Southern Jewish Life
KNESSET SPEAKER SALUTES ALABAMA RABBI COHN REFLECTS ON 29 YEARS AT SINAI BRUNDIBAR AT WORLD WAR II MUSEUM HAUSMAN-WEISS TO PLAY BAMA BASKETBALL FEEDING THOUSANDS IN LITTLE ROCK May 2016
Volume 26 Issue 5
Southern Jewish Life P.O. Box 130052 Birmingham, AL 35213 Temple B’nai Israel in Tupelo
2 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
shalom y’all shalom y’all shalom y’all “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” That could well be the new motto for Mississippi. Just when progress is being made, just when the state is making strides on the national scene, people are getting along and the image is improving… along comes some lawmakers who feel they need to pander on their pulpits, salute some straw-dog bogeyman and pass some draconian measure that deals with a crisis of nonexistent proportions. What else can be said of the ill-conceived HB 1523, the laughably-titled “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act.” It’s really the “I can use my religion as an excuse to discriminate against you, and you can’t do a thing about it” Act. It is horrendous legislation, and it must be repealed. Even groups that stay out of politics, like the Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica and the board of the Jackson-based Goldring/ Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, have teed off on HB 1523. The Mississippi bill follows on the heels of a disastrous bill in North Carolina that does much of the same, but the North Carolina bill primarily received attention for addressing the non-epidemic of transgendered or transitioning individuals making non-existent trouble by being in the “wrong” bathroom. The Mississippi bill defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, says sexual relations “are properly reserved to such a marriage” and one’s sex is “immutable” from the time of birth. If you discriminate against someone because you feel they don’t adhere to those definitions, whether in officiating at or providing services to a wedding, renting or selling a home, offering employment or a foster-child arrangement, Mississippi says you’re in the clear. continued on page 32
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agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events
The 49th annual Sisterhood Bazaar was held at Jackson’s Beth Israel on March 30. The annual event features a range of traditional Jewish foods, a silent auction and white elephant sale. The Sisterhood is now gearing up for next year’s 50th anniverary event.
Conexx emphasizes regional connections in Eagle Star Awards Conexx, the America Israel Business Connector based in Atlanta, is emphasizing its regional nature at the 15th annual Eagle Star Awards Gala. Established in 1992 as the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast, the private non-profit facilitates business connections between Israelis and American companies in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and the Carolinas. At the June 2 dinner in Atlanta, Conexx will honor the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development with the Community Partner Award. This award recognizes the department’s significant work and collaboration with Israel by encouraging bilateral trade and investment opportunities. The Department of Economic and Community Development has worked with and supported Conexx to create long-term, sustainable relationships with Israel and the Southeast. Conexx took Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam on a business mission to Israel last spring. The Tom Glaser Leadership Award, named for the AICOC founding chairman, will be presented to Anita Zucker, chair and CEO of The InterTech Group. The award recognizes Anita’s contributions to the community, excellence in business and life-long dedication to Israel and her unwavering support of Conexx and the South Carolina-Israel Collaboration. According to Conexx, “the Zucker family’s involvement in the Collaboration and with Conexx has been invaluable to our organization and to South Carolina, the Southeast and Israel.”
Conexx will also be honoring Energiya Global, the Israeli world leader in the development and management of utility-scale solar fields as the Deal of the Year recipient. Yosef Abramowitz, known in Israel as “Captain Sunshine,” is president an co-founder. TIBA Parking Systems will be honored as the Israeli Company of the Year and the Georgia Ports Authority as the U.S. Company of the Year. Tickets to the event are $125 with sponsorships starting at $1800. There is also a raffle at $50 per ticket for an Israel trip including airfare and accommodations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Emmy winner Jane Robelot, former CBS News anchor, will emcee the evening. The dinner and program will be at 6 p.m. at the Twelve Hotel, Atlantic Station. In February, Conexx had a program in Birmingham featuring Aiman Saif, the General Director of the Authority for Economic Development of the Arab, Druze and Circassian Sectors in the Prime Minister’s Office. In 2015 Conexx was part of the Israel Meets Mississippi Trade Summit held in Jackson with Governor Phil Bryant.
Cohen to receive honorary doctorate Hebrew Union College announced its 2016 graduating class. Jonathan Cohen of Tupelo, former director of the Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica, will receive the Doctor of Jewish Nonprofit Management degree, honoris causa, from the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management, at the Los Angeles graduation on May 16 at Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills.
May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 5
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agenda What will be revealed at Beth-El event? Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El will have a “Raffle and Reveal” event at Cahaba Brewing Company on May 22 from 12:30 to 3 p.m. The event is open to the community and there is no cost to attend. Raffle tickets are $100, or six for $500. Each raffle ticket entitles the purchaser to a food ticket and a Cahaba Brewing beer ticket; additional food and drink items will be available for purchase. There will be grilled chicken wings, hamburgers, hot dogs and vegetarian options, and games for children. Raffle items include an $1818 gift card from Levy’s Fine Jewelry, a “super secret shopping spree” at The Summit, a week on the beach in Destin, and a fine dining package including six top Birmingham restaurants. The “what we will reveal” clues include someone whose picture was in Life magazine in 1970, someone who met her future husband on an airplane to Israel, someone who once served dinner to Elizabeth Taylor and John Warner in the corner of a dark Washington bistro, and a man who used to shave his legs and chest regularly.
Matching grant for Hadassah Keepers A matching grant has been established for new and increased Hadassah Keepers of the Gate in Hadassah Southern. Neil Sass, husband of Paige Sass, created the $18,000 challenge grant that will go to Hadassah Medical Organization and stem cell research. Keepers of the Gate contribute at least $1,000 a year to Hadassah. Chai Keepers contribute at least $1800, while Golden Keepers contribute at least $5,000. The contribution for a new Keeper will be matched by the grant, and the increase for someone who steps up in Keeper level will be matched. Paige Sass was president of Hadassah Montgomery, area vice president and organization vice president for Hadassah Southern. The match runs through the end of 2016.
Deputy Consul General visits communities on the Gulf Coast
Israeli Deputy Consul General Ron Brummer from the Consulate in Atlanta spoke in Mobile and Pensacola in April. On April 6 he spoke at Springhill Avenue Temple in Mobile as the final installment of the “Israel Faces” series organized by Shaliach Arad Lerner. The next morning he spoke to the Eastern Shore Institute for Lifelong Learning at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Daphne. In Pensacola on April 7 (above), Brummer spoke on “The Enormous Political Challenges that Israel Faces Today.” More than 150 Jews and Christians attended the event at the Palafox House. 6 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
agenda Area communities hold Holocaust remembrances Most communities in the region had their annual Holocaust commemorations around May 1, but a few events were scheduled for later in the month. On May 22, the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center will have an open house to celebrate the reinstallation of its art exhibit, “Darkness Into Life,” which features the stories of 20 Holocaust survivors who settled in Alabama, as told through the art of Mitzi Levin and the photography of Becky Seitel. The exhibit has been on display at Vulcan for the past year. As part of the 3:30 p.m. reception on May 22, there will be the dedication of a new art installation in honor of Phyllis Weinstein’s 95th birthday. The Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama will present “A Slippery Slope: A Dramatic Reading with Music,” on May 15 at 2 p.m. at Chan Auditorium, the business administration building at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. The musical includes original poetry and scores by Deborah Layman, vice president of the BHEC, and Alan Goldspiel, chair of University of Montevallo’s Department of Music. The performance by The Seasoned Performers will include readings from personal testimonies of Holocaust survivors. The performance is a combination of the traditional Klezmar melodies from Eastern European Jewish culture and African-American spirituals. The music and readings together are used to parallel the struggles of Alabama’s Holocaust survivors and the Civil Rights Movement. It was also performed at Vulcan on April 21 as part of the “Darkness Into Life” exhibit.
Shalom Posner, a seventh grade student at Birmingham’s N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, was the only representative from the area at the annual International Chidon HaMitzvos in Brooklyn, N.Y. Posner’s scores on three rigorous exams earned him a spot in the final tournament, where 630 students participated out of 2,000 who entered. Organized by Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the ChabadLubavitch movement, together with Tzivos Hashem, its children’s division, the Chidon saw hundreds of children ages 9 to 13 staying late at their respective schools for two hours a week to study the mitzvot with their classmates and friends, or in the case of smaller communities like Birmingham, the studies were online. Posner was one of 24 finalists in his group, and represented Alabama in a “Hakhel Walk,” where representatives from each state or country paraded across the stage holding their flag. He is pictured here with the Alabama flag, bottom center.
May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 7
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Hadassah Birmingham will be celebrating its 100th birthday with a June 5 event from 10 a.m. to noon. The celebration at Overton Park includes a morning of family activities, including games, arts and crafts, birthday cake decorating, a scavenger hunt, music, story time and more. This is a free event for the community. The Southern Region Conference for Women’s League of Conservative Judaism will be held on June 5 and 6 at Birmingham’s Temple BethEl. Sisterhood members from across the South will share communication and programming ideas. There will also be the presentation of the Phyllis Grusin Weinstein Award to Barb Levin. Beth Israel in Jackson will have its Sisterhood board installation Shabbat on May 13 at 6:15 p.m. The B’nai Israel Golf Classic in Baton Rouge will be on May 15 at The Island Golf Club in Plaquemine, with a shotgun start at noon. Cost is $150, including golf, cart, range ball, dinner and prizes. Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El will have a Shabbat of Appreciation for Michelle and Rabbi Randall Konigsburg on May 14, with a luncheon following the 9:30 a.m. service. Rabbi Stephen Wylen, interim rabbi at Beth Israel in Jackson, will have a discussion of “Jesus, Hillel and the Commandment to Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself,” May 9 at 7 p.m. Wylen is author of five books, including “The Jews in the Time of Jesus,” “Settings of Silver: An Introduction to Judaism” and “The Seventy Faces of Torah.” Agudath Achim in Shreveport will have a Jewish Arts Camp, June 6 to 10 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Howard Silberman and Cantor Neil Schwartz will be co-directors of the camp, which will highlight various Jewish arts. Program areas include acting, stagecraft, drawing, painting, cooking, leatherwork, singing and dancing. It is for ages 4 to 12, students who have completed from K-3 to 6th grade. Temple B’nai Sholom in Huntsville will have Vacation Torah School from June 6 to 10, featuring everything from water play to cooking classes and community service projects. Preschoolers will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and elementary and middle school students will go through 3 p.m., but only to 12:30 p.m. on Friday. There will be an optional Shabbat service and family camping on Monte Sano Mountain on June 10. Enrollment is $150 per child. The Discovery School at Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham will have “Our Little Hands” art exhibit and sale, May 10 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at UAB. The event is open to the community. Ron Bernstein, a member of Kibbutz Yahel, the first kibbutz established by the Reform movement in Israel, will speak at Gemiluth Chassodim in Alexandria on May 15 at 11:30 a.m. about the status of non-Orthodox Jews in Israel. There will be a Pensacola AIPAC program on May 21 at 7 p.m., at B’nai Israel. The Sisterhood of Temple Beth-El in Birmingham will have a Mah Jongg Mitzvah Mixer on May 25, starting at 12:30 p.m. Snacks will be provided, and donations will be collected for The Women’s Fund. The next of Judaism’s Great Debates at Jackson’s Beth Israel will be on May 10 at 7 p.m. Rabbi Stephen Wylen will lead a discussion of Spinoza vs. the Amsterdam Rabbis: Reason or Revelation? The weekly email from Anshe Sfard in New Orleans caused a bit of a stir in late March, as the list of donations included one from David Duke. A follow-up email related that it wasn’t the former Louisiana Klan leader, it was an Israeli man visiting from Cincinnati whose last name in Hebrew is Daled-Vav-Kuf, which he spells as Duke in English. To avoid further confusion, Anshe Sfard is now listing him as Dovid Duke.
agenda Community rallies after pre-Passover fire
This Yom HaAtzma’ut, celebrate red, white, and blue.
Kitchen blaze heavily damaged Greenberg home in Metairie A two-alarm fire destroyed the home of Rabbi Gabriel and Abby Greenberg of Beth Israel in Metairie on April 19, three days before the start of Passover. According to an email sent out by the congregation hours after the blaze, the fire began in the kitchen and “consumed their home and nearly all of their possessions.” When the fire started, Rabbi Greenberg and the children were in the yard, and there were no injuries. Bradley Bain, president of the congregation, said the community has already begun to assist. Financial assistance and contributions of goods can be made through Rabbi David Posternock, the congregation’s administrator, in the Beth Israel office. A GoFundMe campaign was also been set up for them. In less than 24 hours, the fund was close to its initial $50,000 goal, with 620 donations from around the world. After four days, close to 900 donations totaling over $67,000 had come in. “Rebuilding will undoubtedly be a slow and painful process,” Bain said. “While the extent of the damage has yet to be fully assessed, we do know they will be temporarily uprooted and forever miss the heirlooms, sentimental objects, and mementos consumed in today’s fire.” They thanked the Jefferson Parish Fire Department for their efforts in extinguishing the blaze and keeping it from spreading to neighboring homes. It took less than 15 minutes to extinguish the blaze, but there was extensive water, smoke and heat damage. The fire began just before 4:30 p.m. in the oven as it was self-cleaning. Bain urged everyone “to be diligent in our Pesach preparations, especially when it comes to the self-cleaning cycle of our ovens.” The Greenbergs have been at Beth Israel since June 2014. The congregation was flooded out of its previous building in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and rebuilt in Metairie, dedicating its current building in 2012. The house is about a block and a half away. “Our community has demonstrated time and again its resiliency and devotion,” Bain said. “Our thoughts and prayers remain with Rabbi Gabe, Abby, and the family.” Dahlia Topolosky, whose husband Rabbi Uri Topolosky was rabbi of Beth Israel before Greenberg’s arrival, said “we are very shaken” by the news, as this had previously been their house. Their new congregation, Beth Joshua in Rockville, Md., is collecting contributions.
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agenda Via Atlanta, Trief becomes rabbi at Baton Rouge’s Beth Shalom Beth Shalom in Baton Rouge announced that Rabbi Natan Trief will become the congregation’s new rabbi, part time. Just after he was offered the position, his wife, Rabbi Samantha Shabman, was offered a “very competitive and prized pulpit” in Atlanta, Temple Sinai, and Beth Shalom thought that was the end of the story. Instead, Trief approached Beth Shalom with an “outside the box” proposal where Trief would commute to Baton Rouge every other week, from Tuesday to Sunday, and offer rabbinic services remotely the rest of the time. He would also be there for holidays, special events and lifecycle celebrations. “During their brief, but impactful visit to Baton Rouge, Samantha and Natan felt a very real connection to our Beth Shalom community,” congregational president Mark Hausmann said. The proposal was approved unanimously and he will start on Aug. 2. In 2015, both received a Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature at HUC’s graduation in New York. They were to be ordained on May 8 at a ceremony at Congregation Emanu-El in New York. They were married last September, having met at a social for incoming first-year rabbinical students in 2011. With both into fitness and the outdoors, they began running marathons, and he proposed to her just short of the finish line at a marathon in Paris. This year, Rabbi Mark Glickman has been serving Beth Shalom as interim rabbi. He succeeded Rabbi Thomas Gardner, who had been in Baton Rouge since 2008 and is now rabbi of the Riverdale Temple in the Bronx, New York.
Silver named Shir Chadash rabbi Shir Chadash in Metairie, the only Conservative congregation in the New Orleans area, announced that Rabbi Deborah Silver will succeed Rabbi Ethan Linden this summer. Lisa Finkelstein, president of the congregation of over 300 families, made the announcement on April 14 in the congregation’s weekly email that the contract has been signed and Silver will begin on Aug. 1. “We look forward to her arrival with great anticipation,” she said. A native of England, Silver is believed to be the first British woman ordained at the Ziegler School in Los Angeles, and will be the first female rabbi for Shir Chadash. She was ordained in 2010 and has been assistant rabbi at Adat Ari El Synagogue in Valley Village, Calif. Silver has a Master’s degree in Hebrew Studies from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, England, and an MA in Theory and Practice of Literary Translation from the University of Essex, England. She worked in theater and publishing, co-authoring “The Young Person’s Guide to Saving the Planet” for Virago Press in 1990 and acting as Senior English Editor of the “Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary of Current Usage.” Silver then practiced law and was an associate professor at BPP Law School. Having grown up at a time when women were not rabbis, she fulfilled a life-long desire and entered the Ziegler School. While there, she co-edited the “Walking With” series of books with Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson. She also taught ethics at the Conejo Valley Florence Melton Adult Mini-School. She won the Whizin Prize for Jewish Ethics in 2009 with her responsum about fair trade, and recently became a qualified yoga instructor. Linden, who has served Shir Chadash for seven years, was recently named the new director of Camp Ramah in the Berkshires in New York. The congregation will have a camp-themed community sendoff for the family on June 5 from 4 to 7 p.m.
10 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
community Deputy Knesset Speaker thanks Alabama for historic support of Israel Hilik Bar addresses joint session of state Legislature Hilik Bar, the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, has a message for Alabama: Thank you. Bar, said to be the highest-ranking Israeli official ever to visit the state, spoke to a joint session of the Alabama Legislature on April 7. He was invited by Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey, who he met with before his address. Afterward he also met with House Speaker Mike Hubbard, who said “the vast majority of Americans will always stand with Israel.” Ivey said “Alabama has a long and proud history of support for the State of Israel,” which Bar spoke about in his address. Bar was in Alabama and Georgia for the week, touring with Eeki Elner, founder of the Israel Leadership Institute in Sderot. The main public event during their visit was an April 9 Alabama-Israel Leadership Gala, held near Decatur as a benefit for ILI and the Alabama-Israel Emergency Preparedness Disaster Response Initiative (see page 13). Bar, who has also spoken to the Ohio Legislature, said he is traveling to speak against the boycott-Israel movement known as BDS, for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, “and what is the intention — it’s not promoting human rights.” Bar is a member of Zionist Union, the main opposition party in Israel’s government, formed by a merger of Labor and smaller center-left parties before the last election. The party has 24 seats in the Knesset. Bar started his message to the Legislature by saying that he is the grandson of the only member of that branch of his family to survive the Holocaust.
While that was happening, “it was the great state of Alabama that stood as a great beacon of light among nations, and stood up for the Jewish people.” In 1943, the Alabama Legislature unanimously passed a resolution expressing support for a Jewish state in the land of Israel, “the first and only state at that time to clearly state its support. “It is by the grace of God I am able to stand here and extend a hand of
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community friendship and partnership,” Bar said. “It is my pleasure and my duty to thank you, the people of Alabama, for that historical resolution.” That commitment continues, as Alabama unanimously passed a resolution in February denouncing the BDS movement and reaffirming support for Israel. Bar said BDS attracts supporters through nice slogans, but BDS is “not just a movement of protest” but one that calls for “the total destruction of Israel and the people of Israel.” Another bill, which would prohibit Alabama government entities from entering into contracts with companies that boycott individuals or nations “with whom this state enjoys Hilik Bar presents an award to Richard open trade” passed the Senate Brooks at the AITF gala on April 9 as unanimously just before Bar’s Eeki Elner looks on address. The bill, which does not explicitly mention Israel but would have the effect of barring contracts with those who boycott Israel, had its second reading in the House on April 13 and is pending its third reading. Bar spoke about how Israel and Alabama are on the front lines in the fight against terrorism and defending justice. He spoke of the desire for peace in the region while acknowledging “we live in a tough neighborhood.” In strengthening ties between Alabama and Israel, Bar said “there are many opportunities for mutual projects and further cooperation,” mentioning the high tech, medical and agricultural fields in particular. “The sky is the limit. Let us do more to explore the possibilities.”
Berkowitz to be inducted into Lawyers Hall of Fame
While the delegation was in Ivey’s office, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker informed the group that Abe Berkowitz will be inducted into the Alabama State Bar’s Alabama Lawyers Hall of Fame on May 6. The announcement about Berkowitz, who died in 1985, led to a discussion of his activity on behalf of Israel, which included leading the effort to pass Alabama’s 1943 resolution about a Jewish state. Berkowitz was also involved in the secret Sonneborn Institute, a small group of individuals who smuggled war materiel to the Haganah for Israel’s War of Independence. Among the others working with the group was Al Schwimmer, who was credited with forming Israel’s Air Force through smuggled surplus airplanes, financed through the Sonneborn Institute. He was profiled in Nancy Spielberg’s recent documentary, “Above and Beyond,” a film she decided to make after seeing Schwimmer’s obituary. Elner noted that Schwimmer’s last act of service to Israel was co-founding ILI with him, and was full of praise for Schwimmer as a mentor and role model. “He trained me in my commitment for Israel,” Elner said. Berkowitz joins Edward Friend Jr. as the Jewish members in the Hall. In Georgia, Elner and Bar met with the lieutenant governor, who expressed support for a Georgia-Israel Leadership Initiative that would provide funding to bring Georgia students to Sderot for leadership training. Bar called ILI “one of the most important things happening now in Israel.” While there are other leadership development institutions, Bar said he was attracted to ILI because of its decision to be in Sderot, a place routinely under threat from Gaza, rather than the safer confines of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Elner and Bar also attended events with the Jewish communities of Montgomery and Huntsville, and spoke at Calvary Assembly.
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Gala honors Alabama-Israel friendships For Ambassador Judith Shorer, Israel’s Consul General to the Southeastern U.S. in Atlanta, the April 9 Alabama-Israel Leadership Gala had personal echoes. The evening, coordinated by the Alabama-Israel Task Force, celebrated the ongoing relationship between Israel and Alabama, dating back to the historic 1943 resolution where Alabama became the first state to call for the establishment of a Jewish homeland, five years before Israel was established. In her remarks, Shorer said that earlier in the evening, when the 1943 resolution was referenced, she told her 11-year-old daughter that the declaration came “when savta, my mother, her grandmother, was still in the Holocaust in Budapest and they were trying to survive. So it means so much to me, you can not believe it.” She was presented a plaque with the text of the 1943 resolution, and it was seen as precedent for two Israel-related measures before the Alabama Legislature this year. Hilik Bar, deputy speaker of the Knesset, addressed the gala two days after speaking to a joint session of the Alabama Legislature. Senator Arthur Orr, from the Decatur area, introduced a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that seeks to isolate Israel, and which has been gaining some traction on college campuses. The resolution also reaffirmed Alabama’s support for Israel. That resolution passed the Legislature unanimously in February and was signed by Governor Robert Bentley. Bar noted that “promoting anti-BDS legislation is not easy,” but Alabama is going even further. “What Senator Orr and his friends did, he said when it comes to Israel and when it comes to BDS, declaration is not enough.” Another bill before the Legislature would prevent Alabama governmental entities from entering into contracts with companies that participate in boycotts against allies. Though Israel is not specifically mentioned, the bill is being seen as part of the fight against BDS. Bar said the Alabama Legislature’s message is “You boycott Israel, we boycott you. And that’s a very brave thing to do.” That bill passed the Senate on April 7, an hour before Bar’s address. At press time, the House had held a second reading on April 13, and the third reading was pending. John Buhler, co-chair of AITF, said the evening was to celebrate the leadership that made such declarations possible, celebrate the friendship between Israel and Alabama, and “cultivate state-to-state relationships between Alabama and Israel for the mutual benefit of our people.” The event at The Epicenter near Decatur was a benefit for the Alabama-Israel Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response Initiative with the Israel Leadership Institute in Sderot, which is near the Gaza border. Eeki Elner, founder of ILI, said “It’s not just about giving to Israel. We will give in return… the fruits of our projects and our works will be shared here as well.”
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May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 13
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community There were four Leadership Awards presented by Bar during the evening. King introduced Richard Brooks and David Nelson. Brooks, past president of Temple B’nai Sholom and the Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama, is “an absolute mensch,” she said. Brooks said “As an American and as a Jew, what we hear tonight is so important to listen to, to take to heart and keep in mind at all times.” Nelson, King said, has been a pastor for 55 years and in October will take his 15th trip to Israel since 1972. She noted his work on behalf of Holocaust survivors and against anti-Semitism. Nelson is pastor emeritus at the Rock Family Worship Center. Both of his sons are pastors, and he took each of them to Israel when they turned 16. He said he “fell in love with Israel when I became a man of the Book. I realized we owe so much to Israel and the Jewish people.” He concluded, “May we ever stand strong, realizing God still does bless those who bless (Israel).” Buhler introduced Orr, who thanked Bar for taking the time to visit Alabama. He urged those in attendance to share the story of the evening with their friends. Buhler also paid tribute to Rep. Victor Gaston of the Mobile area. Gaston, who is speaker pro tem, has been guiding the Israel legislation in the House, but due to family illness was unable to attend the event. Buhler said he wanted to be sure that Gaston was publicly recognized for his efforts. Before going to Atlanta, Shorer had worked for years at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, so she was proud to be visiting “the mecca of the missile industry, Huntsville.” She noted “Israel has a big stake in this city” through the development of the Arrow, David’s Sling and Iron Dome systems to protect Israel from incoming rockets and missiles. The systems have “saved lots of lives so far,” she said. Bar opened his remarks with “Shalom y’all,” and spoke of Israel’s deep desire for peace. But, “As much as we aspire and pray for peace, we are also aware of our duty and obligation to defend the restoration of the Jewish nation in its historical homeland.” With the recent wave of terror attacks, “Our safe existence can not be taken for granted” and “we will fight terrorism at every corner, every street, every hour, every day, and with determination.” Despite a long history of unwanted wars, he said “Not even one day of war ever interrupted one day of democracy.” He has but one question for Israel’s enemies to see if they are serious about peace — whether they want to live next to Israel or instead of Israel. Live next to us, we have every obligation to find peace, he said. “But if you have any wish or desire to live here instead of us, you should know that it will never happen.” Seeing the crowd at the gala, Bar said “We know, deep inside, that Israel will never stand alone.” He also noted, “If one needs to imagine the place where an Israeli would feel welcomed, protected and loved, it is here in Alabama, among hundreds of Zionists — Jews and Christians.” Also in attendance was Coach Eric Cohu, a local high school football coach who recently was named offensive coordinator for Israel’s national American football team. Dana Korem, the Israeli shlicha in Montgomery this year, said she would not have believed it if she had been told, prior to arriving in Alabama, that she would see an event where 300 people, 90 percent of them Christian, would be showing their support of Israel. “I’m proud to be a shlicha in Alabama,” she said. In his prayer for Israel, Calvary Assembly Pastor George Sawyer noted that “all other nations were created by an act of men, but Israel was the only nation created by an act of God.” Rabbi Stephen Listfield of Etz Chayim in Huntsville and Pastor Robert Somerville of Awareness Ministry gave the invocation and benediction.
May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 15
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Since 2003, when the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life launched its standardized religious school curriculum for congregations across the South, Education Fellows have spent two years based out of Jackson, visiting congregations using the curriculum. The weekend of Feb. 26, 18 of the 38 Fellows that have completed the program were back in Jackson for the first Fellow Alumni Summit. Beth Kander-Dauphin, one of the original two Fellows from 2003 to 2005, said “it was an incredible weekend of reconnecting, recalling the impact of the past, and conversing about all the potential impact this group can have together in the future.” Of the 38, 29 have continued with professional or lay leadership in the Jewish community. Fourteen have sought Jewish graduate degrees, and six are either rabbis or currently in rabbinical school. The three-day event included professional development and alumni-network planning with Robin Axelrod; presentations from ISJL Staff, including Macy B. Hart and all of the department heads, to bring alumni up-to-speed on current ISJL initiatives and impact; Shabbat evening services at Beth Israel Congregation; a Shabbat dinner at the Hart home; a Saturday morning creative minyan led by Rabbi Matt Dreffin and former Education Fellow Alachua Haskins; a participatory program on Talmud to share an example of one of the new Education Department offerings; and social time to explore Jackson, have dinner together, and informally connect and catch up. From the first class, Kander-Dauphin is a published author and playwright in Chicago, and works as the ISJL communications and development coordinator. Amanda Abrams is now vice president of community impact for the Atlanta Jewish Federation. From later classes, Andrew Terkel is now assistant rabbi at Kahl Kadosh Beth Elohim in Charleston, S.C., and Greg Weisman is assistant rabbi at Temple Beth El of Boca Raton, Fla. Russel Neiss is director of educational technology and a Covenant Fellow at G-dcast. Mandy Farb is director of lifelong learning at Temple Beth El in Northbrook, Ill., and Samantha Gannon Tanenbaum is director of youth and teen program at Temple Sinai in Atlanta. Rachel Jarman Myers is the museum and special projects coordinator for ISJL, and Lena Wise Lieb is director of development for Houston Hillel and Hillel at Texas A&M. Michelle Blumenthal is now director of Jewish life at Houston Hillel. Alex Glass is now assistant director for the URJ Camp Coleman in Georgia, and Claire Solomon is program officer for the Covenant Foundation in New York.
community “This is where I was really called” to be Rabbi Edward Paul Cohn reflects on his 29 years at Temple Sinai in New Orleans The first time Rabbi Edward Paul Cohn looked out from the pulpit of Temple Sinai in New Orleans, the vast historic sanctuary was empty. It was 1979 when Cohn, the rabbi at Beth Israel in Macon, Ga., was visiting New Orleans for the wedding of a congregant’s son who had gone to the Tulane School of Medicine. “I had known of the historic significance and uniqueness of Temple Sinai” and wanted to see it while he was in town. He was “drawn to it as a major congregation in the history of our movement” and “practices and attitudes I thought could well match up with my own.” Melanie Feldman brought him to tour Sinai, where he thought “this was the place I needed to be.” While on the pulpit, he turned to his wife, Andrea, and said “if we ever get a chance, I want to come here.” In 1987, he said, “our wish came true.” Now, 29 years later, Cohn is describing his time at Temple Sinai as “a complete and comfortable fit.” This summer he is stepping down as senior rabbi at Temple Sinai — but he’s not going away.
“I love being a rabbi and I think I can be very useful,” so he will continue to be active in community work on behalf of Temple Sinai, look for teaching and preaching opportunities and be available for life-cycle events. He will also maintain a dialogue with his successor as a resource so the new rabbi “will have a clear understanding of how we have come to be who we are as a congregation” as the new rabbi leads Temple Sinai in the 21st century. “I’ve wanted to be there for the person who follows me. It’s what you do when you love something,” he said. Naturally, when a new rabbi arrives there will be some changes and a time of adjustment. He also wants to help the congregation adjust to someone new, who will have new ideas. “No one expects a clone of Cohn,” he said. Cohn reflected that when he arrived, he felt there were some changes that needed to be made, “but I appreciated where they were.” The congregational leadership “knew they needed to make some changes,” and some of today’s leaders “have the same thought” now. “Fresh leadership, fresh energy” often brings changes that hadn’t been considered before, he
said. A native of Baltimore, Cohn graduated from the University of Cincinnati, then was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1974. He later received a Doctor of
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community Ministry degree from St. Paul School of Theology. He started as an assistant rabbi at The Temple in Atlanta, followed by his pulpit in Macon from 1976 to 1979, the New Reform Temple in Kansas City and Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh before moving to New Orleans. In addition to the historic orientation of the congregation, he was also attracted by how the congregants were “so decent.” Working with Cantor Joel Colman for 17 years “has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life,” he said. “We’ve accomplished things together we’d never imagined we would be able to do.” Temple Sinai is regarded as a liberal congregation. With the backdrop of today’s societal fight over same-sex marriage, Cohn has officiated at such unions. It was very early in his tenure that he delivered a sermon entitled “Adam and Steve.” As sermon titles are displayed on the marquee outside, “it stopped traffic on St. Charles Avenue,” he said. Even before Cohn arrived, the congregation was known for its inclusion of interfaith couples, long before even fellow Reform congregations did. “We did not have any ambivalence or uncertainty over officiating at interfaith marriages,” though not under every circumstance. The previous two rabbis officiated interfaith weddings, “so I wasn’t anything new.” “We have integrated interfaith married couples completely into the life of the congregation,” Cohn said. At Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, the non-Jewish grandparents take part in the generational passing of the Torah. “Somewhere along the line, they were cooperative. They helped make the marriage work” and should be recognized for enabling the raising of Jewish children. In the greater community, he points with pride to the Holocaust memorial at Woldenberg Park on the riverfront, which he spearheaded over several years until it was built. “I’m very proud of it,” he said, noting that it draws a “remarkable” 700,000 viewers per year. Cohn was also founding chairman of the City Human Relations Committee, which has been involved in numerous highly-charged issues over the years. The committee was active in moving the Liberty Monument, which had been in the neutral ground on Canal Street. The 1891 monument’s origin was to honor white supremacy in the state, though by 1993 other inscriptions had been added. Today, the monument is between a parking deck and floodwall, away from the crowds. Reflecting on today’s battle over Confederate monuments in the city, Cohn said “we really anticipated the moving of the monuments 20-some years ago.” He also faced down Klan leader David Duke at a city council meeting. As with anyone who has been in New Orleans more than a few years, Katrina was a major event in Cohn’s rabbinate. Much has changed, he said, “fortunately a lot of it for the better.” He considers the 18 years he was in New Orleans before Katrina to be “in preparation for dealing with the challenge.” That was “a time of bonding with people at a depth that was just unexpected and uncommon,” he said. The spirit of working together across congregations and organizations continues. Now, he is looking forward to the celebration of New Orleans’ tricentennial in 2018, having recently been appointed by the mayor to be the Jewish community representative on the tricentennial’s cultural diversity committee. Cohn said the Jewish community needs to find a way to “appropriately celebrate the role New Orleans has played in the life of the Jewish community, and that the Jewish community has played in New Orleans. And it’s more than Judah Touro.” Temple Sinai’s Gala on May 21 will be honoring Cohn for his 29 years of service to the congregation. There will be a patron party at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and cocktails at 7:15 p.m., special presentations and a silent auction. The event is black tie optional. Tickets are $150, or $75 for those under 35 years of age. Patron levels start at $275.
community Brundibar, the Terezinstadt children’s opera, coming to World War II Museum Remaining survivor of original productions to visit community for educational programs The New Orleans Opera and the National World War II Museum are collaborating on a production of Hans Krasa’s Holocaust-era children’s opera “Brundibar,” but it will involve far more than the three performances this month. “Brundibar” was performed 55 times in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during the Holocaust, after which Krasa and just about all of the other participants were deported to Auschwitz and killed. The only remaining survivor from the production, Ela Weissberger, will visit New Orleans for the productions and a series of educational events. She played “cat” in all 55 performances. She “will not only relate her personal story of struggle and survival, but also her casting as the role of the cat in Brundibar, and what the staging of this opera around the world means to her today.” Also coming to New Orleans will be the Butterfly Project, which is making 1.5 million ceramic butterflies to memorialize the 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered by the Nazis. The local production came about through a
meeting between New Orleans Opera and the World War II Museum to brainstorm collaborative projects, musical performances that would further the museum’s mission of accentuating all aspects of World War II. During the meeting, the upcoming pavilion that will deal with the Holocaust was mentioned, which led Opera Conductor Robert Lyall to reflect on a couple of productions that are Holocaust-related and which could be done there. They wanted it to be done somewhere around Holocaust Remembrance Day, which would be after the Opera’s season concluded and before the end of the school year. As the Opera and the museum started discussing “Brundibar,” they consulted with many in the Jewish community, especially Rabbi Edward Paul Cohn and Cantor Joel Colman of Temple Sinai, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and the Jewish Endowment Foundation. This is a smaller-scale production without drawing national opera figures. Instead, the cast is students from the New Orleans area. Tryouts
were held at Temple Sinai in January. “We decided early on to make it an interfaith production,” Lyall said. “It wouldn’t be exclusively Jewish or exclusively non-Jewish kids.” Composed in 1939 for the children of the Jewish orphanage in Prague, the show premiered in a cramped attic theater in Theresienstadt on Sept. 23, 1943, to an audience of prisoners, camp leaders, and Swedish Red Cross workers who were monitoring conditions at the camp. The story itself is about a fatherless sister and brother. Their mother is ill, and the doctor tells them she needs milk to recover. But they have no money. They decide to sing in the marketplace to raise the needed money. But the evil organ grinder Brundibár chases them away. However, with the help of a fearless sparrow, keen cat and wise dog, and the children of the town, they are able to chase Brundibár away, and sing in the market square. While the Nazis used the show as a propaganda tool in portraying a model camp, the Jewish viewers equated Hitler with Brundibar. Lyall said it is important to take what can be simply viewed as a charming children’s story
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and put it in its context and significance for audiences. After 75 years, he said, it is an amazing set of circumstances that enables the show to be performed at all. The performances will be preceded by a 15-minute short opera, “Friedl,” about Friedl Brandeis, who was “largely responsible” for the large amount of children’s art that came out of Theresienstadt. Lyall explained that education and art were forbidden at the camp, but Brandeis persevered. The work was written for the Los Angeles Opera before a 2013 run of “Brundibar.” Brandeis hid a large amount of artwork in suitcases, which emerged again after the war. The 5,000 pieces of art were “how much she could cram into a couple of suitcases.” Of the 15,000 children sent to Theresienstadt, fewer than 100 survived. Lyall said the local production will use the original dialogue instead of more recent attempts to make it more grand. Likewise, a recent version by Louisiana native Tony Kushner isn’t being used because of changes in the story. “I’m respecting the original text and the original intent of how it was presented” in the camp, Lyall said. There will be a series of events in conjunction with the performances. Temple Sinai will host the Butterfly Project’s “Not the Last Butterfly” documentary film on May 12 at 7 p.m. There will be a reception, butterfly painting and discussion with the filmmaker. The Butterfly Project was formed in 2006 at San Diego Jewish Academy, partly inspired by the Paper Clips project of Whitwell, Tenn. Over 200 communities worldwide have participated in the project, which will use the 1.5 million ceramic butterflies as inspiration worldwide, for Holocaust education and anti-bullying initiatives. Schools around the world can dial into a Webinar with Weissberger, “Testimony from Theresienstadt: Ela Weissberger and her Story of Survival” on May 13 at noon. All audiences are welcome to view and participate. The museum says the webinar is ideal for grades 5 to 8. Upon registering, teachers will receive curriculum materials related to the program. Weissberger will be at the 6:15 p.m. Shabbat service on May 13 at Temple Sinai. On May 14, the Butterfly Project will have a family workshop at the WWII Museum at 2 p.m. Children ages 8 to 12 are invited to design ceramic butterflies with Weissberger, who will also glaze one of the butterflies. Each of the butterflies made at the museum will be incorporated into a temporary public display. Advance registration is required, and one adult per three children must attend. Participants are invited to attend the “Brundibár” dress rehearsal directly following the workshop. There is no charge to participate, but space is very limited. Regular museum admission charges will apply to those who want to spend the day at the museum. The “Brundibar” performances will be May 14 at 7:30 p.m., and May 15 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center. Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for children. The Boeing Center includes restored warbirds hanging from the ceiling. Those were the planes being piloted by U.S. forces during the opera’s original run at Theresienstadt. In 1998, J. Greg Thomas, a teacher in rural Alabama, did a tour of “Brundibar” with an entirely non-Jewish cast and using their original accents to show the universal message. The tour performed in October 1998 in Nashville, as special guests of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission’s annual Holocaust Conference for High School students, with Weissberger in attendance. In 2014, children and adults from Ars Nova School of the Arts in Huntsville performed “Brundibar” during “Voices from Terezin” at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church. Weissberger introduced those performances as well.
2/8/16 10:20 AM
community Back to ‘Bama: Hausman-Weiss signs with Tide wheelchair basketball team Abraham Hausman-Weiss will be coming back to Alabama, this time as a highly-touted athlete for the University of Alabama. Regarded as one of the leading players in the country in wheelchair basketball, Hausman-Weiss signed a letter of intent on April 5, giving him a full scholarship to Alabama to play for the Alabama Adapted Athletics’ men’s wheelchair basketball team. The ceremony was held at the Emery/ Weiner School in Houston, where he will graduate this month. Hausman-Weiss plays for the TIRR Memorial Hermann Junior Hotwheels in Houston. During the 2015 national tournament, Hausman-Weiss, team captain and two-time All-American, shot an Abraham Hausman-Weiss “absolutely unheard of ” 67 percent displays his MVP award from the field, said TIRR Coach Trice at the 2015 conference Ham. The Junior Hotwheels won the championship. national championship in 2015. In February, at the Varsity Regional Tournament in Tulsa, he was conference MVP, MVP of the championship game, won the Academic All-Conference award and the Commissioners Award for the student with the highest GPA, while leading the Hotwheels to their sixth consecutive Southwest Conference championship. In the conference championship game on Feb. 28, a 60-44 victory over the Dallas Junior Mavs, Hausman-Weiss had 31 points. Ham called Hausman-Weiss “the best high school wheelchair basketball player in the United States” and the No. 1 recruit of the 2016 class. “He’s the hardest worker I have ever coached,” he said. Born in Los Angeles, Hausman-Weiss was 19 months old when the family moved to Birmingham. He attended Birmingham’s N.E. Miles Jewish Day School before moving to Houston in 2011 when his father, Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss, became senior rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El in Houston. Rabbi Hausman-Weiss had been director of adult Jewish outreach at Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El since 1999. In December 2013, he became the rabbi of the new Shma Koleinu congregation. Hausman-Weiss was born with spina bifida. He began swimming and doing track and field at a young age at Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, the largest Olympic and Paralympic training center in the country. In first grade he won first place in numerous national track and field events, including a national record in discus. In first grade, he saw the Lakeshore wheelchair basketball team play and knew that is what he wanted to pursue. Before last year’s tournament, Hausman-Weiss commented, “I love the comradery of this team. When we moved here from Alabama I was looking for a team and started reading about the Hotwheels and thought, wow, they’re a really good team.” Houston Jewish community members also on the Hotwheels with Hausman-Weiss are the Berry brothers, Peter and Aaron. In 2011, they were paralyzed in a wreck that killed their parents, Robin and Joshua Berry. During their rehab at TIRR their aunt brought them to a Hotwheels game, where they met Hausman-Weiss. Having played basketball before the wreck, they joined the Hotwheels the next week.
May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 21
community In August 2011, Hausman-Weiss had spoken at Beth Yeshurun Day School, where the Berrys attended, giving advice to the students on how to treat the Berrys when they would return to the school a few weeks later. The Alabama program began in 2003 with a women’s wheelchair basketball team, and a men’s team was added in 2006. They compete in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association. The Alabama men’s team won the national championship in 2013, the women’s team won it all in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2015. On March 12, the third-seeded Alabama men lost the national championship game as the University of Wisconsin Whitewater won its third national title in a row. The Alabama athletics department is currently building a $10 million facility for the Adapted Athletics program. The Adapted Athletics facility will be a two-story building which will include a game venue for wheelchair basketball, locker rooms, a workout/training room, team meeting rooms and study halls. University President Stuart Bell recently said “the University of Alabama will be the first school in the country to have an arena dedicated strictly to collegiate adapted athletics.” After Hausman-Weiss’ signing ceremony, it was off to Louisville for this year’s National Wheelchair Basketball Association tournament, which featured 88 teams in different age divisions. The TIRR Junior Hotwheels were after their third straight national title, starting as the No. 3 seed among the 16 junior varsity teams. In the championship game on April 9, they lost to the Minnesota Junior Timberwolves, 53-50, in a rematch of last year’s national championship game. But Hausman-Weiss, who was named the most valuable player for the tournament, did win a national championship as he also competed on the Hotwheels adult team. The Division III team won its first national title by defeating the Fort Lauderdale Sharks, 60-35. Hausman-Weiss had five points in the championship game on April 10.
Emily Nomberg to play lacrosse at Rollins Emily Nomberg, a junior at The Altamont School in Birmingham, announced on April 5 that she has committed to play lacrosse at Rollins College after high school graduation. Nomberg is a three-year starter for Mountain Brook High School, and was named to the All-State team last season as a defender. This past year, Nomberg played travel lacrosse for X-TEAM, a national team led by Crista Samaras and coached by Michelle Ruth. This summer she will play with LB3, a program based in Atlanta. The Rollins College Tars, located in Winter Park, Fla., play in the Sunshine State Conference, and are currently ranked fourth in the latest IWLCA DII Coaches Poll. She will play either defense or mid-fielder when she joins the Tars team in the fall of 2017. Since eighth grade she has also played varsity basketball at Altamont. The first in her family to play lacrosse, she started playing for Mountain Brook in sixth grade. She started for the middle school team from sixth to eighth grade, and the team won the state championship when she was in eighth grade. She became a member of the varsity team in ninth grade, with the team finishing the last two seasons as state runner-up.
22 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
community Israel Independence celebrations across the region In mid-May, several communities in the region will have celebrations for Israel’s 68th birthday. In New Orleans, there will be a community-wide Yom Ha’Zikaron, Israel memorial day, service led by members of the Jewish Clergy Council of New Orleans on May 11 at 6:30 p.m., followed by an Israel Independence celebration at 7 p.m. The celebration will include a dessert reception and performance of “Israel Story — Live!” Using a combination of radio-style storytelling, live art, music, singing, video, and other multimedia magic, the show provides an intimate glimpse of modern Israeli life. “Israel Story” is an Israeli radio show inspired by the slice-of-life stories featured on “This American Life.” The evening is free and open to the community The Jewish Federation of Central Alabama will hold a regional ISRAELfest68, showcasing Israeli life, culture and spirit. The event will be on May 15 at the Wynlakes Golf and Country Club in Montgomery from 5 to 8 p.m. The event will feature a variety of traditional Middle Eastern food, a salute to outstanding leaders dedicated to Israel, special guest speakers, a silent auction, an 8-foot replica of Jerusalem’s Western Wall, craft activities and dancing for the kids, merchandise, door prizes and more. At the center of the celebration is live entertainment by Shimon Smith, a leading Israeli singer and former emissary to Israel who served in central Alabama, as well as a performance by Israeli stand-up comedian Yuval Haklat. Tickets for ISRAELfest 68 are $18 for adults and free for children under 13. There will also be an Israel Memorial Day commemoration at Agudath Israel-Etz Ahayem in Montgomery on May 10 at 7 p.m. Birmingham Celebrates Israel will be at the Levite Jewish Community Center on May 15 at noon. There will be Israeli food available for purchase, a kids’ zone with games and rides, music and a bike parade. There will also be Israeli and Jewish products for sale, a Western Wall replica for placing a message, Israeli football, cotton candy, and much more. Admission is free. On May 15, Baton Rouge Hadassah will celebrate Israel Independence Day at B’nai Israel at 6 p.m., with food, dance and a film about Jerusalem. Pensacola’s Israel celebration will be on May 15 at 12:15 p.m. with details to be announced. For updates and more events in the region, visit sjlmag.com.
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Israeli radio and television personality Amit Farkash, whose song “Millions of Stars” became identified with the Second Lebanon War, will be the guest speaker at an Israel Memorial Day event in Birmingham. The Birmingham Jewish Federation is co-hosting the event at the Levite Jewish Community Center on May 11 at 7 p.m. The program is open to the community. This year is the 10th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War. Captain Tom Farkash, brother of Amit Farkash, was killed in a helicopter crash during the war. The song was composed by a friend of his, and she sang it for the first time at her brother’s funeral. It quickly became famous in Israel. She played the lead role in Israel’s version of “High School Musical” and co-starred on the television series “Split.” She is now portraying Dana in the series “The Nerd Club.”
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May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 23
Ceremony set for renaming of Trieber Federal Building in Arkansas A ceremony honoring the memory of the first Jewish Federal judge in the United States will take place this month in Helena, Ark. Last September, the U.S. House of Representatives approved naming the Helena-West Helena Federal Building in honor of Jacob Trieber, and the official naming ceremony will take place on May 20. After the ceremony, there will be a lunch at Beth El Heritage Hall, the former Temple Beth El, which is now part of the Delta Cultural Center. A bus for members of the central Arkansas Jewish community will be departing from B’nai Israel in Little Rock at 8:30 a.m. for the ceremony. Trieber was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas by President William McKinley on July 26, 1900. He served until his death on Sept. 17, 1927, presiding over at least 1,000 cases per year. In 1903, Trieber ruled that racial discrimination in employment was unconstitutional in the state. The ruling was overturned by the “regressive” Supreme Court in 1906 and its effects would not be achieved until the Civil Rights Act in 1964. His ruling was reinstated in 1968. In addition to being far ahead of his time on civil rights matters, he spoke out for women’s right to vote and had landmark rulings on wildlife conservation, antitrust regulations and railroad litigation. On May 19 at 5:30 p.m., there will be an “Evening with Judge Jacob Trieber,” as South Arkansas Community College Professor Ken Bridges talks about Trieber’s legacy. The event will also be at the Beth El Heritage Hall. As part of the evening, there will be a reading from a speech Trieber gave over a century ago, urging the preservation of the Old State House in Little Rock.
A Bat Mitzvah in the Delta
Had m assah Birmingha
You and your family are invited
Sunday, June 5, 2016 Overton Park, 3020 Overton Rd 10am-Noon for Hadassah Birmingham’s 100th birthday celebration!
fun family activities free of charge: arts and crafts • music • story time • scavenger hunt birthday cake decorating (kashrut supervised by Chabad) RSVP not necessary but helpful: Mindy Cohen mcohen7805@charter.net
24 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
Sarah Levingston was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah at Adath Israel in Cleveland, Miss., on April 2. It was mentioned that she is the last student of Bat Mitzvah age among the membership, so while she attends religious school at Temple Israel in Memphis, she decided to have her Bat Mitzvah in Cleveland.
summer travel an annual SJL special section
National WWII Museum opens new Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries In December 2015, The National WWII Museum in New Orleans opened its newest permanent exhibit: The Richard C. Adkerson and Freeport-McMoRan Foundation “Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries.” Retracing the grueling trail that led from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay, “Road to Tokyo” explores the evolving strategy for fighting relentless Japanese forces in Asia and the Pacific, examining cultural differences, logistical challenges and the staggering range of extreme conditions that confronted American military forces in Asia and the Pacific. Along with “Road to Tokyo,” the museum also opened a new exhibit on the U.S. Merchant Marine. LTJG Ralph E. Crump Merchant Marine Gallery is a stand-alone gallery that honors the mariners who risked their lives transporting weapons, men and matériel to distant warfronts. Features include a video, artifacts, a model of a Liberty ship and an engaging array of personal narratives. The gallery is situated in the Solomon Victory Theater complex, at the end of the American Spirit Bridge — a new glass-and-metal bridge that connects the Museum’s Louisiana Memorial Pavilion with the rest of the six-acre campus. Rich in content and expansive in scope, “Road to Tokyo,” Merchant Marine and the American Spirit Bridge offer visitors a more complete story than ever before of the American experience in World War II. After visitors begin their WWII journey in the Museum’s replica Union Pacific train car, just like new recruits heading to boot camp in the United States, the American Spirit Bridge takes them “overseas” to immersive exhibits that explore how the war was fought and won in Europe (“Road to Berlin”), and now the Pacific (“Road to Tokyo”). “Road to Tokyo” encompasses 10 richly-layered galleries showcasing over 400 artifacts, including a shark-faced P-40 Warhawk, interactive oral history kiosks, serialized “Dog Tag” profiles, short films and re-created wartime environments. Located on the second floor of the Museum’s Campaigns of Courage pavilion, the galleries collectively explore the story of a world that was unimaginably alien to American GIs, a conflict of searing brutality and a victory so devastating it is hotly debated even today. The opening of “Road to Tokyo” completes Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters, a pavilion that addresses the heart of the museum’s mission: telling the vast story of how the war was won. Set in the center of the institution’s campus, Campaigns opened in December 2014 with the launch of “Road to Berlin” on the first floor. Together, the two exhibit floors draw visitors through a riveting narrative in a way that leaves a lasting impact and redefines the museum experience — with emphasis placed on experiential storytelling. This grand opening was a capstone to a year of accomplishment for the museum, which celebrated its 15th anniversary last June and was recognized as the No. 3 museum in the nation by TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice awards — up from No. 4 in 2014. For more information about The National WWII Museum, call (877) 813-3329 or (504) 528-1944, or visit nationalww2museum.org.
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May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 25
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Dolly Parton just part of Sevierville’s charm In the foothills of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Sevierville, Tenn., is a place filled with breathtaking scenery, warm people and a unique cultural history. That’s why Sevierville and the Smoky Mountains have served as inspiration for some of Tennessee’s greatest songs, and the hometown of the state’s biggest star Dolly Parton. Dolly was born and raised in Sevierville and got her start in the music industry right downtown, singing live on the Cas Walker radio show. With her songs, she has described the beauty and richness of Sevierville and the Smoky Mountains and inspired many people to visit her “Smoky Mountain Home.” These days, visitors to Sevierville usually make a stop at the bronze statue of a young Dolly perched atop a rock with guitar in hand for a one-of-a-kind photo opportunity before visiting her Dollywood theme park. Even with her international appeal, Dolly Parton is only part of what draws people to visit Sevierville. Shopping in Sevierville is a must, especially because it is home to Tennessee’s largest authentic outlet mall, Tanger Outlets Sevierville. This massive complex features name-brand stores such as Coach, Polo Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors and more all stocked with designer merchandise at deep discount prices. Family fun is all around Sevierville and the Great Smoky Mountains. From go-kart tracks and mini golf to museums, aquariums, theme parks and more, this resort is packed with family-friendly activities to keep everyone busy. Visitors can catch a Tennessee Smokies game, the AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They can also take a walk on the wild side at animal attractions such as Rainforest Adventures, one of America’s finest small zoos. Airworthy war bird aircraft and national treasures such as the Doolittle Medal of Honor highlight the Tennessee Museum of Aviation. Golf enthusiasts can hit the links at the area’s two new golf courses. Whether one is taking in the scenery by trail, in a car or whizzing by on a zip line, natural beauty is synonymous with Sevierville and the Great Smoky Mountains. Views stretch for miles across the rolling foothills into Great Smoky Mountains National Park, America’s most visited national park. For more information about visiting Sevierville, Tennessee, request a free vacation planner at www. VisitSevierville.com.
summer travel
Destin destination: The Henderson Resort set to open The Henderson promises to be the finest beach resort to open on the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast in more than a decade. Reminiscent of a luxurious grand seaside manor of yesteryear, The Henderson, a Salamander Beach and Spa Resort, captures the romance of traditional coastal architecture by complementing the stunning natural backdrop with striking shingles, steep gabled rooflines and a reverence to Florida’s nautical history. The Henderson is the essence of relaxation and comfortable luxury. Just two miles from the bustling Destin Harbor, which honors the city’s humble origins as the “World’s Luckiest Fishing Village,” the resort is nestled in a beautiful and dynamic destination for both leisure and group travelers. In addition to world-class fishing, it offers unspoiled beaches, spectacular open-air shopping, fine sea- and farm-to-table dining and championship golf to a name just a few of the delightful distractions found here. From the moment guests arrive at this handsome 170-room resort hotel, they are embraced by an old-world charm inspired by the natural beauty of the area. Instead of a traditional lobby, you step into a warm and welcoming Living Room with hand-scraped walnut floors, high ceilings and generous windows overlooking pristine preserve and beautiful beach. The residential inspiration extends to the large guestrooms and suites, which feature luxurious, tasteful furnishings, yet remain authentic to the local surroundings through custom furnishings and gracious balconies or terraces. Even the resort’s indoor and outdoor function spaces feature soothing sea-inspired greens and corals.
The resort’s authentic sea-to-table dining experiences serve up the freshest ingredients possible in an elegant, yet comfortable atmosphere. Guest will enjoy a delicious beach view restaurant with a display kitchen, a soaring bar, a poolside grill, sushi bar, outdoor terrace dining with sunset views and an old-fashioned ice cream shop. Drawing on the inspirational venue, The Henderson’s destination spa features treatments derived from the Gulf ’s crystal waters, pristine beaches, area nature trails and indigenous plants. In addition to spectacular relaxation and treatment rooms, there are also specially constructed spa rooms, furnished and equipped with sounds and smells of the region. For those wanting a more active setting, The Henderson also offers a sunlit fitness room and a variety of other water experiences, including a family-oriented pool with a lazy river and a quiet adult zone. Guests can easily stroll or bike to the beach, where the experience features sunset cocktail hours, umbrella and chair service, as well as concierge assistance with arranging any number of activities from parasailing and snorkeling to deep sea fishing and golfing. “The only downside to visiting this stretch of the Emerald Coast is you will never want to visit another beach,” says Douglas Hustad, general manager of Henderson Beach Resort. The entire resort also includes the Henderson Park Inn and the Henderson Lofts condominiums. For centuries, this regaled region has delivered a seafood bounty to sustain its residents. And now for several decades, it has become increasingly noted for its beauty and vibrancy.
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May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 27
summer travel
Family-run family fun at Alabama Adventure by Lee J. Green Much has changed since Pat Koch’s father-in-law opened the Holiday World amusement park in southern Indiana back in 1946. One could say it has been a roller coaster of sorts. But one constant has been the Koch family being at the park and making sure that families play together — a tradition she and son, Dan, brought down to Alabama Splash Adventure when they took ownership of the Birmingham area amusement park in 2014. Now set to embark on their third season at Alabama Splash Adventure starting in late May, the Kochs continue to make enhancements to beautify and enhance the park experience. “We love what we do and we love being their with the families that comes to the park to make sure they have the best experience they possibly can here,” said Pat Koch, who is affectionately known as The General and has missed being at the park for only four days since they took over. Members of the Koch family still own and run Holiday World. A few years ago, Dan and his mother began looking at opportunities to put a family-focused amusement park in an underserved area. Alabama Splash Adventure, formerly Visionland, had been “neglected” for a few years but the Kochs saw its potential and hidden beauty. “There is a void in this area for an amusement park. With the water park and the land rides we offer two parks for one low price. We’re all about offering value and constantly improving the park experience,” said Dan Koch. In terms of value, Koch said that those who get a season pass would pay less than a dollar a day plus get some of that minimal cost back in concession dollars. This year’s improvements include a Tea Cup ride and a Space Shot ride
that have been added to the classic Rampage wooden roller coaster, which was enhanced before 2015 to make it faster and smoother. Fresh coats of paint are almost everywhere around the park. The Kochs said they have also added a room for mothers with toddlers to cool off and relax. They also added a big new soda and drink hut. The park offers unlimited free soda and non-alcoholic beverages with ticket purchase, as well as free sunscreen. “We want to do the little things that make all the difference,” said Pat Koch. “Our slogan this year is ‘ride, slide and relax’.” Enhancements were also made to the indoor event space at Alabama Splash Adventure and they welcome simchas and other celebrations at the park. Dan Koch said attendance was up 25 percent from 2014 to 2015 and they expect an even greater jump in 2016. “If you continue to offer people more value for their entertainment dollar they will come and come back. The most rewarding thing has been to see how many people enjoyed their first visit and became regulars. Plus they brought their friends,” he added. Samuel Linetsky, who works part-time at the park in addition to his regular job and is a member of the Birmingham Jewish community, became friends with the Kochs when Linetsky lived in Ohio and would make regular visits to Holiday World. He is also involved in a roller coaster enthusiasts group. “Since moving to Alabama from Ohio, the Kochs have been like a second family to me,” he said. “When I learned that the Koch family had bought a park near where I was planning to move, I was excited about the opportunity to work with the family to create great guest experiences.” Plus, Linetsky adds, “after a long day at the office at my day job, the best way to unwind is with a few laps on the Rampage.”
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28 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
summer travel
steamboat Women in Flight highlight Southern Museum of Flight’s 50th anniversary by Lee J. Green
Last authentic steamboat on the Mississippi River Three cruises a day from the French Quarter Dinner Jazz Cruise, Sunday Brunch & more Calliope Concerts & Engine Room Visits Inside and outside seating
To celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016, the Southern Museum of Flight is honoring great women of aviation, including the museum’s founder, Mary Alice Beatty. On May 21, the Birmingham museum will honor the spirit of Rosie the Riveter with its Rosie Rally. The special event will include talks, demos and family activities. For more information, go to www.southernmuseumofflight.org. The event also celebrates the arrival of the Commander Air Force’s AirPower History tour, which comes to the Southern Museum of Flight for a special five-day engagement, May 18 through May 22. Aircraft include the iconic B-29 Superfortress, FIFI, C-45 Expeditor, T-6 Texan, PT-13 Stearman and a T-34 Mentor. Visitors will be able to see the aircraft up close; watch them fly and purchase rides in all of the planes. Then on Aug. 26, the Museum hosts the Bombshell Ball. This fundraiser celebrates the release of the 2016-17 Bombshell Calendar and raises money for women in aviation scholarships as well as Southern Museum of Flight programs. The event features 1940s attire and swing dance lessons from Steel City Swing.
Enjoy “Summer Smart Play” at Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville
In the French Quarter behind JAX Brewery Reservations required 504.569.1401 or SteamboatNatchez.com
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville is gearing up for a busy summer season, beginning with the launch of its newest exhibit, “Summer Smart Play.” Open May 14 through July 25, the exhibit lets guests explore the forces of energy and nature through a variety of activities that include stepping into simulated tornado and feeling the shaking and sounds of an earthquake. The exhibit also includes a working storm shelter and the Rocket Center’s new Magic Planet interactive, sphere-shaped display. With this display, guests can see hurricanes in motion, airplanes navigating the globe and the Earth’s climate at work. August will bring the world premier of “The Science of Archimedes Exhibition” to the Rocket Center. Created by the awarding-winning Artisans of Florence company, this exhibit brings to life the inventions and scientific discoveries of Archimedes, the “Father of Modern Science.” More than 140 items, including 70 models, in this interactive, hands-on exhibit take visitors on a journey through history and science with a look at the machines of the ancient world designed for everything from warfare to capturing the power of energy. With computer modeled animations, interactive machines, historical settings and an activity station for ages 3 to 14, this exhibit is designed for all ages. “The Science of Archimedes Exhibition” opens Aug. 6 and continues through Feb. 12. Beyond the exhibits, the USSRC also has special events planned for the summer, including the weekly Biergarten, which takes place each Thursday in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. Visitors can dine on authentic German food as well as enjoy German and local brews under the Saturn V Moon Rocket. This family and dog-friendly event also includes live German music. Each week the Center partners with a local charity, which receives a portion of the proceeds from the evening. A highlight of the summer will be “A Totally 80s Concert in Shuttle Park” to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the movie “Space Camp.” Eddie Money and Mickey Thomas of Starship are headlining the concert, which also includes music by Yacht Rock Review, Jeff Carlisi, formerly of .38 Special, Robbie Durpree and Bill Champlin, formerly of Chicago. The concert takes place under the USSRC’s Pathfinder shuttle on July 16 at 8 p.m., and a cash bar and food concessions will be available. Tickets are $39 and are available at rocketcenter.com/concert.
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May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 29
summer travel
Birthday bash, July 4 fireworks coming to Vulcan Park and Museum by Lee J. Green Unique is the birthday party in which the attendees get the gifts. On June 5, Alabama’s most famous 112-year-old will host a birthday bash and all are welcome to attend the world’s largest cast iron statue’s celebration at his home — Vulcan Park and Museum. New to this year’s Birthday Bash is the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum bringing Thomas the Tank Engine. The Southern Museum of Flight will bring a helicopter. Both the Birmingham Zoo and Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve will bring some animals that kids can pet as well as learn about. Other activities include face painting, clowns, balloons and more. Attendees can get free ice cream from Piggly Wiggly, free birthday cake and free cookies from Bud’s Best. New food offerings this year will include kettle corn available for purchase. “We want to grow the birthday bash every year and add more things for family fun,” said Vulcan Park and Museum Marketing and PR Director Morgan Berney. On July 4, Vulcan will host one of the region’s largest Independence Day celebrations with its Thunder on the Mountain fireworks show. On July 26, Vulcan will host a “Taste of 5 Points” event to coincide with its new exhibition about the 5 Points South area of Birmingham — “Patience, People and the Plan.” More than 160,000 people from around the world visited Vulcan in 2015, an increase of more than 10,000 from the previous year. By the time of the Birthday Bash, the new gift shop will have opened up. “We have tripled the size and added a lot of great items for sale,” said Berney. “We know Vulcan Park and Museum along with the gift shop might give people their first impression of Birmingham and we want it to be a great one.”
Jewish motorcyclists riding to remember in Birmingham
Upcoming Shows:
5/12 ZOSO — The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience 6/5 The Sheepdogs 6/7 Buckethead
30 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
6/12 Ben Smolin CD release with Wilder Adkins 6/24 Cowboy Mouth 7/16 Muscle Shoals Revue Featuring Amy Black
The national Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance, a confederation of Jewish motorcycling clubs worldwide, will be on the streets of Birmingham this month for its annual Ride 2 Remember. The Ride 2 Remember is to memorialize the victims of the Holocaust and to raise money for organizations that support and promote Holocaust education and awareness. For the 2016 Ride, the group chose the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center, and will be in town from May 19 to 22. On May 20 the Ride 2 Remember will start at the Embassy Suites around 9:45 a.m., finishing with an 11 a.m. ceremony at the Levite Jewish Community Center. The group will also have a welcome dinner on May 19, Shabbat dinner at the hotel on May 20, guided rides to the Barber Motorsports Museum, Talladega National Forest or a civil rights ride to Selma on May 21, and a farewell buffet dinner at Regions Field at an outfield covered patio during the May 21 Birmingham Barons game. The Alliance’s mission is “to create a global environment whereby members of the Jewish faith who ride motorcycles can congregate physically and through the Internet to share and exchange ideas about matters of concern to the Jewish community, as well as issues concerning motorcycles.”
Little Rock is hungry for Jewish Food and Culture Festival Thousands came out to War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on April 10 for the annual Jewish Food and Cultural Festival. In addition to the range of traditional Jewish foods, there were crafts, cultural booths, artists and a chance to run around on the field. Congregation Etz Chayim in Bentonville brought a scribe as part of their Project 613 to restore a 200-year-old Holocaust Torah.
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May 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 31
opinion
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As with so many laws, there will be unintended consequences. In the rush to go after homosexuality and transgendered people, the law also allows for discrimination against those who have premarital sex, have been living together before marriage, or adulterers. If someone can discriminate because of a “sincerely held religious belief,” perhaps they can refuse to serve sinners like a Jewish couple? A Muslim couple? Why not, if it’s a “sincerely held” belief. Is “sincerely held” carte blanche? Many white supremacists and black supremacists sincerely hold their beliefs. So do Holocaust deniers and New World Order conspiracy theorists. Perhaps some of the silent majority in Mississippi should start refusing services to certain legislators because of the sincerely-held religious belief that bigotry is unacceptable in the eyes of God. One of the more laughable justifications for the bill came from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, which said the bill preserves “rights of conscience and religious liberty.” To that end, the commission says, the bill prevents the government from “discriminating against healthcare professionals who hold beliefs that would prevent them from conducting sex-reassignment surgery.” One would think that sex-reassignment surgery is a very specialized procedure, and anyone with philosophical objections to it would not get into that line of work to start with. As of this writing, Alabama thankfulTHE MISSISSIPPI ly has not followed Mississippi down “RELIGIOUS FREEDOM” that rabbit hole, hopefully because everyone is too distracted dealing with BILL OPENS UP A “SINCERELY HELD” CAN a governor who appears to have been ignoring one of the commandments OF WORMS THAT WILL that actually made it into the Top Ten. HAVE UNINTENDED Ah, the argument goes, we don’t want the homosexual agenda (whatCONSEQUENCES ever that is) to lead America down the path to the destruction that God visited upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed not because of same-sex relationships, but because the inhabitants were selfish, inhospitable and not welcoming of the stranger. Those who claim to stand for morality by pushing such legislation cherry-pick a verse or two to support their position (while ignoring other inconvenient prohibitions in the same sections). But the scriptures — in both volumes, the Jewish and Christian ones — far more often repeat one basic commandment that is the summation of all others: Love your neighbor. These politicians seem to have missed that. They stand as tall as they can, trying to rally voters by concocting ridiculous “threats” to their way of life, enforcing an ideological purity that does not allow for any consideration that they are talking about real people and not some extreme abstract. In their zeal to preserve their understanding of morality by chopping away at the tree of same-sex relationships, they forget the forest of our common humanity and the basic human decency that must be given to all people, as we are all brothers and sisters, created in the divine image. What is being displayed is not piety, it’s politics — at its worst.
Larry Brook
32 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
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culture Weird Al Yankovic will have Mandatory Fun in the South by Lee J. Green The keys to Weird Al Yankovic’s rise from shy, accordion-playing teenager to the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history and a pop culture icon include being funny, being friendly as well as stamping his unique, original style onto parody songs. On June 3 Yankovic launches the return of the “Mandatory World Tour,” which includes stops in Mobile on June 7 at the Saenger Theatre, June 12 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Concert Hall and June 17 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. He will also be at the Tivoli in Chattanooga on July 9, Bankplus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove in Southaven, Miss., on July 10, and the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi on July 15. This year’s tour supports his 2014 release of the album “Mandatory Fun,” which debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 album chart. It was the first time a comedy album debuted at number one in more than 50 years, with the last one being Jewish comedy legend Allan Sherman’s 1963 release “My Son, the Nut.” Sherman has a tie to Birmingham’s Jewish community; his father, Percy Copelon, was a Birmingham native who returned to the city after divorcing Sherman’s mother when Sherman was eight. “Allen Sherman has always been one of my biggest inspirations and favorite people of all-time,” said Yankovic. “He had three number one albums in a span of 18 months. I am just humbled to be mentioned in the same sentence with him.” Yankovic, 56, hails from Lynwood in Southern California. He said people have thought he was Jewish and believes he has some Jewish lineage a few generations back on his father’s side from Yugoslavia, but he was raised Catholic. His long-time drummer, Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz is Jewish, as is Yankovic’s manager. This season he starred in an episode of “The Goldbergs,” created by Jewish writer Adam Goldberg. He also parodied The Offspring song, “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” with “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi.” “I for sure have many Jewish friends and fans,” he said. “My daughter Nina just turned 13 so we’ve gone to a lot of her friends’ Bar and Bat Mitzvahs recently.” So how did Al Yankovic become the Weird Al everyone knows and loves today? When he was young his parents decided he should take up the accordion. He took accordion lessons but loved rock and roll so he taught himself how to play rock songs on the squeezebox. Yankovic would grow up listening to comedy artists Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg, Spike Jones, Sherman, Shel Silverstein and Frank Zappa. His biggest inspiration and the man who he credits with launching his career is Dr. Demento. Every Sunday night on KMET radio in Los Angeles, he would listen to the Dr. Demento Show. One day the wacky doctor himself came to Yankovic’s high school and Al gave him a comedy tape he had recorded. “He was very nice and played the tape. I never though anything would come of it but it was a thrill just to meet him and that he liked that goofy little recording,” said Yankovic. But Weird Al was serious about his studies and graduated in 1975 as valedictorian of his senior class. He would go on to attend California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture.
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Yankovic kept writing and recording songs, mostly for fun in his spare time. He got his first comedy song on the air in 1976, but during college and after graduation he worked jobs outside the music field. Over the next several years, he got several of his parody songs played on the Dr. Demento Show and in 1982 cut his first album, the eponymous “Weird Al Yankovic.” When asked when the moment came that he felt like he had “arrived” and could make a career in music, Yankovic jokes that he “had an epiphany six months ago.” “Seriously, I recorded my first album and got my first recording contract but at the time I still needed to work a regular job to pay the rent and for the macaroni and cheese,” he said. “Then when the album started doing well and MTV launched I thought to myself, ‘maybe it’s not so crazy to think about a career in music.’ MTV really was a landmark for a lot of us at the time and it opened up a new world of possibilities.” Other successful albums followed in the 1980s, filled with songs parodying top pop stars of the day, including Michael Jackson, Madonna and many others. Building off his on-screen persona from the MTV videos, Yankovic starred in his first film, the cult hit “UHF.” He also had a CBS Saturday morning series “The Weird Al Show” in the late 1990s and he made numerous specials for MTV and VH1 over the years. Yankovic loved doing comedy and making music, but he wanted a woman to love. His friend Bill Mumy, who played young Will Robinson on the “Lost in Space” TV show and who under the name Art Barnes recorded the comedy hit song “Fish Heads,” introduced him to a friend who was working as a vice president for 20th Century Fox. “We both had busy schedules and we were away from our homes a lot. This was in the late 1990s in the days before social media. Suzanne and I would have long conversations on the phone. Even before I had seen a photo of her I was falling in love with her,” he said. They married in 2001 and had Nina a couple of years later. He said being on tour and on the road for months at a time can present challenges for any family. But Yankovic said his wife and daughter cherry pick a tour stop every two or three weeks to come visit and they always stay close. “My family means everything to me,” he said. “Mandatory Fun” is Yankovic’s 14th studio album. He has earned four Grammys in 15 career nominations. In 2011 he also added “New York Times bestselling author” to his resume with the release of his children’s book, “When I Grow Up.” But despite all the success, Yankovic remains humbled, grounded and scandal-free. Some other celebrities and musicians have fallen prey to the trappings of the “rock star lifestyle,” but no dirt can be dug on him. There aren’t skeletons in his closet unless he puts them in there for Halloween. The Weird Al Yankovic documentary a few years ago on VH1 “was probably the most boring one they did,” he says, somewhat jokingly. “I have no dark secrets or a hidden past. I don’t trash hotel rooms. Actually I usually make the beds before the maids come in.” The music industry has changed a great deal since Yankovic got into it. Tapes begat CDs begat digital music, file sharing and internet videos. “At least we still have a few record stores out there,” he said. “I have embraced digital. I think it lets artists be more spontaneous and to get more expression out there to the masses more quickly. For a parody artist such as myself, it is important to be topical and timely. Digital and these internet platforms allows me to stay fresh and current with these parodies.” In June Yankovic will begin his stint as co-host and bandleader for the fifth season of “Comedy Bang! Bang!” on IFC. He also voices the title character in Disney XD’s new animated series “Milo Murphy’s Law.” After the tour, Yankovic plans to do several projects back home in Los Angeles. He said he will likely start recording a new album later in 2016. Yankovic looks forward to coming to Alabama with the tour, but said with the demands of the tour and schedule, he doesn’t get to spend too much time sightseeing. Of his last visit to the Magic City, he recalled “Birmingham does have a lovely Kinkos.” As for what to expect from the Mandatory World Tour, Yankovic jokes, “I learned that people come to expect the unexpected so if I deliver the expected then that will be unexpected.”
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36 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
Continued from page 38
The night after the game, several people are attacked by Treyf Eaters, followers of the evil Voldybbuk. 2013, “Kol Nidre the 13th, Part 13” Since the founding of the United States, and for at least the next millennium, Kol Nidre on Friday the 13th has never, and will never, occur during a “13” year… Except now… Not since Rebbe Kruger doled out his own brand of judgment via his “Nightmare on Chelm Street” have the fruits of indiscretion slashed through a community so. But Jason Viduis, a prospective moyel until his tools of choice were deemed too cutting-edge, offered even less concession to each person’s confession.
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Pictures say a thousand words Later this year will mark the 20th anniversary of this column. Leading up to that momentous event, a short series of columns is revisiting tidbits from over the years. This month’s column provides excerpts from the original Jewish sources upon which were based numerous well-known films and other pieces in popular culture. 1999, “Conversion rates” Dear Superman… If you have a few minutes between averting nuclear war and rescuing kittens from trees, we hope you can look into another matter for us. Around the time you started coming to services regularly, another recent addition to our community, Clark Kent, mysteriously stopped coming every Saturday. We would appreciate any help you can provide in locating Mr. Kent. He was our best Torah lifter. — Metropolis Rabbinic Council 2005, “Episode IV: A New Trope” “Jewbaccer here,” Ben tells Lou Steinwalker, about a tall heavily bearded character, “is first bass in a group that might suit us.” Another man introduces himself, “Chazan Solo. Jewie here tells me you’re looking for help.” “Yes,” replies Ben. “If it’s at a fast clip.” “A fast clip? I’ve done Ne’ilah in less than 12 minutes. We’re fast enough for you, old man.” 2005, “Harry Plotzer and the Sanhedrin’s THIS YEAR’S SUMMER Stone” BLOCKBUSTERS “That’s Professor Dorledor,” Harzione CAN’T SURPASS THE told Harry. “He’s been the headmaster of Hogschwartz from generation to JEWISH ORIGINS generation.” OF THESE CLASSIC
FILMS…
2005, “Episode V: The Empire Shries Back” “You will go to the Dakota system,” says Ben. “The Dakota system?” replies Lou Steinwalker, barely able to whisper. “There you will learn from Yona, the Rabbi Master who instructed me,” says Ben. “And it’s warmer there than it is here. I may be just a hallucinated image of your dead mentor, but it’s freezing here. Are you kidding me with this?!?” 2005, “Harry Plotzer and the Chamber of Shpilkus” During a practice duel with Malgoy, he sent a snake after Harry. Harry talked it down, which revealed to him and everyone else that Harry had the rare gift of speaking ParshaTongue — a language that most people could not master or understand, but recognize when they hear it. 2010, “Harry Plotzer and the Prisoner of the Ashkenaz” Harry is befriended by the new Defense Against the Dark Schwartz teacher, Professor Lou Ze’ev, who he is shocked to see wolfing down a potion provided by Harry’s nemesis, the surly Professor Snake. 2011, “Harry Plotzer and the Gabbai of Fire” Harry turns 14 and is invited by the Wiesels to join them at the greatest worldwide athletic event for mystics and kabbalists: The Kidditsch Cup. With his friends Ron Wiesel and Harzione Granger, Harry travels to the Cup by Potschke, an object that lets you mess around with space by warping it, to travel great distances instantly. continued on previous page 38 Southern Jewish Life • May 2016
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