Southern Jewish Life, New Orleans, February 2021

Southern Jewish LifeLife Southern Jewish 3747 West Esplanade Ave. P.O. Box 130052 3rd Floor Birmingham, AL 35213 Metairie, LA 70002 Volume 31 Issue 2

Feb./March 2021

INSIDE:

NEW ORLEANS EDITION

Southern Jewish Life

Free Prescription Delivery Convenient Curbside Pickup Exceptional Customer Service

Crestline Pharmacy is where your family becomes part of ours!

Family owned & operated since 1950 60 Church Street, Mountain Brook 205/871-0317 crestlinepharmacyshop@gmail.com

2

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

SJL Online: sjlmag.com Southern Jewish Life is an independent Jewish periodical. Articles and columns do not necessarily reflect the views of any Jewish institutions, agencies or congregations in our region.

To subscribe, email subscribe@sjlmag.com

WE'RE HERE! Savings and service await you at your GEICO Local Office — right here in Metairie!

504-457-2345 4051 Veterans Memorial Boulevard, Metairie geico.com/nola ¡Hablamos Español!

Some discounts, coverages, payment plans, and features are not available in all states, in all GEICO companies, or in all situations. Homeowners, renters, and condo coverages are written through non-affiliated insurance companies and are secured through the GEICO Insurance Agency, Inc. Motorcycle and ATV coverages are underwritten by GEICO Indemnity Company. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, DC 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2020. © [[year]] GEICO

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

3

commentary

MESSAGES

Maccabi USA leader praises Birmingham Games I have had the honor of attending many Maccabi competitions around the world. From Israel to Australia to SouthTlaib America, Europe and Maccabi games United States events are around rapidlythebecoming part of Omar and Rashida not censured forthe an-JCCEast and Canada, I havethey logged miles seeing howmainstream, sports can beaccepted a vehicle to help build Jewish thought, which has far tisemitic remarks, aremany celebrated as party identity, especially ourdays young. rock stars.

And ininthe before this issue more serious implications. about parties finally doing went press, various Democratic representaI felttohonored to come to Birmingham for the firstWhat time and fell inboth love with not just the city something to combat in their tivesthe accused of burning down Palestinbut people.Israel You have taken Southern hospitality to a new level with yourantisemitism kind and caring ian villages, having racist policy to withhold ranks, and make antisemitism unacceptable approach to the JCC aMaccabi Games.

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

Right now, whereMaccabi can the games U.S. Jewish treatment of the Palestinians.

I want take this opportunity as executive director of Maccabi say thank you on behalf munity turn inUSA the to search for a political home?

Suchtocomplaints are dismissed as “whatof everyone aboutism, ” involved. but while Greene’s beliefs are universally as 20th several candles I had just acknowledged returned from the World Maccabiah games in Israel with a U.S. delegation of short1100, of a who Chanukiah, the dual loyalty tropes over joined 10,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries. Back in July the eyes of the entire and complete misrepresentation of Middle Jewish world were on Jerusalem and the Maccabiah. This pastLawrence month with 1000 Publisher/Editor athletes and Brook, 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?

Jed Margolis In a recent letter (“SJL needs to respect difExecutive Director, Maccabi USA fering views on Zionism,” December 2020), J.A. Bernstein was offended by an article that equates anti-Zionism and antisemitism. I feel On Charlottesville his umbrage. No observant Jew wants to be called anNote: antisemite simplytobecause he in opposes Editor’s This reaction the events Zionism, a movement that supports the Charlottesville, written by Jeremy Newman,establishment JewishEpsilon state in Israel, by Master of of theaAlpha Pi biblical Theta Colony Jews who are Semites.was shared by AEPi at Auburn University, He argues that he isit not “Millions National, which called “veryalone. eloquent” and of people around the world, many of whom praised “our brothers at AEPi Theta Colony atare Jews, legitimately ” Then Auburn University question and… theZionism. leadership they he tells us on before “nearly all American Jews display their 1948 campus. ” and nearly all of the major Jewish organizations were staunchly Anti-Zionist.” However, he offers no references.

Myhas research, White supremacy been ahowever, cancer onshows a very long list of organizations supported our country since its beginning,who threatening Zionism then now. Aangels. partial list is: its hopes,strongly, its values, andand its better American Congress, American Zionist The events Jewish that took place in Charlottesville Movement, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, represented worst of this nation.

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

ThoseOrthodox who marched onto the streets did of to Conservative Judaism,that Religious so profess an ideology harkensZionists back to of Worldwretched Zionist time Organization, World aAmerica, bleaker, more in our history.

Jewish ORT Union.

A time Congress, when menWorld and women of many creeds, There many more.

It from is easy to research races, andare religions were far equal and far their mission statements.

I’m not sure where what perfrom safe in our own borders.

A time centage of Jews butcloud it hasofto be Americans lived they underrepresent a constant a stunning percentageand of world Jewry.

SoThe Berracism, anti-Semitism pervasive hate. nstein that is wrong.

Thereinwas very strongserved Jewish events took place Charlottesville support for Israel in the 1940s. relevant these as a reminder of how painfully He then tells us that “huge segments of the Orissues are today. thodox community reject Zionism.” That is simAuburn’s Alpha Epsilon Pi stands with the ply false. Anyway, only 10 percent of American Jewish community of Charlottesville, and Jews are Orthodox. The chief opposers of Israel with the Jewish people around the country are the Neturei Karta and Satmar Hasidim but and around the world. We also stand with the they comprise maybe half a percent of all Jews. minorities who are targeted by the hate that Further, he argues that Albert Einstein, our was on display in Charlottesville. We stand foremost Jewish luminary, opposed Israel. True, with the minorities of whom these white he did at first, because as a pacifist he was ap4

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 Issupremacists likeitto“the seefulfillment pushed back rael, Einstein would declared of our into a corner andand made to feel lesser. We stand Jewish dreams, no one respects those who with and pray the own family of Heather Heyer, do not fight forfor their rights. ” who up towho the oppose face of this Sowas yes,there therestanding are millions Israel’s hate. existence. Most of them are Christians and Muslims. call them because Israel is WeWe recognize theantisemites essence of the American now occupied by Semites — a cognate narrative as a two-century old struggle to which rid in modernoftimes refers toand Jews.

Andthose I’m sorry ourselves such corners, allow in if some theatopposers butdeserve. they are them theofseat the table are thatJews, they so also antisemites definition.

Such of a the conunIt is the struggle tobyfulfill the promise drum always and unfortunately reminds meareof Declaration of Independence, that “all men what my Bar Mitzvah rabbi warned me — that created equal… endowed by their Creator with the most vicious opponents of this new country certain unalienable rights.” We know our work would not finished, only be Christians andwe Muslims is far from but we know will notbut also Jews.

I didn’t believe him then; but I do now. move backwards.

I am perplexed how any Jew can oppose Israel women, fully as When a state.men It is and the equivalent of aarmed, devouttake Cathoto streets the in droves with swastikas lic the opposing sanctity of the Vaticanand City. Or other symbols of hate, is a reminder of how to a Muslim denying the itright of Saudi Arabia relevant the issues of racism and anti-Semitism serve as the guardian of sacred Muslim shrines are today. Itand is aMecca. wake-up call to the work that at Medina needs to be done as to ensure better, more As perplexed I am, Ia respect Bernstein’s welcoming should comeother right to his country. opinion,But butithe must not respect without a reflection on how far we’ve come. people’s rights also. The Torah instructs Jews often to bewas tolerant dialogue.

America born aand slaveengage nation.inA century But the alsoengaged warns us, into our Talmud history we in aKol warYisrael in partarevinensure zeh baseh — all not Jewscontinue are responsible to one to we would as one. We another.

Apparently Einsteinbyreached found ourselves confronted the issuethe of same civil conclusion.

He was even thetopresidency rights, and embarked on aoffered mission ensure of Israel. the fair treatment of all peoples no matter their The planet is teeming more skin color.

Although we’vewith mademore greatand strides, antisemites vile Israel.

Are it is a missionand we’re stillopposers grapplingofwith today. there not enough evil forces once again bent on America was also born an immigrant Jewish extinction? Why do some Jews have to country. As early as the pilgrims, many join such forces? It is not only an oxymoron, it groups and families found in the country the is grotesque and suicidal. opportunity to plant stakes, chase their future, Calvin Ennis M.D. and be themselves. Few were met with open Pascagoula, Miss.

January 2021 February 2021

Southern Jewish Life PUBLISHER/EDITOR Lawrence M. Brook editor@sjlmag.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING Lee J. Green lee@sjlmag.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Richard Friedman richard@sjlmag.com V.P. SALES/MARKETING, NEW ORLEANS Jeff Pizzo jeff@sjlmag.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ginger Brook ginger@sjlmag.com SOCIAL/WEB Emily Baldwein connect@sjlmag.com PHOTOGRAPHER-AT-LARGE Rabbi Barry C. Altmark deepsouthrabbi.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rivka Epstein, Louis Crawford, Tally Werthan, Stuart Derroff, Belle Freitag, Ted Gelber, E. Walter Katz, Doug Brook brookwrite.com BIRMINGHAM OFFICE P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213 2179 Highland Ave., Birmingham, AL 35205 205/870.7889 NEW ORLEANS OFFICE 3747 West Esplanade, 3rd Floor Metairie, LA 70002 504/249-6875 TOLL-FREE 888/613.YALL(9255) ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries to 205/870.7889 for Lee Green, lee@sjlmag.com Jeff Pizzo, jeff@sjlmag.com Media kit, rates available upon request SUBSCRIPTIONS It has always been our goal to provide a large-community quality publication to all communities of the South.

To that end, our commitment includes mailing to every Jewish household in the region (AL, LA, MS, NW FL), without a subscription fee.

Outside the area, subscriptions are $25/year, $40/two years. Subscribe via sjlmag.com, call 205/870.7889 or mail payment to the address above.

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the publisher.

Views expressed in SJL are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. SJL makes no claims as to the Kashrut of its advertisers, and retains the right to refuse any advertisement.

Documenting this community, a community we are members of and active within, is our passion.

We love what we do, and who we do it for.

agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events

After challenging year, New Orleans JCC looks for a brighter 2021 In a video presentation looking back at 2020 during the New Orleans Jewish Community Center’s annual meeting, the video’s opening moments were under the header “Starting Off Strong,” with great anticipation for the year ahead. There were images of the annual meeting, 165th anniversary, nursery school Purim celebration and the community Adloyadah.

And then, everyone needed to be strong, with the facility shut down due to Covid quarantine.

There were still many activities after the JCC reopened in late May after two months off, and the video portrayed the opening of summer day camp, the Kindness March, ACE Drive By Visit, Outdoor exercise, Preschool, Day at the J Remote Learning, the Cultural Arts Series, Big Night In gala and the Dreidels and Doughnuts Drive Through for Chanukah.

The montage ended with the message that “with purpose and pride we plant the seeds for a brighter 2021.”

The presentation was part of the annual meeting that was streamed online on Jan. 27, rather than being held in person.

Outgoing JCC President Lee Sucherman said when the year began, the JCC “was on a roll” and “we were looking forward to major improvements for an even better experience for our members and visitors.”

Then everything changed, and he thanked the members, partners and donors who “have been invaluable beyond words. I think we can all look back with pride at what we accomplished together.”

Leslie Fischman, JCC executive director, said the year had been “one of the most tumultuous times in our 166 year history,” with membership

cancellations and missed milestones. “We celebrated Purim as a community on March 8, with no idea what was coming five days later.”

During the year, “our JCC community realized new traits, flexibility, adaptability and the willingness to make changes in real time.”

Some of the changes will be continued after the pandemic. For example, Fischman said “we still want to maintain smaller classes” in the preschool and they are carving out additional spaces for classrooms.

The classes are in pods, and they will maintain that model for summer day camp as well.

When the JCC reopened, they instituted procedures that are stricter than most fitness centers. The maximum capacity is “very conservative” and reservations generally fill up, Fischman said in an interview before the annual meeting.

Also, “we’re doing as much as we can outdoors,” Fischman said. The indoor and outdoor pools remain highly popular, and can be utilized continued on page 10 On the cover: Overlooking the Chevra Thilim Cemetery on Canal Street at Bottinelli Place are two Byzantine towers, which were salvaged from the original Temple Sinai building on Carondelet when it was demolished in 1977. Built in 1872, the towers originally had eight sides, but had to be cut down to six sides due to repairs when moved. Temple Sinai has been in its current building since 1928.

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

5

agenda Experience the flavors of over 200 teas

LimmudFest announces first speakers for March 14 regional event Full Service Breakfast, Lunch and High Tea Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm • We Ship Teas Nationwide

Catering Our food. Your Venue.

Celebrate and have your event with us!

English Tea Room and Eatery 734 East Rutland St

(In Historic Downtown Covington)

985-898-3988 englishtearoom.com

6 February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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.

PUTTING YOUR SUCCESS FIRST Financial Reporting and Audits • Tax Planning and Compliance Outsourced Accounting and Payroll Technology Consulting, Design and Support At Dent Moses, LLP, we’ll help you create and implement customized financial industry strategies, examine outsourced accounting solutions, and provide reliable professional services built around your accounting, consulting, and tax needs.

Proud to work with the Birmingham Jewish Federation

Lakeshore Park Plaza 2204 Lakeshore Drive, Suite 300 Birmingham, AL 35209 www.dentmoses.com

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

7

agenda Liz Yager announced that she is stepping down as executive director of Temple Sinai in New Orleans by June 30.

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.

Last year, one of the last in-person events in New Orleans was the 150th anniversary gala at Temple Sinai in New Orleans. On March 20, they will hold “Sinai Soiree in Slippers,” a gala at home with fine dining, a dinner concert performed by Rachel Van Voorhees and her string quartet, a silent auction and raffle. Patron levels start at $300.

Tickets are $150, or $300 for two meals and a bottle of wine, with children’s meals available for $30. The deadline for sponsor inclusion in the soiree booklet is Feb. 24.

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.

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.

The Morris Bart Sr. Lecture Series at the Uptown Jewish Community Center continues on Feb. 24 with Kristin Hull discussing “Investing at the Intersection of Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice: Connecting the Dots Between Values and Investing.” She launched Nia Global Solutions in 2013, using a gender lens and commitment to racial equity in the investment process. The 11 a.m. Zoom is open to the community. Register at nojcc.org.

On March 8, the Morris Bart Sr. Lecture Series at the Uptown Jewish Community Center features author Jana Lipman, associate professor of history at Tulane University, discussing “In Camps: Vietnamese Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Repatriates,” the story of 800,000 Vietnamese who fled the country by boat after the war in the 1970s. She will discuss how their stories have implications for refugee policy today.

The 11 a.m. Zoom is open to the community. Register at nojcc.org 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 continued on page 13 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-

4 Stump Grinding 4 Storm Clean-Up 4 Tree Trimming and Pruning Licensed * Insured Free Estimates Abitatreeservice.com

504-334-8733

Gyro • Shawarama Falafel • Hummus Fresh Saj Bread

2530 Canal Street Inside Red Zone

One Block from the VA Hospital

(504) 766-6519

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

9

GREG ARCENEAUX CABINETMAKERS CELEBRATING & PRESERVING LOUISIANA’S UNIQUE CULTURE & HERITAGE

Vasilier Dresser

Greg Arceneaux Cabinetmakers 17319 Norwell Drive • Covington gregarceneaux.com • 985-893-8782

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.)

With your help, 2021 will see us further expand Southern Jewish Life which today goes to every known Jewish household in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and NW Florida.

Please become part of our future by supporting us today!

10

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.

>> JCC

continued from page 5

almost year-round.

The JCC had to exercise great caution on the spending side due to the uncertainty. Because of the pandemic, many JCCs across the country had massive layoffs. In New Orleans, there were some salary cuts, which Fischman said “was the hardest thing for me to do.”

But, she said, “people have been very generous,” and this past fall’s annual fundraiser brought in the most in a long time. They also benefited from a PPP loan and were working on the second round.

Now, “we’re just waiting for the day when we can offer more programs and services to the community” as restrictions are gradually lifted.

This year began with the closing of the St. Charles Avenue main entrance, so the 1960s-era entrance could be updated, both for security and accessibility. A future project will include raising the driveway so there isn’t a step that has to be maneuvered in entering the building.

Incoming JCC President Aimee Bain cited her parents and grandparents “for being terrific models as leaders in both the Birmingham and New Orleans Jewish communities.”

She spoke about how the JCC has been there for the New Orleans community over the years. While she said she hesitated to bring up Hurricane Katrina in the middle of a pandemic, “the J literally came to the rescue of many families, including mine.”

She said, “The J has been there for you, and you saw in tonight’s video that the J was even there for you this past year, in 2020.”

The main priority, Bain said, is to return to full operational capacity.

“Right now we continue to be restrained by health and safety guidelines.

It is more important now than ever that we are here for the J.” “Covid is not over yet,” Fischman added, “but we do see new light.”

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.

When it’s important, we plan for it ahead of time.

Planning your funeral or memorial service now will give you and your family valuable peace of mind. Our guaranteed, pre-paid funeral plans protect everyone from hard financial and emotional decisions at a time of loss. Speak with us today and we’ll help you take care of every detail, including affordable payment plans.

FREE planning guide:

DignityMemorial.com

A Dignity Memorial® Provider 504-486-6331

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life 11

Pick up the Newest Brand of Premier Paint! community Along with: Topcoats • Brushes Embellishment Products

We’re Open! Mon-Sat 10am-6pm METAIRIE 5101 W. Esplanade Ave at Chastant

DESTREHAN 3001 Ormond Blvd. at entrance to Ormond Estates

504-407-3532 nolagiftsanddecoronline.com

SUPPORT QUALITY, INDEPENDENT, ORIGINAL SOUTHERN JEWISH JOURNALISM Visit supportSJL.com to contribute

Mississippi congregations unite for online Tu B’Shevat event 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.

The Latest News… www.sjlmag.com 12

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community “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.

>> Agenda

ExtErior DEsigns, inc.

By Beverly Katz

ONE STOP

KOSHER FOOD SHOPPING

FOR PASSOVER 2021 First Seder: March 27!

Items Over 1,000 Kosher for Passover ld Wor the nd Arou Dozens of Wines from York Amazing Baked Goods from New ls — Passover Catering and Bulk Mea Place Your Order Now!

Eat In — Take Out — Catering ExpEriEncED tEam DEsign anD construction our spEcialty Over 25 years experience and A+ rating with BBB New Orleans

(504) 866-0276

exteriordesignsbev.com

-3pm Mon-Thu 10am-7pm • Fri & Sun 10am (Closed Saturday)

3519 Severn, Metairie (504) 888-2010 www.koshercajun.com

continued from page 8

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.

The Chabad Center in Metairie will have a Purim party on Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. The outdoor event will be in the parking lot. There will be megillah readings at 4:30 and 5:15 p.m., an hors d’oeuvres cocktail hour, music and l’chaims, gourmet Shabbat dinner with an international menu and a children’s activity.

Reservations by Feb. 22 are $15 for adults, $8 for kids, $20 and $12 after. Costumes or Shabbat attire encouraged.

Stream the best of WYES anytime, anywhere. With WYES Passport, you can catch up on your favorite shows any time from any device. Our local library is constantly growing with WYES documentaries, plus current and past seasons of PBS shows. Receive WYES Passport and a year subscription to New Orleans Magazine when you become a member at the $60 level.

Sign up or learn more at wyes.org/passport.

Chabad in Baton Rouge will have Purim Masked, Feb. 26 at 4:45 p.m. in the outdoor tent at Chabad. There will be a megillah reading, Purim/Shabbat dinner, costumes (with masks) and a children’s program. Reservations are $15 for adults, $8 per child, $40 per family, sponsor level is $100.

February 2021 • The Jewish Newsletter

13

community No parades? Costume anyway NCJW holds virtual program CONTACT US

2901 CROWNE RIDGE DRIVE BIRMINGHAM, AL 35243 205.970.0344 OVERTONVILLAGE@CROWNEAPARTMENTS.COM

CONTACT US

5050 CAHABA RIVER ROAD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35243 205.203.4606 CAHABARIVER@CROWNEAPARTMENTS.COM

Celebrating

30 years

of Original, Independent Southern Jewish Journalism Be Part of Our 30th Anniversary Edition Reserve Your Ad or Greeting Space Today Deadline for April issue: March 18 r $975 Full Page r $725 2/3 page r $550 1/2 page

r $425 1/3 page r $325 1/4 page r $225 1/6 page

r $160 1/9 page r $120 1/12 page r $89 1/16 page

Send us your requested size and your ad copy (or what you want in the ad and we will design it for you).

Thank you for supporting

Southern Jewish Life!

Mail to: P.O. Box 130052 • Birmingham, AL 35213 Or Email Your Request to editor@sjlmag.com 14

February 2021 • The Jewish Newsletter

On Jan. 23, the Greater New Orleans Section of the National Council of Jewish Women had a gathering where the Zoom boxes included a devil, Cinderella, a mermaid and a Saints player.

The quirky “Costumes and Cocktails” was chaired by a Roaring ‘20s flapper, Lilli Geltman, and the aforementioned blue- and greenhaired mermaid, Sara Lewis. The virtual event for members and prospective members was seen as a way to get together in the Mardi Gras spirit in a year when there are no parades due to social distancing.

Guest bartender Adam Orzechowski, co-owner of Funk to Farm, taught the technique behind his signature Tepache cocktail, with the ingredients delivered to members’ homes beforehand.

There was also a cameo appearance by Ina Davis’s talented actor-son Dave, who presented a piano concert and solo of a popular Mardi Gras song. His newest movie, “The Vigil,” about a shomer who is targeted by a dybbuk, premiers on Feb. 26.

The party kicked off with a new member, Rabbi Lexi Erdheim, leading a traditional Havdalah while dressed as a Senator Bernie Sanders meme.

Jody Braunig, dressed as a glittery, long-eyelashed pretty-in-pink unicorn, won the prize of a crimson sequined (social-distancing) mask donated by Ellen Macomber, a New Orleans artist and designer.

Other notable costumes included Alexandra Bernstein as a devil, Gail Pesses as Cinderella, Rose Sher as a Pfizerball shot, Sandra Chass Goldsmith as a Saints player, Karen Sher as a Mah Jongg flower tile, and Ronda Kottle as “I Come from Alabama.”

Section President Susan Hess, Corresponding Secretary Vivian Cahn, and Ina Weber Davis, NCJW-WAY committee chair and the 2021 Hannah G. Solomon Award recipient, picked “best costume.”

Hess, Cahn and Davis also presented a history of their years of parading on the Friday before Mardi Gras, with screen shares of photographs of the trio in Mardi Gras costumes, as part of an organization called Divine Devivians — a play on Cahn’s name.

Pernick, Silver offer Judaism 2.0 Rabbi Josh Pernick of Beth Israel and Rabbi Deborah Silver of Shir Chadash in Metairie are offering Judaism 2.0, a four-part online series that continues a new Introduction to Judaism course. The classes are on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. The first class, Shabbat 2.0, about making a meaningful Shabbat as a consistent practice, was held on Feb. 7. On Feb. 21, “Your Kosher Home” explains how to make a home kosher, and what to do if something goes wrong.

On March 7, the series continues with “Navigating the Siddur,” a close look at the Shabbat morning service and how it differs from other services. “Kashering for Passover” will be the topic on March 21.

An Official Publication of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans

THE

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by Southern Jewish Life belong solely to the publisher. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of any other person; or the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, its constituent and beneficiary agencies, or any other entity.

JEWISH NEWSLETTER February 2021 | Adar 5781

Vol. XVI No. 1

Together, but virtually.

Since 1913, you and those who came before you have raised the dollars through the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign which have nourished our New Orleans Jewish community. Our donors have helped resettled immigrants who fled the threat of WWII, and then embraced the survivors with open arms. Your generosity helped build the State of Israel, opened our hearts to Russian refugees, and airlifted Ethiopians to safety. More recently you have protected the security of our Jewish community and tackled the impact of lack of engagement in Jewish life—but everything is different now.

We find ourselves facing a global pandemic—a historic moment that will define us for years to come. Will we rise to meet the challenge? We have, and we will. Because now, it’s even more important.

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans was built for this moment: taking collective action to tackle our community’s most devastating and seemingly intractable challenges, because, as the Talmud mandates, Kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh—all Jews are responsible for one another. Now more than ever, our goal is to safeguard Jewish New Orleans—specifically, here’s how your Jewish Federation responded in 2020: • We established a direct individual grant program for Jewish New Orleanians administered through Jewish Family Service (JFS) and funded by the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana.

• We launched a Health Care Take Home Meal Program, which supported kosher businesses while providing 6,600 meals this past spring and summer to health care workers at five local hospitals.

• We served as the central local organization facilitating the federal Paycheck Protection Program, with 16 agencies/synagogues joining our efforts. All were approved.

• We joined with JFS to create a helpline program to assist our community with delivery of groceries/pharmacy items, medical transport, and emotional support. More than 60 volunteers signed up to help.

• We led the statewide Jewish response to Hurricane Laura, raising more than $220,000 to assist those in need, and organized volunteer efforts.

• And most importantly, we continue to assess and address the financial stabilization needs of our community partners.

As the connector for Jewish New Orleans, our mission is to sustain our Jewish agencies and organizations for the future of our community, and that’s never clearer than during times of crisis. Despite everything, our 2020 Annual Campaign raised $2.606 million—and an additional $700,000 in supplemental giving, an important form of Jewish fundraising. While every dollar is critically important, the needs are even greater. That’s why we need your support for the 2021 Annual Campaign. And did you know you can schedule your donation up to three months in the future? Or set up a monthly payment schedule?

Other ways to support the Federation • Transfer stock to the Federation’s Morgan Stanley Account (#575-060565-239). Contact Carla Marciniak at carla.marciniak@morganstanley.com or 504-587-9645 (please be sure that your name is on the stock transfer). Kindly contact the Federation office at 504-780-5600 to notify Federation what kind of stock and how many shares have been transferred.

• Make a gift from your Jewish Endowment Foundation donor advised fund,and let Sherri Tarr you’ve done so by emailing sherritarr@jewishnola.com.

• Donate from your IRA through a regular distribution.

• Mail a check (payable to the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans) to 3747 W. Esplanade Avenue, Metairie, LA 70002.

• Please consider leaving a legacy for the Jewish Federation – for more information on how to endow your gift, please contact Bobby Garon or Patti Lengsfield at the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana at 504-524-4559.

All new and increased gifts to the 2021 Annual Campaign will be boosted b y the 25% Goldring/Woldenberg match.

The 2021 Annual Campaign is chaired by Mara Force & Joshua Rubenstein.

February 2021 • The Jewish Newsletter

15

What makes a mensch?

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and the Goldring/ Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life for a special event on March 11, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. CT. “The Making of a Mensch," a film from acclaimed director, Tiffany Shlain, is an outgrowth of National Character Day — a day that aims to get people talking about how to be the best versions of themselves.

Character Day was created by Shlain’s nonprofit, Let it Ripple, and it quickly gained traction, with some 1,500 schools and organizations around the world participating.

This presentation will explore what it means to be a mensch, through the lens of the wonderful ancient Jewish teachings of Mussar. Tiffany Shlain is mom to Odessa and Blooma, wife of Rebooter Ken Goldberg, founder of The Webby Awards, and filmmaker. Tiffany and her family unplug for "Technology Shabbats” every week-starting 7 years ago at the National Day of Unplugging.

This event is sponsored by Touro Infirmary/LCMC, and is open to Lions of Judah and JNEXT. Lions of Judah are those women in our community who make a minimum household gift of $5,000 to the 2021 Jewish Federation Annual Campaign. JNEXT offers programming for those between the ages of 40-59 in the Greater New Orleans Jewish community. There is no charge to attend. Questions? Please contact Sherri Tarr at sherritarr@jewishnola.com.

Save the Date

Jewish Federation’s 108th Annual Meeting

October 6, 2021

Letters from Anne & Martin All are invited to a dramatic presentation of parallel worlds and kindred spirits in our history, drawn entirely from the text of Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl (1947, expanded 1995) and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963). This virtual event will be held on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Languages & Cultures, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the Office of Equity & Inclusion at Loyola University New Orleans; by Touro Synagogue, and by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans’ Center for JewishMulticultural Affairs.

Funding for this performance was provided in part by a grant from Interfaith Youth Core. Register at:

https://loyno.zoom.us/webinar/register/ WN_p0yNW3fXSX-5YLSUZHRdwA Questions? Email yavneh@loyno.edu.

16 February 2021 • The Jewish Newsletter

Jewish Endowment Foundation Double DoubleYour Your Impact Impact

with a

Give Give It ItTwice TwiceTrust Trust

Commonly referred to as a “Give it Twice” Trust, a Testamentary Charitable Remainder Trust is a popular way to include both family and charitable giving in your legacy planning. It is a tax-wise way to make a gift to the Jewish Endowment Foundation. You can use the trust to first pay income to your family for a number of years and then distribute the balance of the trust to charity — thus the name “give it twice” — while also reducing estate and income taxes.

Benefits of a Testamentary Charitable Remainder Trust: • Provides estate tax savings • Promotes fairness by establishing a structure to treat each of your children equally • Teaches children financial responsibility by giving inherited income over time, rather than a lump sum • Supports the important work of your favorite charity, such as JEF

• Marsha gifts $250,000 from her IRA to the trust, avoiding taxation on the IRA. • Marsha’s grandchildren receive income annually for 20 years, an estimated total income of $275,238.

• When all income payments to her grandkids have been made, Marsha’s favorite charity receives an estimated $305,048.

How it works: (NOTE: This illustration is based on a variety of income and tax assumptions and is intended for educational purposes To learn more about how you may include both your family and only.) favorite charity in your legacy planning, contact JEF Executive Direc• Marsha’s estate includes an IRA and other property totaling tor Bobby Garon (bobby@jefno.org) or Legacy Director Debbie Berins $350,000. (debbie@jefno.org) at 504-524-4559.

• Marsha would like to gift $100,000 to her children and leave The JEF staff can help you with information about various tax-saving $250,000 from her IRA to her grandchildren, but not all at once. philanthropic tools, but we urge you to meet with your professional advisors to review your investment portfolio and consider tax, financial • Marsha created a 20-year, 5% Charitable Remainder Unitrust and charitable giving strategies. for her grandchildren through her estate plan.

Tulane Hillel Over winter break, students in Tulane Hillel’s Israeli Book Club received their book for the semester, “The Lemon Tree.” Written by Sandy Solan, “The Lemon Tree” examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of a unique friendship developed between a Palestinian man and an Israeli college-aged woman. As he returns to visit the beautiful lemon tree in his childhood home’s backyard, he meets her and her family now dwelling on the land. The story shifts between eras, sharing memories from the Israeli family’s past as European Holocaust survivors and the Palestinian family’s previous history of wealth and prosperity in the area.

In partnership with Maccabee Task Force and led by Tulane Hillel Israel Fellow Amit David, students from diverse backgrounds, locations, majors and class years joined together for this communal and educational experience.

With Starbucks gift cards, students were able to drink coffee together and discuss writing styles, the story itself, and their personal reflections while meeting virtually.

Cori, a junior Jewish Studies major and member of Tulane Jewish Leaders, felt a strong connection to “The Lemon Tree” as she has family in Israel and plans to enroll in the IDF. With Mizrahi heritage and family originally from Yemen, Cori has a unique perspective and background knowledge that truly added to the group dynamic. According to Cori, “participating in Hillel’s Israel-themed book club has been an informative, fun, and impactful experience. Other students and I got to share the experience of engaging with ‘The Lemon Tree’ on a deeper level, giving each other the opportunity to express how each of us related to the text, chapter by chapter.”

February 2021 • The Jewish Newsletter

17

Jewish Family Service Where Does Mental Health Fit In With Your 2021 Resolutions?

Join JFS in saying HINENI, Here I Am, to our struggling neighbors and friends

Don’t Miss Our Virtual CEU For February!

Ernie and Michelle Sanders need your help this year. With Ernie furloughed since April, they are struggling to make ends meet. Their son’s autoimmune disorder has kept them home throughout the pandemic. No kindergarten graduation, no first day of big-boy school, and no 7th birthday party for Michael. Isolated from their support system and financially strained, you can bring the Sanders comfort through a Passover food basket. Give them this small kindness in a year of harsh and unfeeling reality.

Our 2021 Bruce Levy Memorial JFS Passover Food Basket Program is more important than ever. Now in its 36th year, this essential and beloved program delivers the necessary food and ritual items for a Passover Seder to those in our community with mobility and financial challenges. Just $100 fills a basket for two.

You can ensure Passover is not among the litany of canceled events.

Follow in the footsteps of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. When G-d called, they said, “Hineni.”

To donate, visit jfsneworleans.org/donate Call (504) 831-8475 3300 W. Esplanade Ave. S. Suite 603, Metairie, LA 70002

JFS Now Accepts All Medicaid Plans JFS accepts all five Medicaid plans. JFS also accepts Medicare, along with other insurance policies for Counseling Services: Aetna, United Healthcare, Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO & HMO, Blue Connect, Gilsbar, and Tricare. We also accept sliding scale based on household income.

Counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups is a core community service of JFS. Licensed behavioral health professionals provide guidance and support on how to cope with interpersonal and family problems. Appointments are available.

To make an appointment, call (504) 831-8475.

18

February 2021 • The Jewish Newsletter

Jewish Community Center Celebrate Purim with the JCC Given the success of Dreidels & Donuts, last year’s drive-thru Chanukah experience, the JCC has reimagined its popular annual Purim festival, Adloyadah, as a drive-thru event featuring music, decorations and a goodie bag filled with six homemade hamantaschen. Join us on Sunday, Feb. 28 to celebrate the most fun Jewish holiday.

From 1 to 2:30 p.m. the Uptown JCC’s front driveway will be filled with bubbles and merriment and the upbeat music of Panorama Jazz Band. The celebration is free and open to the community, but reservation is required

by Thursday, Feb. 25 to receive the bag with assorted poppy seed, raspberry and apricot hamantaschen. For those who cannot resist the holiday treat, extra hamantaschen may be purchased in advance for $20 per dozen and picked up during the event. Orders must be placed by Feb. 18. Contact judy@nojcc.org for details.

Summer Fun Starts at the J! Jump in! Summer is just around the corner. Registration for JCC Summer Camps opens to the community on Feb. 15 and units at both the Uptown and Metairie locations are filling quickly. Tailoring programs to match the changing needs of children from toddlers to preteens, the JCC packs summer days with a variety of games and activities including sports, art, drama, music, cooking, science, Israeli culture and daily swimming.

guidelines. Campers must enroll in a minimum of four weeks, but those weeks do not need to be consecutive. Families will receive the ‘early bird discount’ if they register by March 15 for camp Uptown or

by April 1 in Metairie.

Visit nojcc.org/camp to apply and to learn about all the fun that awaits campers during a summer at the J!

TRX Is Now Offered Outdoors

Summer is a special time for children to change their routine, expand their social circle, and advance swimming skills. The J’s dedicatTRX is back at the JCC! Both ed and caring staff ensures that campers have opportunities to explore locations have added outdoor their interests, discover new ones, and develop meaningful friendships.

TRX classes to the fitness schedThe 2021 summer camp runs June 7 to July 30. Space is limited and ule. Using functional movements programming is subject to change pending the most current Covid-19 and body-weight based resistance, TRX Suspension Training provides total-body workouts that active all of the muscles at once to build strength, mobility, and endurance.

Whether participants want to get stronger, improve performance, or tone and lose weight, the workouts are a fast, effective and fun way to achieve fitness goals. Taught in a small group format, classes can be tailored to each individual’s abilities. No experience is necessary and all levels are welcome.

TRX is open to JCC Gold members and may be purchased for $18 per class or $90 for a package of six classes.

February 2021 • The Jewish Newsletter

19

Jewish Community Day School Leona Tate of the “New Orleans Four” visits JCDS On Jan. 14, amidst studying the Civil Rights movement in preparation for Martin Luther King Day, JCDS students welcomed a special Zoom visit from community activist Leona Tate. In 1960, Ms. Tate was one of the “New Orleans Four,” the four little girls (along with Ruby Bridges, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost) who desegregated New Orleans schools. Ms. Tate spoke to students about her experiences leading up to that first day, her path through school, and the people who meant so much to her then and now. Students then learned about how Ms. Tate has led a group to buy the campus of the school she attended and turn it into an interpretive center that will open this spring. At some prompting, we were also able to get Ms. Tate to tell the story of getting invited to the 2012 presidential inauguration and the big hug she received from Michelle Obama! Students in PK-6 asked a number of very thoughtful questions, and then Rabbi David tied Ms. Tate’s story to the lessons of the Torah. It was a morning no one will soon forget!

Celebrating Tu B’Shevat This year, JCDS again celebrated Tu B’shvat, the birthday of the trees, with an all-school seder. While we couldn’t all gather in the cafeteria, Rabbi Michael led the seder from the Beit Midrash on Zoom, and students in their classrooms had the opportunity to experience the seven special species of Israel and to use all of their five senses.

people. This was followed by a seeing course, where students made beautiful landscapes out of the fruits and vegetables they had received.

The seder concluded with a tasting and listening course, during which students partook of foods containing the seven special species of Israel while listening to some amazing renditions of Tu B’shvat songs by music teacher Students sampled the sweet scents of cinna- Lauren Gisclair. It was a delicious and upliftmon, basil and rosemary, and they felt four dif- ing celebration — a worthy tribute to the natferent fruits to represent four different types of ural world.

JCDS Parents Association Community Diaper Drive Amanda Glinky, Parents Association Green Preschool Liaison, organized a wonderful mitzvah last month. School families, faculty and board members contributed diapers, pullups and wipes by the case-full. All items benefited the Diaper Bank of the Junior League of New Orleans, supporting NOLA families in need. Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the Parents Association has had a very active year, including a Kovid Kosher Series, parenting presentations, a wine tasting, and the development of the Caring Committee supporting the JCDS community during times of trouble and loss. The Parents Association leadership includes Lauren Gerber (President), Kim Glass (Vice President), Adam Miller (Treasurer), Elena Penn (Secretary), Josefina Mendez-Rosa (Events Programming Chair), and Aaron Croy and Amanda Glinky (Green Preschool Liaisons).

20

February 2021 • The Jewish Newsletter

Kippahs on the Catwalk

Understanding the Transfer of Power Wednesday, Jan. 20 was a big day at Jewish Community Day School! In Tefila, Rabbi Michael Cohen shared with the students how proud our country is of the peaceful transfer of power that takes place on Inauguration Day, and Dr. Philipson, JCDS Head of School, spoke of the historical significance of this particular Inauguration Day in that we would be swearing in the first woman and the first person of color to serve as Vice-President of the United States — and that her husband is Jewish.

Students in grades one through six viewed the inauguration in their classrooms, either live or slightly delayed, and actively asked questions about what they were seeing. While some first graders raised their hands as if they were being sworn in themselves, there were tears in the eyes of many as Vice-President Harris was sworn in and Jennifer Lopez sang a medley of “This Land is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful.” Students listened respectfully to the thoughtful remarks of Senators Klobuchar and Blunt, as well as President Biden’s speech and the words of poet Amanda Gorman.

In Jewish Studies with Mr. Tuvia (Toby David), the prekindergarten and kindergarten class have been learning all about the special items of clothing that Jewish people wear, like tallit, tzitzit, and, of course, kippot! They discussed why, when, and where people wear these different items, then they made their own paper kippot. The end result was too fabulous not to show off, so Mr. Tuvia orchestrated a kippah fashion show video which will be included in the Purim celebration happening at the end of the month.

Locally Owned and Operated Since 1991 We Specialize In… u Care Management

senior life an annual SJL special section

u Family Consultation u In-Home Care u Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Care u Peace of Mind

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.

3421 N. Causeway Blvd., Suite 502 Metairie, LA 70002 504-828-0900 www.HomeCareNewOrleans.com

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

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

21

senior life

Before there was Amazon, there was “The Royal Woman” MACHINE & CUTTING TOOLS Bringing The World Of Machine And Cutting Tool Technology To You

1-800-462-9519

This Week In Southern Jewish Life To Subscribe, send an email to subscribe@sjlmag.com

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.

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. 22

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community Stories of survival, protest and courage highlight two Louisiana online programs Tulane track star refused to try out for 1936 Olympics in Berlin

By Richard Friedman Though dramatically different in substance, separate online Holocaust programs in Louisiana on Jan. 10 highlighted the importance of remembrance and resilience as two organizations recounted and reflected on vastly different Holocaust-era lives.

The programs featured the adult children of the main figures in each story, who talked about their parents’ sagas and the implications of their inspirational stories for today.

The North Louisiana Jewish Federation featured Julie Kohner. In 1953, her mother, Hanna Kohner, was the first non-celebrity highlighted on “This Is Your Life,” the famous Ralph Edwards television show. In addition, Hanna’s moving and harrowing story of surviving the Holocaust was a first for television. At that time, the catastrophe that befell European’s Jews was not widely depicted in popular culture.

Nonetheless, the Edwards show looked at Hanna’s tortuous journey honestly, and, as part

From “This Is Your Life” of its format, surprised her with guest appearances from friends and family. These include some who she had not seen for a long time, including her brother who was living in Israel. The 30 minute show can be viewed here.

The New Orleans-based Museum of the

Gwendolyn, The Pie Lady “After my knee replacement, Touro got me back to doing what I do best, baking pies.”

We’ve been training our whole life for yours after 65.

When it comes to caring for seniors 65 and up, we don’t miss a beat.

From Primary Care to Cardiology and every specialist in between, Touro provides Senior Care all in one place. Not to mention, an Emergency Room and Inpatient Unit dedicated and designed just for seniors. The list goes on, and we’re just going to keep adding to it. At Touro, good care never gets old.

Experts in aging.

Learn more at touro.com/seniorcare

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

23

community Southern Jewish Experience featured an online program on mid-1930s Tulane University track star Herman Neugass. His son, Richard, in a talk entitled “A Southern Jew Boycotts Hitler’s Olympics,” told his father’s story. Richard recounted the decision his father made to turn down an anticipated invitation to try out for the 1936 Olympics.

The Games were held that year in Germany, where Adolf Hitler and his Nazis already had ascended to power; oppressive discriminatory laws were being instituted against Jews and the seeds of the Holocaust were being planted. It was clear that the Nazis planned to use the 1936 Olympics as a propaganda platform.

In introductory words that could have applied to both online programs, Rabbi Feivel Rubinstein, program director for the North Louisiana Jewish Federation, said, “I am very excited for our community to have this opportunity. As fewer and fewer survivors are left in the world, every generation has a renewed obligation to carry on their stories.” The Federation program included students and adults.

Julie Kohner has dedicated much of her adult life to educating a broad array of audiences about the Holocaust, using the “This Is Your Life” show and an autobiography her parents later wrote as a framework for recounting the Nazi horrors. She does this through “Voices of the Generation,” a non-profit organization she started to help keep the story of the Holocaust alive.

In 2016, Southern Jewish Life did the following story detailing Hanna’s Holocaust ordeal, survival and emigration to America where she built a new life. Hanna, born in 1919 in Czechoslovakia, survived four Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz.

As she traced her parents’ story, Kohner said, “My parents taught me that I have to stand up for my beliefs so that what happened to them in the Holocaust will never happen again.” Then she fielded questions.

One questioner noted that antisemitism, Holocaust denial and extremist violence are rising in the United States and asked her to speculate on what her mother might say if she were alive today. Answered Kohner, “I am sure she would be very distraught about it. It is really important for our young people to stand up and not stand idly by; that was a cause of what happened during World War II — people standing idly by and not taking a stand.”

The program took place just a few days after a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. With that in mind, a questioner asked, “If your mother was alive today, how do you think she would have reacted to the violent mob invasion of the U.S. Capitol, especially given the overt antisemitism manifested by some of the insurrectionists?”

Kohner became emotional, pausing to gather her thoughts.

“I can only say that I am glad she wasn’t here. It was surreal. It was just horrible. I think it would have taken her back to a time she lived in,” said Kohner. She believes it would have rekindled for her mother a sense of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis, something her mother lived through.

“It would have reminded her of a time when she wouldn’t have been safe.”

Track Star’s Courage The program on Neugass recounted the powerful saga of a young Jewish man on the brink of possibly becoming known throughout the world for his athletic ability, yet who chose to put principles and loyalty to his faith first. The program can be viewed here.

In the mid-1930s, Tulane’s Neugass was one of the country’s best sprinters, excelling in the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes. He tied the world’s record in the 100 yard dash — 9.4 seconds. “If I was in a race, I was going to win,” he would say.

His son, speaking coincidentally on what would have been his dad’s

DIMENSIONS IN TESTIMONY LIBERATOR ALAN MOSKIN

Learn more about the American troops who helped liberate concentration camps and have your own one-on-one “conversation” with WWII liberator Alan Moskin through The National WWII Museum’s newest special installation.

Using advanced technologies, the Dimensions in Testimony interactive biography helps preserve dialogue with those who lived through the Holocaust and audiences well into the future. Ask your own questions to Moskin and hear real-time responses from previously conducted interviews.

ON VIEW THROUGH JULY 25, 2021 VISIT NATIONALWW2MUSEUM.ORG/DIT OR CALL 504-528-1944.

LIBERATOR ALAN MOSKIN

24

21-0073_DIT_Southern_Jewish_Mag_7.75x5_r2.indd 1

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

2/9/21 12:36 PM

community 106th birthday, used a slide show to tell the story.

“Dad refused to participate in the U.S. Olympic trials, held in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. He was a significant candidate, and would have been invited to those trials, had he not told the U.S. Olympic Committee that he would not go if the Games were held in Germany,” said his son.

The slides included highlighted excerpts from his father’s letter to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“I, personally, would not have participated in such games in any Photo courtesy U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum country in which the fundamental Herman Neugass principle of religious liberty is violated as flagrantly and inhumanely as it has been in Germany,” read one of the excerpts. “I feel it to be my duty to express my unequivocal opinion that this country should not participate in the Olympic contests, if they are held in Germany” read the other.

“He could have been on the world stage,” said his son, “but he quietly made the decision that this is something he could not do.” His principled position did not remain quiet. His letter appeared in the New Orleans Times Picayune and his story was picked up by the New York Times.

Once his decision became widely known, Herman received letters both supporting his decision and objecting to it. The reaction was complicated by the fact that “the Jews in the South didn’t want to make waves; they didn’t want consequences,” his son said. Herman, born in Mississippi and raised in New Orleans, was just 20 at the time.

Herman’s story was largely forgotten until 1980 — the year President Jimmy Carter decided that the U.S. would boycott the Moscow Olympics as a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. There was debate over Carter’s decision which “reinvigorated dad’s story,” his son explained.

In 2011, NOLA.com wrote about Neugass and the 1936 Olympics.

His son was asked what impact his father’s story has had on his own life. He said he learned that “principle and personal integrity are the most important things in life… I also learned that keeping quiet at critical times is not always the best strategy — there is a time to speak out.”

Despite Herman Neugass’ principled rejection of the antisemitism of the Nazi regime, he encountered American antisemitism shortly thereafter. “When he graduated from Tulane, he got married, and moved to Washington because of discrimination against Jews,” explained his son.

“My father was a math whiz and was asked to join an actuarial firm in New Orleans. They didn’t know he was Jewish, but when they found out, they said to him, ‘We would love to have you working in our firm, but we can’t put you in the partner track because the actuarial society in the United States does not allow Jews’.”

With that, Neugass left New Orleans and moved to Washington, where he joined his wife’s family business.

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.

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

25

Celebrating 30 Years of Covering and Connecting Our Communities

Well-informed communities are stronger communities Help Strengthen Our Southern Jewish Communities — By Supporting Independent, Award-Winning Original Jewish Journalism!

Yes, I want to help keep our communities connected through Southern Jewish Life r I want this to be anonymous

Name/s

As you want to be acknowledged in our alphabetical supporter listings

Address State

Zip

Phone Email Address

(for our weekly e-newsletter):

Online: www.supportSJL.com or call 888.613.YALL (9255) r I am interested in partnering with Southern Jewish Life to develop marketing strategies to grow my business!

Please Indicate Your Support Level r $10000 SuperMensch r $5000 Publisher r $1800 Editorial Circle r $1000 Reporters r $500 Columnists r $360 Headliners

r $180 Correspondents r $100 Typesetters r $54 Friend of SJL r $25 Voluntary Subscriber r $ Other

r Check Enclosed r Credit Card: We can process Mastercard, Visa, Amex and Discover Card Number Expires

CVV (4 digit for Amex)

Card Billing Zip Feel free to call us or use supportSJL.com for card payments r Monthly Supporter: Please Charge My Card $________ Monthly

Thank You for Supporting Southern Jewish Life Mail to: P.O. Box 130052 • Birmingham, AL 35213

26

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.

This Week In Southern Jewish Life The South’s Most Comprehensive Weekly Jewish News Email

To Subscribe, send an email to subscribe@sjlmag.com

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

27

commentary Professional Laundry & Dry Cleaning Clothing / Household Items Bedspreads / Tablecloths / Linens and More Expert Alterations

4616 W. Esplanade Ave @ Clearview next to Casey’s SnoBalls

Metairie / 504-887-9958 5928 W. Metairie @ Elise Metairie / 504-736-9062

OFFERING HOME & OFFICE DELIVERY

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

Check it out!

Visit sjlmag.com

Buy with Confidence, Sell with Success!

Shannon Hinton Kern

REALTOR, Crescent City Living 3205 Orleans Ave., N.O. 70119

504-372-5303 Mobile: 504-559-4597

shannon.findyourneworleanshome.com 28

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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.

community >> 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.

Over 15 Wine Flights!

Check out our new Israeli Wine Flight!

Now On Open Table • Delivery via d’livery NOLA New Hours: Tues.-Sat., 5 to 9 p.m.

NOW OPEN FOR LUNCH! Tues.-Fri., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Dine In or Call For Pick-Up

Closed Mondays for Special Events

NOW SERVING BRUNCH

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.

EVERY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Fireman receives national NCJW award

See Our Facebook Page for Daily Menus and Special Offerings! /AcropolisOnFreret

As part of a national Chanukah celebration, the National Council of Jewish Women honored Maddie Fireman of New Orleans, one of four “exemplary NCJW leaders who embodied the mission of NCJW to protect and support the most vulnerable.”

During the virtual gala on Dec. 15, Fireman was presented the Elissa Froman Inspiring Leadership Award.

This award honors an emerging NCJW leader who has had a meaningful impact on the lives of women, children, and families in her community. Named in memory of NCJW staff member and faithful advocate for social justice Elissa Froman, the award recognizes the values that Froman embraced and lived every day — a deep commitment to Judaism and the tradition of tikkun olam, a passion for supporting new voices in advocates, and a dedication to issues of concern to NCJW. Froman died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013 at the age of 29. Her mother, Gloria Froman, and sister Rebecca, presented the award.

Fireman moved to New Orleans after graduating from Ohio State University, participating in Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps. She formerly worked at Temple Sinai, where she was LGBTQ outreach coordinator.

She joined NCJW after begging Michelle Erenberg for policy work to do. She is now the NCJW-New Orleans State Policy Advocate, a clinic escort for the New Orleans Abortion Fund, and a Child Life Volunteer at Ochsner Pediatric Hospital.

Ina Davis said “to know Maddie is to know she has a gentle demeanor, but she is a force.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Tina Tchen, president and CEO of TIMES UP Now, were both awarded the 2020 Social Action Awards.

The event concluded with a performance by the Cantors for Repro choir.

10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

4510 Freret Street • (504) 309.0069

www.AcropolisOnFreret.com

Show Her She’s Loved!

Happy Valentine’s Day Love Conquers All Bouquet

Order or Pick them up today at both locations!

750 Martin Behrman Ave Metairie • 504-833-3716

1415 N. Hwy 190 Covington • 985-809-9101

Villeresflowers.com February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life 29

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

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

31

48

February 2021 • Southern Jewish Life