar in many ways to the writers and thinkers in your book who tolerate no criticism of Israel. I don’t know if you call yourself a Zionist, but you have some connection to Israel, and you’re also willing to tolerate critiques of Israel. What’s the difference between you and some of the other people who went on the same journey?

ALTERMAN: For the longest time I was comfortable with the words “liberal Zionist,” but I don’t think they have any meaning anymore. I don’t think it’s possible to be a liberal Zionist – you have to choose. Israel is the only putatively democratic country that prefers Trump to either Obama or Biden, and it’s not even close. And young Israelis are moving further in that direction and young American Jews are moving further in the opposite direction.

So you ask me if I am a liberal Zionist. I don’t think the word “Zionist” is useful at all anymore, because Israel is a country, and it’s not going anywhere. I sometimes call myself an anti-anti-Zionist, because anti-Zionism is dumb. I’m very anti-BDS. If I thought [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement] could end occupation, I would support it, even though the idea of boycotting Jews puts a bad taste in my mouth. But the theory behind BDS apparently, and I’ve spent a

CONTINUED ON PAGE 21

Eric Alterman

A soul-warming soup from Yemen

BY ELIHAY SKITAL

My grandmother was such a powerful woman. I wrote this article in her memory, and for the memories she gave me and my family.

BOTH OF MY GRANDMAS made aliyah to Israel from Yemen in the 1950s, one of them at the age of 3. The other one, Saade, made aliyah when she was 25. Her husband, who was much older than she, didn’t want to move to Israel, so he divorced her.

This grandmother got married when she was 9 years old and gave birth seven times before she was 26. All of the babies died of illnesses; none of them survived longer than a year and a half.

Saade made aliyah with her parents and siblings, and a few years later, she married my grandfather. He was married to another

woman at the time, but because he didn’t have any sons, he got permission to get married again (polygamy was acceptable under such circumstances in the Yemenite community), and they had four kids, one of whom is my father. They were married for 13 years, until my grandfather passed away at the age of 56. Saade’s heart was broken. However, she had to manage to come back to normal life for the sake of her four children.

This grandma lived three houses away from me in Ashkelon, Israel, and she had a great connection with all her grandchildren. Every Friday, she made some traditional Yemenite food, such as Yemenite Soup, chicken livers or galube (Yemenite fried bread). We used to go every Friday to my grandma’s house,

Yemenite Soup

INGREDIENTS

4 chicken thighs and 4 drumsticks

1 big onion, peeled but uncut

1 tablespoon of hawaij

1 tablespoon of soup powder or bouillon, any flavor

Potatoes, cut in quarters

Water

1 fresh bunch of cilantro

DIRECTIONS

Put the potatoes and onion in the pot, adding water to cover.

After the water comes to a boil, add the chicken and enough water to at least cover. You can add as much water as you want for the amount of soup you want to prepare. This recipe is flexible. Wait for the water

talk to her, eat her lovely food, and enjoy being with her. All her grandchildren, including me, took turns sleeping in her house every night so she would not be alone. She made so many happy memories for us in this house!

It is a tradition in my house to eat Yemenite Soup for lunch every Friday. This is one of the things I miss the most, and it’s one of the reasons why I brought two pounds of hawaij (a spice mix often used in the soup) all the way from Israel to here.

After I got to Rhode Island, I realized that it is very easy to make this spice mix, so no worries if you don’t have it. To make hawaij at home, just mix together 1 tablespoon of black pepper, 1 tablespoon of cumin and 4 tablespoons of turmeric.

The recipe takes around an hour, and at the end, you have an amazing soup that serves 4.

ELIHAY SKITAL is the Israeli shaliach (emissary) to the Rhode Island Jewish community.

to boil again. Using a spoon, skim the foam that rises to the top.

Add the hawaij and soup powder or bouillon to the pot.

After it boils for a few minutes, add the cilantro (no need to cut it).

Boil on medium heat for another 10 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees on an instant-read food thermometer. No need to remove the bones and skin before serving, but you can if you prefer. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you like matzah balls, you can add them to the soup for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Skital with his grandmother.

Elihay Skital makes his soup at URI Hillel during an activity.

Full

Reflections on Interfaith Relationships

Beautiful, searching, and insightful. A lovely and wise exploration of interfaith relationships, families, and love.

Dec. 7, 2022 | by greenlightnight on Apple Podcasts

is is a sacred podcast, and so needed in Jewish communities today is podcast encapsulates, beautifully, the challenges — and also joys — of interfaith families navigating Jewish community. Despite decades of progress, we still live in a Jewish community where people in interfaith relationships are banned from many forms of Jewish leadership.

People still, upon hearing about a new romantic partner, ask "well are they Jewish?" before "well do they make you happy?" Grateful that this podcast can help move the needle and serve the creation of a world where interfaith relationships are seen as gi s to Jewish life — not as a threat to its (our) existence.

Summer camp: The gift that keeps on giving

BY SARAH GREENLEAF

Ispent the summers of my youth in camp. First came day camp, where I made embroidery-floss bracelets and sculpted a gigantic dragon out of clay. I learned a faster way to knit, and I drew each tiny scale on the dragon.

I’M PRETTY SURE that my clay dragon either exploded in the kiln or never fit inside it to begin with. Either way, I never saw the completed project. Summer camp was a place outside of time, where the final product was never the point – the hours of work and play were.

Because I converted to Judaism in my early thirties, I didn’t attend Jewish summer camp. Instead, I went to art camp, film camp, leadership camp. Camp was both a practical way for my single mother to access childcare and a way for me to explore things in-depth that the classroom environment didn’t enable. I remember a field trip to swim in an outdoor pool in the summer rain, the way the two waters met around our bodies, and afternoons spent playing pool in the main room of the Boys & Girls Club.

In middle school, I went to sleepaway camp for the first time, in the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest. PCAL (Patsy Collins

Adventures in Leadership) was an all-girls leadership camp held at Camp Orkila, a large facility that had operated camps since 1906.

Our girls’ leadership camp hadn’t been running for that long, but it still had a coveted reputation. We did many of the regular camp activities, such as swimming, boating, ropes courses, hikes. We ate with the other campers, from the traditional camp, horse camp, Marine camp, in a large mess hall. I remember the enormous salad buffet and a counselor remarking on her recent discovery that she didn’t need to include lettuce in a salad if she didn’t like it.

Beyond the regular camp activities, we participated in leadership workshops, had

impressive guest speakers, and did yoga every morning with a counselor who was a certified instructor.

One of our culminating activities was to lead a group of younger campers on an overnight trip. As we, the middle school girls, watched the younger children falling asleep, one little boy told us the names of all the stars. This was the most profound lesson in leadership I would ever receive – that those you are leading know beautiful things that you do not, and your job is to listen.

I returned the next summer for a week-long kayaking camp around the islands, learning to read tide charts, mapping out routes and times. We paddled from island to island, making

camp with tarps and our kayak paddles, eating our weight in GORP.

The gift of these experiences has stayed with me for my whole life: a strong sense of self; the confidence that even if the winds change, I can adjust course; and a certainty that the joy of art is in the making.

Camp is a place where you learn how to give yourself the world, and where you learn that you deserve it.

SARAH GREENLEAF (sgreenleaf@

jewishallianceri.org) is the digital marketing specialist for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and writes for Jewish Rhode Island.

Grant helps Camp JORI provide more robust mental-health support

BY SARAH GREENLEAF

NEARLY ONE IN THREE teenagers currently has an anxiety disorder, according to the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation, and the need for mental-health assistance continues to grow. The Yedid Nefesh initiative, from the Foundation for Jewish Camp and with funding from The Marcus Foundation, will

support its third cohort of camps this summer, including Rhode Island’s Camp JORI. Two other groups of camps already participate in the initiative.

The initiative directly funds camps to hire mental-health professionals, provide more robust staff support, create wellness spaces and activities, and increase access to mental-health services for campers and staff

alike.

“So, I would say what COVID brought us is kids who really struggle socially in groups, they struggle in the camp setting,” said Kara Liberman, co-director of Camp JORI, in Wakefield. “You’re constantly with a big group of people and some kids just aren’t used to that anymore, and they need help reengaging.”

Children who entered

school and camp during the pandemic have different needs from children in the past, she said.

“They also need to know where they can go when they need a break,” Liberman said. “Sometimes it’s just to get into a quiet safe space. Camp can be loud, camp can be very overstimulating.”

Camp JORI is open to “kids of all different financial backgrounds, all different obser-

vance levels, even different religions,” Liberman pointed out. The needs of the children and staff vary widely and are constantly evolving, so the support needs to do the same, she said.

“I would genuinely say that the mental-health component is just as important for us to support our staff and for our campers,” Liberman said. “And we’ve seen that in the

PHOTO | FRAN OSTENDORF

CAMP

10 Awesome benefits of J-Camp

CAMP HAS MANY benefits for children. And J-Camp at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center in Providence is no exception. We asked director Jim Rawl to give us his take on why you should attend camp.

1. Be yourself and be independent

2. Grow the whole child

3. Make friends & memories

4. Swim like a fish

5. Get unplugged

6. Meet positive role models

7. Travel the area

8. Immerse in Jewish culture

9. Move and be active

10. Have fun!

J-Camp is looking for general counselors and specialists for the summer 2023 season! Contact Jim Rawl at jrawl@ jewishallianceri.org for details on part-time and full-time employment.

CAMP

Dance like they do at camp

DO YOU LIKE TO DANCE? Do you like to work out? Then try a new class at the Dwares JCC representing: “ISRAELI SUMMER CAMP DANCING”! Join us every Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the gym to dance to modern Israeli music. My name is Elihay Skital, I am the community Shaliach in Rhode Island and I used to work in summer camps. I am happy to bring to Rhode Island dancing classes similar to what we do at camp. Feel free to come and bring a friend or your child. Those dances are a modern type of Israeli folk dancing and are a great way to work out and have some fun at the same time. No experience is needed, and the classes are free. Contact me at 401-8643786 for more details. Open to all!

Submitted by Elihay Skital, Israeli shaliach (emissary)

Grant helps Camp JORI provide more robust mental-health support

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16

past couple of years, too.”

Camp JORI is using some of its grant to hire an additional staff member, Anna Smith, who has worked in schools as a special education teacher and has experience working with camps.

“Not only has she worked with kids in the public schools, but she also had the experience of living the dream of camp,” said Alicia McGee, LCSW, Camp JORI co-director. “She’s one of those people you talk to, and she really invests her whole self into the program, which you want. It’s hard to find a grown-up with these skill sets that is going to take away their life for seven to eight weeks.”

In addition, Camp JORI will use some of the grant money to create a space in its health center where campers can go to unwind and regulate. The space will be safe, quiet and relaxing, with a noise machine, oil diffusers, soft

music and comfortable seating.

“[It’s] just to kind of give yourself a little break from, you know, the overstimulating world,” Liberman explained. “Because every year that goes by this need grows.”

At “camp in general, they’re running from activity to activity, they wake up at eight o’clock, and they are going strong, and they’re going full force until maybe 10 o’clock at night,” Liberman said. “It’s a long day, especially for kids who aren’t used to it.”

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the prevalence of youth experiencing clinical anxiety doubled around the globe in 2020, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. At camp, where students might be away from their

usual mental-health support systems, or might face the new responsibilities of living on their own, symptoms can spike.

When asked what young people were dealing with at camp, Liberman replied, “Oh, I would definitely say just anxiety and OCD [Obsessive Compulsive Disorder]. Generally.”

McGee said, “I think the reason I love camp for my family and for kids is that it’s an opportunity to detox from using the phone and from social media. I also think it’s a double-edged sword. I think we’re losing our older teens more quickly, because they’re not ready to do that.”

McGee said parents can help ease the transition to camp in a few different ways, including communicating with camp staff about any issues their child

might be having and letting them know if the child is seeing a therapist.

“If your kid is seeing a therapist, you don’t need to stop that in the summer,” said McGee. “Just like they have their Bar Mitzvah tutoring, if it’s needed, these are pieces of who they are.”

She also recommends having a conversation with your child that supports the idea that “the camp environment is going to be positive for them,” she said. She encourages parents to tell their child to “give it a chance.”

SARAH GREENLEAF (sgreenleaf@

jewishallianceri.org) is the digital marketing specialist for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and writes for Jewish Rhode Island.

‘Every year that goes by, the need grows.’

COMMUNITY

Everyone’s welcome at The Outsider Collective art workshop

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

PAWTUCKET – The Outsider Collective’s work space, in Hope Artiste Village, is thick with paintings. Canvases of all sizes adorn the walls; a colorful mélange of landscapes, portraits and abstract compositions. The artwork is as diverse as the students who have come through the workshop’s door, which is by design: the collective’s mission is to be an inclusive studio and gallery environment, especially for people with disabilities.

“My favorite part of it is the individual teaching approach,” says Carrie Hyde-Riley, who cofounded the Outsider Collective nonprofit with Colleen Morgan in late 2020. “Everybody has their own unique voice. That’s what’s so special about people with disabilities. They’re themselves, all the time, no matter what. They make the way that they want to make. Everyone has the potential to be an artist.”

The collective is open to people of all backgrounds, and at least four regular students and one volunteer come from Rhode Island’s Jewish community. This participation in such an inclusive envi-

ronment particularly strikes a chord in February, which is Jewish Disability, Awareness and Inclusion Month, or JDAIM.

“It’s a great place,” says Brandon Winkler, 39, one of the regular students at the collective. Winkler creates elaborate abstract paintings.

“If you’re not into art, it will change your mindset on how you think,” he says of the collective. “I’d rather do what I want to do, and be taught a new way to do something, and I can make the decision if I like the new way I’m being taught, or I just want to continue to do it the way I want to do it.”

“I love painting here because it’s a great community,” says Rachel Rasnick, 29, whose more realistic work has become markedly more sophisticated since she started at the collective. (Read Jewish Rhode Island’s 2020 story on Rasnick, “Barrington artist’s work is getting noticed,” at tinyurl. com/3k3jt654.)

“At first my paintings weren’t that great, but then after a while, I progressed,”

she said in a recent interview at the collective.

Nicole Ginzberg, 60, attends Outsider Collective as both a student and volunteer. Originally from New York City, Ginzberg spent most of her career as a social worker, including 25 years working at the inpatient unit at Fuller Hospital, in Attleboro, then seven years counseling in area nursing homes. When COVID-19 forced her employer to shut down, Ginzberg revived her creative spirit.

“I was at a crossroads in my life,” she recalls. “I could get another job doing social work, which I love. But I’ve always loved art. I love the openness of art. I’ve always done some art. But [I was also interested in] doing art with a variety of people.”

This variety has been Outsider Collective’s forte since the beginning. The organization essentially replaced a program called RHD-RI, where Hyde had served as art director, and many students migrated over from that program. Some participants have been diagnosed with autism, cerebral palsy or other challenges, while others are neurotypical.

The Outsider Collective is mostly funded by memberships, along with occasional grants and donations.

Memberships cost between $150 and $275 a month, which includes the space, instruction and a wide range of art supplies. Non-members pay an open-studio drop-in rate of $25 per hour.

Hyde and Morgan, who are multimedia artists, provide one-on-one instruction, but each session is open-ended, allowing members to experiment in an upbeat group setting.

Volunteers help around the studio and help support members with disabilities. But the spirit of the place is passively collaborative; just by sitting together, sideby-side around a crafting table, members motivate one another to unleash their creativity, explore and bring their visions to life.

Although Outsider Collective has no specific plans to commemorate JDAIM, the themes of the month resonate on many levels, for both Jewish and non-Jewish mem-

bers. Ginzberg’s mother fled France in the 1940s and lived in Cuba and Mexico City before being admitted to the United States. In New York, Ginzberg knew many Holocaust survivors, who were living monuments to extreme social hostility.

“I think it always made me very wary of judging people or making people ‘other,’ or discrimination in general,” she says. “That’s a very strong Jewish value – and should be an overall value, for everyone.”

To see the artists’ work and hear them discuss their art, go to JewishRhody.org. For more information about The Outsider Collective and to sign up, go to TheOutsiderCollective.org.

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

Now is the time to apply for grants for trips to Israel

APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS for Rhode Islanders and nearby Bay Staters to travel to Israel, as well as for RootOne vouchers for eligible teen summer trips to Israel, are now being accepted.

Visiting Israel is a great way to meet new friends, enjoy the summer and deepen one’s Jewish identity. A short video that describes the impact of a trip to Israel on a teen can be viewed at www. streamisrael.tv/videos/flywith-us-2-israel.

The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island offers grants for travel in Israel to those 26 or younger for scores

of programs of all types, from a few weeks up to a year, including academic programs and internships. Needs-based scholarships are also available for current high school students, including for gapyear programs in Israel.

RootOne’s $3,000 vouchers are available for a few dozen teen summer programs only. More trips are being approved by RootOne on a rolling basis. Check back regularly on its website, www. rootone.org, for your desired trip. If you need help finding a trip, email info@rootone. org and someone on the RootOne team will assist you.

In addition, families may enter a contest to win four Delta Premium Select roundtrip tickets to Israel, plus $5,000 toward a vacation package, at www.flywithus2israel.com. The local winner will receive $1,000 and will represent Rhode Island at the regional level, competing for the tickets and $5,000 prize. Local secondand third-place winners will receive prizes worth $250 and $100, respectively.

Families with at least one child ages 7-17 can apply by submitting a video of up to 5 minutes long or an essay or poem of up to 500 words. Each

submission must answer one of the following questions: How does your family successfully integrate both tradition and innovation, like Israel and Israelis? How does Israel inspire you to make your dreams possible?

The grand-prize winner will be announced on May 5, which is Yom ha-Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day.

To celebrate Israel at 75, The Jewish Agency for Israel is producing a song with Sha’anan Streett, the frontman of Hadag Nahash, one of Israel’s most popular and influential hip-hop bands. And you can help

write the lyrics for chance to win a trip to Israel! The song will be titled, "Voices, Together." All you have to do is record (video or audio) or type 15 words or less to tell us what Israel at 75 means to you. Register at http://bit. ly/3Rcb1NW.

To learn more about grants for residents of Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts, email IsraelDesk@JewishAllianceRI.org.

Submitted by LARRY KATZ, director of Jewish Life and Learning at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island

‘I love painting here because it’s a great community’

Student work at the Outside Collective. PHOTO | ROBERT ISENBERG

WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP YOU CAN:

WORKOUT in our state-of-the-art fitness center with our personal trainers.

SWIM laps in our heated pool or join one of our popular aquatics classes.

PLAY basketball or pickleball in our indoor courts.

TRY Zumba, Yoga, Pilates, Spin or one of our many fitness classes.

JewishAllianceRI.org

401 ELMGROVE AVENUE PROVIDENCE, RI

Community Microgrant Initiative

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

Sarah Oelbaum, 11, of Lincoln, adjusts her goggles between laps.

Swimming for a cause

ON SUNDAY, Jan. 29, during Day at the J, the Dwares Jewish Community Center held a swimming fundraiser. Participants raised money by swimming as many laps in the pool as they could during a one-hour timeframe. Swimmers ask family, friends and neighbors to pledge money per lap, or to make a flat donation. The 28 participants, ages 7-82, raised more than $3,300. All funds will go toward new anti-wave lane lines.

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. expected maximum of $5,000 Collaborative Grants Individual Grants expected maximum of $500

Collaborative grants are intended to fund new and creative partnerships that contribute to vibrant Jewish life in our state and build meaningful collaborations between different Jewish and non-Jewish organizations.

Ed O’Connor, of Seekonk, climbs out of the pool after swimming 46 laps.

Jing Xu used a paddle board to swim a lap. PHOTOS | GLENN OSMUNDSON

Greater focus on the victim is key to repentance and repair

BY SARAH GREENLEAF

IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, we have had an endless stream of public apologies for bad behavior. Some seem genuine, some were clearly written by publicists, some accept responsibility, some deflect blame. The apologies have come from comedians, institutions, government officials, local coffee shop owners. So many people have said they are sorry, but it often feels like very little has changed. So many people have continued to do the same things they were so sorry for a year ago.

This cycle happens when people and institutions are doing the public part, the apology, without ever doing

the hard work that needs to be done. In “On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World,” (Beacon Press, 2022) Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg uses the framework laid out in Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah to explore how we can all do the work of healing the many fissures in our society and our lives.

To do the work of repentance and repair people who have caused harm must decenter their own feelings and desires and focus on what the victim needs. Rabbi Ruttenberg writes, “This is another common pitfall in repentance — not worrying enough about the person who has been hurt and too much about ourselves and our own

desire to assuage our conscience or protect our reputation.” This is why so many apologies ring false, they are clearly there to manage a reputation. So few apologies include an acknowledgment of the harm that was done, a necessary part of Maimonides’ framework. To repent you must first tell the truth.

Ruttenberg is careful to point out that accountability and punishment are not the same. Through numerous examples, she shows the many ways our American justice system can get in the way of victims getting what they need — an acknowledgment of the harm caused to them.

“Of course, the critical role of confession is in its

What American Jews fight about when they fight about Israel

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

lot of time on this, is that the world will force Israel to give up its identity and turn the country over to its enemies. It’s inconceivable that Israel would do that and inconceivable the United States would pressure them to do that. So BDS is entirely performative. It’s more of a political fashion statement than anything else.

And to me, it speaks to the failure of Palestinian politics throughout history. I have a great deal of sympathy for the Palestinians and their bad politics because it’s based on two problems. One is that they have never been able to see the future very well. So they should have agreed in 1921 and 1937, or whenever they would have had the majority, and they were being given a country by the British. They should have taken the lousy offer from Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton in 2000. I kind of get it because they have so many competing constituencies, and it’s impossible to satisfy all of them at the same time. I understand that. It’s hard to imagine a Palestinian politician who could say yes, and if you look at Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, in both cases, it’s hard to imagine making peace with them.

JTA: I read that in your book, and my first thought was, well, isn’t that basically just confirming what the pro-Israel right has always said – that Israel has no

partner for peace? So maybe the best it can do is maintain a status quo that assures some security for Israel and a workable something for the Palestinians.

ALTERMAN: Well, number one I hold Israel significantly responsible for the conditions under which that has developed and that they can change those. And number two, that’s no excuse for the way Palestinians are treated, either in the occupation or in Israel. So yes, I agree. There’s no one to make peace with today, but there are many steps Israel could take that could vastly improve the lives of the Palestinians, both in the occupied territories and inside Israel. And there are a lot of steps they could take that could build confidence for a future that could weaken Hamas, that could strengthen the Palestinian Authority, so that one day peace would be possible. But they do the opposite.

JTA: You talk about the funding of Israel studies and Jewish studies departments as a reaction against fears of a pro-Palestinian takeover of academia. At the same time, you write how Palestinian supporters “succeeded in colonizing Middle East studies departments, student faculty organizations and far-left political organizations.” Why does that matter in the long run if, as you also write, nothing’s really going to change American policy on

potential to liberate victims of great harm — it marks an end to the denial of their experience and an affirmation of the legitimacy of their suffering,” writes Rabbi Ruttenberg. The same is true for many large institutions, from universities to your place of work.

When harm is caused by an institution, the priority is often protection from legal consequences. Victims are told that the harm they suffered wasn’t real or grave enough in an effort to maintain the status quo. It happens when an HR representative tells you that your report of harassment will ruin a man’s career when what you want is to never be alone in a room with him. It

happens when an institution shies away from punishing wrongdoers instead of helping victims.

“In a victim-centered approach, the question is not, ‘What are the things harmdoers must do so that an institutional ecosystem that depends on them can return to normal?’ Rather, it asks: ‘What do victims need, and are they getting those things?’ ” asks Rabbi Ruttenberg. The focus, then, is not on punishing the perpetrator for the sake of punishment. The goal should be to change the very structure of the institution so the victim can feel and be safe.

The book continues, “As

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Israel?

ALTERMAN: I gave a talk before the book came out at Tel Aviv University and someone asked me that question. I said, You care about these transformations for two reasons. One, you really will be all alone in the world. You’ll have the support of conservative [Evangelical] Christians who are in many respects antisemitic and are using you for their own purposes. So if you lose American Jews, you will be existentially alone in a way you’re not now and that strikes me as very unpleasant.

I do think that the quote-unquote pro-Israel community has a stranglehold on American politics that I can’t see changing anytime soon, and I think the change in the Democratic Party [that it will turn more pro-Palestinian] is very much exaggerated by both sides for their own reasons.

That being said, the people who are being trained now to be in the State Department and the National Security Council and the Defense Department and the think tanks and the places where the intellectual foundation of U.S. policy is made are learning something very different from what you and I learned in college. Right now, there’s no such thing as an influential Palestinian lobby in this country. There’s no pushing back. There’s no percentage for anyone oppos -

ing Israel who has a career interest in the future. That will change, and the whole shaping of the discourse will change and that will change the relationship between the United States and Israel. It’s not going to happen anytime soon, but it’s definitely going to happen.

JTA: As Jews in this country have remained largely liberal, Israel appears to be getting more illiberal, as we’ve seen with a new government that is more right-wing than any previously. And Israel has become more of a divisive element among Jews than a unifying force. As this gap appears to be widening, do you have any real hope for changing the discourse?

ALTERMAN: No, I don’t have any hopes for that. I don’t have anything optimistic to say about Israel. I think, politically speaking, from the standpoint of American Jews, everything is going in the wrong direction. But by demonstrating just how different Israeli Jews are than American Jews, and how little Israeli Jews care what American Jews think, I do think that it presents an opportunity for American Jews to think about what it means to be an American Jew in the Diaspora. Roughly half of the Jews in the world live in the United States. And since 1967 American Jews have defined themselves vicariously through Israeli Jews and taking pride in

Israel. They expressed their identities by defending Israel and attacking the media when the media didn’t defend Israel.

Meanwhile, American Jews hardly ever go to synagogue. According to Pew, 20% of American Jews regularly attend synagogue and half of them are Orthodox, who are 10% of the community. What brought me back into Judaism was studying Torah. And hardly any American Jews are ever exposed to that.

So I think there’s an opportunity to reimagine Diaspora Jewry now that the Israel story doesn’t work, and it’s clear that it doesn’t work. Young American Jews are leaving or voting with their feet. They’re walking away. Israel-centric Judaism is in part responsible, although it’s not the whole story. Intermarriage is a big part of the story. The de-religionization of all groups is part of the story. But personally, I don’t see what a liberal American Jew would see in a Judaism that defines itself as it has for the past 50 years as defending Israel and remembering the Holocaust.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Mandy Patinkin to celebrate ‘Being Alive’ in Feb. 9 concert in New Bedford

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

A CONCERT “is my favorite thing to do, of all the things I do,” says Mandy Patinkin, the 70-year-old actor and singer. “It’s immediate. It’s in the moment. The audience defines the evening. That’s who I’m doing it for. It’s the first concert in three years, since before the pandemic. I thought, ‘We’re all feeling alive again. Let’s celebrate!’ ” Patinkin will perform his solo concert, “Being Alive,” on Feb. 9 at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, in New Bedford. The tour takes its name from a Stephen Sondheim song, and will feature Patinkin’s career-long specialties: Broadway hits and standards from the Great American Songbook. He is accompanied on the tour by pianist Adam Ben-David. Renowned as both an actor and singer, Patinkin’s career is difficult to pigeonhole. He is perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Inigo Montoya, the Spanish swashbuckler in the 1987 adventure-comedy film “The Princess Bride.” But among fans, the Chicago-born actor is known for his transmorphic range of characters: Dr. Jeffrey Geiger in “Chicago Hope,” an extraterrestrial detective in “Alien Nation,” and the voice of Papa Smurf in “The Smurfs,” among countless other roles.

Patinkin is also revered for his stage work: he created the role of Georges Seurat for the

Sondheim musical “Sunday in the Park with George,” winning a Tony Award for Best Actor in 1984.

Patinkin has also long explored his Judaism, both personally and as a performer. One of his breakout performances was as Avigdor in the 1983 film “Yentl,” for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe. On his second studio album, “Dress Casual,” Patinkin included the traditional Yiddish song “Yossel, Yossel.” He went on to record an entire album in Yiddish, titled “Mamaloshen” (“Mother Tongue”), a mix of folk tunes and translated songs by Jewish composers. “Mamaloshen” won a Deutschen Schallplattenpreis, Germany’s equivalent of a Grammy.

“The Jewish experience defines my experience,” Patinkin says, with his trademark intensity, during a recent phone interview. “I carry the history of my people with me, people I never met, relatives I never met, worlds I never encountered, but are in my DNA.”

Patinkin’s humanitarian work has also long included Jewish causes and themes. In 2005, he and his son Isaac, now 40, bicycled 264 miles across Israel to help raise funds for the environmental organizations Hazon and the Arava Institute. In 2015, he worked as a volunteer to help Syrian refugees in Greece. In 2020, he filmed political ads

for the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

“In the old days, I used to say [my Judaism] is about kindness and forgiveness, compassion and empathy,” Patinkin said, using the Yiddish word rachmanus But as time has passed, Patinkin says he focuses less on forgiving.

“People don’t need apologies and forgiveness. They need new action to repair the world. Fixing things. It’s become more active for me,” he says.

A powerful chapter in Patinkin’s career was also his most controversial. In 2005, he was cast as FBI profiler Jason Gideon in the television series “Criminal Minds.” Nearly every episode centered on grisly murders by serial killers, and Patinkin says he struggled with the role.

“I would probably be defined as a method actor; it’s connecting to something that is extremely alive and real in my imagination,” he says. “At times, my imagination is my reality. I look for things that connect me that are visceral, that matter to me. I look for

that connective tissue.”

During the production of “Criminal Minds,” Patinkin visited former concentration camps in Europe, a pilgrimage that deeply affected him.

In 2007, he abruptly left “Criminal Minds,” citing creative differences. The breach of contract caused a stir and bruised his reputation, but he says his decision bolstered his mental health.

“To connect to the horrible serial killer stories, the women and children that were being brutalized and murdered, I went to places I had visited, concentration camps in Europe, the images that were very strong in me,” Patinkin recalls. “I would often have to go there to be alive in a scene. Literally solving the most horrific crimes imaginable, it was comparable to what my people experienced. I couldn’t take it on a sustained basis.”

Patinkin followed up “Criminal Minds” with projects that spoke to him more, such as his lead role in “Compulsion,” Rinne Groff’s stage play about Anne Frank’s complicated legacy.

He returned to television in Showtime’s terrorism drama “Homeland,” based on the Israeli series “Hatufim.” This time, his character, CIA agent Saul Berenson, better matched the actor’s real-life sensibilities: a sensitive, caring man questing to mitigate future violence.

Patinkin has also performed solo concerts for decades, most recently his show “Diaries,” whose tone he describes as “a little bit darker.”

As 2023 begins, Patinkin is eager to hit the stage for the “Being Alive” tour, which will take him up and down the Eastern Seaboard, including the Feb. 9 concert in New Bedford.

“Being Alive” will spotlight uplifting musical numbers; Patinkin says that in each auditorium, he hopes to reach his audience with a message of hope.

“You only get one life,” muses Patinkin, who is a cancer survivor. “Don’t waste it. The people who wrote [these songs] designed them for guys like me, to be the messenger. I want four words on my tombstone: ‘He tried to connect.’ ”

For information and tickets for the Feb. 9 concert, go to Zeiterion.org.

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

Zoom presentation to explore Woonsocket’s stunning temple

GEORGE M. GOODWIN will give a free, illustrated Zoom talk, “Woonsocket’s Gorgeous but Little-Known Synagogue,” for members and guests of the Rhode Island Historical Society on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 1:30 p.m.

Even compared to Providence’s glorious Temple Beth-El, built in 1954, B’nai Israel, constructed eight years later, is one of New England’s outstanding examples of postwar synagogue architecture, Goodwin said.

The shul’s 30 stained glass windows, designed by the Israeli painter Avigdor Arikha, are among the very best in this country, he said, and there are many other notable features, including metalwork by Ludwig Wolpert that adorns both the sanctuary and the chapel.

Goodwin, a past president of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association, has edited its annual journal for 19 years. He is also a former trustee of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

The free Zoom talk is open to the public. To register, go to www.rihs.org. Goodwin’s detailed article about B’nai Israel, published in the February 2000 issue of the society’s journal, Rhode Island History, can also be found on the society’s website.

The program is part of a series initiated by the Rhode Island Historical Society’s satellite facility, the Museum of Work and Culture, in Woonsocket.

Mandy Patinkin

PHOTO | ROBERT ISENBERG

The gorgeous interior of B’nai Israel in Woonsocket.

PHOTO | GEORGE M. GOODWIN

COMMUNITY

Temple Beth-El to host Scout Shabbat on Feb. 20

BY PETER SHORE

THE NARRAGANSETT Council Jewish Committee on Scouting, in conjunction with Temple Beth-El, is holding its annual Scout Shabbat on Friday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. at Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

All current and former Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturers, Sea Scouts and their leaders are invited to attend. Current members are encouraged to attend in their Class A uniform. Former Scouts and leaders are also invited to come in uniform (if they still fit!). No registration is necessary.

Scout Shabbat is held each February in conjunction with the commemoration of the creation of the Boy Scouts of America, on Feb. 8, 1910, by an act of Congress.

Religious institutions of all faiths have partnered with BSA for over a century to sponsor Scout units for youths ages 6-10 (packs) and 11-18 (troops), with the understanding that all units welcome members regardless of their faith.

In the Scout Oath, Scouts promise to “do their duty to God,” and one of the 12 points of Scout Law is, “A Scout is reverent.”

Temple Beth-El has a long, storied history of supporting Scouting. Its Brotherhood sponsored a Scout troop and a Cub pack from 1954 through 1973. Dr. Melvin Hoffman, an Eagle Scout and a member of the congregation, was a

scoutmaster and later a committee chairman for Troop 40. He also developed the doctor-in-residence program at Yawgoog Scout Reservation, in Hopkinton, to ensure proper medical care for up to 1,200 Scouts, leaders and staff each week.

exhibit of Scouting memora bilia in its archives display, on the lower level, below the front foyer.

on Scouting oversees and maintains the Temple of the Ten Commandments and the Jewish chaplain’s cabin at Yawgoog, which is one of the few Scout camps in the United States with a full-time resident Jewish chaplain and program.

and a pack at Temple Beth-El, Scouts participated in the Scout Shabbat service. The committee would like to bring back this tradition. Scouts interested in partici pating should send an email to ncjcos@gmail.com, and be sure to copy in an adult –either a parent or adult leader – to comply with BSA Youth Protection guidelines.

PETER SHORE of the Jewish Committee on Scouting and a lifelong congregant of Temple Beth-El, where he earned the rank of Eagle as a member of Troop 40. He was the scoutmaster of Troop 104 when it was sponsored by the JCC from 1981 to 1999.

Scouts at Shabbat 2022

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Portraits of Jews from Amsterdam next Touro talk

This 1636 etching by Rembrandt is of Manoel Dias Soeiro, known by his Hebrew name, Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657). He was a Portuguese rabbi, Kabbalist, distinguished scholar, and founder of the first Hebrew printing press in Amsterdam in 1626. He played a significant role in the readmission of the Jews to England in 1655 and in shaping Jewish Sephardic culture in the Netherlands.

THE THIRD PROGRAM of the Winter 2022-2023 Judah Touro Program Series features Dr. Samantha Baskind, a professor of art history. Dr. Baskind’s talk, “Picturing Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews in 17th & 18th Century Amsterdam,” will be offered via Zoom on Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. Baskind will present the work of Rembrandt, Bernard Picart and several other artists who spent considerable time drawing and painting the Jewish residents of Amsterdam, both in the synagogue and as they went about their daily lives. Picart was one of the first to distinguish in his etchings between the Ashkenazi Jews of Germany and Eastern Europe and the Sephardic Jews of Portugal. The images produced and published by these artists give remarkable insight into the life and practices of the Jews who came to Newport in the colonial period.

Samantha Baskind is a Distinguished Professor of Art History at Cleveland State

University. She earned a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of North Carolina. She has a wide range of expertise in topics ranging from how Jews were depicted in art to their role as artists in American culture and has written prolifically on most of them. She was editor for U.S. art in the 26-volume “Encyclopaedia Judaica,” and has lectured widely at universities, museums and congregations throughout the United States and abroad.

There is no fee to participate, but reservations are required to receive the Zoom login information. To reserve, visit the “Program & Events” page at tourosynagogue.org, where you may also view recordings of past presentations, or use this link: https://tinyurl.com/ bdzcj85f. The program is presented by Touro Synagogue Foundation.

For more information, contact Meryle Cawley at 401-847-4794, extension 207, or meryle@tourosynagogue.org.

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON)

PHDS celebrates completion of renovations

BY RUCHAMA SZENDRO

FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS of the Providence Hebrew Day School gathered at the school on Jan. 22 to celebrate the completion of renovations throughout the building.

Tables in the school auditorium were set with elegant cloths and flowers, and guests enjoyed a beautifully presented sushi and poke-bowl buffet. During the reception, brief remarks were made by the master of ceremonies, Russell Raskin, past executive committee member; Rabbi Gidon Goldberg, the head of the school; and Rabbi Peretz Scheinerman, dean.

Rabbi Scheinerman then thanked all the donors who contributed to the PHDS building campaign, which raised over $2 million. He highlighted the following families and their contributions:

Charles Fradin received

a standing ovation in recognition of his family’s dedication of the Paul and Janet Fradin school entryway, on Elmgrove Avenue. When Scheinerman asked Charles Fradin if he would like to say a few words, he responded, “The Fradin family says little but does much, with love.”

Thanks to the generosity of the Goodblatt family, the main lobby of the school was completely rebuilt. Sherwin Goodblatt described his father’s devotion to establishing and maintaining the Providence Hebrew Day School: In his last directive, Sherwin’s father, Alta Hillel, charged his son to, “Take care of Mom. And take care of the school.”

Karen Hurvitz spoke eloquently about the important role that the study of science plays in the development of

capable, creative students. She expressed hope that the dedication of the fully refurbished Hurvitz Family Science Lab will motivate and excite the students of PHDS and the New England Academy of Torah high school.

Thanks to the Adler family’s contribution in memory of Betty and Carl Adler, the old school library has been transformed into a warm and inviting space with an open layout, new outer walls and storage. The Adlers also provided donations for window treatments throughout the school, to complement the new energy-efficient windows.

The Salmanson family was recognized for its support of Jewish education and the dedication of the Salmanson wing a few years ago.

Members of the school’s lay leadership were also

B UILDERS OF M OMENTS L IKE T HIS

recognized for their tireless devotion to PHDS and to the renovation project.

Assistance from the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and the state Emergency Management Agency Office of Homeland Security, funded many improvements to building security, including upgraded security systems.

The evening ended with tours of the school, showcasing the science lab, the library, the main entryway and lobby, and the beautifully remodeled pre-K classroom, which is brightly lit and has wonderful skylights and open space for children to learn, play and grow.

RUCHAMA SZENDRO lives in Providence and is on the board at Providence Hebrew Day School.

PHOTOS | PHDS

Sarah Uyttebroek, PHDS middle school and NEAT science teacher, teaches in the renovated science lab.

PHDS Pre-K students enjoy the new furniture in the renovated early childhood classroom.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

the psychologist Paul Mattiuzzi notes, attempting to rely on an institution for support carries inherent risks. ‘Filing a complaint carries the risk that you will be doubted, blamed, refused help and denied protection. People take the risk because they trust the institution to ‘fix it and make it right.’ When that trust is violated, the hurt can cut deep.” So many people have felt this hurt and have not known where to turn because the truth is, many organizations and people are more worried about looking good than doing good.

There is a tendency in our society to obsess over “what is in people’s hearts” when they behave badly. If they said something antisemitic, are they an antisemite? If they did something sexist, are they a misogynist? The fight over labeling people can miss the point — all we can judge people on are their actions. There is no way to truly know what is inside another person’s mind. “Being someone who caused harm is not a fixed identity – or at least it does not have to be,” Rabbi Ruttenberg points out.

To do the work of repentance is to change, to let go of “the story of ourselves as the hero” and write another story of redemption and transformation. “Maimonides teaches that perfect repentance is arriving at the place of harm and making different choices,” the book tells us. Perfect repentance is becoming a different person, one who does not cause harm.

What is the role of forgiveness in all of this? Ruttenberg points out that repentance and forgiveness are both acts that can be done outside of the relationship between perpetrator and victim. Indeed, it may often be inappropriate for the perpetrator to be in contact with the victim as it would cause that person more harm.

To repent is not to be forgiven. That is not the purpose of repentance as it still centers the perpetrator’s desires. Pressuring victims to forgive is simply asking that the problem go away. “So often, pressure to forgive comes with a minimizing of the harm caused, a refusal to see its full impact,” she writes.

Ruttenberg does a lovely job of parsing out the many terms we tend to conflate

with forgiveness. She writes: “It’s not about being willing to return the relationship to what it had been before the harm, and it’s not even about returning to any kind of relationship. Once again, that would be reconciliation, a whole other ball of wax.” A whole other ball of wax, and not the goal of repentance to begin with.

Victims, perpetrators and allies can all use this framework. For victims, the responsibility is in naming the harm, “If someone harms you, you must tell them, so that you don’t nurse the grudge or feel consumed by resentment,” the book states.

For allies the responsibility is to support the healing of the victim and the perpetrator, “The victim’s job is to take care of their own spiritual health; the ally’s job is to get into the trenches with the perpetrator,” the book continues.

A quote from Rabbi Ruti Reagan in the book puts it perfectly, “We can believe that offenders deserve support without making their victims responsible for providing it.’ ”

Being a good person is not about never causing harm, it is about repairing the harm you cause in a way that centers the needs of the person you’ve hurt. It is not about your desire to feel like a good person again.

There is so much harm that comes when people try to protect their idea of themselves, or their company, or their country as people or groups who would never hurt anyone.

If you are already good, what need do you have to become different? If you are already good, what you did must not have been so bad. If you are already good, perhaps the victim is the one in the wrong. If you are already good, who are you when that isn’t true?

Release your need to be good so that you may actually do good. “On Repentance and Repair” is just the book to help you get there.

SARAH GREENLEAF (sgreenleaf@jewishallianceri. org) is the digital marketing specialist for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and writes for Jewish Rhode Island.

Greater focus on the victim is key to repentance and repair

COMMUNITY

RIIC conference takes a deep dive into AI

BY SETH CHITWOOD

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Israel Collaborative (RIIC), with Brown University’s Applied Mathematics and Computer Science departments, on Jan. 24 held its first conference on the accelerating development of artificial intelligence.

The six-hour conference brought together AI researchers from Rhode Island and Israel to discuss innovations and trends in the field.

“AI allows us to unlock our phones with face recognition, it makes self-driving cars a reality. It helps physicians with tumors and medical images. It really has had a tremendous effect already on our daily lives,” said Prof. Björn Sandstede, chair of applied mathematics at Brown University.

“AI also poses a lot of challenges,” Sandstede continued. “You don’t really understand how it works, because it’s a black box, it’s opaque. You can’t really rationalize the decisions, and there’s a lack of transparency and accountability inherent to these algorithms.”

Avi Nevel, CEO and founder of RIIC, said it was wonderful to hold an in-person conference, post-pandemic, especially when AI has been a constant in the news.

On Jan. 23, ChatGPT, a 2-month-old AI chatbot, received a B grade on a paper written for a class in the Wharton MBA Program, and passed the U.S. medical-licensing exam and bar exam – leading critics to raise concerns that it could soon put many white-collar workers out of a job.

But, “We still have yet to figure out how to manage

the flood of AI-enabled disinformation and misinformation,” said Jill Pipher, Brown University vice president for research. “At Brown, machine learning and AI are really an important part of our research enterprise.”

Meron Reuben, the Israeli consul general to New England, spoke briefly about his hopes for AI in the future. He also talked about his late father, a neurosurgeon who kept his notes to himself or in his head.

“When he disappeared, that knowledge disappeared,” Reuben said. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that microchip of what he had learned would be able to be, if not transplanted, at least be looked into.”

Reuben said that when he was 17, he sat down with his grandmother to map out his entire family tree. He hopes that one day, AI can record memories and be a genealogist for families.

“I wouldn’t need to ask all the family members who’s who in the picture,” he said.

Israeli keynote speaker Regina Barzilay, a professor at MIT, spoke about her AI research into natural language processing, and applications for chemistry and oncology.

As for AI in Rhode Island, state Secretary of Commerce

Liz Tanner appeared in a video message highlighting R.I.’s current innovations in the field. For example, the state is at the forefront of digital government, looking into blockchain technology to hold digital credentials, she said.

Rhode Island’s e-permitting system will be fully operational in all 39 cities and

towns later this year – the first system in the country that allows for state processes to coordinate with municipal processes.

“This will create a streamlined experience for the applicant,” Tanner said.

R.I. Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos highlighted Gov. Dan McKee’s major life sciences development project. The plan is

with AI, we can play a large part in that role again.”

Adar Kahana, a data scientist at Brown University and Microsoft, was the moderator for the conference. He said that when he came to Rhode Island from Israel, he was amazed by the connections between two very small states that have such a large impact on the world.

professor and director of graduate studies in the computer science and statistics department at the University of Rhode Island; Govind Menon, a professor in applied mathematics at Brown; and Kira Radinsky, CEO and CTO at Diagnostic Robotics, whose U.S. headquarters is in East Providence.

to build a 212,000-squarefoot, seven-story building in Providence, funded in part by a $81.7 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control, to house Rhode Island’s new health lab, life and sciences labs for Brown University, and additional biotechnology space.

“Rhode Island is the birthplace of the [American] Industrial Revolution,” Matos said. “My belief is that now,

“It’s a very small state with a huge innovation, a lot of developments that have been done in past years,” he said of Rhode Island.

Additional participants included Amy Greenwald, a professor of computer science at Brown University; Alexander Fleischmann, an associate professor of brain science at the Brown University/Weizmann Institute; Marco Alvarez, an associate

Women’s Alliance grants available

THE WOMEN’S ALLIANCE Endowment Fund (WAEF) of the Jewish Federation Foundation of Greater Rhode Island is pleased to announce a request for proposals for 2023 Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund grants. Established in 1993, the WAEF benefits Jewish women and children by supporting educational, health,

cultural, and social services and programs worldwide.

More than 130 women have contributed to the fund.

The WAEF encourages proposals for new or existing programs and services that benefit Jewish women and/or children and have the potential for long-term impact.

Grants may fund, for example, program-specific sup -

plies/equipment, specialized staff, travel, etc. Grants will not be awarded for administration equipment/supplies or payroll, for multi-year funding, or to organizations that have been operating for less than two years.

All Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and overseas Jewish organizations, agencies and

synagogues whose mission aligns with that of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island may submit grant requests. WAEF encourages applicants to find community partners, which need not be Jewish in affiliation. For overseas proposals, preference is given to those providing services in our partner regions of Warsaw, Poland /

“I think what’s great about this event is it brings people together, researchers from academia and from industry from Rhode Island and Israel, to talk about both the technical advances and the societal challenges that this [AI] poses,” Sandstede said. “This will stimulate discussions and collaboration that carry us to the future.”

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

Afula-Gilboa, Israel / Rosario, Argentina.

Interested organizations are welcome to request applications by emailing endowment@jewishallianceri.org. Proposals are due by March 1, 2023. To discuss a potential proposal, contact Jennifer Zwirn at jzwirn@jewishalliance.org or 401-421-4111 ext.102.

‘[this event] brings people together... to talk about both the technical advances and the societal challenges that this [AI] poses’

Israeli Consul General to New England Ambassador Meron Reuben speaks

PHOTOS SETH CHITWOOD

Keynote speaker Amy Greenwald, professor of Computer Science at Brown University, addresses the conference.

OBITUARIES

Willene Bear

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. – Willene (Rabinowitz) Bear passed away at the end of December 2022. Born in Providence, she had been a resident of Thousand Oaks since 1961.

Willene was the daughter of Perry and Hilda (Swartz) Rabinowitz. She is survived by her daughter Kelly Koffler and granddaughter Kelly Koffer, both of California. She was predeceased by brother Melvin Rabinowitz

Willene was a 1957 graduate of Hope High School. She went on to become a ranked tennis player and a recognized landscape architect. Contributions may be made to your favorite charity.

Doris Einhorn, 88

WARWICK, R.I. – Doris M. Einhorn died Jan. 15, 2023, at Rhode Island Hospital. She was the wife of the late Jerry Einhorn. Born in Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of the late William and Esther (Freedman) Krieger, she had lived in Warwick for many years, previously living in Delray Beach, Florida, for 17 years.

She was a salesperson at Filene’s Department Store for 23 years, retiring in 1994. Doris was a graduate of Hope High School, class of ’52. She was a volunteer for ORT and the Cancer Society.

She was the mother of Debra Shapiro and her husband, Joseph, of West Warwick; Steven Einhorn and his partner, Cindy, of Warwick; and Robert Einhorn, of North Providence. She was the sister of the late Shirley Levin. She was the grandmother of Daniel, Jonathon, Kristen, Troy and Dale. She was the great-grandmother of Jacob, Brayden, Mila and Alexandra.

Contributions may be made to HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice, 1085 N. Main St., Providence, RI 02904.

Linda Friedman, 79

OWINGS MILLS, MD. –Linda Friedman, of Owings Mills, passed away at Sinai Hospital on Jan. 22, 2023, after 14 months of health complications. She was the daughter of the late Milton and Pauline (Peskin) Kaufman. She was raised in Cranston before moving to  Virginia,  and resided in Maryland for over 40 years. She is survived by her

devoted husband, Edward Friedman; loving children, Matthew (Andrea) Friedman of Owings Mills, and Joshua (Leslie) Friedman of Hanover, Pennsylvania; loving siblings, William (Meri) Kaufman, of Warwick, and Marion (Mark) Woolf, of Cranston. She also leaves her precious grandchildren, Darren, Olivia and Logan, nieces and nephews and longtime friends.

Linda spent most of her working years performing office work, both in Rhode Island and Maryland. She worked for many years for the Baltimore County Public Schools, beginning as a lunch lady and then in the office of a variety of schools. She was well-loved by everyone.

Linda and Ed loved to travel and were frequent cruise passengers. She loved to shop and was a queen at getting things with coupons or on sale. She was very generous and always buying for others especially her grandchildren. She especially enjoyed her summers when she could go to the pool daily and was able to develop many friendships there. When visiting Rhode Island, she had several things she had to do. The beach and a casino visit were her priorities. And going to Iggy’s Doughboys and having Chinese food, lobster and coffee ice cream were a must.

Donations in her memory may be made to a charity of your choice.

Janice Gadon, 90 CRANSTON, R.I – Janice J. (Brosofsky)

Gadon, of Cranston, passed away on Dec. 26, 2022.

Born and raised in Providence, Janice was the daughter of the late Harry and Dora (Fineman) Brosofsky and the stepdaughter of the late Bessie (Spigel) Brosofsky. After graduating from Hope High School in 1950, she attended the University of Rhode Island, earning a bachelor’s degree in English in 1972.

Janice met her husband, Harold Gadon, in 1953. Both had lost their parents early in their childhood, cultivating a true love that lasted over 69 years.

Janice worked various jobs throughout her career, including at the Katharine Gibbs School as a successful career placement counselor. After retirement, she became

a professional resume writer. She also had a passion for volunteering at many organizations, including the League of Woman Voters, Opportunities for Women, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cranston Public Library, and she mentored young students in the Cranston and Providence school systems.

An avid reader and writer, Janice enjoyed monthly book club meetings and card game nights that she hosted and attended. She also enjoyed yoga, tennis and cross-country skiing. Janice was the ultimate host and cook, hosting multiple Thanksgivings, holiday parties and social gatherings.

Janice was an active member of the Cranston Jewish community as a member of Temple Sinai for over 50 years.

Jan, as her close friends called her, enjoyed many vacations with her family in the mountains of Vermont and on the beaches of Cape Cod. Her and Harold’s goal was simple: to bring family together, something they both felt was one of the most important parts of their life. What Janice lacked in size, she made up for in heart. She fiercely loved her family as the true matriarch of the Gadon family.

Janice is survived by her three children: Charles Gadon and his wife, Joanne, of Old Saybrook, Connecticut; Jane Breslau and her husband, Howard, of Needham, Massachusetts; and Brenda Lewis and her husband, Michael, of East Greenwich. She was the grandmother of Jake, Robert and Alice Gadon; and Mitchell and Max Breslau; and step-grandmother of Gianna and Nick Cusano.

She was the sister of Alan Brosofsky and the late Rebecca Brosofsky and Joseph Brosofsky and loving aunt of many nieces and nephews.

Contributions may be made to Hope Alzheimer’s Center, 25 Brayton Ave., Cranston, RI 02920; Tamarisk Assisted Living, 3 Shalom Dr., Warwick, RI 02886; or a charity of your choosing.

Rhoda Grover, 85 WARWICK, R.I. – Rhoda Ann Grover passed away on Dec. 22, 2022, at Kent Hospital, in Warwick. She was born on May 28, 1937. She was the

mother of David Carl Grover. Born in Providence, she was the daughter of the late Fanny (Phillips) and Charles Hurwitz. She recently lived in West Warwick, previously living in Cranston and, prior to that, in Providence.

In her younger years, she was a member of ORT (Organization through Rehabilitation and Training). She worked for the Department of Health and Human Services. She volunteered at Hoxie Four Corners assisting people with housing issues. Later in life, she worked at The Seasons Retirement Home as a receptionist and greeter. She enjoyed spending time at the Senior Center playing mahjong and Hi Lo Jack, and also spending time with her “grand-dogs”: Fritz, Mindy and Bentley. She is survived by her son, David; her brother, Errol Hurwitz, and his wife, Ruth; her niece, Lisa Lepine, and her husband, Al Lepine; her nephew, Steven Hurwitz, and his wife, Barbra; and her grand-niece, Julia Bonn, and grandnephew, Jake Bonn.

Contributions may be made to https://www.kidney.org/.

Karina Halpert, 78

LAKE KATRINE, N.Y. –Karina S. Halpert, of Lake Katrine, passed away after a prolonged illness at Heath Alliance Hospital in Kingston, New York, on Jan. 17, 2023. Born of Latvian descent,

Karina was born in BadNauheim, Germany, on Jan. 1, 1945, daughter of the late Janis Veselis and late Olga (Breicis) Veselis. Karina arrived in the United States at the age of 4 along with her mother and sister. The family lived in Manhattan, New York.

Karina met her first husband, the late Larry M. Hrichi, who immigrated to the United States from Morocco as a young adult, in Manhattan. They married in Manhattan in 1967 and had two children, daughter Shadia and son Samir. The family moved several times, living in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Nevada and Morocco, before returning to the United States and settling in New York.

On Dec. 24, 1978, Karina met Richard (Dick) S. Halpert, a retired architect, who grew up in Rhode Island. They married on Sept. 3, 1989. Karina and Dick shared their home in Lake Katrine and loved to travel. In addition to traveling, Karina enjoyed gardening, music, art and spending time with her three grandchildren, Samara (16), Silvio (14), and Shadia (11).

Karina graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a BA in Fine Arts, was a longtime member of ASK (Art Society of Kingston), and was a talented artist of oil and watercolor paintings.

She is survived by Dick, her loving companion of 44 years, her two beloved children, Shadia Hrichi, an author living in Northern California,

OBITUARIES

and Samir Hrichi, owner of Ship to Shore Restaurant in Kingston, her three grandchildren, as well as her loving sister Aija Blumfelds, nieces, nephews, and other family and friends.

Priscilla Jaffe, 80 WOODSTOCK, CONN. – Priscilla (Guttin) Jaffe passed away on Jan. 9, 2023, at her home. She was the wife of Robert

Jaffe for 50 years before his passing in 2015. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, she was a daughter of the late Alexander and Alice (Brookstone) Guttin.

Priscilla spent her formative years in Rhode Island and graduated from Classical High School with honors. She went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in history and English at the University of Rhode Island in 1964. Following graduation, Priscilla taught history for several years in Hartford

before moving back to Rhode Island with her husband, Robert, to raise their family. In 1985, she moved to Connecticut with her family, this time relocating to Woodstock. Priscilla loved rural living and really enjoyed the people and community.

Priscilla was a firm believer in small business. She helped Bob successfully run two pharmacies, first in Rhode Island and later in Connecticut. As a child and young adult, she also worked in her father’s bakery where she learned to bake and decorate cakes, a hobby which she would enjoy for most of her life. Although she did maintain a small business selling cakes, much of her energy was devoted to being the family “cake maker.” Many family milestones were celebrated with Priscilla’s cakes, which were beautiful, delicious and baked with love.

Priscilla also loved to travel, particularly in the United States. Her love of American history was apparent in many of her chosen destinations. Multiple family vacations were spent visiting battlefields and historic sites in this country. After retirement, she and Bob took many trips to different domestic destinations.

Her first love was her family. She never missed the opportunity to host a family celebration.

Priscilla was the mother of Naomi and her husband, Theodore Roy, of Woodstock, as well as Jordan Jaffe and his wife, Deborah, of Barrington. She was the sister of the late William and Dinah Guttin. She was the grandmother of six: A.J., Andrew, Jacob, Alan, Alison and Jackson. She was the aunt of Rachel and her husband, Jeremy Graves. Most recently, she was blessed with two exceptional caregivers, CariAnn and Patricia, with whom she laughed and enjoyed her days.

Contributions may be made to Parkinson’s Foundation at www.parkinson.org.

Nina Newman

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. –Nina Newman died peacefully at her home in Narragansett on Jan. 27, 2023, surrounded by her family. She was married to David Newman for 62 years. Mrs. Newman was a survivor of the Holocaust and immigrated to the United States with her husband and elder son in 1949. She and her husband raised their family in Providence and later moved

to Narragansett to the beautiful home that her husband and younger son built.

She was the mother of Leonard Newman and his wife, June Newman, of Wakefield and Michael Newman and his wife, Lisa Newman, of Warwick. She was the grandmother of Jacob, Peter and Benjamin Newman and the great-grandmother of six, all of whom brought her great joy and happiness.

Beth Orson, 65 VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Beth Orson passed away on Dec. 14, 2022. An accomplished musician and teacher, she played Assistant Principal Oboe and English Horn with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) for 31 years. She served on the faculty at the UBC School of Music and as Oboe Coach at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Beth held dual Canadian and U.S. citizenship.

Beth grew up in Rhode Island in a family that nurtured creativity and independent thinking. When she was 6, she began studying piano. During middle school, the local youth orchestra asked if she’d try the oboe – and that was it. Just days later, Beth informed her parents she’d need a top-notch teacher because she wanted a life in music.

She graduated from Oberlin Conservatory and was the winner of the Oberlin Concerto Competition. Beth was Principal Oboe of the NY Symphonic Ensemble from 1988-2005 and completed 19 tours to Japan.

On English horn, her solo performances with the VSO included the US and Canadian premieres of Bramwell Tovey’s “The Progress of Vanity” composed for her.

Before moving to Vancouver, she worked as a freelance musician in New York City and regularly performed with the Metropolitan and NYC Opera orchestras and on Broadway.

Beth was secretary of the BC Whippet Racing Club and devoted to her dogs. She was a runner and helped to organize the VSO’s team in the Vancouver Sun Run each year. She loved to cook and was an avid gardener.

Beth was the daughter of the late Jay and Barbara Orson. She is survived by her husband, Robert Elner; stepdaughter, Julia Elner; twin

sister and brother-in-law, Diane Orson and Tim Moran; brother and sister-in-law, Ted Orson and Iris van der Walde; niece and nephews, Emily and Max Moran, and Jacob and Joshua Orson. She also leaves behind her faithful whippets, Plox and Preston.

Contributions may be made to BC Cancer Foundation or to the Order of St. John Palliative Care Foundation.

Ruth Perlow, 94

TAMARAC, FLA. – Ruth E. Perlow died Dec. 31, 2022, at Active Senior Living, in Tamarac. She was the wife of the late Harold Perlow. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Henry and Ada (Broomfield) Davis, she had lived in Florida for 35 years, previously living in Cranston. She was the mother of Jeffry Perlow (Ann), of Naples, Florida, and Edward Perlow, of Tamarac. She was the sister of Roslyn Gabrilowitz, of Narragansett; Maurice Davis, of Warwick; and the late Seymour Davis. She was the mother of the late Michael Perlow, of Reno, Nevada.

Contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, 1 State St., #200, Providence, RI 02908 or Alzheimer’s Association, 245 Waterman St., #306, Providence, RI 02906.

David Regenstein, 93

BARRINGTON, R.I. – David Regenstein, of Barrington, died on Dec. 15, 2022. He was born in Munich, Germany, on Sept. 19, 1929, to Lisl and Ludwig Regensteiner. He immigrated to the United States with his parents and siblings, Max and Hannah, in 1937. They settled in Providence, where he graduated from Hope High School.

His college years at Brown University were interrupted by the Korean conflict when his reserve unit was called up, and he served in Germany until 1952. Upon his return, he completed his studies, graduating from Brown in 1953 with a degree in chemistry (class of ’51).

He worked at Northeast Paper Converting Company and then purchased and ran a Meineke Muffler franchise, in Warwick. After closing this business, he pursued his passion for cards by working as a casino dealer and managing the RI Bridge Club.

David was an avid tennis player and competed in many Barrington tournaments. He

Certified by the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island Jacquelyn Aubuchon, Funeral Director

OBITUARIES

was skilled at chess, playing many times a week until his love of bridge was rekindled. He played in tournaments across the country, achieving Gold Life Master status in 1993. In his final years, he played online daily and had a regular game at the Barrington Senior Center. As a member of the Viking Bridge Club, he was known for mentoring and teaching those new to the game, and he impressed many that he could transition to online playing at age 90.

He is survived by his daughters, Lisa Rector and Anne Regenstein; four grandchildren, Christopher, Caitlin, Talia and Jacob; his former wife, Gabrielle Regenstein; and his longtime close friend, Ina Lazarus. His second wife, Charyl Gilbard Regenstein, predeceased him in 1997.

Contributions may be made to HopeHealth Hospice, 1085 N. Main St., Providence, RI 02904.

Eleanor Ross

PAWTUCKET, R.I. – Eleanor Marilyn Ross, of Pawtucket, passed away on Jan. 2, 2023, at Briarcliffe Manor, in Johnston. She was the wife of the late Malvern (Mal) Ross. They were married for 68 years.

Born in Providence, she was the daughter of the late Samuel and Betty (Wainshalbaum) Young. She is survived by her son, David Ross, of Lincoln, and her grandson, Michael Ross. She was the sister of the late Marjorie Leif and Paul Young. A graduate of Hope High School, she went on to graduate from Edgewood Secretarial School as a medical secretary.

She enjoyed playing the piano and was an avid reader of fiction and history. Eleanor and Mal loved traveling and traveled extensively within the U.S. and Europe. Eleanor was a member of Temple Beth-El and a former member of Temple Emanu-El. She was a member of the Cranston Senior Guild and a former member of Barker Players for many years.

Contributions may be made to your favorite charity.

Helene Scheff, 83 PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Helene Scheff, of Blackstone Boulevard, died Jan. 27, 2023, at The Miriam Hospital. She was the beloved wife of Edward Scheff for 64 years.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of the late David and Ray (Feingold) Kahn, she had lived in North Kingstown for 51 years, previously living in Warwick and Amherst, Massachusetts.

She was a dance educator and administrator for 55 years. Helene attended Brooklyn College. She was a member of Temple Shalom, Dance Alliance of RI, National Dance Education Organization and La Leche League International.

She was the devoted mother of Cantor Fredric Scheff and his wife, Carrie, of North Providence; Jordan Scheff and his wife, Elizabeth, of Vernon, Connecticut; Daniel Scheff and his wife, Kris, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts; and Carolyn Steward and her husband, Matthew, of Warwick. She was the dear sister of Regina Miller and her husband, Donald, of Hartford, Connecticut, and Bryna Perlman and her husband, Daniel, of Carbondale, Colorado. She was the loving grandmother of 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild and adoring aunt and cousin.

Contributions may be made to National Dance Education Organization, 8609 Second Ave., Suite #203B, Silver Spring, MD.

Polly Wachtenheim, 97 PALM BEACH, FLA. – Polly (Schoenfeld) Wachtenheim, of Palm Beach, formerly of Providence, passed away on Dec. 22, 2022. She spent 60 years married to Eugene Wachtenheim, who predeceased her.

Polly was born in Dresden, Germany, to David and Esther Schoenfeld. At a very young age, Polly moved with her parents and younger sister, Eva, to Brussels, Belgium. In 1939, the family moved to New York City. In her twenties, Polly met Eugene, who asked her to marry him on their first date; they wed in 1947. They moved to Providence, where Eugene joined his brothers in a fashion jewelry and Austrian crystal business.

Polly’s life in Rhode Island revolved around her three children and lifelong friends. She dedicated herself to charities, including The Miriam Hospital and Jewish Federation of Rhode Island. Polly and Eugene were members of Temple Emanu-El, of Provi-

dence, and Temple Emanu-El of Palm Beach. As a member of Ledgemont Country Club, Polly enjoyed playing golf and socializing. Her canasta games were legendary as she played for hours every week. She and Eugene traveled the world and enjoyed cruising to many different destinations.

Polly’s greatest joy was her family. She is survived by three children: Linda Schwarz and her husband, Robert, of Chappaqua, New York; Stanley Wachtenheim and his wife, Mindy, of Miami Beach; and Denise Lewis, of Fairfield, Connecticut. She’s also survived by six grandchildren: David Schwarz, married to Sarah; Allison Group, married to Scott; Arielle Werner, married to Nicholas; Denille Sachs, married to Jordan; Remi Wachtenheim Feld, married to Steven; and Kimberly Gluck, married to Darren.

Polly was blessed with 10 great-grandchildren: Charles and Brody Schwarz; Evan, Scarlett and Juliette Group; Lucas and Mila Werner; Annabelle and Lila Sachs; and Isadore Gluck. She was the grandmother of the late Michael Lewis; mother-in-law

of the late William Lewis, M.D.; and sister of the late Eva Jacobson. She also is survived by many beloved nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

Contributions may be made to Temple Emanu-El of Palm Beach, 190 N. County Rd., Palm Beach, FL 33480 or the Simon Wiesenthal Center, 1399 South Roxbury Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90035 or Hadassah Medical Center, Attn: Donor Services, 40 Wall St. 8th FL, New York, NY 100051304.

Tanya Wallick, 94 BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. – Tanya (Hochberg) Wallick, of Boynton Beach, passed away on Dec. 30, 2022. She was the wife of the late Haskell Wallick. Born in Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of the late Saul and Helen (Rechin) Hochberg, she spent her early youth in Forest Hills, New York, before moving to Fall River, Massachusetts, when she was 15 years old.

A graduate of B.M.C.

Durfee High School, Class of 1946, she became a founder of her family business “Tanya Creations,” a jewelry manufacturing company. She assisted with business operations for many years before retiring.

Survivors include three sons, Marc Wallick and his wife, Bobbie J., of Warwick; Dale Wallick and his wife, Martha, of Lincoln; and Peter Wallick and his wife, Trinidad, of Barrington; nine grandchildren, Leah Wallick Bassin and her husband, Eliot, of West Hartford, Connecticut; Adam Wallick, of Chicago, Illinois; Julie Wallick, of New York, New York; Brett Wallick and his wife, Kourtney, of Riverside; Devon Wallick, of Washington, D.C.; Kyle Wallick, of Bristol; Evan Wallick, of Providence; Tyler Wallick, of Barrington; and Madison Wallick, of Barrington; three great-grandchildren, George Wallick and Bryce and Hayden Bassin. She was the sister of the late Cyril Hochberg.

Contributions may be made to ASPCA, P.O. Box 96929, Washington, DC 20090-6929 or Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, KS 66675-8516.

This Month in History JEWISH

Local Legionnaire

IN 1976, Philip Paige was known locally as the owner of the PaigeYoung Furniture Company in Cranston. But decades earlier, a 16-year-old Paige had enlisted to fight in World War I, not with the U.S. Army, but with a branch of the British armed services informally known as the Jewish Legion. Paige was shipped off to Egypt, where he helped guard thousands of Turkish and German prisoners-of-war and met a young David Ben Gurion, who would become first prime minister of Israel. Only diehard military historians have heard of the Jewish Legion, but at its height the combined battalions had 5,000 active members and saw action at the Battle of Megiddo in what was then northern Palestine.