Southern Jewish Life, Deep South, February 2021

Southern Jewish Life

Feb./Mar. 2021 Volume 31 Issue 2

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

shalom y’all How do you solve a problem like Marjorie Taylor Greene?

The newly elected Congresswoman from Georgia went to Washington with considerable baggage from her professed following of QAnon conspiracy theories, which include some traditional antisemitic elements.

What made her a meme and part of the national consciousness was her 2018 assertion that the massive California forest fires were started so paths could be cleared for high-speed rail lines, by focused sunlight from objects in orbit launched by the Rothschilds, the ones who were the big daddy of alleged Jewish conspiracies before there was George Soros. Though not quite an accurate portrayal of her remarks, “Jewish space lasers” became all the rage.

The House recently stripped her of her committee assignments as a way of showing disapproval over her remarks.

In meetings before the vote, Greene apparently told her colleagues that she “regrets” that she was “allowed to believe things that weren’t true,” whatever that means, and that she had stopped believing in QAnon conspiracies in 2018.

Well, since that was a major issue throughout her campaign, it’s good that she finally let people know that, two months after the election. And it wasn’t exactly a repudiation of her former beliefs, either.

In the vote, only 11 of her fellow Republicans voted to strip her of committee assignments, including none of the ones from our region. That will be something to talk about next time they show up touting how they “stand with Israel and the Jewish people in the fight against antisemitism.”

Admittedly, part of the equation is the philosophical question of whether it is a good idea for the full House to be voting on stripping a rogue party member of committee assignments, a role usually left up to the party in question. Will this now be wielded against political opponents as a matter of routine? But the fact remains that the Republicans punted when given the opportunity to clean this up themselves.

Many have charged the Democrats with hypocrisy, given that not only are Reps. Ilhan

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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commentary

MESSAGES

Maccabi USA leader praises Birmingham Games

I have had the honor of attending many Maccabi competitions around the world. From Israel Omar and Rashida not censured for the an-JCC East events are around rapidlythe becoming part of to Australia to SouthTlaib America, Europe and Maccabi games United States tisemitic remarks, are many celebrated party which has far and Canada, I havethey logged miles as seeing howmainstream, sports can beaccepted a vehicle thought, to help build Jewish rock stars.

And in in the before this issue more serious implications. identity, especially ourdays young. went to press, various Democratic representaWhat about both parties finally doing I felt honored to come to Birmingham for the first time and fell in love with not just the city tives accused Israel of burning down Palestin- something to combat antisemitism in their but the people. You have taken Southern hospitality to a new level with your kind and caring ian villages, having a racist policy to withhold ranks, and make antisemitism unacceptable approach to the JCC Maccabi Games.

Covid vaccines from Palestinians, or being the again? From both sides? And stop using Jews Ledof byantisemitism the Sokol andbecause Helds, your hard-working volunteers were wonderful. They partnered cause of alleged mis- as political footballs? with your outstanding staff, led by Betzy Lynch, to make the 2017 JCC Maccabi a hugecomhit. treatment of the Palestinians.

Right now, where can the games U.S. Jewish I want take this opportunity as executive director of Maccabi to say thank you on behalf Suchtocomplaints are dismissed as “whatmunity turn inUSA the search for a political home? of everyone involved. aboutism, ” but while Greene’s beliefs are universally acknowledged as 20th several candles I had just returned from the World Maccabiah games in Israel with a U.S. delegation of short of a Chanukiah, the dual loyalty tropes over 1100, who joined 10,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries. Back in July the eyes of the entire and complete misrepresentation Brook, Jewish world were on Jerusalem and of theMiddle Maccabiah. This pastLawrence month with 1000Publisher/Editor athletes and coaches from around the world being in Birmingham, you became the focal point.

letters

Everyone from the Jewish community and the community at large, including a wonderful police force, are to be commended. These games will go down in history as being a seminal moment for the Jewish community as we build to the future by providing such wonderful Jewish memories.

How can Jews oppose Israel’s existence? a recent letter (“SJL needs to respect difJedInMargolis fering views on Zionism, ” USA December 2020), Executive Director, Maccabi J.A. Bernstein was offended by an article that equates anti-Zionism and antisemitism. I feel Onumbrage.

Charlottesville his No observant Jew wants to be called an antisemite simply because he opposes Editor’s Note: This reaction the events Zionism, a movement thattosupports theinestabCharlottesville, writtenstate

by Jeremy Newman, lishment of a Jewish in biblical Israel, by Master of are the Semites.

Alpha Epsilon Pi Theta Colony Jews who at He Auburn University, AEPi argues that he iswas notshared alone.by“Millions of National, whichthe called it “very eloquent” and are people around world, many of whom praised “our brothers at AEPiZionism.

Theta Colony Jews, legitimately question ” Thenat he Auburn University and… the leadership theyJews tells us before 1948 “nearly all American display on their ” Jewish organizations and nearly all ofcampus. the major were staunchly Anti-Zionist.” However, he offers no references. My research, however, shows White supremacy has been awho cancer on a very long list of organizations supported our country sincethen its beginning, Zionism strongly, and now. Athreatening partial list is: its hopes, its values, and its better angels.Zionist American Jewish Congress, American The events that took place in Charlottesville Movement, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, represented the worst this nation.

Those Jewish Federation of of North America, Zionist who marched of onto the streets with tiki Organization America, Union for torches Reform and swastikas did so Union, to provoke violence and Judaism, Orthodox United Synagogue fear.

Those who marched onto the streets did of of Conservative Judaism, Religious Zionists so to profess an ideology that harkens back to America, World Zionist Organization, World a bleaker, more wretched timeUnion. in our history.

Jewish Congress, World ORT A There time when men and women of many creeds, are many more.

It is easy to research races, and religions were far from equal andperfar their mission statements. I’m not sure what from safe in our own borders.

A time where centage of Jews they represent but it has to be lived under of a constant cloudSo of BeraAmericans stunning percentage world Jewry. racism, anti-Semitism and pervasive hate.

The nstein is wrong. There was very strong Jewish events that took place in Charlottesville served support for Israel in the 1940s. asHe a reminder relevant then tellsof ushow that painfully “huge segments of these the Orissues are today. reject Zionism.” That is simthodox community plyAuburn’s false. Anyway, 10 percent American Alpha only Epsilon Pi standsofwith the Jews arecommunity Orthodox. of The chief opposersand of Israel Jewish Charlottesville, are Karta and Satmar withthe theNeturei Jewish people around the Hasidim country but they comprise percent of with all Jews. and around themaybe world.half Wea also stand the Further, who he argues that Albert minorities are targeted by theEinstein, hate that our foremost Jewishinluminary, opposed was on display Charlottesville.

WeIsrael. standTrue, he didtheatminorities first, because as a pacifist he was apwith of whom these white 4 February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

palled at the tactics of the Irgun and LEHI. But Bernstein fails to mention that Einstein recanted in May 1948. When Truman recognized Israel, Einstein declared it “the fulfillment of our supremacists would like to see pushed back Jewish dreams, and no one respects those who into a corner and made to feel lesser. We stand do not fight for their own rights.” with and pray for the family of Heather Heyer, So yes, there are millions who oppose Israel’s who was there standing up to the face of this existence. Most of them are Christians and Mushate. lims. We call them antisemites because Israel is Weoccupied recognizebytheSemites essence—of athe American now cognate which narrative a two-century struggle to rid in modernastimes refers to old Jews.

And I’m sorry such corners,are andJews, allowbut those ifourselves some ofofthe opposers theyinare themantisemites the seat at the that they so deserve. also by table definition.

Such a conunIt is the struggle fulfill the promise of the drum always andtounfortunately reminds me of Declaration Independence, that “all are what my BarofMitzvah rabbi warned memen — that created with the mostequal… vicious endowed opponentsbyoftheir this Creator new country certainnot unalienable rights.” Weand know our work would only be Christians Muslims but is farJews. fromI didn’t finished, but we also believe himknow then;we butwill I donot now. move I ambackwards. perplexed how any Jew can oppose Israel as aWhen state.men It is the of aarmed, devout take Cathoandequivalent women, fully lic opposing sanctitywith of the Vaticanand City. Or to the streetsthe in droves swastikas aother Muslim denying the itright of Saudi Arabia symbols of hate, is a reminder of howto serve as the guardian of sacred Muslim shrines relevant the issues of racism and anti-Semitism at and areMedina today. It is aMecca. wake-up call to the work that As perplexed am, Iarespect Bernstein’s needs to be doneas to Iensure better, more right to his country. opinion, But but itheshould must not respect other welcoming come people’s rights also.

The Torah instructs without a reflection on how far we’ve come.Jews often to be tolerant and engage in dialogue. was born a slave us, nation.

A century ButAmerica the Talmud also warns Kol Yisrael areintozeh ourbaseh history a war in part vin —we all engaged Jews are in responsible to one to ensureApparently we would not continue as one. another.

Einstein reached theWe same found ourselves confronted by the issue of civil conclusion. He was even offered the presidency rights, and embarked on a mission to ensure of Israel. theThe fairplanet treatment of all peoples no matter their is teeming with more and more skin color.

Although we’ve made great strides, antisemites and vile opposers of Israel. Are it is a not mission we’re still grappling with today. there enough evil forces once again bent on Jewish extinction?

Jews have to America was alsoWhy borndo ansome immigrant join suchAs forces? not only anmany oxymoron, it country. early It asisthe pilgrims, is grotesque and suicidal. groups and families found in the country the Ennis M.D. opportunity to plant stakes, Calvin chase their future, Miss. and be themselves. Few were Pascagoula, met with open

January 2021 February 2021

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agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events

Slicing kosher corned beef for sale at B’nai Israel in Pensacola on Dec. 29.

The congregation is continuing to make Stanley’s Soups on Tuesdays as a fundraiser toward a new roof.

In the Interim Levite JCC announces interim executive director, Day School embarks on search After a year that included a facility shutdown and limited capacity ever since, the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham is looking to a brighter year, with an interim executive director in place as discussions begin on a permanent successor to Samantha Dubrinsky, who stepped down at the end of the year to take over a JCC in Massachusetts.

Aimee Johnson was named as the interim executive director as of Feb. 2.

From 2015 to 2020, Johnson has been executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association Alabama chapter. Before that, she spent almost nine years as executive director of the local American Diabetes Association affiliate. She has also headed the local American Cancer Society and Community Health Charities.

The N.E. Miles Jewish Day School announced that it will have an interim director for the 2021-22 school year, and a search has begun. Debra Abolafia is stepping down as head of school at the end of this school year.

The LJCC shut its doors for over two months in the early days of the Covid pandemic as quarantines were ordered. On June 1, the LJCC reopened with strict capacity limits and almost all facilities by appointment.

At the LJCC annual meeting, held virtually on Jan. 17, President Jesse Unkenholz said the LJCC is being recognized “as a superhero in our community” for its activities during the pandemic, and United Way of Central Alabama awarded the institution with “a very significant grant” to support those efforts.

The LJCC was a weekly distribution point for food boxes, provided lunches for students who no longer were receiving them when schools shut down, and with the Early Childhood program closed, set up day programs for children of essential workers.

The LJCC, led by Dubrinsky, took the lead in developing reopening protocols and procedures that “became the plan that got distributed not

only to non-profits in north and central Alabama, but to JCCs nationwide,” Unkenholz said.

To remember how the LJCC reached out under Dubrinsky’s leadership, a fund in her name has been established at the Birmingham Jewish Foundation to support LJCC outreach to the greater community, “that the JCC has always had as part of its mission, but especially over the last year has proved how serious it is about that,” Unkenholz said.

Unkenholz thanked the membership for continuing to support the institution during an unprecedented situation.

Treasurer Hilton Berger said that by September, membership dues were 82 percent of what they had been before the pandemic, putting the LJCC in better shape than many other institutions. With a strict eye on spending, and an emphasis on fundraising, the LJCC paid down 23 percent of its debt last year, and “our financial future in 2021 is manageable,” with full recovery anticipated this year or next year.

The LJCC received PPP funds for 130 employees and was working on the second round this year.

While 2020 taught everyone that planning can go only so far, Unkenholz said the LJCC will work to increase programming this year, and there will be an opening for a Director of Jewish Life.

The former courtyard has been repurposed as an outdoor space for Covid-safe activities, and additional fitness equipment has been brought outside, near the outdoor pool.

Danny Cohn, CEO of the Birmingham Jewish Federation, is now also the LJCC’s chief visioning officer, and Unkenholz said that with the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School also experiencing an upcoming professional transition, there will be a lot more exploration of community-wide strategies and collaboration. He also noted that the LJCC had a lot of cross-collaboration with Collat Jewish Family Services last year.

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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As the online LimmudFest 2021 approaches, the first speakers and topics are being announced for the regional learning event.

Usually held in person over a weekend in New Orleans every other March, LimmudFest was postponed last year as the Covid pandemic began. This year, the festival will be held online on March 14 with an opening ceremony at 11:30 a.m., followed by four session blocks from noon to 4:30 p.m.

According to the organizers, this year’s event will be a celebration of Southern Jewish life, emphasizing the uniqueness of Jewish life, tradition, and expression in New Orleans, greater Louisiana, and throughout the Gulf South.

The sessions will follow five tracks: Torah and Text, Wellness, Jews and Food, Creative Arts and Hot Topics. Because the sessions will all be online this year, for the first time anyone who registers will have access to the over 20 hours of presentations after the event.

Entirely volunteer-driven, including the speakers, LimmudFest is designed for all levels of Jewish knowledge, or lack thereof.

“Our sessions are being intentionally designed to break out of your computer screen and get you connected (safely) to our wonderful Southern Jewish community through discussion, creation, and movement,” said co-chair Leslie Goldberg. “Whether your passion is studying Jewish text, cooking Jewish food, experiencing and creating Jewish art, or considering Jewish ethics and responsibility, you will find something here in this compacted, virtual LimmudFest.”

Several national and international speakers have been announced, with more to come.

Rabbi Raphael Zarum is Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies.

He has a doctorate in Theoretical Physics, a Master’s in Education, and is a graduate of the Mandel Leadership School in Jerusalem. He is the creator of the Torah L’Am crash course and is the author of the Torat Hadracha and Jampacked Bible educational study guides. He was the first head of faculty of the Florence Melton Adult Mini School UK and was director of text-based Jewish education at the UJIA Centre for Informal Jewish Education.

A sought-after lecturer, Zarum gives wildly innovative and meaningful readings of Torah, Midrash, Talmud and the Jewish festivals that reference modern literature, cinema and culture.

Rabbi Avram Mlotek is a social activist, actor and slam poet who co-founded Base Hillel in 2015. The new model of outreach to the unaffiliated, Base is now in nine cities and he leads the Manhattan location.

The New York Jewish Week has called him a “leading innovator in Jewish life today” and in May 2016, Mlotek was listed as one of America’s “Most Inspiring Rabbis” by The Forward. A grandchild of Holocaust refugees and native Yiddish speaker, his Yiddish cultural work has brought him to China, Ethiopia, Israel, Sweden, Romania, Lithuania and Australia.

Vanessa Harper is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. A member of the 2020 New York Jewish Week’s 36 Under 36, Harper has developed an interpretive challah-shaping project, LechLeChallah, using challah as a way of studying Torah.

In 2017 she decided to start making challah every week, and brought a rainbow challah to a class retreat on the weekend when Noah was the reading. She was asked if she matched her challah to the weekly portion, then took that as a challenge — with the most daunting challenge being

agenda Tazria/Metzorah, a portion that deals with leprosy.

She has developed the weekly themed challahs as a way to study Torah, sparking interest from others online.

Hadar Cohen is a Mizrahi feminist multi-media artist, healer and educator, and mystic who teaches over numerous platforms. She is the first Jewish fellow at Abrahamic House, a multi-faith incubator for social change in Los Angeles. Cohen also founded Feminism All Night, which designs communal immersive learning experiences about feminism and spirituality.

Hagai Segal is an authority on counter-terrorism and geo-political issues, advising a wide range of international companies on risks in the world. He is associated with New York University in London, and lectures at universities worldwide.

Session topics include Dr. Jason Gaines, director of undergraduate studies in Tulane’s Department of Jewish Studies, with “The Hidden Poetry of the Torah;” Dena Borman with “Gentle Yoga for All Levels;” and Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Aaron Alquist and Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans CEO Arnie Fielkow with “Jewish Leadership in Turbulent Times.”

Additional local speakers include Rabbi Deborah Silver of Shir Chadash, and George Dansker, a local music expert who presents an annual event at Touro Synagogue celebrating the life of a great Jewish composer.

Early Bird tickets are $18 until Feb. 14. General Admission tickets are $36. Access to special sessions are available with Limmud Boneh donations above the ticket price. Register for LimmudFest NOLA 2021 at limmudnola.org. For anyone unable to pay the ticket price, donation-based pricing is also available by completing an anonymous Google form.

Limmud NOLA’s community sponsors are the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana, Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Limmud North America, and Southern Jewish Life magazine.

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Two from ISJL named to UpStart National Jewish leadership program goes virtual Across the country, 52 “entrepreneurially-minded and capable leaders” in the Jewish community were selected for the UpStart Change Accelerator, following a selection process that drew four times the applicants of previous years.

Two of the 52 are from the Jackson-based Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life — Nora Katz and Rachel Glazer.

UpStart is a six-month program that “partners with the Jewish community’s boldest leaders to expand the picture of how Jews find meaning and how we come together. Whether someone is starting a new Jewish venture or reimagining what an existing one has to offer, UpStart gives them the entrepreneurial tools and network they need to build the Jewish community of the future.”

As all programs will be done virtually, this is the first time that UpStart has been available nationally, outside certain “hub cities.” It is also the first time that the cohorts are being placed in one of four tracks — Reimagining Institutions, Deepening Connections, Thriving Communities and Power in Partners.

Katz is in the Deepening Connections track, while Glazer is in the Thriving Communities track. Those tracks will focus on exploring new ways to meet constituent needs, deepen relationships across their communities, and create more inclusive institutions.

Katz is the ISJL Director of Heritage and Interpretation, interpreting and sharing the legacy of the Jewish South through programs, trips, tours, historic preservation and more.

Glazer is the Community Engagement Program Manager at ISJL, focusing on social justice learning.

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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agenda The National World War II Museum will offer a free student webinar, “American Liberators of the Holocaust,” Feb. 25 at noon. Museum educators will discuss the few Americans who saw the atrocities of the Holocaust with their own eyes. During the webinar, students from New Orleans will interview the new interactive biography featured in the Museum’s new special installation, “Dimensions in Testimony: The Story of Alan Moskin.” The webinar is for grades six and up, and registration is available through the museum’s website.

The next Shabbat Hilicha, the monthly Shabbat hiking service for Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El, will be on March 5 at 10:30 a.m. at the Frankfurt Drive entrance to Red Mountain Park.

Since Mardi Gras parades are postponed, the Sisterhood of Temple Beth El in Pensacola will have its own event on Feb. 17 at noon, with a Zoom presentation by Danny Zimmern, sharing Mardi Gras recollections with a Jewish twist.

Beth Shalom in Baton Rouge is holding a Purim food drive for the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank all month, through Feb. 28. Non-perishables can be dropped off on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, which plans to open in New Orleans later this year, presents “The Stores & Stories of a Southern Jewish Childhood: A Conversation with Author Julie Sternberg,” Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Sternberg, a Baton Rouge native, is author of several award-winning children’s books, and she will discuss how her family’s store, Goudchaux’s, and the immigrant experience were inspirations for her newest book. The event will be on Zoom and Facebook Live, and will also be available afterward on the museum’s YouTube channel.

Camp Ramah Darom in Clayton, Ga., announced that a Harold Grinspoon Foundation challenge match has been issued, where donations to the camp will be matched on a 2:1 basis up to $150,000, which would mean an additional $75,000 if the challenge is met. If it is met and donations are paid by Oct. 1, an additional $10,000 will be received. The funds will go toward additional costs incurred in making the camp environment safe during Covid.

Temple B’nai Sholom in Huntsville welcomes back Cantor Ted Labow, its guest cantor from the Zoom High Holy Days, for a Shabbat experience, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. on Zoom.

Amy Milligan, who has been assisting the four remaining community members in Selma with historical research and the effort to preserve Mishkan Israel, will speak at the University of North Carolina about her work. She will give the Margolis lecture on March 1 at 6 p.m.

Central on Zoom. The lecture is being organized by the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies and is open to the community. Milligan is the Batten Endowed Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies at Old Dominion University and the director of the Institute of Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding.

The Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica will have an online interactive musical Purim Palooza, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m., for the youngest future campers — ages 3 to 5. Costumes and noisemakers are encouraged.

Register at jacobscamp.org/purim.

L’Chaim League in Montgomery, as well as members of Temple Beth Or and Agudath Israel-Etz Ahayem, now can take advantage of the grief support group organized by Collat Jewish Family Services in Birmingham. The sessions are held monthly on Zoom, generally on Thursdays at 1 p.m.

Starting Feb. 2, the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham continued on page 14 8

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community Preserving personal memories from World War II Hess, Force families co-chair regional U.S. Holocaust Museum event Ronne and Donald Hess of Birmingham, and Mara and Joshua Force of New Orleans had personal reasons for co-chairing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum “What You Do Matters” Southeast Virtual Event.

Hundreds of supporters of the museum from across the Southeast region gathered virtually for the event on Feb. 11. The event will help the museum’s effort to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and bring its lessons to future generations “Participants will see firsthand how the museum has adjusted to these extraordinary times by bringing Holocaust education and awareness to audiences virtually, and how the critical lessons of the Holocaust — lessons about the fragility of freedom, the nature of hate and the consequences of indifference — remain vital,” says Robert Tanen, the Museum’s Southeast regional director.

Featuring special guests Morgan Freeman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jason Alexander, Ray Allen and others, the virtual event will underscore why the choices we make matter.

“Our country has been tested during the last few years, and we have failed to meet the challenge of putting down hatred and intolerance,” said the Hesses. “We have failed to look out for one another; instead, we have turned away and allowed countless folks to suffer. Antisemitism did not begin with Nazi Germany and it continues to exist today. We need to focus and ‘to see,’ and that’s why we are chairing the Museum’s ‘What You Do Matters’ virtual event this year, and that’s why we hope people will participate.”

“Chairing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s ‘What You Do Matters’ event is important to us because it is clear that antisemitism did not end with the Holocaust,” said the Forces.

“This type of hate went underground, but now seems to be crawling back into mainstream spaces, making it our responsibility to work tirelessly to ensure that ‘Never Again’ is always the reality.”

Mara’s grandparents, Misha and Vera Meilup (z”l), met after World War II when Vera was searching for her brother after liberation.

Vera Meilup, of Kovno, Lithuania, was a young adult when her whole family was moved into the Kovno ghetto. Her father Hirsch died in the first roundup of Jewish men and her husband Max and daughter Ruth died in the liquidation of the ghetto. Vera survived the ghetto with her mother Luba and was deported to Stutthoff while her brother was taken to Dachau.

She, her mother, and her brother survived and were reunited after the war.

4 Licensed Arborist 4 20 years experience 4 Total Tree Removal J. George Mitnick’s U.S. Army footlocker, which was donated to the museum Misha Meilup of Vilna, Lithuania, lost his entire family during the Holocaust — his parents, sister, wife, and child. After spending time in the Lithuanian ghettos, he ended up in Dachau, where he was liberated by the Americans in April 1945. Shortly after meeting, Misha and Vera were married, and Mara’s mother was born in a displaced persons camp outside of Munich.

In 1949, the family came to the U.S. and settled in the Washington area.

“Growing up as the daughter of survivors, my mother was very sensitive to the plight of others and discrimination,” says Mara Force. “For my grandparents, they were not as connected to religion, but they made sure to surround themselves with a strong survivor community.”

Mara’s grandparents visited the museum the first week it opened in early 1993 and later donated a Nazi SS jacket Misha had taken after liberation. At home, they kept a spoon Misha used in Dachau, and now use it as part of family celebrations.

Mara has been involved with the museum throughout her adult life, raising money for the museum and recently co-chairing a cooking program where New Orleans chef Alon Shaya worked to recreate dishes from a Holocaust family recipe book. In 2012, Mara and her mother also went on a museum trip to Lithuania to learn more about their family history.

“The trip to Lithuania was life changing and soul defining,” said Mara Force. “It was tragic yet absolutely necessary and amazing because of the access and information we received from the museum. It was really special to see and experience the places of my grandmother’s youth.”

In New Orleans, Mara is a professor of finance at Tulane University. She is also the Jewish Federation of New Orleans campaign co-chair, has a mayoral appointment to the city of New Orleans revenue estimating committee, and serves on the boards of the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana, Touro Hospital and the Jewish Community Center.

Joshua is the current board chair of the Fed-

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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Southern Jewish Life Tackling the Complex Issues

As issues become more complex, having an independent news website and magazine to connect Jewish communities throughout the Deep South becomes more crucial. This is why the impact of the Deep South’s only national-award winning publication, Southern Jewish Life, is growing.

Just in the last few weeks we’ve featured stories on Jewish reaction to the invasion of the U.S. Capitol and the impact of Georgia’s divisive U.S. Senate runoffs on the state’s Jewish community.

The headlines on these two stories, “Capitol invasion conjures up dark memories for Jews throughout the region” and “Georgia runoffs leave turbulent aftermath as Jewish community ponders impact,” reflect the seriousness of the times and the importance of Southern Jewish Life.

The stories in our region are abundant and the importance of independent Jewish journalism has never been greater. This is why we are turning to you for help. Starting this year, we are developing donor support to expand our coverage. More support=More pages=More stories.

Already, generous donations are coming in.

So please consider sending a check marked “donation” to Southern Jewish Life, P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213. Or go to https://sjlmag.com/contribute/ (Donations are not tax-deductible.)

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community eration, the former board president of ADL’s South-Central Region, and the former president of Shir Chadash.

Ronne Hess’s father, George Mitnick, was a World War II veteran and a liberator of the Ohrdruf concentration camp. Ronne donated her father’s collection to the museum after his death in 2005 and it was displayed during the museum’s 25th anniversary commemoration during the Days of Remembrance in April 2018.

“My father was never able to talk about his experiences as a liberator,” said Ronne Hess. “He wrote a letter home to his family, sisters, brothers, parents and my mother outlining the horror he witnessed, but he never spoke about it with his children.”

The Hesses have been supporting the museum since 1992 — more than a year before its opening. They attended the opening ceremony of the museum in 1993 and witnessed the line of Holocaust survivors and the line of American liberators marching into the Eisenhower plaza.

“We heard Elie Wiesel and President Bill Clinton give an emotional charge to the audience gathered there,” said Ronne Hess. “When I returned home, I wanted to tell my father everything about it and show him pictures and speeches and memorabilia. He could not listen, he could not hear. He would not allow himself to go back to that place in his memory.”

This past summer, they named an artifact cabinet in the museum’s David and Fela Shapell Collections, Conservation, and Research Center in memory of Mitnick.

The Hesses are very involved philanthropically in the Birmingham community, supporting dozens of organizations and serving on many boards.

Additional chairs for the 2021 “What You Do Matters” Southeast Virtual Event include Felicia and Kenneth Anchor of Nashville and Naples, Fla,; Susan and Steven Breitbart, Cooper City, Fla.; Karen Lansky Edlin and Andrew Edlin, Atlanta; Lisa and Sandy Gottesman, Austin, Tex.; Tracy and Robert Slatoff, Boca Raton, Fla.; Rose M. Smith, Boca Raton, Fla.; and Fred S. Zeidman of Houston.

Reward publicized as April antisemitic vandalism in Huntsville still unsolved

A publicity campaign looks to crack the case of last April’s vandalism against the Conservative congregation in Huntsville and Huntsville Chabad.

On Jan. 21, the FBI’s Birmingham field office announced that there is up to $18,000 in reward money for information leading to a conviction in the two cases — $15,000 from the FBI, $1,000 from Crime Stoppers and up to $2,000 from the Anti-Defamation League. The FBI and Huntsville Police announced a digital billboard campaign, contributed by Lamar Advertising, will publicize the reward.

The announcement was made at a press conference at Huntsville Police headquarters, by Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr. and Huntsville Police Chief Mark McMurray.

The first incident, at Etz Chayim, was on April 9, when swastikas and antisemitic slogans were spray painted on the building, sign and driveway. On April 10, a similar attack happened just after midnight at the Chabad House. The incidents took place at the beginning of Passover.

Surveillance footage showed the perpetrator had a “pronounced, distinct limp and appeared to have a prosthetic leg,” and may have been driving a light-color Toyota Prius.

According to the FBI, the suspect was reportedly spotted walking near the Chabad House a week earlier.

Damage of over $5,000 to religious property is a felony, and hate crime charges could also be brought.

After both incidents, members of local churches that routinely have solidarity events honoring Israel and the Jewish community immediately showed up to remove the graffiti.

community Dimensions in Testimony at WWII Museum Interactive exhibit a glimpse of future for preserving World War II, Holocaust testimonies With the end of World War II and the Holocaust now over 75 years in the past, the question becomes even more urgent: How will future generations hear from those who were witnesses?

On Feb. 4, the National World War II Museum in New Orleans opened a glimpse of that future with the opening of “Dimensions in Testimony: Liberator Alan Moskin,” where pre-recorded interviews, artificial intelligence and video clips create an environment where visitors can learn from Moskin’s experiences and interact with him in a question and answer session.

Dimensions in Testimony is a project of the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation, creating interactive biographies to have life-like conversations well into the future.

About two dozen survivors, liberators and witnesses have been interviewed for the interactive project. The interviews were done in a greenscreen environment, with up to 2,000 possible questions. Using natural language technology, questions are transformed into search terms, with the system selecting the best video clip to match the question.

The New Orleans installation is a beta version of the exhibit and will be used to help the USC Shoah Foundation refine the experience. A handful of institutions are hosting the exhibit, including the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, and the Holocaust museums in Dallas and Houston.

The New Orleans installation will be on display through July 25.

Moskin was born in 1926 in Englewood, N.J., and currently resides in Rockland County, N.Y. His father was a pharmacist, served as elected city official, and eventually became one of the few Jewish mayors in New Jersey.

When Moskin was 16, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and America entered the war. In October 1944, Moskin was drafted in the U.S. Army and after completing his basic training, he was deployed to England as a Private First Class in Patton’s Third Army, 66th Infantry, 71st Division.

Moskin fought on the front line across France through the Rhineland and into Austria. In May 1945, his unit liberated a prisoners of war camp in Lambach, Austria and then they liberated the Gunskirchen Concentration Camp, a sub-camp of the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he and his fellow soldiers learned for the first time about Nazi mass murders of Jews and were shocked with suffering of the prisoners.

Until he was honorably discharged in June 1946, Moskin served in the army of occupation in Austria. He attended the Nuremberg Trials during this time.

After the war, he became an attorney, and now spends his time volunteering with Jewish war veterans, speaking to students, working with local Holocaust museums, and as a volunteer color guard at naturalization ceremonies.

The New Orleans installation of “Dimensions in Testimony” is made possible through support from the Franco Family Fund and Karen and Leopold Sher. It is in the Joe W. and Dorothy D. Brown Foundation Special Exhibit Gallery, located on the second level of Louisiana Memorial Pavilion.

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community Mississippi congregations unite for online Tu B’Shevat event CONTACT US

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

As smaller communities come together for joint online programs during Covid, such as the weekly Alabama and Florida panhandle Havdalah, or a recent musical program with congregations in north Louisiana, communities throughout Mississippi held a virtual Tu B’Shevat Seder on Jan. 31.

The event was coordinated by the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, Jewish Community Legacy Project and the Network of Independent Communities in Making tree ring art at home the Jewish Federations of North America.

Noah Levine, who heads the Legacy Project, said his group works with about 100 small communities around the country, helping them address “current and log-term issues.” One current project is assisting in preservation of the Jewish cemetery for Greenville and Cleveland, and there are talks of establishing a Southern Jewish cemetery and burial association.

He said the Legacy Project also organized Tu B’Shevat programs with Ohio and central Pennsylvania.

Rabbi Joseph Rosen of Beth Israel in Jackson said the program was “a tour of the seasons, brought to you by many talented congregants across Mississippi.”

Rachel Glazer from Beth Israel in Jackson started the tour with an artistic representation of winter, leading a quick session on tree ring painting.

For spring, Linda Levy of B’nai Israel in Tupelo discussed the significance of the Seven Species in Jewish tradition. Mentioned in Deuteronomy as being part of the land of Israel, the Kabbalists gave the seven species mystical attributes corresponding to forms of spiritual energy.

For the next season on the tour, flutist Rachel Ciraldo and guitarist Nicholas Ciraldo of B’nai Israel in Hattiesburg performed George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” giving a historical and Jewish context of Gershwin’s work.

For fall, Cheryl Chambers of B’nai Israel in Columbus read Jacqueline Osherow’s “Autumn Psalm.”

At the conclusion of each season, there was a cup of wine to mark that season.

Roi Vaknin, representing the Network, spoke of the partnership Network communities have with Dimona. He showed Tu B’shevat photos from last year’s events, including a virtual Tu B’Shevat seder held with Temple Beth El in Pensacola. He noted that this year, Israel was in the middle of its third Covid lockdown during Tu B’Shevat, so they made kits to be delivered to homes so the kids could do holiday crafts.

Rabbi Caroline Sim, ISJL director of rabbinic services, led a discussion about the ancient story of Honi the Circle Maker, then Rabbi Debra Kassoff of Hebrew Union Congregation in Greenville taught about the Biblical origins of eco-Judaism.

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community BJF hosting “Son of Hamas” for campaign event The Birmingham Jewish Federation will host a March 10 conversation on Zoom with Mosab Hassan Yousef. Known as the “son of Hamas,” Yousef is the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef. During the Second Intifada, he was his father’s confidant and security chief — but he was also passing on information to Israel as an undercover agent referred to as “The Green Prince” from 1997 to 2007.

Yousef later sought asylum in the United States, converted to Christianity and wrote an autobiography in 2010. In 2019, his brother left Hamas and exposed the group’s corruption and inner working, but insisted that unlike his brother, he never worked for Israel.

The event will be at 7 p.m., and is part of the Federation’s Annual Campaign programming.

Reservations are required at bjf.org/campaign

by March 8.

The campaign, which has a goal of $2 million, began on Feb. 6 with a family drive-in movie program. The Federation is asking for pledges to be made by Passover, but they can be paid through Dec. 31.

Annual Campaign funds support the local Jewish agencies, as well as funding projects in Israel and supporting Jews in need worldwide.

“Making of a Mensch” on March 11 The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life will host Tiffany Shlain for a Zoom cultural program on March 11 at 7 p.m.

Shlain is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, founder of the Webby Awards, and author of the national bestselling book “24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week,” which won the Marshall McLuhan Outstanding Book Award.

She lectures and performs worldwide on the relationship between technology and humanity.

Shlain has received over 80 awards and distinctions for her films and work, including selection for the Albert Einstein Foundation’s initiative Genius: 100 Visions for the Future, and inclusion on NPR’s list of Best Commencement Speeches.

She will talk about her film and work around “The Making of a Mensch,” which explores ancient Jewish teachings. Shlain will share her thoughts on bringing a framework and practices into your home, her own experiences with Jewish ritual in her family, and how it all relates to living a meaningful life in today’s world.

The program is part of a shared-expense cultural program initiative coordinated by ISJL, where several smaller communities or congregations contribute toward the event, and then their members are able to access the program.

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The next Partnership2Gether program with Birmingham, New Orleans and Rosh Ha’Ayin will be on Feb. 28 at 11 a.m. on Zoom. The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans will host this program, which will focus on understanding the political systems in the U.S. and Israel.

Registration information will be announced.

Beth Shalom in Baton Rouge will hold Courageous Conversations, exploring the intersection of Jewish values with the issue of systemic racism. “Identity: Who am I?” will be on the Beth Shalom Zoom, Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m. It will explore aspects of identity work and how analyzing one’s self can lead to better ways of responding to the world and to others. On Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. at FRC Range, there will be “Gun Ownership and Systemic Racism,” an historical look at racism and gun control. The discussion will be led by Lucas Benard, with Ashley White, a representative from the National African American Gun Association.

Rabbi Batsheva Appel is leading a national Introduction to Judaism online class through the Union for Reform Judaism. The course will run for 21 sessions from March 18 to July 29, at 7 p.m. The class is for individuals considering conversion, spiritual seekers, adults raising Jewish children, interfaith couples, and Jews who want to learn more about Judaism. There is a $450 fee, and scholarship assistance is available from URJ. Appel, who has been the director of rabbinic services at the Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, is currently the interim rabbi at B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge. Registration is available in the Learning section of reformjudaism.org.

North Louisiana Jewish Federation and the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana will present Mazon’s This Is Hunger project on March 4 at 7 p.m. The immersive digital experience shows who really struggles with hunger and food insecurity in America, and why. According to Mazon, the project came about because the political will to end hunger will not be achieved unless its prevalence is recognized. The screening is free, but any donations will support the Food Bank. Registration is available at jewishnla.org.

Region’s Senators reaffirm embassy move Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate affirmed the recent move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in a 97-3 vote for an amendment in the Covid budget resolution. The amendment was introduced by Sens.

Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee.

Among the co-sponsors were Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Marco Rubio of Florida and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont were among the three who opposed the amendment.

Corned Beef Drive-Thru in Baton Rouge Last year, the Covid shutdown hit right as Beth Shalom in Baton Rouge was launching its annual corned beef sandwich fundraiser. They quickly pivoted to a bulk DIY sale, and are repeating it this year.

Each sandwich kit is $50 and will have the makings for five sandwiches, including one and one-quarter pound of corned beef, a loaf of rye bread, French’s mustard packs, Mt. Olive pickle packs, chips, cookies and mints.

The kits must be pre-ordered and prepaid, and are to be picked up in the drive thru from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 14. Orders can be made online at BethshalomYall.com/CBSS. 14

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community

A bit more than “showbiz” Pensacola’s Fred Levin took down Big Tobacco, was vocally Jewish and changed the field for trial lawyers A famed trial lawyer with a flair for the dramatic and a no-backingdown attitude when it came to his Jewish identity, Fred Levin made an unexpected departure on Jan. 12, succumbing to Covid-19 five days after showing symptoms “despite receiving the most advanced and best treatment available in the United States.”

Levin, who was 83, had previously survived stage 4 lung and brain cancer.

While Levin was known for numerous high-profile cases and transforming trial law, he is best known for taking on Big Tobacco, opening the floodgates for billions of dollars in judgments against the tobacco companies.

A Pensacola native, Levin developed a reputation as an occasional student but far more frequent partyer. He attended the University of Florida, and decided to enter the University of Florida College of Law in 1958, taking summer classes to pull his undergraduate GPA above the 2.0 that was required for admission.

After a few weeks of law classes, he was summoned home as his brother, Martin, was dying of leukemia. The law school dean told him that having seen his academic record, Levin might as well not return after the funeral — but he came back anyway.

At first, Levin and classmate George Starke, the first African American student to enter a public institution in the state of Florida, were the class outcasts, but the law sparked something in Levin and he quickly rose to the top of the class, then made a highly visible move of asking Starke to be his study partner.

Levin said that on the first day of class, “they had all of us on one side of the auditorium and George was all by himself, except for all the Secret Service people. Up to that point, I had not thought much about racial issues. I looked over and my heart went out to him. Here were 350 white law students and this one black guy. He was dressed in a suit, and the rest of us were dressed like bums.”

In the library, “I would look across at George because he always had to sit at a table by himself and everybody would shuffle their feet. It just tore me up. I wanted to go over and sit with him, but I didn’t have the guts” until he asked Starke to be his partner one day. They remained study partners for two years.

Levin graduated third in his class, then in 1961 began practicing with Levin & Askew in Pensacola, which was founded by his brother, David, and Reubin Askew, who became a two-term governor of Florida and candidate for president. David Levin had founded the firm after being unable to find a position because established law firms would not hire Jews.

Since established firms had corporate accounts, Jewish firms handled less lucrative and less glamorous cases, such as family law and personal injury cases, which were nowhere near what they are today. Fred Levin started by practicing family law, until a client mentioned that her husband had threatened to kill whoever her divorce lawyer was.

Despite a fear of public speaking, he switched to civil law, where he quickly made his mark. Over his career, he had over 30 jury verdicts of over $1 million, six over $10 million. He was listed in every edition of

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Best Lawyers in America; was a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates; and was inducted into The Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.

Growing up Jewish in Pensacola and being on the outside led him to advocate for those who would otherwise not have a voice.

An expert marketer, he started a cable access channel, BLAB-TV, where future NFL Hall of Fame player Emmitt Smith was a cameraman while in high school, and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough got his pre-politics start.

Levin’s first major case came from a woman who said her son died from aplastic anemia caused by the drug Chloromycetin. Researching the drug, he found that a significant proportion of those who took the drug had that side effect — or developed leukemia, like his brother, who had taken that drug. After Levin’s victory, the formerly widespread drug’s use was cut back to specific uses that are tightly monitored.

In 1980, he brought a suit against L&N railroad after a 1977 derailment in Pensacola led to an anhydrous ammonia leak that killed a couple and disabled their young children. After he demonstrated a pattern of negligence by the railroad, the jury awarded $18 million, the highest personal injury compensatory award in America at the time.

As his fame grew, he sought to purchase a home by the entrance to Pensacola Country Club, leading to a visit by some of his would-be neighbors, who tried to convince him it would not be fair to his kids to look over the fence at other kids swimming and playing tennis at a place where they could not be members because they were Jewish. Not taking the bait, Levin suggested that he planned to turn the property into a Jewish social club, after which a group of neighbors bought the home instead.

His biggest case was against the tobacco companies. Rather than suing on behalf of one client, whose illness may or may not have been tobacco-related, and determining which company would be liable, Levin thought the state could sue for Medicaid costs for treating tobacco-related illnesses. This way, the case would be based on smokers’ illnesses in the aggregate, with responsibility based on market share.

A change in Florida law was needed to pursue this avenue, but the tobacco lawyers would never let something like that pass in the legislature.

Levin wrote the Medicaid Third-Party Recovery Act, then had a friend in the Senate introduce and pass it in the last moments of the final day of the session. Blindsided, the industry tried to get it vetoed, then tried to get a special session called to rescind it, and then tried to have the courts overturn it. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law, after which the tobacco companies settled for $13 billion, a record settlement.

Professor Richard Daynard of Northeastern University said, “If [the bill] gets signed, it will be the single biggest blow against the tobacco industry and for the public health that’s ever been done in the United States.”

After becoming even more famous for the tobacco settlement, Levin appeared with John Stossel on ABC’s “20/20,” during which he lit up a cigarette, knowing it would bring even more publicity.

Mark Proctor, president and shareholder at what is now the Levin Papantonio Rafferty law firm, told the Pensacola News Journal that the settlement funds went to efforts to prevent teen smoking and getting smokers to quit. “They credit that piece of legislation with saving tons of American lives every year. And I think Fred would consider that to be the pinnacle of his legal career.”

Levin also was involved in a suit against a member of the Ogden family in Louisiana, where a man was killed and his wife permanently disabled after Roger Ogden II apparently fell asleep while driving and crossed the median on Interstate 10. As Ogden was on state business, the state was found liable.

In another case, he secured the then-largest judgment for a Black plaintiff in a liability claim.

In 1961, Levin nominated Nathaniel Dedmond to be the first African American member of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Counties Bar Associa-

community tion. The association was so offended by the nomination that they had several of the wives call Levin’s wife, Marilyn, asking her how she would like to be sitting next to Dedmond’s wife at a bar meeting. They hoped for a horrified reaction, but Marilyn replied “Oh, yes, that would be great.” Levin commented that he had never been more proud of her.

Shortly after the tobacco case, a representative from the University of Florida sought Levin’s assistance in soliciting another person for a $6 million gift, which would include naming a building for the donor. After the representative quipped that for $10 million, they’d name the Law School after the donor, Levin decided right then that he wanted to do that. The second largest cash gift to a public law school at that point, it was unusual in that the gift was unrestricted.

In 1999, the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law was dedicated, to a firestorm of controversy. Levin wanted to acknowledge the influence the university had on so many of his family members, but he also acknowledged that it was an in-your-face move to so many of his political and professional enemies, including the Florida Bar Association, which had tried three times to get his law license revoked.

“The fuddy-duddies at the Bar had perpetually irritated me with their pettiness,” Levin said.

“Big Tobacco provided the money. I was glad to give it to a school that had played such a big part in shaping my life.”

In 1989, Levin branched out into managing the boxing career of Roy Jones Jr., who won a silver medal in the 1988 Olympics. Battling established promoters like Don King, Levin got a championship fight for Jones, which Jones won, leading to a lucrative contract with HBO. In 1995, Levin received the 1995 Al Buck Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America as boxing manager of the year; and received the Rocky Marciano Foundation President’s Award in 2001.

He also managed Ike Quartey, a native of Ghana who became welterweight champion.

For his efforts, Ghana awarded him the title of High Chief in a 1999 ceremony at the United Nations. At the ceremony, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson presented Levin with a tribute from the Congressional Black Caucus.

With several fellow attorneys, he convinced famed lawyer Johnnie Cochran to lend his name to the formation of a national law firm, the Cochran Firm.

In 2014, a biography of Levin was published, with the title coming from his reason for not retiring — “And Give Up Showbiz?” The subtitle of five-time New York Times bestselling author Josh Young’s book was “How Fred Levin Beat Big Tobacco, Avoided Two Murder ProsecuFebruary 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

tions, Became a Chief of Ghana, Earned Boxing Manager of the Year and Transformed American Law.” In 2016, Levin was diagnosed with lung cancer and had a tumor removed from his brain, but the cancer had been in remission since then.

When he tested positive for Covid, he was asymptomatic for 10 days, but died five days after the onset of symptoms — on the day that he was originally scheduled to receive his first dose of the Covid vaccine.

With a “give it now, while you’re living” philosophy, Levin donated over $35 million to various causes, especially the University of Florida and the University of West Florida. In 2013, he gave $1 million in memory of his wife to the Chabad student center at the University of Florida, which he believed was the donation of which she would have been most proud.

In 2015, he and sister-in-law Teri Levin gave $1 million to the YMCA of Northwest Florida for its new facility in Pensacola. The next year, he gave $1 million to the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition for its work on artificial intelligence.

In 2017, in appreciation for Dr. Raphael Bueno’s efforts in saving his life after the lung cancer diagnosis, Levin gave $2 million to the Brigham & Women’s Hospital to establish the Fredric G. Levin Distinguished Chair in Thoracic Surgery and Lung Cancer Research. He also gave $2 million to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to establish the Fredric G. Levin Endowment in Translational Cancer Research.

Levin is survived by his children Marci Goodman (husband Ross), Debra Dreyer (former spouse and friend Mark), Martin Levin (wife Terri) and Kimberly Brielmayer (husband Gary), as well as his grandchildren, Jacqueline Goodman (fiancé Jeffrey Martorell), Brenton Goodman (wife Stephanie), Jacob Dreyer, Tyler and Alexandra Brielmayer, Dustin and Jayden Levin, and his great-grandchild Levi Goodman. He is also survived by his sisters-in-law Teri Levin and Pamela Levin, and way too many family members and personal friends to acknowledge, including but far from limited to Brenda Vigodsky, Phillip Morris, Mark Proctor, Mike Papantonio, Troy Rafferty, and Virginia Buchanan.

A private service was held on Jan. 14.

After a lifetime of holding companies accountable for their actions, Levin’s final message was “Please everyone, just wear a mask! It’s not too much to ask. It makes the difference of saving a life or taking a life.”

Driving tour explores intersection of civil rights, Jewish history in B’ham “Intersections of Judaism and Civil Rights in Birmingham” is the first-ever “Nosh & Learn” takeout tour coordinated by Temple Beth-El. The Covid-safe “driving dinner” will be on March 14 from 1 to 4 p.m.

Along the tour route, participants will learn about civil rights and Jewish history from their own cars, with food stops along the way. The tour and historical content are being developed in partnership with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, which will receive a portion of the funds raised during the event.

The tour will be guided by a podcast narrated by community leaders, as well as a tour booklet which will explain the nuances of the Jewish story in conversation with the civil rights movement in Birmingham.

This driving tour is a sneak peek into the development of the Beth-El Civil Rights Experience; a multimedia project focused on this underexplored history, which is planning to open this fall. The experience includes the implementation of a visitor’s site, creation of a short documentary film and app-based audio tour, and public programming on civil rights, past and present.

Each car rider must have a dinner ticket. Each ticket includes a tour booklet, snacks and dinner on-the-go.

Tickets are $36 and can be selected for a 1, 2 or 3 p.m. start at Beth-El. Additional donations are welcomed, and sponsor levels start at $1,000.

senior life an annual SJL special section

Before there was Amazon, there was “The Royal Woman” Let’s take a trip down memory lane with Marsha Asman, 86, a member of Temple Beth-El in Birmingham for more than 60 years. She still has in her possession a 1990-1991 publication called “The Royal Woman,” a catalog of women’s clothing that she used to take on tour to six Birmingham area retirement communities: East Haven, Fair Haven, Kirkwood by the River, Mount Royal, St. Martin’s in the Pines and The Altamont.

Today, women have the opportunity to shop online for clothing and accessories from the comfort of their living room, but that wasn’t how it was 30 years ago.

Marsha recalls that back then, you had to make a trip to a clothing store to get what you needed.

Marsha’s son Eric owned Asman’s Fashions in Leeds, which sold women’s and children’s clothing. A friend of hers living at one of the retirement communities told Marsha that it was difficult for her and other residents to get out and shop for clothing, shoes, jewelry and other items in their senior adulthood. So Marsha had an idea. Why not take the clothes and accessories to them?

“I took some things off the shelf and went to the St. Martin’s activities director,” said Marsha. ”Some of the ladies came in, and we sold out of everything that day. I said to myself, I think there’s a market for this.”

So for the next seven years, Marsha loaded a truck and took clothing and accessories directly to the Birmingham retirement homes, and eventually to other retirement communities in Gadsden, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa.

She would spend all day at one community, coordinating a fashion show and letting the residents take items back to their apartment to try them on.

Since fashions are very seasonal, she would visit each community once per quarter to ensure the residents had access to new clothing appropriate for the changing weather.

Prior to each Birmingham fashion show, she invited residents who wanted to be models to come to the shop in Leeds and be fitted for outfits they would model for their own show. “In those days, women wanted dresses and blouses that button up the front, and pants that are easy to pull on.

Older women make wonderful models,” Marsha praised.

Marsha noted that these early 1990s retirement community visits were a win for the residents as well as a win for the shop, and only ended when a fire at two neighboring stores forced the closing of Asman’s Fashions. Today, Marsha’s son runs a monogram and embroidery shop in Leeds called Threads.

Article by Sherri Easdon, director of public relations for the parent organization of Fair Haven, a retirement community in Birmingham.

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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senior life

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

When choosing assisted-living or memory care…

Home is where the heart is

by Mark Francis Sponsored Content by Schonberg Care

Having worked in the senior care industry for more than 30 years, I have often found myself describing our assisted living and memory care communities as a home away from home. I’ve described it as a place that they will be proud to call home. I often talk about the feeling of family inside, the engagement and socialization that takes place on a daily basis, the entertainment features and guests, and how we will come to love our residents the same as the families that entrust them with us, and vice versa.

Although it sounds very appealing, and does relieve some of the guilt and emotional struggle that is often attached to making such a crucial decision in one’s life, it is often not the way the residents themselves feel at all.

After all, it is not really home. A home is the roof that we grew up under, or where we raised our children and watched our grandchildren play and grow. Home is the sense of belonging, and home is the feeling that you get when you feel that sense of calmness and belonging to a particular place that makes you feel at peace.

So I’ve learned over the years to make sure that my prospective residents and families understand that although we know this is not home, we can do everything in our power to create such an exceptional experience that it absolutely creates a sense of belonging, participation and peace of mind. This peace of mind is not only for the residents we care for, but the many family members that we support and assist through this ever-changing journey.

A community needs to be as individual in the services it delivers as the residents that receive a particular service. No two residents are alike… no two families are the same… and, as my mother used to say when she was happily residing in assisted living, “there’s also 500 ways to fry chicken.”

It’s important to find a place that understands this and aims to please.

As you search for the perfect community for you or your loved one, ask many questions, look for smiles, look for the warmth and welcoming that you will expect upon every visit. Look for professionalism. And most of all, look for a sense of “living” — music, art, socialization… Look for a place that can truly be considered the next best place to home.

Mark Francis is vice president of Schonberg Care, Louisiana’s largest family owned and operated senior living company.

Right at Home teaches how to get the most out of long term care insurance Right at Home senior care launched a new website this month devoted to understanding and getting as much benefit as possible from one’s long term care insurance.

The new website — www.rahltc.com — complements the company’s main website, www.rahbhm.com, and provides helpful education about long-term insurance. They will also offer a free policy review and assessment.

“We can look at their policies and let them know what they have to work with. In some cases we’ve helped them get more benefits than they thought they could get,” said Right at Home President Beau Green. “We’re in the business of caregiving and we have a great deal of experience working with long term care insurance. We’ve found that many people don’t

senior life

use all of the benefits they are entitled to.”

Beau and his wife, Rachel, started Right at Home senior care after experiencing first-hand the impact home care can have on family.

“We both have had family members who have suffered from memory loss and we understand how difficult it can be on the whole family,” said Beau Green, who opened Right at Home 2011 in Birmingham. They also have offices in Huntsville, Decatur and Tuscaloosa. “But through all of this we gained an appreciation of the rewards excellent home care can bring to a family,” he said.

Right at Home launched as a non-medical senior home care provider and a few years ago, added skilled nursing.

“We’re there for them whatever they need every step of the way, whether it’s temporary care or long-term help,” said Green.

Right at Home employs skilled, licensed, trained caregivers, and uses software to help match them with those they are providing care for based on geography, level of care needed as well as other factors. “Of course, the human element is always in the equation,” said Green. “It is our hope that our caregivers become almost an extension of family as they care for our seniors.”

Compassionate home health care in Birmingham Ever since helping her family care for her grandparents, Jamilla Todd knew she wanted to be a nurse and offer care to those in need.

That led her to home health care and to becoming part of the Accessible Home Health Care of Birmingham team.

“Our clients are like family,” said Todd. “I’m there for them and our caregivers 24 hours a day, seven days a week whenever they need me.

Caring for seniors is my passion and my calling.”

Jewish entrepreneur Aarif Dahod, who serves as the company’s CEO, and Mirella Salem, its president, founded Accessible Home Health Care in 2000. Accessible now has 72 locations across the world.

Todd said they provide daily living care support, including housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders, social interaction and remote patient monitoring. Accessible can also provide specialized care for those with

memory loss, Parkinson’s, cancer, cardiac and respiratory issues. They service all age groups, from newborns to seniors.

“One of the unique, important programs we provide is for veterans, to help them get benefits to pay for their care,” she said. Accessible Home Health Care coordinates care and manages one’s Veterans Administration benefits utilization to maximize the available VA-approved benefit as part of its Access Vet Benefits entity.

She said Accessible Home Health Care goes to great lengths with its matching program to find caregivers who are a good fit with their care clients. “It’s not just about providing the care they need but making an emotional connection,” said Todd.

She added that all their caregivers must have at least two years of home health experience and after hired are trained by a registered nurse.

For more information, go to www.accessiblebirmingham.com.

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But There’s More…

We have many more articles that did not make it into the print edition. Go to sjlmag.com and check out many more stories, including…

Personal remembrances of George Shultz and Sheldon Adelson Jewish reaction after the Capitol Hill storming Strange Antisemitic Letters Hand-Delivered in Several Communities Uniting to Remember Lynching Victims Beating BDS at Florida State

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Town Village adjusts during Covid to keep residents safe, connected The Town Village senior living facility in Vestavia has always been about community and keeping seniors active.

Through modifications, an enhanced focus on technology learning and Covid-19 precautions, Town Village continued to keep that community strong.

“We made some adjustments so that we could keep everyone safe, active and connected,” said Town Village Marketing Director Desiree Soriano. “We worked with the guidelines and made a big commitment as a community. We’ve learned a lot and I know there are some things that we’ll continue to do” after the pandemic ends.

Soriano said the staff worked diligently to develop some entertaining social programming and exercise classes via Zoom. They also had a lot of one-on-one sessions with residents to teach them how to use video conferencing technology to stay connected within the community and with their families.

“Before we might have gone with residents to a museum or the symphony” or brought in an entertainer, she said. “We were still able to do fitness classes, museum, zoo tours and other entertainment” via Zoom and other online programming and communications.

She said they also helped residents learn about online grocery and meal delivery.

“We also did a lot of Face Time and Zoom tours with prospective residents and their families” who couldn’t make it to the community for an in-person tour, added Soriano.

Town Village kept its award-winning dining offerings, with some adjustments for safety and slightly modified hours.

They also purchased some large partitions and utilized social distancing in their spacious ballroom upstairs for some live social events.

“We still have regular movie screenings, but we would add screenings to keep a limited capacity,” said Soriano.

The community also enhanced its commitment to cleanliness and Covid safety awareness.

Soriano said Town Village’s resident referral program was strong in 2020 and the residents gave the community very high marks on its satisfaction survey.

“We’re all in this together. Our residents have been very receptive and mindful to the changes and we can’t say enough about the dedication of our staff,” she said.

Special Section articles by Lee J. Green

community Mobile Jewish Film Festival goes virtual, adds Huntsville and Pensacola For 20 years, the Mobile Jewish Film Festival has been drawing crowds in several venues throughout South Alabama. While Covid is forcing this year’s festival to retool as a virtual event, company is still Photo courtesy Menemsha Films coming over.

“Shared Legacies: The African AmericanThe Pensacola Jewish Jewish Civil Rights Alliance” Federation and the Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama are partnering with the Mobile festival, bringing the offerings to a wider audience and sponsoring ancillary events.

There will be seven featured films this year, with each film available for a three-day window of viewing on the Elevent platform, starting on March 5. Tickets are already available through the Mobile Area Jewish Federation’s website, and are $9 for individuals and $15 for a household. A season pass for all seven films is $60, and sponsorships start at $100 including one film, and $1,000 and up for packages including all seven films.

The festival kicks off on March 5 with “The Keeper,” the true story of Bert Trautmann (David Kross, “The Reader”), a German soldier and prisoner of war who, against a backdrop of British post-war protest and prejudice, secures the position of goalkeeper at Manchester City, and in doing so becomes a footballing icon. His signing causes outrage to thousands of fans, many of them Jewish — but he receives support from Rabbi Alexander Altmann, who fled the Nazis. But fate will soon twist the knife for Trautmann and his English girlfriend, when their love and loyalty to each other is put to the ultimate test.

“Crescendo” will start on March 8, detailing the seemingly-impossible effort by famed conductor Eduard Sporck (Peter Simonischek, Toni Erdmann) to create an Israeli-Palestinian youth orchestra. Lined up behind the two best violinists — the emancipated Palestinian Layla and the handsome Israeli Ron — they form two parties who deeply mistrust each other, on and off-stage alike.

On March 11, “The Picture of His Life,” shows the journey that has led the famed underwater photographer Amos Nachoum to his last shot at capturing a polar bear on film using his usual approach of being face to face with his subjects, without protection. As he embarks on the project, he recalls his long and painful journey, serving in an Elite Commando unit and witnessing the horrors of war, but where others find fear, Nachoum finds redemption.

Available on March 14, Israel’s Best International Feature Oscar submission, the psychological thriller “Incitement” dramatizes the political and personal motivations behind Prime Minister Rabin’s assassination.

The watershed tragedy is told through the perpetrator’s eyes, Jewish extremist Yigal Amir, spanning his Yemeni upbringing and failed relationships, to radicalization. Featuring an unsettling central performance

by Yehuda Nahari Halevi, this rigorously researched portrayal boasts 10 Israeli Academy Award nominations, including Best Film winner.

“Aulcie,” starting on March 17, tells the inspiring story of Aulcie Perry, a basketball legend who led Maccabi Tel Aviv to an upset win in the European Championship. During the summer of 1976, Aulcie Perry was spotted by a scout for Maccabi Tel Aviv while playing at the Rucker courts in Harlem and was quickly signed to play for their fledgling team. The continued on page 29

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community Fanny Meisler Trauma Center dedicated New facility enriches lives, expands USA’s ability to serve south Alabama

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You can hear the admiration in Kelly McCarron’s voice. And the gratitude.

McCarron, associate vice president for medical affairs for University of South Alabama Health Development, is grateful to Bert and the late Fanny Meisler, long-time Mobile residents and benefactors of the University, for a $5 million commitment that leveraged another $4 million in state funding to create the Fanny Meisler Trauma Center at USA. Explains McCarron, “USA Health is the only academic health system in Mobile, the others are community hospitals and clinics. We are the only system that has a trauma center — what that means is that we have invested our resources into a 24/7 trauma center to help with car wrecks, chemical burns, power line injuries and other severe accidents. We are the place to go.”

Adds the USA official, “A lot of people don’t realize that when you are faced with a trauma it could take about 80 to 100 people to respond throughout the individual’s care — from paramedics to the fire department to the police to other first responders. Then, the patient may have to be airlifted to the hospital. Then once they get there, their case may involve trauma surgeons, nurses, orthopaedic surgeons, nutritionists, therapists — the list goes on and on.”

In short, she said, “It is really a remarkable service — a unique service — and USA’s Fanny Meisler Trauma Center will be the only such facility in the region. We have had the team in place for many years, but our facility is antiquated. It doesn’t match the level of service and care we provide. So, by opening the Fanny Meisler Trauma Center, we are able to increase capacity, and centralize some of the sophisticated technology that is needed, such as imaging. Our new facility already has it all centrally-located, so it is a lot more conducive to patient care.”

The new Trauma Facility will not only deal with major medical traumas. It also will include a state of the art emergency room, to get typical emergency room patients “in and out faster,” says McCarron.

Given that the state has been a significant financial partner, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey joined the Meisler family at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 11.

“The impact of high-quality, highly specialized healthcare as it relates to economic growth in a community, cannot be underestimated,” Ivey said. “The importance is based not only on having a healthy and educated population, but these are items that companies look for when deciding

Photo courtesy USA

Bert Meisler and his late wife Fanny in front of USA’s Meisler Hall.

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community on places to locate their businesses. They also are important for the recruitment and retention of the employees who work in those businesses.”

“By more than doubling the size of the emergency department and trauma center, USA Health is increasing its ability to meet the healthcare needs of the people in our community,” said John V. Marymont, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine. “This new facility is a reflection of the advanced, high quality healthcare that our emergency and trauma healthcare providers deliver to our region.”

Saving Lives Every Day Fanny Meisler died in 2016. In 2018, Bert announced the gift to create the Fanny Meisler Trauma Center, explaining at the time “The USA Medical Center serves thousands of people each year and saves the lives of our citizens every day. The expansion of its Level 1 trauma center — the only one of its kind in the region — is vitally important to our community.”

Added Bert, “I am so pleased to be able to give back to the University of South Alabama and to the USA Health system in this way.” In a recent interview he added that Fanny was “proud of their gifts to USA and was very charitable herself.”

The large gift that the Meisler family provided is only the latest in a series of financial gifts, extending back decades, that they have made to USA. The Meislers and other leading Jewish families in the Mobile area have had a dramatic effect on the University, benefiting countless lives, opening up opportunities for students, and expanding health services for people throughout the region and beyond.

McCarron and other top USA officials have enjoyed an excellent relationship with leading families in the Mobile Jewish community, something they don’t take for granted.

“We often talk about how fortunate we are to have the relationship we do with the Jewish community here in Mobile,” says McCarron.

“They are just so philanthropic and passionate and it really impacts our ability to advance our mission. There are so many families, beyond the Meislers and the Mitchells (another wellknown Mobile family). Our community should be grateful; people may not need these services today, but they may in the future.”

McCarron, who is from Louisiana and Catholic, a religion, she says, that “teaches philanthropy to some extent,” asked during a recent interview with Southern Jewish Life if philanthropy is especially taught and emphasized in the Jewish faith. “I get the feeling that Jewish people believe that it is their duty to give back — and not just in the area of healthcare. Their

giving involves other programs, such as athletics and helping students succeed. They do so much.”

And, she adds with admiration, “I talk to members of the Jewish community all the time.

Our leading Jewish donors don’t just give their money and walk away, they want to be engaged.”

Professional Counseling

Noting with pride There is no better example of a Jewish Mobilian committed to using his wealth to benefit community causes than Bert Meisler. While he has given to many causes, locally and nationally, Jewish and otherwise, Bert became involved with USA in the 1960s through his relationship with the school’s basketball coach. He became an advocate for USA athletics and a leading donor.

That involvement would lead to Bert and Fanny making a large gift to name the school’s administration building Meisler Hall — a building, which Bert notes with pride, that “every student goes through.”

The Meislers have also funded the Jewish Studies program at USA. In essence, Bert and Fanny wound up giving millions of dollars to USA over the decades, something this Newark, N.J. native could never have imagined when he was growing up in modest circumstances. Bert, now 93, looks back on his business success and the prosperity he achieved after marrying Fanny and moving to her hometown of Mobile.

He and Fanny’s brother, Harold Ripps, who now lives in Birmingham, became partners.

They’ve been a great team and close friends for decades. They have prospered in several businesses; in particular the real estate business through their company RIME (RI for Ripps; ME for Meisler).

Knowing Bert over the years and talking to him more recently in connection with the opening of the Fanny Meisler Trauma Center has been a great experience. He has been passionate about Jewish life — having made transformative gifts to Camp Ramah and his local synagogue, Ahavas Chesed — and to the broader Mobile community, which has named him as its “Philanthropist of the Year.”

Most significantly, however, is Bert is just a really nice down to earth guy. He’s easy to talk to, fun to be with, and even though some late in life physical challenges have slowed him down a little bit, his spirit and intellect remain strong.

This admired philanthropist, the father of five children, is grateful for the blessings that have been bestowed on him. How would he like to be remembered? “As a nice guy whose word was his bond,” he answers. “I am not worried about monuments.”

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

a monthly feature from Collat Jewish Family Services

What Covid Changes — and What it Doesn’t

By Gail Schuster, LICSW, ACSW

Southern Jewish Life tells our story, keeping our communities connected and informed!

City

counselor’s corner

If there’s one truth that comes out of Covid for me as a therapist, it’s that there is no one truth about the way this crisis affects people.

Some clients I was working with before the pandemic have continued to make progress on their goals. Covid has even provided unexpected opportunities for some, such as extra time to exercise or develop a new hobby. Some individuals are finding their inner hero during this time; faced with this potentially deadly challenge, they’ve been able to rise up and face it. Having a real enemy to fight, they’ve been able to get outside of themselves and focus on a purpose.

However, many individuals have had to suspend or shift the actions they were planning to take toward reaching their goals. One person had hoped to find a job in a different city. But it’s really hard to think about moving when you can’t go visit new places — and you know that when you get there, it will be hard to make new friends.

A few people had wanted to get back into dating, or just have a more active social life. Again, everything is screened through the lens of Covid.

And even though the vaccines are giving us hope of a return to “normal” life, we still don’t know when that will be or exactly what it will look like.

One client has a hobby that, before Covid, gave him the opportunity to gather with others. I encouraged him to find an online group that connects over that activity. A lot of us are more willing to connect online than we ever were in the past. But again, that isn’t true for everyone. A person who is currently sitting in front of a computer all day in a spare bedroom may not feel like interacting in that same space on the weekend.

For many people, the uncertainty and isolation of this time has intensified the loneliness, depression or anxiety they were already experiencing.

As stress levels increase, relationship issues may grow more intense, especially when people are forced to share a common space most of the time.

I encourage my clients to examine their negative emotions, and together we try to figure out what’s causing them. When we can identify what we need in any given day, then we can work on a strategy for meeting that need. For example, if we’ve lost a routine that gave our life structure and purpose, we can work on finding a new one.

I also ask people to identify how they’re spending their time amid the pandemic. Are they reading more, talking on the phone more or spending more time being creative? Are they spending hours watching junk TV or glued to 24-hour news, which may make them anxious or depressed? Being intentional about pursuing activities that support our mental health can improve our overall wellbeing.

Right now, a key ingredient is missing in all of our lives — other people.

Even if we enjoy spending time alone or with our families, we need other people. Finding ways to cope with this reality and our other challenges is what therapy is all about — and Covid hasn’t changed that.

CJFS offers individual and group counseling for people of all ages — in person, by phone or via video apps such as FaceTime and Zoom. Insurance is accepted. To learn more, contact Clinical Director Marcy Morgenbesser, marcy@cjfsbham.org or (205) 879-3438.

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commentary What starts in California… creeps here?

Jewish stereotypes, “Jewish privilege” and anti-Zionism in proposed 2021 Ethnic Studies curriculum

By Robert Witrock Emily Benedek wrote an alarming expose in Tablet Magazine on Jan. 27, detailing California’s proposed high school ethnic studies program.

The program puts forth numerous antisemitic stereotypes and anti-Israel paradigms to replace earlier European-based history.

Since the 1960s, ethnic studies has been pushed, initially a good thing.

Not only did the efforts lead to Black Studies but eventually Jewish Studies, Latino Studies, Gender Studies, etc. Increasing influence of BDS, Farrakhan pride, and other far left paradigms has resulted today in an ethnic cleansing of any Jewish-American history, viewing American Jews as a white privileged rich group. Never mind the associated apartheid-only view of the Jewish State.

Some recent background: In 2016, California’s then Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a mandate to develop an ethnic studies program for high schools in California. With California’s public schools being the most ethnically diverse in the United States, this appeared as a positive development in understanding our global diversity, egalitarianism and combating bigotry.

Elina Kaplan, a former high-tech manager, Soviet-Jewish refugee and nonprofit leader, agreed with the mandate’s objectives.

To fulfill the mandate, a draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum was released in 2019. Kaplan was shocked what the draft contained. A list of historic U.S. social movements — ones like Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Criminal Justice Reform — also included the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement for Palestine.

A list of 154 influential people of color made no mention of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, or Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, though it included many violent revolutionaries. Capitalism was classified as a form of “power and oppression.” Forms of oppression such as “classism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and transphobia” were listed, yet antisemitism was not. Jewish Americans were not even mentioned as a minority group. Marxist code words were used throughout the document.

List of 154 This new Ethnic Studies curriculum may prevail throughout the California school “influential system of 6 million children. It would “cripeople of tique empire and its relationship to white color” did not supremacy, racism, patriarchy, capitalism… and other forms of power and oppression,” mention Martin according to the proposal.

To fight the adoption of the ESMC, KaLuther King plan used her nonprofit leader expertise and Jr., John Lewis co-created, with two other women, the Alliance for Constructive Ethnic Studies. The efor Thurgood fort was urgent, she knew, because since CalMarshall ifornia has the largest school system in the country, any curriculum it adopts will be exported to the rest of the U.S. Clarence Jones, former legal counsel and speechwriter for Martin Luther King Jr., in a letter he wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s Instructional Quality Commission, called the ESMC a perversion of history “for providing material that refers to non-violent Black leaders as ‘passive’ and ‘docile’.”

Critical race theory in education, writes Daniel Solorzano, a scholar cited in the ESMC, “challenges the traditional claims of the educational system such as objectivity, meritocracy, color-blindness, race neutrality, and equal opportunity.” Critical race theorists argue that these traditional February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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commentary claims act as a camouflage for the self-interest, power, and privilege of dominant groups in U.S. society.

In 2020, Gov. Newsom signed into law AB 1460, which requires that every student in the Cal State system — the largest four-year public university system in the country, of which San Francisco State is a part — take a three-unit course in ethnic studies.

Antisemitic and anti-Zionist language is found in the law — for example, a description of prewar Zionism: “the Jews have filled the air with their cries and lamentations in an effort to raise funds and American Jews, as is well known, are the richest in the world.” Anti-Zionism is built into the theory and the discipline of ethnic studies, which demonizes Israel as an apartheid settler-colonialist Nazi state.

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, director of AMCHA Initiative, which fights campus anti-Semitism, points out that all 13 founding members of the Critical Ethnic Studies Association are BDS activists. CESA, the national home base for critical studies, passed a resolution in 2014 to boycott all Israeli academic institutions, and the group’s past four biennial meetings included multiple sessions demonizing Israel.

Jewish Students Have “Racial Privilege” Benedek writes, “But of even greater concern to Jews, (Rossman-Benjamin) believes, is the singling out of Jewish students as enjoying racial privilege. ‘I don’t see any way that Jewish students can sit in an ethnic studies class and not feel they have a double target on their backs,’ she said, fearing hatred and violence will ensue. First, because they’re Jewish, and considered white and part of the 1%, the purported villains of the teaching, and then through an assumed association with Israel. ‘There’s a state requirement that you have to sit through a class that says to Jewish students they have extraordinary racial privilege and yet forbids them from speaking because ‘this course is not about you?’ If you don’t accept it, you’re publicly shamed and ostracized — you can’t even speak up and say, ‘I’m not sure if I think that all white people are racists’.”

“Brandy Shufutinsky, an African American Jewish woman pursuing an Ed.D. in international multicultural education at the University of San Francisco, opposes the ESMC. ‘It needs to be scrapped. Its foundations are faulty,’ she told Tablet, having more of a ‘political agenda than an educational one.’ Her interest is personal. The mother of four, she is concerned that ‘other states will follow the lead of California, and may have an impact on my own children in the future’.”

“I’m a progressive Democrat and have been for my entire life, and I come from a family of Democrats,” she said. “I don’t understand how someone who claims to be progressive can say they are against Israel.

Israel is one of the most successful countries in terms of the indigenous rights movement. They have reclaimed a culture that was decimated and denied, reclaimed their religion, their peoplehood, and language in their traditional indigenous land. This is something that progressive people all around the world should hold up as an example, not demonize.”

Shufutinsky has no patience for young people calling Israel an apartheid state. “They don’t know the history of apartheid — they’re too young to have experienced it themselves, and they seem not to have read too deeply about it either. It’s easy for people to imagine that Arabs are all Black and brown and the Israelis are all white. But it’s not true. Israelis are not white, but that’s a lie that the ethnic studies curriculum is built on.”

The California’s State Board of Education will vote on the curriculum on March 17.

These anti-Jewish stereotypes and potential public policies of those on the left as well as the right need to be called out, from whatever community they emanate. These views and shift in public policy and education are dangerous for the Jewish community, not only in California, but across the U.S., including New Orleans.

Robert Witrock is active in the New Orleans Jewish community.

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community

When It Comes To Your Health

>> Rear Pew

continued from previous page

On Shabbos the 13th, Judaism stops putting aside this obvious allusion to the zombie apocalypse. However, out of an abundance of caution, the acknowledgement is a subtle one.

In the Amidah, the first two times there’s a “Baruch Attah” (“Blessed are You”) phrase, it includes a bow. For this third instance of the phrase, there’s no bow (though some people bow, not realizing they’re not supposed to).

The reason for the lack of bowing there is not to de-emphasize zombies; it’s more about the structure of the Amidah — but that will be covered in the 201 course next semester.

Regardless, on Shabbos the 13th, the tractate Bava Gump instructs that the congregation should bow there, specifically to acknowledge the potential of a zombie apocalypse and in gratitude that there, generally speaking, hasn’t been one yet. As of this writing.

However, Jews needn’t spend Shabbos the 13th fearing a zombie insurrection or any other uprising. After all, that’s what the space laser was built for.

Experience Matters...

Doug Brook refrained from exploring the even greater imminent horrorday, February 14th. To read past columns, visit http://brookwrite.com/. For exclusive online content, follow facebook.com/rearpewmirror.

>> Mobile Film

continued from page 25

Israeli players immediately responded to Aulcie’s leadership and that year they had what one Sports Illustrated writer described as “the most extraordinary season in its remarkable history” and what Perry later called “the best nine months of my life.” Perry then converted to Judaism and became an Israeli citizen. This inspiring film tells the story of this remarkable athlete who captured the spirit of a nation, triumphant and victorious against all odds, and put Israel on the map.

Set in Israel, “Here We Are” is Nir Bergman’s warm and moving tale of parental devotion focuses on divorced dad Aharon (Shai Avivi), who has given up his artistic career to look after his autistic son Uri (Noam Imber). They live a quiet life, and as the boy reaches young adulthood, his mother decides that he needs to be placed in a boarding facility more equipped to cater to his needs. Resistant at first, Aharon runs away on a road trip with Uri. The fim, available on March 20, won multiple Ophir Awards, including Best Director.

On March 23, the final film will be “Shared Legacies,” a call to action that recalls the Black-Jewish cooperation of the 1960s, when Jewish leaders backed the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. In recent years, the relationship has faded and frayed. Pivotal events come alive through a treasure trove of archival materials, narrated by eyewitnesses, activists, Holocaust survivors, and leaders of the movement, including prominent Atlantans such as Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young, Rabbi Alvin Sugarman, Rabbi Peter S. Berg, Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr., members of the King family and many others.

The Mobile Federation will present an online panel discussion with “Shared Legacies” Director Shari Rogers, and an update on Israel from Michael Koplow, the policy director of the Israel Policy Forum for the film “Incitement.” For those who purchase a ticket to those films or a festival pass, the pre-recorded discussions will be automatically included with the films.

Huntsville’s Federation will present a question and answer session with Dani Menkin, director of “Aulcie.” At press time it was undetermined whether it would be a live Zoom or pre-recorded, but either way, it will be included with the ticket purchase.

The Pensacola Federation will present virtual programming for the film “Crescendo,” but details were not firm at press time.

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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rear pew mirror • doug brook

Shabbos the 13th In 2013, Kol Nidre fell on Friday the 13th. Nobody remembers the horrors of that night. Not because they didn’t happen — but because they blocked it out.

The horror is back.

Forget Rebbe Kruger’s Nightmare on Chelm Street. Forget the Texas Chrain Slaw Massacre. Forget Norman and his worship center Beis Hotel. They’re nothing compared to the golem of Camp Kippur Lake, Jason Viduis.

It’s well known that no Shabbos is safe when it starts at sundown on a Friday the 13th. But nobody talks about how much worse it is when the 13th is not Friday, but Shabbos itself.

Consider this: Friday is Yom Shishi — the sixth day of the week. Saturday is the seventh day. Six plus seven equals… horrors so unspeakable that even the known Talmud braves nary a mention.

What happens when the 13 attributes of the Big G collide with Shabbos the 13th?

No modern rabbi will admit to a moment’s dread that 2021 brings Shabbos the 13th, not just once in February, but again in March. And November. That’s because they dread it too much to talk about it openly.

Nevertheless, like a year’s worth of 2020 horrors packed into a single day, Shabbos the 13th sits on the calendar. And waits. Considering 2020 itself was a year full of days that each felt like a year, that’s a lot. It makes asking at the Passover seder “how might the plagues on the Egyptians have been fivefold?” seem like child’s play. (Chucky doll not included.)

The Jewish calendar is filled with notable days. Holidays. High Holy Days. Fast days. Slower fast days. Nobody speaks of the horrordays. Until now.

As usual when Shabbat coincides with a special day, there are modifications to synagogue services in recogGet ready nition of Shabbos the 13th. On this day, both changes occur in the first page of to celebrate the Amidah, which is typically chanted out loud, often simultaneously in three or the New Year four conflicting key signatures.

In the Amidah, between Shemini several times…

Atzeret and Passover (basically October to April), we normally recite the line, “Mashiv haRuach uMorid haGashem,” which asks to “Bring the Wind and the Rain.” Less commonly, during the rest of the year some add “Morid haTal,” which asks to “Bring the Dew.” This is primarily motivated by seasonal weather trends in The Promised Land, rather than a clever product placement by Pepsi for heavily-caffeinated sodas during end-of-school-year finals.

However, on any Shabbos the 13th during the year, a third alternative is used: “Morid haTalisman.” The recently discovered Mishnah tractate Bava Gump says that this invitation to bring objects with religious or magical powers is a blessing for requesters who are good, and a curse for requesters who are bad. Bava Gump grudgingly admits that while blessings are preferred, the cursed talismans tend to make for better-selling movies.

The tractate also cautions to never purchase a talisman from a Talis Man, just in case.

The very next paragraph of the Amidah (the third, by many reckonings) ends with praising the Big G for “M’chayei haMeitim,” which means “giving life to the dead.” continued on previous page 30

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February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life