Southern Jewish Life, New Orleans, March 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 3

Passover 2021

NEW ORLEANS EDITION

Southern Jewish Life

To the Jewish Community of New Orleans Dear Friends, I want to communicate with each of you to reiterate my commitment to serving you and your family as I have done for almost 60 years. Many of you know that three years ago, I transitioned from Tharp-Sontheimer Funeral Home to Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home along with my long-time associate of 40 years, Billy Henry. I recently came to realize that there are still lingering questions and confusion, and therefore I want to provide clarity and update you regarding our decision to move.

I am a fourth-generation funeral director and our family has been honored to serve the New Orleans Jewish community since Tharp-Sontheimer Funeral Home was founded by my great-grandfather in 1916. Our family of funeral homes was sold in 1982, and the business has changed hands five times since that original sale. Billy Henry and I had felt comfortable continuing our association with the various corporate owners and our commitment to properly serving our Jewish friends.

However, we began to feel it was time to make a change and, in early 2018, made the decision to move from the Causeway Boulevard location to Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home with its outstanding staff and facilities on Pontchartrain Boulevard.

We feel certain that this move assures continuity of service for generations and a continuing commitment to you.

We are pleased with our decision, and Billy and I decided that we wanted to communicate to our community of loyal friends and families that the decision to move was a wise one and that you will be properly cared for now and in future years. We’re proud of our association with the staff at Lake Lawn Metairie and feel comfortable in assuring you that they share our same level of dedication, compassion and respect.

Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home provides service to members of all congregations and at all local cemeteries. Many of you have contacted us to discuss arrangements in advance of need. We want to assure those who had advance plans at Tharp-Sontheimer that their files and contracts can be transferred without penalty and that all arrangements will be honored at Lake Lawn Metairie.

Billy and I are happy to discuss these matters with you at any time. You may call me at 504-214-0544 or call Billy Henry at 504-400-3334. We thank you for your support and can assure our continuing commitment to you and your family.

Sincerely,

Stephen Sontheimer

A Dignity Memorial® Provider LakeLawnMetairie.com

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

shalom y’all As the United States approaches having 10 percent of its population fully immunized against Covid as we go to press, Israel is far ahead of the U.S. and the rest of the world in that half of its population has already received a second dose.

However, while there has been some positive coverage of this incredible Israeli achievement, much of the media continue to exhibit journalistic malpractice in how it frames Israel’s responsibility toward the Palestinians.

As Israel rolled out its massive campaign to quickly immunize as many people as possible, some asked what Israel would do about the Palestinians in the territories.

What about them? In Gaza, they are under the (mis)rule of Hamas. In the territories, 95 percent of them live under the Palestinian Authority, which has been responsible for health care in its areas ever since the Oslo Accords almost three decades ago.

What is Israel’s responsibility toward them? Well, what is the U.S. responsibility to vaccinate Canadians or Mexicans?

At first, even the Palestinians were surprised at the criticism. After all, it was their responsibility, they refused to ask Israel for any assistance in procuring vaccines and they were working with an international program to receive the Russian vaccine. They even turned down Covid-fighting supplies from the United Arab Emirates because the shipment was coordinated with Israel.

Of course, then they saw how much vitriol the news coverage unleashed toward Israel and decided to jump on the blame-Israel bandwagon. Most coverage in the U.S. ignored Palestinian responsibility to provide for their own people, and when Israel noted that responsibility under Oslo it was framed as “Israel claims” as opposed to referencing the actual agreement. continued on page 39

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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commentary

MESSAGES

Maccabi USA leader praises Birmingham Games I have had the honor of attending many Maccabi competitions around the world. From Israel to Australia to SouthGilad America, Europe and the JCC Maccabi games around the United States Consul General Katz and Canada, I have logged many miles seeing how sports can be a vehicle to help build Jewish identity, especially in our young.

Passover: Holiday of the Family

I felt honored to come to Birmingham for the first time and fell in love with not just the city memory myhave beloved father Yaacovhospitality Katz that cherish.

Family butInthe people.ofYou taken Southern to you a new level with your kind and caring Z”L is whomever we see and approach to the JCC Maccabi Games.

In the Jewish calendar, there are a variety treat as family. During by the holidays Sokol andthat Helds, hard-working volunteers wonderful. They partnered of Led different theyour Jewish people the last year,were all humanwith your outstanding staff, led by Betzy Lynch, to make the 2017 JCC games a huge hit. celebrate. Some are joyful while others are ity has experiencedMaccabi a Imore wantsomber. to take this opportunity as executive of Maccabi USA to say thank you on behalf Passover is the only holiday director that worldwide pandemic of everyonehappiness involved.and sadness together. It is that took the lives of combines a time we reflect massacre and almost three million I had where just returned fromon thethe 20th World Maccabiah games in Israel with a U.S. delegation of enslavement thejoined Israelites in Egypt, beings.Back It was over 1100, who 10,000endured Jewish athletes fromhuman 80 countries. in an July the eyes of the entire while also celebrating the miraculous salvation incredibly and 1000 athletes and Jewish world were on Jerusalem and the Maccabiah.

This pastdifficult month with our people experienced their exodus to challenging year the for focal all. point. coaches from around theduring world being in Birmingham, you became freedom. Passover is a holiday of weeping and As we speak, countries Everyone from the Jewish community and the community at large, including a wonderful praising simultaneously. continue to fight this battle against Covid-19. police force, are to be commended. These games will go down in history as being a seminal For any human being, it is difficult to expe- We must all remember that each of us has a permoment for the Jewish community as we build to the future by providing such wonderful Jewish rience two opposite feelings at the same time. sonal role and responsibility to play in defeating memories.

The question that this conflicting reality brings this virus together. And that is where the theme Jed Margolis about is simple: How did we, the Jewish people, of family comes in. Just as we will do almost Executive MaccabiHow USAdo we, year af- anything to protect our own family members, so cope with Director, such a contrast? ter year, celebrate Passover so naturally without too should we behave accordingly to our fellow mulling or debating on this issue? neighbors andwould friends. supremacists like to see pushed back On MyCharlottesville personal answer can be summarized in into Family is what savedtohumanity, family a corner and made feel lesser.and We stand one word: Family. From the days of Moses, with is what will continue to save humanity.

This and pray for the family of Heather Heyer, Editor’s Note: in This the events as is written thereaction Torah, to Passover hasinalways who Passover is an excellent opportunity for us was there standing up to the face of this to Charlottesville, been celebratedwritten within by theJeremy family.Newman, According to hate. go back to our most basic and fundamental Master of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Theta Jewish tradition, family is not only aColony safe haven beliefs and values. Our sages taught us that We ‫זה‬ recognize essence at University, was shared AEPi that “‫לזה‬ forAuburn its members, but also a basicby structure ‫ ערבים‬the ‫ישראל‬ ‫ ”כל‬of —the AllAmerican of Israel is narrative as a two-century old struggle to rid I National, which called it “very eloquent” and empowers its members. responsible for each other. So this Passover, ourselves of such corners, and allow those praised “our brothers at AEPi Theta Colony at On a personal and very intimate note, I can believe it is the perfect time to strengtheninourthe tableNot thatjust theyyour so deserve.

Auburn and… the leadership say fromUniversity my own experience that there they is noth- them selvesthe andseat ouratfamilies. relatives, is your the struggle to fulfillneighbors, the promise of the and display on their campus. ing more valuable than” family. Unfortunately, It but communities, friends, of are Independence, thatwill “allovercome men are my beloved father, Yaacov Katz, may his soul Declaration strangers. We all family, and created equal… endowed by their Creator with rest in peace, passed away suddenly just a few this together, just as the Israelites triumphed White supremacy has been a cancer on certain unalienable rights. ” We know our work months ago. I was devastated. My father was the over their enslavement in Egypt. our country since its beginning, threatening fromtalking finished, but we knowit we willwithout not person who shaped and influenced me more is far When about family, goes its hopes, its values, and its better angels. move backwards. than anyone else. His death flipped my world saying that we should always remember that The events that took place in Charlottesville from top to bottom. The only true comfort theWhen Jewishmen State —women, Israel —fully will armed, always be there and take represented the worst of this nation. Those I had, and continue to have, is my family; my to forthe youstreets and your loved with ones.swastikas No difficulties, nor in droves and who marched onto the streets with tiki torches wife, children, mother, and siblings. It was pain- other disagreements will drive Israel away from you. symbols of hate, it is a reminder of how and swastikas did so to provoke violence and ful for all of us, but together we became stronger relevant No distance nor politics can divide us. We share the issues of racism and anti-Semitism fear. Those who marched onto the streets did and were able to ease our grief and emotions. I are the today. same past, future, andcall destiny.

This is that forevIt is a wake-up to the work so to profess an ideology that harkens back to will always cherish my dad and he will always needs er our to Jewish secret ingredient. be done to ensure a better, more a bleaker, more wretched time in our history. be tremendously missed. But, knowing that I Allow me to end by quoting the immortal anA time when men and women of many creeds, welcoming country. But it should not come have my family allows me to look on the bright without swer Ruth gave to her Naomi as a reflection onmother-in-law, how far we’ve come. races, and religions were far from equal and far side of life. It reminds me to continuously thank is written in the Scroll of Ruth, Chapter 1 Verses America was born a slave nation. A century from safe in our own borders. A time where God for blessing me with my wonderful family, 16-17: “But Ruth replied, ‘Do not urge me to into our history we engaged in a war in part Americans lived under a constant cloud of the light that guides my way, even through the leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For to ensure we would not continue as one. We racism, anti-Semitism and pervasive hate. The darkest of times. wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, events that took place in Charlottesville served found ourselves confronted by the issue of civil Passover is a time for each of us to recognize I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and rights, and embarked on a mission to ensure as a reminder of how painfully relevant these the importance of family. This is why we gather your God my God. Where you die, I will die, the fair treatment of all peoples no matter their issues are today. the family around the Seder table. To join to- and there I will be buried. Thus and more may skin color. Although we’ve made great strides, Auburn’s Alphaour Epsilon Pi history stands with gether to honor Jewish and the to re- the LORD do to me if anything but death parts it is a mission we’re still grappling with today.

Jewish community of Charlottesville, and member that even during times of pain, change, me from you’.”

America was alsotoborn an dear immigrant with the Jewish people around the country and uncertainty, we shall overcome with the Happy Passover all my friends and to country. early community as the pilgrims, and around the world.

Wethe also stand with the support we receive from ones we love. the entireAs Jewish heremany in the Southand families found in the country the minorities who are targeted the ishate Something I would like tobynote thatthat family groups west and throughout the world. stakes, chaseoftheir future, was in Charlottesville.

We stand can on be display more than just one’s relatives.

Family is opportunity Gilad Katztoisplant Consul General Israel to the and be themselves.

Few were met with open with the minorities of whom these white the community that you live in and the people Southwest, based in Houston.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

January March2021 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.

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

agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events Though Mardi Gras parades were not rolling, on Feb. 14 Touro Synagogue invited its Krewe of VIPs to drive by and view the House Float on the sanctuary steps, and receive some love and goodies from first responders. Families were welcomed by volunteers who delivered Floats in the Oaks passes, masks, throws, king cake and lunch. The Krewe of VIPs is Touro’s annual project to provide an accessible balcony where children with disabilities and their families can experience Mardi Gras without dealing with the usual crowds.

Bloch named director of Jewish-Multicultural Center Aaron Bloch has been named the new executive director of the Goldring Family Foundation Center for Jewish-Multicultural Affairs, one of two new Centers of Excellence at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans.

Bloch will succeed Mithun Kamath, who departed for a senior position in the New Orleans District Attorney’s administration.

“I appreciate the Jewish Federation’s confidence in me, and I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Goldring Family Foundation Center for Jewish-Multicultural Affairs to further its mission of building lasting community partnerships between Jewish and non-Jewish communities,” said Bloch.

Officially launched in October 2020, the center was made possible by a gift from the Goldring Family Foundation, which funded it as a three-year pilot program. The center currently focuses on four primary outreach areas: Jewish/African-American relations; LGBTQ outreach, through the existing Jewish Pride New Orleans (JP NOLA) program; Jewish/Latin-American relations; and Multi-Faith relations.

Since its inception in the fall, the CJMA has partnered with Loyola

University and New Orleans East Hospital on critical outreach initiatives, and the center also hosted a landmark virtual civil and human rights mission in December that welcomed former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power. The CJMA is co-chaired by Bradley Bain and Ina Davis.

“As executive director, I will strive to connect the unique visions of individuals and organizations in our wider New Orleans community. Together, we are stronger, and it is in this spirit that I begin my work,” Bloch said.

A New York native, Bloch has been in New Orleans since 2015. He practiced law in New York for seven years before moving to New Orleans continued on page 8 March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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When will live music festivals return to New Orleans? According to Gates of Prayer in Metairie, on April 25.

The congregation is hosting GatesFest, a Covid-safe music and art festival. The event will feature two stages and an art village.

The music acts will alternate between the two stages which are on the same side of the festival space. At 10 a.m. Gates of Prayer Rabbi David Gerber will offer an opening prayer from the Morris Bart Main Stage, followed by Jeremy Dvorin doing the National Anthem. At 10:20 a.m., the Dapper Dandies will begin on the Secondary Stage, with the acts alternating between the stages for the rest of the day.

Preservation Brass Band will perform at 11:15 a.m., followed by the Walter Wolfman Washington Trio at 12:15 p.m., George Porter Jr. and the Porter Trio at 1:20 p.m., Panorama Jazz Band at 2:25 p.m., Bonerama at 3:25 p.m., Alexis and The Samurai at 4:40 p.m. and the Rebirth Brass Band at 5:45 p.m.

The Art Village will feature about 20 local artists, and the space along Richland Avenue will be capacity-controlled.

The entire festival will also be streamed online.

Those attending will be in pods, with up to three people in a 7-foot by 3-foot pod, and up to six in a 7-by-7 pod. Children under 12 do not count toward the pod limit. Attendees must stay within their pod and not mingle with other pods, and it is expected that all members of a pod are from the same family or quarantine group. One may leave the pod only for bathroom breaks or to get refreshments, but must social distance. Coolers will be allowed for bringing in snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.

Everyone in attendance will be temperature-checked and questioned for symptoms, with anyone who has a fever or symptoms being denied entry. Masks will be required. Officers from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff ’s Office and volunteers will be making sure guidelines are enforced.

Large pods are $720 and small pods are $360. For Gates of Prayer members who reserve before April 1, large pods are $360 and small pods are $180. There is space for up to 70 pods.

The Krewe of GatesFest level is $2500 and includes a large pod, banner on West Esplanade, VIP area with indoor restrooms and private catering, an open bar, food and beverage delivery to the pod, an on-site parking pass and more. The VIP Mini Pod is $1250, and includes a small pod, VIP area access and open bar. Sponsorships are also available.

Pod tickets go on sale to Gates of Prayer members on March 15, and non-members can purchase tickets starting April 1. Krewe and VIP pods are already available at gatesfest.org.

Tickets can be re-sold, but the congregation must be notified of any changes in who will attend. There will be a rain date of May 2.

agenda ISJL’s Passover Pilgrimage will be a virtual streaming Seder offering For the second year, staffers at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life will not be able to fan out across the region from Jackson, doing the annual Passover Pilgrimage to numerous smaller communities.

Instead, ISJL will be hosting an inclusive, musical Streaming Seder over Facebook Live. The free event is open to all, whether live or viewed later on the Institute’s Facebook page, TheISJL. For over a decade, the Institute’s rabbis and educators have traveled a 12-state region to lead Passover experiences. Last year, with the sudden national shutdown due to Covid, the tour was cancelled at the last moment and the Institute had to pivot to an online experience.

This year, though vaccines and safe returns to a “new normal” are on the horizon, the safest way to celebrate is still from a distance.

For those who wish to participate in the livestream and be able to add comments and socialize online with other seder attendees, the seder will take place on March 27, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Central time and lasting for approximately one hour. There will then be a “dinner break,” and after the festive meals enjoyed in each home, attendees will be welcome to return to Facebook for a brief conclusion of the seder, followed by a sing-along.

The seder will be led by Rabbi Caroline Sim, ISJL Director of Rabbinical Services, with assistance from ISJL Education Fellow Gabby Tropp. The closing song session will be led by ISJL Education Fellow Margo Wagner.

Resources, including a free Haggadah, will be available after March 15 at www.isjl.org/passover.

No pre-registration is required; simply “like” the ISJL Facebook page, subscribe to updates for the page and there will be alert in notifications when the seder is about to begin.

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Meet the MSJE Boss The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, which is scheduled to open soon in New Orleans, will have a “Meet the Boss” online program on March 21 at 7 p.m.

Board Chair Jay Tanenbaum will discuss what it takes to launch a museum, provide a sneak peek at some exhibits and share the latest information on when to expect the doors to open.

The conversation will be on Zoom for those who pre-register, and will also be on Facebook Live and later on the museum’s YouTube channel.

Alabama communities welcome joint Shlicha for virtual Israel activities With international travel shut down due to Covid, communities that have long hosted Shlichim, emissaries from Israel, have not been able to host young adults this year.

The three smaller Jewish Federations in Alabama, based in Mobile, Montgomery and Huntsville, will have a virtual shlicha, Meitav Menachem. The program is coordinated by the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Originally from Modi’in, the 26 year old recently moved to Ramat Gan. Until last year, she was Shlicha in Memphis and is now a law and social work student at Bar Ilan University.

In the Israel Defense Forces, she was an education officer. After her service, she was a branch manager at the Maccabi Tzair Youth Movement.

Menachem said she “enjoyed every moment” of being in Memphis. “I led activities and social events for community members of all ages, I regularly taught at the Jewish school and Early Childhood Center and most importantly, I got to become a part of the community and meet amazing friends.”

The communities will collaborate on joint programs, as well as individual programs, totaling 30 to 40 hours through the end of May.

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to accept a position with the Orleans Parish School Board as an Education Pioneers Fellow.

During his time at OPSB he focused on school accountability, the unification of schools under Act 91, and the formation of a new school at the New Orleans juvenile detention center now known as the Travis Hill School.

In 2017, he left OPSB to work on a New Orleans City Council campaign and has since worked on dozens of local campaigns and ballot initiatives as a strategist, manager, digital communications specialist, and field director.

Bloch first came to the Federation in 2017 as a board member of JNOLA, and most recently served as a co-chair of the board from 2019-2021.

He is a member of the New Orleans Coalition and previously served as a member of the Friends of Travis Hill Advisory Board, formed to support New Orleans’ system-involved youth with mentorship and support as they leave New Orleans adult jail and juvenile detention facility and return to the community. He recently passed the Louisiana Bar Exam and is awaiting admission to practice in Louisiana.

“We are excited for Aaron to join the Jewish Federation team as Executive Director of the Center,” said Bain and Davis. “Aaron brings his extensive, professional experience building coalitions and advancing regional education to hone the Center’s core missions of outreach and fostering community. Moreover, in his relatively short time in New Orleans, Aaron has already left his mark on the Jewish community, taking on leadership roles including co-chair of JNOLA, the Federation’s “next generation” program focused on networking, community service, and social engagement through a uniquely Jewish lens. The Center looks forward to great advances under Aaron.”

Beth Shalom in Baton Rouge has extended Rabbi Teri Appleby through June 2022. She has been the congregation’s interim rabbi this year during discussions of whether or not the two Baton Rouge congregations will eventually merge.

Eliana Light will lead a musical weekend at Shir Chadash in Metairie, starting with Kabbalat Shabbat on March 19 at 5:30 p.m. On March 20 at 7:45 p.m. she will lead a soulful Havdalah and an interactive concert. On March 21 at 9 and 10:15 a.m. there will be a children’s program to get ready for Passover.

During March, Challah Creations by Nancy will be donating a portion of proceeds to Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans. In December, part of the proceeds went to the Solomon Mental Health Fund, a partnership of JNOLA and JFS. Challah Creations has local pickup in Metairie on Fridays and Sundays, and ships remote orders every Monday. The made-to-order varieties change weekly and are posted at challahcreations.com.

On March 19, Jewish Family Service will have two programs in its Continuing Education series. At 8:45 a.m., Teri Groves will lead “Treating and Parenting Challenging Behaviors.” At 1 p.m., Victoria Judge will lead “Identifying Shame and Building Resilience with Clients.” Each session is approved for three General hours by LCA and LABSWE. Registration for each is $70, $80 on the day of.

Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans is launching Care for Caregivers, a weekly support group meeting via Zoom on Tuesdays at 5 p.m., from March 23 to April 27. JFS staff members and other caregivers will discuss coping skills, build community and find emotional release. This group is for adult children caring for elderly parents/relcontinued on page 45

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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Ambassador Gilad Erdan talks with David Jackson of the Philos Project while crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the 1965 Bloody Sunday civil rights demonstrations, on Feb. 23.

“A personal journey” New Israeli ambassador’s first U.S. trip is pilgrimage to Southern civil rights sites

By Larry Brook For his first United States tour after being named Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Gilad Erdan said he wanted to make a “personal journey, listening and learning about the history and the incredible contribution of the African American community to this country.” That led him to tour Charleston, S.C., and Montgomery and Selma during a three-day visit that ended on Feb. 23.

“You can go visit museums and read books, but it won’t be the same as when you really hear the personal stories of people and their ancestors,” he said.

His visit was coordinated by the Philos Project, which “aims to promote positive Christian engagement in the Near East.” In its announcement of the visit, the Philos Project said it is “honored to host the Ambassador and is eager to help usher in a positive relationship between Israel and the African American community,” and their goal was to bring Erdan “face to face with individuals who are on the ground making positive changes within the African American community.”

In addition to Erdan, officials from the Philos Project and Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon from the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta were part of the delegation.

The journey began in Charleston, as Erdan visited the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where a white supremacist killed nine people who were in a Bible study class in 2015. “I was moved to hear about the community’s resilience following the terrible shooting” and how they offered support after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018, Erdan said. The church and the local Jewish community still do joint programs.

Among the stops in Charleston was the McLeod Plantation Historic Site, where Erdan toured slave cabins and was especially struck by the impressions of child-size fingerprints in bricks that were made by enslaved children. “No one should suffer such inhumanity, anywhere, anytime,” he reflected.

At Magnolia Plantation, guide Joseph McGill responded to a question from Erdan by saying the slaves there “persevered so we could be here

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Southern Jewish Life Something is Happening

As Buffalo Springfield sang in their classic 1960s song, “ There’s something happening here. But what it is ain’t exactly clear” That’s the way we at Southern Jewish Life sometimes feel about the complexities going on today.

Yet, as the region’s only nationally award-winning Jewish monthly, we also believe our job is to bring clarity to the web of complex issues facing us.

We’re pursuing stories on antisemitism, hate crimes, the political turbulence in the U.S. and how it affects the Deep South, and how communities in our coverage area have been affected by Covid.

These and other urgent topics are in addition to an expanded array of human interest stories and our usual updates and features on what’s going on Jewishly in our four-state coverage area — Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Northwest Florida.

today and live the lives they couldn’t live, and tell the stories they couldn’t tell. We are their voices.”

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott welcomed Erdan to Charleston, and Mayor John Tecklenburg presented the ambassador with the key to the city, in a gesture of friendship and as a pledge of hope and future collaboration.”

There were gatherings where many African American leaders in Charleston spoke of their personal stories, and Erdan said a highlight was learning from Aunt Pearlie Sue, a Gullah-Geechee storyteller, who sang and spoke about the history of slavery and the struggle for freedom.

“We have a lot in common,” Erdan said. “They too, like us, were persecuted and murdered, and their rights were denied for many years. I looked in their eyes when they told me how their family suffered and I saw their deep pain, and today I understand better their ongoing struggle for equality.”

Coming from a family of Holocaust survivors, Erdan said he does not try to compare tragedies, but now has a better understanding of the struggles of African-Americans and the motivation to fight for equal rights.

He then continued to Alabama, where In he walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the site of civil rights confrontations in 1965 that ultimately led to the Selma to Montgomery march. “The events that took place on this bridge have inspired countless people in Israel and everywhere around the world. They have inspired me,” he said.

Selma Mayor James Perkins thanked Erdan for his visit, saying that while he thinks the visit is helping him, he was also helping Selma by bringing attention to Selma’s story. He urged, “Let’s continue this conversation. It is a very important one.”

Robert Nicholson, president of the Philos Project, said one can’t understand America without understanding American history, and one can’t understand American history without Black history, and one can’t understand Black history without Selma.

In Selma, Erdan said the Jewish and African American communities have a lot in common, “as a community that holds the words of the Bible so close to its heart, and have experienced extreme persecution and prejudice over may centuries, but remained resilient and most importantly, hopeful.”

He also met with Ronnie Leet, coordinator of the Selma Jewish community that is now down to three members who are working to preserve their 121-year-old historic synagogue building.

In Montgomery, stops included the Rosa Parks Museum, the Equal

To do all of this well, and to respond fully to the magnitude of the times, we need your support. That is why Southern Jewish Life has begun developing a base of supporters in addition to the businesses that advertise with us.

The equation is simple: More dollars = More pages = More stories. We have the stories, we just need more space to run them — and you can help by becoming a donor to Southern Jewish Life.

To contribute send a check to SJL, P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213, or go to sjlmag.com/contribute.

(Donations to Southern Jewish Life are not tax-deductible.)

We continue to mail our magazine free to every known Jewish household in our four-state region, most likely including your household, if you’re reading this.

So please consider becoming a Southern Jewish Life donor.

The potential impact of your support, contrary to Buffalo Springfield’s lyrics, is exactly clear.

Ambassador Gilad Erdan at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community Justice Initiative and the Lynching Memorial. He also met with Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed.

At Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, the group finished a visit that included Erdan reciting phrases from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech with the singing of “We Shall Overcome.”

Erdan said the trip “moved me profoundly, and I hope it will allow me to better engage with the community and build stronger ties on behalf of the state of Israel.”

His goal was “to listen, learn and connect with all parts of American society, and I believe that God guides us to these points in our lives.”

He recalled his Bar Mitzvah Torah portion, which included the section where God created humanity in his image. “The understanding that all people are created equal has guided me through my life.”

He added, “Uniting Jews and Black Americans and getting to know one another better will empower the holy struggle against racism and hatred.”

During the visits, Erdan also met with Governors Henry McMaster of South Carolina and Kay Ivey of Alabama, discussing “ways to increase cooperation between Israel and their great states.”

Ivey told him that since she visited Israel several years ago, “my Christmas and Easter celebrations have more meaning than ever.”

Erdan became Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. last month, adding to his continuing role as ambassador to the United Nations, which he assumed last September.

“Our connection with the African American community must be strong and deep, and I believe it will have great meaning in the common fight against racism and antisemitism,” Erdan related at the end of the trip. “I’ll do anything for this to happen.”

Alabama Hadassah chapters hosting Rosenwald panel and screening Hadassah Birmingham and Hadassah Huntsville are co-sponsoring a screening and panel discussion of “Rosenwald.”

The documentary details the partnership between Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute and Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, through which over 5,000 schools for Black students were built throughout the South in an era when educational opportunities were scarce.

Those registering for the program will receive a link to view the documentary between 9 a.m. on April 11 and midnight on April 14.

The panel will be held on Zoom on April 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Janis Plotkin, founding member of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, will moderate. Panelists include Aviva Kempner, director and producer of the film; Evelyn Causey, National Register coordinator for the Alabama Historical Commission; Guy Trammel of the Tuskegee Historic Preservation Commission and founder of Macon Stories; Peter Ascoli, grandson of Rosenwald and author of his biography; and E. Ethelbert Miller, writer and literary activist who hosts On The Margin on WPFW, a “jazz and justice” radio station in Washington.

The event is presented in partnership with the Education Equity Project. A registration link will be announced.

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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.

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2/9/21 12:36 PM March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life 11

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community Virtual JCRS gala will feature preview of Trestman’s Orphans’ Home book Last year, one of the last major in-person events in the New Orleans Jewish community was the annual Jewish Children’s Regional Service Roots gala. With pandemic restrictions still in place for this year, when the fundraising committee was brainstorming ideas for its 2021 virtual gala, it didn’t take long for the group to look to one of its own.

Lawyer and author Marlene Trestman will be the keynote speaker at Jewish Roots Jubilee: Cele- Marlene Trestman brating the 75th Anniversary of the Modern-Day JCRS, April 11 at 6 p.m.

Not only is Trestman a JCRS “Success Story,” having received aid from the agency when she was orphaned at 11 years old, she is writing a book on the history of the Jewish Orphans’ Home in New Orleans, the predecessor of JCRS. Although her book “The Fortunate Unfortunates: New Orleans’s Jewish Orphans’ Home, 1855-1946” is still a few months away from publication, during the event she will share some of the nuggets of her research.

The online gala will also feature music performed by the JCRS “Success Story Ensemble” — educational scholarship recipients who are currently pursuing advanced degrees in musical performance.

“I am thrilled that Marlene Trestman, one of JCRS’s ‘Success Stories’ and such a talented and honored author, has chosen to write and speak about the history of our wonderful organization,” Gala co-chair Carole Neff said.

Co-chair Barbara Kaplinsky agreed, noting that Trestman, “like the many hundreds of JCRS ‘Success Stories’ from around the country, is a testament to the amazing work JCRS does in supporting Jewish children in building their Jewish identity, becoming educated and overcoming obstacles.”

Trestman grew up in New Orleans as a JCRS recipient, using that assistance to attend Isidore Newman School under the spirit of its founding charter to educate Jewish orphans. She later attended Gaucher College and George Washington University Law School and began her career as a public lawyer.

Trestman is a former Special Assistant to the Maryland Attorney General, where she started her 30-year legal career in 1982, and has taught law at Loyola University of Maryland’s Sellinger School of Business and Management, where she earned her MBA. Trestman twice received the

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The JCRS Success Story Ensemble

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Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award and in 2004 was named Isidore Newman School’s Distinguished Alumnus.

She is also the author of “Fair Labor Lawyer: The Remarkable Life of New Deal Attorney and Supreme Court Advocate Bessie Margolin.” It was through her research on Margolin, one of the Jewish Orphans’ Home’s most accomplished alumni, that her curiosity about the home deepened.

“For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the rich history of the Jewish Orphan’s Home,” Trestman said. “I am also keenly aware that had the Home remained open for about two more decades — I would have lived there.”

After her book on Margolin was released, Trestman was the honoree at the 2016 JCRS gala.

Trestman’s talk will be followed by a question and answer session. Sprinkled throughout the program will be performances by the ensemble, featuring instrumentalists Joshua Dolney of Deer Park, Texas; Josh Sadinsky of Fayetteville, Ark.; Basil Alter of Memphis; and Caroline Samuels of Baton Rouge. JCRS volunteer and drummer Bruce Miller is also part of the group.

The musicians said they are thrilled to be lending their talents for the second consecutive year.

“JCRS has provided so many opportunities to me throughout the years; and it is my pleasure to give back to the organization that has given me so much,” Samuels said.

Alter added. “I am thankful to the JCRS for their generosity in supporting my education, and for their support and encouragement throughout the year.”

JCRS provides need-based scholarships for Jewish sleepaway summer camp, along with college and special needs assistance, among other programs. It also administers PJ Library in many communities. Recipients are from a seven-state region.

An online auction focused on once-in-alifetime vacations and experiences will round out the evening. Sponsorships and tickets are available at www.jcrs.org or by calling (800) 729-5277.

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Is a return to normal life on the horizon?

With several states relaxing or eliminating mask mandates, Covid cases on a sharp decline and a larger proportion of people, especially seniors, receiving their second Covid vaccine, some institutions are loosening their restrictions — a little.

At Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center, the locker rooms reopened as of March 1. Masks are still required in the facility, unless showering in the locker rooms or swimming in the indoor pool. The sauna, whirlpool and towel service are still not available, and in the men’s locker room, only one person is permitted per

side of the shower area.

Sign-ups are no longer required for the fitness floor or other indoor areas, except for the indoor pool. Group fitness classes still require advance registration for indoor and poolside classes.

Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El is expanding in-person Shabbat evening services, starting March 5. Previously, attendance was limited “to only those with an immediate need for mourning, prayer, or life events,” and there were no known cases of spread at Emanu-El. Members who have received the second vaccine dose at least two weeks earlier may attend, but will need to attest to their status in writing and register online for services. Those who are not vaccinated need to be approved by the clergy.

Emanu-El will continue requiring masks, temperature checks, social distancing and hand washing, with seating in family pods and sequential dismissal at the end of the service.

Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El is looking to resume in-person services with the daily minyan. Prior to Covid, Beth-El had the only twice daily, every day minyan in the region. A survey was recently distributed to determine whether enough members are ready to return for minyan, which will initially be held outdoors, socially distanced in the breezeway from the alley to the lower parking lot. “At the appropriate time, we hope to be able to start Friday night and Saturday services as well.”

In Mobile, Springhill Avenue Temple has completed an initial step toward reopening, with the installation of a self-cleaning ionization air purification system in all of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Starting March 6, Agudath Achim in Shreveport is resuming Shabbat morning services, at 10 a.m. Masks and social distancing are required.

Northshore Jewish Congregation in Mandeville is holding an in-person Torah service on March 20 at 10:30 a.m.

Gates of Prayer in Metairie holds in-person services on Fridays at 6:15 p.m. and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m., in addition to livestreaming.

Temple Sinai in New Orleans is also offering in-person options for Shabbat evening services, while Shabbat morning continues to be online only. Reservations are required for those attending in person, and masks must be worn at all times.

Beth Israel in Gulfport is also planning to resume in-person Shabbat evening services at 6:30 p.m.

Congregations remaining closed through at least the end of March include B’nai Sholom in Huntsville, Beth El in Anniston, Emanu-El in Dothan, Beth Israel in Jackson.

community

Replanted Anne Frank Tree to be re-dedicated at Alabama Holocaust commemoration

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Pastor Chris Edmonds will speak about his father’s wartime heroism Though this year’s state commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day will be online, having that platform will make the event one of the more comprehensive since the events began at the Governor’s Mansion in Montgomery in the 1980s.

The event, which in recent years has been held in the Old State Capitol Building, will include the rededication of the Anne Frank Tree in Birmingham’s civil rights district. It will be held virtually on April 11 at 2 p.m.

Governor Kay Ivey will present a proclamation during the program, and there will also be a presentation from the Alabama Legislature. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin will open the program, followed by an invocation from Pastor Agnes Lover of St. Paul AME Church in Montgomery.

Keynote speaker will be Pastor Chris Edmonds of the Knoxville area, who will speak about his father, Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds, the only person recognized as Righteous Among the Nations for saving American Jews during the Holocaust.

As the highest ranking U.S. officer in a German prisoner of war camp, Roddie Edmonds refused to comply with a Nazi request to separate the Jewish soldiers from the rest of the U.S. prisoners, instead telling the commander that “we are all Jews here.” It is estimated that there were 200 Jews among the prisoners at that time.

There will also be a performance by Niv Photo by David Gonnerman Ashkenazi on one of the Violins of Hope, Joel Rotenstreich oversees planting of the new an artistic project comprised of instru- Anne Frank Tree at Kelly Ingram Park last December ments that were owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. There spect announced that 11 would be made availwere numerous Violins of Hope programs in able in the U.S., Joel Rotenstreich figured that Birmingham’s civil rights district would perfectBirmingham in 2018.

There will also be a candle-lighting ceremony ly align with the message of Anne Frank. Kelly with Holocaust survivors and their families; a Ingram Park, known as “a place of revolution memorial prayer chanted by Birmingham-based and reconciliation,” and a focal point of the 1963 Temple Emanu-El Cantor Robert Wittner; and demonstrations, was the obvious choice, espea closing prayer by Pastor Ed Nettles of Freewill cially as it is across the street from 16th Street Baptist Church, where four girls were killed in a Baptist Church in Montgomery.

Klan bombing on Sept. 15, 1963.

Replanting the Anne Frank Tree The proposal was made by a coalition of BirThe Anne Frank tree is a tribute based on mingham Jewish and civil rights organizations, references she made in her famous diary to the including the Birmingham Holocaust Educatree outside the Secret Annex. In 2010, the orig- tion Center, the Jewish Community Relations inal horse chestnut tree in Amsterdam fell over Council, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, in a storm after years of rot and disease. A few 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham Parks years earlier, saplings from that tree had been and Recreation and the Birmingham Public Lideveloped, and they were offered to suitable brary. They were turned down. sites worldwide.

Undeterred, Rotenstreich figured that if the When the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Re- city wasn’t going to receive one of the saplings

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from Amsterdam, they would get their own horse chestnut tree. With the approval of the Anne Frank Center, they set out to find one that could be transported to Birmingham and planted in time for the 2010 Holocaust commemoration.

Among the sites for the original saplings were the Sept. 11 memorial in New York City, the U.S. Capitol, and Holocaust centers in Seattle, Idaho and Michigan. In this region, saplings were dedicated at the Clinton Presidential Center and Central High School in Little Rock.

In a twist of irony, the saplings had to be quarantined for at least three years upon arrival in the U.S., so Birmingham had its Anne Frank Tree years before anyone else did.

Representatives from the six organizations participated in the original dedication. Sarah Collins Rudolph, who was blinded by the blast

at the church that took the life of her sister Addie Mae Collins, was also on hand for the event along with many Holocaust survivors.

In recent years, though, it became evident that Alabama’s climate is not conducive to the survival of horse chestnut trees, and the tree died. On Dec. 9, a new American beech was planted at the same site, with Rotenstreich supervising.

The rededication in April will be on the 11th anniversary of the original dedication. According to the BHEC, “In the names of Addie Mae, Carole, Cynthia, Denise and Anne, we will rededicate our efforts to recognize hate in all forms and educate in order to eradicate the injustices that still exist and plague our society today.”

The BHEC has also developed new educational materials to prepare high school students to watch the program.

NOLA Holocaust commemoration on April 8 The annual New Orleans community-wide Holocaust Memorial program will be virtual this year, and feature “A Call to Remember,” the story of Miami Holocaust survivor David Schaecter.

The event, hosted by the New Orleans Jewish Community Center, will be on April 8 at 6:30 p.m. It is free and open to the community.

Born in a small village in Czechoslovakia, Schaecter was a small boy when the Nazis rose to power and is the only member of his family

to survive the Holocaust. In this powerful documentary, Schaecter takes us on a journey from his bucolic childhood, to the struggle for survival he and his brother faced in Auschwitz, and finally his dramatic escape as the Allies invaded.

As Schaecter pieced his life together following the war, he became a founding member of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach.

This program is supported by the Israel Engagement Fund: A JCC Association of North America Program Accelerator.

Remembering Auscwitz survivor Max Steinmetz

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Max Steinmetz, a Holocaust survivor who wound up in Birmingham and spoke extensively to students about his experiences, died on March 4.

Steinmetz, 96, was a native of Romania. At the age of 17, he and his family were taken into captivity by the Nazis and eventually taken to Auschwitz, where his parents, Ilona and Louis Markowitz, and his sister, Esther, were immediately put to death in a gas chamber after they encountered the infamous “angel of death” Josef Mengele. His brother, Henry, died while imprisoned with Max at Dachau.

Steinmetz survived the Holocaust by escaping during a Death March out of Dachau. Sick and hallucinating, and weighing 80 pounds, he found a local farmhouse where the wife of a Nazi officer let him in, just days before the area was liberated.

He obtained a visa to move to the United States in 1948, working for his passage in the ship’s kitchen. Upon arriving in New York in late 1948, he began a business career which eventually brought him to Birmingham in 1955 to work for Dan Cohen Shoe Company. After Dan Cohen, Max worked for Bargain Town USA, eventually serving as its vice president, where he oversaw the shoe department for the

chain of stores for approximately 30 years.

Steinmetz spent the last 30 years of his life committed to Holocaust education. He spoke to thousands of people throughout Alabama and other states about the facts that led to the Holocaust and its impact on his life.

In a statement, the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center said Steinmetz “shared his story of survival with hundreds of young people, small audiences and large, with his wife Betty always at his side.”

Concerned that the stories of survivors would be lost to future generations, Steinmetz worked with local teacher Amy McDonald to produce a book, “Determined to Survive: A Story of Survival and One Teacher’s Passion to Bring That Story to Life.”

In 1962, he married Betty Friedman. In addition to her, he is survived by children Stephen (Stephanie) Steinmetz, Lisa (Scott) Morchower, and Caren (Donnie) Fox; six grandchildren, Charlie and Jack Steinmetz, Erica and Elana Morchower, and Hannah and Rachel Fox, several nieces, grand-nieces, a grand-nephew, and many friends.

The family established a fund in his honor at BHEC to support his commitment to Holocaust education

A Flower for Hadar Hadar Cohen will never marry, have children or comfort her parents in their old ages. She was a heroic, 19-year-old Border Policewoman stationed at the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem when she was murdered by terrorists, February 3rd of 2016. She and a partner had confronted two suspicious men and, in the ensuing gunfight, Hadar took down a bomb-laden terrorist. In the final seconds of her life, she also managed to save the life of her fellow Border Policewoman but gave up her life in doing so. No one can accurately estimate how many lives and injuries Hadar prevented by her heroic actions.

The firm policy of Israelis is to not honor individuals who commit heroic acts. They say that every life is precious, every martyr is a hero. They cannot honor just one out of the thousands that they have lost in the long struggle to establish a homeland for all of us.

When you travel around Israel, you’ll find almost no sites designated as tributes to individuals. It was truly astonishing when, last year, the City of Jerusalem decided to pay tribute to Hadar and another Policewoman, Hadas Malka, by putting their names on the steps down into the Damascus Gate. This has now been formally done and the Cohen family is comforted to know that in the memories of many thousands, worldwide, Hadar will not be forgotten.

We should not forget either. Alongside the cup of wine for Eliyahu, the cup of water for Miriam and the seder plate, I ask you to pay tribute to her heroism by placing a single flower on your seder table in her name and telling her story to the attendees, particularly the children.

In our home, we make this the 5th question, “Who was Hadar Cohen?” The flower is in her name but it represents all of those incredibly brave soldiers and civilians we have lost in Israel.

Also, please forward this request to your synagogue bulletin and any other Jewish newsletters of which you are aware, for inclusion in their publications.

We suggest that you use this poignant letter as a reading, in explanation of the inclusion of the flower on your Seder table. It was written by Jewish author Naomi Ragen as a tribute to the heroism of Hadar Cohen. https://www.naomiragen.com/israel/my-dear-hadar/

May G-d bless you all and may G-d bless the State of Israel.

The Conn Family, Birmingham Alabama March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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From Houma to Israeli diplomacy

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By Richard Friedman How does a young African-American Christian, from a smaller, lesser-known town in Louisiana, wind up working for Israel’s Consulate General to the Southeast in a high-profile role?

The answer is simple, and complex: 27-year-old Wendell Shelby-Wallace has been on a journey almost from day one. He has had an array of speed bumps and a few daunting challenges and even some detours along the way.

Still, through his determination, passion for causes, and being in the right place at the right time, Shelby-Wallace, who grew up in Houma, landed a job with the Atlanta-based Israeli Consulate to the Southeast.

On one hand, his current employment might reflect a strange turn of events. On the other hand, it is a natural extension of this driven young man’s commitment to make a difference — a relentless drive that informs every day of his life Having started out as a public relations director for the Consulate, Shelby-Wallace, largely through his energy, talents and engaging warmth, has built relationships at the Consulate and beyond which have led to a significant expansion of his responsibilities and visibility.

Today, he is the Consulate’s Director of External Affairs, Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives. In this role, he is responsible for outreach to the African-American, Hispanic, LGBTQIA+, Christian, Muslim and Progressive communities. He also, as an outgrowth of his public relations role, continues to work with the media, making sure the Consulate’s message is delivered in a precise and positive way. Promoting the Consulate’s cultural and educational offerings also is part of his job.

Growing up in Houma, located in Southeast Louisiana, Shelby-Wallace joined the NAACP at age 13 and became its local young president, a foreshadowing of his commitment to causes. “I really got involved with social justice, but at the time didn’t fully understand the term,” he remembers. “These activities brought me into an area that was new for me, fighting for racial justice.”

In high school, Shelby-Wallace got involved in lots of activities and leadership roles, which would lead to his induction into his school’s Hall of Fame. “All of this put me in a place where I not just focused on myself but I focused on what I could do to make the world a better place.”

He received a full scholarship to Louisiana State University, but once there, began struggling academically and emotionally due to the death of his father. He withdrew from school, began working full-time in the area of disaster recovery, and intended to finish school part-time.

It was a transitional time for a young man whose life, it seemed, had always been in transition.

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Behind his story was another story. His birth mother had given him up as an infant, placing him with the couple who he would come to consider his parents in every way imaginable. He thought he had been legally adopted until he found out he wasn’t.

His legal father was in prison, which created complications for Shelby-Wallace when he began applying to college, which is how he wound up at LSU after dreaming of going to Harvard, Georgetown or Morehouse. LSU was just easier for him to navigate the red tape he was tangled in because of the custody complications.

It’s at this point that the talkative and upbeat Shelby-Wallace becomes emotional, fighting back tears. The man who raised him, who, just like the woman who raised him, he loved and adored, was diagnosed with cancer and would begin a long downward struggle that led to his passing. This father had been a rock and a role model for Shelby-Wallace.

As he was dying, he asked Shelby-Wallace to promise him that he would

community work hard, use all of his God-given abilities, and make an impact on the world. “As he was dying in 2012, Daddy told me to ‘Finish Strong,’ which I have adopted as my mantra for life.” So, with these words imprinted on his heart, Shelby-Wallace did a turnabout, which led him to Atlanta’s Morehouse College.

It was there that he blossomed, never looking back. Wearing a Morehouse sweatshirt as he explained all this in a recent FaceTime interview, Shelby-Wallace expressed his gratitude as he recounted embracing this second chance.

He secured ample financial aid, landed some key part-time jobs working closely with administration figures, and became involved in student activities — so much so that he was elected Student Government Association VP and became president of the Senate. At Morehouse, he also became involved with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which had a presence on the Morehouse campus.

The more he learned about Israel, the more passionate he became about the Jewish people and the Jewish state. Participating in retreats, seminars, AIPAC’s National Policy Conference and a trip to Israel were among the highlights. Then the turning point came when he least expected it.

“I happened to have just gotten back from Israel, and also was a program assistant to the dean of the college. As a student ambassador, I also gave campus tours. One day, in July of 2019, I got a call from the executive assistant to the Morehouse president who said, ‘We have a really important visitor coming on campus and we’d love for you to give her a tour.’ So I said sure.”

That visitor turned out to be Israel’s new Consul General to the Southeast, Anat Sultan-Dadon. She and Shelby-Wallace, two outgoing and passionate people, clicked. “She asked how familiar I was with Israel. I told her I had become the campus liaison for AIPAC and had been to a lot of programming. She asked, ‘How do you get people involved with Israel, particularly Black students and the Black community?’”

“It really is simple, I told her. I tell people that as Americans, we have a vested interest in Israel as one of the few countries in that region of the world that is a democracy. We also have a vested interest in being partners with Israel — from a national security viewpoint, innovation-wise, and all the things that Israel is great at. We also have a strong history, especially in the South during the Civil Rights era, of shared legacies between Pictured, from left, are Consul General Anat African-Americans and the Jewish community.” Sultan-Dadon and Wendell Shelby-Wallace As they got back into the car, the Consul on the day they met at Morehouse College.

March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

19

Happy Passover

community General asked him what he was going to do after he finished Morehouse.

“I said probably go home to spend time with my family and get ready for law school or graduate school. She asked me if I was interested in working for the Consulate. I had a lot on my plate at that time, so we agreed I would start working part-time.” Shelby-Wallace started in the public relations area but his work soon expanded to outreach to the African-American community.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

As he finished at Morehouse, he planned to remain with the Consulate until the summer of 2020, planning to then pursue a master’s of education degree from Boston University and a teaching fellowship at Epiphany School, a private school in Massachusetts.

However, in what he calls “a bittersweet result” of the Covid pandemic, Shelby-Wallace deferred the launch of these plans, deciding it was more critical to remain in the South with family and continue combating the hate and bigotry that he had encountered through his work for the Consulate and other experiences.

Shelby-Wallace, who is a Christian minister, was asked in the above-mentioned FaceTime conversation what motivated him to become interested in Israel and involved in AIPAC. The organization is known for reaching out to campus leaders, including those at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and a friend of his had become involved in AIPAC and got Shelby-Wallace interested.

In addition, he had worked in some political campaigns between his time at LSU and Morehouse and the political process interested him. He began his AIPAC involvement by attending a retreat in Washington for African-American student leaders.

“We unpacked the history of Israel, and we started to talk about why this matters. We were able to speak with some Black elected officials who were very supportive of Israel.” He later attended a Hispanic students retreat. (He is part Hispanic and also part Native American, though considers himself Black more than anything.)

Turning to the future, Shelby-Wallace explained, “My original agreement with the Consul General was to be here until May of 2020, but I was asked to stay on part-time which has now led back to full-time because of the challenges created by the Covid pandemic.”

It’s not surprising that he is staying on, at least for now. “I decided to stay committed to my work at the Consulate because of the opportunity we have to connect with people who we previously have not connected with.” That is part of the reason.

Another part is his admiration for Consul General Sultan-Dadon.

“I have worked for quite a few people but have never had a supervisor who has been so visionary yet so practical, who can be unapologetic while being diplomatic.”

He describes the objectives of the Consulate as two-fold, in effect a two-way street: First, to build relationships with various constituencies to educate them and engage them in Israel. Second, for Israel to engage with the Southeast region; to contribute to life overall in the Southeast, connect with as many people as possible and build alliances.

The work is also personal for him.

“I wake up every day and ask God ‘How can I be used today? What can I do to fulfill my purpose?’ My work is about making connections with people for the greater good of everyone. As we say in the Christian faith, ‘You don’t get tired of the work, you get tired in the work.’ It’s tiring, yes, but I see it as my purpose to uproot hatred and bigotry to plant love and peace. This is what my job with the Consulate allows.”

As a Christian, he feels a deep attachment to Israel, knowing that it is the land where his Messiah, a Jew by the name of Jesus, lived and preached, and that Judaism provided the roots of Christianity. Moreover, every time the Consulate has a program or he has a conversation, especially if the person emerges with a deeper understanding and greater ap-

community preciation of Israel, he gets energized.

Just like the country he represents through his Consulate work, Louisiana native Wendell Shelby-Wallace has had his share of twists and turns and ups and downs in a relatively short time. But like Israel, he keeps ascending.

In fact, the lesson instilled in him by the man who raised him — “Finish Strong” — could also be applied to the Israeli people. For they, like this Consulate employee, are undergirded by an unshakeable determination — and faith in themselves and the future.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

While most of the news about Jewish periodicals in the past year has been about which ones are ending their print editions or shutting down altogether, in Memphis there is a completely different story.

After 96 years in the Goldberger family, the Hebrew Watchman has been sold, to Susan Nieman, owner of Jewish Scene magazine.

Then called the Memphis Watchman, the weekly paper was founded in 1925 by Leo Goldberger. His son, Herman Goldberger, worked alongside him for many years, taking over as editor and publisher 50 years ago, putting out a weekly paper with his wife, Bobbie. In The Feb. 11 edition, Goldberger said “after a lifetime of publishing, we have decided to retire. It is a bittersweet but happy time for us.”

Jewish Living of the South Inc., which publishes Jewish Scene every other month, purchased the Hebrew Watchman on Jan. 29. “I am grateful that the Goldbergers have put their trust in me to carry on their legacy,” Nieman said.

Nieman founded her magazine in 2006 as Jewish Living of the South, then changed the name to Jewish Scene in October 2007. At first, the magazine covered Memphis, Mississippi and Arkansas, then ventured into Nashville for a brief time, finally pulling back to focus solely on Memphis.

Rep. Steve Cohen paid tribute to the Goldbergers in a Feb. 18 speech that was entered into the Congressional Record. He said the Hebrew Watchman “has chronicled Memphis Jewish life with grace and devotion for generations.”

Goldberger said he is looking forward to seeing the “new ideas” Nieman will bring to the paper. On Feb. 17, for example, a Facebook page was established for the publication, which previously had no online presence.

community

Alabama’s Shelby announces retirement, will be missed by pro-Israel groups

By Richard Friedman Richard Shelby, a tall, affable man who will be remembered for years to come as a political giant, has announced that he will not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate when his current term expires.

Shelby, Alabama’s senior senator, will leave behind a formidable legacy as a gifted politician who secured massive amounts of federal money for his home state.

The 86-year-old senator’s recent announcement that he won’t seek re-election in 2022 caps a long and distinguished political career.

He started out as a Democrat and later became a Republican. His journey has taken him from the Alabama State Senate to the U.S. House of Representatives to six terms in the U.S. Senate.

In the Alabama and national Jewish communities, those who know him well will miss him serving in the Senate. He has been accessible, responsive to the Jewish community’s issues and concerns, and a steadfast supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

One of those who has known Shelby well over the years is Arlene Mitchell of Mobile. Her late husband, Mayer, was twice president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which lobbies Members

of Congress. The Mitchells were friends with Shelby and his wife, Annette, and traveled to Israel with the senator.

“Sen. Shelby’s relationship with my husband was really close. I don’t think Richard ever turned him down regarding Israel,” she recalled. “He is a decent man and a good man and a man of his word.”

She also lamented that what Shelby has stood for has largely vanished from the political scene.

“So many times when we were in Washington we would go to dinner with Republicans and Democrats — they were friends after 5 p.m.

Senators could talk to people in the other party and negotiate things and work things out. Richard Shelby is a product of that era.”

“Throughout his career, Sen. Shelby has been a strong supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” said Marshall Wittman, an AIPAC spokesman.

“As a long-time senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Shelby ensured that Israel always had the security assistance necessary to keep it safe and secure, and he worked closely with the pro-Israel community,” said Wittman.

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), another national group, had praise for Shelby as well.

March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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“With the retirement of Sen. Shelby, the Jewish community in Alabama and nationwide will lose a reliable ally,” said RJC Legislative Director Noah Silverman.

“During the tenure of President Obama, Sen. Shelby spoke out forcefully against the terrible nuclear deal with Iran and the decision to support an anti-Israel UN Security Council resolution,” Silverman added.

“And as a long-time senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Shelby played a key role in ensuring that U.S.-Israel security assistance agreements were faithfully implemented, as well as providing homeland security grants to Jewish institutions.”

The Jewish Guide to US Politics highlights recent legislative actions that reflect Shelby’s support for Israel, including supporting the Taylor Force Act, security assistance and the Israel Anti-Boycott Act. Birmingham lawyer Steven Brickman, a long-time Jewish community volunteer leader, first got to know Shelby when he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

He met Shelby in 1982 while attending what was then the United Jewish Appeal’s Young Leadership Conference in Washington. The conference included visits to Capitol Hill to meet with Members of Congress.

Brickman was assigned to call on Shelby.

“We probably spent an hour talking about issues of concern to the Jewish community and the importance of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

He was very receptive.”

In late 1984, Brickman was in his law office and got a call from Shelby.

“He told me he was planning to run for the Senate in 1986 and that he remembered our conversation from 1982, and wanted my help in connecting him with other members of the Jewish community.” Brickman did just that, something he’s proud of to this day.

“Sen. Shelby has been an incredible senator for the state of Alabama and a stalwart supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship. He believes a strong U.S.-Israel relationship is in the interest of Alabama (which has many ties with Israel) and the U.S.” Rabbi Jonathan Miller, rabbi emeritus at Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El, also speaks highly of Shelby. Miller now lives in Washington and ran into the senator at an airport about a year ago and spent some time with him chatting.

“He told me then that he was going to leave the Senate. Politics had changed,” Miller said. “And then he ran through with me the list of Jewish folks from Birmingham whom he had known over his career. He spoke of our community with interest and affection. Sen. Shelby was our friend.”

Along with Mayer Mitchell, the late George Mitnick of Jasper played an important role in educating Alabama’s Members of Congress about the importance of America’s ties with Israel. Miller recalls a visit he made to Mitnick’s office shortly after he arrived in Alabama to become Temple Emanu-El’s rabbi.

“As we were talking, the phone rang. George apologized and said, ‘Excuse me, Rabbi, I have to take this.’ George then turned his attention to the phone call. ‘Now Dick,’ he said into the phone, ‘this is what I’d like to ask you to do for us in Washington…’”

When the phone call finished, Mitnick turned his attention back to Miller. “Rabbi, that was Sen. Shelby. He does us proud in Washington and we support him.”

The rabbi also remembers Shelby standing in Donald and Ronne Hess’ sukkah in Birmingham, shaking the lulav during the holiday of Sukkot.

Ronne Hess is George Mitnick’s daughter.

“Sen. Shelby was accessible to us,” said Miller, recalling the Senator speaking at Temple Emanu-El and enjoying a Shabbat meal at the Miller home. “His Senate office was a friendly place for us when we came to visit.”

community

Singing a New Song in New Orleans

Shir Chadash celebrates 60 years of Conservative Judaism in the community Though an in-person anniversary gala could not take place, a couple hundred current and former members of Metairie’s Shir Chadash gathered online on Jan. 31 to celebrate 60 years of Conservative Judaism in the New Orleans area.

The evening was filled with historical remembrances, and special honorees were Israel and Sylvia Finger, Elliot and Lisa Finkelstein, Hugo and Lis Kahn, and Alvin and Madilyn Samuels.

The evening began with Meryl Zimmerman and Eric Merchant providing a note of positivity and optimism with “Put On A Happy Face,” from the musical “Bye Bye Birdie,” which debuted in 1960, the same year that Shir Chadash was formed, bringing Conservative Judaism to New Orleans.

Shir Chadash President Kenneth Klein invited everyone to reflect on their Jewish journey and how it led them to Shir Chadash. He said “those who came before us had a vision of what Conservative Judaism would look like for our community,” and thanked everyone for their support in making “the road ahead brighter for future generations.”

A video presented clips from interviews, describing

the congregation’s history, starting with the roots that led to the formation of two congregations that eventually reunited to sing a new song, as reflected in the name Shir Chadash.

19th Century Origins Alan Jacobs described how the congregation started with a group of men in 1875 who studied Psalms together, calling themselves Chevre Thilim, “society of Psalms.” In 1887 the Orthodox congregation Chevra Thilim was formed.

In 1915, the congregation moved to Lafayette Street, and the building’s donor, Benjamin Rosenberg, stipulated that the congregation must remain Orthodox, a requirement which would become more significant as time went on.

In 1949, the congregation moved to Claiborne Avenue. As with Orthodox congregations, the seating was separate for men and women, but on Friday nights there was mixed seating. The demand grew for mixed seating at all services, and it was approved in 1957.

Two weeks after the resolution, passed, a group opposed to the change, led by Harry Katz, filed suit,

Above, Rabbi Deborah Silver.

Below, President Kenneth Klein

March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

commentary naming the congregation’s president, Gus Singerman, as defendant. The main question was whether an Orthodox congregation could have mixed seating and still be Orthodox, as stipulated in 1915.

While the suit went on, many families left to form the Conservative Congregation of New Orleans in 1960, Jacobs said. The congregation would become Tikvat Shalom in 1976.

Eventually, the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision and ruled that Chevra Thilim, as an Orthodox congregation, could have mixed seating. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal.

Jacobs noted that a few years later, Katz’s granddaughter married Singerman’s son. “This was regarded by many as Chevra Thilim’s version of Romeo and Juliet, but with a much happier ending.”

Chevra Thilim and Tikvat Shalom continued on their separate paths for almost four decades.

The first service for the new Conservative congregation was Selichot.

Rochelle Sackett vividly recalls being there, and said “the feeling in that room was magical that night… there weren’t many of us, but those of us who were there knew that we were starting something really special for the city of New Orleans.”

Sackett said that her husband “was very Reform and I was Orthodox, so we did not have a common meeting ground” until the Conservative congregation came along, “and we jumped in with both feet.”

N’Ann Singerman Glade had the first Bat Mitzvah at the new congregation, in 1961. She was the only girl in the class, and recalled stopping off at the Woolworth’s on Napoleon Avenue before class “so we could fortify ourselves” with ice cream sundaes.

Julie Finkelstein said the congregation was originally “very liberal, as was the Conservative movement.” The services started out approximately one and one-half hours, but when she joined in the 1980s they had become more like today’s two to two and one-half hours.

“From the beginning, our synagogue has been an egalitarian, lay-led and participatory congregation, and that aspect of our shul is what is most special to me,” she said.

The participation aspect has been very inclusive, noted Dana Wallen.

“I have a mild learning disability,” she said. “When it came time for my Bat Mitzvah, there was skepticism about my ability to learn Hebrew and lead the services… The synagogue hired a college student to be my tutor, and I studied every week for a year.”

She attended Camp Ramah in New England, where she further learned the service and “was given the opportunity and honor to lead Shabbat services in front of the whole camp.”

When it came time for her Bat Mitzvah over Thanksgiving weekend, she led the entire Shabbat evening and morning services, and “I think I surprised many people with my accomplishment.”

Wallen added, “Shir Chadash and particularly Rabbi Silver have continually let me lead services whenever I want to, and I feel that Shir Chadash has been a most inclusive congregation.”

Janice Stern recalled the formation of the Caring Committee, which aims “to make the sad times for our families a bit easier.”

Seelig said “our main object has always been the children,” including gifting registration for the first United Synagogue Youth convention after becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and stipends for those attending Camp Ramah.

Karen Lew Feirman “got my start in Judaism truly as a member of all youth programs,” especially Kadima and USY. “It was my foundation for friendship and Judaism.”

Sackett recalled being invited to the first meeting of the group that would become Sisterhood. She had been married for only a year “and most of the women were friends of my mother,” but “that first meeting was so exciting. The feeling in the room was unbelievable.”

Shirley Seelig recalled how Sisterhood members would do the baking

commentary for Friday night receptions, or for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. “ The most important event “was our mitzvah donor dinner. It started as a luncheon but later became a dinner program for the whole congregation.” Scripts were written that included singing and dancing numbers, “which I’m sure we looked foolish at, but everyone seemed to enjoy them,” Seelig said.

Alan Yager spoke of the “diaspora of New Orleans,” recalling that they lived “way out in the boonies” of River Ridge before the Earhart Expressway, and had to deal with the trains on River Road to get to services. But the Woldenbergs donated land in Metairie “that became our place… and the place for the Jewish Day School and the JCC.” The groundbreaking was held on March 27, 1977, and Sackett said architect Maury Singer was a student of Jewish history, and designed the building with the idea of the 12 Tribes of Israel, using the number 12 as a recurring theme. Sackett said that in the sanctuary, there are six columns on each side of the ark.

Meanwhile, Chevra Thilim continued to have mixed seating with an Orthodox ritual. As the congregation continued to become more liberal, Jacobs said additional members who wanted a strictly Orthodox service left. “Our membership dwindled and we had very few younger families,” he said.

Most of the remaining members wanted to become Conservative, and in 1988 the congregation made the switch, joining United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in 1991 and becoming egalitarian in 1992.

Family Reunion Jacobs said Chevra Thilim hoped that the liberalized practices would attract new members to their Uptown congregation, especially from Tulane, but that did not happen. Though the congregation was financially sound, “the future was clear. We did not want to waste our remaining funds out of pride and nostalgia.”

They sought a merger with Tikvat Shalom, and the merger was concluded in 1999. “I was third generation member and a past president, and my father and brother had been president for me,” Jacobs said. “It was not an easy decision. It was the right decision.”

Both congregations wanted the merger, he said. “It was a family reunion.”

Leopold Sher was president for the consolidation, which was “truly my privilege and honor.” He called it “a very transformational and historic event,” because “we were consolidating Conservative Judaism into one synagogue in the greater New Orleans area.”

Sher said it worked out well, and “since that time in 1999 we have made beautiful music together.”

The congregation was renamed Shir Chadash, to reflect the new song coming forth from the community.

Sandy Lassen was president of Chevra Thilim at the merger, and recalled the June 13, 1999, congregational meeting that approved the proposal. “It was a meeting filled with emotion, we said goodbye to our beloved rabbi, David Bockman, and to our synagogue building on Claiborne Avenue.” But “it truly was a reuniting of two congregations.”

Just a few years later, there would be a huge challenge for the reunited congregation and the entire community. Bob Kutcher said the summer of 2005 had proceeded like any other, and one Shabbat morning in late August he went to services and stopped to get gas. “I ran into Amy Berins… and she said there’s a hurricane in the Gulf, and I told her, frankly, I didn’t even realize that.”

That morning, “we sort of concluded, better safe than sorry, let’s take the Torahs out of the ark and walk them across the parking lot to the JCC/Federation building… there were several of us who did it.”

It was like any other hurricane, they felt. “We really need to do this” but nobody thought much of it. “We did it out of a safety precaution.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community Little did we realize what we were getting into.”

Rabbi Ted Lichtenfield, who had arrived at Shir Chadash a month before, said “we knew there might be a hurricane evacuation but it seemed like this exotic thing that might happen. We didn’t expect it to happen so soon,” but then “we had the mother of all hurricane evacuations.”

Will Samuels said the challenge after the levees broke was “figuring out where everybody was, how everybody was doing.” He was in New York, sitting in a hotel “trying to put together a database of where everybody was… nobody knew what the state of their houses were, nobody knew when we would be able to get back.”

The most immediate concern on the group emails was for Lainie and Tad Breaux, who had to evacuate to Houston as their 4-day-old son, Zachary, was still in the hospital in New Orleans with a breathing issue.

After the storm, they heard he was doing well, but then communication ended as news reports showed the flooding and emergency evacuations.

A couple days later, they finally located him in Fort Worth. “They had a reunion on CNN, and it was such a cathartic moment,” Samuels said.

With the High Holy Days a few weeks away, “We had established that very few congregants were back at that point. There were pockets in Atlanta and Houston,” and the sense was that “at least we’ll have a Shir Chadash minyan somewhere.” The Houston JCC let them use their auditorium for services, and they found that “there were enough people coming back to New Orleans” and “we need to make sure there is some sort of services in New Orleans” though they had already committed to holding “Shir Chadash” services in Houston.

Those in New Orleans “were able to put together services for the first night of Rosh Hashanah in the chapel, and it was just chairs and a bare floor, but it was a service” and it also attracted Beth Israel and Gates of Prayer members.

Samuels conducted the first official service back, during the Shabbat

community

When It Comes To Your Health

between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. “There were only 12 of us… it was a just way to say, okay, we are still around, we are still alive as a people, we are still alive as a congregation and we are going to do what we need to do.”

Harvey Bordowitz visited from Israel every year to lead High Holy Day music and wrote compositions for the congregation. Jeanne Cohen, who picked him up at the airport every year, said “all of that came to a sad, grinding halt when Katrina hit” because “there were so many holes” in the choir from people not returning. The congregation lost roughly onethird of its membership.

When Rabbi Ethan Linden arrived in 2009, four years after the storm, the community was still in many ways recovering from what was actually a trauma,” but he also found “a community that was deeply resilient and was prepared to try new things and become something different than it had been.”

He said “all everybody needed was a little confidence and a little push,” and there was “wonderful growth… In many ways those years from 2009 forward were not so much a break with the past but really a revitalization of what had always been great about Conservative Judaism in New Orleans.”

Today, Sackett said, the most exciting thing is seeing children at Shir Chadash, because after Katrina there were no children for a while.

After that, the video concluded with many of the youth talking about what they particularly like about being at Shir Chadash, and what they envision for 60 years from now.

Rabbi Deborah Silver said the evening was about the Biblical term Toledot, which means “generations. “ “Toledot also means consequences, what happens after history, what happens as history unfurls itself into the future,” she said, “The Toledot of Shir Chadash should be a continuously new song.”

There was a memorial section of the program, where tributes to con-

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Wishing all my friends and supporters in the Jewish community a very Happy Passover!

Judge Candice Bates-Anderson Juvenile Court, Section C

gregational leaders who have died were given by family members.

There was a performance from the children of Shir Chadash, with them “passing” a marker from one to the next as they wrote and displayed anniversary messages at their respective homes. The video included music from the Streiffer and Horwitz family.

Also, rabbinical student David Kaplinsky did “Where It Begins,” an original song about the congregation’s history, to the tune of “Sweet Caroline.”

In addition to reflections from the four couples who were honored at the event, several past rabbis filmed greetings for the livestream.

Rabbi Victor Hoffman reflected that the Conservative Congregation of New Orleans was just nine years old when he arrived in 1969, and served there until 1981. Speaking from Jerusalem, he said he is “grateful that we have remained so warmly connected for all these years.”

Noting that Pirkei Avot assigns a characteristic to each decade, and calls 60 the decade of old age, Hoffman said, “from my perspective at age 80, I would ask, what’s old about 60?” Rather than translate it as old, he would use the term wisdom, for the wisdom the congregation has accumulated in 60 years, and the wisdom needed to look ahead to the next 60 years.

Rabbi Eric Cytryn, who served Tikvat Shalom from 1981 to 1991, said “may the next 60 years be as vibrant, as exciting, as spiritual, as wonderful for the congregation and the community as the last 60 have been.”

Rabbi David Bockman, who arrived in 1993 and was the final rabbi at Chevra Thilim, said “there’s not a week goes by that I don’t look back longingly to my time in the Crescent City.”

He urged, “stay safe y’all, and let’s get beyond this year so Conservative Judaism can continue to flourish in the city that care forgot,” then added, “sorry to be a little cheesy, but I’m living in New Jersey, of all places, and I really miss being home.”

Rabbi Geoffrey Spector, who started at Tikvat Shalom in 1991 and led the merged congregation through 2005, said he had “so many wonderful precious memories” of his 14 years in Metairie, and gave personal anecdotes of all of the evening’s special honorees. “These are impressions that stay in my heart and my mind, and will always be with me.”

Rabbi Ethan Linden, who served from 2009 to 2016, also referenced the honorees and leaders that are no longer around. “Thank you for your vision, thank you for your effort, and thank you for creating Conservative Judaism in New Orleans.”

The gala was chaired by Barbara Kaplinsky with vice chair Beth Hershberg. Committee members were Gail Chalew, Tana Coman, Lisa and Elliot Finkelstein, Cait Gladow, Esther Hendler, Ken Klein, Sandy Lassen, Steven Lew, Sarah Lustig, Debbie Pesses, Andrea Rubin, Karen Sher, Ellie Streiffer, Marcela and Ricardo Totah , Eileen Wallen, Liz Yager and Meryl Zimmerman.

ISJL continues Virtual Vacations The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life is holding monthly Virtual Vacations, usually on an aspect of the Southern Jewish experience. The programs, which are open to the community, are streamed on the ISJL Facebook page, and are also available later on the Virtual vacation website.

When topics are announced, there are often supplemental readings or presentations suggested.

On March 23 at 11 a.m., there will be an exploration of Southern Jewish music, concentrating on Jews and Klezmer. The April 20 session will be a virtual visit to the Mississippi Delta, and on May 25 there will be an overview of Jewish film festivals in the South, and their effect on the arts, culture and Jewish visibility. Many of the current festivals began as Jewish Cinema South, an early ISJL initiative to help bring festivals to smaller and mid-size communities.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community NCJW plans drive-in movie theme for gala For this year’s gala, the New Orleans Section of the National Council of Jewish Women will have an in-person “elevated drive-in movie experience” at the Night Under the Stars gala.

The event will be held the evening of April 17 at Gates of Prayer in Metairie. The New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute will provide dinner for in-vehicle dining.

NCJW Gala Chair Tana Velen said there will be something for everyone at this unique event.

Attendees who are able to walk the lot with their masks on can pose in the photo stations, designed to look straight out of classic Hollywood films.

They can also approach the bar to order a specialty cocktail, beer, or wine. Servers will also be available to hand deliver food and drinks to event Patrons, Sponsors, and those with mobility issues.

As the sun sets, “Dirty Dancing” will be screened. Those attending can choose to watch from their vehicle by tuning the radio to a specified station for the audio, or there will be an area in front of the screen where chairs can be brought for socially-distant seating with masks on.

Covid restrictions will be based on the recommendations made by the city at that time.

Major Sponsors are Susan and Bill Hess, Louis A. and Lillian L. Glazer Family Foundation, Latter and Blum, Inc., Joyce and Sidney Pulitzer, Karen and Leopold Sher.

Top Patrons are Ana and Juan Gershanik, Janie Glade, Cathy and Charles Glaser, Jane Goldring, Margie Kahn and David Graham, Tricia and Rick Kirschman, Lori and Bobby Savoie, Sandra Chass Goldsmith, Barbara Greenberg, Beverly Katz, Sue Singer, Florence Schornstein, Judge Miriam Waltzer, Ina and Rick Davis, Betty Kohn, Carole Neff, Kathy and Hal Shepard and Dana and Louis Shepard.

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ISJL offers programs for Holocaust Remembrance, Israel Independence The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life is offering two programs in April to communities in the region.

On April 8 at 7 p.m., Rabbi Josh Garroway will lead “More Than Just an Uprising: Jewish Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto,” beginning with a Holocaust Remembrance Day service. He will discuss ghettoization in Poland, and the resistance Jews mounted before the 1943 uprising.

On April 15, comedian Benji Lovitt will lead “Israeli History Through Comedy” for Israel Independence Day, using film and television clips through the lens of humor to illustrate transformative events in Israeli history.

Communities or congregations can join in the virtual offerings by contacting Ann Zivitz Kientz, ISJL director of cultural programming, at akientz@isjl.org by March 25.

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New Orleans’ Dave Davis as Yakov Ronen in Keith Thomas’ “The Vigil.”

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Entering the world of demons in Jewish folklore Nola’s Davis stars in “The Vigil,” first Jewish-themed horror film

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While “The Vigil,” which went into mass release on Feb. 26, is being referred to as the first fully-Jewish horror film, Dave Davis says it is important for much more than that, because it promotes understanding by bringing people “into a world that is not their world.”

Davis, who is from New Orleans, plays Yakov, who has left the Chassidic community in New York following a personal trauma. His former rabbi reaches out to him to be a “shomer,” the person who sits with a body overnight before the funeral. Low on funds, Yakov reluctantly agrees, but quickly finds that things are not what they seem.

Keith Thomas, who wrote and directed the film, said he first learned of the shomer when he was pursuing a Masters in Jewish Education at Hebrew Union College in New York. At an Orthodox shul one day, he heard two older men talking about a shomer who had left because he was scared. “That stayed with me,” he said.

Years later, when looking at ideas for films, he said “How is it that nobody has made a shomer horror movie? It’s the perfect setting. Someone with a dead body? How has this not been done?”

He researched the “short list” of Jewish horror cinema, which was mainly the usual characters — a dybbuk or golem — “imported into a, typically, Christian environment. I knew I wanted to tell a Jewish horror story rooted in Jewish experience.”

While researching shedim, the demons in Jewish lore, he came across a vague character, the Mazzik, which means “destroyer.”

“It’s very much based on an entity recounted in Talmudic lore,” Thomas said. ”For me, the best scares are rooted in character. I tried to avoid jump scares that operated on the instinctual startle reflex and went for deeper, more existential sorts of terror. The demon was key to blending the religious and horror aspects.”

Born in New Jersey, Davis grew up in New Orleans. Two years after Katrina, he graduated from the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, then earned a degree in theatre at Tulane in 2011.

His path to performing came because “you’re born with it,” he said. “I was dancing around from the youngest of ages,” and his parents “really supported me, when I figured out maybe I had a future with it.”

He acted in numerous productions, including playing Joseph in “The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” when he was 10 or 11. He went to ensemble theatre summer school and “learned the basics about various acting styles, set design, building, we got to learn different pieces of the theater.”

However, his parents, Ina and Richard Davis, “were smart enough to not let me act professionally as a kid.” That allowed him to “grow as a person before diving into professional acting, which can be all-consuming” with many challenges.

While he was at Tulane, “Hollywood South was blowing up” in New Orleans. “It was a beautiful blessing for me.”

After starring in “This Is Our Youth” for his thesis, he became involved with the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival, playing Hamlet in 2012. He then transitioned to the screen.

Davis “got in with some important casting directors, booked a couple early auditions which built confidence,” he said. “Work begets work, when you have credits it helps to get more credits.”

He met local filmmakers of independent films, SyFy channel movies and short films, and started making his own music videos and short films. “Someone will call and say, hey, I’m working on my short film,” he said, and the circle widens.

He had roles in “The Walking Dead,” ”True Detective” and “NCIS: New Orleans.” He also starred

March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

in films like “Ghost Shark,” “Leprechaun’s Revenge” and “Ozark Sharks.”

In 2015 he relocated to Los Angeles, but whenever an audition came up, he was in LA, whether Los Angeles or Louisiana. “There was one month I flew back between Los Angeles and New Orleans 20 times” because he hadn’t told many people he had relocated.

With Covid restrictions making a physical presence in Los Angeles less important, and with how difficult it can be to live in Los Angeles, he decided it was “the right time to come home to New Orleans. I always knew I wanted to come back… with the world in upheaval and the opportunity to go home, it was a no-brainer.”

Besides, he said New Orleans “gets in your bones. When you leave for too long it gets out of your bones. I would notice myself becoming an LA person and say I gotta get back to New Orleans.”

In 2017, through friends in New Orleans, he had the opportunity to portray Brian Deneke in “Bomb City,” the true story of a clash between high school jocks and the punk community in Amarillo, Tex. The tension resulted in the death of Deneke, and controversy over the light sentence for the jock who killed him.

At the time, Keith Thomas was writing “The Vigil” and starting to formulate plans for the film. He saw Davis in “Bomb City.” Though Davis was sporting a two-foot green mohawk, Davis said Thomas’ “Jewdar went off ” and he said “now, that’s my guy to play the Chassidic New Yorker.”

Thomas said it was “bashert.” He was looking for someone who could “express, largely wordlessly, the deep-seated fear and trepidation inherent to my protagonist. He had to be vulnerable and emotionally broken but at the same time headstrong and wanting help — a tough bal-ance.”

When Davis read the script, “I fell in love with it… it’s about so much more than a horror film.”

Though Yakov comes from a community “with a background that is very foreign to Americans… at the end of the day he is dealing with the same things we all are dealing with,” including mental health, the grieving process, and “how do we interpret” generational trauma.

Since his character had left the community, he started by meeting with participants in Footsteps, a group that was established for those who leave the Chassidic lifestyle. Davis said one has to remember that often, those individuals have been speaking English for just a few years, or only recently saw a movie for the first time.

“We tried to paint it in the most authentic way possible, no judgment, just a story about a person who comes from this community who has left this community and is trying to survive in this new-to-him secular world,” Davis said.

The film was shot in the Chassidic community in New York. Thomas said productions that have filmed there in the past have done so in a “guerilla fashion,” but they needed a longer presence, including laying tracks.

“We shot overnight and had quite a huge crowd watching us — almost all Hasidic men and boys — until the early hours of the morning. Most were fascinated and asked us questions, a few were insulted, but we had rabbinic help on site as well as translators.”

He added, “we were also very careful to be as respectful as possible with our presence in the community.”

For the role, Davis had to learn a lot of Yiddish. He had his Bar Mitzvah at Touro Synagogue and “can read a little Hebrew but I don’t understand it.” As he immersed himself in the role, he quickly discovered that he knew a lot more Yiddish than he thought. “My great-grandparents spoke it, all my grandparents grew up with Yiddish around them… the more I heard and listened, the more I realized I already knew.”

He would work on his Yiddish with Malky Goldman, who plays Sarah in the film. She grew up in a Yiddish-speaking household in Jerusalem and has appeared on “Unorthodox.” Davis would throw out various ideas, such as if he stubs his toe in a scene, what are five natural reactions that Yakov might have, as opposed to what he would do in real life as himself.

community “I never wanted to be doing an imitation,” Davis said, but wanted to “understand Yakov, who he is, where he comes from.”

He said it was “the most difficult performance of my life, and completely rewarding.”

Thomas said that most Jews in the secular world don’t believe in demons or magic, and Davis said he was unfamiliar with those traditions.

He was surprised when those in the Chassidic community would refer to hell, which is used as a concept to keep followers from straying too far from the community.

“I had never really heard anything about demons,” Davis said, but now says “the script was haunted, in a way.”

Being from New Orleans, “I know a thing or two about hauntings.”

In the story, “Yakov is alone, creating these demons, and isn’t sure if they are in his mind or not.” As Davis read through the script, he decided to play with the idea of summoning demons with his mind. He would look intently over his girlfriend’s shoulder, which concerned her.

After a while, “the biggest spider I’ve ever seen appears on the wall” in that area behind her, “and it felt like I’d conjured it.” At first he thought it was a tarantula, but it turned out to be a harmless wolf spider.

Returning to the script, two pages later, he saw that a wolf spider appears and goes across Yakov’s foot.

“She banned the script being read at night,” Davis recalled.

Thomas wanted to shoot in a real house with the layers of history and authenticity. “I really needed the authenticity of a very real structure. I needed those layers of aged paint, those stains on the carpet, the cracks in the ceiling,” he said.

One of the film’s producers had just bought a house where the woman who had been living there had recently died. Davis said the wallpaper, tapestries, curtains and personal effects added authenticity and “a really spooky vibe on-set.”

Not only were they borrowing a community to tell a story, Davis said, “we’re borrowing a woman’s house,” which made a “profound difference” in the determination to be respectful.

Davis said “The Vigil” is “a really important story to tell. It talks about a community that is mariginalized and misrepresented often.”

As “The Vigil” was being released, there was a major controversy over an episode of “The Nurses” on NBC, which depicted Chassidic Jews erroneously, and in a hateful manner. After days of protests, NBC pulled the episode from its streaming services, and the Canadian produc-tion company apologized for inadequate research. “To not be concerned with getting it right is incredibly offensive,” he said.

The rash of hate crimes against the Chassidic community in New York was also a concern. “There was a crime while we were filming, to the point where we were afraid,” he said. “As I’m in costume walking several blocks down the city street, do I need to be concerned about someone attacking me? The answer was yes.”

He added, “This is not a safe place for everyone right now, and that’s why films like this are so important.”

One of the most rewarding aspects for Davis was living a new experience. One can watch a film, he said, but living it gives a much deeper understanding. “I got the incredible experience of living it and making new friends, and having first-hand experience with a community I might never have” otherwise.

Davis is excited that the film “is finally out for people to see,” as it and similar projects can bridge gaps among groups.

Completed in 2019, “The Vigil” debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival that September. There was a limited international release last summer, and it was released by IFC Midnight in the United States on Feb. 26. In New Orleans, the film is showing at The Prytania Canal Place, and it is also screening in Memphis and Atlanta. It is also available on numerous streaming services for home viewing.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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Children born into all kinds of circumstances have dreams and dreams are powerful.

WE DO WHAT WE DO BECAUSE CHILDREN HAVE DREAMS.

Marker dedicated for Alabama’s first Jewish cemetery

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Springhill Avenue Temple in Mobile, the oldest Jewish congregation in Alabama, often recognizes Jan. 25, the anniversary of its founding, and despite Covid, this year was no different.

The congregation marked its 177th anniversary with the unveiling of a historical marker at Magnolia Cemetery, commemorating Jewish Rest, the oldest Jewish cemetery in Alabama.

David Rose, chair of the congregation’s cemetery committee, is also a board member for Friends of Magnolia Cemetery. Stephen McNair served as the cemetery liaison.

Land for a Jewish cemetery was purchased at the “New Burying Ground” on June 22, 1841 by the new Sha’arei Shomayim Umaskil el Dol, the founding and legal name of Springhill Avenue Temple. The group officially organized as a congregation on Jan. 25, 1844.

In 1848, the congregation petitioned the city for an additional 12 plots, and the area became known as Jewish Rest and a fence was erected. The 177 burials include Rabbi Abraham Laser, who died in 1870 while tending to fellow yellow fever victims. There are also four Confederate soldiers buried at Jewish Rest.

When Jewish Rest filled in 1876, the current Sha’arei Shomayim cemetery was established nearby, followed years later by the cemetery for a new congregation, Ahavas Chesed, just to the south.

Though Jewish Rest was the first specifically Jewish cemetery in Alabama, the Church Street Graveyard behind Mobile’s library has a plaque dedicated by the “Council of Jewish Women” marking the oldest Jewish graves in the state. Church Street was founded in 1819, and was divided into three sections, for Protestants, Catholics and “strangers.”

In 2017, the Friends of Magnolia Cemetery, with assistance from the Ben May Foundation, erected an iron fence around Jewish Rest, replacing the original one, which had been taken down in the early 1950s.

Gil Laden, president of Springhill Avenue Temple, and Friends of Magnolia Cemetery Past President Douglas Kearley unveiled the marker.

Rabbi John Kaplan gave an overview of Mobile’s Jewish history.

The plaque was issued by the Alabama Historical Commission through the Friends of Magnolia Cemetery.

Advertise in Southern Jewish Life Call Lee Green, (205) 870-7889 In New Orleans, Call Jeff Pizzo, (504) 432-2561 36

March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community NCJW honors Ina Davis with Hannah G. Solomon Award For the first time, the New Orleans Section of the National Council of Jewish Women presented its prestigious Hannah G. Solomon Award virtually — but that helped ensure a crowd, as about 200 attended the online event on Jan. 26 as Ina Davis was presented the award.

The award is given annually to a community leader who exemplifies the qualities of Solomon, NCJW founder.

Event chair Vivian Cahn spoke of Davis’s many organizational commitments in the Jewish and the larger community.

Almost immediately upon moving to New Orleans in 1997, Davis joined NCJW and started volunteering as a tutor in a local school. After serving as Vice President of Public Affairs, Davis assumed the presidency of NCJW in 2007.

“Ina committed to a double term as president when the organization, and indeed the entire region, faced nearly insurmountable challenges,” Cahn said. “She literally held the Section together throughout those difficult years.”

Davis served on the national board of NCJW, coordinating a State Policy Advocacy Network across the country. She has been actively involved with the NCJW Way program, inspiring and mentoring many young women leaders. She is also the founder and co-chair of Louisiana Courts Matter, and she continues to be the NCJW representative to the National Courts Matter Coalition, which promotes a federal judiciary that is fair and independent.

In addition to NCJW, Davis has taken leadership roles with the Anti-Defamation League, Tulane Hillel, and the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana. Currently she is co-chairing the Jewish Federation’s

newly created Goldring Family Foundation Center for Jewish-Multicultural Affairs.

In the broader community, Ina has served on many boards and committees including the New Orleans Public Library and VIA LINK, an organization committed to crisis intervention.

Among those honoring Davis were Lindsay Morris, NCJW National Director of Engagement and Leadership; Maryam Henderson-Uloho, the director of SisterHearts, a women’s decarceration initiative; Clay Latimer, an attorney who has worked with Davis for almost a decade with Louisi-

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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community ana Courts Matter; and City Council President Helena Morena, who also spoke of her collaboration and respect for Davis and her activism.

Councilman Joe Giarrusso presented her with a proclamation from the city.

In her remarks, Davis focused on the NCJW’s motto, “A faith in the future. A belief in action.”

She recounted her activism using these principles from her earliest days, starting after college as a teacher.

“I wanted to make sure that my students were accepting, compassionate, and open to the students in my classes who were mentally and physically challenged,” Davis said. “I was doing what I loved most — lifting people up by bringing them together. This principle is at the core of my activism.

“We have much work to do. Now is not the time for backsliding. We must advance voting rights, multiculturalism, early education, economic opportunity and the end of the prison-industrial complex. And the first step is communication,” Davis said.

She challenged everyone “to open yourself up to a trusted mentor who may help you grow and hope. Or perhaps it is time for you to step up and consider how your experiences may guide others. In coming together, we all rise.”

On Feb. 25, Ahavas Chesed in Mobile unveiled their own “World’s Largest Tzedakah Box,” which was displayed all day to collect donations for Jewish Family Services in Houston and Austin for Texas winter storm relief. It was also available that evening as congregants gathered for the first in-person event in a year, a Purim celebration in the parking lot. Pictured are Eileen Susman and Maddie Cohen.

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commentary >> Editor

continued from page 3

Instead, Israel is still portrayed as the “occupying power,” as if the Palestinians have no control over their lives.

Well, the argument goes, if Israel isn’t obligated legally to immunize the Palestinians, why not take up the moral obligation?

So, Israel, which is condemned as a supposed occupying power, is supposed to waltz into the territories and take over that responsibility, and everyone will applaud? And how is Israel supposed to do that in Gaza, where they will be instant targets by a Hamas leadership that wants all of them dead?

If the Palestinian leadership really cared about coordinating with Israel for a better Covid vaccination response, they just have to say so. But for the Palestinian leadership — and the same activist groups castigating Israel over vaccines — any such effort smacks of “normalization” with the idea of Israel’s existence, and is therefore forbidden. Boycott Israel, but then complain that Israel isn’t doing enough.

Israel has sent teams to numerous African countries to help coordinate logistics that will enable a smooth rollout of vaccination.

The Palestinian leaders could have that if they wanted it. But they don’t — and once again, their people suffer for it while those with connections managed to get their vaccinations.

The idea that Israel wants to stand in the way of Palestinians getting vaccinated is absurd.

Palestinians in eastern Jerusalem who are inside Israel and have legal residency instead of citizenship have been vaccinated in the same manner as any Israeli. Israeli Arab villages have the same access to the vaccine.

If Israel’s goal was to not vaccinate Palestinians, then why was Israel vaccinating Palestinian prisoners — many of whom committed acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians — at a rate faster than the population at large?

When Israel saw crowds of 10,000 mainly Palestinian Muslims congregating at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Fridays, Israel offered to set up immunization stations for them. The Palestinian Authority refused, figuring that if they allowed the vaccination stations, it would be a signal that they accept Israel’s presence in Jerusalem. So much for cooperating during a pandemic for the sake of humanity.

Israel then offered to have the immunizations given by Arabs who would not be wearing anything identifying them as connected with Israel. That, too, was deemed unacceptable.

As this issue goes to press, while there is March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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community controversy over who among the Palestinians received the first few thousand immunizations available through the Palestinian Authority, Israel has rolled out a campaign to quickly immunize 120,000 Palestinians who have work permits in Israel — a large proportion of them working in the “notorious” settlements in the territories, the preliminary targets of the boycott-Israel movement.

It is also worth remembering that the main target of many anti-Israel activists isn’t Israel itself. By constantly portraying Israel as a human rights violator and worthy of condemnation at every turn, a major goal is to turn young Jews who are sensitive to social activism away from Israel. It isn’t just the IfNotNow and “Jewish Voice for Peace” crowd — who wants to be identified with something that is seen as racist, discriminatory… even Jewish supremacist? And many in the Jewish community don’t want the hassle of trying to defend against absurd charges.

Of course, the reality in the Middle East is far different, but anybody defending Israel is immediately accused of whitewashing alleged crimes against the Palestinian people.

And yet, by judging the rhetoric of anti-Israel groups against Israel’s actions, Israel is far more concerned for the average Palestinian. Israel’s widespread vaccination of Palestinians demonstrates that. Palestinian Authority refusal to “normalize” with Israel, even on a pandemic, 30 years after signing a “peace” agreement, demonstrates that.

If the activists are so concerned about Palestinian lives, what of the refusal by Lebanon to vaccinate Palestinians inside Lebanon, or the ongoing harsh repression of Palestinians in Syria by the Assad regime?

You won’t hear any criticism there.

Israel has immunized more Palestinians than any other country or entity on the planet. And still, the impression most people have is that Israel has been vaccinating only “the Jewish half.”

The only thing being “normalized” here is a blame the Jews mentality under the fig leaf of being anti-Israel, and placing blame for any non-Jewish illness at the feet of “the Jewish half.” And that is the normalization of Jew-hatred.

Lawrence Brook, Publisher/Editor

Pre-Passover Family Adventure in Art

The Greater New Orleans Section of the National Council of Jewish Women, along with co-sponsors the Bubbe Club and the Jewish Community Day School, will present a pre-Passover Children’s Adventure in Art Zoom, a creative art project for grandmothers and aunts, for NCJW members and those interested in learning more about NCJW, on March 24 at 10 a.m.

The project, led by JCDS Art Teacher Abby Wetsman, will teach attendees how to create “Miriam’s Tambourine of Hope.” Wetsman will explain how to adapt the project to different ages and skill levels. Art supplies are complimentary and available at various locations for pickup by all registrants.

The Bubbe Club was founded by Carol Newman and Cathy Bart to share resources with Jewish grandparents.

RSVP for the Zoom Art Project to Carol Newman, caroln08@gmail. com or Cathy Bart, ckbart3@gmail.com.

WWII Museum offering student webinars With remote learning still in many areas, the National World War II Museum in New Orleans is offering online resources for students, teachers, and parents, through free webinars for Kindergarten to 12th grade.

On April 8 at noon, the webinar will be “The Holocaust: One Teen’s Story of Persecution and Survival,” recorded testimony from Eva Schloss, the stepsister of Anne Frank and a survivor of Auschwitz.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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Volunteers from the Grow Dat Youth Farm visited Slater Torah Academy to help revamp the school garden. The school’s Garden Club weeded the garden, after which the youth finished the process and raised the soil level.

Touro Synagogue only Jewish awardee of National Fund for Sacred Spaces Touro Synagogue of New Orleans is one of 16 congregations, and the only Jewish congregation, selected to join the National Fund for Sacred Places, a program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

As a 2020 awardee, Touro Synagogue can expect to receive at least $125,000 from the National Fund for Sacred Places based on the capacity to double match funds as they launch a capital campaign in 2021.

Partners for Sacred Places did a feasibility study for Touro last fall, and in February issued a summary that envisions a possible capital campaign of $2.3 million to $2.5 million.

Capital projects will include the replacement of flat roofs over the social hall and chapel, a new HVAC system, all-gender bathrooms, an elevator in the education building, reconfigured office space, and preservation work.

As a part of this grant program, Touro is receiving wraparound support services and training.

“Organizations like Touro Synagogue have a true commitment to service, offer tremendous civic value to their community, and are well poised to grow and thrive in the future,” said Bob Jaeger, president of Partners for Sacred Places. “We look forward to working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Touro Synagogue to restore their building, help preserve an important piece of history, and support the expansion of their community offerings.”

Rabbi Katie Bauman, senior rabbi at Touro, said “In the entire world, there is no place like the city of New Orleans. And in the city of New Orleans, there is no place like Touro Synagogue. The majesty and sanctity of our building on St. Charles Avenue is a reflection of the exquisite inner landscape of our congregation. Our community is loving, engaged, and committed both to preserving the elegance of our cherished and historic landmark and strengthening our beloved New Orleans in every way we know. We are so honored that Touro Synagogue has been recognized by the National Fund for Sacred Places, and we look forward to the exciting journey of historic renewal ahead of us.”

The building, designed by Emile Weil, was dedicated in 1909. The religious school building was added in 1928, and the multi-purpose addition was completed in 1963. In 2019, the sanctuary was renovated in honor of Betty Kohn’s 95th birthday.

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

a monthly feature from Collat Jewish Family Services

The “Magic” of Gratitude

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

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counselor’s corner

It seems hard to believe that we have been consumed by the Covid-19 crisis for almost a year now! Most of us are still talking, reading and thinking about the coronavirus, and now, the vaccines every single day. One year in, it’s hard to escape or focus on anything else, and yet, focusing on something so frightening can have a negative impact on mental health.

How can we combat this? Research shows that expressing gratitude on a regular basis can help you feel more optimistic, help ease feelings of anxiety/uncertainty, and help build your resiliency for future challenges. On days when you are feeling down, taking time to remember the things for which you can be grateful can adjust your attitude and perspective. Simply put, gratitude is an effective coping strategy. However, practicing gratitude doesn’t always come easy; that’s why it’s called a practice.

Here are a few tips to help get you started: • Write a thank you note, text or email expressing your gratitude to a loved one, friend or a coworker for what their presence means to you.

• Create a gratitude journal. Each day, aim for writing down five things for which you are grateful. Include small, everyday blessings like having cream for your morning coffee, as well as more profound gifts such as your good health or that of your loved ones. Can’t think of five? Start with one or two and watch your list grow over time!

• Create visual reminders. Post a sticky note where you will see it every day reminding you to focus on the positive and seek gratitude throughout your day. Your note might look like this: “Slow down. Count your blessings. Be thankful!”

• Reframe negative thoughts. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “Why are there ALWAYS dirty dishes in the sink?” try shifting the message to gratitude that you and your family have plenty of food to eat.

Practicing gratitude turns our attention to what we have rather than what we don’t — magically shifting our hearts and our minds to the positive.

If you are having a hard time dealing with feelings of anxiety/uncertainty or dealing with any other emotional issue, counseling from Collat Jewish Family Services may help. CJFS offers individual and group therapy 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.

Bama Hillel launches graduate group With the growing number of Jewish fifth-year seniors and graduate students at the University of Alabama, Alabama Hillel has started a new group, Hillel 5+.

According to Ben Honan, who has been helping plan events, “we wanted to provide engaging opportunities specifically for these groups since our undergraduate programming is so strong.”

Events this semester include bowling, watching a movie with subsequent discussion, an afternoon of hiking and ice cream, and an end-ofthe-semester picnic, with all events adhering to Covid guidelines.

“We are grateful that Bama Hillel has recognized this important segment of the Jewish community and is dedicated to providing programming for us,” Honan said.

community Sending spirits soaring through dance therapy The National Council of Jewish Women, Greater New Orleans Section is offering a Dance Therapy Class via Zoom on April 13 at 10:30 a.m. Dance therapy leaders are Rabbi Deborah Silver of Shir Chadash and Susan Jane Kierr, board certified dance and movement therapist.

According to NCJW Membership Chair Karen Sher, Silver and Kierr “will lead and teach therapeutic dance steps designed to lighten one’s load and send one’s spirits soaring.

“What an accomplished and talented duo, these two rare and gifted women make!” Sher said.

Kierr, who is a past NCJW president, is an international educator, film maker, and author with a counseling practice in New Orleans and Madisonville. She is currently co-editor of The American Journal of Dance Therapy, and has taught and supervised in Beijing, China, and Seoul, South Korea.

Silver, besides being an ordained rabbi and lawyer, is a certified yoga instructor, plays guitar, and has an avid interest in dance and music.

She holds a Master’s degree in Hebrew Studies from Cambridge, England and has worked as the Senior English Editor of the Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary of Current Usage.

Silver practiced law as both a litigator with a prestigious law firm in London, and as a law professor at the BPP Law School.

According to Kierr, this one-time event will celebrate the intersection of dance, the practice of yoga and prayer, which has the potential to enhance emotional regulation of moods, energy’s ups and downs, and the sense of wellbeing.

“We look forward to sharing a process that has the support of history — 5,000 years of practic-

ing yoga, the Bible story of Miriam’s dance when she crossed the Red Sea and escaped Egypt, and King David’s ecstatic dance before the Ark,” Kierr said. “In so doing, we engage in what neuroscience calls ‘interoception,’ a sensitivity to sensations associated with signals originating in our body, powerful motivators of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.”

Information about the program is available on the NCJW website, ncjwneworleans.org.

How climate change affects literature In the next installment of the Morris Bart Sr. Lecture Series at the Uptown Jewish Community Center in New Orleans, novelist and essayist Nathaniel Rich will discuss how contemporary literature is changing to reflect the changing natural world.

He will speak about some of the stories he’s written for the New York Times Magazine, where he is a writer-at-large: the story of the handful of scientists and policy wonks who, 40 years ago, tried to warn the world about climate change before it was too late; the corporate defense lawyer who discovered that DuPont had

secretly poisoned the blood of all living creatures, a story adapted into the recent film “Dark Waters”; and the fishermen who have fought desperately to stop the state of Louisiana from trying to save them from climate change.

Rich is the author of “Losing Earth: A Recent History,” winner of several national awards; “Second Nature: Scenes From a World Remade,” to be published March 31; and three novels, most recently “King Zeno,” set in New Orleans in 1918.

The virtual program will be on April 12 at 11 a.m. and is free to the community.

As Mayor, Chris will reduce the high crime rate.

Mandating that the Birmingham Police Department be fully staffed with personnel, resources and technology.

Chris will also focus on crime prevention by using the vacant school properties as sites to offer community programs for leisure, training and educational resources.

We must be proactive dealing with crime.

Wishing You a Happy Passover

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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community Groups collaborate on women’s issues programs

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Hadassah New Orleans, the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana and National Council of Jewish Women, Greater New Orleans Section are joining forces for a ““Cross Generational Issues for Women” program series. This three-part online series is being funded by a grant from JEF. The first program, on March 17 at 6:30 p.m., is a screening and discussion of “From Second Wave to Tidal Wave,” a documentary about the second wave feminist movement, by filmmaker Pam Maus.

In the 1920s, the First Wave feminist movement won women’s right to vote when Congress ratified the 19th Amendment granting women’s suffrage.

Forty years later, women would once again come together as the Second Wave Feminist Movement to fight for equal rights and more.

As women of that time were coming of age and going off to college they were swept up in the movement. The film tells the stories of four of those women, Nancy Wanderer, who went off to Wellesley, where she along with Hillary Rodham (Clinton) vied for class leadership; Joyce Elliott, who was an unlikely pioneer in Arkansas’ school integration; Christine Lesiak, who spent her years at UCLA in campus protests, and Maus, who as a seven-year-old learned about social injustice watching the violent integration of Little Rock Central High School on television.

The film goes through the re-igniting of the movement in referring to a “tidal wave” of reaction by women following the election of Donald Trump.

After the screening, there will be a panel discussion at 7 p.m. with Maus and the other three women profiled in the film.

The other programs in the series will be “Emotional Well-Being in the Time of Covid” in April, and “Work-Life Imbalance in the Time of Covid” in May.

Interfaith Center announces programs The Sherry and Alan Leventhal Center for Interfaith Families in New Orleans announced two programs for later this month.

A Grandparents Passover event will be on March 25 at 6 p.m., a virtual program on the foods of the Passover Seder, featuring James Beard Award-winning Chef Alon Shaya.

On March 31 at 7 p.m., there will be a program on the benefits of Jewish summer camp for all families. Participants will include interfaith camp families, Henry S. Jacobs Camp Director Anna Herman and New Orleans Jewish Community Center Director of Youth and Family Engagement Gary Brandt.

community >> Rear Pew

continued from previous page

out of Egypt in the first place.

When the Israelites complained in the desert about lack of food, water, or good wifi, they bemoaned it would have been better if they had stayed slaves in Egypt. So quickly the Israelites forgot how they’d been victims of one of the world’s best-preserved pyramid schemes.

Beyond the Israelites in general, Bava Gump also suggests that Moses himself must have beheld the Nile during this perilous plague. When writing down the Torah, he forgot to include some world-changing details.

For example, there’s no written record of how, on the eighth day of creation, the Big G created universal peace and camaraderie for all of humanity, for all time. If Moses had remembered, at least there would be something in writing to use when going back to the manufacturer to demand a refund.

Doug Brook acknowledges that nearly both of his readers might demand a recount of this recount. To read past columns, visit http://brookwrite. com/. For exclusive online content, follow facebook.com/rearpewmirror

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atives, parents caring for children, and anyone seeking support and guidance for their role as a caregiver. In addition to the six sessions, participants will take one in-take call with a JFS staff member before the group starts. Registration is $40 for all 6 sessions.

Rabbi Judy Caplan Ginsburgh of B’nai Israel in Monroe was selected to present a workshop, “Creating A Mensch Through Music,” at the virtual Limmud North America eFestival on March 21. Information about the festival is at limmudna.org/efestival/.

The New Orleans Jewish Community Center is hosting “Songs of Freedom: A Multi-Genre Musical Celebration of Passover,” March 26 at 1 p.m. Popular San Francisco Bay Area instructor James Sokol will lead a journey through diverse musical styles — Broadway, pop, opera, country and more — exploring the theme of freedom. Audio and video clips bring the beauty of music into the discussion. The Osher Marin JCC and its partner organizations in the National JCC Adult & Senior Alliance, which includes the New Orleans JCC, are providing this event, free with advance registration.

Florida Students for Israel will have a statewide online event on March 21 at 10 a.m., hosted by Noles for Israel, for Israel education, advocacy training and networking. Speakers will be from CAMERA On Campus, StandWithUs and the American Enterprise Institute.

Adath Yeshurun in Aiken, S.C., is celebrating its centennial this year.

The first program will be a virtual event on the early Aiken Jewish community, from the 1850s to the community’s peak in the 1950s, on March 21 at 4 p.m. Central. Part of the event is about next year’s Source of Light exhibit and the rest will be family stories. More information is available on the Source of Light Facebook site: Moishe House New Orleans will partner with Moishe House Cleveland for a trivia night, March 18 at 7 p.m. Optional donations for Black Lives Matter are encouraged. Details and the Zoom link will be available with registration.

Rabbi Judy Caplan Ginsburgh of B’nai Israel in Monroe will be offering her annual Introduction to Judaism class online on April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The class is an overview of Jewish history, Torah, holidays, life cycle events, worship and customs, along with a question and answer session. This class is free and open to all, no matter where they live, with advance registration to receive the Zoom link and the class handout. Register by emailing 1868temple@gmail.com.

March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life 45

rear pew mirror • doug brook

The 11th plague

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

On Passover, Jews around the world join together in recounting one of the most ubiquitous, identifying pieces of Judaism that’s persisted these many thousands of years: the matzah crumbs embedded in Passover Haggadahs.

Before getting to the really crumby parts of the Haggadah, on one of its most wine-stained pages another count is annually recounted: the Ten Plagues. In all other years, this recount doesn’t mean to count again. But this year is different from all other years.

According to the long-lost, recently discovered Mishnah tractate Bava Gump, there was an eleventh plague. The eleventh plague’s absence from the Torah is nearly as mysterious as the details of the plague itself. This is in no small part because, for millennia, nobody has tried to solve the mystery. Until now.

What did the Big G do to make it a baker’s minyan of plagues? How did the Big G turn it up to eleven? Tapping into Bava Gump, the eleventh plague seems quite simple on the surface. As is unrecorded in the book of Exodus, “And the Lord said, ‘anyone who shall see the Nile shall become senile’.”

It’s obvious how, if enough people saw the Nile and suffered that consequence, this plague could be forgotten over time. However, much like how gravitational influences help predict the presence of stars that otherwise can’t be seen, the Torah recounts many instances that make the existence of this plague incontrovertible.

It’s fitting that nobody remembers when this plague occurred among the other ten. However, it seems to have been early given what transpires throughout the story.

As the plagues progressed, Pharaoh clearly forgot the impact each of them had because he kept not letting the Israelites go. On some occasions, Pharaoh agreed that the Israelites could go but then suddenly changed his mind faster than a JDater who cyber-stalked the match with whom Yes, even the they’d been messaging for three days.

Ten Plagues Something that the Torah doesn’t discuss at length, though it would have had Lagniappe indeed been praiseworthy, is the impact of the plagues on the Israelites. After all, they were in the splash zone.

Of course, it’s well known that the final plague didn’t impact the Israelites because Passover appetizingly reminds everyone just before dinner about the Israelites marking their doorposts in blood. But there’s no mention of the frogs dodging the Israelites, or of weathermen predicting a 90-percent chance of hail except if you’re standing next to an Israelite.

One rabbinic scholar, speaking on condition of anonymity because he doesn’t exist, disputes Bava Gump’s account. “How can seeing the Nile make one senile,” asks Rabbi Yonatan Smithburg. “The Nile isn’t a sea, it’s a river.”

Bava Gump reveals that this eleventh plague afflicted not only the Egyptians, but the Israelites as well. This is readily evident later in the Torah, in multiple instances.

It goes far beyond how the Israelites got stuck wandering the desert for 40 years because they couldn’t remember the directions. For instance, as the Israelites fled Egypt, they forgot how long it takes to make bread.

Also, they forgot to pack sunscreen.

When the Israelites camped out at Mount Sinai waiting for Moses to come back down to earth, they rather quickly forgot who brought them continued on previous page

March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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March 2021 • Southern Jewish Life