SJL New Orleans, April 2015

Southern Jewish Life NEW ORLEANS EDITION

HAPPY PASSOVER CANTOR ON A MOTORCYCLE JAZZFEST SHABBAT AVODAH PARTNERS IN JUSTICE JCRS CELEBRATES 160TH BIRTHDAY PURIM IN NEW ORLEANS SELMA AND THE JEWISH WORLD

INSIDE:

April 2015

Volume 25 Issue 4

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shalom y’all shalomy’all y’all shalom

Cover Image: Courtesy Haspel

Read SJL Anywhere

Last month, I was honored to speak at Anshe Sfard about my experiences from 25 years of Southern Jewish journalism. As I have stated many times, the Southern Jewish community is unique, and this issue continues to chronicle that.

in the center of this issue of Southern Jewish Life Our digital editions are On the cover: “Elijah” at Temple Sinai alwayson available March 14, with the Loyola UniversityatChorus sjlmag.com.

You may also and Chamber Singers, and the Louisiana choose to go Philharmonic Kern.

Cover Image:Orchestra.

Courtesy Photo Haspelby Cliff paperless and have each month Cover Image: Courtesy Haspel Read SJLmagazine delivere Anywhere Read SJL to your inbox.

We have our ongoing coverage of the 50th anniversary of Selma’s civil rights struggles, focusing on the Jewish experience from 1965 and today. We also have a piece on Cantor Joel Colman of New Orleans, who is doing a Southern Jewish exploration over the next two months, visiting six smaller communities.

Our digital Anywhere

editions are sjlmag.com Our digital always available

We also have a piece from the 160th anniversary of Jewish Children’s Regional Service, an agency unlike any other.

But not everything about the Southern Jewish experience is completely unique — there are stories from elsewhere that feel familiar here. In this issue we have a piece on an upcoming film project that brings together Jewish musicians from West Virginia and from an isolated town in Uganda. Each group comes from somewhere that one does not necessarily think of as having a Jewish community (cough), and their musical styles are reflective of where they live — but there is still the common Jewish thread that runs throughout.

/sjlmag

As you receive this issue, it will be about time to sit down to the quintessential common Jewish thread, the Passover Seder, the most widely observed aspect of Jewish life in the world. May you have a happy Passover, and we’ll do this again next month!

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agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events

“Shushan’s Got Talent” at the Jewish Community Day School in Metairie before Purim

Environmental emphasis in AVODAH Partners in Justice honoree selections As the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, the New Orleans branch of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps has selected two Partners in Justice honorees who have been vocal about the storm’s aftermath.

Sandy Rosenthal and Mark Schleifstein will be honored at the April 19 brunch, at Beth Israel in Metairie at 11 a.m.

Rosenthal is the founder and executive director of levees.org, which is dedicated to educating America on the facts associated with the 2005 catastrophic flooding of the New Orleans region.

The group has used a variety of media to educate the public, and has built a list of 25,000 supporters and chapters in five states. Levees.org focuses on legislation to prevent another Katrinalike disaster and to assure fair treatment of the people of the Gulf Coast.

Rosenthal served as a volunteer nutrition and fitness teacher in New Orleans schools for 10 years. She is a member of multiple organizational boards, including St. Paul’s Homecoming, Restore Louisiana Now, and the Louisiana Center for Women and Government.

Schleifstein is the environmental reporter for the Times-Picayune, and his post-Katrina coverage was part of the Times-Picayune coverage that was recognized with the 2006 Pulitzer Prizes for Public Service and Breaking News Reporting and the George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting.

Since the storm, Schleifstein has spoken about the flood and its aftermath more than 500 times, including to more than 300 groups of volunteers who came to New Orleans to help rebuild, to colleges, Congressional staffers at the U.S. Capitol, and at speaking engagements around the world, including Stockholm, Sweden; Monterrey, Mexico; and Istanbul, Turkey.

Schleifstein was a three-time president of the Press Club of New Or-

leans and was honored with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He is also a longtime member of the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Before joining the Times-Picayune, he worked for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, and the Suffolk, Va., News-Herald.

He has also chaired the M’sadere Committee of Shir Chadash in Metairie since 2005.

The event is co-chaired by Melanie and Danny Bronfin, and Lis and Hugo Kahn.

Sandy Rosenthal Brunch tickets, available at tiny.cc/ avodahnolapij, are $50, or $30 for ages 30 and under. Sponsor levels are from $90 to $5,000.

In 2008, New Orleans became the fourth host city for AVODAH. An organization that has been recognized by the Slingshot guide as a Jewish innovator, AVODAH also has operations in New York, Chicago and Washington. Each year, a new set of young Jewish adults move into the communal AVODAH house and commit to a year of working for a non-profit that promotes social justice and Mark Schleifstein fights poverty.

Each participant is matched with a social service agency, where they become a full-time worker at no cost to the agency.

Last year, the agency recognized Jackie and Dan Silverman at the brunch.

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April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 5

agenda Celebrating PJ Library

On March 8, Jewish Children’s Regional Service held a family celebration of eight years managing the PJ Library in New Orleans.

Numerous book-related activities were set up in the auditorium of the Uptown Jewish Community Center.

JCRS coordinates PJ Library in New Orleans and other areas of its region that are not already covered by local groups, sending free Judaic books to children every month.

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agenda Day School accepted into PEJE development program The Jewish Community Day School in Metairie has been formally accepted into the prestigious Governance and Fundraising Academy Focus of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Supported by funding from The Avi Chai Foundation, the Governance and Fundraising Academy is based on PEJE’s many years of experience and knowledge of best practices in Jewish Day School sustainability. Designed specifically for small schools, the 18-month curriculum is constructed around targeted workshops and individualized coaching to create the short and long term initiatives needed to solidify the fiscal health of JCDS. According to Harry Bloom, PEJE Strategy Manager for Day School Sustainability, the decision to accept JCDS into the program was influenced by the tenacity of its leaders in the face of adversity and their personal commitment to school and community as well as to completing a top quality comprehensive program and application process.

“We at PEJE believe that JCDS’s eagerness, enthusiasm and team commitment will be a true asset to the success of this program for JCDS and the Governance and Fundraising Academy Focus Program at large,” Bloom said.

Key selection criteria include stability at the

Head of School position, a highly-functioning board of directors, a respected lay-professional team that includes an experienced development professional on staff, and a track record of working with community-wide teams of professionals and volunteers and successful face-to-face solicitations.

Head of School Sharon Pollin said gaining entrance to the GFA Focus is a huge statement of belief in the viability of JCDS. “Knowing that PEJE and Avi Chai believe in us, our participation in PEJE Focus will propel us to even greater heights in the areas of governance, professional leadership and fundraising,” Pollin said.

“It will successfully serve to engage our leadership and steward our school towards strategic management of our fiscal health and long-term success in fulfilling our mission, vision, and philosophy.”

The school has classes from pre-K to fifth grade at the Goldring Woldenberg Jewish Community Campus in Metairie.

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Preservation Hall Band headlines JazzFest Shabbat The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will headline the 24th annual Touro Synagogue JazzFest Shabbat on April 24.

JazzFest Shabbat has been celebrated by Touro for over two decades, bringing together Judaism with jazz. The service is open to the community, and has attracted some of New Orleans’ most notable musical names. Previous headliners include Jeremy Davenport, Kermit Ruffins, Marcia Ball, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas and John Boutte.

A patron’s party and private concert starts at 6 p.m. The patron dinner is at 6:30, and patron levels include reserved seating for the Shabbat service. Patron levels range from $150 to $1000 per person, or $50 for children accompanied by an adult patron.

The Shabbat service, which is free and open to the community, will be at 7:30 p.m. The event is always popular with out of town visitors to

JazzFest, which runs from April 24 to May 3 this year.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will be joined by the Panorama Jazz Band, Touro Synagogue Choir, Cantor David Mintz and Music Director Terry Maddox.

The band is an outgrowth of Preservation Hall, which began in the 1950s as an art gallery.

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April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 7

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Because running the gallery kept owner Larry Borenstein from attending jazz concerts, he started inviting musicians to have rehearsals at the gallery. Jazz fans gravitated to the space because at the time there were relatively few venues doing traditional jazz.

Allan and Sandra Jaffe visited New Orleans in 1960 and followed musicians to the gallery. They were attracted to the music and moved to the city. Borenstein moved the gallery next door and the Jaffes ran Preservation Hall as a concert space.

The new venue drew national attention, and in 1963 the Preservation Hall Jazz Band made its first tour, which was a success.

After Allan Jaffe died in 1987, son Ben took over, further expanding Preservation Hall’s reach. Ben Jaffe is part of the band, performing on tuba, string bass, banjo, percussion and backing vocals.

JEF forum on women’s philanthropy The Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana invites women to a luncheon to learn “Everything You Wanted to Know About Investing (But Were Afraid to Ask).” The program will focus on increasing women’s knowledge of financial planning and participation in philanthropy.

The guest speaker is Joan Brooks Cox. Cox is a certified financial planner with over 30 years of experience as a financial professional.

The program will be on April 17 at the Five Happiness Imperial Room, with a reception at 11:30 a.m. and luncheon at noon. Reservations are $25.

This event is underwritten in part by the Linda Malkin Zoller Memorial Designated Fund at JEF. As this is an educational program, there will be no solication.

B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge will have the B’nai Israel Classic on May 7 at the Island Golf Club in Plaquemine. The tournament will start at 9 a.m.

Registration is $125 and includes the round, cart, range balls, lunch and prizes. Hole sponsorships are $125.

New Orleans Hadassah announced that its annual gala fundraiser will be on Oct. 18 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Il Mercato on Magazine Street.

The Morris Bart Sr. Lecture Series continues at the Uptown JCC. On April 13, Ron Gubitz will speak about ReNew Cultural Arts Academy, which he began to try and turn around in 2010 after it was the lowest performing school in Louisiana. His talk is entitled “Creative Thinkers, Leaders, Life-Long Learners Conquering the Obstacles to Success.” The program begins at 11:45 a.m.

Jewish Children’s Regional Service was one of 28 New Orleans area children’s charities to receive a check from the Fore!Kids Foundation, which distributed proceeds from the 2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans at a Feb. 26 event. The gifts from the PGA Tour event totaled $265,000.

In all, $1.8 million has been given out from last year’s event. This year’s tournament is April 20 to 26 at TPC Louisiana in Westwego.

Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans was a grant recipient from this year’s New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness distribution. Executive Director Roselle Ungar accepted a check on behalf of the agency. NOAAHH was founded in 1985 by Allen Toussaint and Aaron Neville to do benefit concerts to help the hungry and homeless of metro New Orleans B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge will have a Swamp Shabbat on April 11 at 10 a.m. The family-oriented program will be at Bluebonnet Swamp, strolling through the area and observing nature and the wonder of creation.

Chabad at Tulane announced that Rabbi Leibel and Mushka Lipskier will be the new directors of undergraduate programming.

The Temple Sinai Brotherhood in New Orleans will have its annual Brotherhood Bingo on May 9.

8 Southern Jewish Life • April 2015

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agenda New Orleans Cantor Colman doing Southern Jewish road trip by motorcycle Having served as cantor of Temple Sinai in New Orleans since 1999, Detroit native Joel Colman knows that there is a distinct Southern Jewish culture. During his sabbatical this Spring, he is embarking on a 3,000-mile journey to “enrich my understanding of what it is like to be a Southern Jew.” Through the Jackson-based Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life’s Rabbis on the Road program, Colman will visit six smaller Jewish communities in the region in April and May. The inspiration came from a visit to New Orleans by author Eli Evans, who was the trailblazer in chronicling the Southern Jewish experience, about 15 years ago, shortly after Colman arrived in New Orleans. Evans inscribed a book to Colman with the words “you are now part of this rich Southern Jewish history.”

Colman said that “stuck with me, that there is something unique about being a Southern Jew” that one can not understand until one lives in the South.

He will be traveling to the communities on his motorcycle. “When you visit on a motorcycle, it becomes even more tactile,” with a heightened awareness of the Parked outside Temple Shalom, Lafayette surroundings. “Besides, it is

a cool thing to do.”

Colman said there is no set program for the weekend visits.

Each congregation “has a different dynamic on what they would like to have when they have a visiting rabbi or cantor,” he said. He will lead Shabbat services, do adult education or give a concert, or a combination.

He will visit B’nai Israel in Natchez the weekend of April 10, then Mishkan Israel in Selma on April 24, Temple Sinai in Lake Charles on May 1, B’nai Israel in Cantor Colman performed at the Monroe on May 2, Beth Israel JCRS Gala on March 7 in Gulfport on May 8 and B’nai Israel in Galveston the weekend of May 15.

In February he did a first visit at Temple Shalom in Lafayette. There, he taught at the religious school on Sunday morning. Plans to lead a Shabbat service fell apart because the Mardi Gras parade route was one block away and it was “impossible for people to get to services.”

Before arriving in New Orleans, Colman was cantor at Temple B’rith Kodesh in Rochester, N.Y. and cantor/educator at Greenwich Reform Synagogue in Greenwich, Conn.

Colman received a Master’s degree in Sacred Music from Hebrew

April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 9

agenda Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music where he was ordained as cantor in 1995, and graduated from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.,with a degree in special education.

He is also a past regional director for the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and has taught high school in Texas and in Israel. He also visits the Henry S. Jacobs Camp each summer, teaching amateur radio to campers.

Colman has sung in concerts in New Orleans, Rochester, St. Louis, Miami, Detroit, Tulsa, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City and Jerusalem, and has also been the featured artist at two concerts held at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Colman said ISJL was instrumental in lining up the tour — he did not have to call any congregation to find out if there was any interest. “They knew which congregations would be open to a visit,” he said.

Over the past several years, the ISJL’s Rabbis on the Road program has put 33 visiting clergy on the road; collectively, these clergy have conducted 75 community visits.

On March 15, students from the Chabad of the Emerald Coast Hebrew School in Destin lit memorial candles to honor the 11 servicemen who were killed in the March 10 Black Hawk helicopter crash in the Santa Rosa Sound near Navarre.

Men’s upkeep retreat prepares Jacobs Camp for summer Registration is now open for the annual Men’s Upkeep Retreat at the Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica.

From April 24 to 26, volunteers from the community help the Reform movement’s camp get ready for the summer, working on a variety of projects.

The retreat begins with dinner at 7:30 p.m. on April 24, followed by social time.

After breakfast on April 25, projects are available throughout the day, concluding with rest time around 5 p.m. After dinner there will be adult beverages, sports and other activities.

There will be additional work time after breakfast on April 26 until the weekend ends with lunch.

The projects range from general repairs to special building projects, indoors and outdoors. The camp provides tools but participants are asked to bring work gloves and clothes that can get dirty.

The program is also open to those who just want to come for the day on April 25.

Registration is available through the camp website.

10 Southern Jewish Life • April 2015

Not Just Black and White Civil Rights and the Jewish Community

A welcome return to Selma: Hundreds assemble at Mishkan Israel With reporting by Verna Gates and Deborah Layman Fifty years ago, Selma’s Jewish community was less than thrilled about so many Jewish outsiders coming to town from across the country and demonstrating with the black community for civil rights, urging the activists to leave as quickly as possible.

On March 8, the few remaining Jews of Selma opened their synagogue to a delegation of Jews from across the country — and again, unlike 50 years ago, from across Alabama — to a commemoration of Bloody Sunday, held at Mishkan Israel.

The event was organized by Rabbi Fred Guttman of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, N.C. Almost 100 of his congregants made the trip, most taking an all-night bus ride to meet with those who flew to the Birmingham airport, where they met up with many more participants, including many from Birmingham’s Jewish community.

About 15 from Montgomery’s Jewish community also made the much shorter trip along U.S. 80 for the event.

Guttman felt a “silent moment Susannah Heschel of revelation” during his bridge

crossing at the 49th anniverEditor’s Note: This is the second sary last year, and felt moved part of our coverage of the 50th anto organize a celebration for niversary of Bloody Sunday and the such an important day in JewVoting Rights March from Selma to ish history.

Montgomery. The first two pieces, a “Selma is a holy place. That timeline of events leading up to the bridge is responsible for the 1965 marches, and recollections of voting rights act, which is imJewish participants in the demonperiled right now,” said Guttstrations, ran in last month’s issue man. and are available on the Southern Many speakers described Jewish Life website, sjlmag.com. what Susannah Heschel called “the new Jim Crow” and the need to keep fighting for civil rights and against a resurgence of racism.

Heschel is the daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma in 1965.

Rabbi Randall Konigsburg of Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El introduced Susannah Heschel, noting that in 1958 there was an attempted Klan bombing at Beth-El. “Only the rain on a Saturday night kept our building intact,” he said.

Konigsburg said that during Rabbi Heschel’s long tenure at the Jewish Theological Seminary, he taught generations of rabbis about the importance of having social action as part of their rabbinate. “Being a rabbi is much more than books and sermons, it’s a calling, a call to justice, to equality and a call to cross all those bridges that separated people from

April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 11

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their rights,” Konigsburg said.

“We, as Jews, have to care about other human beings. It is a Jewish responsibility. It is time to follow my father’s example and live a life of moral grandeur,” said Heschel, the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College.

The central teaching of Judaism is “compassion for all people,” she said.

While her father’s visit to Selma is legendary today, “Many Jews opposed us in those days, and my father was not honored when he returned from Selma, he was treated with shame or with indifference.”

Many criticized him for championing causes outside the Jewish community, but caring for only Jewish causes “is not our Judaism,” she said, and the Jewish community should not be “seduced by Jewish self-centeredness.”

Her father was attracted to King because Rabbi Heschel came from Nazi Germany where the Jewish Bible was ripped out of the Christian Bible and the notion of Jesus as a Jew was rejected.

In America, he found King, who made the Exodus narrative central to the civil rights movement, and routinely quoted the Hebrew Prophets.

She said the Jewish community needs to thank the civil rights movement “for what it has given to us as Jews… it brought the prophets back to life.”

Heschel called Selma “a moment in Jewish history, a reminder that being Jewish doesn’t mean being right-wing Republican… and Prime Minister Netanyahu does not speak for all Jews.”

Two other Jewish figures from that era received a great deal of attention — Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were killed with James Chaney in Neshoba County, Mississippi while working to register black voters in 1964.

They were two of the 600 Jewish kids who journeyed South for Freedom Summer ‘64, most of them carrying with them memories of loved ones who perished in the Holocaust.

“They felt that injustice against anyone was an injustice to everyone, “ Guttman said.

David Goodman, younger brother of Andrew Goodman, said it was the first and last interracial lynching in American history, and it took the martyrdom of two white Jewish boys to get the attention of America.

“Because black lives didn’t matter,” said David Goodman, a word play on the call “Black Lives Matter” repeated by protestors and marchers. Had it been only Chaney, it likely would not have been national news.

In his opening remarks, Guttman asked if any were present who had marched on Bloody Sunday. One older black woman rose and received the first of many standing ovations given that day.

Guttman then recognized those in the room who were under the age of 20, the next generation of activists.

David Goodman also recognized those under the age of 20. “You’re the ones we have to depend on… we haven’t left you with the greatest conditions.”

Rabbi Jonah Pesner, the new director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, noted he is the first person in that position who was born after 1965.

not just black and white Pesner spoke of the Jewish “hope that God’s kingdom of justice could actually be realized on this Earth.”

He gave the opening prayer at a dinner on March 6 for the 90 Congressional representatives and their staffers who were in Selma for the weekend’s events. Since it was the beginning of Shabbat, he asked the Jewish participants to join him in the front to say Shehecheyanu.

He noted that “wherever people have struggled for civil rights and social justice, the Jews have marched together” because of the national narrative of being freed from Egypt.

“How easy it was for us to come to Selma” this year, he noted, “but 50 years ago the risk was real because people died here.”

He brought a group of young adults with him to introduce them to what Guttman called “Selma, the new Mount Sinai.”

In North Carolina, Guttman is part of the Moral Monday Movement, an interfaith effort Doug Mishkin and Peter Yarrow for social change and justice.

His partner, North Carolina NAACP leader Rev. William Barber, gave a thunderous talk about the significance of Selma and the work yet to be done. He noted that he was not there for a party, but for a “recommitment and a holy convocation.”

He challenged those in attendance to address inequities in health care, equal protection of the law, LGBT rights, equal opportunity and voting rights.

“We are going to walk across the bridge where we got voting rights when

we have no Voting Rights Act. They cut the heart out of it,” Barber said.

He referred often to what he called a fusion movement, a blending together of what Guttman called “coalition of goodness.” By focusing on the things all agree on, positive change can move forward on the local and state level. For example, Barber pointed out that while some have been killed by police violence, many more have died because a governor refused to sign a piece of paper approving the expansion of Medicaid.

“We can’t change D.C. down, we have to change Selma up,” Barber said.

He told the crowd that “you don’t know how blessed I feel to be here with my Jewish family.” He called for a renewal of an interfaith coalition that “can come together once again and fight to secure pro-labor, anti-poverty policies that would uplift the poor” and address disparities in the criminal justice system.

“Right here in Selma we need to be reminded of the need for prophetic rage. We need to be reminded of what the Jewish people taught us — who will stand up for me? We need to be reminded that we still need prophets and prophetic people,” Barber proclaimed.

A surprise guest was Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary. He recalled being part of a concert for the 1965 marchers just outside of Montgomery on the night before the march reached the State Capitol. The performers were on a makeshift stage in the midst of a muddy field.

At the time, Alabama “was like a war zone. You never knew what was going to happen,” he said.

Yarrow said he came to Mishkan Israel specifically to sing “Blowing in the Wind,” which he called “a holy song.”

Clarence Jones, political advisor, counsel and draft speechwriter for King, was another surprise guest. He heard about the gathering and came Continued on page 16

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In 1965, Selma’s Jews were in tough position Rabbi Joseph Gumbiner, who had been rabbi at Selma’s Mishkan Israel in the 1930s and came back for five days in March 1965 to participate in civil rights demonstrations, wrote that “there is no record of any Jewish person there becoming involved in the civil rights movement,” a failure “shared by the white population as a whole.”

That may have been an overstatement, but as with so many Jewish communities in the region, small numbers and vulnerability limited what could be done.

Pressure from national groups was not welcomed, because Selma’s Jews had been trying to fit in with the broader community and they did not want non-Jews to associate them with the vocal national groups.

In 1956, members of Selma’s B’nai B’rith lodge issued a statement urging groups like the ADL and American Jewish Committee to concentrate on Jewish issues and stay out of the debate over segregation.

Sociologist Marshall Bloom, whose 1966 senior thesis at Amherst was about the Jewish community of Selma, stated that fewer than one-fifth of Selma’s Jews could be described as “strongly segregationist,” but many felt they had to make an appearance of going along with the White Citizens’ Council. The Councils were more middle and upper class than the Ku Klux Klan, but also used intimidation and occasionally violence to fight against integration.

In 1965, Bloom co-founded the Southern Courier, a Selma independent newspaper that emphasized coverage of civil rights.

When the Selma demonstrations took place, there was still resentment against national organizations coming in to make their statements while members of the Selma Jewish community were suffering an economic backlash.

The Jewish Segregationiat While passionate segregationists were quite few in the Jewish community, Selma had one in Sol Tepper. A close friend of notorious Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clark, Tepper answered much of Clark’s mail, in letter form and in a weekly radio show.

Tepper also established a Committee for the Economic Improvement of Colored People in 1963 — where he offered northern communities that spoke of integration the opportunity to receive some of Selma’s blacks.

Tepper was a member of Clark’s “posse,” an unofficial group of Klansmen and others who were seen as an anti-civil rights force. When Tepper showed up as the demonstrations intensified in early 1965, he brought an M-1 army rifle, which Clark’s chief deputy told him not to use.

14 Southern Jewish Life • April 2015

not just black and white Tepper’s presence in the White Citizens’ Council kept anti-Semitism at bay. When one member showed up with a copy of the anti-Semitic newspaper Thunderbolt, Tepper thundered that he would meet anyone outside. That was the last time that paper appeared at a meeting.

After Bloody Sunday coverage critical of Selma was found even in Alabama media outlets, Tepper railed against what he saw as the unjust criticism of those who were trying to maintain law and order in the face of lawlessness by outsiders.

After Unitarian Reverend James Reeb was beaten by segregationists in Selma on March 9 and died two days later, there was a national outpouring of condemnation. In response, Tepper circulated “Ten Big Questions Regarding the Death of Reverend Reeb in Selma, Alabama,” alleging that it was the civil rights activists themselves who had killed him.

He was especially pained by all the Jewish representatives who marched in the demonstrations, figuring the visitors were staining the good reputation Selma’s Jews had. He wrote to one of the visiting rabbis, “I am proud of my Jewish heritage. I am not proud that you call yourself a Jew. In fact, I say you are not.”

members of the Jewish community, which numbered perhaps 150, were working with other moderates at great risk to their livelihoods.

A group of white moderates had started meeting every week at People’s Bank in Selma in late 1963. After Joe Smitherman’s election as mayor it was felt that there could be areas where progress could be made in race relations, and the group was expanded.

Among those who took part were cotton broker Charles Hohenberg, who was born Jewish but became a Presbyterian, Jewish merchant Morris Barton and car dealer Arthur Lewis.

The Voters League and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee had organized a Christmas boycott in December 1963, continuing well into 1964, hitting Jewish merchants hard. The Retail Merchants Association was open to dialogue with the activists, but the White Citizens Council threatened any merchant that went against the prevailing segregation, pressing the white community for unity in the face of the demonstrations. The Council also sought a boycott of the Selma Times-Journal for being too moderate.

The president of the Retail Merchants Association proposed a meeting for Feb. 8 to discuss Working for Progress establishing a merchant boycott on advertising While Tepper was on one extreme, some in the Times-Journal, but Seymour Palmer, a

Jewish merchant, pressed Smitherman and city councilman George Swift to intervene and prevent the meeting, saying there was too much dividing the community already.

In the view of the moderates, a major incentive for solving the problems arising from the demonstrations was attracting new business. Dan River Mills announced a new textile plant in September 1964, and Hammermill Paper announced a long-awaited Selma plant on Feb. 3, 1965.

In response, SNCC tried to organize protests at every Hammermill in the country. At the end of March, King even called for a national boycott of Alabama-made products and for unions to refuse to transport them.

In April, the Civil Rights Act prohibitions on racial discrimination in hiring was set to start, and the Alabama Chamber of Commerce planned a large ad in state newspapers and the Wall Street Journal, urging businesses to follow the law. Local chambers were asked to co-sponsor and sign the ad, but there was one conspicuous absence when it appeared on April 15 — Selma.

The Selma Chamber’s president, grocery executive James Gaston, was upset that the Selma chamber had refused to sign, so he teamed with other moderates, some of them Jewish, to reprint the ad with their signatures.

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April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 15

not just black and white Among those involved were Hohenberg and Jerome Siegel, who was president of the Committee of 100 Plus. They enlisted 1,000 whites, then approached the City Council and the Board of Revenue for the first real public debate over the racial issue.

At the meeting, some in the White Citizens Council accused the city of promising integration to attract the paper mill, a charge that Siegel denied. Siegel said the failure of Selma to sign the ad was a tactical gift that King could use against the city.

Moderates noted that the law was a fait accompli, to which Tepper retorted that death was also inevitable, but that did not mean it was something for him to embrace.

After the contentious debate, the city council unanimously voted to sign the ad, which appeared on April 18 in the Times-Journal and the Wall Street Journal, with the signatures of almost 1,300 whites from Selma.

Still, moderates did face a backlash for desegregationist sins, real and perceived. A rumor that Gaston had sent sandwiches to black demonstrators and donated to the NAACP was enough to target him for a white boycott in early 1965.

A Jewish couple, auto dealer Arthur Lewis and his wife Muriel, were targeted for speaking out. Enraged by the events of Bloody Sunday in March 1965, she wrote a letter to the Times-Journal, defending the work of a Federal commissioner who was in town trying to facilitate a rational discussion.

The Lewises sent a letter to a few close friends who they considered moderate, encouraging them to speak out, but not to share that letter.

A version of their letter soon circulated among members of the Citizens Council, edited to make them sound more radical. Late night telephone calls, hate mail and a boycott of the car dealership soon followed.

They tried to get a dozen or so important moderates to sign a “Declaration of Good Faith” in the newspaper, pledging communication and respect, but were frustrated by the lack of response.

A weaker version of the “Declaration” was eventually published.

The Lewises considered leaving Selma but decided to stay, though the stress of the fallout led to Arthur Lewis’ death of a heart attack not even two years later at age 53.

In the 1920s, the Jewish community of Selma was sizeable enough that it was said one could roll a bowling ball down Broad Street on Rosh Hashanah and not hit anyone, because all of the stores were closed. Today, while Mishkan Israel still houses an occasional service, the Selma Jewish community has dwindled to a handful.

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>> Selma to the program. “If the surviving lions do not tell their story,” he said, “then the hunters will get all the credit.”

Jones gave a firsthand account of the Selma experience, pointing out that President Lyndon B. Johnson played a positive role in the advancement of civil rights, and emphasizing the commitment and leadership of the Jewish community.

Most of the speakers said the event was more of a rededication than a celebration.

However, the issues have gained in complexity, according to Rabbi Jonathan Miller, of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham. Getting rid of poll taxes and literacy tests took the passing of a law. Creating equal opportunity presents tough challenges, as does healthcare and educational equality.

“The Jewish community is going to have to double down. There is too much suffering in America,” Pesner said in an interview.

“We can use our faith as a powerful source of good,” said Claire Shimberg, 23.

After the program, there was a luncheon and then the participants walked the few blocks through downtown to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, joining the roughly 80,000 people who came to Selma for the anniversary.

April 2015 • The Jewish Newsletter 17

18 The Jewish Newsletter • April 2015

April 2015 • The Jewish Newsletter 19

20 The Jewish Newsletter • April 2015

From Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans Rhythm & Soul 2015 Fundraiser!

Homemaker Services Available

Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans will honor mother and daughter Marjorie Bissinger and Nancy Bissinger-Timm for its annual fundraiser, Rhythm & Soul on Sunday, May 31. The event will be held at the Audubon Tea Room and will include a Patron Reception from 5 to 6 p.m. followed by dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. Buy your tickets today! http://www.jfsrhythmandsoul.org/donate.html.

Homemaker is a light housekeeping and transportation service at JFS for older adults who need extra assistance to maintain their independence at home. It is particularly helpful for individuals who are going home after a hospitalization, who struggle with routine housekeeping, who are adjusting to a disability or who recently stopped driving.

Each visit with one of our highly trained and experienced Homemaker staff is 2-¼ hours, and sliding scale fees are available. There is no long-term contract and you only pay for the visits you receive. Each client receives a professional in-home assessment with a social worker prior to starting services. Please contact us for more information.

Passover Basket Distribution Program The Passover Food Basket Distribution Program, now in its 30th year, provides Kosher-for-Passover food and ritual items to individuals and families in need in our community.

It costs about $100 to provide a family with enough food for the 8-day celebration but contributions of any quantity are helpful and we are counting on your support. Please help us get everyone to the Seder table this year! http://www.jfsneworleans.org/support-us/

JFS offers counseling services across the metro area.

Counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups is one JFS’s core programs. Services are provided by licensed behavioral health professionals and fees are assessed on a sliding scale basis. Appointments are available at all three offices — Metairie, Uptown and the Northshore. Please call us to set up an appointment: (504) 831-8475, Metairie and Uptown; (985) 253-1619, Northshore.

New Girl Power Sessions!

Girl Power, a self-esteem and social skills group which helps foster positive feelings of self-worth for girls ages 9 to 12 begins its next session on Wednesdays, April 8 to May 13. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register or for additional information, please call Rachel Lazarus Eriksen, LCSW at (504) 831-8475.

From Tulane Hillel The Tulane Hillel Green Wave Israel Scholars is a peer-led group that creates an environment for discussions around modern Israel, and they have had an incredibly productive semester full of events. Most notably, the GWIS brought Neil Lazarus to campus on March 3 to give a keynote presentation to students interested in Israel programming.

This event helped spark interest and support for Israel on campus, as well as helped grow the reach and scope of the Tulane Hillel Community.

Neil Lazarus is one of the world’s leading informal Jewish educators and consultants. Lazarus has consulted for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli Defense Forces, the Israeli Air Force and the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, as well as Hillel National, Jewish Federations and Birthright Israel, to name a few. Lazarus presented on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East with a focus on Israel and related nations.

Through the GWIS social media campaign on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the event was able to attract nearly 200 students. After his presentation, Lazarus opened the floor for questions, which was a great opportunity for students to gain valuable information directly from a top Israel educator.

April 2015 • The Jewish Newsletter 21

From the Jewish Endowment Foundation Charlie Zucker Leaves a Jewish Legacy You may not have known Charles Zucker during his lifetime, but our Jewish community will benefit from his generosity for many years to come.

Charlie, as he was known to his friends, was a totally self-made man. He came from very humble beginnings and moved from Alabama to New Orleans with his father when he was a child. With only a high school education, his charming personality and his gift for never having met a stranger, he became a very successful businessman.

He went from being a tie salesman to a designer of fine men’s clothing. Along the way, he made close friends everywhere. His friends were his family and he remembered many of them in his will.

Orleans to endow his annual campaign gift, the Charles Zucker Scholarship for African-American Students at Isidore Newman School, Woldenberg Village, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, Ahavas Chesed in Mobile, and Manresa on the Mississippi.

This incredibly generous gentleman created a legacy that will benefit those that he will never know. David Kushner, his friend and CPA, said “Charlie was a remarkable man. I was privileged to be his friend. Can you not picture that smile and the twinkle in his eye?

We salute and praise you Uncle Charlie — you are not someone any of us will ever forget and when we think of you, we’ll smile and say ‘great guy’.”

During his lifetime, he enjoyed the finer Mark Stein, his friend and attorney, said “I things in life. While he lived life to the fulldo not think that Charlie ever heard of a ‘do est, he was also a quiet philanthropist. He not call’ list, certainly as it applies to charities. was modest about himself and his charitable I think the best way to sum up my feelings is giving. He liked to be thanked but he did not that Charlie left in death what he lived in life need or ask for recognition. His generosity — he remembers his friends and charities that came from his heart and he supported a myriad of organizations would benefit from his generosity.” that he felt were worthwhile.

Charles Zucker’s life will always be a blessing. JEF and our Nat Allison, a close friend since her childhood, said in eu- Jewish community will always be grateful to him. Thank you, logizing him, “I knew his philanthropy was an integral part of Charlie. him. From his self-chosen Judaism, he benefited many Jewish organizations and he created and funded the Charles Zucker What is a Bequest?

Scholarship for African Americans at Newman School.”

A bequest is a gift from your estate to an individual or In creating his charitable legacy, Charlie provided generous charity of your choice that you specify in your will or trust. contributions to Congregation Ahavas Chesed in Mobile in A bequest is a way to give that is: honor of his friend Elliot Maisel, the Mitchell Cancer Center at • Flexible. You can change your mind at any time. the University of Southern Alabama in memory of Mayer Mitchell, and the University of California for the Osher Center in • Economical. Your estate will be entitled to a tax dehonor of Bernard Osher. duction.

• Personal. You can specify specific charitable recipiHe left the residuary of his estate to the Jewish Endowment ents or you can support a particular area of interest.

Foundation of Louisiana to establish the Charles D. Zucker Supporting Foundation. He also provided for the following organi• Efficient. You can give almost any asset, including zations in his IRA: JEF’s General Fund, the Charles D. Zucker stock and real estate. Besides your will or trust Supporting Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Greater New instrument, no further documentation needs to be prepared by your attorney.

JEF Annual Event — Save the Date We are moving our Annual Event to the spring!

Sunday, June 14, 2015 Reception at 11:30 a.m. • Brunch at 12:00 noon Westin New Orleans Canal Place Hotel Grand Ballroom We will be announcing the honorees shortly.

We look forward to seeing you there!

22 The Jewish Newsletter • April 2015

A bequest is ideal for families and individuals who want: • Complete access to all their assets during their lifetimes • To make a difference in their community after their lifetime • To redirect dollars from taxes to the causes and/or organizations of their choice There is no minimum bequest amount. For more information about how you can create a bequest to benefit your Jewish community, please contact Sandy Levy (sandy@ jefno.org) or Patti Lengsfield (patti@jefno.org) at (504) 524-4559.

From the Jewish Community Day School Diversity: A Model of Our Jewish Future and habits of mind they need to succeed in the 21st century.

I was introduced to multiple leadership lenses, encouraged to think about how our tradition informs our present, as well as the very real challenges and changes that are part of Jewish living today. I was inspired to be better, and I was empowered with the tools to support that inspiration.

By Sharon Pollin, Head of School In the midst of a rich career in Jewish education — a teacher, a writer of curriculum, and an administrative leader — I was approaching that special time in my life as a mom, the time when my three children would soon be out of the house and, day to day, needing me less.

One of the things that really touched me when I came to interview for the position as Head of the Jewish Community Day School was hanging in the school’s Beit Midrash: A list of the morning tefillot. Next to each were three page numbers, one for each of the siddurim in use in the school — Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. “Ah,” I thought. “This is truly a place that values pluralism that walks the talk of diversity.”

The foundation of my practice had been well-established many years before. I found myself ready to replenish my knowledge in an immersive learning environment, one that would value my years as an educator as well as prepare me for the next chapter in my career and life. As often happens, just the right thing literally dropped into my mailbox! It was the postcard announcing a freshly minted collaborative program between Hebrew College and Northeastern University designed for ‘scholar-practitioners’ in the field of Jewish Education Leadership.

As does Hebrew College. One of my fondest memories is of a spontaneous ma’ariv davening session. In the room at the time were three rabbis of varying smicha, along with students of all ages and streams of Jewish practice. We picked up siddurim, we davened together. Just davened. The space was filled with spiritual energy, with many voices coming together in prayer, each of us coming from our own place, yet with awareness that this blend of ours was a model of our Jewish future.

I feel so fortunate to have been accepted to the program, and to have studied with and learned from such an incredible, knowledgeable, diverse and committed group of Jewish educators. The collegial relationships I developed, and the understandings I gained from the highly capable and dedicated members of my cohort, support me still. The teachers, the rabbis and the professors who guided me brought me up to date with best education, Jewish education, and education leadership practices.

I practiced working with — and grappling with — the latest technologies to ensure students in my school have the tools

Jewish Family Service Spring 2015 Continuing Education Workshops Register today for the final Continuing Education workshop offered through JFS. The session will take place at Shir Chadash Synagogue, 3737 West Esplanade Avenue, Metairie, and on-site parking is available to all registrants.

Workshop #3: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression Friday, May 22, 8:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. presented by Marie T. O’Neil, LCSW approved for 3 CEUs (Diagnosis) Pre-Registration (up to 24 hours before the workshop): $60 for 1 event, $110 for 2 events ($10 discount) Day-of Registration: $70 per event

This program has been approved for Continuing Education Hours by the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners and may be applied toward the continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. It also meets the requirements for CEUs for the Louisiana Counseling Association.

Register today by phone at (504) 831-8475, ext. 120, or online at http://www.jfsneworleans.org/spring-2015-workshops/.

April 2015 • The Jewish Newsletter 23

From the Jewish Community Center Yom Hashoah Author Alexandra Zapruder will be the keynote speaker at the Yom HaShoah community-wide Holocaust Memorial Program, held Sunday, April 12, at 7 p.m. at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center – Uptown. A founding staff member at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, Zapruder was one of the curators for “Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story,” the Museum’s primary exhibition for young visitors.

Her book, “Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust,” won the Jewish Book Council’s National Jewish Book Award in the Holocaust category.

The memorial program remembers and honors local survivors while educating the public about the Holocaust and teaching the importance of tolerance. The evening is free and open to the public. During the program, the 10th Annual Educator of the Year award will be presented to Caitlin Meehan-Draper, a teacher at Samuel L. Green Elementary in New Orleans.

This award recognizes local teachers who do an outstanding job integrating Holocaust education into their curriculum. Additionally, high school delegates selected for the Anti-Defamation League Donald R. Mintz Youth Leadership Mission to Washington D.C. will be recognized.

Last Chance to Register for JCC Maccabi Games The deadline for the JCC Maccabi Games is quickly approaching! The Games offer Jewish teens ages 13 to 16 a unique opportunity to come together for athletic competition, community service and social activities. This summer Team New Or-

24 The Jewish Newsletter • April 2015

leans will compete at the JCC Maccabi Games held August 2 to 7 in Dallas. Participants can compete in either individual or group sports. For the boys, team options include 14U baseball, basketball and soccer, and 16U basketball and soccer. Girls may participate in 16U basketball and soccer as well. Boys and girls of all ages may compete in the following individual sports: golf, tennis, swimming, and table tennis. Register at www.nojcc.org today to be part of this fun and memorable experience. For additional information, contact J. Morgan, Director of Sports and Wellness, at (504) 897-0143 or jmorgan@nojcc.org.

The Holocaust As Reflected in Diaries and Memoirs Presented by the Florence Melton School of Adult Learning, this 10-session class has no prerequisites, no homework and no tests. Utilizing the profound record of first-person accounts in diaries and memoirs uncovered in the years since the Holocaust, students will journey into the world of Jewish individuals and communities as the events of the Holocaust unfold around them. In the process, they will gain remarkable insights into the struggle for life as both young and old writers describe day-today life coping in the ghettoes, imprisoned in the death camps, hiding on the run, and fighting for their lives. These unforgettable images will help students understand the real events of the Holocaust, and its legacy today.

Beginning April 7, classes will be held on Tuesday mornings from 10 to 11:30 at the New Orleans JCC’s Uptown location.

Students may register online at www.events.org/MeltonNewOrleans. For additional information, contact Liba Kornfeld, Director of Jewish Family Life, at (504) 897-0143 or liba@nojcc.org.

Choose your own path.

Music director Harry Mayronne, Chris Wecklein, Mary Viguera, Victoria May, John Reeks and Bruce Miller at the JCRS event

Celebrating Jewish, JCRS ties to music The Jewish Children’s Regional Service celebrated 160 years as the nation’s oldest Jewish children’s social service organization with a salute to five families and a celebration of American Jewish musical heritage.

The Jewish Roots of Music gala attracted about 500 to the Hyatt Regency on March 7. Leon Rittenberg III, JCRS president, told the crowd “We’ve been doing this for 160 years and we need your support to do another 160 years.”

The agency began as the Association for the Relief of Widows and Orphans in New Orleans, popularly known as the Jewish Children’s Home. Originally set up for Jewish children orphaned by yellow fever, an agreement was reached with B’nai B’rith to open the home to B’nai B’rith Delicious Flickr Twitter District 7 — Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

As orphanages became a thing of the past, the home closed Delicious in 1946 Flickr DeliciousFacebook Twitter Flickr MySpaceRetweet TwitterStumbleUpon and became JCRS, providing services to children who had special needs.

Camp scholarships and college tuition assistance based on financial need Slash Dot Mixx Digg Skype Facebook MySpace StumbleUpon Facebook MySpace StumbleUpon were also established.

In 2014 there were 313 camp aid recipients and 128 undergraduates Slash Dot Mixx Slash DotReddit Skype Mixx FriendFeed Technorati Skype YouTube receiving aid, and 93 special needs children received case management and funding for care.

Newsvine SlideShare Google Reddit and most FriendFeed YouTube LinkedIn The agency also runs the PJ Library program in New Orleans Reddit FriendFeed YouTube of the region, sending Jewish books monthly to students ages 6 months to 8 years.

Yahoo Google Yahoo Buzz Netvibes Newsvine SlideShare Google Talk Newsvine SlideShare Google The event recognized the Cahn and Goldring families of New Orleans, the Woldenberg Foundation of New Orleans, the Klein family of LouisMicrosoft MSN AOL Apple Yahoo Yahoo Buzz Netvibes Yahoo Yahoo Buzz Netvibes ville, Ky., and the Grinspoon family from Western Massachusetts.

Mike Cahn, a Mississippi native, and Blanche Lazard, a New OrleaniApp Store AmazonMobileMe Last.fm Microsoft MSN Apple an, met and married in New Orleans in 1911. They founded Dixie Mill Microsoft MSN Apple Supply Company and had two sons, Emile and Jules.

Qik Vimeo Mister Wong Viddler Store Amazon Last.fm Mike and Blanche Cahn were already supporters of, andAppmentors to, App Store Amazon Last.fm the residents of the former Jewish Children’s Home in the early part of the 20th century, when in 1936 Emile married Adele Karp.Qik Adele was Tumblr Viddler WordPerss Blogger Vimeo Virb Vimeo Viddler one of four Karp sisters raised at the Home. Today, at age 97, Adele Karp Qik Cahn is one of the oldest and most proud surviving alumni of the Jewish BehanceBlogger Design Float Deviant Art Tumblr WordPerss Posterous Children’s Home.

Tumblr WordPerss Blogger The Cahn sons, together with their spouses, Adele and June, carried on Bebo Design Bump Squidoo Design Float Friendster Deviant Art a tradition of passionate and involved philanthropy, that hasBehance now passed Behance Design Float Deviant Art down to their children, New Orleanians Jimmy and Marie Cahn, and Richard and Vivian Cahn, through the Cahn Family Foundation.

RSS Email Share This Friendster Bebo Squidoo Bebo Squidoo When the foundation was established in 1954, one of its primary re- Friendster cipients was JCRS. RSS Email Elias Klein and his brother, Ike, were child refugees, who were sent out RSS Email of Nazi Germany in 1934 by their parents, who were left behind. They found themselves in need of assistance from the Jewish community of New Orleans and the home after their second set of foster parents moved to New Orleans from Atlanta in 1936 but could not provide what the boys needed. The community helped to place the boys with Lillian Greenwald, who became their foster mother.

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April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 25

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The brothers served in the U.S. military during World War II, then returned to New Orleans. Elias married native Beverly Aronowitz in 1948 and became an industrial and research chemist in New Orleans and Mobile. In 1981, a teaching position at the University of Louisville Medical School lured Elias from his position as the director of the Gulf South Research Institute. In appreciation of the support that the young Klein boys received from New Orleans Jewish institutions, Elias and Beverly have given back to New Orleans, and together with their children, created the Klein/Broniatowski College Assistance Fund for Refugee Children at JCRS. Stephen Goldring started a wholesale alcohol distributorship in his native Pensacola after Prohibition ended. In 1944 he and partner Malcolm Woldenberg, a Montreal native, founded Magnolia Marketing Company in New Orleans, and he became one of the most successful members of his industry.

He and wife Mathilde formed the Goldring Family Foundation, and oversaw the Woldenberg Foundation after Woldenberg’s death in 1982. A wide range of organizations in the national Jewish community and the general New Orleans community have benefited from the Foundation.

Some of the named places and institutions include Woldenberg Park along the Mississippi River in New Orleans, the Great Lawn at City Park, the Goldring Building at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, two main buildings at Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business, the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson and the Goldring/Woldenberg Jewish Community Campus in Metairie.

Honorees at the JCRS gala were the The Goldring Foundation also Cahn, Klein and Goldring families, supports the PJ Library program the Woldenberg Foundation and at JCRS. the Grinspoon family Through the Woldenberg Foundation’s efforts, Woldenberg Village opened as a residential center for Jewish seniors in New Orleans. The foundation also supports projects in Israel, such as the Dorothy and Malcolm Woldenberg Orthopedic Hospital, and the Woldenberg Library at Tel Hai College in the Galilee, among others.

In 1993, Harold Grinspoon a real estate developer, created a family foundation whose original mission was to support services for residents

Hadassah Members (and Associates) Are Invited…

HADASSAH BIG & EASY SUPER SOUTH TRI-REGION CONFERENCE New Orleans • April 17-19, 2015 Toby Parker, President, Hadassah Southeastern Lee Kansas, President, Hadassah Southern Janice Bernstein, President, Hadassah Southern Seaboard

Invite you to an exciting Shabbaton and to be a part of the just-named Super South Tri-Region on our nascent voyage as part of Hadassah’s newly-formed pilot HUB. Enjoy our wonderful speakers who will make Hadassah Big and Easy for you!

CONFERENCE PRESENTERS GO TO OUR HADASSAH BIG & EASY WEBSITE • • • •

Attend your Region meeting Hear what’s happening at Hadassah Medical Organization The Hub Bub — meet the staff and hear all about it Dive deep into the principles of a cause-driven social action agenda and Hadassah’s role in advocacy • Choose an optional post-conference tour of Jewish New Orleans • Reconnect with friends and have an opportunity to meet Members from 10 different states • All of the details are on the Hadassah Big & Easy website. Please read the entire website carefully, and if you still have questions, direct them to Annie Kohut, Conference Co-Chair, at annielk@ bellsouth.net.

HILTON New Orleans Airport

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Please schedule your travel to arrive by 2 p.m. on Friday and depart after 4 p.m. on Sunday as you are expected to enjoy the entire conference. Hotel shuttle service provided.

Conference Package:

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To Register, Go To:

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Conference Chairs

Hadassah Southeastern

Annie Kohut, annielk@bellsouth.net Hadassah Southern

Bonnie Boring, unlresources@aol.com Hadassah Southern Seaboard

Gail Moskowitz, gail.twk@verizon.net

HADASSAH BIG & EASY SUPER SOUTH TRI-REGION CONFERENCE, New Orleans, April 17-19

http://hadassahbigandeasy.wix.com/hadassahbigandeasy/com

community of Western Massachusetts and to support a variety of programs for various Jewish communities. Over time, both the mission of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the number of his own family members that he involved in the foundation has grown exponentially.

One deep passion for Grinspoon is his desire to enhance Jewish continuity, and to channel that passion through programs for Jewish youth and young families. After starting with western Massachusetts, they started supporting programs like Hillel and Birthright Israel, then Jewish summer camps.

The foundation’s JCamp180 works to improve camp planning, technology and fundraising, with challenge grants and incentives.

In 2006, the Grinspoon Foundation launched the PJ Library, a program that now provides free, monthly Jewish-themed books to 136,000 Jewish youth ages six months to eight years in North America. PJ has also expanded into South America, Australia, and Israel. With additional local support from the Goldring Family Foundation, JCRS administers PJ in New Orleans and across parts of six states, providing over 900 Jewish youth each year with book subscriptions.

Tamar Remz, who represented Grinspoon, said “everything we do is about partnership,” with the goal of “inspiring other people to give and give Jewishly.”

The musical part of the program, directed by renowned musician Harry Mayronne, started with Cantors Joel Colman of Temple Sinai and David Mintz of Touro Synagogue, and Cantorial Soloist Victoria May from Gates of Prayer.

May was joined by Chris Wecklein and Mary Viguiera in a retrospective of songs by Jewish composers and performers.

While the program dealt mainly with nationally-known Jewish entertainers, the evening was also an acknowledgement of the musical history

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28 Southern Jewish Life • April 2015

of JCRS. Hank Greenwald, who narrated the performance, is a clarinetist and past president of the New Orleans Concert Band. All four of his grandparents and one step-grandparent were raised in the Jewish Children’s Home, and his grandparents Leslie and Lillian Greenwald were foster parents of Elias Klein, one of the night’s honorees.

Long-time New Orleans percussionist Bruce Miller, immediate past president of JCRS, received scholarship aid from the agency as a child.

Additionally, Miller and Greenwald are nephews of brothers Monty and Marcus Korn, who had lived in the home and became accomplished jazz musicians.

Other musical residents of the home included Ben Weil, who played the cornet while living at the home from 1899 to 1906. He continued to play, and eventually returned to Birmingham and created Mayer Electric Supply.

Joe Bihari, who was in the home in the 1930s, went on to lease jukeboxes and was frustrated at the lack of records from black musicians. He and his siblings traveled the South, signing singers who became some of the most influential blues and R&B musicians of the era.

More recent scholarship recipients include Mark Rubin, who is in the Austin Music Hall of Fame and was a member of the Bad Livers; Jon Swann, a noted musician in Houston; Birminghamian Yitzi Peetluk, who is a session drummer in Boston for several acts while studying music management; Caroline Samuels, a double bass and harp player who is a student at the Eastman School of Music; and Tennessee bass player Alana Rocklin, who most recently toured with Sound Tribe Sector 9.

The evening’s emcee, Bruce Katz, meteorologist at WVUE-TV, is another JCRS “success story,” having received camp and college scholarship aid.

culture

art • books • apps • music • film

United through music

Film project brings together Jews from West Virginia and Uganda for album What do Jews from West Virginia have in common with Jews from Uganda?

In the case of “Psalms: The Making of an Album,” it is unique musical styles that are rooted in Judaism and in the music of their surroundings.

A film project will bring them together this December to make music and explore what, if anything, they have in common.

Director Jon Matthews, whose most recent work was “Surviving Cliffside” and who was co-producer of Academy Award-winning documentary “Citizen Four,” said “both of these groups play really unique music.”

He began this odyssey when television and film composer Ernest Adzentovich approached him with film footage he had taken during a visit to Uganda in early 2012 and asked him to develop something with it.

The Abayudaya is a small group of Ugandans that identify as Jewish.

When Christian missionaries left Bibles in Uganda in the 1880s, this group started to follow the Torah and adopted their own form of Judaism.

In 1920 a foreign Jew named Yosef visited and provided knowledge of Jewish practices and kashrut, which the community still follows.

During the days of Idi Amin’s rule, the group was persecuted and their numbers dwindled, with some practicing in secret. In 1962 an Israeli became the second Jew from the outside world to visit the community, which has undergone a revival since the 1980s.

In 2002 about 400 Abayudaya were formally converted to Judaism by the Conservative movement, but the residents of Putti, who have a strict Orthodox lifestyle, are seeking an Orthodox conversion.

Putti is located near the Kenyan border. Matthews said the travel time from the capital city, Kampala, is anywhere from four to 10 hours, depending on road conditions and how many animals are on the road.

New York saxophonist Mike Cohen visited the village in 2008 after meeting community leader Enosh Keki Mainahh in the Save Ugandan Jewry newsgroup online and they traded recordings. Mainahh, a musician, said his mother had composed songs based on the psalms but wasn’t able to record them.

With the help of backers, Cohen went to Uganda and recorded the Putti choir with a challenging one-microphone setup. “When I Wake Up, The Music Of Putti” was released the next year. Cohen called it “some of

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April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 29

culture the most beautiful music I have ever recorded.”

Cohen is on the board of the Putti Village Assistance Organization, which seeks to make Putti a “fully sustainable village… economically, ecologically, educationally, and otherwise.”

A village of around 1,500, Putti has roughly 350 Abayudaya, about 600 Christians and 600 Muslims.

In 2012, Cohen returned to Uganda with Adzentovich, who mixed and mastered “When I Wake Up,” as his engineer. They spent 16 days in Uganda working on the second album, “I Love to Sing,” which includes “Ein Keloheinu,” “L’Cha Dodi,” “Shir Hamalot” and “Esa Enai.”

The footage Adzentovich brought to Matthews was from that trip.

“I’d never heard of the Abayudaya before,” Matthews said, “and the more I learned about it the more interested I became.”

Soon after that, Matthews was speaking at a conference in his home state of West Virginia, and he met Rabbi James Cohn of Temple Israel in Charleston. “I told him about the Uganda project and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it.”

After the encounter, Matthews reflected that he’d “never heard much about Jewish West Virginians, much like you don’t hear the phrase Jewish Ugandans.” When he was growing up, he didn’t know anyone in his town who was Jewish.

He started meeting Jewish musicians in West Virginia, such as Mike Pushkin, a cab driver who was elected to the House of Delegates, and multi-instrumentalist Dina Hornbaker.

Listening to their Appalachian-styled Jewish music, Matthews came up with the project, which deals with identity, culture and ethnicity.

In December, they will travel with the West Virginia musicians to Uganda, uniting the different musical styles. The film will be about the making of an album from the encounter, how the two groups communicate musically.

Matthews noted that in Uganda, the language of music is different. Adzentovich couldn’t speak with the Ugandans in terms of major and minor keys, for example.

If the album and film do well, the ultimate goal is to have the Abayudaya come to West Virginia and have a reunion concert on NPR’s Mountain Stage program.

“Our real goal is exploring identity,” Matthews said. “And the more specific we get with that question, the more universal the implications will be. Exploring the question of what it means to be Jewish will get at the deeper human question of ‘what makes us who we are’ and why that is so important.”

There is a Kickstarter campaign through April 2 for the film, but there are also numerous backers from across the country. The goal is to have the film ready for submission to film festivals by September 2016.

30 Southern Jewish Life • April 2015

culture Chefs Currence, Shaya part of culinary mission to Israel this summer Four chefs, including Alon Shaya of New Orleans and John Currence of Oxford, Miss., will lead a “once in a lifetime” culinary tour of Israel this summer.

Also on the tour are Michael Solomonov of Philadelphia and Ashley Christensen of Raleigh, N.C. Shaya notes that this is an opportunity to travel through Israel with James Beard Award winning chefs — “not me, them.” Shaya has been nominated for Best Chef South for the last three years and been a finalist for the last two. He is a semi-finalist this year, but finalists have not been announced yet.

Shaya opened his self-named Israeli restaurant, Shaya, in New Orleans last month after being executive chef at Domenica and Pizza Domenica.

In 2012 he was named Chef of the Year by New Orleans magazine.

Shaya and Solomonov are long-time friends who have collaborated before. In 2013, they teamed up for an Israeli-themed wine dinner at the New Orleans Food and Wine Experience and led a seminar on Israeli street food. That fall, they led a culinary trip to Israel.

Aside from being born in Israel, both chefs share Bulgarian ancestry.

In 2011, Shaya was part of a Partnership2Gether trip, coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, that sent four New Orleans chefs to the community’s Israeli sister city, Rosh Ha’Ayin. Inspired by the trip, Shaya started adding Israeli flavors to his menus at Domenica and the trip pushed him toward his dream of opening an Israeli restaurant.

Born near Tel Aviv, Solomonov grew up in Pittsburgh. As a young adult he returned to Israel and worked at a bakery, making traditional items.

In 2003 his brother was killed while in the Israeli military. After that, Solomonov embarked on an exploration of Israeli food and culture while working in Philadelphia.

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He worked for Chef Marc Vetri, then became executive chef of Steve Cook’s Marigold Kitchen. The duo opened a Mexican place, Xochitl, followed by Israeli-style Zahav in 2008.

For his work at Zahav, Solomonov won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region in 2011.

They have also opened Percy Street Barbecue, two Federal Donuts and most recently, Israeli-themed Dizengoff and Abe Fisher.

As part of his 2013 trip, Solomonov cooked a tribute dinner for his brother’s unit for the 10th yahrzeit.

Solomonov is also hosting a two-hour documentary, “The Search for Israeli Cuisine,” that is slated for broadcast on PBS. A Kickstarter campaign is currently underway to help complete the project, which “will feature Jews, Arabs, Palestinians, Christians, and Druze — kosher and non-kosher, secular and religious.”

Christensen opened Poole’s Diner in Raleigh in 2007, and in 2011 turned a former Piggly Wiggly building into three restaurants — Chicken + Honey, Chuck’s and Fox Liquor Bar. In 2013 she opened Joule Coffee.

In 2014 she was recognized as Best Chef Southeast by the James Beard Foundation.

A New Orleans native, Currence worked in North Carolina before returning to New Orleans to open Gautreau’s with a friend. He then went to the Brennan group to help open Bacco, and in 1992 moved to Oxford and opened City Grocery. He has since opened many additional restaurants, including Snackbar and Big Bad Breakfast.

In 2009, Currence won the James Beard Best Chef South award.

In January 2013, Currence welcomed Atlanta chef Eli Kirshtein for “Big Bad Pop-Ups” with an Israeli street food theme. The four-week popup presentations were done while City Grocery was being renovated.

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culture Christensen, Currence and Solomonov were in New Orleans for the John Besh Foundation’s Fete des Chefs fundraiser, a night of 10 chef ’s table dinners at homes around the city on March 21, followed by an after-party at Borgne.

Currence and chef Tiffany Derry were at Billy Reid, Solomonov cooked at the home of Diane and Alan Franco, and Christensen was at the home of Becky and Richard Currence.

The Israel tour will be from June 25 to July 6, and includes meals at some of Israel’s top restaurants and markets.

The trip includes a visit to Makura Farm nature preserve in an ancient volcano between millennia-old olive orchards. Wineries, gourmet cheese producers and outdoor markets are also on the schedule.

“We will wolf down amazing hummus in Jaffa and eat sardines that are less than an hour from the sea in Akko,” Solomonov said. “We will eat foie gras cooked over charcoal on skewers and Jerusalem mixed grill at 2 in the morning.”

Shaya said the group will taste the best hummus in the world, “world class wines in the same fields they are grown in, meet an artisan goat cheese producer in the Judean Hills and hike up waterfalls in an oasis by the Dead Sea.” The chefs will prepare the final dinner on the trip at Arcadia Restaurant in Jerusalem.

Gil Travel is coordinating the trip.

“You will not come back hungry,” Shaya said.

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To kick off its Spirit Week, Jewish Community Day School students in Metairie dressed up as their favorite athletes.

Members of Tulane University’s Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity facilitated sports games, including kickball, for the students during recess.

Jewish Community Day School Students performed Purim songs for the residents of Metairie’s Sunrise Senior Living. They also had prepared baskets filled with homemade Hamantashen, pastry, fruit and candy for the residents.

For spirit week, the New Orleans Jewish Community Center’s nursery school dressed each class in a different color, and then came together for this rainbow.

Upcoming Events Friday, April 3 First Seder Saturday, April 4 First Day of Passover Second Seder Friday, April 10 Seventh Day of Passover Saturday, April 11 Eighth Day of Passover Temple Sinai Gala. 7 p.m. Patron party, 6 p.m.

Sunday, April 12 Community Yom HaShoah program. Alexandra Zapruder, speaker. Uptown JCC, 7 p.m.

Declare Your Freedom 3.0 festival, featuring Matisyahu.

Tulane LBC Quad. 2 p.m.

Henry S. Jacobs Camp Summer Countdown Kickoff. The Fly at Audubon Park. 12:15 p.m.

Monday, April 13 Morris Bart Lecture Series. Ron Gubitz, speaker.

Uptown JCC, 11:45 a.m.

Thursday, April 16 Yom HaShoah “Sex, Lies and Politics” panel on human trafficking. Shir Chadash, Metairie. 7 p.m.

Friday, April 17 JEF Women’s Philanthropy luncheon. Five Happiness, 11:30 a.m.

Saturday, April 18 JNOLA Bourbon, Beer and BBQ. Ogden Museum. 8:15 p.m.

Sunday, April 19 AVODAH Partners in Justice Jazz Brunch. Beth Israel, Metairie. 11 a.m.

Monday, April 20 Lemann-Stern Graduation. Jones Walker, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 22 Israel Memorial Day Israel Independence Day Celebration. “Above and Beyond” with Nancy Spielberg. National World War II Museum. 5:30 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. talk and 7 p.m. screening.

Thursday, April 23 Israel Independence Day Friday, April 24 JazzFest Shabbat featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Touro Synagogue. 6 p.m. Patrons party, 7:30 p.m. service.

Tuesday, May 5 GiveNOLA Day

The Uptown Jewish Community Center held its community Adloyadah Purim carnival on March 1 NOLA

April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 33

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The night before the Hadassah Big and Easy Super South Tri-Region Conference gets underway in New Orleans, the New Orleans Chapter of Hadassah and the women of Shir Chadash are holding a program on human trafficking.

The panel, “Sex, Lies and Politics,” will be at Shir Chadash on April 16 at 7 p.m. The event is open to the community.

Moderator of the discussion will be Michelle Erenberg, Louisiana State Policy Advocacy Chair for the National Council of Jewish Women. Erenberg has worked and volunteered as a grassroots activist and organizer for more than a decade. She founded the Louisiana Women’s Roundtable, a collaborative effort of progressive organizations to educate the community about issues that matter to women, children and families.

The discussion will include human trafficking from New Orleans to around the world, global human rights violations, and violence against women and children.

Panelists will include Loyola University faculty members Laura Murphy and Rae Taylor, and Tulane University faculty member Tania Tetlow.

Murphy is the organizer of the New Orleans Human Trafficking Working Group. Director of African and African American Studies at Loyola, she is the lead researcher for Loyola’s Modern Slavery Research Project.

Taylor’s research and teaching interests include intimate partner violence and other violent crimes, societal and organizational responses to violent crime, and social inequalities.

Taylor has worked in the criminal justice system as a victim advocate, and she continues her training in victim services and crisis response.

She holds graduate-level certification in domestic violence.

Tetlow directed the Domestic Violence Clinic at Tulane University Law School from 2005 to 2014. A former Federal prosecutor, Tetlow was named one of the city’s top 10 women by New Orleans Magazine for her work in domestic violence and rebuilding the public library system.

Her scholarship focuses on constitutional law, criminal procedure and the rights of victims.

Early arrivals to the Hadassah conference are being urged to attend the panel. The spring conference and Shabbaton will be April 17 to 19 at the Hilton Airport in Kenner.

The new Super South Tri-Region consists of the Southern Seaboard, Southeastern and Southern regions and is the organization’s first “hub.” The focus will be viewing Hadassah from a cause-driven and social action agenda. A tour of Jewish New Orleans will also be available, and associates are welcome.

NOLA

Happy Passover to my friends and supporters in the Jewish community Art installation at DYF 2.0, at Tulane in March 2014

R. Reid Falconer

Pro-Zionist festival returns to Tulane with Matisyahu headlining

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Reggae star Matisyahu is headlining this year’s DYF 3.0, a pro-Zionist festival held at Tulane University on April 12.

Joining Matisyahu on the free program will be the Rebirth Brass Band and the Ori Naftali Blues Band, the first Israeli group to reach the semi-finals of the International Blues Competition in Memphis.

Chloe Valdary of Allies for Israel at the University of New Orleans and Maor Shapira of Tulane University Students Supporting Israel are organizing the event, which will start at 2 p.m. on the LBC Quad.

There will be free food along with food trucks selling their items. Henna tattoos will be available, along with an art gallery, bazaar and a jam session for those who bring their own guitars.

At a time when Israel is under attack, especially on college campuses, Valdary says the festival is “taking the narrative back that was stolen from us and celebrating the beautiful story of the liberation movement of the Jewish people.”

The festival was endorsed by Alan Dershowitz, who said it “speaks truth to power — the best kind of answer to the defamation being heard across the country at college campuses about Israel, Zionism and the national liberation movement of the Jewish people.”

Shapira said Israel activism is too focused on relating the facts of the situation, while loyalty and solidarity come from an emotional connection.

The festival aims to provide a positive experience through arts, the spoken word, images and music.

Shapira noted a lot of supporters of Israel are afraid to speak up because of the anticipated reaction and that they would be seen as aligning with a cause that is accused of not being moral.

“By putting Zionism at the center of a large mainstream event we hope to empower supporters of Israel to speak up for Israel in the future,” Shapira said.

This year there will be less emphasis on speakers and politics. Instead, speakers will be giving personal stories and experiences. There will be information tents where attendees can learn more about a wide range of topics having to do with Israel.

The event will not be partisan, nor will it be focused on finding a solution to the situation in the Middle East.

Shapira and Valdary are both seniors, and they hope that the festival will continue after they graduate. Similar festivals are being organized at the University of Central Florida and at Indiana University.

In the last two years, Valdary has become a national figure in the pro-Israel movement. In mid-March, Allies for Israel at UNO responded to those who would boycott Israel by collecting signatures supporting a symbolic divestment from the Palestinian Authority as a way of supporting the Palestinian people who are suffering under a corrupt government.

She stated that a Palestinian student not only signed the petition, he spent three hours helping collect signatures from others.

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by Lee J. Green With apologies to Thomas Wolfe, you can go home again — if it pertains to New Orleans.

John “Chappy” Chapman left the area after his restaurant and home were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, and relocated to Nashville. But he heard the Crescent City calling, and wanting to be close to his kids and grandkids he came back in 2014, opening Chappy’s Restaurant on Magazine Street in Uptown last November.

Chapman is originally from Mobile, where his late father was British Consul, but his family moved to New Orleans when Chapman was 8 years old.

“In Mobile we had a house on the Bay and in New Orleans we lived on Lake Pontchartrain.

Most of my life I have lived by the water. I love it — fishing, water activities and fresh seafood,” he said. “I developed a love and appreciation of cooking from my parents… as well as from the region.”

But Chapman would go on to earn a business degree from Loyola University in New Orleans and spent several years working as a shipping agent.

Still, Chapman always dreamed of owning and operating his own restaurant where he could share his love of fresh seafood along with Cajun and Creole cuisine.

In 1984 he and his wife, Starr, opened the original Chappy’s Seafood Restaurant in Long 36 Southern Jewish Life • April 2015

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“I purchased a building that used to be a 7-11 right on the beach and turned it into a restaurant and bar,” he said. “I did not become a professional chef until the first day our doors opened.”

Chappy’s developed a loyal following and expanded to a larger location, also on the beach in Long Beach in 2002. Three years later, Katrina destroyed everything.

“We had a friend in Nashville so we evacuated there and decided to stay.” In 2006 he opened a similar restaurant, Chappy’s On Church, “and it did well for years. We won several awards and had a nice customer base,” said Chapman.

The downside was that it was 500 miles from the kids and grandkids. So Chapman scouted some property around Loyola — his old stomping grounds — and found an ideal location for the new Chappy’s.

“This is a great neighborhood. The people are nice and have been very receptive toward Chappy’s Restaurant,” he said.

Chapman said the goal with Chappy’s Restaurant in Uptown is to provide a warm, New Orleans-style atmosphere with some of the freshest, most creative Cajun/Creole cuisine.

Kosher-style items on the menu include pepper-seared tuna, fried green tomatoes, steak filet, blackened redfish, grilled mahi mahi, grilled lamb chop lollipops, wilted spinach with brie, sweet potato fries, hamburgers and decadent desserts such as red velvet cake, Ghirardelli’s Devil’s Food Cake with raspberry glaze and warm bread pudding with praline sauce.

NOLA

Continued from page 38

So, as of this writing, the Council has suspended the Kaddish debate so they can focus instead on resolving a more fundamental issue. It is axiomatic that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

However, is it logical that for every two Vulcans there are three opinions?

To more fully explore this broad question, the Vulcan High Council has decided to examine the Talmud — a copy of which they ordered from Amazon Prime, the only interstellar repository of all published knowledge that guarantees two-day delivery to all Federation member planets, and most outlying colonies and outposts.

Continental fine dining with Creole/Cajun and European influences, from award-winning Chef Nick Gile

Doug Brook is a writer in Silicon Valley who suspects Leonard Nimoy might have enjoyed this. But we often do such things too late. For past columns, other writings, and more, visit http://brookwrite.com/. For exclusive online content, follow facebook.com/the.beholders.eye.

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Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana (above) and Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama (below) welcomed delegations from their states who were visiting Capitol Hill as part of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference on March 3. For reactions by the Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and northwest Florida Congressional delegations to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on March 3, visit our website, sjlmag.com.

>> Chappy’s “We’re happy to accommodate anyone who wants to eat kosher-style or has special dietary requests. We can customize anything on the menu.

Customers can substitute shellfish for another fish,” he said.

Chapman describes the cuisine as “traditional, delicious New Orleans cuisine cooked the old way from scratch.” Every entrée comes with a choice of soup or salad, a side item and warm garlic French bread.

Chappy’s Restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., Sunday from 3 to 9 p.m. and Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

NOLA

April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 37

the beholder’s eye • doug brook Happy Passover to all of my supporters in the Jewish community

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18

MOUNT SELEYA, VULCAN — In light of recent events, the Vulcan In Council the beginning, there was a to consider whether the Terran Jewish High has finally consented question. custom of saying Kaddish is logical.

It waswould a warm, summer Why thesunny, Vulcans care about a ritual from Earth, especially one Shabbat morning,Jewish? whenSome an Vulcan scholars have found Judaism that is specifically unsuspecting woman was that the time-honored Vulcan salute is fascinating ever since discovering approached a synagogue parking andhigh asked theduring question that identical to ain hand gesture used by the lot, Jewish priest priestly would launch a thousand quips. benedictions.

“Doonly you think know four rabbis whoinwould preferbut people sleeping Not are theyou hand gestures identical formation, Vulcans and through rather painful. than talking during it?” She said, “probably.”

Jews alsothe findsermon, them equally From came the headline, “Rabbis sleeping duringexists, sermon. ” It isthat therefore logical to believe thatprefer where one parallel other In thatcould first be fateful column, ago, her innocuous “probably” parallels at least worthy18ofyears exploration. was the basis of the scientific assertion out ofevery five rabbis prefer Terran Jewish tradition has people that say four Kaddish day for 11 sleepingafter during a sermon. relative From where Simple: months an immediate passescame away, the andfifth thenrabbi? every year on When was the last five rabbis relative agreed isondefined anything?

Thus, four out the anniversary date.time An immediate as a parent, spouse, of five. or child, because these are the relatives you are most likely to have sibling, The journalistic integrity andfrustration, investigative skills demonstrated there affronted more frequently with indignance, or playing Barry could have M*nilow tooeasily loud.led to a prestigious career today in covering the Middle East most major news ButSome instead, this column Is itforlogical to dwell on outlets. the past?

Vulcan scholarslabored say thatevery it is month only (except for the ones that were logical to look forward.

Others saymissed), that oneand can sometimes look at thetwice past monthly,dwelling to bringon almost laughs to its almost several readers. without it. A several few more believe that the question is irrelevant It rode the asked soundinwaves of which The Southern though, because it was the past, has yet toShofar be proven to be despite logical contractual stipulation, never itrode in the seat behind a Southern to dwell upon, and therefore is simultaneously both relevant and Chauffeur. It then spoke irrelevant in its ownuntil Deep South Jewish Voice, before fully investigated. settling in to Southern Jewish hindraised end — youtenet read that the OneLife‘s scholar theunless accepted IF A VULCAN’S magazine right to left, which does not make most of the news today make how we deal with death is at least as important LIVING SPIRIT CAN more, or less, ON, sense.IS as how we deal with life. Saying Kaddish is a BE PASSED Over the years, this column presented of the recentlyform of dealing the withwisdom death, and therefore it IT LOGICAL TO SAY discovered, long-lost Mishnah Gump as which, among other wouldtractate merit Bava exploration an exploration of KADDISH? things, teaches how shrimplife can be kosher. itself.

The column retold the legendary adventures of the young The Kaddish does not talkbeloved about death, kabbalist, Harry Plotzer, his logical adventures with of The Sanhedrin’s Stone, or about individuals.

Theand most purpose reciting it is simply through The Chamber Shpielkis, and discipline with The Prisoner of Ashkenaz to remember.

However,ofVulcan mental allows them to have and The Gabbai of Fire,sothough yet getting The Deadly Challahs. exceptional memory, there not is much debateto about whether such a Occasionally thereiswere guests, such as the recurring one due to a hareritualistic reminder necessary. brained rabbinical typo, Askathe Rabbit, as well asalready Gurb the Caveman In a basic form, once again similar Vulcan ritual exists.

When anddies, the his occasional special—report from The Oynion. aRabbi, Vulcan or her Katra the living spirit, or soul, containing Exploredthey wereknew calendar andbe events, real and surreal, such of as everything andanomalies were — can retained.

When this form Thanksnukah, Mezuzapalooza, the 13th, Chrisnukah, mind meld is performed, as partKol of Nidre the process thePurover, word “remember” is Yomtober, and the pirated Rosh Hashaarrrnah and Day of Aarrrtonement. uttered.

The chorus “Bubbe’s BeenSome Run scholars Over By believe a Reindeer” the Once again,ofdebate exists. that was this sung, provides Rebbe at the got to hisremember bell rung,those and the who hated Jew-ville precedent for Bat a ritual whoGrinch have passed.

Others say an had his hatred unstrung. unpronounceable Vulcan term, which best translates as “poppycock.” A case believe it wasn’t apparent, the know 18th anniversary fewInmore that nobody this can is truly what would of be this best space until not being for rent.a common In honorframe of this anniversary, it would they can establish of Chai reference — in essence, thatseem they appropriate to die toast it with some chaicompetently tea. would have to before they could discuss matters related Except that chai tea has baffled rabbinic scholars for hundreds of to death. seconds. (“Should we haveexists seconds? cup enough? drink on Of course, the question that Is if one a Vulcan’s Katra isLet’s preserved, is it.”) person After all, chaigone? is notThat pronounced like persists, Chai, though cup of gone chai that truly is, if the soul is thataperson makes it easier to pronounce some say that properties “enough” to be mourned and,Chai. thus, And commemorated viachai thehas Kaddish? that help extendon one’s life, centuries one’s Chai.ago regarding when is the actual Like thetodebate Earth Andinwhat chai tea’s Thai Iced Tea? Is there Vulcan such a point timeiswhen a liferelationship begins, thistoraises the centuries-old thing asabout Thai Chai thereends. is, areDuring its effects best as tai chi debate whenTea? lifeIftruly one of described many debates on for the digestive system? this subject centuries ago, the great Surak’s summary of the discordant These are questions to ponder during this High Holy Day people: season, discourse became a philosophical cornerstone of the Vulcan though Diversity perhaps from not Infinite late afternoon on Yom Kippur. This column Infinite Combinations.

continued continuedon onprevious previous page 38 Southern Jewish Life • April 2015

NOLA

Ilana Reisen, Bruce Waltzer, Marlen and Reuben Friedman, Hertha Bart, Karen and Leopold Sher and Barbara Kaplinsky Right: Honorees Sara Stone, Flo Schornstein, Celia Katz and Joan Berenson. Below, Kathy Shepard, NCJW President June Leopold and Barbara Greenberg. Below right, Event Co-Chair Loel Samuel, Dana Shepard and Sue Singer

NCJW Puts On the Glitz The New Orleans Section of National Council of Jewish Women held its annual spring fundraiser “Puttin’ on the Glitz with a Gem of a Party” on March 15 at Hilton New Orleans Riverside. The event kicked off with a 5 p.m. Patron Party with entertainment by John Rankin, followed by dinner, a silent auction and a show by the Big Easy Buddies, a male quartet and seven piece band performing tunes of the 1950s and 1960s.

The event paid tribute to Honorary Section Vice Presidents Joan S. Berenson, Celia Katz, Flo Schornstein and Sara Stone. These past presidents of the NCJW New Orleans section were recognized as permanent honorary Vice Presidents because of their continued involvement and commitment to the New Orleans section for more than 50 years.

Ellen Schornstein Williams, Richard Schornstein, Matthew Haskell, Florence Schornstein, Wendy Good, Mike Haskell, Susan Haskell Photos by Michael Maples NOLA

April 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 39

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