SJL New Orleans, April 2014

TribeFest hits New Orleans

Celebrating ties between Bama and Israel

JCRS explores Jewish roots of Broadway

Southern Jewish Life New Orleans Edition

April 2014

Volume 24 Issue 4

Southern Jewish Life P.O. Box 130052 Birmingham, AL 35213-0052 Above: Cantors Joel Colman and Tory May lead Havdalah at Temple Sinai during LimmudFest on March 6

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April 2014

Southern Jewish Life

Southern

Life

“God loves bigots too.”

A childhood friend and high school classmate had that suggestion for what sort of sign one should bring to picket the funeral of Fred Phelps.

Phelps, who died on March 19, was notorious as the leader of Westboro Baptist “Church” in Kansas. The church operated under the banner of “God Hates Fags” and celebrated events such as the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks as God’s judgment against the United States because of rampant homosexuality and other assorted sins.

Values.

The publicity-hounds at the church — Phelps and his relatives, mostly — would celebrate and picket the funerals of gay people and slain soldiers, revel in the destruction wrought by tornadoes and hurricanes (you can imagine his thoughts on Hurricane Katrina and the sin-riddled city of New Orleans) and offend just about anyone whose last name was not Phelps.

In recent years, the church has become increasingly antiJewish as well. Even before then, they would often picket synagogues, including Beth Israel in Jackson, because Jews are far too tolerant of others, especially homosexuals.

My friend’s suggestion is a poignant reminder as we embark on Passover. You see, she is one of those who is high on the Phelps family rhetorical hit list. In a landmark custody case, she fought for recognition by Florida of adoptions by same-sex couples that occurred legally in other states. She also was in a same-sex marriage and filmed a video for the “It Gets Better” Project, which aims to reassure gay youth that despite the struggles they face through adolescence, things do get better.

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In other words, someone about whom Phelps completely disapproves.

In the Passover story, our celebration of freedom is muted by the knowledge that the Egyptians had to suffer in the process. We are told that God commanded the angels to stop celebrating the Israelites’ escape because His children — the Egyptians — were drowning.

In this polarized world, it is far too easy to dehumanize those who are different. It is difficult to remember the humanity on the other side of the war zone, the ideological spectrum, the social divide.

Nestled in the heart of the Warehouse and Arts district, The Foundry stands out with an open, flexible floor plan and eclectic décor perfect for a variety of events.

There are a lot of people who gave a high-five when there was confirmation of Phelps’ death. Certainly, few were sad to see Osama bin-Laden or Saddam Hussein go.

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But even in those cases, we shouldn’t be overjoyed. While we certainly aren’t going to miss Phelps nor honor his memory, it is still unseemly to celebrate, no matter how difficult it may be to suppress the urge.

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Yes, God loves all of His people.

Too bad this misguided “minister” couldn’t see it. I’m sure he sees it now.

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Southern Jewish Life

April 2014

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Commentary The “small” day school moniker is outdatedPublisher/Editor: Southern Jewish Life

By Lynn Raviv

Lawrence M. Brook, editor@sjlmag.com

young leaders in their 20s and 30s involved in Associate Publisher/Advertising: the non-establishment sector of Jewish startLee J. Green, lee@sjlmag.com ups and 38 percent of those working in the establishment sector (synagogues, Federations, New Orleans Bureau: Publisher/Editor: long-standing Jewish organizations) had re-Smason, Alan alan@dsjv.comLawrence M. Brook, editor@sjlmag.com ceived a day school education.”

Cait Muldoon, Gail Naron Chalew Are small schools not participants in this Associate Publisher/Advertising: Lee J. Director: extraordinary pursuit? We are all in thisCreative im- Green, lee@sjlmag.com Ginger Brook, ginger@dsjv.com portant holy work together, small and large Jewish day schools. I know that it doesPhotographer-At-Large: not Creative Director: Ginger Brook, ginger@ matter that a day school alum matriculated in C.sjlmag.com Barry Altmark a small or large school, because the outcome Writers: Rabbi Barry C. is what is important. Our alumni go intoContributing the Photographer-At-Large: Doug Brook Altmark world to strengthen Jewish life alongside other day school alums.

Mailing Contributing Address: Writers: Doug Brook Jewish day schools in small communitiesP.O. faceBox 130052, tremendous obstacles to stay viable. We have a Mailing Address: Birmingham, AL 35213 smaller base from which to recruit students. P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213 Telephone: We have a smaller donor base. Hiring experiBirmingham: (205) 870-7889 Telephone: enced and exceptional faculty, especially Judaic FAX: (866) 392-7750 (205) 870-7889 Birmingham: and Hebrew instructors, is always difficult.

New Orleans: (504) 491-0562 But what would a small Jewish community Story Tips/Letters: Toll Free: (866) 446-5894 look like without its day school? What kind of FAX: (866) 392-7750 editor@sjlmag.com rabbinic presence would we be able to mainSubscription StoryInformation: Tips/Letters: connect@sjlmag.com tain? What will happen to our synagogues Southern Jewish Life published monthly without strong rabbinical support? What will Subscription and is free by request toInformation: members of the happen to the Jewish population of our small Southern Jewish Life published Jewish community in our coverage area ofmonthly cities? and is free by request to members of the Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and NW Our Federation gets a number of calls from Jewish community in our coverage area of Florida. Outside those areas, subscriptions individuals who are considering interviewing Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and NW are $25/year or $40/two years. To in Birmingham for a career move and many Florida. Outside those areas, subscriptions subscribe, call (205) 870-7889 or mail ask if we have a Jewish day school. Without are $25/year or $40/two years. To payment to the address above. our Jewish day school, the Jewish population subscribe, call (205) 870-7889 or mail payment to the address above. is solely responsible for of Birmingham would dwindle and overThe thepublisher the contents of SJL. Columns and letters years, our numbers would dip well below is solely responsible for represent thepublisher views of the individual 5,000. This has happened in other areas in the The the contents of SJL. Columns writers. All articles that do not have a and letters South. represent the views of the individual writers. byline on them are written by the publisher.

Can the Jewish people afford such a demoAll articles that do not have a byline on graphic change? If the large metropolitan ar- them are written by the publisher.

Southern Jewish Life makes no claims as to eas are the only places that Jewish peoplethe live, Southern Jewish Lifeand makes no claims as to Kashrut of its advertisers, retains and so many smaller communities no longer Kashrut its advertisers, and retains the rightthe to refuse anyofadvertisement. have a Jewish presence, I shudder to think the right to refuse any advertisement.

Advertising rates available request.on request. what might happen. If a large percentage of Advertising rates on available Americans have never met a Jewish person, Copyright 2010. All rights reserved, what might that lead to? Anti-Semitism is not Copyright 2014. All rights reserved, reprints reprints only by by permission permissionofofpublisher. publisher. a dying disease.

There is a strong case to be made for schools Philosophy: To link the Jewish communities in small communities, as the role we play Philosophy: is far Deep South, to tell you the To link of thethe Jewish communities of the from “small” in our importance to the future fascinating stories of one another, and Deep South, to tell fascinating of our people. We continue to provide a robust to documentyou andthe preserve the news and stories of one another, and to all a part of the secular and Jewish studies program, dedicat- events large and small, culture of Southern Jewry. preserve the news of ed to preparing Jewish leaders of the nextdocument gen- richand eration. And we are vital to sustaining Jewish events large and small, all a part of communities around the country, helping thetorich culture of Southern Jewry. ensure that undersized Jewish populations do not cease to exist but rather continue to contribute to communities big and small.

Many believe that small Jewish day schools are not strong enough players supporting the goal of Jewish continuity. This paradigm needs to shift. Small day schools are dynamic and are critical players in strengthening Jewish identity and developing Jewish literacy, which enables Jewish continuity.

What is the difference between what a Jewish day school student learns in a larger Jewish school and a smaller school? In our small schools, we offer our students an environment where they are fully immersed, positioning them to connect with Jewish texts and artifacts of Jewish civilization, gain a strong grounding in the Hebrew language, and engage with the values and beliefs that our Torah teaches. Our curricular programs are no different from the ones of larger Jewish day schools.

Mainly, the issue is the label, “small.” This is an inaccurate description, for nothing we do is truly small. In the RAVSAK Jewish community day school network, comprising 130 schools throughout North America, approximately one-third have enrollments of fewer than 100 students. The value consideration should not be in number of students enrolled each year. Instead, consider how many years the school has been in existence and, in those years, how many students have had the benefit of their Jewish day school program.

I will use the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School in Birmingham as an example. We have been in existence for 41 years. In those 41 years, we have educated almost 1,000 students, K-8. If those 1,000 students had remained in Birmingham, married and raised a family, our 1,200 Jewish family community would be much greater and we would, under current thinking, have a large Jewish day school.

But that is not the case. Instead, many of these alumni live in other communities, mainly in the large metropolitan areas, where they are strongly impacting Jewish life. We have educated a great number of students who make extraordinary contributions to Jewish life, not only in the United States but all over the world. We are not the staid school that many think because we are small. We are a dynamic community seeding other communities. Our alumni can be counted among those who feel deeply about the continuity of our people and who are making a difference in Jewish life today.

How do I know this? We, along with other schools, have tracked alumni and know what they are doing. Research corroborates our Lynn Raviv is development director of the findings: data from a study conducted by Steven M. Cohen concluded that “40 percent of N.E. Miles Jewish Day School in Birmingham.

sjlmag.com

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September 2010

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Front Porch

Happy Passover it is my honor to serve Jefferson Parish

Agencies hope to receive during GiveNOLA: Jewish agencies in New Orleans are participating in GiveNOLA Day, which will be held on May 6.

The 24-hour online giving event is organized by the Greater New Orleans Foundation and will involve over 300 local nonprofits.

There will be prizes in two categories — raising the most money and attracting the most unique donors. First place is $10,000, second place is $5,000 and third place is $3,000. There will also be $1,000 randomly drawn hourly “Rock Around The Clock” prizes.

Among those participating are the Jewish Children’s Regional Service, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana, Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and the National Council of Jewish Women.

The Federation will have a Power Hour from 2 to 3 p.m., during which Federation President Morton Katz will match any gifts made up to $1,000.

Donations are a minimum of $10 and are made online at givenola. org. There is no maximum, and individuals may donate to as many non-profits as they would like. There is an option to contribute anonymously.

A percentage of what is raised that day will be matched through GNOF’s Lagniappe Fund. The money raised by the Foundation for the matching fund will be given to each agency on a proportional basis based on what the agencies raise that day.

The campaign is part of a national effort, Give Local America, which is sponsored by the Council on Foundations and technology partner Kimbia.

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Nimon leaving Northshore: On March 14, Rabbi John Nimon informed the Board of Trustees at Northshore Jewish Congregation that he will not be seeking to renew his current contract at the end of this fiscal year.

Nimon came to Mandeville in 2009 after nine years at a congregation in Wallingford, Conn. In 2012, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College. The degree is conferred on rabbinical alumni with at least 25 years of service.

Nimon was ordained in 1976.

Northshore President Bonnie Bernstein said the board “is already exploring the options available to NJC, based on our financial resources and spiritual needs, and we will be informing the congregation at the annual meeting on April 29.”

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Front Porch OU commends Landrieu: The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, commended senators Tim Scott of South Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana on March 12 for introducing Senate Amendment 2819 to the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. This bipartisan amendment seeks to clarify the program’s continued support of child care certificates for early childhood education services in faithbased or other settings.

Originally passed in 1990, the Child Care and Development Block Grants has the primary goal “to promote parental choice, to On March 23, the Gates of Prayer Louise Hayem Manheim nursery school held its annual empower working parents to make their own fundraising brunch, “Movin’ and Groovin,” followed by a family fair, silent auction and raffle. decisions regarding the child care that best suits their family’s needs.” This objective is met by maximizing child care options through the federally funded child care certificate, which afford parents the flexibility to choose among a wide range of child care providers and services, including faith-based pre-school programs.

Nathan Diament, executive director of public policy of the Orthodox Union said “From its beginnings, the CCDBG program was intended to offer low-income families a better choice in their child’s early education. A recent rule change by the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services encourages the use of grants and contracts in awarding CCDBG funding to the detriment of certificates. This is at odds with legislated policy and thus the need for additional clarification.

“We thank Senators Scott and Landrieu for seeking to ensure that the parental choice component of CCDBG remains a guiding principle of the program for years to come.”

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Representatives from each school present their “Action Plan” to take back to their schools.

On March 26 the Anti-Defamation League office in New Orleans held its 11th annual Unity Day with 150 high school students from 28 local parochial, public and private high schools. The goal of the workshop was to heighten students’ awareness of stereotypical behaviors and prejudices in their environment and to explore ways to confront and overcome them.

Students participated in interactive activities in small breakout groups. The group experience provided the opportunity for a diverse group of high school students to work

together to achieve the common goals of promoting tolerance and diversity.

The students heard from Damon Singleton about his travels throughout the world in the Navy and his experiences with learning other cultures. The afternoon assembly gave the students a chance to hear from a local Holocaust survivor.

The students then worked on an action plan for their individual schools. Sherrie Goodman, ADL event coordinator, said the students “left the workshop energized to make a positive difference in their school community.”

Making Matzah: Students from the Beth Israel Sunday School in Gulfport took a field trip to the Uptown Jewish Community Center for Chabad’s Matzah Factory. The factory is part of the Living Legacy Series offered by Chabad Lubavitch of Louisiana, including the Shofar Factory, the Olive Press and the Torah Factory. The workshop consists of a full cycle of Matzah baking, beginning with grinding wheat into flour, continuing with creating the dough and then rolling and baking the Matzah. The factory was open for a week, bringing in numerous groups from across the community.

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April 2014

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Front Porch Fountainheads headline Israel celebration: The Fountainheads will visit New Orleans for the community’s Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration at the Uptown Jewish Community Center on May 12. There will be a light Israeli-style dinner, followed by a performance by Ein Prat Fountainheads.

The Fountainheads are young Israeli singers, dancers and musicians whose videos and live performances are enjoyed around the world.

They are all graduates and students of the Ein Prat Academy for Leadership.

Many of their videos have gone viral. A High Holy Days song that was a cover of the 2010 World Cup anthem drew 2 million YouTube hits, and their Chanukah hit “Light Up the Night” is in a hip hop and gospel style.

The Rosh Hashanah video includes Angry Birds and a mock battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

“Dayenu: Coming Home” is based on P. Diddy’s “Coming Home” and Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You.” Rabbi Mendel Ceitlin is looking to become New Orleans’ first local mohel. The Chabad Center in Metairie is conducting an online campaign to raise $15,000 so he can travel to Israel for a training program. As of late March, over $9,000 had been raised.

The next Morris Bart Sr. Lecture Series event at the Uptown Jewish Community Center will feature Morton Katz leading a wine tasting. The May 12 session will include the basics of wine — how to select wine at restaurants, tasting techniques and the characteristics of wine. The series is free, and lunch is available if reserved a week in advance. On June 2, new directors of the Rivertown Theater, Kelly Fouchi and Gary Rucker, will speak about the theater and the new season. Programs are at 11:45 a.m.

The weekend of May 9, Yeshivat Maharat student Victoria Sutton will be the scholar in residence at Beth Israel in Metairie. The plans are to hold a women’s Kabbalat Shabbat service, followed by Shabbat dinner. Reservations will be required for dinner. On May 10, Sutton will deliver a message during services, and that evening Seudah Shlishi will be at the Somjen home. There will be morning minyan, breakfast and a class with Sutton on May 11.

Gates of Prayer in Metairie will have a JazzFest Jewish Style on April 25, with guest artist Seth Kibel, accompanied by Sean Lane.

Kibel is one of the mid-Atlantic’s premier woodwind specialists, with 25 Washington Music Awards. He will perform on clarinet during the 8 p.m. Shabbat service and perform at the Oneg afterward.

Touro’s JazzFest Shabbat will be April 25 at 7:30 p.m., featuring Joe Krown, Walter Wolfman Washington, and Russell Batiste Jr., along with the Panorama Jazz Band and the Touro Synagogue Choir.

On April 20 the Sisterhood of Beth Israel in Metairie will present a health forum. Jane Levine will discuss programs offered by Jewish Family Service, and Lisa Cotlar Higgins will teach a lesson on CPR and the use of the Beth Israel defibrillator. Because the 9:30 a.m. program is during Passover, refreshments will be appropriate to the holiday.

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“…go forth and multiply” Greenbaum dedicating new Tulane dorm: Fifty-five years ago, Jerry Greenbaum would never have imagined that he would one day be naming a building at Tulane University after his college sweetheart. It’s not that he wouldn’t want to, it’s just that “I didn’t think I would even be able to afford a house to live in at the time.”

But now, “It’s time Barbara got the recognition she deserves,” Greenbaum said. “I am still so much in love with her.”

Thanks to his lead gift, the Barbara Greenbaum House at Newcomb Lawn, scheduled to open in the fall at the corner of Zimple and Broadway streets, will be Tulane’s third residential college. In addition to 256 students, it will house a faculty member and his or her family who will host dinners, lectures and other activities to foster an intellectual community and faculty-student interaction.

The building’s four-story and six-story sections will be connected by a courtyard and bridges at the upper stories. It will include a demonstration kitchen for cooking classes, a 35-seat classroom, a large living room, study and social lounges and a name befitting a lifelong romance.

What does she think about it?

“She fought it like crazy,” Greenbaum laughed. “To this day Barbara would be very relieved if they named it something else.”

But Greenbaum says she deserves the honor, and credits her with helping him grow the family’s business from a six-employee liquor store in Atlanta to CentraArchy and Affiliates, which employs 2,500 and includes upscale restaurants such as Chophouse New Orleans, retail alcohol beverage outlets and industrial real estate companies throughout the Southeast.

After graduation, Barbara used her Newcomb education degree to teach school before retiring to focus on raising the couple’s three children. When the children left, she was able to assist Greenbaum in the various businesses — especially concentrating on the design and decor of the firm’s restaurants.

“She has always been my sounding board, helping me make the hard decisions over my 50-plus years in business,” said Greenbaum.

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Jews with hogs: The Anderson siblings of Chipley, Fla., were recognized at the 4-H Washington County Youth Fair for pigs they raised. Asa was awarded Reserve Champion Swine, and Champion Showmanship. Eliannah received Reserve Champion Showmanship.

Emily received Reserve Champion Intermediate Showmanship. Abigail, pictured here, was awarded Grand Champion carcass and Grand Champion Swine. The children of Lorna and Todd Anderson, they are members of Dothan’s Temple Emanu-El.

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April 2014

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Front Porch The New Orleans Synagogue Softball League got its season underway on March 30 with a thriller. Beth Israel got out to a 6-0 lead over Gates of Prayer and held on to win, 9-8. Shir Chadash scored 6 unanswered runs to turn a 5-3 deficit to Touro into a 9-5 victory, thanks in part to four double plays

by Shir Chadash and seven errors by Touro.

Temple Sinai got a 15-0 forfeit win when only six players from the B’nai Israel/Beth Shalom Baton Rouge team made it to the meeting place for the trip to Metairie. On April 6, Shir Chadash will face Beth Israel at 9:15 a.m., Touro versus Sinai at 10:40 a.m. and Gates of Prayer against Baton Rouge at 12:05 p.m., before taking a two-week hiatus for Passover.

Games are held at Miley Playground.

hosted by JewCCY in New Orleans. They will be at Gates of Prayer for Shabbat services on April 11 at 8 p.m. and April 12 at 9 a.m.

The Women of Reform Judaism will hold their Southwest District Women’s Retreat at the Henry S. Jacobs Camp the weekend of April 18. After an executive committee meeting there will be a gathering for all Sisterhood presidents, WRJ board members and district past presidents. For everyone else, the weekend starts with wine and cheese before Shabbat evening services. The weekend will include Torah study, a meditative walk and use of the camp facilities. On April 20 from 10 a.m. to noon there will be leadership training for current and rising leaders.

The weekend of April 25, the Henry S. Jacobs Camp will host a Family Spring Fling and the National Federation of Temple Youth’s Junior Youth Retreat. The Spring Fling includes Shabbat at camp, family activities and separate activities for parents and children.

There will be a kids versus parents kickball game, Havdallah and campfire. The weekend ends at 10 a.m. on April 27.

The National Federation of Temple Cost is $99 per person and registration is Youth Southern spring conclave will be due on April 11.

Camp Judaea in Hendersonville, N.C. met and exceeded its Chai Match 2 challenge goal, raising over $585,000. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation and some Camp Judaea donors challenged the camp to raise at least $324,000 in gifts of $1800 or more.

The funds will go to improvements in the Cabin Village and scholarships.

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April 2014

Southern Jewish Life

Birmingham-Southern College

The TribeFest has spoken in New Orleans

Hundreds of young Jewish leaders assemble for celebrations and learning

By Lee J. Green and Larry Brook On March 16, the Elysian Brass Band led a second-line procession of about 1,300 Jewish young adults from across the country through the streets of New Orleans, from the Sheraton Hotel to the Steamboat Natchez for a late-night party featuring the Soul Doctors.

Just your typical, only-in-New Orleans experience.

The third incarnation of TribeFest brought Jewish leaders aged 22 to 45 together for three days of learning and discussions of how to increase involvement in the Jewish community.

The re-imagining of the Jewish Federations of North America’s former young leadership biennial, TribeFest was primarily held at the Sheraton New Orleans. The first two TribeFests were held in 2011 and 2012, in Las Vegas.

In pushing for the third TribeFest to be held in New Orleans, Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans Executive Director Michael Weil had experiences like that parade in mind — along with the opportunity for those in attendance to get out into the city and make a difference through social action projects.

The March 16 to 18 event included seminars, discussions, social activities, Josh Malina best-practices learning and was a way for

the host city to showcase the wonder that is New Orleans.

“This is such a great opportunity to engage current and future Jewish leaders. You are around your peers, learning and having a great time,” said Elliot Corenblum, who is involved in the Baltimore Jewish community but is originally from Birmingham.

Though Corenblum had been to New Orleans before, several mentioned that it was their first time visiting the city. For Anna Bern, who was in just her first days as executive director of the Jewish Federation of Central Alabama, it was a first-time visit to New Orleans.

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April 2014 3/18/14

11 7:22 AM

Volunteers from TribeFest worked at the Second Harvest Food Bank on March 17

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April 2014

She said “the most valuable resource is the people you can get to know” at such an event, and the opportunity to network with so many young Jewish professionals was incredible.

TribeFest co-chair David Kline of Austin said “TribeFest is the pinnacle for outreach and engagement to young Jews that want to get involved with the Jewish community. It’s a jumping-off point for young leaders to get active and to grow in the Jewish community locally, nationally and internationally.”

A delegation from Los Angeles came in early March 15 Saturday to enjoy the Irish Channel Saint Patrick’s Parade in Uptown then a pre-TribeFest Black and White Purim Ball at the Sheraton that night.

Those who arrived even earlier were treated to a meal of kosher gumbo after Shabbat evening services at Anshe Sfard on March 14.

TribeFest kicked off on March 16 with “The Big Show,” which in other venues might be referred to as the opening plenary. Guest speakers included “Rugrats” and “Smurfs” writer David Weiss, “Book of Mormon” actor Ben Platt and actor Josh Malina of “The West Wing” and “Sports Night.”

Survivor winner and Grassroot Soccer co-founder Ethan Zohn also spoke at the opening.

Ruth Kullman, who advises non-profits, and Louisiana Commission on Human Rights Chairwoman Tamara Jacobson greeted the crowd on behalf of New Orleans.

Local co-chairs Hallie Timm and Sam Cohen, and JNOLA chairs Ashley Merlin and Austin Marks were recognized for their efforts in making the event possible. JNOLA is the Jewish young adult umbrella group in New Orleans, and their members were also invited to the March 16 party at the Steamboat Natchez.

Greg Liberman of JDate, encouraged TribeFest participants to take control of their Jewish life. “Each generation needs to find contemporary relevance in our ancient legacy,” he said. JDate, along with Pfizer, cosponsored TribeFest.

National Young Leadership co-chairs Alison Lebovitz of Chattanooga, a Birmingham native, and Robb Lippitt of Detroit were also involved in the planning.

At the opening, they echoed Liberman’s sentiments when reminding TribeFest participants, “you are not part of the next generation. Your time is now.”

After the Big Show, there were numerous “mashups,” similar to breakout sessions. The sessions were on a wide range of topics, in the tracks of justice and inclusion, faith and culture, Jewish life, innovation, leadership development and “hot topics.”

One of the March 16 sessions focused on ideas for being a model of Jewish community involvement and how young leaders can encourage more participation from the “millennials.”

Leading the discussion were community leaders from Los Angeles, Detroit and Boston.

But questions were asked and ideas were given by those from smaller Jewish communities such as Lexington, Ky., and Santa Barbara, Calif.

“If you want to push for change you have to be the change your community needs,” said Jay Sanderson, director of the Los Angeles Jewish Tamara Jacobson and Ruth Kullman of New Federation. “If you want to engage today, you need to do it in a different way.”

Orleans address TribeFest

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According to a few that spoke, today’s younger adults still want to contribute to fundraising efforts, become affiliated with a synagogue and be a part of or lead events in their Jewish communities. But today’s generation of younger adults engage in different ways than previous generations and seek new opportunities to participate.

“It is important to be on the pulse of what interests those of our generation,” said Miryam Rosenzweig, a Jewish community leader in Detroit. “Especially here, we’ve been hit by the economy and donations have gone down. But our involvement from younger adults is increasing and that is what will continue to lead this progression forward.”

On March 17, TribeFest delegates split into several groups and did social service projects throughout New Orleans, then held another afternoon of sessions and discussions.

InterfaithFamily and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society co-led a session on how the Jewish community can be more welcoming and inclusive.

Many organizations beyond the Federation used TribeFest as an outreach opportunity. The Einstein Victor Center for the Prevention of Jewish Genetic Diseases set up a genetic screening station.

Groups like Camp Ramah, United Synagogue Youth and the historically Jewish fraternities of Sigma Alpha Mu, Zeta Beta Tau and Alpha Epsilon Pi had alumni events the evening of March 17. The Schusterman Family Foundation, Avodah and Moishe House also had receptions.

Malkie Schwartz, director of community engagement for the Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, led a session on “Unpacking the Jewish Privilege Backpack,” highlighting disparities in Jewish life and how positive Jewish experiences can be made possible for more people.

Emma Samuels of Boston, who co-chaired TribeFest, said she feels “so blessed and honored to have had the opportunity to help bring together almost 1,300 young adult Jews to New Orleans.”

“TribeFest participants came from 85 different communities, and with diverse backgrounds. They were engaged in deep conversations and committed to wanting to make a difference,” said JFNA CEO Jerry Silverman. “I am excited to see how these young leaders will engage in Jewish life and in their Federations in the years to come,.”

While there were many serious discussions and weighty topics at TribeFest, enabling everyone to have fun was a main priority. As a Los Angeles couple remarked, “This is our first time in New Orleans and we get to be in a parade! This city is like none other. What a great place.”

Simchas are just cooler with planes

Restoring Threefoot: On March 22, volunteers with the Threefoot Preservation Society in Meridian worked on the landmark’s first floor in preparation for the building’s 84th birthday on April 1. Henry Threefoot of New Orleans was scheduled to visit and cut the birthday cake. It will also be a celebration of his 87th birthday.

The society is doing repairs to the building in hopes of attracting an investor who will restore and open it again. Since the 1990s, it has been mostly abandoned, and in 2010 it was placed on the list of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places.

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Over 400 participants from all segments of the Jewish community took part in LimmudFest 2014, a regional weekend of Jewish learning in New Orleans from March 7 to 9.

The event, held every other year, expanded to the entire weekend this year and started with a unique display of Jewish unity at Temple Sinai. The other local congregations held their services simultaneously at Temple Sinai, with Shir Chadash holding a Conservative service, Beth Israel holding an Orthodox service, and Sinai, Touro and Gates of Prayer combining for the Reform service.

The main sessions were held on March 9 at Tulane University’s Lavin-Bernick Center.

“The Limmud experience was sharing meals with people from all streams of Jewish life, having the opportunity to celebrate Shabbat by taking a nature walk, and learning more about everything from pickle making to Torah text,” said steering committee organizer Barbara Kaplinsky. “If you wanted to take part in designing a Limmud mural, be entertained by visiting comedians Barry Ivker leads a session on Israeli dancing and artists, gain new insights into the Jewish past and present in Louisiana or just see old friends and make new ones, LimmudFest 2014 was a dream come true.”

Over 100 sessions dealt with a wide range of topics, in Jewish culture, arts, practice, text, beliefs, and philosophy from traditional to progressive and everything in between.

Emmy-nominated producer and documentarian Evan Kleinman screened his documentary, “Punk Jews.” Judge Sol Gothard led a discussion of “The Pride of Our Jewish People: Jewish War Veterans.”

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The Yiddish Radio Hour performance, “The Yiddish Shtunde,” featured Kathleen Galante, Lori DeLeon, Suzaune Yee McKamey, Alan Smason, David Kaplinsky, Hannah Mellman and Mark Kaplinsky

You can relax…

Malkie Rivkin engages the children of Young Limmud in Purim songs and stories

Photos (including cover) by Jacqueline Dallimore

a Jew Be an Atheist,” and Rabbi Ethan Linden of Shir Chadash led a conversation on mass incarceration in Louisiana.

Pulitzer Prize winning Times-Picayune reporter Mark Schleifstein led a session on “The Commandment Not to Waste, and the BP Oil Spill,” and non-profit consultant Roselle Ungar led “Getting Comfortable with the ‘F’ word: Overcoming Fundraising Fears.”

There was also a children’s track, including music, nature walks, art activities, a joint parent-child social action activity, and storytelling with nationally known children’s book author, Amy Meltzer.

The festival concluded with “The Yiddishe Shtunde” (Yiddish Hour), a play about Jewish radio programs from the 1930s to 1950s, written

by Elliot Raisen and directed by David On March 8, Noa Baum performed “A Land Kaplinsky.

Twice Promised” at Temple Sinai Clive Lawson, cofounder of Limmud International in Britain, said the New Orleans version of Limmud was unique. He had attended two previous New Orleans LimmudFests, but this was his first time presenting. He led sessions on “The Absurd Story of Purim” and “Why Spirituality is a Distraction.”

“Limmud in New Orleans shows what a comparatively small community can do when it sets its mind to it,” Lawson said. “In the States, it more than comfortably holds its own with other communities, not least the Limmuds in the mega-metropolises of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.”

Lawson called the multi-denominational Shabbat services at Temple

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Sinai “a local and global first.

“Despite the deep and important differences between the different strands of Judaism, all the different denominations found it possible to meet for their Shabbat prayers — in different rooms — but under one roof,” he said. “And then, of course, to eat and learn together. Out of New Orleans then comes this ringing challenge to the rest of the Jewish world — and perhaps, other religious communities elsewhere.

If we can do it, why can’t you?”

Rabbi Steven Silberman of Ahavas Chesed in Mobile, who was a presenter, said the entire weekend “was terrific” and “dramatically touched a great many lives.”

Steffi Karp, founder and director of Limmud Boston called it an “amazing event” in a “fabulously warm and welcoming community,” and invited everyone to Limmud Boston in December.

LimmudFest was chaired by Gail Chalew and sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Goldring Family Foundation, Jewish Endowment Foundation, Hugo Kahn Fund, Vivian and Richard Cahn Fund, Alvin and Madalyn Samuels, Michael and Lynne Wasserman, Morris and Cathy Bart, Bill and Susan Hess, Anshe Sfard, Beth Israel, Gates of Prayer, Shir Chadash, Temple Sinai, and Touro Synagogue. In-kind contributions came from Avenue Inn Bed and Breakfast, Bayou Printing, Eiffel Society, Blue Frog Chocolates, Temple Sinai and Tulane University.

How large are our Jewish charities?

Forward ranks assets, revenue by state

The Forward is undertaking a massive report on Jewish charities, and finds that the United States “Jewish communal apparatus” has assets of $26 billion and annual income of over $12 billion. Management costs are $2.3 billion and $93 million is spent on running galas.

The report does not include synagogues, which do not have to reveal their financial information.

Israel-related groups receive the most at 38 percent, while education and health care are 20 percent each.

State by state, Louisiana ranks 30th in net assets with $43.6 million, Alabama is 34th with $28.4 million and Mississippi is 41st with $4.35 million.

In net assets per Jewish resident, Kentucky ranks first. Louisiana is 18th with $4,088, Alabama 19th with $3,216 and Mississippi is 23rd with $2,807.

In annual revenue, Louisiana is 32nd with just over $17 million, Alabama is 34th with just under $12 million and Mississippi is 41st with $1.5 million.

Counting revenue per Jewish resident, Louisiana is 17th at $1,595, Alabama is 22nd with $1,353 and Mississippi is 30th with $975. Florida is 31st with $972.

Alabama ranks 32nd in grants to Jewish agencies from governmental groups, with just under $167,000. Louisiana is 34th with $10,000, Mississippi is not listed. Florida ranks second with $52 million, New York is first with $523 million.

In numbers of employees, Louisiana is 27th with 532, Alabama is 34th with 299 and Mississippi is 40th with 35.

In total contributions, Louisiana ranks 30th with $11.2 million, Alabama is 33rd with $6.7 million and Mississippi is 40th with $1.3 million. That translates to a per-capita rank of 11th for Louisiana with $1,050, 14th for Mississippi with $854 and 17th for Alabama with $760.

Not surprisingly, half of the revenues go to groups based in New York. The total employment by Jewish non-profits is listed as 171,000 — the same as the Ford Motor Company and more than Coca-Cola.

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April 2014

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Jewish and Christian supporters of Israel unite for new Ala. effort A devoted group launched the Alabama-Israel Task Force on March represented the state at the event, as presiding officer of the Senate, 25 with a statewide event in Huntsville that centered on Alabama’s where the 1943 joint resolution originated. long legacy of support for the Jewish state.

Ivey referenced the Purim theme, which was part of the evening, A 1943 joint resolution of the Alabama Legislature calling for the by referring to how Esther was told “if you remain silent at this time, establishment of a Jewish homeland was a common theme that wove you and your father’s family will surely perish” and she was put in her through the evening, which drew about 250 to the Von Braun Civic position for just a time as was upon them.

Center Concert Hall.

Ivey noted 1943 was when “the height of World War II was raging John Buhler of Mission Huntsville, co-chair of AITF, said “some- and Jews were being persecuted. At such a time as this, Alabama leadthing very significant happened 70 years ago, and we want to take a ers took their position and used it to stand solidly for Israel.” And that moment to pause” because “moments of remembrance can inspire.” support has continued, she added.

The evening was about using the recollection of 1943 as a spring“Today we gather to remember our past, to celebrate the present board to rededication and new alliances between Alabama and Israel, and to shape our future, for continued strong relationship with Israel and among different pro-Israel communifor generations to come.” ties in the state.

Commemorative plaques with the resoRev. Jim Bevis, president of CSR Minlution’s text were presented to several inistries in Florence, said the evening was dividuals. Earlier in the month, Alabama “not a religious event, but rooted in faith” delegates to the American Israel Public as “two communities of faith coming toAffairs Committee conference in Washgether as lovers of God and the Jewish ington presented those plaques to the enpeople.” tire state Congressional delegation.

Rabbi Laibel Berkowitz from Chabad Ivey received a plaque, as did Spencer of North Alabama gave an invocation in Collier, state director of homeland securiHebrew and English, then Pastor Emilio ty. Israeli Consul General Opher Aviran of Sanchez of Calvary Assembly gave his in the Atlanta consulate was slated to receive Hebrew, English and Spanish.

John Buhler pays tribute to Arlene and the late Mayer one but was unable to attend because IsAlabama Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey Mitchell of Mobile as Jimmy Grodnick looks on rael’s foreign ministry is on strike.

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Then, there were two special presentations to those who have a long history of support for Israel in Alabama. In the Jewish community, Mobilians Arlene Mitchell and her late husband, Mayer, were recognized. Jimmy Grodnick accompanied Mrs. Mitchell onstage.

Buhler thanked the Mitchells for “preparing and leading the way” so others like him could build “on a foundation that you and others have laid.”

Buhler had heard of the Mitchells’ work, including Mayer Mitchell’s terms as president of AIPAC. He recalled being in the AIPAC building in Washington and “finding out that the ones whose names were on the building are from Alabama.”

In the Christian community, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker and his wife, Dottie James Parker, were recognized.

Mrs. Parker sang “Hatikvah” at the 1995 inauguration of Governor Fob James, and during James’ first term she was supervisor of the Governor’s Mansion when they had a celebration for Israel’s 33rd birthday in 1981.

Buhler recounted how Mrs. Parker’s mother, Miriam James, wrote to President Harry Truman in 1948, giving him numerous Biblical reasons and verses for the United States to recognize Israel.

Truman wrote her back, agreeing and thanking her.

He added, “Tom and Dottie Top: Lieutenant Governor Kay were actually married in Israel, Ivey. Bottom: Pastor Oscar during the Biblical Feast of Tab- Montgomery and Daniel Odrezin

ernacles.”

Daniel Odrezin of the Birmingham Jewish Federation shared the stage with Union Hill Primitive Baptist Church Pastor Oscar Montgomery, co-founder of the Greater Huntsville Interdenominational Ministerial Fellowship, to read a Public Declaration of Reaffirmation based on the 1943 resolution.

The reaffirmation is also available online for people to sign.

Adding to the unique Alabama-Israel flavor was the screening of a video of “Sweet Home Jerusalem” by Rabbi Lazer Brody of Emunah Outreach, a takeoff on the Lynyrd Skynyrd hit.

Numerous greetings were read from those who could not attend.

Because of Congressional business, Rep. Mo Brooks was unable to attend in person, and ethics rules forbade him from doing a video greeting because it is within six months of a primary election. In a message that was read during the event, he spoke as a “strong advocate of America’s alliance with Israel” and referred to his 2011 visit to Israel.

Messages also came from former Israeli Ambassador Danny Ayalon, Minister of Homeland Protecton Gilad Erdan, Knesset Member and former Shin Bet Deputy Director Yisrael Hason and Regional Development Minister Silvan Shalom.

Buhler said “we do not want to be passive” in the relationship, and “we believe that a stronger and expanding Alabama-Israel relationship would be both deeply meaningful and beneficial.”

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Alabama delegates to the AIPAC Policy Conference in early March presented commemorative plaques with the 1943 resolution to the state’s Congressional delegation. Here, the presentation to Rep. Terri Sewell rael, Buhler said, “It is needful for the friends of Israel to stand strong, for she is not alone.”

The first initiative for AITF is support of the Israel Leadership Institute in Sderot. Founder Eeki Elner was on hand for the evening, which he said was his fifth trip to Alabama in 14 months.

Delicious Flickr Twitter Retweet He said that in the last 14 months, his message to Israelis has been not to go to the usual places like New York, Los Angeles or Miami, www.millsaps.edu but to “the real America, where the heart of America lies, here in AlDelicious Digg Flickr DeliciousFacebook Twitter Flickr MySpaceRetweet TwitterStumbleUpon Retweet abama.”

Donations from the evening are going toward an Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response Center at ILI, which will train Slash Dot Skype Technorati MySpace StumbleUpon Mixx Digg emerging young leaders in Israel in emergency andFacebook disaster response.

Facebook F A MySpace M I L Y StumbleUpon E Y E DiggC E N T E R In a later stage, Alabama young leaders will be invited to train and share workshops with their Israeli colleagues.

Elner said the project will build “new bridges for Slash more cooperation. ” Dot LinkedIn Mixx Slash DotReddit Skype Mixx FriendFeed Technorati Skype YouTube Technorati Pastor Bob Somerville of Awareness Ministry said in his 45 years of pro-Israel activity, he found ILI to be a unique opportunity, and noted how it is based on Torah-centric standards. “America in general and SlideShare Google Reddit Google Talk LinkedIn YouTube LinkedIn Alabama in particular could use a similar institute to get us back inFriendFeed ourReddit NewsvineYouTubeFriendFeed country to the faith of our founding fathers.”

Laura King, past president of the Jewish Federation of Huntsville Yahoo Google Yahoo Buzz Netvibes Newsvineand challengAOL SlideShare Google Talk and North Alabama, said Sderot is “the most dangerous Newsvine SlideShare Google Google Talk ing location in Israel today,” located one mile from the border with A mi A be l Epste in, O.D. Gaza, and subjected to thousands of rockets fired from Gaza by the Former Director of Contact Lens Services Palestinians over recent years.

Microsoft MSN AOL Apple Yahoo MobileMe Yahoo Buzz Netvibes Yahoo Yahoo Buzz Netvibes AOL at UAB School of Optometry.

One such rocket struck Elner’s house.

Graduated #1 in her class of 1998.

Richard Brooks, president of JFHNA, thanked the crowd on behalf of the Jewish community, and Rabbi Nancy Tunick of B’nai Israel in App Store AmazonMobileMe Last.fm Microsoft Mister Wong MSN Apple Large Selection of High-Quality, Florence sang a version of “Shalom Rav.” Microsoft MSN Apple MobileMe She noted the difficulty of her position on the program — following Fashion & Designer Eyewear a performance of “Shalom Israel” by the Perfect Praise Early ChildQik Vimeo Mister Wong Viddler App Store the U.S.Amazon Virb Last.fm hood choir as three young boys held the flags of Israel, and -Amazon MOST INSURANCE ACCEPTED App Store Last.fm Mister Wong Alabama.

Rabbi Steve Silberman of Ahavas Chesed in Mobile closed the eveLocated just off Hwy 280 ning by referencing the week’s Torah reading, theQikdedication ofVimeo the Tumblr Viddler Blogger Posterous Virb at 2206WordPerss Cahaba Valley Drive, Suite B Vimeo Viddler Virb mishkan, the “dwelling place.” In the exhaustive detail about the con-Qik Birmingham, AL 35242 struction, the Hebrew term “l’chaber,” to join, was used repeatedly. The word “chaver” means friendship, and from the joining of hands comes BehanceBlogger Design Float Deviant Art Tumblr Design Bump WordPerss Posterous friendship.

PhoneBlogger 205-981-9441 Tumblr WordPerss Posterous “There are no greater building blocks for God’s holy place than friends extending hands to one another in friendship,” and that act of Bebo Design Bump Squidoo Behance Share This Design Float Friendster Deviant Art joining together ensures the holy presence.

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Saag uses experiences battling AIDS to examine the U.S. health care system

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Michael Saag, who has been in the trenches in the scientific battle against AIDS for three decades, always knew he was going to write a memoir. He just didn’t intend it for an audience wider than his family.

That changed as he saw the debate over the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, rage in Washington and across the country. The result is “Positive: One Doctor’s Personal Encounters with Death, Life and the U.S. Healthcare System.”

Saag said the book uses his experiences in the fight against AIDS as the thread to weave a discussion about the dysfunctional state of health care in the United States.

His great-grandfather, a Russian Jew who immigrated to the United States around 1875 and for whom Saag was named, wrote his memoirs in 1939.

“I always felt really connected to him because he told the story,” Saag said.

He intended to write his memoirs for family, but “I got so angry” watching the health reform debate. “Nobody was saying the obvious — that our current health care system is abysmal.” Saag decided to “lift up the rock… and look at the ugliness we experience but don’t talk about.”

When Saag began his medical residency in 1981, word first started spreading about a mysterious “gay cancer.” Saag said one aspect of his book is to show medical students that they can’t really plan their careers — “things happen, and most careers are serendipity… don’t block opportunities that are begging for you to get involved.”

Saag became director of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and is an internationally-known expert on AIDS and the treatment of those with the disease.

For Saag, the opportunity to be involved in fighting this mysterious disease was “a calling.” He was just young enough to miss the social activism of the 1960s and early 1970s.

“HIV came along and I found myself in the center of the storm.”

Because the disease started in the gay community, there was — and still is — a great stigma associated with it. Passionate activists had a huge effect on forcing awareness into the

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public arena.

In the early days of the disease, Saag did something unexpected. When giving presentations on how to treat patients with AIDS, he spoke only briefly about the technical side, and then brought in patients to talk about their personal stories and their struggles with the stigma. “To know how to take care of people with HIV you have to know who the patients are, what they are up against… that goes well beyond a virus.”

Working on changing AIDS from a death diagnosis to a chronic but manageable disease was “invigorating and challenging” while also “horrifying.”

Because it is generally manageable now, there are some who are “in denial” and don’t worry about infection, but Saag said having AIDS is still a big deal.

While most individuals in the book are identified by a pseudonym, there is one in particular that will be familiar in the Southern Jewish community — the story of Rabbi Cynthia Culpeper.

While attending rabbinical school, Culpeper continued to work as a nurse in her native San Francisco. She was accidentally punctured by a needle, and was tested for HIV. At the length of time afterward by which any infection should be detectable, she tested negative.

Then shortly after she started her rabbinate at Agudath Israel in Montgomery in 1995, she became ill, and found out that she had a particularly aggressive strain — and already had full-blown AIDS. With the permission of Culpeper’s mother and brother, Saag goes into detail about her case and the connection they had. Part of that was the discussion over whether and how to tell her congregation. She did so in January 1996, and the congregation rallied around her.

After a year she resigned her pulpit and intended to go back home, but was receiving far better access to experimental treatments by being in Alabama than she could get in San Francisco, so she moved to Birmingham, where she was active in the community until her death in 2005.

Saag said there is a lot in the book that resonates Jewishly — “trying to give back, be productive and make a difference.” He also noted

that the stories of many individuals in the book are “Biblical” in their power.

Saag also wrote about “Jacob,” his first Jewish patient. When Jacob was dying, Saag went to the hospital to visit him one last time.

Recently, Richard Friedman wrote about Saag’s book in the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s daily Update. Rabbi Reuven Tradburks, who was at Birmingham’s Knesseth Israel and now is in Israel, emailed Saag to tell him how Saag’s actions that day had stayed with him.

When Saag got to the room, he said it was a scene from a Rembrandt painting — but instead of “Night Watch” it was “Death Watch.” Jacob’s parents were on one side of the bed, other relatives on the other side, and Tradburks at the foot of the bed. All of them were focused on the heart monitor — would this be the last heartbeat?

Saag saw that and turned off the monitor. In the book he explained that it was to spare the family of “the horror” of an occasional isolated beat that sometimes randomly happens after death and can toy with the emotions of a grieving family.

But there was something else Saag had in mind, which Tradburks still remembers. “At that moment, we stopped focusing on the technology and turned our focus back to the patient in the bed.”

Similarly, the country needs to focus on the patient when talking about health care reform. He said the Affordable Care Act “while not being the right solution” is still “one of the most important first steps in change that our country could have had.”

Since the Roosevelt Administration, presidents have tried to tackle health care but come up empty. He hopes the ACA is “the first step in a series of changes for us to have affordable health care in the future.”

Only in the United States do people go bankrupt because of health care, he pointed out. Two-thirds of all personal bankruptcies in the country “were precipitated by a medical bill,” and three-fourths of those were individuals who had insurance.

Because Obamacare got rid of pre-existing condition restrictions and lifetime caps on payouts, “that is going to be more expensive,” but “you get what you pay for.”

He said the expansion of Medicaid is “vitally needed,” though it is being resisted in many states, including Alabama.

In Alabama, to be eligible for Medicaid one must have an income of under 16 percent of the Federal poverty level — meaning roughly $2300 per year. The expansion raises that to 125 percent of the poverty level, with the tab picked up by the Federal government for three years, then the states are responsible for 10 percent of the added cost.

But Saag said taxpayers are already paying for those who are not currently eligible, every time they show up at an emergency room.

“They overcharged us for insurance to pay for the uninsured for 70 years,” he said.

With the book now out, Saag is touring, including an April 24 appearance at the Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans, at 6 p.m.

He also is being honored at this year’s Hands Up Together gala for Collat Jewish Family Services, on May 8. His cousin Mary Fisher will be the guest speaker. Fisher, daughter of prominent Republican activist Max Fisher, became a national figure at the 1992 Republican National Convention, where she spoke about being diagnosed with AIDS she got from her second husband.

Fisher has spoken in Birmingham over the years and established a non-profit fund at the Center for AIDS Research at UAB. While there has been “remarkable success” in the fight against AIDS, that came from a large number of groups working together toward a common goal. That cooperation has been completely absent in health care reform, Saag said. “We’re all pulling apart.”

“We need to look at the big picture of who we were before the Affordable Care Act and where we want to be in the long run when it comes to health care.”

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File photo from Maccabi USA

Bruce Pearl, left, celebrates after coaching the U.S. team to the gold medal in overtime at the Maccabiah Games in Israel, July 2009.

Auburn’s Jewish community adds a big name New head basketball coach Bruce Pearl arrives on campus

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Newly-announced Auburn University head basketball coach Bruce Pearl made a name for himself in the sports world with his years of success at Tennessee.

He also made a name for himself as an active part of the Knoxville Jewish community and beyond, coaching the U.S. basketball team to a gold medal in the 2009 Maccabi Games in Israel. He is also serving as president of the Jewish Coaches Association.

Auburn confirmed his hiring on March 18.

•

It turns out that Auburn University wasn’t the only place in the region to sign a Jewish sports personality.

On March 18, the New Orleans Saints signed unrestricted free agent fullback Erik Lorig to a four-year contract. He is one of seven players in the NFL last year who identified as Jewish. His father is Jewish, his mother is of Scandinavian descent.

Last December, he and fellow Buccaneer Gabe Carimi participated in the Chabad of South Tampa Chanukah menorah lighting before Jewish Heritage Night at the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game.

In an interview with a yoga clinic where he practices when home in California, he said he is “the most athletic mensch you’ll ever see in the studio.”

Lorig was drafted in 2010 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the seventh round. Known as a blocker, the Stanford player from Rolling Hills, Calif., started nine games last year and appeared in 15 games. He had 11 receptions for 47 yards. In 2012 he was the lead blocker for running back Doug Martin, who broke the team’s rookie rushing record.

By going to the Saints, he leaves the only NFL team with two Jewish players to make the Saints the only NFL team with two Jewish players — at least for now. Center Brian de la Puente is a free agent and is currently exploring other options.

While de la Puente is mentioned on several lists as Jewish, the Jewish Sports Review dropped him from their list in 2012.

In an interview with the Review, de la Puente said his maternal grandmother was Jewish but his maternal grandfather was not, and he considers himself “nothing” in religious terms.

“I’m humbled and blessed to back in the game that I love,” Pearl said on Auburn’s website. “I don’t know how long it will take, but it’s time to rebuild the Auburn basketball program, and bring it to a level of excellence so many of the other teams on campus enjoy.”

After arriving in Knoxville in 2006, Pearl started getting involved with the local Jewish community, teaching a Hebrew Bible class and speaking at Jewish Federation events in the region. Two of his children had their B’nai Mitzvah in Knoxville.

In 2008 he spoke at Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El just before the annual Southeastern Conference basketball media days.

In 2009, he fulfilled a lifelong dream by leading the U.S. “dream team” in the Maccabi Games, a worldwide competition regarded as the “Jewish Olympics.”

To get the gold, the U.S. team had to take down defending champion Israel, 95-86, in overtime. Among those on the team was Pearl’s son, Stephen, who at the time was a top high school player in Knoxville and averaged seven points per game during the Maccabi tournament.

In his first season at Tennessee, he took over a team that had gone 14-17 the previous year and led them to a 22-8 record and first place in the SEC East. They lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament, but made the Sweet 16 the next two seasons.

A Boston native, Pearl was the second-fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 300 wins in men’s basketball. Before going to Tennessee he was head coach at Milwaukee for four years, and before that led Southern Indiana to a Division II national championship.

In 2008, Tennessee basketball was No. 1 for the first time in the program’s history.

His time at Tennessee started to unravel because of a 2008 incident where he hosted three recruits at his home for a cookout. A secondary

violation under NCAA rules, it became a major violation when Pearl was found to not have been forthcoming when the NCAA was investigating it in early 2011.

Because of the violation, he was fired in 2011 after leading Tennessee to the NCAA tournament for each of his six years there, including an Elite Eight appearance.

In the three years since, Pearl has been an analyst on ESPN and marketing manager for a Knoxville company.

In 2013, he spoke at a basketball tournament for Cooper Yeshiva in Memphis, where he apologized to the students, saying he felt that he had let those students down by reaching the pinnacle of the basketball world as a Jewish coach, and then with one bad decision threw away his position as a role model.

Sources say Auburn’s recently-hired assistant athletic director of compliance Dave Didion was the lead investigator on the Pearl case for the NCAA, making his hiring by Auburn more acceptable.

Pearl is now finishing his time under a three-year NCAA “showcause,” where a school that hires him must make its case for doing so to the NCAA. He is also not allowed to recruit until the show-cause expires in August.

Auburn fired head coach Tony Barbee the previous week immediately following the team’s first-round loss in the SEC tournament. The team went 14-16 overall, 6-12 in conference.

Auburn’s Jewish community is substantially smaller than Knoxville’s. According to the Tennessee Hillel, there are about 80 Jewish faculty members at Tennessee. Knoxville has two moderate-size congregations and a Chabad house, with roughly 2,000 Jews.

Auburn’s Jewish student enrollment has gone from 50 to 125 in the last six years. The city has one small congregation, Beth Shalom, which

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was founded in 1989.

An hour down the road, Montgomery has a Jewish community of 1100, and nearby Columbus, Ga., has a community estimated at 600. Birmingham and Atlanta are about two hours away from Auburn.

Rob Kulick, faculty advisor to Auburn Hillel, said he is “thrilled and excited” at the hiring, adding that Pearl “will be great for Auburn and great for our community.”

In a 2009 interview with this publication, Pearl noted “I wear my Judaism on my sleeve,” he added. “Let me amend that. I wear my Judaism and the Tennessee Vols on my sleeve.”

Now he has a sleeve with a different shade of orange.

BJF hires Christian outreach coordinator

We don’t just list organizations and call it an annual guide…

Southern Jewish Life’s Chai Cotton is more than a listing of organizations, institutions and congregations…

It is a portal to the history of the Deep South Jewish communities of Louisiana, Alabama, the Florida panhandle and Mississippi, and a guide to the present.

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To reserve your space in Chai Cotton 2014-15, Call (205) 870-7889 • Toll-Free (866) 446-5894 Email connect@sjlmag.com • Fax (866) 392-7750 24

April 2014

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Mary Adams has been hired by the Birmingham Jewish Federation to become the agency’s Christian Outreach Coordinator.

Adams is one of the BJF’s long-time Christian volunteers and donors.

BJF Executive Director Richard Friedman said “we are excited about this new position.

Many Christians have been involved in our BJF efforts over the years, and through Mary’s work we hope to formalize and strengthen this partnership and take it to a whole new level.”

“I have accepted this new position at the BJF to create and provide new ways for pro-Israel Christians to express their support — and to help relieve the burden that is placed on Israel in terms of its security challenges and immigration needs,” Adams said. “As a Christian, I believe that based on Scripture, that God Himself has given the Land of Israel to the Jewish people and I believe that God ‘will bless those who bless you’ — the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

In her part-time position, she will focus on cultivating and deepening Christian support for Israel in the area, and engaging pro-Israel Christians in the Federation’s Israel-related work. She will also work with churches and Christian groups on Israel advocacy, participating in Federation programs and fundraising for “partnership programs.” She will also meet with Christian groups before and after they travel to Israel, helping arrange visits and meetings with agencies that are funded through the Federation’s partnership.

Adams, who has been on the Federation’s Israel-World Jewry Bureau for five years, originally brought Operation Lifeshield and Rabbi Shmuel Bowman to the Federation’s attention.

The agency provides protective shelters for Israelis vulnerable to rocket attacks, and now receives an annual allocation from the BJF.

JCRS explores Jewish Broadway at this year’s Gala For the third Jewish Roots annual gala, the Jewish Children’s Regional Service moved to a larger venue, the National World War II Museum Freedom Pavilion, for its March 22 “Jewish Roots of Broadway” celebration. Just like the previous two years, they filled the room.

A crowd of 460 attended the evening, which also honored the Scharff and Tolmas families for their years of service to JCRS and the community.

After a season of unpredictable winter weather, the skies and temperature were perfect for the outdoor reception. Once indoors, supporters of the regional children’s agency went through buffet lines before the formal program.

Both families have New Orleans roots but currently reside elsewhere and have ties to more communities, so there was a large out-of-town contingent in attendance.

Bruce Katz, meteorologist at WVUE-TV, was emcee of the evening, and started by paying tribute to an organization that was “vital” for his family. He and his three brothers, New Orleans natives, received college aid from JCRS. The agency, which provides need-based scholarships to those attending non-profit Jewish overnight camps and to Jewish college students in a seven-state region “was absolutely there for our family,” he noted.

Leon Rittenberg III, president of JCRS, and JCRS Executive Director Ned Goldberg presented Gary Rosenthal-designed awards to the

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Scharff and Tolmas families.

Goldberg said both families had “multi-generational involvement” with JCRS, with children of both families serving as JCRS presidents in the last 17 years.

He recalled that when he first moved to New Orleans to take over the agency in 1998, “one of the first families I recall meeting was the Scharff family.”

Goldberg added, “once you become a friend of the Scharffs, you are a friend for life.”

Lee Scharff thanked JCRS, Jeanie Tolmas receives the Rosenthalalong with friends and family designed award from JCRS President who traveled from “as far away Leon Rittenberg III as Charlotte and (Washington) in the east, San Francisco and Kenner in the west.”

Goldberg commented that one of individuals who was most excited about the Tolmas family being honored was Harry Mayronne, the evening’s pianist and musical director. Mayronne “was one of the many thousands of New Orleanians who grew up under the care of Hyman Tolmas.”

Jeanie Tolmas represented her family in accepting the award.

Dan and Florence Scharff have Southern family roots going back 160 years. He grew up in New Orleans, while she is originally from Montgomery. They met at Tulane, and after being married in Montgomery moved to New Orleans, where they lived until they lost their home in the storm.

Since Katrina they have made their home in Baton Rouge.

Also honored were son and daughter-in-law Lee and Susan Scharff, who met at the University of Alabama. He was president of JCRS from 1997 to 1999, and is past president of the Brotherhood at Temple Sinai and Gates of Prayer.

New Orleans native Hyman “Doc” Tolmas was already a physician when he met Connie Cohen of Dallas, who was at Newcomb. He practiced medicine for 55 years and was president of Anshe Sfard, while she became active in volunteer work.

Daughter Jeanie graduated from Tulane Medical School, becoming a local “Top Doctor.” She served as JCRS president from 2003 to 2005.

Son Alan founded Texas Financial Forensics in Dallas, while his wife Gina, a Tulsa native, established an interior design firm. After the storm, the rest of the family moved to Dallas. They have established four scholarship funds at JCRS. Two others involved in the “Musical Night from Gershwin to Godspell” had JCRS ties. Professional drummer Bruce Miller is the immediate past president of JCRS who is also a past JCRS recipient.

The concert narrator, Hank Greenberg, is past president of the New Orleans Concert Band, which performed at the 2012 “Jewish Roots of Jazz” gala. All four of his grandparents were raised at the Jewish Children’s Home, which became the JCRS when the home closed.

Vocalists were Chris Wecklein, Darcy Malone and Amy Alvarez. They were also joined by Dr. Sick and Mark Brooks. Playwright Jon Broder wrote the narration and worked with Mayronne on the music selection.

In the program notes, Goldberg wrote that for many Jews who went on to fame in the world of Broadway, Jewish summer camp was the first opportunity to take part in theater.

Last year, JCRS served 1500 children and families in 178 communities in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Patton’s grandson, giving life and remembrance for Holocaust events With Holocaust Remembrance Day falling on April 28, many communities will have commemorations this month with a wide range of topics and speakers.

Alexandria’s Holocaust commemoration will feature the grandson of General George Patton, Pat Waters.

Waters served in Vietnam with the Navy for five years, then established Waters Investments, a real estate business in Louisiana. He now lives in South Carolina.

Michael Tudor, an Alexandria attorney who started the process leading up to last year’s dedication of a Holocaust memorial in Alexandria, said Patton was in Alexandria during the Louisiana Maneuvers, along with Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Pat Waters Bradley.

The Maneuvers were training sessions for the U.S. military, testing a wide range of tactics that ultimately enabled the country to defeat Nazi Germany.

Tudor said the three leaders often stayed and played cards in the Mirror Room of the Hotel Bentley, three blocks from the new memorial. The hotel is currently being restored.

There are two historical markers at the monument, one of which describes Alexandria’s role in the war. A new Anne Frank marker is scheduled to arrive before this year’s commemoration.

The April 28 event will start at the monument at 6 p.m. After the opening service, there will be a two-block procession to Emmanuel Baptist Church for the bulk of the program, including Waters’ talk.

As the procession passes the Cathedral for the Northern Diocese of Louisiana, the cathedral’s bells will ring.

A reception will follow the program at Emmanuel.

Also in Alexandria, the Museum of Art is showing “Theo Tobiasse: Textural Emergence” as part of the Days of Remembrance. The exhibit opened March 7 and runs through May 24.

As a teenager in Paris, he and his family were forced into hiding during the city’s Nazi occupation from 1942 to 1944. He spent most of his time reading and drawing.

After the war, armed with a portfolio of drawings, he began his artistic career as a graphic designer and painted at night. By 1969 he was able to devote all of his time to painting. The works in this exhibition are Carborundums, Aquatints and Lithographs from the 1980s.

Tobiasse, who died in 2012, put his innermost feelings into almost all his works and his little “secret,” entrusted only to his paintings: a personal message which he wrote in Yiddish and then glued onto the canvas before painting or collaging over it. No one will ever know the message without destroying the painting itself.

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In Shreveport, this year’s Holocaust commemoration is tied with an effort to give life.

B’nai Zion is holding a blood drive on April 27 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with a goal of 25 units, along with cheek-swabbing people for the Bone Marrow Registry.

The twin drives are in memory of Zach Guillot of Seattle, who died from an aggressive form of childhood leukemia in February at age 9.

His grandparents, Linda and George Guillot, used to live in Shreveport, and his father, Jeff, grew up at B’nai Zion.

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The drive is aimed at “giving new life through blood transfusions on a day that we mourn the loss of 11 million.”

That afternoon at 4, the 31st annual Northwest Louisiana interfaith Holocaust remembrance will be at the Christian Center on Idema Street in Shreveport.

There will be a candle lighting ceremony and reading of the winning entry in the high school writing competition.

Ars Nova in Huntsville is producing “The Voices of Terezin” at Weatherly Heights Bapist Church on April 11 at 7:30 p.m. and April 12 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10.

The performance features Tony Kushner’s English translation of the Hans Krasa children’s opera “Brundibar,” which was performed 55 times by children in the Terezin concentration camp.

Also featured will be Charles Davidson’s “I Never Saw Another Alexandria’s new Holocaust memorial Butterfly” song cycle for soprano, based on the book of drawings and poems public about the horrors of the Nazi regime from the children of Terezin. Christie Weber and teaching the importance of tolerance. The will be the featured performer, accompanied evening is free and open to the public. by an ensemble from the Huntsville CommuBialowitz participated in the largest sucnity Children’s Chorus and Ars Nova singers. cessful prisoner revolt of the Holocaust. He Ela Stein Weisberger, a survivor of Terezin will share his experiences at Sobibór and now living in New York, will provide a pre- discuss the continued importance of mutual show discussion of her Terezin experiences. respect among people of different beliefs.

She was 11 when she was sent to the camp in During the program, the ninth Annual Ed1942 and was liberated in 1945. While at the ucator of the Year award will be presented to camp, she played the pivotal role of the cat in Tony Behan, a religion and theology teacher “Brundibar.” at De La Salle High School in New Orleans.

This award recognizes local teachers who do Rabbi Elliot Stevens of Montgomery’s Tem- an outstanding job integrating Holocaust edple Beth Or will be the keynote speaker at ucation into their curriculum. the State of Alabama Holocaust CommemHigh school delegates selected for the Anoration, April 29 at 11 a.m. at the Old House ti-Defamation League Donald R. Mintz Youth Chamber. A proclamation from Governor Leadership Mission to Washington will also Robert Bentley will be presented. be recognized.

A lunch follows the state commemoration.

A Holocaust remembrance will also be held Reservations are required for the lunch, which at Gates of Prayer in Metairie on April 27 at is $10, and can be made through the Birming- 11 a.m. ham Holocaust Education Center.

In Birmingham, educational programPhilip Bialowitz, one of only eight living ming began in March with an annual Brown survivors of the Sobibor extermination camp, Bag Lunch series at the Birmingham Public will be the keynote speaker at New Orleans’ Library, featuring sessions on the Holocaust community-wide Holocaust Memorial Pro- each week. gram on April 27 at 7 p.m. at the Uptown JewIn April, the Levite Jewish Community ish Community Center.

Center is doing “27 Days of Understanding The memorial program remembers and and Tolerance” leading up to Holocaust Mehonors local survivors while educating the morial Day, in conjunction with the Birming-

Southern Jewish Life

ham Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Coalition.

Visitors to the LJCC will be asked to participate in an activity centering on understanding and tolerance.

Toward the end of the 27 days there will be a viewing of the new JCC Holocaust memorial garden, and on April 27 the program concludes with the 2 p.m. screening of “No Place on Earth.” The documentary talks about Esther Stermer of Ukraine, who in October 1942 leads her family to hide from the Nazis. They spent about a year and a half living underground, in two caves.

B’nai Israel in Monroe will also screen “No Place on Earth” at its remembrance on April 27 at 2 p.m.

Birmingham’s community program will be April 23 at 7 p.m., at Samford University’s Brock Recital Hall. Concert pianist and Grammy nominee Mona Golabek will present “The Pianist of Willesden Lane,” based on her book “The Children of Willesden Lane.”

Her mother was sent from Vienna on the Kindertransport in 1938, arriving at a home for refugee children on Willesden Lane in London.

About 10,000 children — three-quarters of them Jewish — were saved through the Kindertransport.

“I was so overwhelmed by the love my grandmother showed in sending her daughter away, losing her forever to save her, that I vowed to share this story with the world,” Golabek said.

The evening will also include a candle lighting ceremony.

Golabek will have two additional performances. On April 22 at 10 a.m. she will perform for schools that are taking part in the community read of her book, and on April 24 at 1 p.m. she will perform for Samford University music students and other invited music students.

The Birmingham Holocaust Education Center also announced that a set of the exhibit “Darkness Into Life” about Holocaust survivors in Alabama will be permanently housed at the Friedman Center at Knesseth Israel in Birmingham.

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On April 8, the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center, Anti-Defamation League and University of West Alabama hold an educators workshop at the Livingston campus.

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Auburn University Montgomery holds its annual Holocaust Education Program on April 9 from 9:30 a.m. to noon, at the AUM athletic complex. Holocaust survivors Max Herzel and Max Steinmetz will speak.

The Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama will hold its commemoration, “America in the Shadow of the Holocaust” on May 4 at the Huntsville Museum of Art, starting at 2 p.m.

Guest speaker will be Leslie Kahn, granddaughter of Holocaust survivors who were rescued by a relative in Huntsville, Lawrence Goldsmith. Frustrated by the State Department during his efforts, Goldsmith went through other channels, including Senator John Sparkman, to get the family out of Europe.

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On April 17 at noon, Dan Puckett, author of “In the Shadow of Hitler: Alabama’s Jews, the Second World War and the Holocaust,” will speak on “The Resettlement of Jewish Refugees in Alabama 19381941” at the Alabama Archives in Montgomery.

Jackson’s Holocaust remembrance program will be April 26 at Beth Israel, featuring University of North Carolina at Charlotte Professor James Grymes, who is interim chair of the department of music, and Marta Szlubowska, concert mistress for the Mississippi Symphony.

Grymes is author of “Violins of Hope,” about the power of music even during the horrors of the Holocaust. According to a profile of the book, “for some musicians, the instrument was a liberator; for oth-

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ers, it was a savior that spared their lives. For many, the violin provided comfort in mankind’s darkest hour, and, in at least one case, helped avenge murdered family members.”

The book talks about Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein, who is working to bring these instruments back to life as a tribute to those who were lost in the Holocaust, including 400 of his relatives.

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Baton Rouge’s commemoration will be on April 27 at 4 p.m., at Beth Shalom, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge and the Advocate Educational Services Department.

Holocaust survivor Manny Klepper of Lafayette will speak, and there will be recognition of essay contest winners.

Klepper was almost seven years old during Kristallnacht. A group of young men invaded their home in Trier, trashing the place. Afterward, a group of nuns from the convent next door came by to see what the noise was, and spent the entire night helping clean the house.

Klepper’s father was in the resistance. It took until 1940 for family members in the United States to go through the bureaucracy to get the rest of the family out of Europe, which at that point could be done only via Russia to Korea and Japan. He arrived in the United States in late 1940.

Mobile’s community Holocaust commemoration is done in conjunction with the Christian-Jewish Dialogue. This year’s event will be at Springhill Avenue Temple on April 27 at 7 p.m.

The event will feature artwork, poems and essays by Mobile County students, and a special recognition to Agnes Tennenbaum, a Holocaust survivor who moved from Arizona to Mobile in 2006.

Also in Mobile, the exhibit “Helene Berr, A Stolen Life” about “the French Anne Frank” continues at Spring Hill College through Aug. 10.

Montgomery’s interfaith Holocaust memorial service will be on April 27 at 3 p.m.

Temple Beth Or will host. There will be readings and presentations by numerous clergy, and Turia Stark Williams will sing.

In Auburn, a Holocaust remembrance is scheduled for April 27 at Beth Shalom, starting at 3 p.m.

Dothan’s Temple Emanu-El will hold its Holocaust remembrance at the April 25 Shabbat service.

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Passover For the unleavened film experience of a lifetime…

By Lee J. Green As Passover approaches and thoughts turn to unleavened bread, the makers of the almost-complete “Streit’s: Matzo and the American Dream” movie hope to bring in a bit more “bread” from a secondround of fundraising.

Producer Michael Green and Writer/Director Michael Levine raised $65,000 through a Kickstarter campaign last spring. They began filming last July and are in the final editing stages.

Levine said they just need to raise another $25,000 for editing, licensing, marketing and to cover costs for submitting the finished movie to film festivals across the country.

“We’re doing this campaign directly through the film’s website — www.matzofilm.com. Depending on how much someone contributes we will offer things such as DVD copies, credit in the film, reproductions of old Streit’s advertising materials, hats like ones worn by factory workers and even a screening in someone’s hometown” for top contribution categories, said Levine.

“Streit’s: Matzo and the American Dream” tells the story of the Streit’s Matzo Company and its largely-unchanged-over-the-years factory that first opened in New York’s Lower East Side in 1925. Streit’s

roughly 80 employees, many of whom have been working there for decades, currently produce approximately 40 percent of the nation’s matzo.

“It is a great story of Jewish immigrants (from Russia) starting a business and how it has remained successful while resisting opportunities for developers and larger company acquisitions,” said Levine. “The employees are part of the family.”

The filmmaker’s father and grandfather lived on Rivington Street, which is the street the Streit’s factory is located on. Levine grew up in New Jersey outside of the city, but for the past 15 years he has lived in the Lower East Side.

“I passed by the place several times, but I never really knew that much about what went on inside and about Streit’s as a company,” he said. One day while Levine was taking a closer look at the storefront, “one of the employees pulled out matzo from the oven and handed it to me from the window.” Levine was invited for a tour of the factory and the filmmaker smelled a great idea for a documentary.

Green coordinates and markets food and wine events. In the summer of 2012, Levine answered Green’s Craigslist ad for someone to film an Atlantic City event. Levine brought up the Streit’s movie idea to Green and Green agreed to come on board to produce the film.

Southern Jewish Life

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One of the many interesting things in the film, according to Levine, is how some of the employees have worked at Streit’s for more than 50 years.

Another is how stringent the kosher certification process is and how much attention Streit’s puts into doing it right all the time. “There are rabbis on every floor and the detail they put into clean-up to abide by kosher certification is incredible,” said Levine. “Matzo is so simple — just flour and water. But the process of meeting high kosher certification standards is complex.”

Levine and Green will soon begin submitting the finished film to general film festivals as well as Jewish film festivals. Said Green, “of course we would love to have the opportunity to be a part of film festivals, if selected, across the Southern Jewish Life magazine coverage area. This is a story that we really feel will resonate everywhere.”

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Two rabbis from the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life will continue “a Southern Jewish Tradition” by embarking on a Passover Pilgrimage through the region.

Rabbis Marshal Klaven and Matthew Dreffin will conduct services, lead Seders, offer educational programs and facilitate dialogue. Each year, the events draw a diverse crowd and foster positive, shared community experiences.

This year, the week-long tour expands to seven states.

Klaven will start on April 11 and 12 at B’nai Israel in Natchez for Shabbat and pre-Passover programming. On April 13 he will do a pre-Passover community Seder at Meir Chayim in McGehee, Ark. For the first Seder on April 14 he will be at B’nai Israel in Panama City, then second night on April 15 at B’nai Israel, Albany, Ga. On April 16, he will lead a “third night” Seder at Beth Shalom in Auburn.

On April 17 he will lead a community social and adult educational program at Mishkan Israel in Selma, then complete the tour at Temple Shalom in Lafayette for Shabbat on April 18 and 19.

Dreffin will start with a first-night Seder on April 14 at Anshe Chesed in Vicksburg, then will journey to the Upper Cumberland Jewish Community in Crossville, Tenn., for a third-night Seder on April 16.

On April 17 he will be at Rodeph Shalom in Rome, Ga., then spend Shabbat on April 18 and 19 at B’nai Israel in Fayetteville, Ga. Dreffin’s journey concludes in Dahlonega with an event on April 19 at Shalom B’Harim, then on April 20 at the Georgia Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church.

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Southern Jewish Life

Rabbi/Pharoah Marshall Klaven in Panama City in 2013

Former Birmingham Chabad rabbi flees unrest in Crimea

By Sean Savage JNS.org

While the crisis in Ukraine continues to unfold, Jews in the disputed region of Crimea have been caught in a battle over nationalism. Like many minority groups in the area, Ukrainian Jews fear for their safety and their future amid the heightened tension.

“The main action in Crimea was taking place right across the street from our synagogue,” said Rabbi Yitzchok Meyer Lipszyc, who has been a ChabadPhoto by Chabad Lubavitch of Crimea Lubavitch emissary in Simferopol, the capital Rabbi Yitzchok Meyer Lipszyc has been of Crimea, for more than in Crimea for over two decades. two decades. “There were demonstrations with over 30,000 people. The protestors were proUkrainian. But eventually the ones who took over were in the unidentified uniforms—they were obviously Russian military. There was Cossacks there too; for Jews that was a bit scary because of their history in the pogroms.”

Lipszyc, who was recently forced We had to leave to leave Crimea with his wife Leah, spoke with JNS.org about his experimore because we ence during the protests, the Russian are Americans military occupation of the area, and than because we the state of the Jewish community there. are Jewish Lipszyc was sent to Birmingham in 1982 to establish Chabad of Alabama. He left in 1989 and assisted a friend in Florida for two years.

After a year in Kollel, he was sent to Crimea in 1992, not long after the region had been freed of Soviet rule.

JNS: What has life been like in Crimea?

Rabbi Yitzchok Meyer Lipszyc: “For the last 22 years under the Ukrainian government, everything has been going very well. When this situation began, it turned things upside down. We were told by Chabad headquarters to get out and we barely made it out. My wife in fact got the last two tickets on a train out of Simferopol on the night before everything got sealed off by the Russians (Feb. 27).”

Can you describe the political situation in Crimea?

“When this whole thing started, a number of people were afraid. I would say that, and I’m not a political analyst, probably most of the people wanted to stay with Ukraine, because that was what they were familiar with.

“But then when the Russians took over the media and propaganda switched the other way, within days we saw it swing towards being overwhelmingly pro-Russian. However, there were many still against Russian because they were afraid. From what I heard, when the refer-

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It’s Greek to you… from us! endum came, many people didn’t vote because it wasn’t legal and they were standing against it.

“The situation is not good, especially for Americans like us. Americans were persona-non-grata for both Ukrainians and Russians at this time. For Russians it is because of the stance the American government has taken against Russia. While on the Ukraine side they are deeply disappointed that America is not doing enough to help them.

“Oddly enough we had to leave there more because we were Americans and not because we were Jewish. The situation is still difficult. We are personally apolitical and there simply to help the Jewish community in any way we can.”

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Did you experience anything particularly noteworthy before you left Crimea?

“One interesting story that occurred for us, that we consider a miracle, was when the area around our synagogue was taken over and cordoned off by the Russian military. You couldn’t get in or out by car or even by walking. We therefore moved the synagogue to our house, which was outside the cordoned off area, but we still needed to retrieve the Torah from the synagogue.

“We didn’t think we could get in at all. So my wife suggested that we approach the area and try to get as far as possible. We also wrote a note to the [Lubavitcher] Rebbe, to ask for his help to get us through.

“Believe it or not, when our friend reached the military checkpoint, he explained to them that we needed to retrieve the Torah out of the synagogue, [the Russian soldier] suddenly moved out of the way and removed the barriers to let him in. On his way out, the solider actually even apologized to him for the inconvenience, which was unheard of there! It was a miracle!”

Do you plan to return to Crimea?

“I hope to as soon as possible, but it is a little difficult for us because we are Americans. Our basic stance was that as soon as it stabilizes, we will go back there. For us, it doesn’t matter who is in charge, Russian or Ukrainian, we are apolitical. We are there for the Jewish community.”

With Crimea now under Russian control, do you think the Jewish community is safe there?

“As far as the record goes in Russia, the Jewish people have been able to practice and be Jewish without any major problems. Of course there is anti-Semitism, but it isn’t state sanctioned.

“In Crimea, I hope that Putin will want to prove that it will remain safe for Jews.

“The Jewish community in Crimea needs help. We have to prepare for Passover and need to raise a lot of money to help with the extra costs. We not only need extra security, but we have taken losses during the process.

“For example, we were getting our kosher meat from Ukraine, we had ordered and paid for it, but they [Russian forces] didn’t let it through. We also paid for the Matzos, but that didn’t get through either. We need to figure out how to all our supplies through now. We are appealing to everyone to help out the Jewish community there.”

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Alexandria Mardi Gras children’s parade honors Israel This year, Israel was the featured country for a Mardi Gras celebration in Alexandria.

The annual Children’s Mardi Gras parade rolled through downtown on March 1. Zina Ford, who chairs the international program for the parade, said “for many years we have honored countries with strong ties to Central Louisiana,” and this year Israel was selected.

Becky Danville, president of the Alexandria Mardi Gras Association, said the country is selected by the city and executives from the association.

Last November, the city dedicated a Holocaust memorial in the downtown area. Mayor Jacques Roy also joined a trip to Israel with members of the local Jewish community in March 2013.

Consulate official Guy Cohen and his two Two officials from the Israeli Consulate in children, Hagar and Yuval Houston were guest dignitaries in the parade.

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Robert Preston is the political affairs officer, and Guy Cohen is the director of cultural affairs. Cohen spoke at the Holocaust memorial dedication.

Children from Gemiluth Chassodim rode on the association’s float, which had an Israeli flag. Rabbi Judy Caplan Ginsburgh performed the United States and Israeli national anthems, followed by a toast from the mayor.

A luncheon was held at the Diamond Grill, recognizing the international guests of honor, then Gemiluth Chassodim hosted a public reception with all of the dignitaries.

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A White City Shabbat dinner

Birmingham natives helping set Shabbat dinner record Two Birmingham natives are helping organize what is expected to be a world-record Shabbat dinner, certified by Guinness World Records.

Natalie Solomon, daughter of Barbara and Eric Solomon, moved to Israel in December 2012, and Victoria Kimerling, daughter of Sheryl and Jon Kimerling, spent the past year on a Masa “Career Israel” program.

They are both working on White City Shabbat’s June dinner, which will take place at the Hangar 11 port in Tel Aviv.

A non-profit organization entirely run by volunteers, White City Shabbat is hoping that the Guinness title will encourage Jews worldwide to celebrate Shabbat in their own comThis is “a bid to munities. “While White City Shabbat restore Shabbat is going to be the first organization to as the symbol of attempt this record, our hope is that in years to come communities around Jewish unity.” the world will come together to try and surpass the standard we set this year,” said Jay Shultz, one of the event’s organizers who is often dubbed “the international mayor of Tel Aviv.”

Over 10,000 people have already attended White City Shabbat’s meals, and each one is packed to capacity with over 200 people in attendance and another 100 plus on waiting lists.

Kimerling said White City Shabbat is “the portal for Jewish life in Tel Aviv.” In addition to its monthly dinners, they also host holiday celebrations and meals, Jewish learning series, learning minyans and inter-community programming “At any given White City Shabbat dinner, you’ll hear about 10 languages spoken and World’s Largest Shabbat Dinner will be no exception,” Solomon said. “We’d like to see Jews from all over the globe take part in this event, either to come and enjoy this spectacular demonstration of Jewish peoplehood in person or by donating to our fundraising efforts. After all, Shabbat is the soul of the Jewish people and Tel Aviv is a focal point of the Jewish world.”

According to the group, to break the record they need at least 1,000 Israelis andwnew immigrants the Because their misw w. r e d M o u n t ato i nattend t h e at r e . odinner. rg sion statement proclaims “Shabbat for All,” the dinner will be free and is being funded by an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, which includes a video by Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau. White City Organizer Deborah Danan said there are a few larger events out there, including a Chabad Seder in Nepal for 2,500, but no one has officially set a record with Guinness. After researching, they set a figure of 1,000 for the record, and they hope to dramatically exceed that.

Whether that is enough to set a record may be up for debate in New Orleans. On March 21, Chabad at Tulane held its seventh annual

Shabbat 1000, which brings together around 1,000 for Shabbat dinner each year.

Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin of Chabad at Tulane pointed out that last year, Chabad at the University of Florida did a Shabbat 1800.

Regardless, “the goal of White City Shabbat’s Guinness meal is to spur Jewish communities all over the world to mimic our efforts, in a bid to restore Shabbat as the symbol of Jewish unity,” Danan said.

Kimerling said nobody recalls who came up with the idea, as some

Photo by Face to Face Photography/Donna Matherne

in the organization were trying to figure out a way to “inspire Jewish unity with some type of global Jewish communal effort, and that is where the idea to attempt a Guinness World Record came from.”

Solomon said her Israel experience started at age 15 when she went to the Alexander Muss High School in Israel. When she moved to Israel, she became manager of Israel programs for Birthright Israel alumni, having worked for Birthright in New York and splitting time between New York and Israel. Within five months she was profiled in Time Out Israel magazine.

She is co-director of the Am Yisrael Foundation, which funds and organizes social and philanthropic initiatives to assist and empower young adults, especially in Tel Aviv.

Kimerling started visiting Israel after graduating from Mountain Brook High School in 2005. Her Birthright trip in 2012 “had an element of self-reflection that I had never experienced on a previous trip to Israel,” and she realized “10 days was not enough for me to answer those questions” about what Israel meant to her.

As she finished her master’s degree, a Masa representative called to ask if she was still interested in returning to Israel, and she decided that was the time to go. While researching Masa programs she contacted Solomon and learned more about the Am Yisrael Foundation.

“I knew that going on Career Israel and interning with AYF was the right fit for me,” Kimerling said. Though her internship ended two months ago, she is still working with the group. “It’s given me a chance to see Tel Aviv through the lens of passionate, highly motivated young pioneers who are working tirelessly to improve the city and the community that we’ve chosen to call home.”

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Shabbat 1000 at Tulane University was held on March 21.

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A Visit With: Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar In this issue, we chat with Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar of Huntsville’s Temple B’nai Sholom.

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You’ve been in Huntsville since 2009. But let’s start with some background. Did you always know growing up that you wanted to become a rabbi?

No, I wanted to be a doctor. And I went to Brandeis University to fulfill that dream, into the field of women’s health, only to realize that wasn’t where my heart and passion were.

I found myself volunteering a lot at Hillel; I led services; I wrote a prayerbook for a group in Boston; I taught religious school. I kept finding myself doing more and more in the Jewish world.

I took a year off between Brandeis and Hebrew Union College. I got a grant to study Hebrew on my year off and I lived on a kibbutz. I had a wonderful experience.

Your grandparents were Holocaust survivors — was that also in some way a draw for you to become a rabbi?

Yeah, for sure. My grandmother died right before I left for Israel and I suspect she would be very proud. My grandfather had a very hard time in Dachau and he died later of cancer, and I never got to meet him.

On Kristallnacht, my Uma’s family housed the Torah for the town. The Nazis came in and my grandmother hid under the porch with the family; that night my Opa and some family were taken away to Dachau. Objects in their house were confiscated and the Torah was burned in front of their house along with other Jewish objects. They saw it.

When you grow up in a house where you hear stories, I don’t know how it impacted me, but I know that it has for sure impacted me to want to give back to the Jewish community and work for the survival of the Jewish community.

Your husband is a jewelry designer who grew up in Israel — is that where you met?

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Where in Israel is he from, and what brought him to the states?

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Beit Arieh (the House of the Lion), right over the Green Line in the settlements (about six miles southeast of Rosh Ha’Ayin).

His cousin was in jewelry here, and he needed help and offered to teach him. So Uzi came here, he’s a certified gemologist, he has his own business, Aiden Jewelry.

Is there somewhere local that carries his line?

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Yes, Osbourne’s Jewelers in Huntsville. There are stores all over that carry his jewelry. He just started a bridal line that we’re very excited about.

Was there a transition for him to make with the concept of marrying a Reform rabbi since the Reform movement isn’t as widespread in Israel?

around with. It’s different having your liturgy on a big screen instead of a prayer book. I’m doing something similar at Passover with the Haggadah because I really want to engage Oh yeah. In Israel, so many people are either everyone. secular or frum, and neither of those appealed Describe this year’s congregational seder. to my husband so he always was looking for I like to live the liturgy. I’m putting out a something that wasn’t Orthodox but that wasn’t secular either. When you live in Israel, labyrinth in the Temple’s green space and we’re you don’t have to work very hard to be Jewish, going to do a meditation around cleaning your you live the Jewish calendar. When he came soul for Passover, so you carry a feather into the to this country it wasn’t enough for him to be labyrinth, and you’ll walk out of the center of Israeli, he was looking for a deeper connection the labyrinth with a candle to make sure you got and I think he found that through me and the all the little nooks and crannies of your soul.

We’re then going into the Cooper House, Reform Movement. which is part of Central Presbyterian. They What is it that attracted you to B’nai Sholom made the entire house a social hall with media options. The Alpha Mens’ Group, which is an and Huntsville?

It was a mutual attraction. When I got off African-American choir, will be singing some gospels for us and as we the airplane in Huntsville, exit Egypt we will sing those in the interview, they gospels with them. The rest set up three different of the haggadah will be up people to interview, and on the big screen.

I remember sitting in the room and pulling our chairs closely together and saying ‘we’re going to have a conversation.’ And I remember walking out of it and feeling like ‘wow, that went very well, I feel like I acted like a rabbi.’ In other interviews, I was trying to sell myself and I didn’t feel the need to sell myself to them here.

I remember thinking to myself: this is really cool, this is not what I thought of Alabama, they’re all rocket scientists, I’m not kidding.

Really, they’re all rocket scientists.

Your congregation was one of the first to institute a series of programs on health and well-being. That’s reflected in your onegs, right?

That has totally changed our onegs. Our onegs are so much healthier. We always have something sugar-free. We always have fruit and vegetables, we have hummus. Several of our congregants have lost weight.

I last visited with you the Shabbat of the Temple B’nai Sholom Chanukah Fry Festival.

First of all, every congregation from now on needs Jeff Lindy to bring those fabulous fried biscuits. But I was really taken with the style of service that evening. There were cute YouTube videos of Chanukah songs interspersed with a traditional service and a choir. There was something for everyone — my two little boys were completely enchanted — is that something you do at every service, giving a traditional service some 21st century twists?

Last year you led the congregation in a seder at the Madison County jail.

If you look at the word ‘mitzrayim’ it literally is coming out of a place of narrowness and when we were in Egypt we were slaves, and what are slaves like? Modern day prisoners in many ways. So I wanted us to stand outside the jail, and it did help as a visual effect.

We meditated on what was really imprisoning us.

And then we went down to Big Spring Park and they have a beautiful red bridge, we continued with some prayers and meditations about being imprisoned and coming out, and I had another gospel singer from Oakwood University who had the sweetest voice sing, and then we crossed the bridge as if we were crossing the Red Sea (Red Sea, Red Bridge), and when we got to the other side, we sang Miriam’s Song.

I wanted us to do an Exodus journey ourselves and experience what could a release feel like.

We came back and finished with a traditional service.

The largest seder in the state is held in Huntsville each year. It’s put on by a Christian group, and there are a lot of pro-Israel Christian groups in the area, along with people who profess a love of the Jewish people. Have you taken part in the event as the face of Huntsville’s Jewish community?

No. I’ve spoken to the organizer, pastor Bob Somerville, in fact he and I sit together on a clergy board and he and I have done some work No, but I did a similar service at Purim. I can on that board together. I found out recently tell you that it’s something I’ve been playing that members of his organization have since 2007 supported AIPAC.

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While I may differ on their theological stances on a variety of social issues, I think the one thing we can agree on is Israel and Israel certainly today does not have enough friends, so working with him on Israel is something we’re starting. Giving them space to practice their religious belief is something we will honor as they respect and honor our boundaries.

Our (congregational) seder is open to the community. Anyone who wants to attend our seder is welcome.

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We are bucking a trend. A little more than a year ago, I met with a congregant who told me how Judaism had no meaning for him and he was contemplating giving up his membership. And his comments to me were comments I had heard from other people. And I realized that part of the deal is that we don’t understand our religion and part of the deal is that we’ve forgotten how to talk to God. I started a Men’s Spirituality Group. Some women found out about the group and now we have a Women’s Group. I’ve revamped our Friday night services to include a mediation book for the Amidah and I ask people to focus on the guided meditations. I’ve brought a deeper sense of connection into the congregation and had no idea that the seed that I planted with the Men’s Group would blossom this way.

Now I have a Young Adult Group that’s forming. We’re contemplating opening a “Mother’s Morning Out” and we’re talking about doing a fundraising campaign. You can feel it in the air that there’s a lot of positive energy here, and I’m grateful.

What will ‘Mother’s Morning Out’ be like?

It will have a Jewish focus and maybe G-d willing turn into a Jewish preschool. I don’t know what it will look like but we are sending out a survey to the entire Jewish community to gauge interest. There are always people looking for ‘Mother’s Morning Out’ programs and there are people who work downtown looking for something nearby.

You have a group trip to Israel coming up.

In “Honey from the Rock” Rabbi Lawrence Kushner talks about the cycle of people going from cathedrals to fields. While obviously this is not a cathedral, this is a Temple, we have to keep this relevant and we have to keep people from wandering into the field and they are looking for something to satisfy their longing to have a deeper connection.

It’s one of the reasons I’m doing a trip to Israel in January with Trinity United Methodist Church. It looks like Mayor Tommy Battle is coming with us, some other community leaders, and what we’re doing is more of a spiritual pilgrimage through the land of Israel.

We are using the land to be more of our midrash, kind of like “Walking the Bible” with Bruce Feiler. We’re walking in Abraham’s and Jesus’ shoes to see how we’re connected. For example, we’re going to go up to Tel Dan to see all the gates up there and contemplate what does it mean to walk through a gate? What is threshold space? What does it mean to go from secular space to holy space?

We’re going to look at kabbalah through the lens of art, and the impact of mysticism on how we live our life. We’re going to do a desert meditation and think about Elijah sitting in a cave and hearing the still small voice speaking to him. What does it mean? Why did revelation repeatedly happen in the wilderness?

I know that you keep kosher.

I have food sent in from Griller’s Pride (in Atlanta). We’re not glatt kosher. In terms of halacha, we probably follow the Conservative Movement’s guidelines in terms of the status of our kitchen. I want to be mindful of what I’m eating.

And that’s why you raise chickens?

Yeah, I have five chickens, and I have a little vegetable patch. How many rabbis do you know that raise chickens?

Interviews were condensed and edited.

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Illustrator Jan Aronson’s depiction of the burning bush episode in the app for The Bronfman Haggadah.

NOLA native illustrates Bronfman haggadah, now in digital form

Happy Passover

By Alina Dain Sharon (JNS.org) — In the Exodus story, Moses decides to rescue his people after he hears God speak to him through the burning bush. But when New York City-based artist Jan Aronson, a native of New Orleans, imagined the famous episode in which Moses must decide which path to take in life, she didn’t see a magic fire, but rather the broiling sun rising and shining on the desert brush. In that moment of meditation, Moses heard the voice within himself that told him to go confront Pharaoh.

That is just one of the inspirations behind the illustrations that Aronson included in “The Bronfman Haggadah,” a collaboration with her recently deceased husband, the renowned Jewish philanthropist Edgar Bronfman. The original hard-cover book was released as an app for the iPhone and iPad in March, in advance of Passover.

The app version takes the themes of the book to a digital level. It includes video interviews with Bronfman and Aronson, narration, animation, and singing of the Passover songs by actors. The Exodus story does not appear in traditional haggadahs, but it is told in the Bronfman hagaddah. The story is narrated in the app; using animation, it shows the basket with baby Moses moving down the river.

“We get a sense of just how monumental it was that this baby was saved,” Dana Raucher, the executive director of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, told JNS.org. Edgar Bronfman and Aronson wanted “to get this app out to audiences that are not necessarily visiting bookstores or buying hardcover books,” according to Raucher.

“They were mostly thinking of younger audiences, which this book is very much geared to, people who are transient in their lives, living in college dorms, moving from city to city, and not necessarily lugging heavy books with them,” she said. “However, they are curious about the Jewish tradition… redefining certain rituals, and in general just taking an open and expansive look at what the Jewish tradition tells us that is relevant in the modern day.”

Bronfman and Aronson worked on the hardcover hagaddah over many seders, after Bronfman had felt dissatisfied with the texts of traditional haggadahs. He decided to write his own haggadah. Aronson was enlisted to illustrate the book.

“Edgar brought not only the story of the Passover, and what’s usually in the traditional seder, but he went beyond that. He talked about lessons of justice, equality and ethics in his haggadah and often quoted texts from all sorts of people,” Aronson told JNS.org.

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that favors godliness, or living an ethical life, over the idea of the supernatural God. “This haggadah is written for a post-denominational world, a postgender world,” Aronson said. “I think what Edgar (Bronfman) would say is that he is trying to appeal to the Jew who is not affiliated with any particular branch of Judaism. I would like to appeal to all Jews.”

Aronson believes there are “many ways to be a Jew” and that almost every Jew “is a pick-and-choose Jew.” “We need to create an environment that every Jew is welcomed into the tent,” she said. “Just because you don’t believe in a supernatural God doesn’t mean you don’t have faith, [which is] living an ethical life, where you give back to society [and] do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.”

In fact, Aronson said she has given the Bronfman haggadah to plenty of her non-Jewish friends, who have loved it. But she says the haggadah probably does not appeal to strictly observant Orthodox Jews.

“The app allows the user to take a more in-depth look at some of the ideas and images that are present in the Bronfman Hagaddah,” Raucher said. One can use it in” pre-seder preparation” or by “learning about the seder and the traditions of the seder” during the dinner portion, she said.

For instance, in the haggadah, Aronson illustrated a biblical map.

“There are many people who do not have a reference as to where certain places were or what the area really looked like in biblical times,” she said.

Aronson added that she and Bronfman questioned why the traditional seder requires that we open the door for the Prophet Elijah near the end of the service.

“Certainly we should open our door to the stranger at the beginning of the service when the children are most alert, when they are excited about being there, when the lessons of opening the door to the stranger are going to be the most welcomed,” she said. “And why should we give the stranger the leftovers? Let’s bring him in at the very beginning.

That’s another big difference in the Bronfman haggadah.”

According to Amalyah Oren, the communications cirector of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, the app’s narration gives it an entertainment-style feel for people who want to experience the haggadah in a more theatrical way.

“It’s a really good tool for learning the tunes of the songs beforehand, or if you just need help accompanying during the actual seder,” Oren told JNS.org.

There are also families who conduct a do-it-yourself seder by veering from the traditional order of event and asking a lot of their own questions at the table. There is a glossary in the Bronfman haggadah app that doesn’t exist in the hardcover book, allowing users to look up information on various topics.

“By having an app at the table, you are connected to the Internet and you can kind of bring [a] third dimension to the conversation,” she said.

Aronson created all the original illustrations in the hardcover haggadah by hand with watercolors. But the app can be a more dynamic and interactive experience, she explained.

“As you turn the page [in the app] you might see the wine glass being filled with wine,” she said. “You might see the lights flicker from the candles being lit at the very beginning of the service. You might see a fish circling the page instead of it being static.”

“You’re taking a traditional book and making it digital, [so] instead of turning a page you swipe it,” Aronson added. “The joy of it will be revealed as people use it.”

Egdar Bronfman, Aronson’s partner in life and on the haggadah, died in December 2013. Aronson said she cherishes the fact that she had the chance “to create something as a couple… to be able to collaborate with him in the last years of his life.”

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Richard Stone is Isidore Newman School Alumnus of the Year The Isidore Newman School in New Orleans honored Richard Stone as the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient.

The Newman Alumni Association presented the award at a reception on March 20.

A member of the class of 1960, Stone is a prominent lawyer, teacher, philanthropist, and supporter of Newman.

Stone has served on the faculty at Columbia University Law School since 1974, where he held the Wilbur Friedman Chair in Tax Law. From 2011 to 2013 he was chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

The Conference is the umbrella organization that represents more than 50 national Jewish organizations with respect to international issues, the promotion of the America-Israel relationship, and the security and dignity of World Jewry. This Chairmanship is considered the highest lay position in the organized Jewish community.

He is a co-founder of several biotechnology companies including Lev Pharmaceuticals. He is also a co-founder of Powermat, a global player in wireless device charging, and he is chairman of the board of Espro Acoustiguide, the second largest provider of contact and hardware for acoustical museum guides.

After Newman, Stone graduated magna cum laude from both Harvard College and Harvard Law School. After two years in private practice, he was appointed as Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States, where he was part of a small group that represented the United States government in the Supreme Court. During that time he argued 10 cases before the Court. During Rudy Giuliani’s term as New York City Mayor, Stone served as the mayor’s Manhattan representative on the Board of the City Universities of New York.

Stone has become a noted philanthropist and humanitarian over the course of his life and career. He has also served as Chairman of the NCSJ, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. He has also chaired the public policy arms of both the New York Jewish Community Relations Council and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

A resident of New York, he has nevertheless maintained a strong connection with Newman. Stone was invited back to the school as the Commencement speaker in 1982, and he hosted a gathering for his class’s 50th reunion in 2010. He has attended almost all of his class reunions and has hosted, organized, or attended a number of Newman events held in the New York area.

The award is the highest honor Newman bestows on its alumni.

Proud to be part of the New Orleans Jewish Community Nobody does local coverage like

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Commander’s Palace offers Passover menu

By Lee J. Green

Happy Passover

to my friends and supporters in the Jewish community Judge Sidney H. Cates, IV

Orleans Civil Court Division C

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Inspired by his Israel visit in the fall of 2012 and gaining a great appreciation for the importance of the Passover holiday, Commander’s Palace Executive Chef Tory McPhail has come up with a special Passover menu at the famous New Orleans restaurant.

Commander’s will offer a five-course, Passover tasting menu for dinner April 14 to 22 at $75 per person. This is the second year for the Passover menu and several entrees will be served this year with variations from last year’s offerings.

“The response to the Passover menu last year was overwhelming,” said McPhail. “What surprised me is how many people who weren’t Jewish came in to experience the Passover menu. In an area dominated by Catholics and Creole/Cajun cuisine, we thought this was something special and important we could do.”

McPhail is originally from Washington and is not Jewish. In the fall of 2012 he took his first trip to Israel for a cultural and cuisine exchange at the invitation of Alan Franco and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans.

“I was just so amazed and impressed with the Israeli people, culture and food. All the foods we had were so fresh; prepared with such passion and perfectly seasoned. I wanted to come back here and honor that. I wanted to tell the story of Israel through cuisine.”

Commander’s Palace has been at its current site on Washington Ave. in Uptown New Orleans for 133 years. The restaurant normally serves high-end Creole and American dishes.

It has gained a reputation for its elegant, bountiful event space for simchas as well as other gatherings. “We want to be known as a celebratory restaurant that offers a highquality dining experience that is unique and at a good value,” said McPhail.

McPhail describes the Passover menu as, “Israel meets traditional Jewish foods meets Cajun/Creole.” Reservations are strongly encouraged for the Passover menu.

For those who cannot make it to Commander’s for the Passover menu, they can call (504) 899-8221 or e-mail darla@ commanderspalace.com to get more information or recipes for any of the menu items listed.

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1403 Washington Ave. New Orleans (504) 899-8221 commanderspalace.com

Passover Menu 2014 Wild Game Bird and Matzo Ball Soup Cypress knee smoked duck, goose, turkey, hen & quail with quenelles of house-made matzo meal and smoky bone jus Cayenne & Sea Salt Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Crispy and creamy batons of Louisiana sweet potatoes over petit leaves with brown sugar-pecans, cast iron roasted shallots and cinnamonTabasco vinaigrette Smoky Lemon, Black Pepper & Rosemary Roasted Veal Garlic grilled artichoke, cardoon, salted eggplant and picholine olives with scorched rosemary and charred scallion vinaigrette Spicy Mustard Grilled Spring Lamb Sous vide belly of Colorado lamb over crispy kugal, lipstick chilis, asparagus, soy beans, green peppercorn paste and tarragon pesto Chocolate Fudge Cookies & Madeira Soaked April Berries Mead glazed dates, cinnamon marshmallows, spiced honey caramel, coconut pavlova and white chocolate-pistachio butter

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Continued from previous page

history of it, both will claim that they have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s that sore a subject.

“Address to a Haggis” was written in Old Scots. Appropriately, for this Burnstein Supper, a regular Torah Reader was asked to do the recitation, because people were already accustomed to enjoying listening to him without understanding a word he’s saying.

After completing the blessing of the haggis in the original Old Scots language, there was a recitation of the little-known Talmudic blessing for kosher haggis in the original Old Jews language: Hamotzi haggis min ha’aretz.

Now you know the appropriate words

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to say when someone offers you a meal of kosher haggis, unless you had the good sense to say “no” in the first place. But, either way, you can still feel free to toast this vegetarian victual using a double shot of single-malt Manischewitz.

And as we ask ye pow’rs wha mak mankind yer care, and dish us out our bill o’ fare… we remind that if ye wish our gratefu’ prayer, gie us a haggis… and zie gesundht.

To life! L’haggis!

Doug Brook is a writer in Silicon Valley who, at a synagogue Robert Burns Supper in January, blessed the haggis. You don’t want to see a haggis after it sneezes. For past

“The Beholder’s Eye” columnist Doug Brook, right, brings in the haggis. columns, other writings, and more, visit http:// brookwrite.com/. For exclusive online content, enjoy facebook.com/the.beholders.eye.

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Happy Passover from…

The Beholder’s Eye

by Doug Brook

Haggis Sameach

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Every year, Jews around the world stare at the charoset on their seder tables and think, “well, at least it isn’t haggis.”

Haggis is, of course, the infamous interloper of Scottish cuisine that for centuries Jewish mothers have used to encourage their children to keep kosher.

Haggis — for those who don’t know, and especially for those who don’t want to — is essentially a sausage stuffed with various organs, which would actually be more edible if it were instead stuffed with a church organ. Including the pipes.

Nonetheless, to this day, Scots around the world observe Robert Burns Day, by holding a Burns Supper which includes a ritual Don’t like Charoset? blessing of the haggis. Robert Burns was the preeminent Could be worse — Scottish poet, and the blessing there’s always haggis is a recitation of his poem, “Address to a Haggis.”

This year, Robert Burns Day coincided with a Saturday night. What’s more, it fell on the Saturday night when a particular synagogue held its annual fundraising gala that, accordingly, was done with a Scottish theme. (Yes, Virginia, there are Scottish Jews. At least two of them.)

This synagogue spectacle, which could only be described as a celebration of Robert Burnstein Day (though it wasn’t), started off with a traditional blessing of the kosher haggis.

Kosher haggis?!?

Now, while the most popular question is “why?” the more answerable question is “how?” This kosher haggis was vegetarian, though surprisingly — given the ingredients of truly (and, in the U.S., illegally) authentic haggis — it did not include heart of palm.

Bear in mind, the interrelation of Jewish and Scottish is not limited to this culinary confluence; it extends to couture.

Scots are known for baring their legs in a kilt. Jews are known for bearing their weight in guilt. But the similarity ends there. Scots wear kilts without guilt, while Jewish mothers give their daughters guilt for wearing anything as short as a kilt. Let alone for not wearing anything under it.

There is also linguistic linkage between the peoples of the single malt and the oy gevalt. Just mention to a Scot that he speaks similarly to Jews and he’ll say, “och, yer jokin’,” while clearing as much phlegm as you do when you say “chai” and you’re not talking about spiced tea.

And just ask anyone in a kilt how it feels to accidentally encounter a bissel thistle. They’ll know what you mean.

But before you expect your neighborhood Celt to give you Chanukah gelt, remember the longstanding division between the Jewish and Scottish that dates back to the Days of Yore (B.C.E.).

Through the centuries, nobody has successfully resolved the question of which is more ear-splitting and less fit to put out a coherent tune: bagpipes or shofar.

The only common ground in this time-dishonored conflict is that if you approach either a Jewish or Scottish scholar and ask them the

Continued on previous page 46

April 2014

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Happy Passover to my friends and supporters in the Jewish community Federation event celebrates musical ties with Rosh Ha’Ayin On March 13, over 170 members of the Greater New Orleans Jewish community attended the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans’ Annual Campaign Celebration. The event was held at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.

As of March 21, the campaign was at just over $2.1 million from 998 donors, with an 8.3 percent card-for-card increase over last year.

Michael Pellera led a jazz trio in classic standards, and between songs, shared anecdotes about his visit to Israel last summer as part of the Partnership2Gether pairing with Rosh Ha’ayin.

Last May, Pellera led a group of NOCCA instructors and students on a New Orleans Music Educators Exchange to Israel, with then-Partnership2Gether chairs Lis Kahn and Stacey Weinreb. They visited the Rosh Ha’Ayin Conservatory and learned about music in Israel.

The trip was partly to consolidate a long-term relationship between the Rosh Ha’Ayin music center and the jazz department at Above, campaign co-chairs Susan NOCCA, and to generate ties be- Good and Brian Katz. Below, tween the arts and dance depart- Kathy Shepard is honored ments at Begin High School and the corresponding departments at NOCCA. During the evening, Nancy Timm presented the Roger Bissinger Memorial Award to Kathy Shepard. The award is presented to a member of the community “who emulates the spirit, character, and leadership qualities epitomized by Roger Bissinger, and whose steadfast commitment and leadership has benefited the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and other civic, educational, and cultural organizations.”

A lifelong New Orleanian, Shepard began with the Moonlighters evening branch of the local National Council of Jewish Women. She became active with the Jewish Community Center, serving as president from 1999 to 2001, and was a local co-chair for the 2012 JCC Association biennial.

An alumnus of the Lemann-Stern program, she is currently a Federation vice president, NCJW treasurer, Women of Touro treasurer, Federation Super Sunday co-chair and on the boards of Touro and the Jewish Children’s Regional Service.

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Judge Candice Bates-Anderson Juvenile Court, Section C

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